"He's calm now." Weiss noted.

Half a minute passed since Adam's seizure, which left the sick faunus even paler than before. His breathes became shallow – over all he looked like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

"From the looks of it, I'm afraid that Mr. Taurus might not survive a second seizure. It's miraculous that he survived this one in the first place!" Oobleck noted as he examined Adam.

"He's surviving on willpower alone, Doctor Oobleck. But he needs the medicine if he's going to live, otherwise..." Ghira paused, looking at the weak form of Adam.

"I might have a proposal."

The words belonged to Tyrian, who now had the attention of the whole room.

"Why not, aheh, put him out of his misery? By the time our generous", he emphasized with a bit of venom, "host comes back, he might already be dead. A simple neck snap – quick and painless. It's the best I could do, really." He grinned at his own suggestion. Naturally, some people revolted against the idea.

"No! He will-he will survive!" Ruby protested, with Roman, out of all people, joining her:

"Absolutely not. I won't let you touch him."

That statement raised a couple of eyebrows, and prompted Blake to ask:

"Why are you so protective of him all of a sudden?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong kitty cat, it's not that I'm protective of him - it's just that corpses, no matter how fresh, end up stinking a room pretty quickly." The thief responded, which earned him a few narrow looks from the students.

"Why look at me like that? You know I'm right." Roman smiled. And here Ruby thought that there was something in his little, black heart.

Nice that some things don't change.

"Wait a minute, didn't Bob say he'll be back in what, 20 minutes I think?" Nora perked up.

"Yeah! That was like, uh…maybe 8 minutes ago?" Jaune added.

"And Adam Taurus got sick approximately 5 minutes ago. Since Mr. Taurus' symptoms showed around a minute after he opened the briefcase, which I would assume it's the time span when the mosquito bit him…well, it seems that this place speeds up our metabolism to astronomical levels, but then why don't we feel hunger?"

"It's the air, Doctor Oobleck. I can sense that there is something in the air that somehow gives us enough energy to not need food nor drink." Ghira said.

"But if we have that super-fast metabolism, then why is he still sick?" Ruby asked, which prompted Watts to give the answer first:

"It's not a bacteria or a virus, it's a parasite – an alien organism living inside of him. Malaria is a byproduct of the parasite, and as long as it's inside of him the disease will remain."

"How much time does he have anyway?" Illia asked both doctors.

"Truthfully? It depends mostly on the person's immune system. But judging from the seizures he had so far…"

Oobleck diverted his look from Illia and quickly examined Adam's unconscious form.

"I'm afraid he might not have much time."

'Great. One less bastard in the world.' Yang thought. And when he does die, she will rejoice in front of everyone, dammit all.

Raven mentally sighed – all that commotion, and in the end nothing interesting happened to distract her from listening to her other self. She eagerly pressed the play button again, catching a few of the audience members off guard as her voice came from the tape recorded.

"Saw this kid on the side of the road yesterday, couldn't be eighteen, seventeen. Had a shotgun across his lap, and a dead APR half in the ditch next to him. Couple of close-range blasts with that 12-gauge tore big chunks of hamburger out of his torso. Kid was looking at the guy's leg, taking his boots. Kid just looked tired, just beaten down, ragged, tired, old. Kids that age… shouldn't look like that."

Qrow's attention spiked – he noticed that the tone in Raven's voice became somewhat sorrowful when she mentioned the unnamed boy. While he did disown his sister that was in the room with him, he couldn't help but to hold a little bit of hope for the Raven on the tapes.

Raven herself was…conflicted, to say the least. On the one hand, she was somewhat disappointed that her counterpart was being sympathetic to the weak and unworthy, but on the other…

'No. She lost all respect I had for her now. That's it.'

Ruby was glad that the arms-dealing Raven knew what she was doing. She only hoped that her Raven would understand that one day.

"Why, thank you your highness. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Ruby's train of thought was jolted when she heard Torchwick's voice. When she turned to see what's all about, she noticed the tape recorder on Roman's lap and Raven's disappointed face.

"Shut up and play." Raven spoke in an annoyed tone. Roman smirked in response and made his own, independent decision.

…

He pressed play.

