It's been a hot minute! I really need to read more - cuz that makes me write more. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Blake Belladonna.

That was the name that showed up in Yang's contact list when she checked her scroll that same night, returned to lying in bed and unable to find sleep yet again. By some miracle, she'd been able to sneak back in through her open window none the wiser.

Afterwards, she, of course, had to look up Blake's name in Aurora's Archives a second time, but with Belladonna added to the search. Might as well do something useful with my time if I'm not gonna get rest.

And Yang found something.

Not about Blake, specifically, but something about people who were most likely her family. Ghira and Khali Belladonna had been leaders of a Faunus organization called the White Fang – or something like that, based on the provided translation of the original language – over five thousand years ago. The records explained they were Faunus rights activists in a world where Faunus were slaves to humans and treated worse than livestock.

Ghira and Khali, along with their whole tribe and surrounding settlements located somewhere called Menagerie, mysteriously vanished from the face of Remnant at some point in history, and the records stated it was believed to be caused by three "demons" ravaging the sector.

There were no other details. The events had happened too long ago for any sense or truth to be properly shed on them. The only reason the occurrence was documented at all in the Archives was because of the suspicious deaths of so many individuals all at once.

Yang put her scroll down. She didn't know what to think. Had Ghira and Khali been Blake's parents, or was the relationship more distant in ancestry? This was, of course, assuming Blake Belladonna was Nightshade's original name and not an identity she had donned for a while like she had Donna Lake...

Wait. No, Blake Belladonna was definitely Nightshade's real name. Wow, that actually lacks so much originality. Yang almost laughed out loud about it to herself. Donna Lake...pfft. She assumed this was probably the vampire's idea of a joke at the expense of mortals not living long enough to make the connection.

Also – what a thought, Nightshade having family like normal people had family.

Or even having a sense of humor.

But she hadn't always been a vampire.

Regardless of that, the Faunus species had practically gone extinct well over two thousand years ago after centuries of war caused by racism. Those who still lived today were either from the small group left over in Vacuo, or...they were vampires. And those from Vacuo weren't as diverse as they had once been – they were now mostly composed of the more resilient and adaptable animal traits, like Sun being part monkey. Yang hadn't heard of or seen a cat Faunus, ever. And, so, since Blake was obviously not from Vacuo, she was at least two thousand years old. Alive before Aurora's foundation.

Yang let out a heavy sigh. She could only guess and blindly poke at what Blake's life must have been like, the atrocities she probably suffered, the unfortunate choices she had to make. Again, with the too-much empathy, Yang. And who was to say Blake even had anything to do with Ghira and Khali and their Faunus rights? Maybe there was no connection whatsoever. Maybe there were no redeeming qualities about Nightshade at all.

Yang raised her hand to stare at her wrist in the low light of the room. Even after just two feedings, the pale scars crisscrossed so much that her wrist just seemed to have a lighter patch there than the rest of her skin.

Why should I care about a creature who only sees me as her next meal?

Aurora wanted this vampire dead. And Yang could ask for her address and lead her group of enforcers straight to Blake's door if the blonde was so inclined.

But they would all die. That much, Yang knew with certainty. And if she took Blake's word for it, it wouldn't even be because the leech wanted to kill them – it was pure survival of the fittest.

But what would Aurora do if they found out Yang wasn't just keeping Blake's possible whereabouts a secret, but was actively feeding her with Yang's own blood? It wasn't just incompetence – it was flippant contempt of directives. Aurora did not like wild cards. They ran a tight ship, and that was necessary for the regulation of bloodsucking monsters.

They were effective in their methods, too. Vampires who created other vampires were apprehended and sent to Aurora's specialized prison facilities. Often, that eventually led to a death sentence if they became uncooperative. In rarer instances, after decades of good behavior, they were released – but if they caused harm again, they would be hunted and killed.

Vampires who resisted arrest or had caused too great of damage were killed without a second chance. In this manner of operating, the vampire population was slowly but surely dwindling, and those who did remain were under oath to leave humans alone.

But undocumented, ancient vampires?

It seemed those were Aurora's worst nightmare. With the impossibility of knowing what those monsters were truly capable of, and what all the things they had done in their long lives were, and if they were inclined to snap at any second…

Aurora did not like wild cards.

And Yang was stuck, because on one hand she fully recognized that Blake, Nightshade, was terrifying and dangerous, but on the other hand…Blake's moral compass actually seemed to be pointing in the right direction, and Aurora had obviously never had problems with her since their very founding.

How do you kill a creature this powerful?

A stupid question. Blake had put Yang's gun to her own forehead. That was as self-explanatory as it was going to get.

