Chapter 3 Escape

It's been a little over an hour now; the wait was the worst part of the job. But he was use to the waiting game, many times has he done this during this line of work. He sat inside his white van comfortably, a cigar lit. He kept his eye on the building he was parked outside of; he knew that the Faunus girl might have realized she was surrounded by hordes of hungry journalists and reporters just waiting to jump at her for a the latest scoop.

There was no way that girl was dumb enough to take a step outside now. There was no point in standing there waiting in a crowded sidewalk to wait for her to slip up, not when he can simply just kick back and relax inside the comfort of his van. He liked his personal space to himself. Which was ironic, since it was his job to invade other people's space and have it be announced on every magazine cover, TV show and every trend website out there. That's what he did best, his work has been very well known. Most of the main themes get published on Remnant Magazines had his name on it: Roman Torchwick. 'Photographer extraordinaire.'

He grinned as he took a drag from his cigar, letting the inside of the van get engulfed by the misty smoke.

Blake drew the curtains of her window closed, not wanting to risk another snapshot of her being taken. She took off her beanie, letting her cat ears free. She had nothing to hide while she was in her apartment. She'd been waiting for some time now, still no sign of Yang. She wondered how the band lead is going to get past all of those reporters down there, and even if Yang made it inside. How would they even find a way out without getting cornered by all of those cameras? This was supposed to have been a relaxing Sunday afternoon, and here she was being stalked and harassed by the media. She was placing her faith on the blonde rock star; she was the only one that can end this. All Blake could do was sit down on her couch Indian style and wait.

She thought over the situation again, still trying to figure out how she had gotten herself into this mess. All they did was dance, nothing more and nothing less. Sure, the close proximity they were in may have been easily misinterpreted by anyone. But to just take pictures and broadcast it all over the place for all to see and state that this is what's happened was something Blake could not comprehend. People believe what they want to she guessed.

They were all over the subject about Yang and that band. Was this band they were talking about that big of a deal? "I've honestly never heard of them before." She thought, curiosity getting the better of the kitten. She reached out for the black laptop that lay next to her on the couch and flipped it open. She searched the internet for the band name: Flaming White Rose. She was surprised by the number of search results that popped up on screen. She clicked on the first result that popped up; it appeared to have been a short bio of the band.

The band was originally founded by two sisters, Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose. The sisters originated from a very small island named Patch all the way off the coast side of Vale. It was just a simple hobby when the sisters started off playing music around their early pre-teen years, Yang would play guitar along with practiced vocals and Ruby would be on drums.

Blake scrolled further down the webpage as she read the bio and found herself staring at a picture of the siblings during their younger days. They both looked around 15-17 years old, Yang had her arm wrapped around Ruby's shoulders, both sisters grinning wildly in the image. They looked extremely close, as sisters should be. The picture made Blake smile; it was making her wish she had a sibling of her own. She briefly wondered why they had different last names; now that she looked at the pictures closely they didn't really look much alike. She continued to read down the bio, interested even more now of the bands background story.

The sisters moved to Vale, getting a taste of city life there. As well finish off the rest of their high school years at Beacon High, where they soon met their third addition to the group Jaune Arc. He proved to be an excellent sound engineer and DJ for the band, giving them numerous forms of music the three of them could create. Around the same time, the fourth and final addition to the band joined in. And it was a surprising addition to say the least. Originally born and raised in the military state of Atlas, Weiss Schnee became the bassist of the band, daughter of a wealthy multi-millionaire family that owned several music record companies and among several other types of businesses. It was as if fate decided that the four of them would meet and become the infamous band known today as Flaming White Rose.

There was another picture below the paragraph on screen with all four band members in it together standing side by side in front of a brick wall. It seemed to have been an album cover. In the picture the sisters looked a little bit older now around their early twenties. Ruby was giving a peace out sign in the picture, a big smile on her face while Yang had her hand out in a thumbs-up motion wearing a pair of aviators, an open mouth smile on her face. Weiss was looking at the camera indifferently, arms crossed over her chest without a care in the world. As for Jaune he stood there with his hands in his pockets, a shy smile on his face while wearing a baseball cap backwards.

