A/N Sorry that this whole chapter is flashback, but I didn't really have time or inspiration to write any present day stuff yet. I haven't decided yet, but from my plan, it's looking like the next might be a fully flashback chapter too...so if you really don't want that just let me know and I'll do my best to re-plan.

I hope you enjoy anyway :)

Chapter nine
Emma intensely chewed at her nails as she stared out of the window. A hand on her shoulder forced her to look around from the road flashing by outside of the bus and she looked over to the brunette staring at the with concern written all over her face.
"What?" the blonde asked with a frown.
"I can practically feel the anxiety radiating off of you, Swan," Talia laughed, "what are you so nervous about?"
Emma bit the inside of her cheek and looked back outside of the window for a split moment. It was obvious that they had already entered New York and would soon be stopping at the bus terminal and that thought filled her with more anxiety than she was sure she should be feeling. She had spent years in New York City and the mere thought of disembarking a bus into the city shouldn't make her nervous.
"What if…" the blonde began, but quickly faltered when she realised that she didn't know how to voice her concerns.
"What if we're not accepted into the clan?" Talia returned in a whisper after she had glanced around to make sure no one else was paying attention to their conversation.
"Yeah…" Emma sighed, "I mean…I've never tried to join anything before…I don't really know how it works…"
"I've never really joined anything either," Talia frowned, "I was born into the Order and they don't exactly cover how to join a clan."
"So…we have no plan?"
The brunette simply shrugged, "I know where we need to go but then I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen. One of them might recognise me as a member of the Order and attack us, or they might just tell us to leave…Or…"
"Or they'll let us join them," Emma sighed as she leaned further back in her chair. She was more than used to a certain level of uncertainty but this was just above and beyond anything that she had ever experienced. Since she had first become a vampire, Talia had told all that she could about what it was like to actually live like this; however, it seemed that the former hunter didn't know as much as she once believed that they did. Since contracting vampirism, she had discovered that they were wrong in many departments, especially when it came to the need to feed. She had been taught that a vampire would be incapable of feeding off anything other than a defenceless human. While human blood certainly tasted better (at least judging by the one time that she had tried it) it was more than possible to survive off blood from an animal and it actually made her feel better to do so.
"So what exactly is the plan then?" Emma asked with a frown, she had clearly been hoping that Talia would know exactly what was going to happen for once, she had hoped that she would at least know what they were up against. It would be nice to know if the clan's first reaction would be to attack.
"We go to the club and we will be recognised as vampires who do not belong to a clan and someone will at least talk to us…it is another matter entirely whether we will be allowed to go any further."
Emma nodded her understanding and looked back out of the window, avoiding eye contact as she asked, "what happens if they don't accept us? We don't have anymore money…"
Talia smiled sadly at the blonde. At least once a day she considered the fact that it would have been kinder to just let her die that night. She wouldn't have to live like this for the rest of eternity, but at the same time, she knew that wouldn't have been an option. When she had seen her best friend bleeding to death before her, she had somehow knew that there was no way that she could let her go, it was almost as if she knew that there was an important reason for the woman to stay alive. not that she could have possibly imagined what that reason could have been.
"We'll figure it out, Em," Talia reassured, though the blonde was still not making eye contact with her, "we always do."
The younger woman made no attempt to reply and Talia placed a hand on her arm, "we'll be in New York in about half an hour and we'll see what happens…"
Emma finally turned to look at her and smiled, "you're right, we'll figure it out."

The music was incredibly loud and Emma just couldn't understand why.
She was fairly certain that there was not a single normal mortal in this entire club and considering that many of the beings here had some kind of enhanced hearing, it was just completely unnecessary. The blonde brought her hand up to her ear, trying to ward off some of the sound, though she refrained from actually covering her ears like a child.
The future saviour was almost certain that there was no way that she would ever get used to these enhanced senses, especially since the world wasn't particularly geared towards immortal vampires who could hear from at least a block away.
She looked over to Talia, who looked just as pained as she felt, though she had a feeling that had more to do with her inner battle than to do with how loud the music was. Emma often had to remind herself that the brunette was actually raised as a hunter and that meant that she would have been moulded to think in a certain way. Her parents would have instilled the thought of vampires being evil since she and her brother were children and she was sure that it would take more than a handful of years to come to terms with the fact that she was now one of them. Before she had been inflicted with this condition, walking into a place like this would have meant that she was looking to kill someone and it certainly would not have meant that she was going to try and join them.