Yang groaned and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow. Why didn't you just pull the trigger, yourself, Blake? If she wanted to die so badly, it shouldn't have been an issue for her. Except Yang had the funny, sinking feeling Blake hadn't been looking to get shot right in that moment. It felt a lot more like she had been proving a point – gambling her own life on it, too, though. But it seemed Yang's character had been correctly assessed.

She was a failure. A joke of an enforcer. And now an ancient vampire knew that with certainty – knew the weakest link.

I am compromising the others... To think it could have been avoided if she had just told Pyrrha from the beginning. The terrible irony in that she was failing her partner because she hadn't said the whole truth for the sake of not failing her to begin with... But Yang's eyelids were finally getting heavy – heavy with the weight of guilt and sleep. She began to drift, slowly, and haunting, haunted gold eyes followed her into her dreams.

"I'm telling you, guys, I don't know how we're supposed to progress on this case when it's like all traces of clues have been meticulously torched." Yang flopped forward on the table, resting her chin on its surface.

Beside her, Pyrrha patted her shoulder but said nothing. She was equally stumped.

Ruby was still reading through their reports, eyebrows creased, tongue sticking out a bit.

"The fire makes no sense," Sun thought out loud, leaning back in his chair. "Vampires don't mess with fire, unless…"

Everyone turned to him. Any new ideas were welcome. "Unless?" Pyrrha prompted.

"Unless…unless we're dealing with another oldie who can control flames?"

Sun must have said something right because Ruby's eyes widened in realization. "Guys! Maybe we haven't been looking at all the perspectives. Cuz the other thing that was bothering all of us was: Why would the vampires have been super lazy about keeping the corpses out of sight, but gone out of their way to choose really stinky locations to dump them? And then when we consider the torching of clues, and make the assumption we're dealing with an old vampire… What if our culprits hadn't been hiding from us or the law at all…but hiding from another vampire?"

There was a silence. Everyone shared glances.

Eventually, Pyrrha ventured, "Do you…do you mean this Nightshade we're tasked with killing?"

Ruby bobbed her head vigorously. She tapped a few things on her scroll and then set it on the table, and a holographic display of their case information was cast from it. "Think about it. That other vampire who gave you some trouble, Cardin? From what you said, it sounded like he was aware Nightshade had some kind of territorial claim. So, what if our culprits are going behind Nightshade's back?"

"I don't know, Ruby…" Pyrrha mused, "It doesn't sound impossible, but what solid proof do we have?"

But Ruby's theory caused something to suddenly dawn on Yang, and she slowly straightened on her chair, staring at the table, caught by how she hadn't considered this sooner. "Excuse me, I need to pee." She stood up, promising to be back, and hurried to the bathroom, where she closed the door and locked it.

She took out her scroll, pulled up Blake's messaging, and quickly typed:

Hey…sorry if this comes outta nowhere but u did say you'd answer my questions. U said you'd been starving urself for over 50 years or somethin, right? How'd u do that exactly?

And then Yang waited, desperately hoping Blake was the texting type, and that she would actually send a reply. It felt wild to send such an informal looking message to a vampire who probably used to write letters in elegant cursive with a feather dipped in ink under flickering candlelight thousands of years ago. Truly, a mind-fuck.

A reply appeared.

My assistant locked me in my silver coffin, as per my request. And I stayed there.

Yang had to resist biting her nails in her trepidation. Never mind that that was one creepy scenario to envision, this was beginning to confirm her suspicions.

What have u been doing in Vale? Before u starved urself?

I don't understand what you're asking me. I die here.

Yang squinted at the message for a second before realizing it was another vampire joke. She was usually much faster at catching on to puns, but coming from Nightshade, Yang kept getting whiplash.

Ha ha. So funny. Did u fight off other vampires? Is Vale ur territory?

An answer did not come right away. And the longer an answer didn't come, the more Yang decided she couldn't just dilly-dally around. So, she flushed the toilet and pretended to wash her hands, and she was just about to leave when she saw her scroll light up. Yang snatched it.

Vale is my territory. I don't like a mess.

Yang's heart pounded at the implications. This was big. It changed things. And it confirmed Ruby's theory. She didn't take the time to type a reply, instead heading out of the bathroom and returning to her companions in the kitchen.

"…so maybe if we kill Nightshade first," Sun was saying, "it would lure out the troublemakers and we'd have an easier time finding them."

"Wait, I have a different idea," Yang cut in before anyone could start agreeing with Sun. "We've never had problems with vampires in Vale before, right? The way Cardin reacted to Nightshade was like he was surprised she was even alive. I…" Yang slowed down, trying to be more careful about how much information she gave away. "I interacted with Nightshade shortly after Pyrrha and I got here – she was hunting me, but I cuffed her. She ended up getting away, unfortunately, but during the time that I did have to question her, she insisted I was her first hunt in over fifty years." Yang leaned her hands on the table, making sure she had everyone's attention. "What if the reason we've never had problems in Vale was because an ancient vampire was keeping her kind in check? And now there was a lapse in that presence, so other vampires started showing up and taking advantage of Nightshade's absence?"

