Content warning for discussion about Adam Taurus, past Tauradonna, and the abuse of all types that implies. Nothing graphic or detailed, though, and nothing happening on-screen.

Also a surprising amount of food porn? Not sure how that happened but here we are. Maybe grab a snack before you start lol

When they returned, the courtroom was almost exactly the way they'd left it. Almost... but differences jumped out at Weiss, making her shift uneasily on the witness bench. Taurus' handcuffs were chained to his seat. There were soldiers blocking the doors. And before long, Blake wasn't sitting with them.

"Please state your name for the record."

It might have been dull, if it weren't for the anxious cant of Blake's ears. Weiss and Ruby sat on either side of Yang, each holding one of her hands as Blake gave stiff, toneless answers.

Meringue asked a lot of dry questions—when had Blake joined the White Fang? Well, she hadn't exactly joined. What was that supposed to mean? Her father was the founder. Ghira Belladonna. He was the chieftain of Menagerie, now. Yes, really. Blake began to look faintly annoyed.

"What is your relationship with Adam Taurus?"

"We, um..." Blake fidgeted, glancing into the crowd until she spotted them. Weiss did her best to hide her nerves behind an encouraging smile. "We were... partners."

"Romantic partners?"

Corsac stood up.

The judge nodded to him. "Yes, what is it?"

"Objection. This is a leading question."

Meringue scoffed. "Fine, what was the nature of this partnership? Be specific."

"I—it's complicated. He was... sort of like a mentor, at first, and then..."

"And then what?"

Blake's ears went flat. "I don't know," she said hotly.

"You don't know," Meringue repeated. "Miss Belladonna, you are aware that your deal with this court hinges on your cooperation, are you not?"

"Fine," Blake said, through gritted teeth. "I thought I loved him. Then things went bad, and I ran away, and he tried to kill me."

"Was this affection reciprocated?"

Blake hesitated.

"It's a yes or no question, Miss Belladonna."

"...Yes."

"You'd never know she was her witness," Weiss muttered under her breath, glaring darkly at Meringue.

"Did Mr. Taurus consider you an ally while you were part of the White Fang?"

"Yes."

"Did you ever argue?"

Blake gripped the stand in front of her. "Yes. I used to hear stories, about people getting hurt on missions he ran. We fought about that a lot."

"Were these fights ever violent?" Meringue asked, in the same cool, indifferent tone she'd been using all along.

"They weren't—weren't fights, exactly. I didn't hit back."

Between the Albains, Taurus sat with his hands chained to his chair. He was staring at Blake. Scowling. Not even a hint of guilt in his face.

Well, Weiss thought, feeling sick. I suppose that's one way to avoid turning him into a martyr. She squeezed Yang's hand tighter, so that neither of them would get up and try to take his head off.

"How did you meet Mr. Taurus?"

"The White Fang visited the mine where he worked." Blake paused, took a breath, and straightened her shoulders. "It was in Mistral, but it was owned by the SDC. We were protesting a child labor law, and he was in the workers' barracks. I remember he had a bandage over his face—he was the only one in there, because he was still recovering from the brand and he couldn't lift any of the machinery." Her eyes narrowed. "He was eighteen. He'd been there for five years."

Weiss' chest felt tight. But the accusation hung in the air for only a fraction of a second before Meringue swept past it. "How old were you at the time?"

"Thirteen."

"And how old were you when the relationship started?"

Blake's eyes dropped to the floor. "I don't see how that's relevant."

"Answer the question, please," said the judge. He didn't snap at her—but there wasn't much warmth to his voice, either.

"I was fifteen."

"Was this relationship sexual?"

Both of the Albains stood up so fast that their chairs screeched. The judge gestured a bit irritably for them to speak. "With all due respect," said Fennec, in tones that left it conveniently ambiguous just how much respect that actually was, "this is clearly irrelevant to the matter at hand."

The judge opened his mouth.