"What do we do?" Emma asked, making sure that she didn't shout, Talia would be able to hear her and she didn't want to run the risk of someone else hearing just in case it would hurt their chances of actually joining.
"Just act like you usually would in a club," Talia replied, instantly smirking when she saw the expression on her friend's face. It was painfully obvious that the blonde was not the type to frequent New York's thriving night life. "Just go up to the bar and ask for a drink…"
Emma nodded, that was certainly something that she could do and she would be lying if she said that she wasn't somewhat excited by the prospect of seeing what kinds of beverage a supernatural club would have to offer. She had been so nervous outside the club, since she was sure that there was no way they would be getting in if the bouncer recognised Talia, but it seemed as though the only thing that the man was interested in was whether they were mortal or not. She wasn't quite sure how but it seemed as though he knew exactly how to tell what species each person was.
After promising that she would be right back, the blonde walked over to the bar and almost sighed in relief when she saw that it didn't appear to be too busy.
The moment she arrived at the bar, a drink was placed in front of her and she furrowed her brow in confusion. The bartender smirked at the girl, it was always easy to tell someone who had been human not too long ago, they always looked as though they were terrified of everything.
"It appears as though someone took pity and ordered for you," he chuckled and nodded over to a brunette woman sat on one of the stools next to the bar.
"Er…" Emma began, briefly wondering whether she should be trusting the strangers. But it occurred to her that she and Talia were here to join a clan, so it would make sense that she should look as though she was on their side. "Thanks…"
The bartender just smirked at her again and walked away to go and serve another person and Emma opened her mouth when she realised that she only had one drink, but she changed her mind and looked back over to the brunette and offered her a tentative smile. The woman just smiled back, though it was nowhere nearly as timid and Emma instantly bit the inside of her cheek. She might be painfully shy, but that didn't mean that she wasn't aware when someone was flirting with her.
She was immediately aware of the fact that this woman was a vampire, which meant that she had no idea how old she was, but she looked to physically be the same age as Emma. Her eyes appeared to be a stormy grey colour, which complemented her olive skin perfectly and the blonde felt her mouth go dry. Since she had become a vampire, she hadn't really had time to have anything more than a passing crush and as she looked at this beautiful woman, al the desires that she didn't have time for came crashing down upon her and her mouth dropped open slightly.
This only seemed to make the woman smirk more and she raised her eyebrows at her and motioned for her to come and take the stool next to her. For a second, Emma briefly wondered if it was common for a club to have stools at its bar, but she quickly decided that was not something she should be focusing on. She quickly looked over her shoulder and saw Talia was talking to someone and decided that it wasn't if she would die of thirst if she took a few moments to talk to a hot vampire.
Timidly, the blonde slipped into the seat next to her and said, "thanks for the drink…"
She trailed off as she finally inspected the crimson liquid and realised that she had absolutely no idea what it was.
"Vodka and blood," the brunette informed her, "you have no idea how good it is until you try."
"What makes you think that I haven't tried it before?" Emma shot back, not quite sure where her confidence had come from. There was just something about this woman that made her want to try and hold a conversation.
"No offence, but you look a little green, haven't been a vampire for long I take it?"
Emma shrugged, "a year's a pretty long time…"
The brunette laughed at that and brought up her beer to her lips and took a swig before she placed it back onto the counter, "you're basically a baby."
The blonde frowned, "and what kind of a person would buy a baby vodka?"
The other woman's smile widened at that and she tilted her head, "vampire's are known for their loose morals, I would be remiss if I didn't bring someone so hot to the dark side." Emma quirked an eyebrow, looking very sceptical and the brunette rolled her eyes, "just try it," she laughed.
"You tell me your name and I'll shot this," she replied brazenly.
The other woman's eyes looked down to the triple that she had ordered for the blonde and she grinned widely. She knew that there was a reason that she was drawn to this woman, "my name is Rowan," she said without any further hesitation.
Without much further thought, the blonde snatched up the glass and gulped down the drink contained inside it.
Rowan's eyes widened at the action, vampire's had a pretty high threshold for alcohol but didn't really justify drinking so much in one mouthful.
"Hot and brave," she said once the other vampire slammed the glass down to the counter with a grimace on her face, "a girl could fall fast, you know."
Once the burning stopped, Emma managed to finally open her mouth and smile, the taste of blood had brought her fangs forth and Rowan's grin only widened at the sight.
"Wow," Emma said rather hoarsely and picked up the bloodstained glass, "that is good stuff."
"I told you that it's good," Rowan laughed, "which means that you owe me your name."