"I'll tell you what's sick. People in Atlas, Argus, fuckin' Vale, Mantle. They pay their taxes and some remote piloted drone fires a missile into a public market to hit some warlord. Yeah so maybe war doesn't happen for another six months, and the price of their gluten-free sorghum bread stays low. It's not sick to arm people. It's sick to bump off their crooks and dictators in protection of our interest, and then call it international justice. These people don't have remote piloted drones guarding their interests ten thousand miles away, they don't have a war machine paid for with taxes, where I am they usually don't even have a fuckin' government. The drone is the oppressor, the gluten-free sorghum bread is the oppressor, the assault rifle is the great equalizer. I empower these people."

Watts' moustache was conveniently hiding the smirk on his face as he discreetly glanced at the depressed looking Ironwood.

'So easy and quick to judge others, and yet you cannot see your own faults that are right in front of you. Serves you right.'

It was funny to him how the arms-dealing Raven managed to both summarize the modus operandi of Atlesian foreign politics as well as how efficiently she could manage to convince someone that what she was doing was the right thing to do. Besides having a long and enjoyable talk with the arms dealer, he would've liked the chance to see in detail in what state would Remnant (d)evolve if the Grimm never existed.

Judging by all the previous tapes, both humanity and the Faunus are on a very good way to kill themselves in one of their wars.

James remained silent throughout the whole thing. He knew that the council back home couldn't have cared less about any of the other kingdoms if it doesn't involve either profit or power for them. Not Atlas as a whole, but just the people holding the power.

And that's why he has fought to become the headmaster of the Atlas Academy, to become the general of the military and ultimately become a member of the council himself. The trade embargo he put wasn't just to protect Atlas from its enemies – it was also there to stop the other council members from making idiotic decisions for personal gain at the expense of Atlas itself.

And if it meant being painted as a bad guy and have most of his people follow the misguided words of Robyn Hill? So be it. After all, in the end – actions speak louder than words.

"You okay there James?"

Ironwood snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see Qrow. The tone of his question indicated that the Hunstman was worried about him.

"Yes, Qrow. Even better – she reminded me of why I do what I do for my country. Perhaps…perhaps I needed to hear that."

Both Winter and Penny couldn't have been prouder of their leader after they heard his words.

The female Branwen twin still wasn't interested in listening the tapes, since her counterpart went from telling about her take on her own philosophy to…to talking about how the weak are trodden by the system and how she is fighting it through her own means.

For her, it was delusional.

The hypocrisy of that thought, unfortunately, did not get to her.

"You finished with your touchy-feely moment? If so, on to the next one!" Roman announced and played the next tape.

"What do you think you're gonna achieve with this interview? You think somebody in the Atlas council going to read it and come after me? Shit no, I'm a necessary evil. They want me here, they're glad I'm here. Because if I wasn't, they might have to come try to stem the tide. It would be thankless and worthless, and once the bodies started coming home in bags, they're screwed. A dead nineteen-year old from Argus gets more airtime than the death of fifty-thousand people she gave her life to protect. So even if they did give a shit, their own media prevents them from taking action."

"In the end it always comes back to how everything is portrayed by the media – Gods forbid if the current Council doesn't get enough votes for the next elections." Glynda spoke with bitterness in her tone.

Pyrrha thought it was too much of a coincidence that Raven would mention the death of a unknown young female soldier from Argus out of all places as that being covered by the media rather than the massive death count that she was trying to prevent.

She didn't even have to ask – she already knew that the news station back home made a big deal of her own death rather than the catastrophe that struck Vale. And she felt sick because of it, because some people think that her life has somehow more worth to it than an ordinary citizen who was unlucky enough to be in the wrong place and the wrong time.

Pyrrha remembered a quote from a Mantle tyrant who passed away decades ago, saying:

'One death is a tragedy. A million is a statistic.'

"Sheep must be guided, and since the leaders don't want to lift the finger, it's the cryers who rally them under an illusion of a common goal. A goal that they don't even understand themselves. Pathetic." Salem apathetically commented.

"Sucks for you that there are people smart enough to see through that." Yang retorted. Salem, however, wasn't born yesterday – even a thousand of years in isolation didn't rust her conversational skills.

"Did those smart people you mention took action when it was needed the most? If the White Fang was swiftly raided and crushed, the so-called Breach would've never happened. Yet they hesitated and waited." While Salem was directly talking to Yang, it was crystal clear that she was talking on Ozpin & Ironwood too.