"But if that's the case, she's back now," Sun pointed out. "And as pretty cool and interesting as all that is, it doesn't change the fact we have to kill her."

At the risk of looking suspicious, Yang doubled down. "What I'm saying is what if, just for now, instead of hunting Nightshade, we worked with her to bring in the problematic vampires? I'm willing to bet she'd be able to find them a lot easier than us."

There was a pause in the room. Pyrrha took a breath and murmured, "Yang, you were there. You saw what I saw, how nightmarish Nightshade looks, and you saw the things she can do. I don't think a creature like that is going to work with us…and Aurora will not agree with this idea, either. Also...unless you have a way to easily get in touch with Nightshade..." And the look she gave Yang then was hard and searching.

Yang lowered her eyes, being careful not to glance at her scroll. She couldn't insist any more than she already had, the risk was too great. Pyrrha was already in doubt. "You're right." She tried a small, sheepish smile. "Sorry, I guess I was getting too enthusiastic trying to find a solution."

"I mean, it wasn't necessarily a bad theory or suggestion," Ruby mused, "but Pyrrha is right. I'm pretty sure Nightshade's motives aren't altruistic enough to align with our goal. For all we know, she could end up coming after us just because we're sniffing around on her turf, if your theory is correct."

And Yang couldn't fault Ruby for thinking that – because for all intents and purposes, 'I don't like a mess'could very well mean personally taking care of an enforcer problem. And Yang couldn't put it past Blake to use violence to kick her and her companions out of Vale, or...put an end to their investigation permanently. This creature had lived for so long, Yang couldn't even fathom where Nightshade's thoughts were really at – and that made her impossible to trust.

At the end of the day, Blake was still a powerful, immortal bloodsucking beast, and she could have been lying at every turn – and Yang would never know or understand why. So, for now, it was time for her to stop thinking of Blake as a source of help or even as someone she should share any kind of information with. "Okay, then I think Pyrrha and I should return to one or more of the crime-scenes with bio-retracer equipment to confirm Sun's idea. It would possibly even give us an estimation on what our culprits look like, too, if the biological data hasn't faded too much."

Pyrrha drummed her fingers on the table and hummed. "Good plan. We would have tried this much earlier but, as we've told you, after her encounter with Nightshade, Yang was out of commission for a few days and things started getting out of hand. It might not be too late to at least try the BMMR, see if anything comes up." She paused, and then glanced at Ruby and Sun. "What about you two? Any more information about Cryolife?"

Ruby took her scroll off the table and put it back in her pocket. She smiled a bit. "Agent Mettle and Agent Dust have been working on creating fake identities for me and Sun, and then they're gonna send us in disguised as workplace health-and-safety evaluators."

"Cryolife is supposed to be notified of our visit ahead of time so that it's not weird," Sun added with a nod.

Yang's eyes widened in surprise, but she nudged Ruby in the side with a bit of a chuckle. "I think the toughest part for both of you is gonna be pretending you know what the heck you're evaluating."

Ruby pouted. "It's definitely not our usual job, but if we can pull it off, I bet we'll gather a lot of interesting evidence. And, if we're lucky, we might even see a few vampires – and that would really put us on the right trail to figuring out the connection with Atlas and the Schnee Minerals Company."

"Ahhh, we'll be fine!" Sun put one hand on his hip and waved the other in the air carelessly. "We go in with some notepads, take pictures, ask questions. Easy-peasy."

"Uh-huh." Yang shook her head. "Well, good luck, anyway. And be careful."

"Yeah, you guys, too!"

Pyrrha and Yang were unable to return to the apartment complex where Yang had first encountered Blake. Upon driving towards the location, they found out that the city had already gotten it demolished – and understandably so, really, because the fire had severely damaged it. This was still unfortunate, though, as not only could there have been a possibility of finding clues about the kidnappers, but it may have also been possible to reconstruct how Blake had gotten there and chased Yang – and, according to Pyrrha, any log-able information about Nightshade was critical. But the building now lay in a burnt, crumbled pile of cement rocks, metal wiring, and ashes, and nothing could be retrieved.

The duo instead headed back towards the fishing docks, finding it just as smelly and gross as last time. They secured a perimeter around the back of the building where one of the corpses had been found, ensuring nobody would disturb them or be able to easily see what they were doing by installing yellow tape and black panels that were about eight feet tall.

Yang clapped her hands. "Alright, let's get this set up."

Pyrrha agreed, and the two enforcers started unpacking the BMMR (Biological-Memory Mapping and Reconstruction) equipment from their bags and crates.

