As mentioned in other stories I'll be taking a week's rest from Sunday to following Saturday (3rd – 9th May) to deal with some personal issues getting in the way of my writing. That will effect this story in that it will be three weeks until the next update because Beast of Beacon will miss next week's update and thus be pushed back to the following one.

On a side note, a teaser came out for Helluva Boss episode 5 and I am pumped to see Stolas in it. Stolas x Blitzo, yes please.

Cover Art: Serox

Chapter 37

White Fang High Society.

That was the headline Lisa had gone with, along with a photo of Sienna and him dancing. The news report all but confirmed their fake relationship, which all of a sudden he wasn't sure if it was fake or not. They'd kissed, which he knew wasn't the signing of a contract, but still, it was his first proper make out with a girl. Those shy pecks on the lips from cute girls in school hardly counted.

The strangest part had been waking up with her this morning. They hadn't done anything – Sienna had taken the bed and while she had invited him to sleep in it with her, platonically, he'd been much too shy and took the floor with a sleeping bag and some pillows. Even so, waking up to find a woman peacefully sleeping in your bed was a new and strangely exciting experience. He'd stumbled out before she could wake up or he could feel too awkward, running right into Yuma, who had immediately asked where she was.

"Still asleep," he'd said.

"Heh. Wore her out, did you?"

"It was a long night," he'd admitted. "I think we're both a little sore."

Jaune wasn't normally so dense that he wouldn't have realised why Yuma rushed off giggling like a child – and he did realise it now, fifteen minutes later with a coffee to wake him up. In his defence he'd been much too scatter-brained in the morning to deal with double entendre, let alone the Yuma variety of it.

Ilia was no better.

"So…"

"So?" he asked, head down in the newspaper and feeling very much like a father trying to eat breakfast while being pestered by the kids. "What does so mean, anyway? Be specific."

"How was it?"

"The dance went well. It was peaceful."

"Not the dance! The… you know, the after bits…"

"I'm not sure what you mean," he said, playing dumb.

"Come on. You know…" She winked once, twice, three times and then huffed and started fiddling with her fingers. Jaune did his best to ignore what they were implying. "I'd tell you about it if Blake and I ever-"

"I wouldn't want to know. Also, I hate to be the one to say it but Blake and you isn't happening anytime soon."

"I'm patient."

"I don't think time is your biggest hurdle."

"She'll come around. Maybe." Ilia bit her lip, her face playing between red and white as her skin lit up. "Probably. Once she realises we're not as evil as she thinks we are. Blake was always upset at the darker things we did and said we should be helping people. We are now. I don't know why she's still angry."

"Trust me. I don't either." He sipped his coffee. "I'm still not telling you anything about Sienna."

"Not even how soft her skin feels?"

Jaune stared at Ilia.

"Or how wild she is?"

He stared really hard.

"Or if she uses her fingernails?"

The stare continued, taking on a sympathetic, almost pitying, edge.

Ilia gulped. "She's behind me, isn't she?"

"She most certainly is," Sienna remarked, leaning over the back of Ilia to steal the newspaper out of Jaune's hands. It couldn't have been an accident that she leaned on the back of Ilia's head with her bosom, or that her arms brushed against Ilia's bright red cheeks on the way back. "Do they feel soft enough to you, Ilia?"

"Meep."

"Would you like me to forget this conversation happened, Ilia?"

"Meep." Ilia repeated, nodding furiously.

"Good girl." Sienna pulled out a chair and sat down. "Run along now, dear. I think I hear Trifa calling you."

Trifa wasn't, but Ilia took the hint and practically flipped out her seat and ran away, covering her face. It didn't help that when Ilia blushed, her chameleon nature accentuated the colour. Her face wasn't just flushed, it was as red as a literal tomato.

"That girl needs to get laid," Sienna said with a yawn.

"Yeah…"

"Is she still pining after that Blake girl?" He nodded. "Really, what a waste. There were plenty of women back in Menagerie that were interested in her. She's a cute little thing after all. I'm sure she wouldn't have trouble finding a paramour here as well if she tried."

"I've told her to get on Huntr. She says she's in love…"

"Love is flexible."

