Olivia sat up off the bed and stretched, feeling her aura slowly beginning to heal the bruises running down the length of her chest. Melanie always insisted there was no aura allowed in the bedroom. It made it that much easier for her little 'dominance' games to have at least a somewhat lasting effect.

Melanie pouted from her place on the bed, half wrapped in the blanket so that the most tempting parts of her body were covered from Olivia's view, "Leaving so soon? I thought you might want to spend the night again~"

Olivia had to search for a moment to find her clothes among the rest of the items that lay strewn around the room. She gave Melanie a small wink and bent over as she made a show of slipping her panties back on, "Unfortunately, the headmaster has given me a curfew. Seems he doesn't want the big bad ex-White Fang member roaming the streets at night, gobbling up any humans that cross her path."

Melanie gave a mocking gasp, "You aren't full after spending so long with me~? That's quite the appetite~"

Olivia giggled, picking out the rest of her clothes and putting them on one by one, like a reverse strip tease meant to leave the other girl wanting for more, "As if you were any better~ A week away left you chomping at the bit. I'm surprised you didn't tear my clothes off as soon as I walked in."

Melanie brushed her hair to the side dramatically, "Patience is a virtue. Besides, I'd hardly want to ruin the good mood you were in. What's got you on cloud nine?"

Olivia paused in the middle of pulling her pants up with a frown, "I suppose some good happened today. The Princess and I have come to an agreement, of sorts. One that I think might actually work out in the long run."

"The Schnee?" Melanie rolled on to her side and propped her head up with an elbow, finger slowly trailing a circle on her hip, "Turning enemies into friends?"

"'Friends' is a strong word," Olivia scoffed lightly, but paused for a moment in consideration before continuing, "I guess we moved to acquaintances, at least. I'm going to try and sleep in my dorm tonight."

"Wow, progress," Melanie replied with a hint of genuine surprise, "Keep it up and you might even shake hands one day."

"Sacrilege," Olivia smirked, finished getting dressed. She walked to Melanie's side of the bed and leaned down for a kiss. What she didn't expect was for the girl to grab a fistful of her shirt and pull her back down on top of her. Olivia enjoyed her embrace for a minute longer, running a hand along her body in all the right places, before pulling away with a breathless sigh.

Melanie gave her a wink, "A reminder not to forget me~"

"How could I?" Olivia laughed and turned to leave, stopping to swipe her scroll off the counter.

"Be careful out there~ Now that you mentioned them, I did hear that the White Fang has been a lot more active lately," Melanie shrugged, "Not that they're anything that you would need to worry about, Miss Lotus. Buuuuut, I thought I'd tell you all the same."

Olivia paused at the door, "They haven't been causing any trouble around here, I hope?"

Melanie shook her head, "No. Been killing folks and robbing dust shops, though. Cops have been getting really antsy, doing stakeouts all over the place. Just don't act too shifty and they shouldn't give you any problems."

Olivia put a hand to her chest as if offended, "Me? Shifty? Why, I'm as innocent as they come, swear to Oum!" With that, she flashed a final grin and disappeared through the door, closing it lightly behind herself.

Being only half past ten on a Saturday, the club below was still thick with patrons when Olivia made her way back downstairs. Even in her combat outfit, many others nearby gave her a leering glance, one that she was all too familiar with after so many visits to Junior's. Olivia ignored them, found an empty stool to sit down in, and waved the man himself over.

"Hey, Lotus," Junior slid a glass over to her and reached up to the top shelf behind himself, knowing what drinks she preferred. He turned back around and uncorked the bottle, filling that glass to the brim.

"Business is looking good, like usual," Olivia replied kindly, taking a glance around the packed room for good measure.

"Eh, the club is doin' alright," Junior recorked the bottle and returned it to the shelf before leaning on the counter so that he was closer to Olivia. His voice dropped lower, "I've been meaning to ask you for a favor, if you don't mind…"

Olivia shrugged, "No promises I can accept, but you've been good to me. What's the problem?"

Junior sighed, "With all these dust shops that have been gettin' robbed, the cops have started cracking down on my usual dealers. I don't pay for my men's dust ammunition legitimately, too much of a paper trail. I was wondering if you could run protection for some of my guys. They're gonna hit up a shop in a little while, not too much, and we won't be killing the owner. We aren't idiots. Still need 'em to get more product, otherwise it all dries up in the end. Whaddya say?"

"Hmmm…" Olivia sat back on her stool and gave it some consideration, "Just running protection? In case of what? I'm trying to keep a low profile here."