The band's rise to fame started off small, making amateur music videos and posting them online. Then they began playing in public parks and subways. Eventually they were all over the internet, and began to gain a large number of fans spreading the word of their existence. This gave them more opportunities to play, in charity events and modest bars, which soon lead into well known local clubs and opening for other famous bands in larger venues. Introducing their very first album during these joined tours, Red Like Roses. Touring across Remnant, the name Flaming White Rose was in everyone's mouth. This growth occurred within the span of two years, and it only keeps on growing soon after releasing their hit single, "Caffeine." Which sky rocketed up the charts as #1 in the top five singles.

"Wow, that's crazy." Blake thought, eyes wide in amazement as she continued to read on.

Despite the band raising high up to stardom, there was a moment of darkness for the sisters. Within the year of their first album being released, the mothers of Yang and Ruby had passed away in a freak accident. The two sisters mourned their mothers' deaths and even had dedicated a song in their memory, since then the sisters along with the band have gone into a hiatus for several months.

No one knew what happened or where they have been, but reporters have caught up to the band lead at some point in a bar drinking herself into a stupor and described her state as 'shattered' and 'broken.' Even some of the songs they have released as of recently seemed dark and sorrowful. One journalist commented that "Yang seemed like a mindless doll without life, it was clear as day that she was deeply affected by the tragedy." As to what extent it was not known. Yang had grown infamous for starting fights in bars she'd drink herself to death at, and at one point had assaulted one paparazzi that had gotten to close to her. On several occasions Yang should have been arrested, but of course the Schnee Company had all the power and money in the world to prevent that.

The once innocent and sunshine filled singer became what a true rock star ends up being in the end, broken and dark.

And it only got worse when an unexpected break up accord between Yang Xiao Long and world class super model C-

Blake paused in her reading for a moment, not really sure if she should continue this. It somehow didn't feel right to her. It was like an invasion of Yang's privacy. Blake stared at her screen for another brief moment; she closed her laptop and laid down on the couch, a hand covering her eyes. She took in the new information she had gain on Yang Xiao Long, lead singer of a still growing in fame band. She wondered if Yang was serious about getting to her, it's been a while since their phone call ended. She really hoped the blonde girl didn't get caught by the paparazzi cavalry that were still outside waiting.

Yang zoomed past traffic like a bat out of hell, not paying mind to the numerous angry honking horns she left behind. She was getting close to the address Blake had sent her, though given by the stressed out tone the Faunus had they must have been many of those pesky reporters gathered up in front of the building. Logically speaking the front entrance would be a bad idea. They'll spot her in mere seconds and prevent her from getting inside. Yang did the smart thing first and drove her bike into an alley way that was only two blocks away from her destination. She kicked the stand of her bike out and hoped off as she removed her helmet. She decided to walk the rest of the way, by doing this she would be able to survey the area and come up with a plan.

As she neared the last block, she kept her back against a wall and poked her head around the corner to survey the situation. "Oh crap…" She whispered to herself in slight frustration, there was so many of them blocking the front entrance. Yang looked around the area and noticed that there was another building beside the apartment complex; she suspected that there must be another entrance leading to the inside of the apartment complex just between the two buildings. At least that's what she was hoping for anyways.

There was no harm in checking it out, with that mind set Yang slipped on her aviator glasses over her eyes. Hopefully no one had seen her and recognized her; she casually walked around the paparazzi hazard stealthily. This was child's play for Yang; she had many times avoided them before. She was well practiced on it thanks to the many pursuits she'd encounter from reporters, paparazzi and stalkers alike.

She made it to the building and without a second thought she went inside, it looked like it was a small antique shop. An empty one, there was a sleeping cashier at the register. It didn't look like they got much business. Yang walked behind the counter, careful as to not wake up the sleeping cashier, she made her way all the way to the other side of the building and an open window waited for her there. She swiftly jumped through it and found herself between the antique store and the walls of the apartment building.

She gazed up it and found that there was a fire escape at the side of the building, not exactly what she had in mind but she'll take it. "Close enough." Yang said in victory as she walked over to the latter that hung over head, she reached for it and jumped effortlessly. She managed to pull the latter down and began to climb up, making her way up the stairs completely unnoticed by the reporters.

