Nadia Undine stood in the alley for a long time after the damned bloodsucking whore had mocked her and left her there. At first, she had simply slumped back against the cool brick wall of the alley, gulping breath after breath, greedy for each sweet reminder that she was still alive – that she had somehow screwed up that bad and lived. The relief had a bitter aftertaste though; she could still take those breaths because the deserting bitch had let her have them. Carfax had just let her go, regardless of the knife Nadia had brought – she knew what Nadia's intentions had been, and yet the cocky bitch had opted to catch and release. Clenching a fist, Nadia struck the wall, shouting out to no one in her anger. There were people milling about in a drunken stupor outside the alley, it was true, but nobody heard her, or nobody cared.

"Damn it!" She let herself drop to a sitting position on the ground, "That bitch! Damn her!" She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to put a stop to the relieved tears, "I am not scared! I can still do this! I've got to… got to punish her for her arrogance!"

She wanted to believe it – that was why she shouted it – but her body knew better. She couldn't stand even if she wanted to – she was shaking too much – and her mind couldn't for a coherent thought beyond the hollow pledges of revenge and the words 'I'm still alive?' and 'how?' Gingerly, she reached up with a shaking hand to feel the place where the sharpened stake had been pressed to her throat and winced; her gills were sore, but she wasn't bleeding.

The plan had been so simple; follow Carfax after she left that repulsive café and confront her at the first opportunity when no one else was around. She'd brought the knife to kill Carfax if she had to – such was the punishment for traitors – but she hadn't been sure that she could do it. It scarcely mattered now though, seeing as she hadn't gotten the chance. It pissed her off so much – Carfax was supposed to be blind! Nadia had assumed that the damned vampire had earned her reputation using her ears – she'd heard Carfax had almost supernaturally sharp hearing, even for a Faunus – but still… how had she been able to tell she was being followed in the first place with so many people around?

"Dammit!" She cursed again as she pulled the hood of her windbreaker over her head to cover her hair, "Not now… Calm down Nadia… next time you'll get her…"

Taking a few more deep breaths, with more control now, Nadia steadied her breathing and heartbeat, and came down from her stress-induced panic, and the glowing slowly abated. That was one of the more inconvenient aspects of her particular Faunus ancestry. The gills, the webbed fingers and toes, she could deal with those – they were at least good for something, but hair that glowed when she was under stress? That was a pain in the ass. A neat party trick when she could pull it off deliberately, but otherwise useless. Some doctor, one of the few who would work with the White Fang, had told her once that it was because her family carried traits reminiscent of the angler fish, and as a little girl, she'd thought that was so cool – until she actually saw and anglerfish. They were actually hideous monstrosities. Figures. At least she only had bio-luminescent hair, and not one of those disgusting stalks the creatures were named for. At least she didn't drink blood. Carfax had to be some kind of freak, that was the only explanation.

Freak or not though, Carfax was still a Faunus, and she owed it to their people to fight for them – she should want to fight for them. But how the hell did you make that argument to someone who lost her mother like that? And the way she'd told her little 'story…' How did somebody even talk that calmly about something like that? That thought in itself made Nadia's blood run cold. Carfax was dangerous, of that Nadia had no doubt, regardless of the way that the vampire had simply let her go. Tonight had been the first time that Nadia had met Mina Carfax personally, but she'd heard plenty about her. Used to be a sweet, helpless little blind girl, but the way Nadia heard it, that bloodsucking habit meant that nobody but Belladonna ever wanted to be around her – and Nadia wasn't about to blame them – those fangs made her skin crawl. Apparently though, Carfax had pulled her act together around when the leadership changed when Nadia had been about eleven years old, and she somehow managed to use those ears to compensate for her lack of vision or something – the rumors about how she did it were murky at best. Rumor had it around then that there was talk of throwing her out of the White Fang because she 'didn't play well with others' where Blake Belladonna was concerned. The two had been joined at the hip since Belladonna had brought Carfax home with her from a rally like a stray cat, and once she had some strength to throw around, she didn't take kindly to anyone upsetting or criticizing Belladonna, but ultimately they kept her around because she was very good at her job. As a distant onlooker at the time, Nadia had almost respected her for that, especially how much harder she worked for the cause after Belladonna had walked out on the White Fang – it was like she'd shed a distraction and was ready to commit her whole being to righting the wrongs done upon their kind, and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty doing it. Such a stupid fantasy.