"I know, I know. They're going to a shadier part of town. No cameras, usually not any cops either. Should be a cinch, but if somethin' does go down, I'd certainly feel good about you being there to have their backs."

'Well, refusing a request for help is definitely something a huntress should never do,' Olivia smirked quietly, "You've got my number. Send me the address and I'll be there," she stared closely into Junior's eyes, locking him in place with the fierceness of her gaze, "If one of your men gets trigger happy, then I'm out."

Junior nodded his assent, "You got it, swords only. Thanks for this, Lotus. I owe you one."

Olivia smirked, "Yeah, well. You keep letting Melanie take time off whenever I want it and you can consider that debt paid."

"Done," Junior chuckled and pulled out his scroll, sending Olivia the directions. With one final chug, she slapped the glass back down on the counter and nodded as she left, letting her scroll's navigation lead her out of the building and along Vale's darkened streets towards her destination.

Olivia could definitely see what Junior had meant about it being a 'shadier' part of town. The streetlights were blown out and left in disrepair more often than not, 'On second thought, maybe I've been around Yang too long. Other people don't tend to make puns that often...' As she went deeper, the trash lining the streets grew more frequent as well.

'Spilled trash cans, newspaper being blown in the wind, carts filled with cardboard boxes and mismatched junk, overflowing dumpsters…' Olivia took a deep breath and let it out in one elongated sigh, 'Almost feels like home.'

The dust shop that Junior's men were going to hit came into view further down the street. Olivia masked her presence among the shadows and continued on, keeping herself far from the few lights that remained functioning in the dimly lit street. Here and there, a neon sign announced one business or another. Many of those even flickered erratically, as if their power would go out any minute and never come on again.

Olivia leaned back against the wall of an alleyway across the street from their mark and waited, keeping both an eye and an ear out for Junior's men. Before long, her patience paid off as a group of men in black suits with red glasses and swords strapped to their hips came waltzing down the sidewalk in her direction.

Olivia waited until they were a handful of feet away before stepping out in front of them, arms crossed with a no-nonsense expression, "Alright, listen up. I'm sure Junior has already given you the rundown, but I want to be very clear about how this is going to go. Are you all listening?"

A few of them gave nervous nods of their heads, while others stood rooted in fear. 'Once again, my infamy proceeds me.'

"Good. There is one rule when you go in there. I don't care how much dust you take. I don't care if you take the cash from his registers. But if you kill him…" Olivia gave it a moment for her words to sink in, and then leveled them all with her fiercest glare, "Then I. Kill. You… Sounds fair, right?"

The entire group nodded their heads vigorously, a few resheathing the swords that they had already drawn in preparation. Olivia stepped back into the alley and waved them past as she did so, watching the group dart nervous glances back at her as they crossed the street to the awaiting dust shop.

The group of thugs barged through the front door, raising their voices threateningly and being very careful not to swing their weapons too close to the clerk. They pulled out dust containers from their bags and grabbed some from the shop itself before beginning to fill them up with what was on display.

After a few minutes, the group dispersed back into the street, making a run for it into the various shadowed alleys of the night. With a glance inside, Olivia could see the shop owner holding his head in his hands, clearly devastated, yet unharmed.

'Should have learned to defend yourself if you're going to sell dust,' Olivia scoffed quietly to herself, 'Shops in Mistral bar their doors by the time night rolls around, and have four or more guards on duty at a time,' her eyes roamed over the glass front, the wooden door, and the weak, singular person working the register, 'You were just asking to get robbed.'

With a small shrug, Olivia began to whistle as she walked back the way she'd came. Red and blue lights flashed behind, signalling the arrival of the police. A second car appeared, and a third. The last one approached from the opposite direction, it's flashing lights catching on to Olivia as she walked along the sidewalk.

The car grounded to a halt, it's sirens blaring once to announce the officers' presence before two policemen hopped out of the car.

"Excuse me? Awfully convenient for a faunus like you to be around the scene of a crime," the driver held his badge up, as if Olivia didn't just watch him step out of a police car, "May I ask what you were doing in this area?"

'Typical…'

"Look, I've got places to be, alright? I don't have time to play cops and robbers, so how about you hop back in your little vehicle and leave me in peace?"

"You'd better watch your sass, kid."

"And you'd better watch your backs," Olivia snapped, her temper getting the better of her.

Both of the officers drew their weapons and leveled them at Olivia, their faces hardening at the threat she'd made. It was pretty tame, as far as threats go, 'At least in Mistral it would be… These guys don't seem quite as seasoned.'

"Do you even know how to use that thing?" Olivia raised an eyebrow, staring down the guns they had raised, "I bet you've shot that one time all year, and that was on accident."

"That's enough lip out of you, faunus!" the second officer shouted, planting his elbows against the hood of the car to steady his aim on Olivia's chest with his own pistol, "Now cooperate, or we'll have no other option but to use force."

Olivia snorted before she could stop herself, and brought a hand up to hold in front of her mouth as her shoulders were racked with barely suppressed laughter, "Oh, I dare you. No, please. Pull the trigger. See what happens."

The driver glared, clicking the safety off on his weapon, "Are you threatening a police officer?"

Olivia sneered, "Are you trying to detain me for no reason?"

"There was a robbery only a block away, and the White Fang could have been involved!"

Olivia spun a circle, arms wide, "Do I look like I have a mask on me? I really hope you're not gunning for a detective position. I don't think a dumbass like you has got what it takes."

"That's enough!" the officer fumed, beginning to slowly approach Olivia while his partner flanked off to her other side, "You're coming in for questioning, for suspicion of theft."

"Oh, a classic," Olivia rolled her eyes, "Because I'm a faunus, obviously I must be a thief as well. Real progressive of you, pigs."

As they approached, Olivia felt a presence drop down from the roof above, back turned to her with his hand on the long bladed weapon at his side. The policemen staggered back in surprise, raising their guns to fire.

The figure became a momentary blur of black clothes, with both red hair, and a red-bladed katana. In but a few seconds, both officers fell to the ground clutching at their throats while blood poured free, the last vestiges of consciousness allowing their bodies to twitch within their own crimson pools.

The red-headed faunus wiped his sword on one of their coats and sheathed it before turning to Olivia. She could now properly see the horns sticking up out of his head, and the unique White Fang mask that decorated his face.

Olivia patted him on the shoulder nonchalantly, "Thanks, stranger. Glad I didn't need to get my own hands a little dirty."

"Don't mention it…" he looked Olivia up and down, eyes finally seeming to settle on the black veins running up her forearm. He nodded in understanding, "You must be Lotus. Widow told me about you."

"Did she? I never really took her for the 'doting mother that shares stories about her daughter' type," Olivia shrugged, "I bet she'd make a great soccer mom, though. Really help me kill the competition."

"Widow has been a great asset this past week. I'm glad I allowed her to join and stand by my side."

"And you are…?" Olivia thought she already had some idea, but it seemed like confirming it would be the best first step.

"Adam. Adam Taurus," he held his hand out, and Olivia shook it. As much as Blake despised him, killing humans wasn't exactly a negative in Olivia's book. Adam's grip was firm, and confident. It spoke of a man that knew what he wanted, and was willing to stain his soul in order to accomplish it.

"Well, Adam. As thankful as I am for the save, I do need to get back to Beacon before my 'curfew' comes up. It was nice meeting you," Olivia broke free from the handshake and gave a polite wave, beginning to continue past and leave the White Fang leader behind.

"You know, I was surprised when she told me you were harboring a Schnee," Adam called out to her from behind in icy tones. His hand returned to gripping his sword, muscles tensing, "Do you want to give me one good reason not to kill you for that?"

Olivia's appendages came out fully, hovering in the air between herself and Adam, poised to strike if he had any foolish ideas. She turned back around with a confident smile, one born of countless fights where she had come out on top.

The Black Lotus always did.

Olivia shrugged, "Because you'll die trying, Adam. I have no excuses to give, none that I would want to waste my breath on. As far as I'm concerned, you're as unthreatening as those policemen were. If you value your life…" she smiled darkly, "You'll do as Widow suggested. I am not some thug to be trifled with. I've killed more humans and faunus than the paltry sum of your entire faction combined. Test me… and you'll only be adding yourself to the list of fools that should have known better."

The tension built higher, with Adam's muscles bulging, his hand clutching the sword's hilt in a white knuckled grip. After a few seconds, though… he relaxed. Adam's hand fell free of the sword once more, and he instead brought it up to hold his mask while he devolved into a mad cackle.

"Oh, that was good. You gave me chills," Adam's laughter died off slowly, finally shaking his head with a wide smile still on his face, "Widow told me you wouldn't back down, but I had to see it for myself. I'll grant the heiress your 'off limits' rule for now."

"Glad I could offer you some entertainment for your troubles," Olivia smirked, then turned once more to leave, "See you around, Adam. I hope to hear about the great things being done by the White Fang here in Vale. Make the faunus proud."

"I plan on it, Sister," Adam bowed his head slightly, then proceeded to vanish into the adjacent alleyway.

