He knew what they called him, of course. The Headhunter. The news networks had taken to highlighting his work not long after he arrived in Vale. Cinder was making sure nobody knew anything, if only so she could keep using her favourite assassin. It didn't matter anyway, Onyx was careful. He never left any evidence of his being there, aside from the quartz skull.

…But that was a special case. He needed to do that.

Onyx turned to Cinder as she walked up behind him, the clink of her glass heels echoing across the empty warehouse. It was always a different warehouse they met in; she didn't trust him with her base of operations. At least, not yet.

"You're late." Cinder's tone was seductive, but with an edge of authority. It would make most men beg for forgiveness, usually with the fools blubbering out apologies, but Onyx knew better. Her eyes were the tell. They were so cold they made the Schnee family look hospitable.

"I don't care." Onyx's reply matched the amount of coldness coming from his employer. "I got the job done, now where's my payment?"

"All in good time, dear Onyx. First I need to know for certain. You know how this goes by now." Cinder winked.

God Onyx hated her… But money is money.

He handed over the photos of the corpse. It was a clean kill, simply done with Ammon's and Amun's blades. No need to even use Dawn and Dusk.

After looking over the photos for such a long time Onyx began to wonder if she was daydreaming, Cinder burnt the photos with a snap of her fingers, letting the ash fall through her hands. She hummed with approval, then motioned for the assassin to follow. As they descended into the warehouse basement below, he noticed a small crate in the centre of the room. He smirked, knowing what was inside. Although judging by the size of the crate, there was even more dust than he requested as payment.

"And the rest?"

Cinder pointed to a briefcase next to the crate. Onyx moved over and carefully undid the latches, pointing the case away when he opened it. One can never be too careful when their line of profession leads to a lot of enemies. Quickly counting the Lien inside, he smiled, knowing the amount was more than satisfactory for such a simple job. Cinder knew how to keep him around, even if he liked her about as much as the White Fang liked humans.

"I have another assignment for you."

Onyx's head darted up as Cinder interrupted his thoughts.

"So soon? I thought I'd at least get some time to spend some of this Lien."

"My dear Onyx, I thought you'd be happy at the prospect of even more payments…"

Onyx glared at her with an expression that said, 'Cut the shit and get to the point'. Cinder merely laughed.

"However before I do, I must ask, how old are you?"

Onyx glared at Cinder as though he was ready to kill her, while muttering under his breath.

"Classified."

Cinder raised an eyebrow and repeated the question, with the same answer. Sighing, she relented.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter, you look young enough…"

Onyx raised an eyebrow at this, more curious than angry by this point. He asked the obvious question.

"Why do you need to know?" He asked suspiciously.

"Because, dear Onyx, I will not be employing you as an assassin this time." Cinder smirked. "Rather, I will be employing you as a spy. You are going to infiltrate Beacon Academy with myself and two of my subordinates, and we're going to put into motion a plan that will bring about the destruction of the school, and Vale itself."

Onyx simply stood there, staring at her. Waiting for the punchline. When he realised she wasn't joking, he let out a massive burst of laughter. After he finished (and finally had control over his lungs and his aching stomach again) he simply shook his head at Cinder, making some choice remarks under his breath about her sanity and how he was not getting paid enough. Cinder flared fire in her hand.

"I wasn't asking."

"Hm. So it would seem. I have to ask, why me? Why not Torchwick, or the ice cream girl?"

"Because," Cinder glared, tired of the questions, "you know how to get close to people. You know how to extract information. It's easy for you. Torchwick would give himself away easily, and Neo is far too… Unpredictable. You are the best candidate to not get us caught and extract information at the same time."

"And what information, pray tell, would I be extracting?" Onyx questioned curiously.

"Everything. What we're up against in terms of power, semblances, skill, numbers."

"...Fine." Onyx relented to the assignment, resolving to have it his way with the payment at least. "But I want 50 million Lien, and 20 crates of dust. All kinds, especially Ice, Lightning, Healing, and Gravity."

Cinder appeared thoughtful for a moment, finally relenting.

"Deal. You'll ship out with us in 3 days. Congratulations Onyx, you just got accepted into Beacon Academy."