Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY.

Roman was not a man who liked coincidences. Unless they were coincidences that he could be sure worked in his favour.

Which was why he was currently frowning as he sat in the driver's seat of his car, skimming through the publicly-available information on the foiled robbery of From Dust Till Dawn on his scroll.

Neo tapped him on the shoulder. "...?"

Roman spared her a glance. "It may be nothing," he stressed.

She raised an eyebrow.

He continued. "Or, it may be something."

She leaned back and motioned for him to continue.

"The robbery," he explained, "It seems it was foiled by a young huntress-in-training. Wears a lot of red -"

"...?" She interrupted.

"No, she's definitely not the one who hired Junior's goons," Roman shook his head as he took a cigar from his pocket, "This little vigilante is fifteen. While I could sit and debate at length Junior's many failings as a person, liking them young isn't one of them. No, what caught my interest was the name," he paused, "Ruby Rose."

She shot him a questioning look as he lit up.

"We know Junior's club was worked over by a newcomer who apparently left rose petals at the scene – days later, a dust robbery is foiled by an up-and-coming Huntress called Ruby Rose?" he took a deep drag.

"..."

"They do say twice is happenstance," he acknowledged, "But you know me well enough by now to know I'm not the sort of naïve idiot to let someone make it to three."

"..." she pointed out.

"True," he agreed, "We still don't know if it's the same person. But if it is, little miss Red here has been showing a lot of interest in things a school-kid really shouldn't know about at all. That's interesting."

She conceded the point.

"But setting that aside for now, let's look at more solid leads. Someone, apparently a woman and the ringleader, took exception to Red knocking out their hired muscle," his eyes flicked to that part of the article, "And they ended up in a fight. One of the teachers from Beacon jumped in and our mysterious lady criminal escaped – it doesn't say how. I think it's fair to say that's the one who hired them, and has been kicking up so much fuss recently."

"...?"

"According to the article? They were arrested," Roman replied, "And since there hasn't been any news of anyone dying in custody yet, I'd say we may still have an opportunity. And look at this – the news were even courteous enough to provide a handy picture! Ah, where would we be without the media?"

He got out of the car, Neo following suit. He eyed the police station carefully – they had parked down the road from it so as not to be too obvious, but it still paid to be subtle.

"It's times like this that I really appreciate those little tricks of yours," Roman mused as he turned to his companion, "Let's drop in and say hello, shall we?"

In the holding cell of Vale City Police Station, Huan Yu was silently cursing his unfortunate turn of luck.

First, that hottie showed up in the Boss' club, looking to hire men for a 'special' job. Most of them had fallen over themselves to volunteer, of course.

At the start, it didn't seem like anything would go wrong. She stayed back and watched from afar (and damn, that little catsuit number was something else), while the boys went in and robbed the shop. Dust was pretty risky, but she'd assured them she had it all under control.

Then, all of a sudden, some little girl put David through a window. Then she pulled out some giant...scythe...thing, and, for the second time in a few days, they felt the pain and humiliation of being beaten senseless by a teenage girl.

Being mercifully unconscious, Huan didn't know what happened after that point, but from what he pieced together via the police interrogations, apparently the girl then spotted their honey-trap boss and confronted her, starting a big fight but not managing to catch her, even with another huntress jumping in.

Then he woke up in police custody. He was due to go on trial for armed robbery, and with his record, he was sure to end up doing time unless Junior busted him out somehow, which was unlikely, at best. Still, he had stubbornly refused to give them any details, just in case – and he was certain the rest of the men would have done the same.

He sat up on the bed in his cell, staring miserably at the wall, grey and dreary, with strange, glass-like cracks throughout...

Wait, what?

The entire wall seemed to crack up with the loud sound of shattering glass, and he scrambled back against the wall, suddenly aware that he wasn't the only person in the cell any more.

"So this is what they look like from the inside," the man in the flashy white suit and black bowler hat said idly, before locking eyes with him, "And you must be... Huan, is it? Or are you one of the other guys? Sorry, it's just, well, you all look the same to me."

Huan, panicking, looked out of the bars, waiting for the guards to show up, undoubtedly attracted by the noise.

"Oh, don't worry, nobody heard that," The man shook his head, "Scratch it up to the wonderful talents of my friend here," he motioned to the small girl beside him, with odd-coloured hair and dressed equally flamboyantly.

"W-who are you?" Huan asked fearfully.

"Ah, how impolite of me not to introduce myself," the man gave a short, mocking bow, "My name is Roman Torchwick. I'm in business with Junior, and I'm here, Huan, to ensure that your stay in this cell is a very short one indeed."

Huan felt his panic begin to recede, replaced with elation. Junior had actually sent someone to bust him out!

"But first, of course, we need to know about this woman who hired you," Roman informed him, "After all, we need to make sure she's taken care of before we get you out, right? We can't have her coming back to mess with you again once you're out of this nice, safe cell."

Huan looked unsure. "But shouldn't we be busting out now?"

"Relax," Roman waved off his concerns, "The guards aren't going to notice anything's wrong until my friend here wants them to. Now, the woman who hired you. Tell me about her."

"Okay..." Huan began, scratching his head, "Well, she was a total hottie."

Roman sighed. "Yes, I've heard that already. What about her name? Did she give that?"

"No," Huan said after a moment of thought, "No names. She just told us to call her 'Madam'," he reminisced with a goofy grin.

"Charming," Roman said flatly, "The Dust. What were you supposed to do with it? Where were you supposed to take it?"

"Uh," Huan wracked his brain, "There was a pick-up point. On a roof."

His rescuer shared a look with the other girl. "A roof? They had flying transport? Well, well. These people have resources," he turned back to Huan, "Now, is there anything else you can tell me about her? Anything at all? Remember, this is all so we can protect you, here."

"Uh... no, that's it," Huan said apologetically, "There wasn't anything else."

Roman looked disappointed. "All right, then," he then suddenly looked curious, "One more thing. What can you tell me about the girl who stopped you?"

"The little girl?" Huan asked in confusion.

"She might be in on it," Roman confided in him, "We need to be sure."

"Oh," he nodded in realisation, "That's smart. Yeah, she was crazy. Had this big huge scythe thing, and she was too fast. One second, she was here, the next," he flared his hands, "Poof! She's over there and you're looking at a pile of flower petals. She was no ordinary girl. Just like the other one who busted the club."

Roman and his companion shared a significant look.

"Other one?"

Huan shuddered. "Yeah, that crazy blonde-haired chick. She came in and started beating up on everyone."

"I see," Roman said thoughtfully, then he patted Huan on the back, "Thanks for that. You know, Huan, I like you. You're a helpful guy."

Huan grinned awkwardly.

"In fact, I like you so much that I must admit, it actually made me very sad when I learned that you died in custody."

A gloved hand clamped around Huan's throat like a steel vice. Gasping and trying to pull it off, his eyes met the pink and white of Roman's companion – wearing a vicious smirk. How could such a small girl have such a strong grip?

"But... you said..." he choked out.

"I said your stay here would be a short one, yes." Roman agreed pleasantly, "Don't you just love it when people deliver on their promises?"

Huan desperately struggled, tried to call for help, for anyone, but it was to no avail. His world soon darkened, and eventually went black. The last words he ever heard came in the cold, mocking voice of the man he had so foolishly thought to be his saviour.

"Police brutality... such a cruel thing. But at least I can soothe my aching heart with the knowledge that you can't let them know about us when they come for you, can't I?"

Roman felt disappointed in the results of the night's escapade as they headed back to the car. He figured that it would take the guards at least until morning to discover that their prisoner wasn't actually asleep – plenty of time to get far away. There was next to no chance of them tracing it back to him and Neo, of course, but it paid to be careful.

"So, we've still got nothing on our mysterious would-be crime-lord other than that she's got backing," Roman frowned, "And now it turns out the girl who worked over Junior's club is a different one altogether. Not exactly the most productive evening I've ever had."

If it wasn't the same girl, why the rose petals? Were they working together, was it some kind of calling card? He still had far too little information on any of this.

He then noticed his partner staring intently over in another direction. "What are you looking at?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

In response, Neo pointed curiously at one of the alleys near the police station. Roman had to squint hard – then he caught it. A flash of movement.

Apparently, someone was here who didn't want to be seen.

Interesting. Perhaps this was the stroke of luck he was looking for.

The hooded figure crouched in the shadows, eyeing the police station thoughtfully. He considered how he was going to make it in and reach the holding cell – perhaps one of the windows? Or a back door. It would require some scouting of the building to find an appropriate entry and exit.

Whatever the case, he had to be quick. This task was already being accomplished unacceptably late. The order had come from up high: as part of their mysterious new 'partnership'. Get in, find the goons, make sure they hadn't said anything, and silence them, as soon as possible. Due to a mix-up in communication, the orders had taken too long to filter down. As such, they needed it done, now.

Faunus often made naturally good infiltrators due to their biological advantages in that respect. It was only natural for a militant organisation to take advantage of this by training several members in stealth and infiltration skills – he had been one of several possible choices to carry this one out.

He began to move to another location to get a better view, and all of a sudden, he was sent scrambling to the ground by a powerful blow.

He desperately tried to get up – but was forced to the ground by something long and thin jabbing into his upper back. How the hell had they managed to sneak up on him?

"Well, well, what have we got here?" he tried to look up at the owner of the distinctly male voice, but couldn't twist his head enough. He saw another person jump down in her field of vision – a Human girl, with oddly-coloured hair and eyes, "I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise to find an animal shuffling around in the dark."

The girl clapped her hands together in glee and beamed at the unseen captor.

"...!"

He heard the man tut. "No, Neo, we can't keep him," he felt more pressure on his back, "You don't know where he's been."

He reached for his short sword - only for it to be kicked out of the sheath.

"No," the man scolded, "Bad animal. Remember what Mother Nature told you? No tool use before you've finished evolving sentience."

"Get off me, you filthy Human! Or I swear I'll tear you apart!" he hissed furiously as he tried to find leverage.

The girl, Neo, took a step back and grasped her heart mockingly.

"'Filthy Human'? Such hypocritical words from such a scruffy little beast," he sounded amused, "But that rhetoric certainly rings a bell! A Faunus, sneaking around near a police station, at a rather convenient time, and spouting phrases like 'Filthy Human'? That sounds quite familiar to me. How about you, Neo?"

She gave a smiling nod of agreement.

"Let – me – go! Bastard!" he struggled to get up, but was forced down again.

"Now why would I want to do that? I don't like you," the man questioned, "After all, tomorrow morning, they're going to find you next to the body of my good friend, Huan. I liked Huan. Helpful guy. But before we get to that..." the white-coated Human walked around into his field of vision, still holding him down with what he now could see was a cane. He smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.

"...You're going to tell me all about what the White Fang is doing here."