~Ammy~

The easy part of the night was already over as we found ourselves wandering into the industrial district of Vale. Each of us equipped with our weapons, except Red of course, and wearing our preferred attire. I had noticed a few curious looks at my sword along the way, but there were no issues as I am sure it is a common occurrence with Beacon students. Rikku brought along a backpack with whatever she thought we would need and has been leading the way with noticeable enthusiasm. And I had to admit, I shared in some of her excitement. It was rather exhilarating breaking curfew for a night out. But, then I would remember the reason for our excursion and my excitement would be muted by more serious concerns.

Rikku had decidedly convinced me that this was actually a good idea. I did share the same sentiment that the people we planned to find were not good, but I had no intention of searching for them. I trusted that the headmaster would be able to handle something like this. However, Rikku's good intentions had won me over. Well that and I honestly did not think we would find anything. What I really hoped to find out was the reason for Red's recent behavior. His reactions, or lack there of, were not what I had come to expect with his staunch protection toward Faunus. I expect it was because I was at the receiving end that he was not as passionate as usual, but I still feel that I need a real answer. And, I doubt he would give me one just because I asked.

The sun had set some time ago while we were walking. As Rikku was content to lead, with directions from Shiva, I occupied myself with my thoughts and the city's scenery. I was surprised that the city did not seem to get that much quieter as the day drew to an end, with plenty of people and vehicles on the streets. I was accustomed to the day beginning and ending with the rise and fall of the sun, but the businesses here were still open or operating. One of which seemed to just have closed as a large group of workers were exiting the building down one of the side roads we were crossing. I paid it no mind until I went to turn my head forward again and noticed that it had caught Red's attention as well.

"You see something?" I asked him, which seemed to surprise him as he flinched a little and flick his ear toward me.

"That guy leaning on the wall is definitely a dealer," he replied quietly, making him sound a bit gruff.

This time when I looked down the road, I paid more attention to the individuals still making their way out of the building. Most would just exit and start down the road to their next destination, either talking amicably with co-workers or minding their own business. But, there were a couple that would stop to talk with another person leaning on the corner of the building. They would walk up, share a few words, shake hands, and walk away. Without Red pointing it out, I am sure I would not have paid the interaction any mind, especially from this distance.

"What are you guys lookin' at over here?" Rikku chirped as she and Shiva approached Red and I, having not noticed we stopped right away.

"Red actually found someone we were looking for," I told her, not being able to hide all of my surprise.

Rikku grinned, "alright Red!" Which he just continued to watch the dispersing group down the road. "So which one is it?" She continued, her enthusiasm undaunted.

"The one leaning on the wall over there," I clarified, nodding my head in the person's direction.

Rikku squinted as she tried to discern the figure I mentioned. "Um, ok. I think I can see them." She turned back to me, punching her gauntlet covered fists together. "So, how do we get 'em?"

That was a good question as I had not even expected to find anyone. The first idea that came to mind would to force information out of him. Though, I hope my team would not abide to torturing strangers out on the streets. The other idea would be to befriend him somehow, but I am pretty sure we are not cut out for undercover work.

My planning was interrupted when I heard Red sigh and say, "just let me handle this." And before I could ask what he was thinking, he was already walking away. I was not entirely sure that I should trust him to not go with the beating information out of him idea. I spared a glance over to the other two. Rikku seemed to be about as worried as I was, but Shiva was her usual, inattentive, self. Though I suppose if anyone of us knows how to handle something like this, it should be Red. Especially if his confidence was anything to go by. I guess I should give him the benefit of the doubt if he thinks he can handle it. We will just have to wait and if something does happen we can run to help, as long as we are fast enough that is.

We watched as he approached the dealer just as he was beginning to leave. Having stepped away from the building and near the street lights made him easier to see. He was wearing dark, nondescript clothing and I could only make out one detail about his features. That was the extra pair of large ears on top of his head. The dealer turned to Red when he heard his approach. Once they made eye contact I immediately began to worry. Red stopped a couple steps away and they looked to begin talking. After they exchanged a few words, I could see the dealer waving his hand around and pointing into the city. I hoped this was a good sign, but it did not do much to quell my anxiety. It was not until they shook hands and Red began to return to where we were waiting that my nerves started to settle.

He casually walked back and stood in front of us. Nothing was said right away as we just stared at each other. Just before it got awkward Rikku spoke up, "so... what happened?"

"I got an address for where he goes to get his supplies," he replied coolly.

"Alright Red!" Rikku complimented with a thumbs up, to which he just grunted. "But, um... how?" she asked while pointing down the road and wiggling her finger a little.

"I pretty much just asked to join up," he answered like it was obvious.

