A/N: I did not anticipate this chapter being a 2 parter, but if things keep going the direction they're going, it's going to be a trilogy. I hope to have the next half of the chapter finished and up by this time next week, but due to IRL restrictions, I'm not making any promises. As always, thanks for y'all's feedback.
A/N: A note on Salem, or rather Salem's relationship to Adam: Whether it was Salem that compelled Cinder to contact Adam or if that was Cinder's idea and Salem just decided to go with it; regardless, when Cinder was taken out of commission, Salem does NOT send the one faunus on team WTCH to handle Adam. She knows that despite Adam being a fierce loyalist to the faunus and despising humans that Hazel would make a better impression on him than Tyrian would because Tyrian is a mentally unstable whack-a-doo and that Adam would have noped out of Salem's faction faster than Raven noped out of motherhood.
So, props to Salem for sending the right guy for the job, not the right faunus.
"How did it even get here?" Winter asked as she ran her finger over the padding of the locker sitting on an evidence table Menagerie. She used the flashlight from her scroll to illuminate the inside hoping something would catch her eye.
"It was in the middle of a White Fang campsite of maybe four or five people. Our crime division didn't any prints on it," Blake said quietly from the other side of the table. "As to how it got here, the most logical, however unlikely answer, is that she used a scroll and used her four-digit code to deliver it."
"But that would mean that Weiss was here on the island," Winter countered. "If Weiss really has been with the White Fang all this time, why hasn't there been a ransom demand or some kind of public demonstration?"
Blake looked into the empty case blankly. "There are plenty of other reasons they'd keep her. Information, leverage for later on, or perhaps they're keeping her alive so they can find a public even or some forum to execute her on. I don't know."
"Do you think they'd really kill her?" Winter asked, her brows knit with worry.
Blake sighed. "A part of me says, yes. Sienna Khan had discussed assassinating members of the Schnee family and other Atlesian officials before, and knowing her approach to violence, she'd definitely condone it if it meant something better for the movement. But another part of me says no: if they were going to kill her, they would have already done it."
"I just don't get why now," Sun said, lifting himself up to sit on another observation table. He crossed his legs and leaned on his elbows. "What reason would they bring a prisoner along on an attack mission, and if Weiss had a way of contacting us, why didn't she call? She had to have a scroll to get that locker here, and she'd have to have known somebody she knew was here that would recognize her locker from Beacon."
"The only person that applies to is you," Winter said turning to Blake. "Is it possible that the White Fang would have threatened to harm Weiss to gain your compliance and that is why they brought her along?"
"But they never said anything about that. Not Ilia, not the Albains. None of them made that threat. They just wanted my parents dead and me captured and taken back to…" her shoulder sagged. "To Adam. If he's got a hold of Weiss, she probably isn't being treated well. He'll keep her alive, but…"
"But?" Winter's eyes furrowed in concern.
"Adam has a way of manipulating people. Gaslighting them and getting inside her head. He might…he might try to brainwash her."
Winter almost sighed in relief. "If there's anything no one can do, its break Weiss mentally. One good thing that actually came of our childhood is that our father gave us hostage training. And Weiss was better at it than Whitley and myself combined. If anything, she's probably working on him." Winter almost smiled. She had answers for the first time. Adam Taurus was a specific person in a specific organization that she could track down.
Blake however was still unsure. She folded her arms defensively, her ears reflexively folding back in displeasure. Sun, the monkey faunus slid off the table and was at her side immediately.
"Hey, at least we know he won't kill her right?" Sun asked trying to cheer her up.
"I…I guess, but the longer she's with him, the more dangerous it is for her."
"I'm going to get her back," Winter promised standing, "This is the first working clue I've had in months, but I have a name, a face and a trail to follow. I'm going to follow up on it. Thank you so much for your help."
Neither Winter nor Blake were big huggers, so there was an odd staring and nodding between them until Sun placed a hand on both their shoulders. "We're dealing with things here in Menagerie. Winter will handle finding Weiss, and stopping whatever plans Adam has for her, ok?"
Blake nodded numbly. "I just wish there was something more I could do to help."
"You've helped immensely," Winter said, "but I want to get on this as quickly as I can. If you'll excuse me." She dismissed herself from the evidence locker and hurried back to her ship.
She boarded in time to hear the tail end of a hostile conversation her pilot was having with a dispatcher.
"Yes ma'am," the pilot was saying. Winter could tell by the sound of his voice that he'd been saying 'yes ma'am' out of fear for about five solid minutes over the static crackles.
"If you have to leave without her, then do it!" the woman's voice was screeching.
"Yes, ma'am."
"And you'll deal with disciplinary action upon your return for your insubordination!"
"Yes, ma'am,"
"Your specialists won't be given any more preferential treatment! General Ironwood won't stand for this!"
Winter reached across the comm and switched the radio off. "Whoops," she said flatly, "Guess we got bad reception all the way down here with no CC tower."
"Thank you, ma'am," the pilot breathed.
"We're out of time, aren't we?" Winter asked.