Tic tic tic

"Huh?" Blake sat up on her couch, her cat ears twitched as they picked up something. There was no mistaking that she had heard something, it seemed to have been coming from her bedroom. She breathed in deeply and held her breath, what if it was one of those people from outside that have somehow managed to get into her apartment?

Blake stood up and cautiously took a few steps towards the closed door of her bedroom. She grabbed a metal baseball bat that was next to the door. Feeling safer holding the object in her hands now, she opened the door slowly and scanned around her room. There didn't seem to have been any signs of a disturbance in the room, but she still held her guard up.

Tic tic

Her shoulders jerked in surprise when she heard it again, her pulse began to quicken when her eyes landed on the window that was currently covered by her curtains. She neared the window and reached for the silk curtains, hesitating for a moment before pulling them open in one swift motion.

Expecting an obnoxious reporter flashing their cameras in her face, she was instead more surprised to have found Yang waiting outside her window standing out on the fire escape. Yang was giving her the biggest grin ever from behind the window, a small wave of her hand in greeting.

Blake shook her shock aside and dropped the bat; she then opened the window up for Yang to let her inside.

The blonde jumped over the metal railing of the fire escape and through the window, but not without stumbling over it. "Shit!" She cursed as she lost her footing and almost fell. Arms outstretched she held on to the first thing that was closest to her to prevent herself from falling flat on her face.

Blake blinked several times in confusion when Yang had wrapped her arms around her neck, not sure what had just happened. The state they were in was much like the night they danced, though reversed with Yang having her arms wrapped around Blake's neck this time. Blake stood there frozen, not moving an inch. She feared that if she did her face would turn red; she will not blush again in the course of two days straight. She vowed to never blush again period.

"Whoa… That was a close one…." Yang said with a breath of relief.

The Faunus stayed silent, not trusting her voice in the current position the two girls were in. 'This girl really likes close contact.' And Blake did not know how she felt about that.

Still not removing herself from the Faunus, Yang decided to have a little bit of fun. She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Blake, "We really need to stop meeting like this, kitty."

Blake felt a vein pop on her forehead as she glared at the blonde, "And you really need to stop calling me that." She scolded, keeping her tone neutral. Not falling for the flirtatious girl's joke.

Noticing the tension building up, Yang stood up straight and removed her arms from around the Faunus. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she took off her aviator glasses and looked around the room she was in. "This sort of brings back memories." She giggled to herself, "It's been awhile since I last did something like this." She mused as she momentarily reminisced.

Blake arched an eyebrow at Yang, "You've broken into someone's home before?" She questioned curiously.

"Nah, I was sneaking into a girl's room. Also… I didn't break in. You opened the window for me." Yang specified, a cocky smirk forming on her lips.

The Faunus girl bit back a smile of her own and shook her head. She stared at Yang for a moment and noticed something was off. "You're… Eyes." She tilted her head to side as she took a better look at the blonde, "They're different." They were a light lilac in color, they had a softness held behind them that Blake could not explain. Nothing compared to the intense crimson eyes she first seen of the girl. Blake decided in her mind that lilac suited her better.

"I wear red eye contacts. It's part of the band's theme." She said as she pointed two fingers at her eyes.

Blake felt confused the more she watched Yang act and the more she listened to the way she spoke. She even analyzed Yang's body language, which oozes confidence and power. Nothing in the bio matched up to the Yang she's seeing right now, there's nothing broken about her. Nothing dark or sad about her. It was all very much the opposite, 'Unless it's all a front she keeps up to fool people…'

The room went silent, Yang was here now and Blake was unsure as to how to act around the girl now knowing who she really was. How does one act around a celebrity? Thinking back to their previous interaction, she thought to herself that it didn't matter how she behaved around Yang. She's just a girl like anyone else, only difference between her and Blake was that Yang enjoyed soaking up the spotlight and Blake enjoyed being behind the scenes.

"What are we going to do?" Blake finally asked in wonder, "You coming here might not have been the best idea. If they see us together it's only going to give them more gossip material." She knew she was right; being seen together would only look even more suspicious.