"I disagree," said General Ironwood. "Miss Belladonna is the only witness we have who knew Adam Taurus personally. That means she's the only one who can speak to how he treated those close to him, not just his perceived enemies. I think that's valuable information for the court to hear." Then, more gently, "Go on, Blake."

Blake did. She nodded, not looking at anyone, then repeated her answer out loud for the record. After that, Meringue finally started asking questions about the actual attack on Amity—and about everything Taurus had done in the White Fang. How many times had she seen Taurus injure someone? He said it was an accident? How often did these accidents occur? Were there any deaths? How many? Did she believe him when he said it was self defense? What did she mean, she wasn't sure? Well, if she didn't leave after that, then why did she leave?

"We were on a train." Blake spoke dully, now, her eyes slightly unfocused. Like she was looking at something only she could see. "He told me to set the charges. I asked him what we were supposed to do about the crew, and he said... what about them?"

"Did you do what he asked?"

"No. I uncoupled the cars, and hid in Vale when the train got to the city."

"I see. That will be all—thank you, Miss Belladonna."

And that, at least, was the worst of it over. Weiss relaxed a little—just enough for her to notice that her fingers ached where she'd been clinging to Yang's hand. She took a deep, steadying breath while the Albains stood to take their turn questioning Blake.

"Miss Belladonna," said Corsac. "You mentioned earlier that you met Mr. Taurus in a Dust mine, is that correct?"

Blake straightened up, a little life coming back into her expression. "It is."

"He was eighteen at the time, and had been there for five years—so you believe that he was there starting from the age of thirteen?"

"Yes."

"This was illegal in Mistral at the time, was it not?"

"It was. The White Fang tried to bring his case to court, but they wouldn't hear it. He'd lied to them about how old he was, because he was hungry and there was no one to take care of him. But my parents didn't think he looked old enough to be there even when I met him. They knew what they were doing."

"Did you meet other children in similar circumstances during your time in the White Fang?"

"Yes. They're willing to work for a lot less, because they usually don't have families that can provide for them any other way. It's common in Atlas and Mantle, too. Not just faunus, but disproportionately faunus."

"You also mentioned the brand on his face. Did he tell you who did that?"

Blake opened her mouth to answer, but before she had the chance the judge said, "Ms. Meringue? You have an objection?"

"This is irrelevant to the case at hand, your honor. We aren't here to discuss Taurus' injury, we're here to discuss his attack on the Vytal Festival."

The judge glanced at Ironwood and nodded. "Mr. Albain, please keep your discussion confined to the attack on Amity and Miss Belladonna's previous testimony."

"In the case of the alleged murder," Fennec said, picking up smoothly right where his brother left off, "You told the court that Mr. Taurus believed he was acting in self defense, is that right?"

Blake frowned. "That's what he said."

"Specifically in your defense."

"Yes."

"Is it possible that you would have been hurt, if Mr. Taurus had not acted as he did?"

"It's possible," Blake allowed. Her ears had gone stiff again, her whole body radiating discomfort.

"And is it possible that you could have been killed?"

"Maybe."

"Then Mr. Taurus may very well have saved your life by acting as he did."

"What are they doing?" Ruby whispered, leaning forward and clutching Yang's arm.

"Exactly what Ironwood is doing," Yang said grimly. "Trying to make a statement."

Meringue wasn't supposed to ask leading questions, but on cross-examination the Albains had no such restrictions. They led Blake on long chains of yes, and, no, never about the crimes themselves—always about what Adam was like. She had an active aura, did she not? Did Taurus ever injure her before her desertion? Yes, injure. As in blood. That's a no, then?

The only small mercy was that Meringue and the judge never let these lines of questioning get very far. Each time an objection was raised, the Albains switched tack, until Blake looked as though her grip on the witness stand was the only thing holding her up.