Jaune winced. "Isn't that a little cynical?"

"I don't mean it as in love isn't real," Sienna said. "I just mean that the notion of there being only one true love is flawed. Spend enough time with someone, get to know them and you'll fall in love." Her golden eyes met his over the top of the newspaper, rooting him to his seat. "I happen to think any two people can fall in love if they're compatible. All it takes is time."

He may have missed the hint from Yuma, but he was awake enough to catch that one and blushed badly. "Y-Yeah," he stammered. "I think so."

He wanted to ask if she felt that way about him. Not yet, his brain told him. Sienna's point was that their working relationship could develop into more if they both wanted it to and felt that way. That was so blunt! Intellectually, he agreed with her that any two people could fall in love. The idea of there only being one soulmate for each person was kind of sad if you thought about it, whereas people getting close, dating and slowly falling in love was much more hopeful.

This is… I guess this is sort of like we're dating. Kind of. We're going to work together and pretend to be in a relationship, and this is her way of saying if we get on then maybe it doesn't have to be pretending.

It was still the first time someone had spoken about romance with him straight to his face and so bluntly. Sienna definitely wasn't one to mess around. He had a feeling his mother would like her for that. His mom always had said he needed a strong woman who would work with him and not put up with any crap in his life.

"What do you think of the report?" he asked, changing the subject. Sienna's low, rich laughter said she knew what he was doing but she allowed it all the same.

"I think it captures our good sides. It's a little too surprised at the idea of us dressing up and dancing, like it thinks we're savages or something, but that is the image Atlas has pushed of us, so it makes sense we must contend with it. Lisa Lavender is your pet reporter, no?"

"She is. And she's human. Will that be a problem?"

"To some, I'm sure. Not me." Sienna folded the paper and laid it down. "What's our next step, then?"

Jaune blinked, caught off guard. "Eh?"

"You're the one in charge here, Jaune. You've had the most success; I'd be a fool to come and change that now. We've both agreed to be Ozpin's guests for the festival, so I'll be here for some time yet. What is to be the White Fang's next steps in Vale?"

Back to business. He had to remember that whatever their relationship might become, he was still expected to perform his job. Luckily, he'd put some thought into it.

"More of the same. We'll find and stop criminal activity, continue to expose bad things happening in the city and fix them. I think the people are starting to trust us more now, but we need to keep it going."

"Not losing momentum," she said. "I agree. It's also good to be consistent with our message. Very well. You may feel free to utilise me in that."

Jaune balked. "Y-You?"

"Of course. I am Sienna Khan. I should be seen to act and I'm no damsel to be kept away from a good fight." Sienna stroked the whip at her side, a weapon that would no doubt have Yuma making all kinds of assumptions about their nightlife. "Won't it also show just how aligned we are if we're working side by side? No one would doubt that we're in agreement, not even the fanatics within our own organisation."

"Right." It made sense and honestly, he could use the help. "But you should lead the rest of us on any raids we do. You have more experience on that than I do," he said when she made to argue. "And I can't do everything on my own anyway."

"Hmm. Alright. I'll agree to that." Sienna held out her hand. "Partners."

Jaune shook it. "Partners."

/-/

There was nothing quite as annoying as the smug grins on Yuma and Perry's faces as he and Sienna addressed the assembled members of the White Fang's main squad plus Sun. Then again, Sun might as well have been a member by this point, but still, at least Sun didn't look like a cat with a canary.

Ilia still looked positively mortified.

"Alright!" Jaune shouted to calm them all down. "We have another case from Lisa and this one is one that I asked her to look into."

"So, it's personal?" Deery asked.

"Very personal," he confirmed. "As in, someone tried to kill me!"

"At the dance?"

"No. No one tried to kill me there. I mean before when we all did that job to find the arms dealers." They all made understanding sounds, along with a few unhappy sounds and promises to get back at those people. "Exactly. Even though we stopped the traitors slipping Atlas arms away, we uncovered a bigger problem. There's someone gathering gangs and forcing them to work under her. To what end, we don't know."

"But we're going to stop them, right?" Perry asked.

