A/N: Thanks for all the positive reviews y'all! I don't know if other writers express this enough, but honestly, feedback and comments are what we treasure the most when posting these stories. They really mean a lot to me at the very least.

From this chapter onward, things are going to be taking a lot of canon divergences because of events not set in motion. I'll give a more exhaustive list later when major events start happening, but by now, some things are already difference by the time Volume 4 ends. Ilia does not remain in Menagerie for the events of Volume 5, and Weiss is not on the transport ship heading to Mistral to get captured by the Branwens. So we're experiencing small ripples here, but the next two chapters will escalate this even more but I don't want to spoil anything.

I apologize if this chapter is uneventful. Real life has been impeding my writing, so the next chapter will be better, or at the least more eventful.

Thanx for reading.

It was a very quiet, very awkward ride home. Ilia paced nervously in the hold trying to come up with some excuse, some explanation that would placate her boss.

"I know you're upset you failed the mission, but…aren't you a little glad Blake isn't going to be at Adam's mercy?" Weiss dared to ask after three hours of mumbling and pacing.

"Blake deserves to be at the mercy of the White Fang! She abandoned us!" Ilia rounded on her, almost relieved she had a reason to take her anger out on the human.

"Sienna Khan would have been one thing, but Adam is another. Do you really want to see Adam do to her what he did to me? You were friends with Blake, is that really what you would wish on her now?" Weiss realized emotionally she'd have the high ground and decided to remain calm.

"Blake chose Adam. Blake chose Adam over her family, over…over me. And then she just abandoned all of us, and now, now that it's coming back to bite her, she'll realize she made a very bad choice in making enemies of us. Of Adam, and of her family."

"You mean the White Fang as a whole?"

"We were more family to her than her actual family was. She was born into the White Fang and stayed after her parents left."

"And you really think punishing someone who left like this will send a positive message to the other faunus that what you're doing will help? You really think the people of Menagerie are going to look at the charred remains of the Belladonna's house and think 'the White Fang is definitely for the faunus'?"

"We need to unify our people, and the way to do that is by sending a clear message to the rest of the faunus that human sympathizers are our enemies, even if they are our own people."

Weiss folded her arms. "It sounds like you want equality for only the faunus that fall in like with your extremist ideology."

"We want equality for everyone! We just have to make them see that what they view as 'extreme' is nothing more than necessary means."

The speaker beeped and announced they were landing. Ilia sat and buckled herself in, but her nervousness came out in her drumming fingers and frequent sighs.

She was almost relieved when they landed and Adam wasn't waiting for them. The lieutenant was waiting for them.

"Yezik radioed and told me what happened," he greeted Ilia on the metal gangplank, a smirk on his face. "Adam is going to be pissed when he gets back."

"He's not back yet?" Ilia spoke while giving hand signals for other to unload the airship.

"No, he sent word to us that he won't be regrouping with us. He'll meet back up with us at Mountain Glenn."

The relief on Ilia's face was apparent. "Hopefully he'll have some time to cool down before he gets back."

"It at least gives you some time to get your story straight," the lieutenant half laughed. "If all else fails you can blame it on his little trophy here so nobody gets in trouble. Just say she tried to escape and messed up your plan."

"Wow," Weiss said loud enough to be heard, "Two officers in the most feared terrorist organization in Remnant blaming a failure on a spoiled human with no aura and handcuffs on. That would go over well."

"I've had to put up with her yappy mouth all the way home," Ilia groaned. "Can someone just, put her in the hold of the transport?"

"With pleasure," he said with a smile, seizing Weiss by the arm before she even had a chance to recoil. He roughly dragged her through the camp to the hovercraft, using her cuffs to secure her to a D-ring in the cargo hold, limiting her range to a semicircle barely the length of her body.

He was only doing this because Adam wasn't there. He was power tripping and there was little she could do about it. For the two-day trip home, she was only released to use the head on the hovercraft and was conveniently "forgotten" about whenever mealtimes came. By the time they returned to the installation at Mountain Glenn, she was practically faint with hunger. She couldn't believe herself actually wishing Adam would come back soon.

Just to be safe, Adam had Hazel's ship drop him off a solid hour from the Mountain Glenn station, and walked back on foot. He arrived sweaty and a little panicked, though he had no intention of letting his underlings see any apprehension. He led by being confident, stalwart and he had to keep that illusion up.

He'd agreed to meet with Hazel in Mistral at a city on the map and escort him there to the secret headquarters of the White Fang to meet with Sienna Khan. He knew the ire he might incur, he was already on Sienna's bad side, but Cinder was still alive and her veiled threat to the White Fang both something he couldn't ignore, and something he couldn't openly admit to in front of the high leader. He would come across as weak. Instead, he had to convince her of the benefits they would have working with Salem and her magic until he could figure out a way to supplant her. Sienna would take some serious convincing, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

The risk he was not willing to take was leaving Weiss with that lieutenant any longer than he absolutely had to. He'd already been gone for almost a week and each time his thoughts drifted to his HQ in Mountain Glenn he worried about leaving her at his mercy for too long. Last time he was gone the lieutenant almost killed her, and he couldn't afford to lose her after all the progress he'd made. That'd mean taking her back to Mistral and Sienna, but if Weiss were at Sienna's mercy, she wouldn't be killed. The high leader had no interest in making political enemies of the Atlas aristocracy.