"Yes, ma'am," he said sadly. "Orders came in saying if you don't come now to leave you behind and return to Atlas without you, and you'll face a court martial if you try to return."
"Then we have to go back," Winter breathed. "I can't get you two in any more trouble than we're already in. Set a course back to Atlas."
"We don't mind staying with you, Miss Schnee," her bodyguard said, stepping into the cockpit. "We get how much your sister means to you."
"No," Winter shook her head, folding her hands behind her back, "Atlas needs us more than I need my sister right now. From what I can gather, she'll be alright for a while longer. I'll just find a way to look for her from behind the Atlas border."
"Yes, miss," her pilot said, preparing the engines for take-off.
She had unrestricted access to all of Atlas' military databases, including terrorists, potential terrorists, or threats to national security. Even if it took her months to get back out again, she'd find Adam, she'd find Weiss and get her back.
The beauty of the feudal era palace wasn't as breathtaking the second time around for Weiss. She was pushed past the guards and found herself in Adam's private quarters unpacking everything for him.
"While you are here, you will wear the cheongsam and will wear your hair up whenever you are providing service for me outside my quarters. But you'll spend most of your time here."
"Yes sir," she mumbled in response. The events of the camp in Mountain Glenn were still fresh in her mind. She was still sad for them, angry with Adam and frustrated with her entire situation.
"Your bed is already set up in the ante-chamber. You will sleep there but will fetch my breakfast tray from the kitchen each morning before you set about your duties here."
"Yes, sir…" she muttered.
"Since there is only one bathroom, you will be graciously given the luxury of the suite's shower and toilet. I'd rather keep you inside the room as much as possible, especially if I can't be around to make sure none of the idiots who'd like to take a power trip with you get a chance to do so."
"I am to be confined to these quarters, then?"
"For your own safety, yes." He checked the notifications on his scroll before he continued, observing how muted her normal, vivacious personality had become. "Whether you believe it or not, you are more valuable to me both alive and in good health.
"Finish unpacking my things." He ordered, "And press my formal attire: I have a meeting with Sienna Khan in an hour and am going to need to look my absolute best. This meeting might change the course of the entirety of the White Fang."
"Yes, sir," She muttered, continuing to unload garment bags and put his clothes on hangars.
After a few moments, a rap at the door summoned Adam away. He was greeted by several male voices, clearly excited to see him there, inviting him to eat lunch with them in the mess hall which he agreed to, leaving Weiss behind to work in peace.
She got his uniform ironed first to get it out of the way, then she unpacked his toiletries, placing everything where it belonged in the bathroom, then unpacked his boots, followed by his booze, and finally, everything pertaining to his weapon. He had oil for his katana and for the leather, as well as several cartridges of dust. Weiss looked them over, desperately trying to return them all to their proper grooves as they'd been displaced in transit. Pushing each of them back into the foam, a thought struck her.
He might not notice it was missing, and somehow her collar had to have something dust related if it was suppressing aura, her guess was it was gravity aura that drew in aura and somehow trapped it or suppressed it, though without seeing the inside of the silver collar, she'd have no way of knowing.
And Adam probably wouldn't miss a vial of dust. She was careful not to shake the vial, taking it to her cot in the ante-chamber. Lifting it up on its side, she removed the rubber stopper from the bottom of one of the cot's legs. The metal legs were hollow just as she'd suspected and the vial was small enough to fit inside it. She wasn't sure how this was going to help her in the long run, but at least she had some way of fighting back.
"Adam, I'm not going to repeat myself, so listen to me when I tell you, the White Fang will not attack Haven Academy."
"High Leader, I am begging you."
"You should be begging to for forgiveness and nothing else. The assault you lead on Beacon was not the great victory you clearly think it was, and you should be grateful your punishment wasn't more severe. I thought giving you some time away from your team would give you time to reflect, but that clearly only solidified your path. You may be a symbol for many in our organization, but that does not make you infallible."
"I am just trying to follow your example."
"And what example is that?"
"Strength. Strength and unwavering conviction." Adam said, still on his knees.
Sienna shifted in her chair uncomfortably. "It's true that I was one of the first of us to advocate for violence when necessary. Peace bred complacency and acceptance of our place in the world. I will not let humanity push us down without pushing them back. But your actions: destroying a huntsman academy and enslaving humans is crossing a line! And don't think I don't know about your attack on Menagerie's Chieftain and his house. You're making enemies of our own people! Of the people we're trying to protect!" She found herself getting too emotional. She stopped herself and settled back into her chair to regain her composure. "The loss of the CCT has brought global communication to a crawl. Between your acts of terrorism and keeping the heiress of the SDC as a hostage, the White Fang will now be even more of a target. You've justified the human's campaign against us and for what? Empty promises from a group of humans? Humans we still know nothing about. Humans who come and go as they please; these are not good examples of strength, Adam. They are examples of your strength being diminished by your shortsightedness." She'd always had a problem with Adam being too passionate and too heated to see the big picture. He was a good strategist, but rarely were his goals aligned with the scope of all faunus in mind.