Things were looking bleak for the girls, but Yang had a plan. Somewhat. She pulled out her phone and dialed a phone number she knew by heart, she waited for the line to pick up after several rings. "Yo, it's me." She turned away from the Faunus as she continued to speak on the phone, "You still in the area?" She paused. "Perfect! Listen, I need you to do that thing for me again… Yes, I know last time was embarrassing." She laughed sheepishly, the person on the phone didn't sound like they were willing to do whatever 'thing' Yang asked them about. Yang sighed. She brought her hand up to rub at her temples as she continued on the phone. "Look, I'll promise to get you a date with Weiss if you do this for me, I swear it'll be the last time too! Think about it, if you get me out of this jam smoothly Weiss will be so grateful that she'll have to go on a date with you! Come on man…" She baited and waited for a response.

Blake sat on the side of her bed and waited patiently for the phone call to end, wondering what exactly was it that Yang was up to. Whatever it was, she was hoping it will get her out of this nightmare.

"Awesome, I owe ya one big time! I'll text ya the address." Yang thanked the person several more times on the phone and hung up; she immediately typed out a message on her phone and sent it. She turned back to face the Faunus again, a determined expression on her face now. "We're getting out that front door without a single one of them even seeing us." She stated confidently, catching the other girl by surprise.

"How?" Blake asked, disbelieving Yang's statement.

A few short moments later, outside…

As if by some kind of chemical reaction, camera flashes erupted around the block. People were yelling and they scrambled around desperately to get a better view for a picture. Half of them were in shock at what was happening in front of them, the other half were amazed that it's happening yet again. Only a hand few of people had seen this kind of action before, and it appears that it happened every time they had Yang Xiao Long cornered, but of course they didn't give it too much thought and connect the dots together. They just wanted a picture so they can get paid, and this picture was going to pay extremely well for them.

Walking down the streets was a half naked guy with short blue hair. He was literally only wearing a pair of white boxers, arms crossed over his chest as if uncomfortable by the lack of clothes but his stance was confident at the same time. Not at all fazed that he was out in public like this, he actually made it look cool even. He smiled brightly at the cameras, showing his white perfect teeth. Causing the cameras even more to flash, "Yang, I better get that date…" He whispered to himself through his toothy smile.

The two girls were staring out through the glass doors of the front lobby, witnessing the event. Blake did not believe that the plan was working; who knew they'd fall for some random guy in a pair of boxers would distract them so easily?

"I sometimes think he should switch his career and become an underwear model." Yang commented, amused at the sight. Within mere seconds a herd of fangirls flooded the streets from across the apartment building; now both press and crazed girls were after the poor half naked man.

Blake gaped slightly, a bit horrified at what was happening before their eyes. "I think we just started a riot."

"It'll be fine." Yang said in a carefree manner as she waved her hand dismissively. She knew that her friend could handle it; he lives for these kinds of things anyways.

"This might be a dumb question, but who is he exactly?" Blake asked, he must be someone important if the reporters were all over him like this.

"He's a meat head athlete." Yang explained, "Famous soccer player actually, if you wanna be specific. He won the championship cup last year in Vacuo for the 4th time for team Trident."

Blake thought for a moment, and came to realization at the mention of team Trident. "Oh! He's Neptune Vasilias, correct?"

Yang confirmed hesitantly, she hoped in her mind that Blake wasn't one of his fangirls. "Uh, yeah... That's totally him." Yang gave Blake a look with an arched eyebrow. Surprised that the Faunus girl knew who Neptune was, "You don't seem the type to follow sports…"

"I don't, someone I know loves soccer. And he's a huge fan of Neptune." She specified, she knew that much about Neptune because Sun was the person that was obsessed over the sport. Every time they hung out with friends he always had something to say about one of Neptune's games.

Yang made a muted 'o' with her mouth, relieved that the Faunus girl wasn't that type of person. Yang pictured the dark haired girl screaming and swooning over her, yelling for her and asking for an autograph. The image so did not fit her at all; within the few times she's interacted with the other girl she could tell that the Faunus wasn't easily impressed.

With the distraction now in full affect, the two of them stepped outside of the building. They walked side by side, Yang with her aviator glasses on and Blake with her beanie back on her head, still hiding her cat ears. They began to walk down the block at a steady pace; if they walked too fast they might have drawn some unwanted attention again. Off in the distance the two girls could hear Neptune yell, "Hey! Ladies! Please, calm down! Knock it off, that's my underwear!"