Rikku nodded slowly before continuing, "I see. Well, it looks like it's your turn to lead." Red's reply was to just start walking, and we followed of course.

I trailed along silently. I was conflicted, Red had clearly handled the situation well and even got important information without any trouble. But, on the other hand he went off on his own, leaving us without any idea as to what he was planning. It may have went well this time, however it could have easily ended with street fight. Which would have left me responsible as I am suppose to be in charge. Perhaps that is what has been bothering Red. He is probably disappointed with my performance, not that I would blame him. I have not been trying my hardest, only putting enough effort to be passable and just doing whatever seems right at the time. I sighed, I should have realized these things sooner. I really should not be so selfish when there are people's well being on the line.

We followed Red much deeper into the industrial district. I could now easily smell the sea over the plethora of other smells throughout the city. We have been walking long enough now that there was a definite ache throughout my legs. I was thinking about suggesting we take break, even if it meant sitting on the curb in front of some factory or warehouse and getting my tail dirty. Before I could bring it up though, Red came to a halt in front of a small, one way street going off to our left.

"Alright, that is the place," he stated, pointing straight down the street to a building on the other side of the road perpendicular to the one way street. From our end of the street we could only see the right half of building in question through the narrow street. It had a large garage door with a decent sized parking lot in the front, presumably for trucks to easily maneuver. Off to the right of the lot were a hand full of cars and the light coming through the small windows on the door meant that there were people there.

"So, whats the plan?" Rikku asked, looking between Red and I.

This time I did have an idea on how we should proceed, "right now, our goal should be to get proof of what is taking place there. We need to know for sure if that building is a source of the drugs, whether it is where the drug is made or if it is just some kind of distribution center. Once we know what is here, we can make a report to the authorities or even to the headmaster."

Rikku frowned a bit at this, "why don't we just go in and bust them ourselves?"

"For one thing we are not the police and do not have permission to be here fighting criminals. The second reason is there are an unknown number of, most likely armed, drug dealers." She seemed to understand as she gave me a nod with a resigned look. I know Rikku wanted play the hero, but if something happens now she may never get the chance to be a real hero in the future. Now that I know that Rikku will not jump straight into danger, and I know Shiva will be able to keep her cool, I turned to Red. "Even after saying that, would you be willing to do something similar to earlier?"

"Shouldn't be too hard," he answered.

"So you will get inside however you see fit and take a look around inside for incriminating evidence," I said to Red before turning to Shiva and Rikku. "While he is inside, we will be ready to back him up if something happens. I will watch the front near the end of this street," gesturing to the one way street. "I assume there will be a back door, so you two will cover that," I told Shiva and Rikku. "But as I already said, we are not here to start a fight. If something happens we are to get away and meet up at the airship dock," I paused to make sure they understood. I then turned to Red, "if something starts to go wrong, then you will have to give some signal. Can you send one using your scroll?" He simply nodded to answer. "Good and remember, we are only after information."

Having finished, Rikku's enthusiasm took over, "alright, let's go team!" She half shouted, shoving her fist into the center our group. I looked at her quizzically, then Shiva placed her fist next to Rikku's and they looked at Red and I expectantly. I just followed their lead, not really sure where they were going with this. Red rolled his eyes before, begrudgingly, doing the same. Rikku gave a short 'woo' before taking off down the block, followed shortly by Shiva after a quiet chuckle. Red shook his head, probably in annoyance, and started walking down the one way street, straight toward the alleged drug den. I waited a moment before following Red, as I did not want to be seen trailing him.

I reached the end of the street and stayed close to the corner of a nearby building, trying to stay out of sight. I could see the other half of the garage now that it is only across the street. There was another garage door on the left side, which was open with a box truck backed up in front of the door. I could also see a few people moving boxes out of the truck and into the building. And, Red was strolling right up to the open door. Again I could feel my nerves start to rise, but at least this time I knew I was going to be able to help. One worker noticed Red and moved to confront him. I could see the worker was not happy about a stranger just walking up to them. Red did not seem to be fazed as they started talking. I could almost hear what they were saying as I was relatively close, but they were not talking very loud and the constant din within the city was not helping. Though I could see the worker's face change from angry to confused before he motioned for Red to stay put and walked inside.

I watched as Red just stood near the open door waiting, idly looking around the parking lot with his back to the people still moving boxes. This lull allowed me to worry more about if this was going to work or not. The wait was not long enough for me to think of everything that could go wrong however, as new person walked out of the building. This person was dressed differently than the workers. He was wearing a grey vest and boots, black pants and gloves, but most noticeably was the grey metal mask covering the top half of his face. Though he did not cover the horns sticking out of the top of his head. Red turned to greet him. His mask prevented me from getting a read on his emotions, so I strained myself trying to over hear any of the conversation. It was pointless though, I could occasionally hear some voices but it was impossible to discern any words. After a brief conversation, the masked man motioned Red to follow him to the open door. I would have taken this as a good sign if there was not a sudden pressure on the back of my head.

