It was 3:50 in the afternoon, and Yang knew she was going to be late. Late to the chief's office, late to dinner with Weiss after work. Late, late, late.

This wasn't the first time she's been late to something like this, and by now her fellow detectives understood that if you told Yang to meet you at a certain time, she wouldn't show up until 5-10 minutes after your designated time.

Yang's laziness wasn't because she was lazy or tardy, however. Yang just simply operated on her own time and schedule. She knew she was important and the work she was doing was important, and if someone couldn't spare her the precious 5-10 extra minutes, then they were simply just getting in the way of Yang's relentless pursuit of solving whatever case she was on.

Yang rounded the corner and approached Chief Ozpin's office. She was about to knock when she saw Ozpin peer up from his desk through the window, and then beckoned her to enter with his right hand. Seated across from Ozpin, Yang could see the back of a slender, tall figure with jet black, silky hair done in a ponytail and black cat ears standing straight up. Yang opened the door.

"Miss Xiao Long! Have a seat," Ozpin said.

"Oz," Yang said as a greeting to the commissioner before shaking Ozpin's hand. As she did so, Yang turned to get a better look of the black-haired woman.

The black-haired faunus turned her head towards Yang. The first thing Yang noticed was the woman's piercing golden eyes, followed by her sharp facial features. Yang flashed a smile to this mysterious new woman and outstretched her hand to shake.

"How do you do?" Yang offered as her greeting.

The woman, face still hard as stone, met Yang's hand with a firm grip and shook it.

"Hello," the black-haired woman said softly before turning her head to Ozpin again. Yang's smile quickly faded as she then took a seat next to the woman.

"Yang, this is Detective Blake Belladonna. She's your new partner," Ozpin said. "Blake had been working in the narcotics division before she accepted a transfer into our division, Robbery and Homicide. She previously worked in the Mountain Glenn offices prior to this, which is why you haven't seen much of her."

"Hm. Well, pleasure to meet you!" Yang cheerily said as she turned to Blake.

"Likewise," Blake replied coolly.

"Blake is going to take the desk across from you, she'll be moving in next morning," Ozpin said. "I trust that you'll be able to show her around the offices and get her caught up to speed about the cases you and her will be working?"

"Sure thing," Yang replied, "I'll be sure to do so first thing tomorrow. Now, uh, I gotta run, if you don't mind?"

Ozpin quickly checked his watch before turning back to Yang.

"I suppose it's already quitting time for the day, isn't it, detectives? Well, Blake, glad to have you join our division, and if you ever need any help, you know where my desk is at," Ozpin replied.

"Thank you, commissioner," Blake said before turning to Yang, "and I look forward to working with you."

"Likewise," Yang replied, flashing one last smile before leaving the room.


Yang Xiao Long: You wanna know what I thought about Blake when I first met her?

Pyrrha Nikos: That's correct.

YXL: I thought she was stuck up.

Jaune Arc: That's it?

YXL: Well, no, there was more. To say she was intense would be an understatement. She had this...I don't know, energy I guess? She felt different, far different from any of the partners I ever had before. She could look at you and it felt like she was picking you apart piece by piece.

JA: Did you notice anything suspicious about Detective Belladonna from the start?

YXL: No, I figured her whole "cool-hand-Luke" act was just a show to get me scared, to intimidate me. Little did I know, she was really that stone-cold, all the damn time.


Blake Belladonna: I thought I knew exactly the type of cop I got saddled with when I first met Yang.

Lie Ren: How so?

BB: Well, she came strolling in wearing some pastel white sports coat with a blue dress shirt, aviator glasses tucked neatly in the chest pocket. Plus, the long blonde hair, the pretty face, flashy and cheery demeanor...I thought she was some cop on reality TV.

Nora Valkyrie: [Laughs] So, what, every good-looking detective is a TV cop to you?

BB: Everything in her appearance was ticking all the boxes of a typical cop, some adrenaline junkie who just wanted to be paid to shove guns in poor people's faces. But if there's one thing I learned in this line of work, it's that appearances are deceiving. And once I got to know Yang, deep down, I knew she wasn't some TV cop. She was the real deal.


It took about an hour for Yang to quickly change out of her work clothes and throw on a dress, then drive over to the restaurant to meet Weiss. Turns out, she was only 3 minutes late instead of 5 for her date with Weiss, which was a minor victory in Yang's case. Still, Yang could tell Weiss wasn't amused with the way Yang came darting into the restaurant, out of breath.

"Hey...Babe," Yang said between labored breaths as she sat down at Weiss's table.

If Yang had the air in her lungs to do so, she would've told Weiss she looked stunning tonight: Weiss had let her stark-white hair down, hanging like silky curtains around her shoulders. She was wearing a felt-black dress that hung from a strap tied around her neck. The only thing that bothered Yang was the frown and glare Weiss was currently shooting in her direction.

"Did you forget again?" Weiss asked flatly.

"No, of course not!" Yang gasped. "I got off work late again, I just got assigned a new partner and had to meet her."

Weiss rolled her eyes before a smirk grew on her face.

"This is like, what, the 5th time you used work as an excuse?" Weiss asked.

"Well, I'm here, princess, and that's what matters," Yang said, flashing Weiss a toothy grin. Weiss's cold demeanor completely melted into a warm smile.

"You are a hopeless fool, Xiao Long," Weiss said.

"Well, you're dating this hopeless fool, so what does that make you?" Yang replied. Weiss let a small chuckle in response. Not a second later, a waiter in a bowtie glided up to Yang and Blake's table.

"Good evening, madams," the waiter declared, "Welcome to Ristorante di Viadotto. Have you two dined here before?"

"Sure have," Yang replied.

"Perfetto. May I interest you two in something to drink?"

"I'll take a L'Americano cocktail," Weiss said. "And… let me guess. Strawberry Sunrise for you, Yang?"

"You know it," Yang said with a grin. "The small umbrellas too, if you have them."

"Absolutely. I'll be right back with your drinks," the waiter said before turning around.


JA: You were dating Weiss Schnee? As in President Schnee's daughter, Weiss Schnee? The public defender?

YXL: Yeah. Well, it was just Councilman Schnee at the time, he was still campaigning for President.

JA: How in the world did you get Weiss Schnee to date you in the first place?

YXL: I ask that myself every day. [laughs] The tabloids and political publications that Jacques Schnee has in his pocket will probably tell you some bullshit story about how we met at some fundraising community event for police, but I actually met her in a speakeasy south of Vale. This was a shady-ass speakeasy, mind you. Not some trendy bar in the Downtown district that yuppies like golden boy Arc here would go to after work. She stuck out like a sore thumb, and she was sitting alone at the bar. I figured I should do my civic duty as an officer and stick with her so she could get out of there in one piece. I was just going to buy her one drink, then send her on her way. Turns out, Weiss Schnee would be the one escorting me out, and next thing I knew, she was taking me to bed.

JA: What was Weiss Schnee doing in a bar like that in the first place?

YXL: Trust me, there's a side to Weiss that you'd never know. She don't look it, but she's street-smart in her own rights.


"You know, I can talk to my sister if you don't like this new partner of yours," Weiss said, "see if she can get you a new one."

"No, no," Yang said. "Don't do that. Last thing your family needs is a case of nepotism while they're under the microscope."

"It's not nepotism, it's simply...optimizing the workplace!" Weiss replied cheerily. "Besides, like I give a damn about what happens to my family."

Yang took another stab out of her plate of calamari before returning to Weiss.

"Weiss, c'mon, don't say that," Yang said, while chewing. "You only get one family. You're lucky to have a family like yours. Don't push 'em away."

"Yeah, well, you've never met my father," Weiss snarkily replied.

"Well, with the amount of political ads he's been running on TV, I feel like I know him better than my own father at this point," Yang said. Weiss snickered as a response before quietly shaking her head.

"Everywhere I go, I can't escape him," Weiss griped. "I can't work a case without someone bringing up his name to me. I see him in the news all the time, spouting his bullshit vitriol about how he's going to push the Faunus out of Vale..."

Weiss sighed before shaking her head again.

"This campaign is tearing our family apart," Weiss softly said. "I can tell Mom is suffering. All the tabloids keep talking about her, picking her apart and painting her as the degenerate lush wife. Winter is tired, too. She just wants to do her damn job. And if Dad wins, Whitley's going to suffer too, he just doesn't know that yet. They're going to go after him the minute Dad takes office if he wins."

Weiss takes another sip of her cocktail, before gazing back up at Yang with big blue eyes.

"Our name is mud now, all because Dad wanted to chase the title of President of Remnant," Weiss said. "The Schnee name is going to be synonymous with fear and hatred for decades to come."

"No it won't, Weiss," Yang replied. "You and your sister are still fightin' the good fight, right? I mean, people got to know that. I see you on the ground every day, busting your ass on civil liberties cases left and right. You're fighting for the little guy, whether you know it or not."

Yang reached over and caressed Weiss's cheek with her right hand.

"Hey," Yang said, her lilac eyes locked onto Weiss's. "You're not your father. Don't forget that."

Weiss grabbed ahold of Yang's hand as she flashed Yang a brief smile before returning to her glum expression.

"My Dad'll come for you too, you know that right?" Weiss said. "As long as you're with me, he won't leave you alone."

"Let him come," Yang said, her eyes narrowing in anger. "I'll show him how we do it out here, on the streets-"

"Yang, I'm being serious," Weiss said. "This isn't just some problem you can beat the shit out of."

"I know, I know," Yang said, patting Weiss's hand. "Look, I love you, okay?"

"I love you too," Weiss whispered in return.


LR: How long did you work with Yang after that, and what type of cases did you work?

BB: About 3, 4 months. We were working fairly routine cases to start off with. Mostly BE's in Vale's industrial district, a few liquor store robberies back in Mountain Glenn. We even had one or two homicide cases, but they were usually amateur, gang-related shootings with plenty of security cam evidence. All of them were open and shut cases, and we had the perps in custody less than 12 hours after the shooting.

NV: So you two got to know each other before the Forever Fall Triple Homicide?

BB: Correct.

NV: What can you tell us about that case?

B: [Scoffs] Well, where do I begin?