"And before you tell me they couldn't have known about it – know that the truly smart should have accounted every possible variable and reach out to a solution. What they shouldn't is keep secrets from their allies. You are centuries too early to argue with me, child."

Yang fell silent on the last sentence and pouted.

'Bitch.' She thought.

"Next one, ladies and gents!" Roman announced.

"Who gets the lion's share, that's what it's all about, whether it's between children or animals or warlords. It's not that everyone wants a piece, it's that everyone wants the BIGGEST piece. And the biggest piece doesn't go to the monkey or to the giraffe, the biggest piece goes to the lion, because the lion is the fuckin' king! That's how it works, it worked that way a million years before there were men saying otherwise… that's probably how it should work."

"But you are not the lion, they call you "The Raven".

"Shh, sometimes the raven steals the lion's share, but don't tell anyone."

'So the arms dealer knows the rules…and yet she manages to always get what she wants. Maybe I underestimated her…' Tyrian smiled, placing both of his hands on his chin as usual.

Both Qrow and Raven had a chuckle at the recording.

"Heh, gotta admit – that was a good one. It's so…you." He whispered.

Qrow looked at his 'sister' (sister being a strong word since, after Haven, he doesn't consider her one anymore) and felt absolutely… nothing. While on the surface Qrow might seem to look disappointed and a bit sad, the truth was that after everything his sister put him and all of his family through – he didn't feel anything.

He was sure that if Raven dropped dead at this moment, he wouldn't change. Sure, he might grieve for a couple of days, but after that there wouldn't be a single thing that would change who he is.

When Summer died, his life completely went to ruts – family visits became rarer and rarer, alcohol and women became more and more prevalent in his life. Hell, most of his money went straight to booze and an occasional lady of the night. Even when Raven left, he would've considered himself an outgoing person that likes to communicate with other people.

But now…now he was happy enough to just watch those he cared about from a distance and give them a helping hand in the background whenever it's needed.

Raven's interest in her counterpart was back now, as the arms dealer said some very wise words. And what she said was true – everybody and everything, the criminals, the Huntsmen, the Grimm, Ozpin, Salem…they all wanted the BIGGEST piece of power for their own goals.

With that, the bandit leader agrees with the arms dealer.

"Hah, truer words haven't been spoken. I'd say this is one of my favorite tapes so far. Anyways, next!" Roman said.

"I saw that truck you were driving in, perforated with 50. calibre rounds and torched on the side of the road. I looked inside, corpses blown to pieces and burnt beyond recognizable. No camera, no tape recorder, no... no book. So, I dunno, maybe you're dead, maybe not, maybe you find these stupid tapes and do whatever the hell you wanted to do with 'em, or maybe the interview's over…wasted words, wasted life…maybe I'll see you soon."

"I'm dead? Bugger." Sun folded his arms.

"W-Well, maybe you're not! She did say she never found your stuff so, you know, there's still hope!" Ruby retorted.

"'S that the last tape Torchwick?" Yang asked. Roman pulled three more tapes from the pile and showed them.

"Nope, three more. A bit strange considering this tape is chronologically the last one – it was recorded on 30th October, which is the last day of the interview. Yet the last numbered tape is on 19th October."

"That…doesn't make much sense. Why number them like that if you're not following the time when they are recorded?" Illia asked, to which Roman shrugged in confusion and responded:

"Hey, I wasn't the one who numbered them, so don't ask me."

Ozpin himself was in deep thought, thinking about something else:

'Raven clearly said "these" tapes, not "those" tapes, so when Mr. Wukong's truck got crashed, she took the tapes for herself and kept them. Why do that? And what did she exactly do with them?'

On the other side, an unconscious Adam let out a silent groan of pain. Weiss, however, noticed it amidst the noise and quickly put her hand on his forehead.

'He's still burning…dammit all Bob, where are you?!'

[LINE]

The meeting place with the Raven was, funnily enough, the prison he was put in a week ago after she made a jump on him and took the diamond briefcase – which, he later found out, she used to secure a safe zone for the civilians. And the last time Adam remembered, the prison was chockfull of guards, mercenaries and other prisoners as well.

Seeing how the prison was dead empty besides him and Raven who is waiting for him in the courtyard, Adam had to guess that the woman killed all the guards and freed the poor bastards that were imprisoned. Quite a feat. Not impossible by his standards, but definitely not easy.

It also shows that Raven really means business when it came to saving the civilians and getting them out safely beyond Vacuo's borders.