Blake kept walking along with Yang, feeling a bit concerned now about the soccer star, "Umm… Hey, shouldn't we-"

"Nope!" Yang cut her off; they were down two blocks by now anyways. They didn't have time to save Neptune.

They were now entering an alley way, Yang's bike was coming into view. Blake wasn't surprised that Yang's form of transportation was as wild as she was.

They were now at a safe distance and far away from any flashing cameras, so Yang took the moment to make conversation with the Faunus girl as the two of them neared her bike. "Sooo…" She started as casually as possible, "That someone you mentioned earlier, the one who likes soccer, is he your friend or…?" Yang trailed off, waiting for the girl to finish her sentence.

Blake stared at Yang blankly, "He's none of your business." She said flatly, not appreciating Yang prying.

Yang sighed; she was now standing next to her bike and popped open the compartment that was disguised as the bike's seat. She pulled out a black spare helmet from it. "Right, I get that… I was just trying to get to know you better, I mean; I don't even know your name, and I'm saving you right now." Also she really wanted to know if the Faunus was single, out of curiosity though. She held out the helmet for the girl, waiting for her to take it.

Blake stared at the offered helmet, and then back at Yang. Thinking over her words, she knew that her attitude towards Yang was inappropriate, especially when she's going through so much trouble to help her out when she didn't have to. If it was anyone else, they wouldn't have cared at all about what happened to her.

She paused for a moment before she took a step forward and grabbed the helmet that Yang held out for her, "It's Blake…" She breathed out. "My name is Blake Belladonna." She introduced herself, giving Yang a small smile.

Yang tried to stop herself from smiling so big, but she couldn't help it. "Blake, that's a nice name." She complimented, "Bella as in Beauty, Donna as in woman. Guess one would say you're a beautiful woman." Her charm came out before she could stop herself.

Blake's face broke her vow on never blushing again; she felt her cheeks redden the longer Yang stared at her with that smile on her face. She looked away from the blonde and stared down at the helmet in her hands instead, "That was unnecessary." She said under her breath, denying the compliment from Yang.

Flash

A burst of light appeared for a millisecond before they could even realize what had just happened, both girls turned around at once to see where the flash came from. A man with a white jacket and Ballard hat that covered his ginger hair stood before them, a camera in his hands. He had just taken a picture of them, he hummed as he stared down at his camera. "Hmm, not a bad shot at all." He complimented his work, and tapped a finger on his chin thoughtfully. "But it seems to be missing something, would you two mind kissing each other for me?" He asked politely, a perverted smile on his face.

Yang felt her hands form into fists, teeth clenching as she spoke his name out disdainfully. "Torch-dick…"

The camera man rolled his eyes and glared hatefully back at Yang, "It's Torchwick." He corrected her, "You would think that out of the many times we've ran into each other you would get that by now."

"Oh, I know that. I just don't care to say it properly." Yang admitted, she began to crack her knuckles and began to walk towards Roman. Murderous intent taking over, she was going to make sure she shoved that camera up his ass once she got a hold of him.

Blake stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder, "Yang, wait! Is it really worth it? Let's just go, please?" She pleaded, not at all comfortable with how the situation was going now. And not liking this Torchwick guy either, she didn't like the way he was looking at them.

Yang hesitated, but did what was asked. She quickly strapped on her helmet on as so did Blake, flipping the visor over her eyes. They got on the bike and Blake immediately wrapped her arms around the other's waist as she felt the motor rev up.

Yang burned the back tire's rubber as she did a sharp half turn in place and dashed out of the alley way, leaving a cloud of smoke behind them that left Roman choking.

The camera man covered his mouth with his arm and coughed uncontrollably, as he waved his free hand through the smoke. Trying to clear it up, but by the time it cleared the girls were gone. He scoffed and stared down at his camera in his hands once more, a devious smile on his face. "You can escape ladies, but I still got a picture that no one else has."

He was sure that he'd get a pretty penny for this, 'I'd say job well done.' He thought to himself in victory.

A/N: Hello all, sorry for late update. I've been a bit busy. But I hope you guys like this so far. Appreciate any feedback on this chapter! Also I'd like to thank my Beta again for editing these chapters for me, appreciate all of your hard work. You're awesome :D