Despite managing to fall into a deep slumber, the night truly hadn't been kind to the huntress. Her dreams had been filled with many things, fragments of the last several days mixed in with internally repressed desires— most of which involved a certain rose-haired soldier.

The dreams themselves had been pleasant at the very least; images of her arms wrapped around Lightning, holding her close as they dozed off on the couch together, or thoughts of what their little coffee date might be like still fresh in her mind as Fang slowly stirred awake. Emerald orbs slowly cracked open, the sleep riddling her eyes being blinked away as a hand lazily came up to shield her face from the harsh morning rays pouring in from the window.

Fang wanted to groan in frustration, honestly not wanting to get up and instead roll over onto her side to resume sleeping. She knew better than that though, work wasn't going to do itself. With a soft sigh the pulsian dragged herself up into a sitting position, and swung her legs over the side of the bed so bare feet could land on the floor with a faint thud.

She took a moment to stretch out her arms over her head, rolling her shoulders a bit to release a bit of tension before standing up and slowly walking over to the mirror on the far wall.

For a long hard moment, the huntress just stared back at her reflection. Her gaze focused solely on her still swollen eye. Granted, the swelling had gone done enough to be noticeable, but still the skin around it was still puffy and discolored.

Gingerly, fingertips grazed bruised flesh, emerald orbs raking in the sight of the bruise still apparent on her olive tinted skin. While touching the area didn't cause her to wince or flinch like it had before, it still looked as nasty as it had the first day it appeared. Fang could tell some of the deeper bruising was beginning to heal but she'd still need to cover it up for the day to avoid unwanted looks.

Fang took a few minutes to fetch a fresh bandage, before wrapping it around and applying it to the area. She pressed it firmly onto her face, a solitary jade hue watching intently as she pressed her fingertips into the bandage so that it would stay stuck to her skin as she finished up.

Looking herself over once more, Fang stood up straight, proud with how she appeared, and deciding it was probably time to finally get finished getting ready and head out.

It didn't take her long to pull on a fresh pair of pants and a random tank-top, seeing as how it really didn't matter since she'd be changing into her uniform at work. Still, that wasn't enough to stop Fang from wrapping her favorite sari around her form, as she always felt a bit weird not having it on.

Another glance in the mirror, and she ran a few fingers into her unkempt mane of hair, pushing it back into it's normal state. With that done, the pulsian gathered up her spear and walked out of her bedroom, down the hall towards the front door.

Closing it behind herself, Fang headed for the city, ready to take on another job at the Guardian Corps. Running a hand through her long mane, the brunette couldn't pull herself away from her stirring thoughts though. Like the way Lightning had been sincere in her apology, the fact that she shared that story with her, even agreed to have coffee with her on top of that.

Fang smiled to herself, lips etching upwards from the thought that it all had really happened. Inhaling slowly, she ruminated on it further, remembering the soldier's gentleness. It was a different side to the soldier than she'd seen before, but definitely one she wouldn't mind getting to see again... if she was lucky that is.

Finally making her way into the headquarters, she was snapped out from her thoughts when a few of the newer recruits offered her a wave. Flashing them a grin, she returned the gesture, a broader smile filling her face and even a slight bounce in her step. It was nice to be well known in the city, nice to be recognized with a friendly wave despite the fact she wasn't a cocoonian.

Before she could head into the locker room though, a voice caught her attention causing her to cast a glance over her shoulder at the woman rushing towards her with purpose.

"Hey, Fang!" The young blonde woman called out to her again, and Fang spun around to face her pursuer. It didn't take her that long however to realize this woman looked familiar, and after another few moments it occurred to her that she'd seen this person at the party at Snow's a few days prior. "Oh, hey," Fang halted in her tracks, and gave the other woman a small smile. "Anne, right?"

Anne nodded her head swiftly, grinning since Fang of all people had actually remembered her name. To someone still in training, it was practically a big deal, an honor even. "Yeah, I'm glad you remember!" Her voice was somewhat enthusiastic, before a realization set in as she remembered exactly why she'd approached Fang to begin with. "Amodar was looking for you."

"Oh?" Fang raised a brow hearing that, not having expected to be called upon by her commanding officer so soon. But before she could question the blonde over if she knew what it was about or not, Anne abruptly cut her off. "He said as soon as you can, so you better hurry!"

The huntress simply gave a small nod in understanding. "Alright, I'll be there right away." She promised, though still internally wondering what could possibly be so important. With that though, she waved the younger woman off and entered the familiar locker room. Fang was used to receiving extra work from Amodar time to time and figured that this had to be the reason he was asking for her already.