It took him a half a minute of walking through the empty hallways before finally reaching the open courtyard, where Raven was expectedly waiting for him, armed to the teeth.

Funny how a month ago he was dead set on killing the arms dealer who brought so much suffering to the innocents in Vacuo only to realize that she was doing everything she could to help them escape. Putting them in safe houses and providing alternate routes of escaping from the warlords and their cronies…

Hell, she was the one who was pivotal in the civie evacuation in Skadu when he stayed behind in the Church.

That, and the realization that he too became a part of the problem.

No amount of helping Ghira and the Underground can undo the damage he'd done by working with the APR & the UFLL – destroying medical supplies, setting crops on fire, all for a handful of diamonds and an excuse that the end justified the means.

"So far so good." Raven spoke first.

"What's the plan?" Adam asked.

"The civilians are gone, most of them have already crossed the border. An entire country is about to disappear." A touch of pride graced those words…

"What about the APR & the UFLL?"

Raven's expression was now one of disdain and disgust.

"They're in the way. We can't do our work if they're here – we have to isolate this disease so we can destroy it. I need you to do two things…" Raven began walking towards the back exit of the prison, with Adam following her behind.

"Say it."

"There's a landing zone a click due east of here. The arms merchant is there with another briefcase full of diamonds. He's waiting for a chopper. He thinks he can get out of here."

Her tone changed from disdain to tranquil anger.

"Those are my diamonds. MINE. I need them for the border troops. So you get that briefcase for me, understand?"

"What's the second thing?" Adam asked.

"The APR and the Front. New guys in charge – and YOU put them there. They're together in one camp now, making their goddamn master plans."

Taurus very well knew that he put them there when he was on a hitlist joyride. The leaders, Cinder Fall & Sienna Khan, dead by his hand, as well as most of their lieutenants. All of them, except the two that made a deal with him to save their skin.

Mercury Black & Fennec Albain.

What they didn't know, however, was they were actually postponing their own demise. Adam knew he had to kill them sooner or later, and now was the perfect time to do so.

"They know you, don't they? You could walk straight into their bivouac and they'd LET you, wouldn't they? Once you're in, you kill them both. Any way you'd like. Think of the possibilities."

Adam smirked at that. Oh, he already had a few ways to dispose of those low lives. It was a shame that he couldn't do them all at once.

"Got it." Adam said and went straight towards the gate.

"You know…"

He stopped at that and turned around to look at the arms dealer. The looks of anger and disdain on her face were gone, and now it was replaced with a look of determination.

"People back home say they want to help. Every day I hear it. In the paper, on the radio. But they're lying, they're not ready to do what's necessary. They wear their halos and they stand by, wringing their hands."

Adam couldn't agree more on that. But he kept quiet and let her finish.

"But you and me? We found a way."

"We did, didn't we?"

Raven leaned on a pillar and smiled at him.

"Meet me at the border when you're done."

And so, Adam left to do what's necessary, but not before hearing Raven say to him:

"You're the only one who can do this."

[LINE]

If someone told Weiss that one day she would be nursing the man who worked against her fath- the SDC and perhaps personally killed some of the people she knew, she would call them utterly insane.

And yet here she was, watching over Adam Taurus, looking at his face where the brand of her company was deeply embedded in his eye. The brand that now made her question what amount of damage her father did with his decisions that brought the company such a bad name.

She, however, silently cursed the name of her grandfather – for if it wasn't his poor character judgment that choose Jacques Gele to be the next head of his company and to be the husband of her mother, perhaps the White Fang would've never happened.

'Damn it all! Father has some warranted punishment coming for him when this is all over.' Weiss thought.

"Alright kids, 3 more to go!" Roman announced as he inserted a new tape and played.

"Saw a firefight today, little skirmish broke out of this road block when some APR guys got lost in their truck. Maybe five or six of them trading fire with the UFLL guys manning the CP, went on for twenty minutes, guys popping up from behind rocks to spray a few shots, you know, randomly at each other, all of them almost too afraid to die. When it was over, the two UFLL guys who were unhurt ended up running off into the jungle terrified. I went down and had a look around. The guy had been shot through the stomach, bloody mess. He saw me and went pleading me to help finish him off. Funny how guys get shot because they're too afraid to die, and then they're lying there dying and they're too afraid to live…Idiots."