When they were finally finished, the judge called for a break. It was nearly four in the afternoon, and Blake hadn't eaten very much that morning—the obvious relief on her face made Weiss want to throttle someone. She couldn't quite decide between Meringue and the Albains.

"C'mon," Yang said softly, wrapping an arm around Blake's shoulders when she came up to them. "Let's get some food in you."

This plan encountered a small hiccup in the hallway outside the courtroom, where they met a beaming Penny bouncing on her heels. "Hello team RWBY!"

"Penny!" Ruby's hug came with a running start—Weiss had seen Yang stumble after one of those, but Penny hugged back without budging an inch. "Hi!"

"Hello Ruby! Hello, Weiss! You just missed your sister!"

Weiss made a noise like someone had just dumped a bucket of cold water over her head, which was roughly how she felt. "Excuse me?"

"She had to leave right when you were coming out," Penny explained. "She remembered an urgent appointment!"

Blake and Yang both cringed.

"It's fine," Weiss said, more to them than Penny and Ruby, who both seemed cheerfully oblivious to the implication. "I didn't want to see her anyway."

"Oh." Penny's face fell. "Why not?"

Weiss made a face. She didn't mind answering, exactly, but it was a difficult question to respond to when they were in the middle of the courthouse. "You remember that... personal thing we talked about."

Penny nodded.

"Well, she and I had a disagreement. A little like the one you and I had, except my life wasn't actually in danger. She used what she knew to blackmail our father."

Weiss tried not to pay too much attention to the way Blake's ears pinned back, or the horrified looks Yang and Ruby shared. She watched as Penny processed what she'd just said, then nodded slowly. "And that was wrong," she said, "because it wasn't her secret to tell."

Something felt a little bit odd about the way she'd phrased that, but it was Penny so Weiss shrugged it off. "Exactly."

"I think I understand."

There was a slight lull, during which Ruby's stomach growled. Loudly. "Heh, um, so—we were going to grab some food. Do you want to come?"

"Oh." Penny tilted her head to the side, like wanting to eat after spending the better part of six hours in a courtroom had never even occurred to her. Which, seeing as she didn't need food, it probably hadn't. "I would, but I am here as an official part of the courtroom security team." She lowered her voice only very slightly before adding, "General Ironwood says my ability to detect camouflaged opponents makes me an invaluable asset!"

"Right." Ruby's face fell. "Okay. We'll see you later, though, right?"

"I hope to see much more of each other very soon." She smiled in a way that Weiss might have called scheming, except... it was Penny. "I have a lot to think about!" With that, she disappeared back into the courtroom. Ruby led the way down the hall a tad slower than she'd been walking before, glancing behind her every so often, looking disappointed. Yang, meanwhile, pulled out her scroll to figure out where they were going.

Ravenous after the slight delay, they made their choice of restaurant mostly by starting with whatever was nearest, and then picking the first place that was supposed to have good fish. Which wasn't difficult—if anything, it was hard to find Atlesian cuisine that didn't involve seafood, since historically fishing had been a lot easier than farming on Solitas. Weiss would know. She'd been eating around the stuff for years.

Before they had the chance to leave the courthouse, they picked up an unwanted tag-along—one of the Ace-Ops, the dog faunus. He weathered Yang's flat glare with an apologetic wince. "I know, I know. But this trial is causing a bit of a stir, and the general wants to make sure no one decides to harass any of you over it."

Blake rolled her eyes. "Right. It definitely has nothing to do with making sure I don't run off."

"You did already try it once," he pointed out, folding his arms across his chest. "No offense, but we're not about to just take your word for it that you'll stick around."

Weiss frowned. From what she remembered, he'd been... friendlier, on the ship from Vale. Not to mention, she had an uneasy feeling that sending the faunus of the Ace-Ops to keep an eye on Blake was supposed to mean something. What, exactly, she had no idea.

"So, um," Ruby said, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. "I don't think I got your name before."

"Marrow." He held out a hand, which she shook. "Feel free to pretend I'm not here."