Olivia sighed and continued on her way, back into the busier portions of the city, and eventually back to the bullheads to Beacon. With a short flight up to the cliff, Olivia returned to the Rainbow dorm room. Even as she unlocked the door, she could already tell that Blake was the sole person still awake within.

Olivia gave a polite wave as she entered. Blake's ears were fully perked beneath their bow, bound and hidden for as long as the heiress or Ruby would be in the room. The cat faunus returned the wave, taking her eyes off the book in her lap to look closely at Olivia.

"You were out late," Blake whispered simply, though a tiny smile raised the corner of her lips. That smile grew hesitant for a moment, "Anything I should be worried about?"

Olivia considered revealing her short conversation with Adam, but thought better of it. That would only serve to make Blake more fearful of her own situation. Olivia nodded over to Ruby, a soft smile coming to her lips as she noticed the sleepy smile on the younger girl's face, "I promised Ruby we'd do whatever she wanted tomorrow. Sorry, but I'm volunteering you for that as well. I don't know what she wants to do, but if it's something boring…" Olivia shrugged, "I could use you around."

Blake grumbled quietly and looked over at their team leader. Her expression lightened somewhat, seeing the way Ruby had chosen to use her blanket more as a full body pillow to snuggle against. Blake glanced back down to Olivia and nodded, "I guess I'll tag along."

"Great!" Olivia whispered in thanks. She began to undress and change into her sleepwear, a simple black tank top and purple low rise shorts. Olivia could feel Blake averting her gaze the entire time to give her some semblance of privacy, and couldn't help but chuckle quietly.

With a yawn, Olivia crawled into bed and pulled the blankets loosely overtop herself, burying her body into the mattress as snugly as she could. Even with her eyes closed, her sixth sense was acutely focused on the three other girls in the room. Ruby was as close to unthreatening as her sixth sense could perceive someone, barely registering the minute vibrations coming off her body. By comparison, Weiss was an aggressive pulse beating at the back of Olivia's mind, a constant warning, a Schnee flagged as an enemy.

"Are you okay?" Blake whispered from above, leaning partially off the side to get a look down on Olivia below her, "You're shuffling around a lot."

Olivia sighed in frustration, staring over at the heiress, "It's Weiss… maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. It's like trying to sleep with a car alarm going off right next to me."

Blake winced, looking over to Weiss as well, "Is there anything you could do to make it easier?"

Olivia frowned, "Aside from visiting Ren…?" she shook her head, "There is one thing that might work, but it would be creepy to do while she's asleep."

"What's that? You should give it a shot."

Olivia shrugged uncomfortably, "Spider faunus usually feel each other most aggressively. We use exposure to lessen the signal… Something as simple as a long handshake would be enough. I've never tried it with a human before, though…" she sighed, "I'm not about to go feel the Princess up while she's sleeping."

"Well… maybe if you wake her up, she'll be okay with it?" there wasn't much hope in Blake's suggestion.

Olivia scoffed, "As if. She'll probably think I'm messing with her or trying to cop a feel, then say something racist about faunus falling back on basic instincts…"

Blake winced, "You… never know until you try, though. I think she wants our team to work out as much as we do. I'd at least shake your hand if it meant letting you get a comfortable night's rest."

"Yeah, but you're reasonable."

"Weiss hasn't been that bad so far, Olivia. Give her a chance to prove you wrong."

Olivia stared at the white-haired heiress for a few minutes longer, trying to reign in her sixth sense on her own, but to no avail. No matter how she tried to change her own perception of the heiress, the steady thrum of a warning remained.

"You're sure I should do this?"

"If Weiss gets angry, I'll tell her I put you up to it. At least then you can avoid some of the fallout."

"...Okay," Olivia slipped out from beneath her blankets, feet lightly treading across the cold wooden floor. She crossed the ten foot gap to the other set of beds and bent down next to Weiss. Her hand paused in midair, indecision eating away at her resolve now that she was only inches away from the cause of her distress.

Trying to release her anxiety with a slow exhale, Olivia placed her hand on Weiss's shoulder and shook her lightly, whispering the heiress's name quietly so that she could avoid waking Ruby as well.

Weiss stirred awake, her eyes dimly blinking open to stare into Olivia's face. The faunus retracted her hand immediately, wanting to avoid crossing any boundaries with the heiress so soon. Weiss yawned and sat up, stretching her arms out above her head, a small squeak escaping her lips that Olivia pretended not to hear.

Weiss breathed out a long sigh at the end of her stretch, "What do you want, Olivia? It's almost midnight…"

Olivia rubbed the back of her head nervously, glancing between the heiress and the floor, "I've been trying to sleep, but… with you around, I just... can't."

"Is this another ploy to get me to leave…?"

Olivia waved a hand dismissively, "No, nothing like that. It's just… spider faunus have a sixth sense, and with you showing up as basically alarm bells in my ears, it's a little tough to fall asleep. There's something I wanted to try, if you wouldn't mind… It's what spider faunus do with each other to relax…"

Weiss recoiled slightly, pulling her blankets higher up her chest, "A-and that would be…?"

Olivia went slightly red in the face, illuminated enough by the moonlight streaming in through the shades that she was sure even the heiress would be able to see with her human eyes, "We need to... touch each other… Nothing extreme… but I'm hoping it'll work the same way…"

Weiss's hands dropped slightly as she bit her lip. Her eyes roamed over Olivia, seeing that the faunus was clearly as uncomfortable asking as Weiss would be if she accepted.

"Well… I did promise to be a good teammate…" Weiss looked Olivia over, "W-would a hug be enough, or…?"

Olivia had a momentary desire to tease the heiress, but squashed it viciously. Weiss was going out of her way to be considerate, and Olivia couldn't help but be appreciative. She nodded firmly, "Yeah, that should be enough. I just… I'll let go when my senses calm down, if that's alright with you?"

Weiss returned her nod with some hesitation, then forced Olivia to back away from her bed as she stood. The heiress's cheeks burned red, but she held her arms wide and closed her eyes, "Wh-whenever you're ready…"

Olivia slowly pulled Weiss against her chest and wrapped her arms around her back, fighting against the warning signals in her mind that told her to flee, to attack, to rid herself of this creature that threatened her very existence. Weiss's body was rigid at first, arms still tightly held out to the side. After a few seconds, though, her body softened, and her arms wrapped around Olivia's back in return with a surprising firmness, pulling her against the heiress.

Olivia melted into the embrace. Something about the way Weiss held her showed the heiress's own need for affection. Like a man in the desert, desperate for a sip of water… Weiss held her as if this was the first time she'd even touched another person in years. In that instant, Olivia understood why Weiss enjoyed the song she had been humming. Even with all the money in the world at her disposal… she was lonely.

The spider faunus closed her eyes and breathed out a contented sigh. The pulse from her sixth sense began to lessen, bit by bit, second by second, until finally, she may as well have been hugging Blake. Olivia kept up the contact for a while longer. Not for her own benefit, but for the heiress's.

Finally, after a few minutes had passed, Olivia pulled away reluctantly, "You know… you're really good at hugs."

"Thank you," Weiss remarked lightly, a tiny smile tugging at her lips, "I suppose we'll have to do this every night until you've fully acclimated to me?" there was a tinge of hope in Weiss's voice, along with a blush on her cheeks, though she tried to hide it.

"Not-" Olivia cut herself off, thinking about the feeling she had received through Weiss's touch, and shared a small smile with the heiress, "Yeah. It might take a while, so I hope you're alright with that."

"Of course," Weiss replied easily, "Anything for my team. I'm happy to help."

Olivia placed a tentative hand on Weiss's shoulder, surprised only slightly when the heiress didn't protest. She smiled, "Thank you, Weiss."

Weiss nodded before retreating back beneath her blankets and rolling over to face the wall. She let out a barely audible, "Goodnight, Olivia," before Olivia felt her close her eyes. Within moments, her breathing had returned to a calm, slow pattern that suggested she was already asleep once more.

Olivia turned back around to shoot Blake a warning glance, then returned to her bed and slipped back beneath the covers. If Weiss found out the other girl had been awake, she might not be as comfortable with what they had done. Olivia closed her eyes and felt outwards once more, then jolted them back open in surprise, staring at the heiress's back. Not only had Weiss been reduced to the same level as Blake, but perhaps because of the feeling Olivia had received through the contact… She was now nearly as low of a threat as Ruby herself.

With a smile quirking her lips, Olivia shut her eyes once more and got comfortable. Though she might never tell the others, right then, in that bed, surrounded by the three other girls… she finally felt like a member of team Rainbow.

'We still need to work on that name, though…'

Best ship name wins a cookie? Pity that Frostbite is taken by Adam x Weiss. *shudders*

It'll be a very slow burn with turbulence to come in the future as the story itself develops.

Fate has done some awful things to Olivia in her lifetime. Is she past due for a sliver of happiness? Or will everything once more fall apart when she's so close to obtaining what she seeks?

Thanks for reading,

- Sybaen

PS - Black Lotus will be releasing on Tuesdays for the foreseeable future.