Crossing the room to her locker, Fang propped it open and began to change into her attire. Slipping out of her sari, she pulled the button down shirt over her head, fastening it to her body. Pulling on a pair of black pants, the buttoned them before sitting down and unstrapping her shoes. Tugging on some socks, she pulled on her combat boots, lacing them up quickly with a firm tug. Collecting her shoulder armor, Fang strapped it to her body, shutting the locker door firmly afterwards. She gave herself a one over in one of the mirrors near the sinks and decided she was ready for the work day.

Taking her leave from the locker room, she quickly jogged through the headquarters, coming upon the familiar door to Amodar's office. Slight confusion ran through her mind as she entered, only becoming more confused when she noticed Lightning flipping furiously through a file.

Intense azure orbs didn't take notice of the pulsian entering, Lightning's face full of concentration as she flipped through page after page; as if she were desperately searching for something. Her brow was furrowed as she continued flipping through page after page, annoyance clearly written all over her face.

Fang watched for a minute or two before finally clearing her throat, making her presence known to the other woman who still hadn't noticed her. Crossing the short room, she took a plop into a chair in front of Amodar's desk, her gaze never leaving the soldier. "Heya, Light." She greeted warmly, even offering the roseate a small smile. "Where's Amodar?"

Lightning simply shrugged, all her focus on the file in her hand as she made no move to stop searching through it to look up at Fang.

"I thought it was just me he wanted to see." Fang said out loud, though mostly to herself as she was still a bit confused as to why she had been summoned, not to mention wondering over the reason Lightning was there as well.

Finally, Lightning's gaze rose from the folder she'd been flipping through. Without much of a warning the file was dropped into Fang's lap, as Lightning managed a sigh. "He'll be right back." The soldier informed her companion. "We're here because of this."

Fang cocked her head in a curiously fashion at Lightning, before glancing down at the vanilla folder that had been dropped on her lap. Popping open the folder, Fang began flipping through the information inside and skimming the detailed pages to see just what the other woman had been so focused on.

The file itself had been regarding an incident involving Lightning and some thugs from a few days prior, or so it seemed anyway.

"I don't think I've ever heard about this.." The brunette honestly stated, eyes still skimming the report for more details. "Why would we be workin' on a case that's already closed though?"

"The gang mentioned in the case, a few of the members managed to escape that fight. Apparently, they're hiding out somewhere outside of town and we're the ones who are supposed to be cleaning up the mess." Lightning explained, obviously not too happy to be dealing with the same garbage a second time.

"Of course it would have to be today of all days." Fang grumbled while tossing the folder onto Amodar's desk, and then let out a small sigh over. Of course the one day in her life Lightning had agreed to go out with her, something like this would happen.

"It's part of the job." Lightning reminded the other, as she'd inwardly already accepted there was no way around not doing this. "So just deal with it."

Fang let out a distinctive groan of frustration, and leaned back into the confines of the chair.

A moment later, Amodar finally returned to his office, swinging the door shut before waving a new file around towards the two women. "You'll both need this." He handed the folder over to Lightning after looking both women over.

The roseate began to flip slowly through the file, taking in the photos and the notes gathered on the thugs and their current whereabouts.

"Some of our men had followed the thugs to this abandoned warehouse on the west end outside of the city." He began, walking over to his desk and taking a plop in the chair behind it. "Now, I wouldn't ask either of you to do this alone. It seems there's a major player hiding out there too; a kingpin." A ring leader of the band of thugs, someone Amodar had been wanting taken care of for a while. "There's only one way we can do this and that's fast and quiet. Which is why I'm sending two of my best to take on the job." Amodar continued, giving both women a nod of acknowledgement.

Lightning had seen enough of the file by now and gently handed it over to Fang. She then turned her gaze to Amodar as he explained the situation, and paid attention to every word he spoke.

Fang glanced through the photos, one sporting the old building that had seemed run down for years. A few other photos revealed a couple of the more important men's faces, descriptions given for the few wanted thugs and why they were being sought after. Flipping the pages, she took in as much of the information as she possibly could while more or less listening as well.

"We suspect there's about a dozen men, give or take. We also suspect there's tamed monsters on the premises." Clearing his throat, he leaned back in his chair more comfortably. "It'll just be the two of you out there today. I can't risk sending a bigger force and alerting the gang right away."

Both women glanced at each other, emerald orbs meeting azure briefly before they both offered Amodar a nod, almost in unison. They had done missions together before and succeeded, so this wouldn't be any different.

"Now, I've got a lot of paperwork to sift through today, so you two are dismissed." Amodar said, lifting a hand to wave them off and finally allowed them to leave.

Fang rose from her seated position, and followed Lightning to the exit of the office. The hinges on the door creaked as they left Amodar to his work.

"You got a plan for this?" Fang questioned the soldier, receiving a glance in response as she fell in step with Lightning. Normally by now the infamous Farron had already decided her plan of attack.

"Fast, hard and silent. Just like Amodar wants." Lightning replied, not willing to admit that she herself also wanted to get the job one as quickly and quietly as possible.