Weiss caught Yang and Blake exchanging a sour look. "Fine," she snapped, feeling fed up with all this standing around with their newly assigned chaperon. "Let's just eat already."

Since ignoring a soldier (in uniform, with a weapon on his back) was completely impossible, their conversation was awkward and stilted. Yang did her best to reassure Blake—vaguely—and Blake fell into quiet brooding rather than say anything about the trial thus far. Ruby did what Ruby usually did in awkward silences, and chattered. Fortunately, it wasn't a long walk.

It was only when they actually sat down to order that Weiss realized the obvious consequence of picking a restaurant specifically for the fish—everyone immediately sat down and ordered fish. Even Marrow, who judging by his wagging tail was excited to try the chowder.

She gripped the menu, keenly aware of the expectant waitress watching her as she hesitated. It took only a second for Yang's eyes to widen. "Shit," she blurted. "Sorry, I didn't think—"

"I'll have the salmon," Weiss said, before she could draw any more attention to herself. She forced a smile. The confused furrow in Blake's brow disappeared and her eyes went wide—across the table, Marrow and Ruby both looked bewildered. The waitress, too polite to be obviously confused or irritated by the delay, collected their menus and left.

Marrow squinted at her, but before he could ask what all that had been about, Blake distracted him.

"What do you think?" she asked. "About the trial, I mean."

He shifted in his chair—turned sideways to accommodate his tail—and pursed his lips. "Well, if you really want to know, I think Meringue is making a mistake focusing so much on the, um... personal stuff. Not saying it isn't important to you, but it's not really relevant to the case and it's too easy for his lawyers to poke holes in."

"If we're both being honest," she said dryly, "I could have done without talking about any of that in front of a crowd of strangers."

"Fair enough."

"I can't say I'm surprised, though." Blake propped her chin on her hand. "This felt like a publicity stunt from the start."

"Probably because it is," Marrow said cheerfully. "Look, someone has to do damage control around here. I know the White Fang is big on speaking for all faunus, but the rest of us are getting pretty sick of dealing with the fallout every time they burn down a building or try to blow up a crowd. If this trial cuts off their support in Vale and Mantle, I'd call that worth it."

Weiss looked from him, to Blake, then back again. "You... really don't like them, do you?"

"No," he said firmly. "I don't."

Blake frowned. "I have a lot of problems with their methods too—obviously—but I don't think it's fair to blame them for the situation in Atlas."

Marrow glanced at Weiss. "I want to help people, humans and faunus, and part of that means being an example. Showing everyone that I can be just as reliable as anyone else. The White Fang tends to make that harder. Our food should be here soon, so I won't get into it any more than that right now."

Weiss had to bite her tongue to keep from pushing for more details. She could count on one hand the number of other faunus she'd spoken to who weren't part of the White Fang—she didn't know Sun that well and he hardly ever talked about anything serious, so Blake was literally her only source of information. It was strangely exciting to realize that Marrow had totally different opinions, and bitterly frustrating that he wouldn't voice them because he was sitting with a Schnee. But she'd already had enough close calls for one meal, so she let it drop.

Fortunately Marrow's timing was excellent—they didn't even need to hunt for another topic before the waitress provided an interruption for them. Less fortunately? This place had earned its reputation. The scent wafting from the covered bowls she set in front of them was downright obscene. Weiss clenched her hands in her lap to keep herself from snatching at the food. Blake did not. She grabbed hers and set on it like, well, someone who had just spent the past several hours being interrogated on the witness stand after barely eating breakfast.

Weiss stared down at her salmon. There was some kind of sauce drizzled over it, and she smelled a slight sting of citrus. Lemon, probably. She poked it with her fork, half expecting her mother to materialize behind her and snatch it away before father could see. It had been so long, she couldn't remember what it tasted like. Would she even like it anymore?

Marrow raised an eyebrow at her over his chowder. "I know this isn't exactly SDC gala food, but it's not about to bite back."

