"Izzy, what the hell are you doing?!"

The wild redhead, dressed in a skin tight Catwoman costume for some reason, waved at Emma with the hand that held the now sealed glass vial she'd brought with her, but seeing said vial in her hand made her hide it behind her back. Waving with her other hand wasn't much better, though, as there was an unnecessarily large syringe in that one. Seeing this, she frantically stuffed both objects down her bra, only to wave to Emma with both hands this time. "'Sup, Emma?"

"'Sup?! I...you don't... What on earth are you doing in my bedroom?!"

"Oh, that's what you're worried about?" Izzy asked before sighing in relief and wiping some sweat from her forehead. "Whew! That's good. It'll be way easier to explain that than the bloo--...umm...I mean--"

"Blood?" Emma stood up from the bed, which had been too far from Izzy on the other side of the room for her to really tell what the two objects were that she'd been holding just now. "Did you take my blood?!"

"What? No, no! I was saying...Blood...y...Mary! Yeah, Bloody Mary! I totally met her once, you know? Want me to ask her to come over?" Izzy asked before running to the vanity on the opposite side of the room, to the left of Emma's bed. "Bloody Mary! Bloody Mary! Bloo--"

"IZZY!!"

Turning around with wide, frantic eyes at the sound of her name, Izzy stared back at the woman demanding her attention and let a wide, clearly nervous smile stretch across her face.

Trying to ignore the fact that her dark purple, satin night dress left very little of her curvaceous body to the imagination, Emma snapped her fingers before holding that hand open. "Give them to me."

Izzy bit her lip and slowly shook her head. "I really don't think you want to--"

"Give. Them. Here."

The chilling demand forced Izzy to walk over to the bed and sit beside Emma. The stern look in her eyes made the redhead sigh heavily and pull down the zipper on her leather bodysuit just enough so she could reach down her bra again. She hesitated for a split second, but seeing the sharp glare in the other woman's eyes made another sigh escape her before she finally took them out.

Emma's fury turned to horror as she got a better look at the items being handed to her. The syringe had blood still dripping off of it, and the small, glass vial was halfway filled with what she could only assume was the same blood. "...Izzy..."

"It's not for me! I was asked to do it tonight specifically because the ritual calls for menstrual blood, and he said you usually--"

"Stop, Izzy!"

The redhead stopped talking, only to sigh and remove the hood with cat ears from her head so her fiery curls would be free to cascade down her back. "... I'm sorry, Emma..."

Glancing over the girl beside her was more than enough to tell Emma that she wasn't getting anything less than the truth. With a sigh of her own, she turned the green eyed girl to face her and stared into her eyes. "Izzy, listen to me. I'm not mad at you and I'll do my best to make sure you don't get into any trouble, but I need you to give me more information, ok? Tell me about the ritual, and..." She questioned whether or not she wanted to know this, but she ended up shaking the doubt out of her head and asking anyway. "... Where is it happening? I need to know where Noah's doing this."

Izzy stayed silent for a moment, then tucked all of her curls back under the hood of her outfit before rising to her feet and offering a hand to Emma. "... I think it'd be best if I just show you."

~~~

"Where is she?!" Noah started banging his head against the bark of the tree again, only to fall to his knees and start crying. "... She knows how important this is. If this doesn't happen tonight, I might never--"

"Noah, please calm yourself. This will never work if you're worked up like this." murmured Dawn, who the distressed man had invited to his home specifically to assist with this matter. She walked across the backyard, away from where she was setting up the ritual, to pat him on the shoulder and attempt to sooth him. "Izzy has never let you down before. She's your friend. She and I will both do what we must to help you."

Noah sighed deeply and nodded his head. "Yeah...I know..." He gently shrugged the hand off of his shoulder before staring up at the full moon casting as much light as it could over them from it's highest point in the night sky. "I just really want this to go right... Who knows when I'll see Emma again now that she's gotten into Columbia? I don't want there to be any solitary chance of losing her."

"New York really isn't that far..."

"It's literally in a separate country, Dawn."

"It's just across the border. I'm sure if your love is truly that strong, then she'll--"

"Are you backing out on me?!"

"I..." Slightly startled, Dawn took a step back and forced herself to shake her head. "Of course not... Your love clearly means a lot to you, and I do want to help..."

Noah closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, only stopping to nod his head when he was certain he'd calmed himself down. "Ok...that's all I needed to know..."

Dawn sighed deeply. His aura was still frightening to be around, but at least he was in somewhat stable territory again. She was now hoping for Izzy's return much more than he was.

"... Hey, listen... I'm sorry. I know I'm not acting like myself right now. It's just...this is really important to me..."

Looking back up at the face of the tanned man who was only slightly taller than her, Dawn felt pure desperation coming off his aura in waves and saw that there was no appropriate course of action other than to pat him on the shoulder some more. "She'd never fully abandon you... I'm certain of that..."

After another moment of simply closing his eyes and breathing some more, Noah's hard and serious demeanor returned and he crossed the backyard to kneel over the remaining materials that had been gathered for the spell. "... Hopefully, this will make certain of that."

Disappointment clouded Dawn's eyes as she watched him, though it was quickly replaced by relief when she heard footsteps coming their way. Turning toward the sound, her eyes widened at who she saw joining them, but she still decided to say the words that had been on her tongue since she heard the footfalls mere seconds ago. "... Noah...she's here."

"Finally! Izzy, bring the blood over here. I want to get this done fast." Noah snapped, not bothering to turn around yet since he was too busy looking between the moon overhead and the ritual supplies before him.

A voice scoffed at the display. Familiar, but certainly not belonging to Izzy. "And I thought I used to be bad..."

Noah's blood immediately ran cold. It couldn't be...

He slowly looked over his shoulder, then rose to his feet upon seeing Izzy, still in costume, standing beside the silhouette a much more full figured young woman. One which he knew far too well. "... E-Emma?"

Not having bothered to arrive in more than a satin robe that matched the skimpy night dress underneath, Emma looked at Noah with a bizarre mix of indifference and disgust filling her eyes. "... This is the last straw, Noah." she murmured before pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"No... Emma, please, no!!"

Before he could even move to stop the call from being made, Izzy tackled Noah to the ground. He writhed under her until the eerily straight face of the blonde with them was suddenly above him, gazing down at him with just as much contempt as Emma. "... Traitors...both of you!!"

Dawn closed her eyes and sighed before looking at him again, this time with eyes overflowing with concern. "I said we'd do everything in our power to help you, did I not?" She doesn't wait for an answer before nodding to the crazy redhead.

"Night night." Izzy followed the last words Noah would hear for hours by swiftly striking a pressure point in his neck. All words the young man could have screamed died on his lips as the darkness of night slowly swallowed him whole.