"You know, if you want to sneak around at night, you shouldn't wear a white shirt," came a smug, female voice from behind me. "A hat for the hair wouldn't be such a bad idea either. Just a tip for next time, because obviously its too late now. So if you don't want blood all over your nice shirt, I suggest you put your hands behind your head and calmly walk over to my friends at the garage you were staring at." This demand was punctuated by added pressure to the back of my head and a loud click. I figured it safe to assume it was a hand gun and Aura or not, getting shot in the head was something that I did not want to happen. Complying with her demands, I slowly put my hands behind my head and walked over to the open garage door. Crossing the street I could hear the gun woman mutter, "at least he can't yell at me for being late," under her breath. And, as we entered the parking lot she called out, "hey Conway, look what I found!"

The masked man, Conway I presume, peered out from just inside the threshold of the open garage door, as he had just entered. This also caught Red's attention as he was just behind Conway. And when he caught sight of my captor and I, there was a very noticeable slump in his shoulders. "Where were you and who the hell is that?" Conway asked, now standing next to Red.

"I saw this girl stalking around, watching what you were doing. So I figured she was either to shy to help or she was planing on getting in the way. And if the sword and shield are anything to go by, she is probably a Beacon student trying to earn some bragging rights at school." She answered confidently and also very condescendingly. "So that answers that, but who is this guy?"

"This is Red, he will be helping out," Conway answered concisely. "Good job finding this chick, though she may already have tipped someone off." Conway turned around to address the half dozen workers who had stopped what they were doing to gawk at us. This is also the first time I could see the large emblem on his back, in the shape of an animal's head with three diagonal lines behind it. "You guys hop in the truck and get out of here, better to finish this another night," he ordered the workers with a wave of his hand.

He turned back around and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when Red punched him in the jaw. The gun at the back of my head moved over my left shoulder, pointing at Red. I quickly grabbed the hand gun and pushed it down and away. When she fired the bullet hit the ground, but the retort made me let go. Before she could get her gun up again and get a bead on either of us, I stepped forward into her guard and slammed the edge of my shield into her face. The mask she wore, which was the same as Conway's, seemed to absorb some of the hit, but still made her stagger backwards. She was stunned but still held onto the gun. I drew my blade from over my left shoulder and followed through with a downward slash, hitting her right collar bone. I was shocked when I only felt the barest hint of aura before my sword cut into her shoulder. She immediately dropped the gun and fell backwards. She cried out in pain as she clutched gash on her shoulder. It was now that I was able to see the sandy brown tail as she no longer had a gun pointed at me.

Taken aback by the wound, I turned around to look for Red. He was casually dusting off his jacket while Conway lie on his stomach on the ground near the open garage door. "Hey Red?" I tried asking, but my voiced cracked.

Red looked inside the building and around the truck still parked near him, "looks like they all ran."

I was just about to call him again when I heard someone shout, "you guys alright, we heard a gun shot!?" I turned to see Rikku and Shiva running around the corner of the right side of the building near the parked cars. Before either of us could give a full answer they had already gotten close enough to see the girl I cut open. "Oh jeeze! That does not look good," Rikku said to no one in particular as she crouched down near the girl's injured shoulder. "Hey Shiva do you think you could help?"

Rikku moved away to left Shiva near the wound. Shiva moved her hand away and held her left hand over the wound. The blue part on one of her bracelets on her left arm began to glow softly. A coating of ice began to form over top of the gash on her collar. It was clearly uncomfortable as she had to clench her teeth to stop from crying out. When Shiva took her hand away there was a sizable chunk of ice covering the wound. "That will stop the bleeding, but if you leave it for too long you will get extra tissue damage," Shiva instructed the girl. She stared at Shiva for a second with small tears in the corners of her eyes from the pain before giving a small nod in understanding.

Now that Shiva was finished Rikku chimed in again, "ok, you gonna explain what the heck happened here?" She directed the question at me with concern written clearly across her face. I turned away from her gaze and saw Red standing next to me with his hands in his pockets. Though his posture seemed relaxed, he was staring intently down at the wounded girl. I turned the opposite direction, to avoid looking at my team. I may have been upset before but if Red is shocked too, then how bad did I mess up? "You alright Ammy?" Rikku asked with even more concern. But, I was at a loss for words. I mean what are you supposed to say when you nearly cut someone's arm off and just stand there as they bleed out? I did not have long to wallow in my thoughts as our attention was drawn back to the garage when there was a resounding crash from within.