Raven couldn't help but chuckle. The arms dealer perfectly described every new blood freshly introduced to the a bandit clan, nothing new she hasn't seen before – all of them when the situation heats up go behind cover and blindly spray with their guns or they put up their melee weapon in defense, almost as if they're afraid of getting hurt.

And when they do get hurt, and end up missing a limb or two, then they beg for a mercy kill. Some think they began to question their life choices when the sword hacks away their arm and then realize they can't go back to normal, or as this Raven put – they are too afraid to live. The arms dealer calls them idiots.

She'd call them cowards.

That's why her clan is compromised from the best of the best, one she personally put to the wringer and saw that they are both physically and mentally prepared to do what she says. If she says to raid the village, they do it without question.

If she says to take everything all leave nothing, they do it.

If she says to leave no witnesses, no matter the age, they gladly agree.

And that's why Qrow would never understand, why her daughter will never understand – to have someone who follows you and do your biding without question…That is the kind of strength she was born to have.

'And yet…why do I feel so hollow when I think about that?'

Jaune, on the other hand, heard what could be a perfect description of him pre-fall of Beacon. Hell, even back at the initiation if he got mauled alive by a Grimm, which in hindsight could've happened, he probably would've begged whoever saw him to just finish him off. If Pyrrha wasn't there to pin him on the tree and pick him up, who knows what would've happened back there.

He looked at Pyrrha, who was nestled on his shoulder, her face adopting a serious expression showing that she's thinking about something.

'Man…I really am lucky, aren't I?'

"No comments? Opinions? Words of wisdom?" Roman was turning around, asking everyone. He then turned to Neo, who just looked at him in annoyance and tilted her head in a way as if she was saying:

'Really, Roman?'

Roman simply gave her a sly smile in return, reminding her why she wouldn't have traded Roman for the best parents in all Remnant.

"Second before the last one, let's go."

"You see these APR kids, or UFLL kids, or whoever's listening to these damn broadcasts on the radio. Khan, Fall. I can't even remember who, cause what's the difference? Glassy-eyed little shits shouting out in support of whatever propaganda, lies, bullshit's being spouted at them. It's absurd. These guys are already dead; they've blown each other away for someone else's...for someone else. Fall, Khan, UFLL, APR, there's no popular resistance, no liberty and labour. There's no ideology at all. There isn't even a desire to win. There's no sense in it, no sense in it at all. What would it matter if we butchered the lot of them? Would it change anything?"

Cinder was somewhat surprised to hear that she was the leader of, what she presumed was UFLL. While the name probably had to do something with both liberty and labour, she could already realize that those things were only in name – of course she'd use the guise of two words that sound so pretty in the ears of the gullible to get more power.

From what she'd assume, Sienna Khan would probably be the one who'd believe that what she was doing was right. But Cinder?

No.

She knows what has to be done for the sake of power. Sacrifice pawns, use human shields, trample anyone who opposes her – Salem ingrained those lessons in her from a very young age, and if nothing else, she's grateful for that.

Cinder would never admit that openly, of course.

But what it did pique her interest was the way the Raven said that she and Khan, and both of their factions probably, were already dead and they have blown each other for someone else's purpose. It was almost similar to her own situation with Salem, and probably even the moronic students with Ozpin – all of them are pawns used in a game of chess that is nothing but a lovers' spat between two immortals.

Pawns, however, if they make at the end of the board, can become the most powerful chess piece on the board. And that's what she planned on being so – the loss she endured in her fight with Raven was nothing but a small setback. After she got the powers of the Winter Maiden, she will come back to return the debt with interest.

But the thing the arms dealer said, about having no desire to win…

'It's nothing important – a worthless, subjective opinion.'

"What does she mean there's no desire to win? Why would they fight then?" Nora asked.

"While it might not look like it, it's all comes down to keeping the status quo, kid. Remember when she said that when she only sold to one side it almost got her killed?" Qrow turned back to face the kids behind him. He then added:

"Wars are horrible and horrendous, sure, but you can't say it's worse than one side having the upper hand and committing mass murders on the other side – I hate to admit it, but she's right: neither sides having the upper hand on each other and winning means less violence, and with that less dead in the crossfire."

"So it's just…picking the lesser evil, isn't it?"

Qrow sighed – he understands why the kid sounds defeated. It just served as a nasty reminder that no amount of Huntsman training will make anyone able to change how complicated conflicts between people can become.

