A/N: Hello again! After a few months of sabbatical, I'm ready to be back and am excited to where this season will lead our characters. While this first chapter is kinda slow, I plan on ramping it up in the following chapters. I really appreciate everyone's kind comments and encouragement and hope you enjoy it.

Weiss stirred first, her eyes opening as she lay motionless on the bed. She was still in her red cheongsam, stiff with dried blood and her hair had come undone during the night. Adam's hand still clung to hers, and she feared to pull it free lest she wake up, but there was work to be done. She gently pulled her hand free, watching his breathing remain even and deep and he slept.

There was so much to do: the walkway to the bathroom was caked with mostly just dried mud which could be easily scraped and vacuumed up, but the bathroom was something out of a horror film. Blood spattered everywhere during last night's events. The tile and bathtub would be easy enough to clean but the towels were a lost cause. She could throw them away, along with this uniform and not raise suspicion. Using the regular trash can liners, she set disposed of what she could and used the regular cleaners to re-clean the bathroom. She sighed in dismay when she pulled the shower curtain back into place. The night before she'd pulled up the bathmats and folded the shower curtain up and threw it over the curtain rod to keep it clean, but somehow, a clear line if red circles arced up the fabric side of the curtain. She took a deep breath and took it off the hooks. She could handle this.

Before the age of 16, Weiss had never even done a load of laundry herself. Moving to Beacon was a massive culture shock for her and while she was able to get help from Ruby and Yang for the basics, she found herself on the phone with Klein at least once a week getting advice for how to get unique stains out of her white dresses. Grass, ink, ash, blood, and even chocolate were no match for Klein's expertise. By the time second semester had rolled around, she was the stain sensei talking her seven classmates through how to remove food stains following the infamous food fight. Never did she think she'd be putting such an obtuse skill to use helping the high leader of the White Fang keep up appearances.

She finished removing the last of the dark brownish dots just before the normal time she fetched Adam his breakfast tray. Once the mats were clean and drying on the side of the bathtub, she put her hair up and changed out of her bloodstained dress into a fresh one.

She was unsure of when he would wake, but thought part of the keeping appearances would be to get his tray like normal. The hallways were refreshingly empty on a Saturday morning, giving her an easy chance to dispose of the extra trash bags before making her way to the cafeteria.

It was mostly bare, only the guard who just got off shift and the earliest of risers was about on the weekend. Weiss made sure to select fresh fruits and pastries for Adam: things that wouldn't get cold if he didn't wake up for awhile. Since Sienna was gone now, she'd have to eat breakfast by herself…or with Adam. She was hungry, but she knew she wasn't allowed to eat until Adam was finished with his meal: it was one of his dominance rules. But she decided to get a tray for herself so she didn't have to make two trips.

She passed Bran on the way out who seemed very excited to see her.

"Hey! I haven't gotten to talk to you much since I got here," he said smiling genuinely.

"I have to take this back to Adam, but here, walk with me," Weiss said, nodding in the direction of Adam's apartment. Bran fell in line beside her, the corridors empty enough he didn't have to worry about obstructing on-comers.

"You're looking healthier than you did back at Mountain Glenn."

"Yeah, actually. Adam's literally feeding me more so I'm not starving anymore."

"Do you want me to carry those trays for you?"

"Oh, no," she said pulling them away just in case he tried to reach for them. "It's part of the whole, 'I'm his personal slave' thing." She realized her answer had made him uncomfortable and tried changing the subject. "I take it everyone is abuzz about the events of last night," Weiss said, secretly hoping to get some information if Bran could provide any.

"I didn't see it but a lot of the people that saw the fight said it was bad. Lots of blood and heavy blows. I think it really bothered Ilia to see her idol and her mentor trying to kill each other."

"Yeah, Adam came in pretty riled up last night," Weiss admitted, hoping that if anyone overheard her that would be the extent of the rumors.

"They think she got out through the dojo. That's where they found her collar. Speaking of dojo, you and I should spar sometime. I know they set up the one ring so you can fight in it, and I have been improving on my technique since I've gotten some actual training from fellow axe wielders.

"I don't know if Adam will let me do that."

"Why not? It's not like you can get out the same way Sienna did."

Weiss sighed, louder than she'd wanted to. "Yeah, I know."

"I…I'm sorry." He stopped and put a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, I know it doesn't seem like much, but I really appreciate what you did for me in Mountain Glenn and I wanted to help somehow…to see if you could think of anything that I could do for the humans who are here."

"You mean slaves, Bran?"

