"Uh, sir?"

Roman sighed, closing his eyes. Every damn time he tried to slip away for a moment of peace. . . Slowly, he lowered his lighter, removing the fresh cigar from his lips. Roman unclenched his jaw and turned around, turning the corner to walk back to the scene of his most recent crime. A Faunus was standing nervous in front of him, damn near quaking in her boots. Perry stood next to her, rolling his eyes behind his thick glasses. Several of their companions were loading boxes of Dust into a get-away truck.

"What could possibly be so import -" Roman began to ask, twirling his cigar in his fingers. He didn't get a chance to finish his question.

"There's been a Huntsman sighting in this area," Perry said, interrupting him and getting right to the point. If there was any Faunus Roman liked, it was Perry. He didn't waste any time and did the job right from the beginning.

"How?" Roman hissed, eyes narrowing. He shoved his cigar and lighter in his pocket, pulling out his Scroll a moment later.

"W-we think it was civilian," the other Faunus, some type of horned thing, reported. "Jade saw a curtain flash and the current suspicion was that the person called the police, who called in the Hunter."

"Fantastic," Roman muttered, pulling up Cinder's contact and sending her a quick message to update her on the situation. He snapped his gaze back up at Perry, now frowning. "Grab whatever else you can and be out of here within the next five minutes. You leave, or I leave you for the Hunter."

Roman spun on his heel, not even bothering to catch Perry's nod as he led the other Faunus back to the truck. He had an area to search.

The streets were too calm for Roman's liking. Normally, there was some drunk or some prostitute or some idiot kid sneaking home from a night at a friend's house that went on too long. Faunus running from hate crimes. Police patrol. Hunters-in-Training learning the city.

Fucking anything except utter stillness.

Roman cursed under his breath and sighed, placing his head in his palm. Maybe it'd been a false alarm. It wasn't like it'd hurt them to get away from a crime scene as quickly as possible. Roman gave one last glancing sweep of the area before beginning to make his way back to his robbery.

The truck wasn't there.

Roman paused, blinked, and refused to run. Very slowly, cane clacking with every step, Roman took purposeful strides to where the vehicle had been parked. Tire tracks clearly led in the direction of where their base lay, and there was no scent of blood nor sight of body.

But there was the distinct feeling that he was being watched.

Roman stood to his full height, taking careful consideration of the buildings around him. Brick with no sign of a struggle. A flock of birds on the rafters. Drawn curtains and barely a breeze to be found. A broken window, his expert work. Which the Faunus had left him to take the fall for. Bastards.

Keeping his back to the wall, Roman slipped down the alley his truck had taken, navigating his way to the center of the alley-scape. Roman had known the backstreets of Vale for years, committing them to memory as soon as he had made his way into the city-state to make his mark. The flock of birds took to the sky.

Roman took a right as sirens began to blare in the distance, mentally mapping his way through the city. He needed the quickest, safest route. . .

One that, preferably, didn't have him being followed. Roman turned, raising Melodic Cudgel in his hands at the last possible second to block the incoming blow. He slid backward several feet, but remained standing as his assailant landed on the ground just where Roman himself had stood not a moment ago. Roman frowned, switching Melodic Cudgel into his right hand and tilting his head back to get a better view of the man now in front of him.

"So you're the Hunter."

Roman didn't get an answer as the man charged him, bouncing off of the wall to slam into him once more. Roman smirked, going on the defensive and parrying every strike that was thrown at him. He grunted as he was shoved back several more feet by a powerful blow, setting his jaw after the impact had rocked through him and his weapon. It was an unfortunate situation for Roman; the red-eyed man had an advantage in reach, height, and strength. Probably experience too, as he stood back, smirking in his own right. Roman had little options left.

"Let me guess. You're not gonna let me go, are you?"

He still didn't speak, pausing only to frown before lunging at Roman at a blinding clip that he barely managed to dodge. Roman stabbed with Melodic Cudgel, aiming for the kidneys. The man practically pirouetted, slipping past his jab and countering with a kick to Roman's head.

Roman leaned back, letting the kick sail past his head. The man immediately brought his sword down, aiming to cleave Roman's chest in two. Roman dropped to the ground, rolled to the side, and let the ground itself take the blow. The concrete shattered, and Roman leapt to his feet, not hesitating to open Melodic Cudgel's scope and fire off a shot at point-blank range.

Roman didn't wait to see if the blast had landed, peeling off into the leftmost alleyway. Police sirens rang in his ears as his explosion rocked through the buildings, shaking foundation and dust loose.

He slid to the left as a sword swept through the night air, slamming into a wall and letting his Aura tank the impact. Roman's hand came up and gripped his upper right arm, the cloth of his jacket now in tatters. At least it hadn't broken skin.

The Hunter stood opposite to him, and Roman only smiled at him before taking off once more. Several shots rang into the night, and Roman snapped back into position, his cane blocking each bullet before they could hit him. The Hunter snapped his sword back into proper position, and Roman didn't bother looking down either alley, not that he had the time to. The Hunter shot forward again, and Roman raised Melodic Cudgel to parry the strike.

He snapped back a riposte to the head, turning the Hunter's blade to the side so he couldn't counter Roman's jab. At the same time, Roman kicked his leg up, aiming for the Hunter's side. Neither blow landed, as the Hunter leapt backward, bringing his sword back up at the same time, pointed right at Roman's throat.

Melodic Cudgel was raised at the same moment, their weapons inches from each other and their arms parallel. Roman moved first, setting off a firework in the Hunter's chest. He ducked under the sword before it could slice into his neck, and darted down the right alley.

Roman didn't make it far.

Hell, he didn't even get a chance to turn around.

The Hunter slammed into the back of his knee, moving faster than Roman could've ever expected him to be able to. Roman fell flat on his back, his forward momentum turned against him. Before he could kip up to his feet, the Hunter was on top of his lap, breathing labored. He didn't have his weapon -Roman took that as a small victory-, but it didn't matter. As Roman had expected, the Hunter was much, much stronger than he. Roman's arms were pulled up and above his head, one hand on each side of his skull, pinned down at the wrists.

"Well, aren't you kinky,~" he teased, unable to look away from the Hunter's burning red eyes. "Do I at least get your name?"

The Huntsman paused, glancing over to the side. "Qrow Branwen. Doesn't matter."

Well, now he had a name. Roman smirked, and Qrow only pressed him harder into the ground. The sirens grew closer, their whine cutting through the night and piercing his ears. Roman winced slightly, before giving Qrow an innocent smile.

"You know, I'm not sure the police will enjoy finding us like this.~"

"Don't think I'll just let you g -"

Roman leaned up, cutting Qrow off before he could finish his threat. Qrow's hands went slack around Roman's wrists, and Roman took the opportunity to free a hand and wrap it around the back of Qrow's head, keeping him in the kiss. Roman slid out from under Qrow, now kneeling in front of him. Qrow remained in the same position, eyes opening in shock as Roman moved Qrow's hands in-between their bodies, now pinning him. Roman pulled back, slightly breathless as Qrow kneeled there in open-mouthed shock.

"I -"

"Nice meeting you," Roman said, smoothly sliding to his feet and taking a few steps back. He reached down and grabbed Melodic Cudgel, eyes heavy with lust. Roman licked his lips, swinging his hips as he moved into the darkness of the alleyway. Roman shot a glance over his shoulder, unable to keep a smirk from forming as he saw Qrow reach up to his lips with trembling fingers.

"Maybe I'll be seeing you around, chickadee.~"