The blonde pretended to frown in thought and she shook her head, "that wasn't part of the deal."
"It hardly seems fair that you get to know my name and all I know is that you can down vodka like a champ."
The younger of the pair seemed to think this over for a second, but nothing flirty came to mind and she decided that there was no way that she wanted to risk this woman never being able to look her up, "Emma Swan," she finally said, trying to make sure that she didn't say anything further to make a fool of herself. In fact, she was quite impressed that she had gotten this far into the conversation without making a complete fool of herself.
Rowan raised her fingers to the bartender, there was no way that she wanted to lose this chance to get to know this blonde and it did help that she had some idea why she was here.
"You know, my father is usually very selective about who he will allow into the clan, but I have some influence."
Emma furrowed her brow. For a moment, she had completely forgot why she was in this bar in the first place.
"Your father," the blonde said slowly and Rowan couldn't help but notice how adorable the blonde looked in her confusion.
"I'm assuming that you remember why you're here?" the elder of the pair laughed, which only seemed to confuse Emma further. "I'll take that look to mean that Talia hasn't told you about all of the possible abilities a vampire can have?"
Emma frowned for a moment, before the realisation hit her and her eyebrows shot up, "you can read my mind?"
"You're smart too," Rowan chuckled and answered the question Emma was thinking, "I find that it's only polite to ask someone their name before dropping the mind reading bomb-shell…"
The blonde nodded in understanding, "that's very…considerate of you," she laughed.
Rowan shrugged and brought the two drinks over to sit in front of them. She pushed one over to Emma and smirked at her.
"What?" Emma asked, she had known this woman for mere minutes so she had no idea how she knew that she was up to something.
"To join our clan, my father would usually ask you and your friend to do something to prove your loyalty. He might ask you to go and steal something for him or take out a rival vampire, but there is another way to get in, a way that won't waste anyone's valuable time."
Emma nodded slowly, though she had no idea what Rowan was talking about. She didn't know what exactly she was expecting when it came to joining a clan, but she certainly hadn't expected that it would be as easy as meeting a pretty woman in a bar. Then again, she still had no idea exactly what she wanted of her.
"You want me to down another drink?" Emma asked as she looked down to the delicious concoction. As far as she could tell, it took a lot for a vampire to actually become drunk, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't take too many of these to take the edge off.
Rowan considered this for a moment before she shook her head, "there's no strings attached with the drink," she replied, "in fact, you don't really have to do anything other than say yes."
The blonde tilted her head in confusion. She was starting to wish that she was the one in this conversation who could read minds.
"Okay…"
"You know, you're adorable when you get that little crinkle," Rowan smirked as she gestured towards the space between Emma's eyebrows. "It's so obvious that you haven't been initiated very well into vampirism."
Emma brought her finger up to the space where the other woman had pointed, as if she could physically rub away the crinkle, but that only seemed to make Rowan smirk more.
"Talia knows about as much as I do," Emma defended.
"Yeah, hunters don't know nearly as much as they think they do," Emma's eyes widened and Rowan held up her hand, "don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your friend's past."
Emma nodded slowly, though she wasn't quite sure about why this woman would be so willing to hide such a massive secret for Talia. Her friend had been so worried the whole trip to New York and the blonde was sure that it was because she was certain there could be someone in the club who would recognise her. Talia obviously had no idea that there could be mind reading vampires.
"And before you start worrying, only those who are born vampires are capable of having the ability to read minds and even then it's rare. Which is why my father trusts me when I say that someone should join the clan," Rowan explained. She could tell that this woman did not know nearly as much about vampires as she probably should, but there was no maliciousness about her or her friend. Plus there was also the fact that she got a certain feeling from the blonde woman. Rowan had no idea what it could mean, but all she knew was that it meant there was something extraordinary about the young vampire.
"So…what do you want us to do to join?" Emma asked with a frown.
Rowan tilted her head and smirked as she leaned further against the bar, "it's more of a request than an order, you can still join even if you say no." The blonde raised her eyebrows in expectation and the older woman said, "I'll go to my father right now and advise him that you two should be allowed to join, but would you want to go out with me after I convince him to say yes?"
Emma looked stunned for a split second, which caused the cocky grin to slip from Rowan's face, but the blonde's mind soon caught up with what she had said and she smiled. With a sudden burst of confidence, she leaned forward and caught the relative stranger's lips in a chaste kiss, where their lips barely met and then she pulled back only slightly as she replied:
"How about you go and convince your father after dinner?"

Reviews would be much appreciated XD