~~~

"And that was the end of it... After he was arrested, I didn't hear a thing about him again for...God, it's been so long now." 

"Three and a half years if I counted correctly." 

Emma sighs as she keeps assisting her once fellow Columbia co-ed, Courtney, adjusting her graduation cap and valedictorian stole for her. "... Yeah." 

"And you're only just deciding to get a restraining order? You graduated last year. You're qualified to have taken care of this yourself by now." 

"Give me a break, Courtney. He's been locked away for years. I never expected to see or hear from him again after that, but..." Emma sighs and sits on Courtney's bed in her dorm room. "... I can't believe he broke out..." 

"Well, don't worry. I've set up a meeting with my lawyers for tomorrow afternoon. We'll have it ready before you know it." Courtney insists before smiling at a prospect that pops into her head all of a sudden. "And maybe we can talk them into finding positions for us to fill at the firm while we're at it." 

Emma laughs and hugs the future graduate tightly. "You can find a way to turn literally anything into an opportunity for yourself, can't you?" 

"Welcome to law and politics, Emma." Courtney retorts, winking at her former dorm mate before joining in the laughter.

 After they finish chuckling together, Emma looks over Courtney's graduation robes one more time and smiles wider in approval. "... You look perfect. You'll amaze everyone just by looking so beautiful, let alone when they hand over the diploma and five hundred plus awards you've earned since you got here." 

A giggle escapes Courtney before she takes in the way her dear friend's red dress clings to her body. She blushes the instant she realizes just how much she's staring. "... You look amazing, too...as usual." 

"Thanks, but this is your day, remember?" Emma reminds her friend before standing up and taking the brunette's hands so she can help her do the same. "It isn't about me." 

"You being my classmate all these years is such a huge part of what even got me here in the first place." Courtney tells her before pulling her friend into another hug. "Honestly...this day is as much yours as it is mine..." 

Emma chuckles before returning the tight hug. "If you say so." 

"I mean it, Emma. Your guidance has been absolutely integral to my success here..." Courtney looks up into her friend's dark, almond eyes, brushing away a strand of hair that had fallen from the messy bun in the back of her head. "... I couldn't be more grateful to you...and I really want to be there for you in return." 

"Aww..." Emma's complexion flushes slightly as she listens to what's being said to her. "Courtney, really, you don't have to--" 

Everything stops the moment that first motion is made. 

There's no sound to be heard. No sight to be seen. 

All that exists is the softness of Courtney's lips against Emma's. 

The former's eyes are closed, though they still allow a tear to escape as her whole body trembles with either fear or excitement. Or both. 

The latter, meanwhile, has her eyes completely wide open, with little to no idea how to respond. 

Only when the gravity of the situation really dawns on her does Courtney allow her eyes to burst open. Immediately, she backs away from Emma, her tanned, freckled face quickly catching fire as she stares at the woman before her. 

Emma looks back at her friend for a few moments, then narrows her eyes slightly before grabbing her by the shoulders. 

"L-Look, Emma, I'm really, really sorry! I know this so isn't the time or place to have done something like this. I honestly don't even know what got into me. I'd ordinarily never do something so--" 

"Stop talking, Courtney." No other warning is given before Emma plants a kiss of her own on her freckle-faced friend. 

Courtney's knees wobble underneath her the instant she feels those soft, red stained lips on hers, but she's thankfully able to wrap her arms around her before she can fall. When her mind finally registers what's happening, she returns the kiss full force, holding Emma's curves tighter against her own body.

Mere moments into this second kiss, however, two alarms suddenly go off. Frantic, the girls pull apart, one reaching for a phone and the other for a PDA. After checking their devices, they stare back up at each other, wide eyed. "The graduation ceremony!!" 

Without thinking, Courtney jumps onto Emma's back. This would be the last time doing so when they were both late for a Columbia related affair, but she hopes what just happened meant that it wouldn't be the last time overall. "Hurry! We're gonna be late!" 

Emma laughs and easily carries Courtney on her back, heading out the door of the room to find the nearest elevator. "You're so lucky I like you enough to do this stuff for you, Courtney!" 

"Shut your mouth and run!"