While Yang got the computer secured on a box off to the side and got the programs running, she asked, "Hey, by the way, did you ever get a message from that cute bartender?" She glanced in Pyrrha's direction just in time to catch the blush on her face.

"We've chatted some, yes…" she mumbled.

Yang grinned. It was rare to see Pyrrha out of sorts in this manner, and the blonde wasn't about to let the opportunity to tease slip away. "Well, what are you waiting for? Spill the tea."

"I mean…what is there to share? All we've done is talk about our jobs – and yes, I lied to him – our day, a little bit about family…"

This time, Yang had to laugh. "Akouo, you're killing me. He hasn't asked you out on a date yet? Or any kind of possibility to blow off some steam?"

"Ya – Ember!" Pyrrha ducked to hide behind one of the holographic projectors she was setting up, conveniently needing to plug in the wiring. "Listen, he seems like a really decent guy. I don't want to rush into things."

This perked Yang's interest even more. She creased her eyebrows, her joking demeanor fading away. "So…you want to maybe have an actual relationship with him? That's…" Unlike you? Pyrrha was as self-sacrificing as they came. She would never purposely involve herself that deeply with someone, out of fear of getting them hurt in some way because of her line of work…or running the risk of outliving them.

That was one of the things about enforcers. They weren't immortal, but their lifespans had been extended by…well, a lot.

Pyrrha didn't reply right away. Yang even began thinking she wouldn't get an answer at all, but then… "I…I'm lonely sometimes, Ember. There, I said it. Gods above. You're a great partner and all, but…"

Torn between showing compassion and teasing mercilessly, Yang settled for a gently mocking remark, "But as beautiful and amazing and sexy as I am, you're not into girls and I can't provide that special something."

"Yes, exactly." Pyrrha could not have sounded more exasperated. "Remind me to ask SUN to swap my partner asap. Preferably for someone who isn't such a huge jerk."

"Aw, I love you, too." Yang giggled a bit when she saw the redhead roll her eyes. But she refocused her attention to the task at hand as her mood somewhat shifted, and the smile slowly left her face. She finished getting the reconstruction program running and then got the three-sixty 3D scanner to start mapping the crime scene. It occasionally asked her for details, so she stayed nearby to input the commands. While Pyrrha moved on to the second projector, Yang finally decided to confess, "I understand how you feel, though. I get it. Sometimes…it would be nice to just come home and have someone to hold in my arms."

Pyrrha glanced over at her, sympathy shining there. But she shook her head and made sure the projector was angled properly. "Yes, well…I suppose there's no sense in dwelling on it. We made our choice. Humanity comes first."

This made Yang pause, drilling a hole into the screen display in front of her with her stare. She couldn't afford to think about that right now, the reasons why she was doing what she was doing. So, before she could spiral, eyes burning, she helped Pyrrha set up the rest of the equipment in silence, keeping her most vulnerable thoughts to herself.

Once everything was ready, the duo stood off to the side, near the computer, and ran the simulation.

At first, there was nothing. And there continued to be nothing long enough that Pyrrha had to double check the timeframe they were trying to pull the information from. But just when they thought it might have been too late to retrieve the biological data after all, a holographic figure appeared carrying another one.

"That's the body," Yang noted, although it was obvious.

The data was too old to render clear facial details, but the figure carrying the corpse was a man. The two enforcers watched as he unceremoniously dumped his victim behind the building. But then another man came into the scene – someone who seemed like he may be older, based on his slightly hunched stance. He spoke with the first guy, who gesticulated angrily about something, and then the two backed away, so much so that they were practically out of the projection area.

And then the flames came, steady and strong, covering the entire wall of the building and pavement everywhere.

"Pause it," Pyrrha said, and Yang obliged. The warrior walked over into the scene, through the fire and towards the older man, and motioned at his outstretched hand. "Do you see this? It's coming from him."

An uneasy, heavy feeling formed in Yang's gut. "So…Ruyi and Crescent were right. Another ancient."

"Another ancient…and who didn't torch the body," Pyrrha agreed. "So, I think you were right, too. They're doing this to avoid another vampire, not us."

There was some relief that came with knowing Blake wasn't behind these murders and disappearances – at least, not directly – and then Yang had to question herself about why that would make her feel this way, but still. "But this means there's more than one. They might not both be ancients, but he's doing this with at least one other vampire."

Pyrrha put her hands on her hips and sighed. "We get sent to one of the only two places where vampires aren't supposed to be causing any kind of trouble, and instead we find a breeding ground for complicated situations." She pointed her finger directly in the ancient's blank face, wiggling it in circles. "Now we gotta figure out who this guy is. As if Nightshade wasn't a dire challenge enough."

Nightshade just needs to be caught off-guard. That's literally it. Otherwise, she welcomes her death. But Yang didn't say that out loud. For some reason or another, she couldn't bring herself to reveal how easy it would be to kill Blake. Well, scratch that – Yang did know why, and finding out the cat Faunus wasn't involved in these vampire crimes reinforced the underlying feeling that killing her was wrong and senseless.

