"It happened again….. didn't it?"

Adam stared blankly at her in response. It wasn't like there was any point in denying it. The blood splattered across his coat was undeniable proof. Somewhat unsettled by his silence, Blake spoke again.

"I thought you said you'd try and stop killing so many. Look at you! How is this-!?"

"I've already told you," Adam interrupted, his voice slow and deliberate, like he was talking to a child who couldn't understand a simple concept. "This. Is. War. And in war, people die. I know you don't like it, but it's-"

"That's besides the point!" Blake shouted, stepping forward confidently, before immediately shrinking back upon seeing Adam's lips twitch. She hesitantly turned back towards the forest, preferring to look at the warm, autumn canopy as opposed to his cold, unsympathetic mask.

"I've… I've seen you on your missions," Blake carried on, slowly walking further to the edge of the roof. "Self-defense or killing when necessary is one thing. But you don't…" She came to a stop just before the roof ended, taking a deep breath.

"You go too far. At this point I think you're going out of your way to kill humans. It's never about the mission anymore. It's just about killing. And I… I don't think I can-"

Blake stopped talking, and let out a small gasp when Adam's arms suddenly wrapped around her, pulling her back against his chest. Almost instinctively, Blake began struggling.

"A-Adam! This isn't the-!"

"I'm sorry."

Blake stopped.

"I get it. I get where you're coming from." His voice was deeper now, more deliberate, softer, and despite her best efforts Blake could already feel herself melting into his embrace. "I'm sorry I've made you uncomfortable… Blake." The cat faunus' ears twitched at the sound of her name.

"It's just that whenever I see them… I get so angry. All I can think about is what they did to me. What they did to all of us. To your parents. And then all I can see red," Adam continued, taking note of the way Blake flinched at the mention of her parents. He held her tighter, almost whispering in her ear at this point.

"This is what we're doing here. To exact justice for what's been done to people like me. Someone has to pay. I know you don't just want the criminals who beat me, broke me… to just run free and unpunished."

"I…" Blake's voice came out, much softer and weaker as she craned her neck to look up at him. "I just don't want to see you make that face anymore… it scares me…"

Adam pulled away from her, and Blake let out an involuntary whimper at the sudden cold, only to the warmth to return once Adam grabbed her hand and began running his thumb over her knuckles.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," he went on. "But this is something I need to do for our people. For myself. For you." He brought her hand up to his face and lightly brushed his lips against it. Blake's cheeks flared up as he pulled her closer.

"Can you just bear with me? Please?" Adam asked, tilting his head slightly.

"I… I…" Blake stuttered, her face red before finally caving in and rushing forward, burying her face in Adam's chest. "I-I… I'm sorry…"

Adam smiled as he rubbed softly rubbed her back.

"It's okay."

And you got to me

When you state your love

But you run away

What could you be on?

Now you're not around

But I hope you see

Gotta be full-on

It is up to me

That's all I got

Letting out a small groan, Adam slowly opened his eyes. It took a little while before his vision cleared up, revealing a brown, flat ceiling. For what felt like an eternity, Adam stared upwards, his mind a blank and his eyes heavily lidded. When, seemingly without him knowing, his head turned to the right, and for the first time he noticed that he was resting on a bed. Furrowing his brow, Adam began looking around.

Like the ceiling, the walls (or at least the one he was looking at) were brown, though the floor was a stained marble. Standing a few meters away was a big maroon armchair with a black circular table missing one leg next to it. There was an open set of doors leading to a balcony, letting the wind blow in, which was probably why his upper body felt so cold. Looking down, Adam was surprised to see that he was shirtless, and even more surprised to see that his stomach was wrapped in white, clean bandages.

Wish I could think of better ways

'Cause I lost my patience yesterday

If you could see inside of me

There'd be no heart on my X-ray

Opponents tryna checkmate

But I don't see no escape

At this point, Adam began paying attention to the song he could hear coming from his left. It was quiet, and the quality was somewhat tinny, but he could pick out a very pronounced bassline and an extremely scratchy guitar underneath some high-pitched, fast rapping. His nose wrinkled. Not really the type of music he'd ideally want to wake up to.

Turning his neck in the direction of the music, Adam almost jumped when he noticed a person slouching in a chair less than a meter away from him. It was a young woman, around his age, maybe slightly older, with dark skin and short, curly black hair that clearly hadn't seen a comb in years. She was dressed in a plain, stained white T-shirt and beige cargo shorts. She looked like she'd just come out of a washing machine, then dried in a hurricane. Her head was tilted backwards, her gaze firmly planted on the ceiling as her foot tapped in tune to the bass coming from a tiny, old fashioned radio sitting on a small chest of drawers next to the bed.

Adam just stared as the women continued to look at the ceiling, apparently unaware that he was awake. Eventually, the song on the radio finished, and the room became silent, filled only by the pair's steady breathing.

Don't try to hide away

"Turn… it off…"

Adam barely had enough time to marvel at how horse his voice was before his attention has snatched by the woman who, upon hearing his voice, let out an ear-piercing screech, scrambled to sit up, and somehow slid out of the chair and onto the floor. Adam tried to sit up to get a better look, only for a sudden pain to flare in his stomach, causing him to let out a stifled cry as he fell back onto the bed. Seemingly in response to this, the woman scrambled to her feet, quickly slapping on a shaky, yet confident smile that showed far too much teeth for Adam's liking.

"Uhhh, hey there…. Guy!" she said, clearly uncomfortable not knowing his name. "How are ya? Doing good? I uhhh, patched up ya wounds for ya! Did an alright job! I umm, I hope, heh heh… You're not bleeding out, eh?"

Adam blinked.

The woman coughed awkwardly, before standing straighter and placing her hands on her hips. "Ahem. I'm Sepia Winterbloom! I was working in the caves when I found ya. You were in pretty bad shape," she continued, glancing at his waist, before returning her gaze to his face. "So! Got a na-?" she began, only for Adam to hold up a shaky arm to silence her.

"Oh! What is it?" she asked. Adam held his arm still for a few seconds, before pointing at the still-playing radio.

"Turn it off…"