The night sky was perfect, cloudless and frosted with countless stars, stretching out forever. Aside from the little circle of sand and scrub illuminated by the headlights, the desert stretched out to the horizon, a vast darkness mirrored by the light above. Lying on the hood of the car, Neo felt almost at peace.

"You know, you could help me."

Neo sat up and looked at Yang Xiao Long, her partner, currently standing in a half-dug grave. She had abandoned her usual suit jacket in favor of a white tank top. It wasn't particularly hot out, but Yang had been digging for a while and was beginning to work up a sweat.

"I prefer to enjoy the view," Neo said. Her voice was soft, but harsh, like a wet stone being scraped on steel. At the distance she was standing and with the headlights shining directly at her, Yang couldn't see the razor-thin scar that stretched across Neo's throat, but she knew it was there.

She really was enjoying the view. Sweat trickled down Yang's face, plastering strands of blonde hair to it, or down her neck between her breasts, or down her back, all the better to show off her rippling muscles as she worked her shoulders moving shovelfuls of dirt. It made for a very nice experience.

"Besides, we only brought one shovel," she added.

"Was that on purpose?" Yang asked. Neo smirked and leaned back against the windshield.

"...Maybe."

/

With the headlights shining in her eyes, Yang couldn't see Neo's face. She sighed and went back to shoveling dirt.

It had been a normal job. The body was thankfully hidden beyond the area illuminated by the headlights, wrapped in a canvas tarp. Yang grimaced as she stuck the shovel in the ground again. She'd gone into it not knowing anything beyond the fact that he was her target, and that suited her fine. Just because she had to kill people for a living didn't mean she had to like it.

Unlike some people.

"Hey Neo?" she asked, "What do you think it would take to get out of this business?"

Neo shifted her position on the hood of the car.

"Probably when I find something that gives me a better rush than killing," she said with a sweet laugh in her voice. Yang shivered and moved another shovelful of dirt. Neo was a great partner who had saved her life on multiple occasions. She was also incredibly attractive, and Yang had even grown fond of her constant teasing in her own way, but Neo definitely enjoyed her job too much sometimes.

"What about you?" Neo asked.

Yang planted the shovel in the ground again. She shook her head.

"Depends how much I need to put Ruby through college. You know she wants to be a mechanical engineer? Got a real knack for it, too."

/

Neo leaned back against the windshield and watched Yang dig. Her answer had been accurate. Throughout her life, nothing gave her a rush quite like watching a man die. Nothing made her feel more alive.

Well...most of the time. Today's job actually hadn't been that exciting. He barely put up enough of a fight to make things interesting. And Neo had found that it was the fight and the death itself that gave her the rush. Afterwards, the feeling faded quickly.

Although more recently she'd found herself glancing at Yang in the moments after a kill, feeling her heart beating and her stomach twisting in a way she'd never known before.

"I think that's good enough," she said suddenly. Yang glanced up and planted the shovel upright in the pile of dirt that had grown next to the grave. The odds that anyone would come across this particular spot of desert were infinitesimal, and the wind would blow away their tracks long before anyone would even think to try.

"I'm so damn thirsty," Yang rasped. She sat down in the passenger seat and gratefully accepted the bottle of water Neo offered her.

Neo watched her throat work as she gulped down the water. A trickle escaped the side of her mouth and dripped down her chin. When she tossed the bottle into the back seat, Neo bent down and kissed her. Yang was surprised, but almost immediately kissed her back.

Neo felt a rush of adrenaline. Her blood pounded in her ears as she put her hand on the back of Yang's neck, feeling the muscles shift beneath her skin. The smell of Yang's sweat filled her nose as she leaned further into the kiss.

Yang suddenly broke away, and Neo began working her way down the side of her neck.

"Neo...the dead guy..."

"He won't mind," she murmured, but Yang took her by the wrist.

"I mean, shouldn't we bury him first?"

Neo stood up and looked out into the night.

"Fine. I'll do it. You relax."

/

Yang watch as Neo dumped the body into the grave and shoveled the dirt back into it. Neo hadn't removed her jacket, the night had grown quite cool and really she only needed to tip the pile of loose sand and gravel back into the hole. The cool desert air brushed against Yang's skin, raising goosebumps along her arms and legs.

That was the first time she and Neo had kissed. There had certainly been an attraction, though it had taken Yang far too long to realize it. She just hadn't made the first move because...well, frankly, Neo was scary.

Still, it wasn't like Yang had the moral high ground. Objectively, she was just as bad as Neo. Neo just enjoyed it more.

But Yang trusted Neo with her life. And she legitimately enjoyed her company. There was really no reason not to enjoy things while she could.

Alright. Guess we'll see how this plays out.

/

Neo's hands were shaking. She'd kissed Yang on a whim, and even after several minutes her heart hadn't stopped beating. She could feel it in her throat.

She wanted to do it again. And again and again. She wanted Yang. She wanted.

She'd never felt like this before. Up until she met Yang, she had never really attraction to...anyone, really. She just thought it wasn't for her. Besides, in her line of work you didn't meet a lot of people who made good romantic partners. Yang was different though. Aside from being insanely attractive, and funny, she was just...selfless. It wasn't a quality Neo had in spades, but she could recognize it. And once they had moved past their initial barbs and learned to work together she'd grown to trust Yang with her own life, which definitely wasn't something Neo thought she would ever do. She'd always tried to look out for number one, but now she thought that if necessary she would lay down her life for Yang.

It was terrifying. But also exhilarating. It gave her a rush.

Once the grave was filled she scattered more dirt around to mask it. She found some loose brush and dragged it across the ground for good measure, then climbed into the driver's seat.

Yang was already half-asleep, covered in dirt and sweat.

"It's been a long day," Neo said, "You probably don't want to go home looking like that. You want to stop by my place? Slip out of those dirty clothes and have a hot shower?"

"That sounds perfect right now," Yang groaned.

Neo smiled and started the car. She hadn't found anything that made her feel better than killing did, but being with Yang came pretty damn close.