"Welcome to the real world, kid." Qrow said as his hands instinctively went towards the flask in his pocket, only to realize that there was no flask there to begin with.

'Probably gonna have to ask Bob about that…'

Roman now realized that he disliked Red as much as he liked her…uncle? Pretty sure the dude was her uncle.

"Last one, ladies and gentlemen. Let's finish this." Roman then pressed play again.

"If you have to kill someone, if you have to, is it somehow better to do it clean with a bullet through the head? Is it somehow worse to chop 'em up with an axe? And what if you have to kill ten, or a hundred, or a thousand? What if in doing it you save a thousand, or you spare ten? What if you save yourself? What is the measure of a man, or of his murder? By what insane calculus can we answer questions like these? Should we even try?"

Ruby's mind went blank for a moment when she tried to gather her thoughts to come up with a counter argument…until she realized that Raven might be right about that.

When she thought about it – the fight between her and Cinder was, no matter how hard she rejected it, is going to end up with one of them being dead. Therefore, she…

She has to kill her.

Hindsight can be a curse, and to think that if she didn't kill Cinder back at Beacon, Weiss might've died at Haven, if not for Jaune.

'How…how many more people will die if I let her live?'

If not before, Cinder very clearly showed in this room that she has it in for her and knowing her type – she'll come after everyone she loves and cares about before killing her, just for revenge.

She wasn't a stranger to being responsible for someone's death – intentional or not, she did let Roman Torchwick die at the top of that ship. What scared her was how she didn't feel any sort of guilt for doing so, and just moved on with her life without a second thought. But then again, she wasn't the one who delivered the killing blow…

'So, I guess that kinda helps it? Gods, that sounded so wrong…'

But when your own two hands do the deed, she felt a bit…disturbed at how easy one could kill another. However, when she takes Raven's advice to heart and had to choose between the life of a power-hungry maniac and the lives of her friends, her family and the Kingdoms…

She was afraid before of doing it, killing Cinder out of revenge for Pyrrha, for Beacon and for Vale, thinking that she wouldn't be any different from her. But then she remembered what uncle Qrow once told her - a Huntsman's job was also headhunting, which meant killing Aura-powered criminals and rogue Huntsmen, all in the name of protecting others and keeping the peace. And if she had to do it, if she has to kill Cinder…then she'll have to face the music and do it, no matter how much she hated it.

She might feel disgusted by herself, she might feel nothing or, worse, she might feel happy when her Crescent Rose ends the life of the person who hurt her, but for her – it would pay off in the long run. After all, she knew that her sister and her dad, as well as her friends would understand her actions.

Right?

"Huh, never expected Mom to be the overly philosophical type except saying 'weak bad, strong good'."

Raven turned to her daughter who was openly mocking her. Yang added:

"And you know, despite being an arms dealer and being responsible for the deaths of a lot of people, I'd still prefer her to be my mom than you, because at least I would've learned something from her if nothing else."

"Your provocations won't lead you anywhere…" Raven paused for a second before deciding to simply say it:

"Stop being an embarrassment, Yang."

Yang then adopted a somewhat cruel smirk on her face and looked away from her mother and stared at the empty projection screen. Raven could conclude what was Yang about to say, and she knew that there was nothing stopping her now:

"I at least didn't kill a little girl to get her powers."

Wide eyes and shocked faces from the White seats as well as a few looks of surprise and interest from the Black seats were most of the reactions to the statement. The criminal duo, however, wasn't sure if they were supposed to care about that or not, so they just slumped back in their seats and watched the drama unfold.

"Raven…"

Raven looked to Qrow who got up from his seat and started slowly walking to her.

"What. Did. You. Do?"

Both siblings looked each other with contempt in their eyes, looking as if they are ready to jump at each other's throats at any moment.

"I've already said everything I had to say. Ask your niece about it."

While Qrow was very much ready to kill the person he was ashamed to call his sister, her former husband was…disappointed. About everything.

Taiyang only glanced to Yang and saw the smirk on her, like she just became victorious, his brother-in-law who looked at his ex-wife in disgust. He wondered what else would be on the table to further the already broken STRQ even more.

But if he couldn't save his team from falling apart, he could prevent Yang from going down the same path with her team.

Yang noticed how her dad turned towards her, looking all serious. He whispered sternly:

"We'll talk about this later, Yang."