Adam thought for a moment before pushing himself to his feet. "If you wish to know more about the humans, then why not ask them yourself." He turned to the guards behind him, and called out for Hazel who was escorted into the throne room. All eyes were on him, wary of having a human in their midst, and not like Weiss, not a prisoner at their mercy brought by force, but who came by invitation.
Sienna was livid. "What is the meaning of this?" She pushed herself out of her throne and to her feet as her guards readied their spears, waiting for her order to attack.
"My apologies, my aim isn't to cause any trouble," Hazel said calmly.
"You brought a human here…to this location!?" Sienna seethed. He'd already been in trouble for this once, but Weiss didn't have the capacity of telling other humans where they were. Hazel could, and his people were powerful enough to influence even someone as spiteful to humanity as Adam.
"You should hear what he has to say," insisted Adam.
"This is grounds for execution!" Sienna shouted. Well liked or no, he was jeopardizing their operation.
Throughout the outrage, Hazel remained calm. "Ma'am, please," he tried to entreat her. "Nobody needs to die today. I'm just asking for a moment of your time." He knelt submissively.
Sienna stood her ground. "The longer you are here, the less chance you have of leaving alive."
"If you don't mind, I'll take those chances," Hazel replied with an almost serene disposition.
She was almost taken aback by how he carried himself. Out of nothing more than sheer curiosity, she seated herself and the guards lowered their spears. With a nod, she willed him to continue.
"You don't like me. You have no reason to like me but you don't have to like me to get the results you want." He stood.
"I'm starting to doubt either of you fully comprehend what it IS that I want. I want humanity to fear the faunus: to know that we demand respect. I do NOT want to start a war with the humans that we cannot win!" She pounded her fist on the arm of her chair for emphasis."
"That's where you're wrong," Adam said, stepping forward. "We CAN win a war against the humans, not only because we have the support of Hazel's master, but because the Faunus are the dominant species on the planet."
"Adam…"
"I've said it before," he spoke over her. "We have everything the humans have and more. I made my intentions very clear for humanity, and now is our chance to bring it to fruition. They should not be fearing us, they should be serving us." As he spoke, the ascended the steps until he was almost at Sienna's feet but parallel with her eye level with her sitting position."
"I think I've had enough of this conversation for tonight. Guards, take them away."
The guards moved in to remove Hazel, but no one touched Adam.
"I said seize, THEM not just the human," Sienna reiterated, but seemed shocked that guards refused to respond to her.
"I'll admit, Sienna, you were right about my popularity." He turned to her with a steely glare, "My followers in Vale already see me as the true high leader and many here in Mistral feel the same." With two more steps, he was on the same platform as she and looming over her, "From this day forward, I will be the one to lead the White Fang." With a wave of his hand the guards turned on her, pointing their spears in salute of Adam before she could stand and draw her weapon.
She had lost control.
"If you think I'll just step aside and follow beneath you, you're wrong," she practically hissed at him.
"As of now, your choice in the matter is rather limited," Adam sneered. "Your other choice is to die."
She remained silent as her own men led her away. A smirk danced on Adam's face as she was unceremoniously escorted out by a guard grabbing each of her arms. Once she was gone, Adam turned to Hazel while simultaneously seating himself in the vacant throne. With the slightest nod, the guards released him.
"I will convince her that this is the best course of action for the faunus. Just give her time," Adam promised.
"I think this was the best outcome we could have hoped for," Hazel mused. "If we can convince her to side with us, she may bring the rest of the White Fang with her."
"Thank you for coming with me," Adam said sincerely. "I hope our alliance will be of...mutual benefit."
Hazel nodded, half bowing before being shown out.
Adam sat on the vacant throne, easing into it, leaning on his elbow deep in thought. He practically glowed with his victory, and he relished finally being what he knew he was meant to do from the moment Sienna Khan had told him there might be a place by her side in his future.
One of Sienna's former personal guard knelt before him. "Sir, Sienna Khan is resisting being held. What should we do?"
Adam's smile widened. Catching himself, he returned to his more serious demeanor. "Secure her and put her in a cell. Once she's had some time to cool off, I'll speak to her myself." He looked across the expanse of the throne room, now empty, but he'd seen it when it was pack with faunus, all in their unique masks. It was a beautiful sight and he would be admiring it until his death. There was little more than could make this victory sweeter, he thought, except….
Every palace needed a full staff, didn't it?
He called for a guard, who again knelt before him. "Send a message to the Vale chapter," he began. "Orders for Ilia Amolita, have her bring all the recently captured humans by transport to the facility here. We will put them in service for the headquarters of the White Fang."
The order clearly did not sit well with the faceless guard, but he nevertheless assented and left to relay the message.
"Sienna served her people well after Ghira Belladona stepped down. Her strength paved the way for the faunus to find respect and equality," Adam announced to the remaining White Fang present, "but now it is time for us to reach even beyond. No longer will we be finding our place in Remnant; we will be making our place in Remnant."
He stood and descended the steps to return to his chambers. He'd dethroned the high leader, fooled Hazel, implemented his new policy, and had done so with no opposition or bloodshed. It would be best to quit while he was ahead. Ordering dinner to be prepared, he retired to his room for the evening.