She jumped. "I know that!" she blurted. Apparently too quickly—he had to badly fake a coughing fit to hide his snickering. Determined to get him to shut up, Weiss dug her fork into her salmon and, tentatively, brought it to her mouth.

After several long seconds, Blake started to look worried. "Um, Weiss?"

Her eyes teared up.

"Weiss?" Ruby nudged her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

She nodded.

"I'll eat it if you don't want—" Weiss yanked the plate towards herself and leveled her fork menacingly at Yang. She held her hands up. "Or not!"

All the self-restraint in the world couldn't have stopped Weiss right then. She clung to her table manners by a thread as she devoured her meal, her head buzzing with the simple satisfaction of finally letting herself have this one tiny thing that she'd always wanted. She tasted salt and savor, butter and lemon, and somehow they mixed together into what she could only describe as the flavor equivalent of being wrapped up in a warm blanket on a cold day.

This was completely unfair. Nothing should be allowed to taste this good.

"Easy there," Yang said, patting her on the back. "You're gonna choke."

Weiss decided the only reasonable response to this was to steal one of her shrimp.

That was what finally broke Blake. She made a noise in the back of her throat, clapped a hand over her mouth, then gave up the charade completely and burst out laughing. It was loud enough to drown out Yang's indignant spluttering, and to draw a few nasty glares from the next table over.

Marrow stared at them like they were all completely insane, but Weiss couldn't bring herself to care. If enjoying this made Blake feel even a little better about today? Well, it would be downright irresponsible not to indulge herself a little. So she kept eating, even though her ears burned with embarrassment, and pretended not to notice that Ruby kept sneaking bits of calamari onto her plate.

It was, all in all, a surprisingly pleasant lunch considering they'd been saddled with a babysitter. Marrow wasn't actually that much older than them—though he seemed annoyed when Yang brought this up—and Atlas Academy wasn't so different from Beacon that they couldn't pass the time chatting about classes, the Vytal Tournament, and what being a licensed Huntsman was actually like.

"You've all had your first mission, right?"

"Um, sort of?" Ruby fidgeted in her chair. "We had to end early for a medical emergency."

Marrow winced. "Ouch. Must have been a pretty bad emergency, if you had to cancel the entire mission."

Weiss was finished eating by that point, so she was completely bereft of excuses not to look at anyone at the table. When she went searching for one, she realized there was a faint acrid smell in the air. "Is something burning?"

Probably a minor incident in the kitchens, or so she assumed. But Marrow's brow furrowed and then he jerked to his feet so fast he almost knocked over his chair. "Over there," he said, pointing to a dark grey smudge mostly hidden behind nearby buildings.

The five of them sprinted for several blocks before they found the source of the smoke—an uninspiring office building whose sign had been scorched so badly that it now read, Mold Stee. Probably Marigold Steel, by the logo engraved on the door.

"Is anyone still in there?" Ruby called out to the nearest bystanders. There were a lot of them, many wearing what looked like company uniforms. Ripples of murmuring ran through the small crowd, as they turned to each other for the answer to her question.

"The top floor!" shouted someone near the back. "The elevator is busted and there's fire on the stairs, I don't think the manager got out!"

Ruby glanced at Weiss, who nodded and provided a line of glyphs for the rest of them to ascend. She followed close behind, wincing as the smell of smoke grew so overpowering that it brought tears to her eyes.

Finding the manager wasn't difficult—just about the entire floor was dedicated to her office, and she was cursing so loudly that she could be heard from the top of the stairwell where they'd entered. Blake was first through the door, holding her shirt over the bottom half of her face to shield herself from the smoke. "Are you—" Her ears jerked back. She ducked, just in time for an expensive-looking scroll to shatter on the wall behind her.

"You monsters won't take me alive!"