Every hero had their tragic flaw though, and Mina Carfax had proved herself no exception with her indifference. Deep down a small part of Nadia had hoped to talk her back home – maybe – but Carfax clearly wasn't interested. That damned Belladonna had robbed their people both of Mina's skills and her own, and that couldn't be allowed. Well, Nadia wasn't strong like Adam, Blake, or Mina, but she could fight for the cause in her own way.

"Maybe you don't care…" She muttered as she got up and brushed the dirt from the alley and retrieved her knife, "But I do…"

Concealing her knife, Nadia made to leave the alley. She had a lot of thinking to do, but she needed sleep to calm her nerves first, and this wasn't the place for either, so she headed for the nearest place she could think of.

Blake's ears twitched as the door to Team RWBY's dorm opened just after eleven. Mina was back. Rationally, she knew that Mina could handle herself, and she'd gotten past her jealousy about the nature of Mina's job, but still, she couldn't help but worry whenever Mina worked late like this. Even so, eleven wasn't particularly late – Ruby was still listening to music and sketching god-knows-what up on her bunk, Weiss was still studying – Yang was the only one to actually 'hit the sack,' and then, only because she was bored. Still, Blake could neither help nor regret the little shot of relief she got at seeing Mina walk in the door – the Summer Blossom wasn't in the best part of town after all. None of that mattered now though, she was fine.

"Welcome back Mina,"

Weiss glanced up from her book for a moment at the sound of Blake's greeting, and blinked a few times tiredly as she tossed in her own greeting, "Oh… Hey Mina…"

"Good evening," Mina replied with a smile, "Did I miss anything of interest while I was at work?"

"Not really…" Weiss yawned, "Except maybe Nora's impression of Professor Port…"

Mina chuckled, "I imagine that was rather amusing…"

"She had a fake mustache and everything," Blake added dryly, "It was really something to see. But enough about that, how was work today?"

"Hmmm…" Mina stroked her chin thoughtfully as she walked further in, stripping off her shirt and tossing it in the hamper as she moved to the dresser she and Blake shared, "Monday is never really very busy… but I did meet an interesting new patron… a girl, believe it or not…"

Weiss sighed, facepalming, "Poor girl must've lost a bet or something…"

"Really?" Blake asked curiously, "I bet that doesn't happen often…"

"Mmmm… Indeed not…" Mina nodded as she slipped into a nightgown, "But she was… interesting…"

"Should I be worried?" Blake teased.

"Not at all," Mina smirked, "A job is a job Dearest; I still love you the most – you needn't worry,"

"So how'd it go?" Blake pressed, curious, "The… gentlemen you usually serve just stammer on about how 'pretty' all the hostesses are – I know, I've been there – but what was it like serving some girl you don't know?"

"Did she tell you how pretty you are?" Weiss asked dryly as she finally decided to close her book and turn in for the night.

"Alas no~"

"Then she has terrible taste," Blake smirked, leaning in for a peck on the cheek, "But I don't have to worry either,"

"I said as much," Mina twisted to catch Blake on the lips instead, "She just wanted to talk about her problems,"

"What did you tell her?"

"Just a little story…" Mina assured, "It seemed to set her straight though,"

"What kind of story?" Blake asked, dubious as Weiss shut off the lights and the two of them settled in – Blake into her bed and Mina onto her bar beside it. She didn't worry about keeping anyone up though, because Weiss had long since taken to wearing earplugs at night for such occasions as her teammates could not be relied upon to let her sleep otherwise, and Ruby's headphones worked to similar effect. Yang just slept like a stone.

"What kind?" Mina cocked her head as she hung – an almost amusing gesture really, "Nothing important,"

"Come on, tell me," Blake prodded Mina's cheek affectionately, "I want to know," Blake almost missed it in the dark, but not quite. Mina flinched at Blake's persistence. She hid it well, but not from Blake, "Mina?"

