"Alright," Snow agreed, "But you're not going to part of the bargain."

"Trying to strike a deal in the first part will be a gamble," Blaze explained. "Long is fiercely loyal to Sheng and the Yin Long. If he thinks we're trying to test his loyalty, there'll likely be blood."

Snow seemed amused, "He's the Wolfe of the Yin Long..." she mused.

"I wouldn't call him that," Blaze suggested. "But more or less, except he's strictly a bodyguard; not a leader. And carries a sword."

"... But we'd need to give him a gift of good will before he'd ever consider listening to what we have to say."

Snow started to look suspicious, "What gift of good will?"

"... The raw footage we have of him in the bar talking to Raven... along with all the copies of it," Blaze replied seriously.

"Oh," Snow replied, "Wouldn't Raven be in danger?"

"... Not if he knows Raven isn't the one who wants to make a deal," Blaze replied.

Snow frowned, "Won't he be suspicious?"

"... Yes," Blaze admitted. "But as long as Raven is his normal, untrained self, I don't think Long will consider him a threat."

Snow nodded, "And what will we tell Long?"

"... We'll give him a copy of all the footage you're getting from the hidden cameras you placed last night," Blaze replied.

Snow suddenly grinned, "Ooooh~ Can we give him the footage from my eyes too?" she asked with a chuckle, "Let's get that lover boy in trouble."

Blaze frowned a little, not liking the idea. But she actually put some thought into it. "I don't know," she concluded for now.

Snow shrugged, "Who will talk to Long? He shouldn't see you, right?"

"If he doesn't see me, he won't deal," Blaze said quietly. "... I'm a familiar face."

Snow thought about it for a moment, "Fine. But if you get taken, I'll beat you up." she stated firmly.

Blaze didn't reply. Instead she took that as Blaze's approval and began working on the necessary preparations.

Snow nodded and got to work as well.

Night came too quickly as far as she was concerned. "Still more work to do, at least the video has finished copying, right?" she asked Blaze quietly.

Frei was demanding Raven's attention.

Blaze nodded as she collected the copies.

Raven didn't have much else to do, so he entertained Frei a little.

"... Do you have any ribbon?" Blaze suddenly asked Snow.

"Of course," Snow replied, "Any particular color?"

Blaze shrugged.

Snow pulled out a baggie of all rainbow colors of ribbon and threw it to Blaze.

Blaze grabbed the ribbon on top, took a few things into the bathroom, and came out a few minutes later with a gift box tied up with ribbon.

Snow raised an eyebrow and shook her head a little, "Almost ready?"

"Yeah," Blaze replied. "... Will Frei be alright here alone?" she asked Snow.

Snow snorted, "Yes," she stated. Frei stared blankly at Blaze from across the room.

Blaze shrugged a little as she grabbed everything that would be needed.

Snow stayed close to Blaze, she had hidden weapons just in case. She'd wait for Blaze to make the first move.

[[...]]

So they set about Blaze's plan. Snow and Blaze hid close by the bar in a place where they wouldn't be disturbed. Then Raven went to the bar by himself to wait. He seemed a little nervous, like he knew there had to be a little more to what was going on tonight.

There he waited, talking to a few people as he waited for the man he had talked to and the "stranger" Snow had mentioned. Finally after a few hours, the masked man made an appearance. Raven didn't notice him right away, but eventually they began to talk again.

"I told one of my friends about you," Raven told the man, as Blaze had instructed. When the man didn't reply, he pulled out the gift box. "They said I should give you this."

The man hesitantly took the box. "... What is it?" he asked. Raven shrugged. After a long awkward moment, he opened the box and took out a small vial of something nasty looking. He glanced at Raven.

"Don't look at me," Raven muttered. The man seemed to believe Raven's ignorance. "... But my friend wants to talk, if you have the time." And with that, he left, man still looking at the small vial.

Raven quickly made his way to where Snow and Blaze were waiting. "... Now what?" he asked.

"Now we wait," Blaze replied.

"What was in that vial?" Raven asked. Blaze remained silent.

[[ :whistles: ]]]

Snow sighed a little as she nodded to Raven.

So Raven sat by them and twiddled his thumbs. But they didn't have to wait too long. About ten minutes later, the masked man walked up to the three of them, stopping just far away enough so he didn't have to shout to them. He slowly held up the vial. "Since when do you gamble on your days?" he asked.

"Some things have changed. Some never will," Blaze replied.

"Wait, you know him?" Raven asked Blaze.

Snow sat by silently but were eyes focused closely on the man. If he tried anything suspicious she was fully prepared to protect Raven.

The man and Blaze ignored Raven. "We didn't mean to bump into you," Blaze told him. "We're looking for something else."

"... I trust-" the man started, but Blaze cut him off.

"-Yue isn't here. She's safe. For now."

There was a long pause. Then he asked, "Why should I believe you?"

Blaze took out the bag of footage with Long on it and kicked it over to him. "Raven was wired last night. This is all the footage and all the copies that we have of you." The man was silent for a very long time. "Check it if you want."

Instead, the man pulled out a small device that quickly scanned the area for bugs and other unsavory technical devices before nudging the bag with his foot. "... I'll listen," he replied. Blaze visibly relaxed a little. "And one token of trust for a token of good will," he continued before tossing the vial to Blaze, who caught it carefully. "... I didn't realize you knew me so well," Long said, voice changing as he took off the mask.

Raven stared blankly at Long, looking like he might faint.

Snow patted Raven on the back a little but her eyes didn't leave Long.

Long kept his eyes on Blaze, but it seemed almost more out of embarrassment than anything else. So Blaze told Long what he needed to know in a way skewed a little to appeal to him. In order to keep Yue safe, they needed to find someone who had recently come to Chicago. They suspect she had been picked up by a gang, but they didn't know for sure. Blaze gave Long a picture of Laurel.

"... And in return?" Long asked.

Snow smiled a bit, "I hand over all the footage my cameras captured and are still capturing in your lovely Yuè mǎ kèzhàn bar," she said in a sweet voice, "As well as the audio from my listening devices."

Long blinked, suddenly very interested. He opened his hand, waiting for Snow to toss him a sample to prove she wasn't bluffing.