And yet, at the same time, it was perfectly logical in order to prevent mass murder from happening…again.

Yang shook her head to clear her mind from her distraught confusion, and said, "Then I say we take up Agent Mettle and Agent Dust's advice. Let's find Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. They might know more about the other vampires who live here. Flynt did say there were older ones around the city – I bet if we can get in contact with either Mocha or Vulpes or Axis, they might have some answers." As she said this, there was a part of Yang that couldn't help but wonder if Blake knew those names, herself. She had to, if she was essentially Vale's supernatural 'protector,' or whatever it was she did or wanted to call it.

Except, once again, Yang couldn't turn to Blake for help. Because Blake couldn't be trusted, and she had to be killed.

Pyrrha nodded. "I agree. Alright then, let's pack this up. You got the footage?"

"Sure did. Let's do it."

Enforcers were allowed their small bits of free time here and there, too, so long as they kept their eyes and ears open for possible issues or clues. They weren't ever really "off-the-clock," especially not in the middle of an investigation, but in their line of work, it was sometimes more productive and safer to allocate certain tasks to certain times of day. Pyrrha and Yang would go looking for Nora and Ren the next day since it was getting later in the afternoon, and there was no telling how long it would take to locate them if they weren't at the address the SRO had provided. And taking into consideration the kinds of things they were learning in Vale, it was becoming increasingly clear that the evenings and nighttime were probably not ideal 'searching' times.

And so, after packing up the BMMR equipment and bringing it back to the duplex, the duo met up with Ruby and Sun downtown at a small cafe to have cool drinks and even colder snacks around one of the tables outside.

"I feel like I haven't had ice-cream in foreverrrrr," Ruby sighed happily as she took a lick from her cone. "Atlas is not even close to being warm enough for this."

Yang smirked. "Yeah, as if that's ever stopped you."

"No, but try finding a place that sells ice-cream in winter wonderland. Then come talk to me."

Sun pointed sideways at Ruby with his thumb. "She's right, you know. Bunch of party-poopers over there, I tell ya."

Pyrrha arched her eyebrows with a bit of a smile. "No fun people at all? None? I feel like there has must have been at least one or two…at least, if things haven't changed since I went. Which, I mean…I suppose that was a long time ago."

"You've been to Atlas?" Yang wondered with surprise, popping a spoonful of her blizzard in her mouth.

Pyrrha nodded and leaned back in her chair. "Like I said, it was a long time ago. Before…becoming this. I used to participate in javelin throwing competitions, some fencing tournaments… It allowed me to travel."

"And, uh, how old are you again?"

Pyrrha gave Sun a disapprovingly amused look. "You first."

He chuckled. "I'm twenty-one…but I've been twenty-one for about five years now."

Yang leaned over towards Pyrrha and whispered – loud enough for Sun to hear, "He's just a baby."

This caused all four of them to laugh, and Pyrrha eventually admitted, "I'm technically twenty-six. But that was almost a hundred years ago…"

This time, Yang leaned over towards Ruby and stage-whispered, "Ew, she's a granny about to croak."

"Oh, stop it," Pyrrha pushed Yang's shoulder among the new round of giggles. "You're not even that much younger than me."

Between the comments and fun they were having teasing each other, and the general clientele comings and goings outside here, none of them noticed the person casually approaching their table.

"Excuse me, may I interrupt this lovely company?"

Yang froze and the color drained from her face. She knew the husk of that voice, that subtle accent with the softer consonants.

Everyone stopped to look as Blake, herself, strode up, large sunglasses on her face and dressed in the sexiest street-style outfit Yang had ever seen – a white blouse-jacket, zipper undone, over a black crop-top, completed by a pair of tight jeans hugging her curves all the way up to her exposed navel. She also wore a sunhat, hiding her cat ears.

That lean figure was going to give Yang a heart attack. She could not believe the audacity of anything that was happening right now. And her eyes kept doing that thing where it was obvious she was repeatedly checking out the vampire, despite Yang's desperate attempts not to. What is she doing here? Just right in front of four enforcers who were ordered to kill her, too!

Not that Blake knew that, obviously, but still.

Blake's head turned towards Yang, specifically, and she smiled, sharp canines – but not fangs – flashing. "I'm sorry to disturb you. It's just that I was enjoying my tea, and I noticed you with your friends. I couldn't possibly leave without telling you how absolutely beautiful you are." She paused for the briefest of moments, just long enough for Yang's mortification and heartbeat to skyrocket, and added in a lower, more sensual tone, "And I'd love to take you out on a date sometime."

Yang glanced at her companions rapidly, seeing various expressions ranging from surprise to absolute hilarity, and found herself unable to form any kind of intelligent response.