Sure, it was something that confused her a bit. Yang just brushed it off, thinking that she'll just have to go through one of her dad's lectures – right now, she was looking at her uncle and her biological…mother, starring each other like two predators, waiting for the other one to strike first.

All of that tension was broken by a loud whooshing sound and an electrified blue portal appearing in front of the screen.

The minds of everyone couldn't process fast enough what was going on as in the next moment a body came flying from the portal and landing face first on the floor.

It didn't take long for everyone to realize it was Bob by the shape of the skull mask. What everyone did notice however, was the exorbitant amount of blood covering the guy. Alongside the blood were shredded clothes, numerous count of still bleeding cuts and…

"Gods, Bob, your arm!"

The arm in question looked very, VERY dislocated. Fingers included.

"I know, gimme a sec." Bob said as he took his healthy hand and started fixing the problem.

And by fixing, Bob means forcefully rolling the arm back to its socket and performing a manual reset of his dislocated fingers. The cracking of bone and cartilage didn't make watching the whole procedure any less pleasant.

"So, anyone got bored while I was awa-"

Bob stopped the second he noticed the unconscious Adam and kneeling Weiss beside him. He rushed towards him, completely ignoring what was going on between Qrow and Raven and immediately started examining Adam.

"What happened?"

"He got a suitcase with his name on it. The one who gave it to him, Marvelous Chester is his name. Sounds familiar?"

Bob sighed upon hearing the name and responded:

"Yeah – should've killed the bastard when I had the chance. What's wrong with Adam?"

"It's malaria, he…he got bitten by a mosquito that was in the suitcase and…" Weiss muttered out. Bob would've been surprised that none other than Weiss Schnee was looking after Adam if he didn't notice that his eyepatch was removed.

Bob nodded and, to the shock of others, began lightly slapping Adam on the face.

"What are you doing?!" Weiss frantically asked.

"Relax – he's waking up."

True to Bob's words, Adam started grunting as his eyelids slowly opened.

"Aunghh…It's…yough…" he muttered.

Meanwhile, Qrow realized it wasn't a good moment to settle things with his sister, so he decided to go back to his seat.

'This isn't over. Not by a longshot.' Qrow thought.

"Alright, listen carefully here Adam. I'll come back with some medicine, but I need you to be awake. Clear?" Bob spoke.

Adam, however, was having all sorts of issues – from muddy blurry vision to being half-deaf. He did catch on the words "medicine" & "awake". Since even speaking hurt like hell, the only thing Adam could do is simply nod.

Through the blur he saw Bob leaving towards a sliding door and disappearing behind the wall, and thought that he was probably going to get some medicine, from what he concluded. He just needed to stay awake.

He just needed to stay awake.

Stay awake.

Stay…awake.

"Wha-? No! Don't fall asleep now!"

Stay…

"Don't-don't you dare die on me now you idiot! Do you hear me!"

A….wa….ke….

[LINE]

He couldn't do it.

He simply couldn't do it.

He trusted them. All of them. He helped them whenever they needed something, and they helped him whenever he was somewhere in way over his head.

His heart almost jumped with joy when he saw his buddy near the arms dealer, and immediately thought that he could convince him to help him with rescuing the civilians. A one last mission together.

But then his other buddies came…the comrades he thought dead back in Lae Gronde when they made their stand at Tukson's.

They way they talked about a deal and how he wasn't a part of it…

Even after everything they went through together. After all the blood they've shed and spilt together, they showed that they were just like all the rest.

He managed somehow to grab the diamonds and injure a couple of them. Injure, but not kill. Even after they've showed their true colors, he simply couldn't bring himself to do the deed.

So he just set the whole area on ablaze, and let the fire do the job he couldn't do himself.

Death by fire in Vacuo was considered one of the most painful ways to go and was frowned upon if used. One of the reasons why Adam gained such notoriety – he was a monster, a demon to others, one not to be fucked with. Most of the mercenaries at the guard outposts nowadays just let him pass without a second thought, because they know what would happen to them if they followed orders and opened fire.

Which came unto question his twisted logic when it came to killing his buddies – one might think that Adam condemned them to an even worse fate rather than just shooting them outright and making their deaths quick.

But all of his buddies very well knew what they were getting into when they stepped foot in Vacuo, and the very few he was unable to save simply took the gun from his hand and finished themselves off.