The manager was nowhere to be seen, but her position became obvious very quickly. Binders, staplers, and other random office supplies arced over an overturned desk, all aimed with terrifying accuracy at Blake and, when he muscled through the door just behind her, Marrow.

"Ma'am, I—" he started to say, then had to dodge a flying letter opener. "Ma'am, I'm with the—ow!—there's no need for—Stay!"

She froze in the act of poking her head out from behind the desk, her arm drawn back to hurl a mug full of pens.

"I'm with the Ace-Ops," Marrow said, a lot more calmly than Weiss would have managed. "We're trying to get you out of here before the fire spreads."

He let his semblance drop. The woman didn't move right away—she stared at him, as though struggling to process this, then gingerly put down the mug. "Oh," she said. Then, apparently recovered from the shock, "Well, it took you long enough!"

"Charming," Yang muttered, definitely loud enough for the woman to hear.

The irate manager flatly refused to allow Blake to help her down with Gambol Shroud. "You aren't one of the Ace-Ops! I saw you on the news, how you aren't in jail right now I'll never know!"

Weiss clenched her jaw hard enough that it creaked, and a strange tingling began in the tips of her fingers. She watched the manager's mouth move but couldn't hear through the ringing in her ears. Then Ruby grabbed her shoulder and said, "Weiss? Can you make another stairway?"

Something gave on one of the lower floors, and the whole building started to tilt. Weiss shook herself out of her daze and marched over to the window. "Hurry up," she snapped, when the manager still wouldn't move. It took nearly a minute of coaxing for Ruby to get her to climb down to safety.

Yang and Marrow spent that time searching the rest of the floor, just in case—but there was no one else in evidence, and the floor below was already too hot for them to risk searching it. Or for there to be anything left for them to find. Blake lowered them to the ground, since Weiss was beginning to tire at this point, and then used Gambol Shroud to swing herself down to meet them.

By then, the fire department had arrived. RWBY and Marrow sat on the sidelines, waiting for someone to tell them if they were supposed to go back to the courthouse or not. They did their best to ignore the manager, who wanted someone to rant at and was extremely disappointed that they weren't listening. Eventually she wandered off to find a more receptive ear.

Marrow heaved a sigh. "So much for condemning the attack," he muttered.

"Huh?" Ruby cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"The White Fang. They condemned Taurus a while ago, but it looks like they're going back on that. Again."

Blake bristled. "What? How is it their fault that a random office building burned down?"

"It wasn't random," Weiss said, wincing a little at the looks on her teammates' faces. "There have been arson attacks happening all over Atlas for a couple years now. Right on the first day of the trial... it might be a coincidence, but I doubt it."

"That still doesn't explain why it's the White Fang."

Marrow answered that one. "There's a pattern. They go after big money, like the Marigolds and the SDC. Mostly, anyway. Sometimes it's random homes or businesses, but it's not hard to figure out why after the fact. A lot of them are owned by humans who don't serve faunus, or exploit faunus labor, or both." He glanced at Weiss. "It's been going on a lot longer than the last two years, too. They were a lot more sporadic at first, but we're pretty sure it's connected to the attack on the Glass Unicorn, and that was almost six years ago."

Weiss shivered. She remembered with a sudden rush of panic that she'd met the woman responsible for this. That they'd actively worked with her, because she'd known how to protect Blake. But they hadn't actually done anything for her, right? And she'd only helped because she used to know Blake's parents, or something like that. It still wasn't totally clear to Weiss. The point was, they had done absolutely nothing to help her, and had merely allowed her to give them a suggestion that was entirely legal. It was...

It was, without a doubt, the worst decision she'd ever made that she didn't regret in the slightest.

"We should get back," Marrow said, pushing himself to his feet. "And, uh... be prepared to eat in the courtroom for the rest of the trial. I don't think the general is going to want any of you wandering around if the White Fang keep setting things on fire. You're all big targets."

"I can't wait to get out of here," Yang muttered under her breath.

Weiss couldn't have agreed more.