A couple-thousand-year-old vampire was flirting with her.

Brings a whole new definition to cougar…

It was a violent war between willpower and shame not to bash her head into the table right then and there for having that stupid thought.

Blake extended her hand. "I'm Blake."

Yang could only stare at the offending member. She did not understand what was happening at all. Was it already time for Blake to feed? But it had barely been a week! And she's giving out her real name again!

Somebody kicked Yang's foot under the table, snapping her out of it, and Pyrrha said with a grin, "Apologies for our friend, I think she might have fallen in love with you on the spot."

Yang swallowed hard and clasped Blake's hand. Shit. She had to give her real name, too – the others didn't know this woman wasn't a regular civilian. This was so, so bad. She forced a smile in return to Blake's increasingly smug one. "Sorry, I'm socially inept, apparently. I'm…I'm Yang. And yeah…a date sounds like fun!" Not. I am in so, so much trouble.

Blake didn't let go right away. Her perfect pearly whites glinted, and she lifted Yang's hand to her mouth, much to the blonde's monumental horror. The vampire tipped her head, just enough for bright gold to peer over the edge of the sunglasses, and she murmured, "A pleasure to meet you, Yang." And then she slowly laid her cool lips on Yang's knuckles.

A blush immediately swept up the enforcer's face, and Yang found she couldn't speak or breathe. But then she suddenly felt a sharp burn from her bracer, alerting her to Blake actively trying to charm her. Which made no sense because she knew Yang had a ward! Why –

But the look in Blake's irises wasn't smiling. She tipped her head back, hiding her eyes, and released Yang's hand, the burn of the bracer relenting at once. Blake's tone continued to be low and devastating to Yang's composure when she said, "Can I ask for your number? I think I know exactly where I'd like to take you. You're going to love it."

Yang chuckled awkwardly, heart trying to pound out of her chest and run away with her sanity. I have now learned that a vampire with a death wish is ten thousand times worse than a vampire resisting arrest. "Yup! Just gimme your scroll, I'll input my information…" While Blake took out her scroll, Yang glanced at her friends again – they seemed to suspect nothing.

Except Pyrrha. Pyrrha's smile was slowly vanishing, and her green eyes were concerned, an obvious question in them as she watched the two interact more intently.

Yang shook her head imperceptibly, hoping Blake didn't see, and pretended to give the vampire her contact details, since Blake had them already. She finished up and said, handing Blake her scroll back, "There you go! Can't wait to see what you have in mind." And then, internally losing all will to live, Yang decided to sell the farce and added with a wink, "You look really good, too, I should say."

Blake's dangerous grin returned, and she husked, "I'll see you later, then, Yang. Please, forgive my interruption. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your afternoon…" She turned and started walking away with a lazy wave of her hand.

Yang watched her go, and so did Ruby, Sun, and Pyrrha. Except they, unlike Yang, probably didn't struggle between life and death to keep their eyes from wandering too far down. Once Blake was out of what they thought was earshot, Sun immediately turned back towards Yang and exclaimed, "Holy shit! You got game without having an ounce of game!"

Ruby giggled, "Ember, that was sad even for me to watch."

"You're gonna go on that date, right?!"

Yang rested her forehead on her hands. She was so stressed out. For so many reasons. "I dunno if I should, guys… We're pretty busy with needing to figure out this case…"

"Dude, you can't say no to a woman who looks like that. Worse case, just tell her you're down for an evening of fun and a one-night stand, but that you're not sticking around Vale much longer. We might be enforcers, but we're people, too. You're allowed to relax."

The more Sun spoke, the hotter Yang got, her blush reaching the tips of her ears. If he even knew, just for one miserable second, that that woman was Nightshade, herself, he would not have ever suggested Yang should have sex with her, just to unwind.

But now Yang's mind, traitorous idiot, suddenly was imagining lying naked with Blake, bodies pressed impossibly close in their heated desires…and she shut those thoughts down so hard and fast she feared she'd give herself an aneurysm.

This was pure, unbridled insanity.

Fighting the chaos of her emotions, Yang faked her enthusiasm and said, "You know what, you're right. She was gorgeous, I'll try to have fun on our date." She was willing to bet Blake was still listening to their conversation, too, hidden somewhere, that monster.

But the blonde knew Blake didn't actually want to go on a date. So, maybe, hopefully, she hadn't cared to stick around somewhere and eavesdrop. That intense look and charm attempt, combined with Blake being there at all, implied there was an emergency. And if an ancient vampire had an emergency, Yang figured she better pay attention, because what in the world could possibly be bothering one? It couldn't be anything close to good.

For fuck's sake, why didn't she just text me? Like a normal person?!