"We are." If nothing else, then because they wanted the White Fang dead. That seemed like good enough of a reason. They'd even sent that psychotic mute after him. "Lisa has some contacts with a local gang that may or may not be working for her already. We're going to do some investigation first and try and expose this. Then, once everyone knows about it, we'll either close it ourselves or maybe even work with Beacon to do so."

"Does Beacon know?" Trifa piped up. "Have they agreed to this?"

"No and no. I was thinking they'd not have much of a choice if we brought it to their attention." His comment earned a few nods. "If nothing else, we can approach Team RWBY."

"Blake!" Ilia said happily.

"Blake…" everyone else said miserably.

"Blake." Jaune admitted, shrugging as if to say he couldn't alter the fact. "But also other, more reasonable, people as well. Anyway, that's the plan. Do I have any questions?"

Yuma's hand went up.

"Any questions not pertaining to my sex life?"

Yuma's hand went down.

Trifa's fist went into the side of his head.

"Thank you, Trifa," Sienna purred.

"No problem."

"I have one." Sun spoke for the first time. He was still in his usual jeans, but he'd taken to wearing a very thick hoodie instead of an open shirt. Jaune was fairly sure that was an affront against nature. "You said the White Fang under Adam were looking to work with this bad woman. Why can't you just contact her and go after her that way?"

It was Ilia who answered him. "She cut communications once it was clear we weren't going to do what she wanted. Adam didn't really ask for any details either, so we don't know much about her. Most of us only met her the one time."

"I didn't see her at the dance," Jaune said. "Then again, I doubt she'd be at Beacon anyway. That's a little on the nose."

Sun nodded. "Fair enough. Was just asking."

"What's the plan then, boss?" Perry asked. "You said this gang might be under her control already, so things could get violent. Is it time to use the GDR?" He jerked a thumb at the huge mech behind them.

"Absolutely not. Never if I have my way. We're doing this subtle…"

/-/

"This isn't subtle," Ilia shouted over the pounding music. Her White Fang mask reflected the pulsing red, yellow and blue strobe lighting of the nightclub. "This isn't subtle at all."

"What do you mean?" Jaune didn't so much dance as pop and lock his arms and elbows in different directions. Perry and Deery were doing the same around him, though thankfully Sienna wasn't here with the others to see it. "We're perfectly undercover."

Ilia refused to dance, though her eyes did stray to two giggling girls walking by hand in hand wearing very revealing outfits. Only once they were gone did her attention snap back to him.

"We're in the middle of a club…"

"Like I said, undercover."

"We're wearing our masks!"

True. The four of them were fully masked and in uniform, showing off their White Fang loyalty without a care in the world. Jaune shrugged and pointed around them. "So is everyone else."

Nurses, soldiers, horror villains and characters from popular shows and movies, the Club – one of the premier nightclubs in Vale – ran numerous special nights to make things exciting and were currently running a fancy dress night. The timing could not have been better.

"Whoah! Cool outfit." A guy looked him up and down. "You look just like that guy on the news. Sweet, man."

"Thanks!" Jaune replied. The real Jaune Arc didn't wear a mask, so him wearing one now might as well have been a disguise. The other guy was done up as a zombie with fake blood down his chest. "Yours looks cool too."

"Cheers man." The guy spotted his friends over Jaune's shoulder and pushed through, whooping and dancing through the crowd of people with his drink held in the air.

"We're literal terrorists," Ilia growled. "Literal terrorists being ignored in the middle of a club..."

"Well Jaune is a bit of a celebrity figure right now!" Deery had to shout a little to be heard over the music. "It's not hard to believe someone would dress up as him. And I mean, it's not like the real White Fang would go clubbing with their masks on, is it?"

Of course they wouldn't. If members of the White Fang wanted to have a fun night out, then they could do it by taking their masks off and blending back into normal society. As such, the four people in White Fang uniforms enjoying a night out simply had to be party goers in disguise. Nothing else made sense.

The four of them gyrated their way to the bar, pushing through thick crowds of video game characters and movie mascots. They had to squeeze their way in for a spot at the bar itself, and then wait at least five minutes for people to be served and for it to be their turn. It was a busy night and the people behind it looked overworked already.