'Don't weep for the wicked, you'll be crying all day.' Adam thought, remembering the words of an old priest he met back in Vale. He knew he had to be focused because he was closing in on the safehouse, where the Raven was expecting him to help her complete the last part of the plan.

When he entered, he saw her sitting on the table, obviously waiting for him.

"Almost done…Give me the briefcase." She asked.

Adam put the metal briefcase on the table. The Raven opened the briefcase, looking at the multitude of diamonds that were pivotal to her plan.

"They're all here. Good – we'll need them." She said and quickly put a brand-new Deagle handgun inside it before closing it shut.

"What's the situation with the rest of the APR and the Front?" He asked.

"They're still coming after the civilians. Probably think they can kill them or drag them back over the border. The only ones to die today are the ones who have it coming."

'Truer words haven't been spoken.' Adam thought as he watched the woman pour liquid Dust all over the room.

"I've planted some explosives on the overhang on the cliff."

She closed the empty canister and opened a new one as she added:

"But the det-cord's no good. So one of us has to go up there and short-circuit the blasting caps. That car battery will do the job." She pointed at the large metal box on the table next to the briefcase.

"The debris will block the road. Keep the soldiers from following the refugees…"

"And kill the one who does the job." Adam finished in her place. The Raven started emptying the contents of the canister and looked at him and said:

"That's either you or me."

"The other one is going to take those diamonds to the border and use them to bribe the guards, so there are no problems with the crossing."

Adam grabbed a small box of ammunition, enough for one magazine worth of pistol bullets. Raven continued:

"Those civilians are making it to the camps tonight. Every last raggedy one of them. Then, when the hand off's complete, that one, you or me, is going to put a bullet into their own head."

So death by explosive suicide or death by bullet suicide. When it's put that way, it doesn't really make that much difference, considering the outcome is going to be the same – every refugee will live a normal life.

"I'd do both jobs myself, but there's not enough time." Raven joked, earning a little smirk from Adam. Her expression became a lot more serious as she speaks to him:

"The only way this is going to work is if we see the whole thing through the end. Every cell of this cancer has to be destroyed. That includes you AND me. If we don't finish this, then the whole mission has been a waste. A farce. It'll start up again, just like it always does."

"Not this time." Adam stepped up to her. The arms dealer could see the determination in his eyes – and it was all she had to know. To know to trust him.

She put the diamond briefcase in his hand and, without a word, escorted him to the door. At the door however, she had a few last words to share with the man who hunted her for so long.

"That gun in there is a good piece – never jams. One shot is all you'll need."

Her hand went to the knob, but she hasn't opened the door just yet. It didn't matter to Adam – for her, for the one who opened his eyes on the world around him, he had the patience to listen.

"You're a terminal case, same as me." She spoke as she opened the door.

"Well, at least we can do something about it." He replied as he left the safehouse and trekked towards his final destination.

[LINE]

A well-powered, placed slap was all that Adam needed to awake from his malaria-induced nap.

"Stop. It." Adam gathered enough strength to growl out at Bob.

"Now THAT's the Adam I know. Okay, here – take one of these."

Adam saw the orange bottle of pills Bob had in his hand – no label, no words, just a simple bottle full of pills. He didn't waste time and grabbed the bottle and immediately downed one pill.

When he swallowed the pill, his mind became clearer and his body regained enough strength to stand on his two feet, albeit a bit clumsily and with the help of Bob.

"How're you feeling?" Bob asked.

"Better." He simply stated. He stumbled a bit towards the White seats and, despite the suspicions of few, only wanted to return Ghira's coat.

"Thank you." Adam said, loud and clear.

Sure, it was common courtesy to do so, but the Menagerie chief hasn't heard those words come from Adam in a very, very long time. He couldn't help but to feel a bit relieved that the boy is taking steps to become a better man, even if he has a long way to go.

"Alright, time for us to get cleaned up. I'm pretty sure I look like a psycho after a bloodrage while you smell like a dead skunk. Can you walk?"

Adam limped towards Bob, and said:

"I'll manage."

"Cool! He'll be back in a couple of seconds while I have to…make a few calls, so to say." Bob said as both he and Adam went towards the hidden sliding door in the wall. The few calls Bob spoke off were security-related, of course. Well, mostly security – he thought about spicing things up for the guests.

'Boy, will they be in for a surprise if she's available.'