Yang looked up and met Pyrrha's stare. The redhead very clearly knew something was off – something alarming. But she didn't ask anything, much to Yang's relief, although the brawler knew Pyrrha would confront her later.

What would Yang even say? Nothing really made sense to her anymore.

"Yeah! That's the spirit. Then you gotta tell us how it went cuz that girl was super hot."

I am going to spontaneously combust. Or maybe I'll just strangle him. "Hey, I don't kiss and tell." And then Yang mentally gagged. It really shouldn't have been affecting her this much, though. Even to pretend. Because that's what she was doing – she was pretending. This was all for show. Blake just needed to tell Yang something important, and that was the end of it. There was no way the vampire had been sincere, anyway. So, why should Yang care? Maybe she wasn't even into women, and it was all an elaborate scheme of some sort!

During the rest of the time the group was at the café, Yang did her best to appear unfazed. But the truth was that she was distraught, and the more she thought about it, the more upset she became, too – at herself. These feelings she was experiencing? They shouldn't have been happening. Especially not for a vampire. You gave your name, Yang. It's only going to go downhill from here. She was compromised, and if she continued trying to keep this a secret, she was putting her friends – and Ruby, her family – in mortal danger.

But what did Blake have to tell her? Because that seemed incredibly pressing, too, and Yang was in a really difficult position where it seemed advantageous to hear her out, and not just for the sake of their case.

Well…if Blake isn't planning on killing me, Pyrrha sure will.

Yang's death came a lot sooner than she thought. Ruby and Sun had barely said their goodbyes and gone off to work that Pyrrha practically dragged Yang into their car and locked the doors. She started the engine and drove off, not saying a single thing, and Yang didn't dare speak, either, until Pyrrha was ready to have the conversation. So, the blonde watched the buildings pass her by through the tinted window, growing more and more uncomfortable with each minute that elapsed in silence.

It didn't look like Pyrrha was bringing them back to the duplex. A few times, Yang almost mustered the courage to try and talk, even if it was just to make a joke, anything to lighten the mood, but in the end, she kept her mouth shut. She had the funny feeling she'd just make things worse if she tried being lighthearted about this.

Pyrrha finally turned into an empty parking lot somewhere and drove towards the back of the building. It didn't look like it was anywhere specific, just a business that had shut down a long time ago and fallen into disrepair. For the purpose of giving the duo momentary privacy, it worked great. She stopped the vehicle, put it into park, and then turned off the engine.

Another heavy silence ensued. Pyrrha then took a breath and turned in the driver's seat to face the blonde, looking every bit like she was about to put Yang on a stick and grill her alive. "Yang," she started carefully, "what's going on?"

Yang was feeling the tension so strongly that she couldn't help but laugh a bit awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, haha…nothing's really wrong, you know? It's not –"

"Yang. You were reacting weird to that woman – Blake."

Yang swallowed thickly and tried in a small voice, "Because she's super hot?"

Pyrrha rolled her eyes. "Stop that. You knew her. But she can't be an ex…"

Yang knew she couldn't stall anymore. It was pointless – Pyrrha wasn't going to let it go before the truth was out, and they were stuck in this car. The brawler lowered her eyes to her lap, heart pounding in her chest, and admitted quietly, "…That was Nightshade."

"I'm sorry, it sounds like you said, 'That was Nightshade,' but that can't be right because you would be in so much trouble if it were true."

And all Yang could do was stare at her fingers while she played with them stressfully. Pyrrha didn't need further confirmation.

"Yang, you're compromised! You gave Nightshade your real name! Nightshade walked up to four enforcers in broad daylight and you knew it. You let her kiss your hand. You better start talking or so help me…"

"I don't know, okay?!" Yang exclaimed, finally looking at her partner and crossing her arms. "I'm pretty sure she has to tell me something urgent, but I don't know what it is or why she cares to tell me anything at all."

Pyrrha narrowed her eyes. "Don't tell me half-truths. There's more going on between you two than that – I saw the way you reacted to her. You chose to compromise yourself over making the others suspicious of her."

"There's nothing happening between us! I just couldn't believe she was there, either."

Pyrrha crossed her arms, too, and regarded Yang piercingly. The blonde averted her eyes again, knowing very well the redhead was going to see right through her. Yang's argument in her defense was incredibly lame, and they'd worked together too long for Pyrrha not to know what to look for.

"What, so you actuallyfell for her pretty face? Is that why she escaped that first night, if 'escaped' is even the right word? Why you wanted to work with her instead of killing her? Yang, this is against our orders."

"But she's not evil, Pyrrha!" Yang protested. "You weren't there! She wanted to die, she'd weakened herself so I'd be able to kill her, and I…and I..." She lowered her head, passing her hands through her hair, and the silence hung heavy between them.

But then Pyrrha sighed. "And you didn't. You saw humanity and you couldn't pull the trigger."