"I know you're not a bad person, and that as individuals, humans don't deserve to be enslaved, but this is how Adam wants to handle captured humans and I can't just go against that. I can't go against him, but I do want to help in whatever way I can. And the best thing I can do is try to get some kind of concessions made for the slaves that are here. So, I'm asking you: as someone who is limited in what he can provide, what can I do to make it easier on the people Adam's captured?"

Weiss took a deep breath and sighed again. "Keeping families together would probably be the biggest thing. I don't' know if you can vie for getting them more food, but make sure that the husbands and wives are able to share sleeping and living spaces with their kids. Most people have nothing to lose if you take their families away and you don't ever want somebody with nothing to lose."

Bran nodded intently. "Ok. Ok. I can see if we can do that. Thank you."

"Thank you, Bran. You're really sweet."

Bran turned the door handle for her to let her into the apartment with her hands full and went on his way. He really was a sweet kid and how he got mixed up with a group of violent terrorists.

Weiss set the tray down on the credenza and pondered it. It wasn't a fair question. How did anyone get where they are? Bran, probably like Blake got swept up in the ideals of chasing justice and equality. Adam was on a mission of vengeance and Weiss like all the other humans in the compound were brought in by force. In one way or another, circumstances brought them to the same compound in Mistral and she was doing her best to make a positive difference. Weiss had helped Sienna escape and Bran was going out of his way to try to make things easier for the other human workers who she rarely saw on a daily basis because they were mostly relegated to physical labor jobs like the back kitchen and hauling lumber.

Adam was still asleep and she didn't want to wake him by running the vacuum, so she used the opportunity to shower and wash her hair.

It hit her like a brick wall while she was enjoying the hot water running down her back.

Adam had kissed her.

Why?

An odd feeling came into the pit of her stomach. It wasn't guilt, but it wasn't really dread either, just an uneasiness that came with unanswered questions.

Why did he do it? Why did he apologize? Did he kiss her on purpose? Was it because she saved his life? Was he even aware of what he was doing? How drunk was he? Would he even remember? Was it the whiskey, or the blood loss? It seemed so measured, almost calculated, but she knew him too well to think it was as intentional as it seemed. Maybe he realized he had actually been in danger of dying and he felt overwhelmed and lucky to be alive. Maybe the blood loss combined with the alcohol left him extremely confused and he thought she was Blake. Maybe the rush of adrenaline just caused him to be ridiculously impulsive and shut off his frontal lobes. Maybe he really wanted to and all his inhibitions were gone.

No.

No, that was not the answer. It had to be some other reason.

She racked her brain as she finished up in the bathroom. Her body was refreshed but her mind was heavy with confusion as she made her way back into the main room of the apartment.

"Were you showering?" Adam asked, standing in front of the credenza perusing his breakfast options, eventually settling for an apple.

She was completely taken aback. He was already up and walking around. He had his cloth mask on, meaning he didn't intend to leave the apartment for a while, but he was at least able to stand and walk. She hadn't expected him to be up and going so quickly.

"Yyyy…yes, sir," Weiss eventually stammered. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up. I hope the running water didn't disturb you."

Adam shook his head. "I was just curious. You were in there a long time but I didn't hear you singing." He limped to a nearby armchair and eased himself down before biting into his apple.

"I didn't want to wake you," she replied. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get the comforter off the bed and wash any stains out before sending it to laundry."

Adam nodded, and she stripped the bed, looking over the blanket, comforter and sheets for stains, counting herself fortunate she only had a single stain on the blanked and a few tiny ones on his comforter. Pillowcases and sheets were safe.

"You've probably bled through those clothes too. I can get the stains out or you can just throw them out." She said as she tossed the comforter and the blanket by the bathroom door. "I'll also need to run the vacuum to get all the mud up, and if you need to change the dressing on the wound, I can get you more gauze."

"It's fine," Adam said, sitting back in the chair and closing his eyes. "I just need to rest for a little bit and heal. Needless to say, I don't think we'll be training this week."

"Of course, sir."

Adam looked at his scroll, furrowing his brow.

"Have you eaten?"

"No, sir."

"Eat now and on and when you drop the dishes off, bring me a dispenser of coffee."

"The whole dispenser?"

"Yes. I'm going to need it."

She stood at the credenza to eat, wolfing down the pastry and apple she'd gotten for herself. Adam even offered her the banana off her plate which she gratefully accepted. He stayed in his chair with his eyes closed as she finished and loaded up everything to return.

It was an hour before lunch and the cafeteria was already beginning to fill up with mask-less faunus as Weiss explained to the cook that Adam wanted an entire pump dispenser for himself. She leaned on the counter of the serving line awaiting the return of her coffee.

"You think Adam taps that?"

It was louder than a whisper but not loud enough to pick out of the rest of the bustling of the room. The fact that she even caught it was a miracle, but she stayed where she was, listening intently. She dared not even turn around to see who was talking about her: the voice was obviously male, but she couldn't even be sure in which direction he was sitting.

"I doubt it," was the reply. "Adam's not into humans."

"Yeah, but I can see him doing it just to put her in her place," a third voice chimed in. This one was female.

"You're honestly telling me he keeps a girl with legs like that in his private quarters all day long and doesn't bend her over at least once in a while?" The first man seemed insistent.

"Honey, She's human. She's a Schnee. He might take out some aggression on her, but I doubt he's keeping her like a fleshlight in a drawer." the female insisted.

"Or he might get off on knowing he can have a Schnee on her knees for him every night. That has to be borderline cathartic." the second faunus added.

"I can tell you what I'd do with her. Same thing as Lieutenant…."

"Here's your coffee." the cook said, hoisting the entire dispenser over the counter and handing her a foam cup filled with sugar and cream packets. Weiss was jolted back to the matter in front of her. She graciously took the decanter by the handle and scurried away, trying to put the conversation she'd overheard behind her. They were just soldiers, and they were just talking. Everyone talks like that when they think no one is listening, right?

Adam was still in his chair when she came in with the coffee, albeit looking more alert. He was typing on his scroll, apparently making arrangements for him to stay in as much as possible even with the arrival of other White Fang chapter leaders and Hazel less than a week away and the plan to attack Haven the week after that. It was only when she went to pour him a cup that she realized she'd accidentally grabbed two foam cups stuck together.

"Sorry about that," she said as she pried them apart.

"You know what?" he gestured toward the extra. "Have a cup. You were up late last night too."

She didn't like black coffee, but was so rarely offered anything she was too afraid to ask if she could use the packets the kitchen staff had sent with her for fear she'd seem ungrateful. She poured herself half a cup and leaned with her back against the credenza sipping the hot bitter liquid down, feigning gratitude.

"You know," he finally said out loud. "I was the tiniest bit worried you wouldn't catch the clue to let Sienna out."

Weiss lowered the cup away from her mouth. "What do you mean?"

Adam smirked. "Why do you think I deliberately made you take food to Sienna Khan?"

"I don't know. To assert dominance? To force her to take food from the human slave of the man that over threw her. Are you saying there's another reason?"

"And why do you think I casually let it slip that Sienna Khan would be executed last night?"

The pieces all fell into place in her mind. "You were counting on me to not only befriend Sienna, but to help her escape?"

"Of course. You're a bleeding heart and that makes you predictable," Adam said without an ounce of remorse. He finished his first cup of coffee and pumped himself another. "I didn't know how, but I needed to bank on not knowing so that I could plausibly look shocked when I saw how it played out."

"But why would you even want me to do that?"

"Simple: because I needed to get Sienna Khan out of the compound without looking like I was just letting a fugitive go. I couldn't just set her loose, Salem's goons would think I was sabotaging the White Fang, but at the same time, I couldn't orchestrate the escape myself, I needed plausible deniability. So, I made sure you built up some kind of attachment to Sienna and then announced I'd execute knowing you'd want to ensure her survival. Even Sienna couldn't know I planned on releasing her or else she might go easy on me when I confronted her. You're actually a pretty good strategist."

"You manipulated me?" Weiss didn't know which bothered her more, that she had been that predictable or that he'd preyed upon it. Adam was her captor and wasn't above doing anything to her: the brand on her back was proof of that, but knowing he was willing to psychologically prod her into furthering his own interests…. she had no business feeling betrayed, but she did.

"How did you know I'd help her?" Weiss furrowed her brows at him.

"Because you asked to take your meals with her. People don't ask to spend time with people they hate."

It was unsettling. In one motion, Weiss quaffed the rest of her coffee and threw the cup away.

"I should get to vacuuming this mud up. I should be done getting it all out in time for lunch," she said as she marched away to retrieve the vacuum from the cleaning closet.

She was grateful she had something to focus on and white noise to tune everything out. She was a fool for thinking she was finally starting to make in-roads here. The faunus still hated her and Adam hadn't come to respect her in any way. He was still the same person, and that kiss was probably some kind of power play to manipulate her into saving his life in the future instead of letting him bleed out the next time he got impaled by an escaping fugitive. Inwardly, she began cursing herself for not taking Sienna up on her offer to escape with her, but with her luck, Sienna would have betrayed her, too.

No, Sienna Khan was a merciless antagonist.

Adam was a manipulator.

Blake was a traitor.

The Lieutenant was a tyrant.

The White Fang were all terrorists.

The faunus were monsters.