Mina sighed, "I… told her about my mother…"

Blake fell silent. Mina's mother was not a subject that they discussed often. Blake knew that Mina had lost her shortly before they'd met, and not much else. Mina always spoke in wry dodges and loaded statements, but her mother was one of the subjects that Mina just didn't like to talk about. It wasn't that Mina hadn't loved her – that much Blake could tell – on such rare occasions as Mina had spoken of the woman, it had always been warmly nostalgic, but never in particular detail. Mina had learned to knit and sew from her mother despite her disability, but Blake hadn't figured that was how she had supported her daughter. One of the few concrete details Blake had ever gotten was that Mina's mother, while not blind, had shared Mina's dietary needs. The most tragic part though, Blake still wasn't sure about – she'd just put it together herself from the bits and pieces that Mina had occasionally shared – but Mina had once tiredly mentioned off hand one time when they shared a blanket as kids that it was just like what her mother did with her 'friends.' Blake hadn't thought much of it at the time, but upon later reflection, that sort of thing was probably the only way that Mina's mother could get enough blood to support the both of them. Blake didn't like to think about what a single mother with Mina's needs would have to do to survive, and she assumed Mina didn't either – or in one of her peculiar bouts of selective innocence hadn't actually figured out what her mother had done to keep them both alive, so Blake had never been one to force the issue, but now...

"So… what did you tell her?" Blake asked in a tentative whisper.

Mina's sightless gaze lowered, "Dearest… I will tell you if you insist… but this once… I would rather not share…"

"Mina…"

"It was just an embarrassing little anecdote Dearest; nothing at all really," Mina lied with a sad little look meant to be seen for the face-saving falsehood that it was, "Nothing you'd really want to know anyway…"

"Yeah… okay…"

Blake had no doubt that Mina could've done a better job lying to her – Mina was very good at obfuscation – but presently it seemed that she didn't want to. Much as it unnerved her to know that some stranger at a maid café knew something about Mina that she didn't, Blake was conflicted about asking Mina what exactly that was. Mina not wanting to tell her something was a first, and not one that Blake liked, but on the other hand, why didn't she want Blake to know? Everyone was entitled to a secret or two, Blake knew that, but she'd never thought that it would factor into her relationship with Mina. Perhaps the worst part though, was that Mina was willing to tell her if she only asked her to. Whatever it was, she did not want to say it, but she would… The trust was still there but different; she trusted Blake not to ask. If she didn't, Mina would have put her foot down and ended the subject, wouldn't she?

"Hey Mina…"

"Yes?"

"You don't have to tell me…"

Mina let out a quiet sigh of relief, "Thank you Dearest-,"

"But Mina…"

"Hmm?"

Blake sat up in bed and faced Mina now leaning in with a look of concern on her face, "You know that you can tell me anything right? I won't love you any less for it, whatever it is… I just… want you to be okay…"

Mina smiled at that, "I know… but I have you, so what could be wrong?"

"Who the hell are you?" Junior demanded gruffly after coming to the door of his club, "This better be good,"

"You're damn bouncer won't let me in," Nadia jabbed a thumb at the man in question accusingly, "I thought you were with us,"

"With who?" Junior was not a patient man, it seemed, and he didn't like her very much; of that Nadia was certain, even having just met the man. That was fine though – she didn't much care for him either.

Still, she needed a place to crash for the night, and this was the closest, so she unzipped her windbreaker to show him the edge of the wolf's head emblazoned onto her shirt beneath, "Us,"

"Ugh… Dammit…" The man rubbed his brow in irritation, "Don't you people know I'm trying to run a legitimate business here? This is not your private little dog park-!"

"I just need a place to crash tonight, okay? No trouble! I haven't been followed here, so just… let me in…"

"Fine," He caved, "But you go straight to the back, and I want you gone by morning, got it?"

Nadia nodded, with a roll of the eyes, "You're a true humanitarian,"

"Shut up and go on in," Junior waved off his bouncer, "And don't make a habit of this,"

"Trust me, I don't plan on it,"

"Good," he nodded, "Talk to Melanie or Miltiades when they're on break if you need something to eat, but otherwise just stay out of everybody's way and don't cause trouble; last underage blonde who came in here wrecked the place,"

"I'll be gone by morning, don't worry," Nadia assured with a disdainful tone, "and I won't cause problems so long as those drunk idiots you call patrons leave me alone,"

"Just stay where they can't see you, alright?'

"Fine,"

Author's Note: So yeah, just a little fallout from last chapter, trying to further characterize Nadia and Mina as well. As always, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the chapter, and look forward to any Favs, Follows, or Reviews. Until next time, have a good one.