Inhaling sharply, Fang let out a deep sigh from the depths of her chest. "Still, it's gonna be one hell of a long day.."

Lightning took another glance at the pulsian walking alongside her. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so." She said, with a slightly annoyed look on her face over the situation they had found themselves in.

As both women headed down the hallway towards the armory, Fang found themselves in a comfortable silence which was almost rare for the two of them. It wasn't that she minded going out on a grueling mission, but she had to curse to Etro a thousand times over, since it had to be the day she was meant to go for coffee with Lightning after work.

Once they came upon the armory, Lightning propped the door open, allowing Fang entrance first. "We need to be tactical about this." She informed the other, entering the vast room herself after the huntress had gone in. "No guns."

"No guns. Got it" Fang echoed her companion, while walking towards the wall where some of the swords and knives hung neatly behind a closed gate.

"Chances of the thugs carrying handguns is pretty high. Maybe we should put on some armor." Lightning suggested, pacing over to Fang's side before examining the same wall Fang was peering at.

"Sounds like a plan." Fang responded, jade hues picking every sword or knife apart until she settled on one and grasped it into her hand. While she had been raised using her lance as a weapon, she was still just as skilled with a knife. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to have an extra weapon handy if needed.

After spending several minutes collecting their belongings in the armory, both women made their way out of the Guardian Corps headquarters. Fang led the way, having memorized the location of where the abandoned location was from the small map provided in the file they'd been shown. As they strolled through the streets of the city though, she glanced over at Lightning, though staring at her briefly before averting her gaze.

Lightning caught onto her gaze however, and stole a glance of Fang herself. "What is it?"

"I'm just glad you know, that we're workin' together on this." The pulsian admitted, but why she had done so she didn't know. It wasn't like this was the first time they'd been sent out on a mission together, and knowing Amodar it certainly wouldn't be the last either. But for whatever reason part of her had just wanted to let Lightning know how she felt, even if those feelings were far deeper than she could admit at this time.

"Mm.. I'd hate to admit it, but I don't think anyone else but us could get this done anyway." Lightning agreed after staying quiet for a minute, and nodding her head before catching another glimpse of the pulsian. "These guys are ruthless. I'm.." There's a brief pause as Lightning mulls over her next choice of words very carefully, while being mindful to keep her gaze averted. "..I'm glad you're the one watching my back, Fang."

Just those words alone caused a grin to appear on Fang's face, and while neither spoke more after that and continued walking quietly side by side, she felt at ease. She knew how rare it was for Lightning of all people to admit she liked being around someone, well in her own way he had anyway, but still... it felt good to know the soldier trusted her that much.

At their current pace it didn't take them long to reach the outskirts of the city, but the trek itself to the abandoned warehouse was still a ways to go. They both strolled along in silence, though thankfully not awkward, just quiet.

Fang was left to wonder what Lightning was thinking as they walked, and part of her thoughts did linger back towards several days ago when the woman had broken down in her home over her younger sister. At the same time though, she was also still bummed that the work load for the day was going to be strenuous. She didn't think after the mission they were about to embark, that it would give either of them enough energy to head for coffee afterwards they'd been planning on.

For several long minutes, that almost felt like an eternity, Fang internally fought with herself. On one hand, she really wanted to go out with Lightning, she'd been so excited and relieved on top of it that Lightning had agreed to it. But on the other hand, she had no idea what this day would hold for either of them so it wasn't exactly the best time to be thinking of having a leisurely cup of coffee.

So, after thinking it over a few more time Fang finally sighed and glanced over at Lightning. "Hey, Light?"

The soldier seemed to have been deep in her own train of thoughts, but was snapped back into reality at the sound of her friend's voice. "Hm?"

"So uh, listen... Do you think we can rain check on that coffee? Considering it's gonna, ya know, be a long day and all?" Fang finally got the urge up to ask, hoping Lightning would't just shoot the offer down now, or call it off entirely. But there was no way she'd let Lightning get out of it that easily, especially since the woman had already agreed beforehand.

There was a long moment of silence then, as Lightning just stared at her, her face practically devoid of all emotions. It was this that made Fang's stomach start to sink, thinking that perhaps the soldier really was debating on calling it off.. But thankfully after several more moments Lightning's lips curved upwards in the faintest of grins.

"Sure." Lightning said, that one simple word and smile dispelling any worries Fang had and reassuring her they would indeed have their moment in the future. But for now, they had more important things to worry about and deal with.

Fang simply returned her focus to the present moment and their goal for the day, though she couldn't contain the overhwelming giddy feeling that had invaded her gut.

"I'm gonna hold you to it, Sunshine." Fang warned out of nowhere, though almost playfully.

Hearing that warning actually managed to cause the soldier to chuckle under her breath, while glancing over at Fang and giving her an amused look. "Somehow I don't doubt that."