"I'm here to talk to Junior!" Jaune shouted to the man dressed as a clown working the bar. "Junior! The manager!"

The bartender mouthed "manager?" back and Jaune nodded quickly. The man returned it, picked up a walkie-talkie behind the bar and spoke into it. "We have a Karen at the bar. I repeat, we have a Karen."

"Wait, I'm not-"

A man in a black suit with a red tie appeared within seconds. "I'm deeply sorry, sir, how may I help you today?"

"Um. I'm here to speak with Junior-"

"The manager, yes, but I'm sure we can handle this. My name is Tony and I'm the floor manager. Has there been an issue I can help you with? Customer service is very important to us."

"No, you don't understand-"

"All our sales are currently up to date. It may be that you misread-"

"I'm trying to make a business deal with Junior!" Jaune finally yelled. "I want to talk to him about business!"

The man, Tony, blinked at him slowly. "You don't have a complaint…?"

"No."

"Ahem. Well, why didn't you say so? Please, follow me."

Perry and Deery were snickering to themselves as Jaune followed the man around the bar and through a Staff Only marked door. Tony held it open for the four of them and brought them to a much quieter conference room of sorts. It had a long table, a hotel-style mini-fridge full of drinks and a vending machine next to it.

"If you will wait here, I shall speak with Mr Xiong," Tony said. "I hope you are not here to waste our time. The boss has been tense of late and doesn't have time for those seeking to waste his. Who shall I say is calling on him?"

Jaune pointed at his face. "The White Fang."

"Hilarious." Tony rolled his eyes. "Seriously, though."

"Again…" Jaune pulled off his mask. "The White Fang."

"Holy-" Tony slammed himself back against the wall, eyes wide. "You're actually- Damn it, you could have given a man some warning!"

"We're wearing our uniforms!" Ilia growled.

"Other than that I mean…" He wiped his brow. "I-I'll go fetch Mr Xiong. Please allow a moment. Help yourself to food and drink if you're hungry. I won't be long at all."

Even over the sound of the heavy music, his rapid footfalls could be heard moving away at speed. Jaune sat, leaving Perry to shove his face into the minifridge and rummage around for snacks.

"Huh." Deery took the seat on his left. "They're really that afraid of us?"

"It's not a surprise," Ilia said. "We've been running around stopping people from doing illegal stuff and we've gotten pretty good at it. If they think we're here to cause them problems then isn't it just common sense to try and appease us?"

"Or kill us."

"Killing us would just make the White Fang come for blood. They know Sienna Khan is in Vale, so I don't think they'd risk upsetting us at the moment. That was probably Jaune's plan in the first place."

"That's right." Jaune lied. "It was."

The door opened again, and a tall man entered flanked by two younger girls around his age. They stood out in white and red, identical twins, but he looked remarkably plain. His hair was black, his beard the same colour, and his eyes were covered by a pair of red shades. Having read through Lisa's information, he knew the man's name.

"Hei Xiong, leader of the Xiong Clan."

"Jaune Arc," the man rumbled, "Leader of the Vale Sect of the White Fang. Also now rumoured to be second in command of the entire White Fang itself. My associate tells me you're here on business. I hope it is the peaceful kind…"

"That's our hope as well. I'm told you're something of an information dealer."

Hei nodded to the twin girls, who backed up to stand on either side of the doorway. It appeared to be some kind of signal because he moved forward, pulled out a seat and sat down. Ilia relaxed beside him, and Jaune realised it was all a show of non-violence. There had been, to that point, the possibly of things going bad.

"Information is one of my specialties," Hei said. "One I'm prepared to sell for the right price. I do have a small issue, however."

"What's that?"

"The White Fang under you have been destroying anything that opposes you. I'm not sure it's in my interests to help you if I or my group might end up as the next ones on the list."

"We only go after those abusing people," Ilia said. "Are you guilty of that?"

"I couldn't say." Hei's face was impassive. "All my people are treated the same regardless of their species, but I run a criminal gang, not a day care. We do things the average person wouldn't agree with. If you want my business, I want an assurance you won't be coming for us."