"Good to have you back," Ilia said as she saluted him. He strode past her without speaking into his quarters. Ilia followed him in. "You were gone longer than expected; the troops were starting to worry. Even the Schnee asked where you were."

"I'm not staying," he grunted, tossing his overnight bag on the bed, He pulled his shirt off over his head and opened the door to the walk-in closet out of view. "Have Weiss pack me a new bag for me and herself. We're going to Mistral. I'll need my airship fueled and manned as soon as possible."

"You might want to put a hold on leaving," Ilia said as she turned to leave. "We have a situation that you're going to want to…address."

"You're just going to leave it at that?" Adam walked out, buttoning up a shirt.

"I don't really care to stand here in your bedroom explaining everything to you while you dress yourself. When you're ready, there's a surprise waiting for you in the mess hall."

He took his time changing clothes, taking a few caffeine pills to keep himself alert. Once he'd emptied his bag, he made his way across the campus to the mess hall for both lunch and the 'surprise' he was promised by Ilia.

The mess hall was a buzz of activity and excitement. Every available White Fang soldier in the had gathered until it was standing room only. Sitting at the tables were about twenty humans of various ages and sizes all bound with their arms behind their backs, secured both at the wrists and at the elbows. Some had been roughed up from attempting to fight back, but all were now terrified and disoriented. And it the thick of them was Weiss, travelling from person to person, giving them a gentle hand on the shoulder or word of encouragement, doing whatever she could to keep them calm.

"Where did they come from?" Adam asked, his tone sounding a bit be.

"Two patrol guards found them early this morning trying to steal food from the kitchens and tracked them back to their…what do you call it? Nest? Apparently, there were about thirty of them living underground off part of the railway system. Somehow managed to survive on their own like this since Mountain Glenn fell.

"Humanity has few qualities, but tenacity is definitely one of them," he said to no one in particular. Ilia couldn't be sure if he was referring to the survivialists or the Schnee. "Perhaps this is our chance to finally enact my plan for humanity," he said a little louder.

"Right now, thirty extra bodies to feed, clothe and find rooms for is excessive," Ilia replied without facing him. "It isn't feasible: we don't have enough collars to keep them in line, or even enough stuff for them to do to keep them busy…" she paused. "Unless they have something to keep them calm and organized. Perhaps you will reconsider taking Weiss with you and leave her behind to be in charge of them."

"No," Adam said firmly. "She's my 'trophy' as you all say, and she's coming with me. For now, keep them imprisoned until we can get uniforms and collars for all of them. But we're keeping all of them. Keep the children separate from the adults to ensure compliance. I should be back in under a week and we can allocate their duties then. For now, Weiss is to attend to me." He looked up and called to her with a harsh and abrupt: "Schnee!"

Weiss jolted to attention at hearing her name called, but immediately relaxed when she saw it was the faction leader rather than the lieutenant. She gave a reassuring squeeze to the shoulders of one of the prisoners before picking her way through them to the front standing with proper form in front of him: hands clasped in front, eyes down. "Sir," was all she said, awaiting orders.

"You will pack bags for me and for yourself. We're going back to Mistral on air transport, which means I'll expect your formal uniform while we're at headquarters," he kept his tone cold.

The white-haired girl looked over her shoulder at the scared group of people behind her. It was plain on her face she was both sympathetic to their situation and wanted to ask if she could stay, but she knew better than to ask. Adam would probably slap her again just as a show of force in front of the humans. Instead, she nodded and said, "Yes, sir," before returning to his quarters to start her work.

She was mostly finished by the time Adam returned from eating lunch and making arrangements for his absence. She continued working without addressing him as he entered,

not noticing that he'd spent a few minutes watching her work in silence.

"You've lost weight," he said finally.

"Not that much." Weiss insisted with her usual sarcastic inflexions. "Your not-transferred lieutenant you left in charge only forgot to feed me on the trip back."

"No, I mean since you've been in Vale," he said correcting her. "You're uniform no longer fits. I'll make sure to get you a properly fitting one when we get to Mistral. You'll need a hair trim as well."

She knew it was a risk bringing it up, but she had to try. "Perhaps it would be best if I stayed in Vale. The humans you captured are afraid and enraged and sad, and all those negative emotions could attract grimm, but if I stayed behind, I could help…"

"You do not get to make suggestions to me as to what I do with my property," he said sternly. "You're not staying. Besides, I doubt you want to stay around with the lieutenant hell-bent on making your life more difficult whenever I'm not around."

He was right, and Weiss was secretly relieved she'd be away from him, but she still wished there was something she could do for the thirty or so people whom she had been helping all morning. They were afraid for their lives, unsure of their fates. She remembered the feeling all too well when she had first been captured but she only needed to fear for herself. For them, it was almost worse. They had families to be separated from and worry over.

Adam's scroll vibrated before Weiss had a chance to reply. "Everything's ready," he said, "Load the airship first and then meet me in the mess pavilion. We have a camp-wide meeting to attend before we leave."

Weiss brought the bags with her when she left, securing them on the transport before dutifully helping the kitchen staff stock the transport will food for the trip and then being assigned to random boxes.

The pavilion that had been converted into the mess hall looked like it had been converted from a sports complex of some kind when Mountain Glenn was still a thriving metropolis. The warehouses came to an abrupt end and there was a vast amount of flat green space: something that would have held a sports field or arena, and the pavilion was some kind of concession stand and eating area for the field, meaning it contained an enclosed kitchen built off the eating area and the food was served through a window. It was a sizable slab of concrete, and even had a fireplace at the same end as the kitchen. Adam had ordered the tables to be cleared off and placed into the grass, but even so the last of the members to arrive were stuck standing out in the sun for the meeting. The prisoners had been secured with cuffs and then rope when the cuffs had run out. She took her place behind Adam at the front of crowd. He was standing at the concession end of the pavilion, directly in front of the fireplace.

Two sets of stocks like the one Weiss had been forced into at the quarry had been set up in the pavilion, facing outward.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was happening.

"Adam, sir. Please…don't do this," Weiss said emphatically going so far as to pull on his sleeve, tears already forming in her eyes.

"This will eventually be the fate of all humanity," he replied, "They just had the misfortune of being the first ones."

She could only look down in abject horror and blink back the tears as the last of the camp pressed into the area to see what was happening.

Adam held up his hand for silence and received it immediately. "Brothers and sisters of the White Fang: this is the dawn of a new era of the faunus! Since the origin of our people, we were systemically and systematically oppressed by the humans for nothing more than the fact that we look different." As he projected his voice, the entire camp was silent, even the humans. He had such a commanding presence. "But now, we are going to turn the tables on humanity! It is our turn to make them respect us! To fear us! To serve us! And this village will be the first of many. But humanity has no cause to worry. We will treat them the same way they've always treated us: as inferior and second-class beings. It's time to lift the faunus up by bringing humanity down!"

Shouts of agreement and approval went through the ranks in waves as Weiss tried to wipe the tears out of her eyes. The very least she could do for her fellow prisoners is put on a brave face.

Opposite the pavilion from her and back a few rows, she caught Bran's face: he was the only one clearly not enjoying the spectacle. When his eyes caught hers, he mouthed the words "I'm sorry," to her as the men two at a time were being forced into the stocks. They struggled at first, but a few jabs with the cattle prods left them doubled over in pain and compliant enough to lock into the stocks.

The lieutenant volunteered to do the honors, to which Adam gladly obliged.

As each of the humans was branded, the panic compounded as the men realized their wives and children would be subject to the same fate and those who were waiting to be branded heard the screams and cries of their predecessors. Like Weiss' branding, the gathered faunus began to jeer at them or even clap.

Just as Weiss thought she was gaining a grip of herself, the next set of prisoners pulled toward the stocks were two boys, neither of which could have been older than ten. He even intended to brand and enslave the children.

"Please no," she breathed, unable to get out any more words between the tears. Adam turned and stared at her. She knew under his mask his eyes were glaring at her.

"Why? Because that would be cruel?" He snorted. "The world is cruel, princess. It's better they learn it now when they can grow accustomed to their fate."

She turned away. She couldn't bear to watch. She cried as they cried for their parents.

When the last of them were done, the troops were dismissed and the slaves unceremoniously herded back to the dormitories. She tried to wipe her tears away with her hands, as the emotions in her went from sorrow to despair to anger to hate. She was only vaguely aware of the pilot approaching Adam and announcing they were ready for departure and needed to load up. By this time, she was practically seething.

Adam reached to seize her by her the wrist, but she surprised even herself when she slapped his hand away in a rage.

"You're a monster!"

Adam remained calm. "I know."

"Innocent people! Tortured and enslaved! Children! How could you?"

Adam had no intention of continuing this conversation. "Humans have made us out to be animals and now have the nerve to look shocked we play the part."

"You're no better than the humans who burned you in the face," she almost snarled at him.

He did not appreciate her bringing his face into this. "I don't have time for this." He stepped toward her and grabbed the top of her pony tail, yanking her forward.

He marched across the green to the airstrip with her hair in his hand as she awkwardly stumbled to keep her feet under her despite her head being held in such an awkward position. He all but threw her into the transport and climbed into the back after her.

"Despite what the lieutenant tries, make sure all the prisoners are properly fed and their backs don't get infected," were his last instructions to Ilia.

She nodded firmly. "I will, sir," she promised.

"And Ilia."

"Sir?"

"It's been a busy week, but I haven't forgotten about the disaster in Menagerie last week."

Weiss had seen Ilia change colors before, but had never seen her pale before. The color in her face and drained into a sickly white, but she nodded and stepped back away from the airship as it lifted off the pad, and Adam pulled the sliding door on the transport shut.

They were going back to Mistral. She didn't look forward to facing the main headquarters, but right now, anywhere was better than here.