Crestfallen, Yang's shoulders began to sag as well. "I'm sorry," she whispered. It wasn't the first time something like this had happened. And Pyrrha was similar to Yang in feeling empathy and trying her best to get peaceful outcomes, but when it was truly time to end a life...Pyrrha didn't hesitate. It was never in cold-blood, and Yang knew the warrior carried the lives she took with her in her heart, on her shoulders...but at least Pyrrha was able to do what needed to be done.

Yang was a failure. A wild card. And she'd managed to stay on Aurora's good side only thanks to Pyrrha doing what the brawler couldn't do.

Pyrrha sat forward in the driver's seat for a moment, looking frustrated and thoughtful as she massaged her forehead. She stopped and glanced at Yang from the corner of her eye. "You're going to meet with Nightshade no matter what I say, aren't you?"

The blonde knew she wasn't in any position to be the one making the final decisions, and she especially knew she didn't want to keep disappointing Pyrrha, but this was something she couldn't just let go. "I think what she has to tell me is important. So…yeah."

"I figured as much. And Nightshade will expect you to be alone. But you won't be."

"Huh?" Yang lifted her finger, getting ready to object, but Pyrrha briskly raised her hand, stopping the objection before it could even start.

"I want you to find out the location of your date, and I'm going to position myself in a far enough vicinity, and you're going to wear a wire. That way if anything goes south, I can get there fairly quickly. And if everything goes fine, then I'll be updated on the situation right away, too."

There was some part of Yang that was relieved at not being left alone to deal with Blake, but another part of her feared what would happen if Blake found out about Pyrrha. It was very possible nothing would happen because maybe Blake truly only did mean well, but...

It seemed Pyrrha wasn't done, though. Before Yang could agree, the redhead continued firmly, "Also, you need to prove to me I'm not helping you make Aurora give us an early retirement. You want to do this secretly, fine – but these are my terms: You have more information on Nightshade than anybody else in history so far, and apparently a method to get more information on her, so you're going to start filling out a page on Nightshade for the SRO. Regardless of what you think she may or may not do, we need that insurance policy – if only for our own safety. Do you understand?"

"Yeah…I understand." There was a deeply uncomfortable feeling in Yang's gut about doing this for some reason, but she was well aware it had to be done. "I'll do it. It's a good idea."

Pyrrha smiled, but her eyes were still a bit disapproving. "Of course it is. And when you go on your date, I'll be taking pictures of Nightshade from wherever I am so there are images to add to the profile. Also, Yang? Thank you for telling me."

"Yeah...you're welcome." But in her head, Yang thought, Blake is going to know you're there. There's no way she won't know. And if she knew Pyrrha was there, how would Blake ever trust Yang?

But she doesn't care. She literally wants to die, Yang tried to justify it to position she was in was impossible to maneuver – every decision was wrong. She rested her head back on the headrest and muttered up at the car ceiling, "Not gonna lie, I bet you could walk right up to Nightshade and ask her to pose for her mugshot and she'd do it."

Pyrrha gave her a strange look. "Ask her for a selfie, then, if you think it'll be that easy."

This caused Yang to try imagining Blake taking a picture of herself with her scroll, and that was so weird to entertain that Yang just rubbed her face in her attempt to wipe the thought from her mind. "Maybe I will."

There was another silence that settled between them. At some point, though, Pyrrha said in a gentler tone, "Look…I know you, and I know this has been bothering you." She put her hand on Yang's arm. "It seems wrong to kill Nightshade. But she's a threat to the people of Remnant, regardless of how she conducts herself. I don't like it, either, especially if her record is clean. But, at the end of the day, for a creature to have this much power…all it takes is a change of heart. And I doubt that even an ancient vampire is incorruptible."

Pyrrha's words dug the knife of Yang's guilt deeper. Blake's record wasn't clean. Not by a long shot. And who was Yang to judge if Nightshade's exemplary behavior made up for the extent of murder she had committed, however long ago? There were, by Blake's own admittance, over one-hundred thousand souls demanding retribution.

And if it had been the vampire who had killed her parents receiving such mercy, Yang would have been…well, furious was an understatement. She took a deep breath in and then slowly let it out. "You're right, Pyrrha. I gotta get my head on straight. Nightshade is dangerous, I'll do what I have to do to make sure we can safely end her."

"Thank you, Yang. We'll start with this date of yours – intel gathering. When Nightshade messages you, let me know."

Yang nodded and clenched her fists on her lap. "Okay. I will." She tried giving Pyrrha a small smile. "Thanks for talking some sense into me, too."

Pyrrha returned the smile with one of her own. She turned the engine on again, finally, and said, "What are partners for?"

Lemme know your thoughts! I love getting feedback, especially if it's to offer useful criticisms. The next chapter is partially written already, let's hope I can get it out soon!