An assurance. Jaune wasn't sure he could offer it, or that he wanted to when he had no idea of the things the Xiong Clan might do. Lisa had put forward a few stories – drug trafficking, extortion, taking protection money and petty theft. Nothing that could be proved and nothing that the White Fang would normally consider high-profile enough to get involved in.

That was only what they knew, however. There could be a lot more – worse – stuff going on behind the scenes. If he agreed to this deal, he'd be stuck unable to act against that. If Atlas and Vale found out, they might even suggest he was complicit. And they'd be right.

"How about a promise we won't get involved without giving you a chance to fix it first?" Jaune offered.

"How would that work to our benefit?"

"It gives you a warning." Jaune placed his hands on the table to show he was unarmed. In truth, Sienna and the others were outside and ready to storm in if needs be, but Hei didn't need to know that. "If you turn down the deal and we later found out things we couldn't stand, we'd have interfered with your business anyway. That would be the same even if we never met here at all. By agreeing to this, however, at least we'll give you time to improve on or fix it. I know that's not ideal, but it's better than nothing."

"Only just," he said. "I'd rather continue my operations without you at all. I'm assuming that is not an option."

Jaune shrugged. He wouldn't force the issue but if the Xiong Clan was ever in one of Lisa's reports, then the White Fang were going to hit them. They both knew that.

"If we had other targets to prioritise then you'd be pretty far down the list anyway."

"You're suggesting we provide you information to aim you in the direction of someone else? That sounds a little manipulative on our part, don't you think? I was under the impression the White Fang does not appreciate being used."

"We don't. That said, we're in this to find big crime to crack down on so we can improve our image. If we had an arrangement and you could provide evidence of wrongdoing on the side of your competitors, then it's not that you're controlling us at all. We're simply on the same page as to what benefits us."

Hei chuckled and rubbed his chin. "An interesting proposal. There might be some room for cooperation there. I'd need an assurance that you wouldn't turn on us without ample reason."

"So long as you don't try to kill us or innocent people, sure."

"Easy." Hei snapped his fingers. "Murder is bad business as it is. We're not saints but we have a code of honour. Self-defence doesn't count."

"To a degree," Jaune said carefully. "I'd rather you try and defend yourself without killing any innocents."

"Obviously. I'm talking of if we're attacked by rival gangs or if one of my boys is jumped and accidentally kills someone. We don't deal in wet work and we haven't had a proper gang war for years now. I'm just covering my bases."

"Then that's fine." Jaune said. "In return, we'll still pay for your information and we'll agree that if we do find fault in something you do, I'll come to you first and we can discuss it like reasonable people. We'll even give you time to improve on things. There is one crux, however."

"Oh?" Hei's smile fell. "Do tell."

"We would need you not to make an agreement of a similar sort with anyone else. You can make your own deals obviously, I just mean that you don't sell information on us, and you don't drag us into anything on your end. The same goes for us. What we do, we'll do on our own."

"Hm. That's fair. Better than fair, even. I'm not about to get the Xiong Clan dragged into an ideological war, and I doubt you want to be involved in criminal enterprise. I'll warn you, I have sold information on you already. If we're to be working together, you ought to know."

Jaune sucked in a breath. "To whom?"

"Can't say. Confidentiality is part of my business and I won't break that even for an associate. What I can say is that there wasn't much info. Your family weren't included," he added, showing that he did know about them. "I'm picky with what I give, and I wasn't about to expose a mother and seven girls to something they have no business in."

"T-Thank you. I appreciate that."

"Not good business to piss off a huntsman like your father either," he added. "I kept it to your movements in Vale, the company you keep and a little on who your close allies are, their Semblances and the like." He waved a hand. "I can provide you a copy of the dossier if you want it."

"I think we'd like that."

"Hm. Melanie." He called out and the twin in white straightened. "Go ask Tony for a copy of the information we sold a week back. Fetch some drinks as well – the good stuff. If we're about to strike a deal, I won't be accused of poor hospitality."

Jaune relaxed. "Then we have a deal?"

"We're close. There are just some details to hash out before we make it official."

Quick reminder as to no updates next week. Hoping I'll come back refreshed and without issues to be able to write normally again.

Next Chapter: 18th May

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur