A/N: I feel like the first time around, this chapter was put up hastily and poorly formatted, which is not my standard of quality. The first time around I didn't have divider lines between the two different POVs, forgot to include an A/N and lore discussion; I feel like the dialogue was choppy and overall not what I wanted at all but there were two conversations I was so eager to get to you I uploaded it in a caffeine and exhaustion fueled binge at 2:00 in the morning.

For that reason, I'm making some small adjustments and re-uploading this chapter when I upload the next one. Nothing of major plot relevance has changed, but the quality control is better on this chapter the second time around.

Now for my brief lore discussion: I think Ozma was pure of heart but also think he most likely got 'reincarnated' into less honest people as time went on until he morphed into the mistrustful and dishonest Ozpin he is today. Hopefully Oscar can be a good influence, but if he's bound to meld minds with everyone, there's a high chance he didn't always get reincarnated into the mind of a paragon and made some selfish decisions. Who knows, maybe that's even what happened with his very first reincarnation: choosing to marry and sire children with the very monster he was supposed to destroy because his first reincarnation was weak willed, cowardly, or corrupt. It would certainly explain his strategies changing over the years and how he went from a hero who fought for the people to a coward who sends children to their deaths.

After 15 days travelling by boat, air transport, hovercraft, and train, Adam returned to find the relocated HQ a thriving village: the fire already fading into nothing more than a minor setback on the road of their inevitable success.

The majority of his underlings were pleased at his return, showing off how quickly they had adapted to the new location with the help of all the local Mistralian chapters and some generous donations from Vale.

"Artis, I suppose, thinks she's done her part with the airships," Lehela muttered as she took the high leader through the infirmary house. "Mistral and Vale emptied out their medical supply cabinets, but Atlas couldn't spare so much as a roll of gauze. Even the brothers in hiding in Menagerie managed to smuggle us some tools."

"Atlas is under close scrutiny," Adam said, trying to be diplomatic. "Sending that airship was probably the biggest risk they'd taken in a year and they're not going to be reckless again for a while. Who knows what Ironwood is doing with the lockdowns and closed borders?"

Lehela snorted through her nose. "Mistral will remember this when Atlas calls for aid. Atlas wasn't willing to risk anything for us, why should we risk for Atlas?"

"Atlas can give us tech and dust and we have enough of both from Haven for now. I'm just curious about the other consumables we were sent."

"If you're referring to bourbon, then yes. Vacuo was happy to send us spirits," Lehela rolled her eyes.

"I think I'll go inspect that now," Adam said, offering her a thank you and heading to the tavern. He wasn't ready to face Weiss yet, but he also promised himself he wouldn't overdo it with the booze this early in the day.

He was the only patron in the bar at the time, though shortly after he arrived, he heard the door creaking and then slamming shut, revealing the lieutenant, fresh off the airship, bag over his shoulder.

"You're back, too?" he sounded more relieved than pleased.

"I guess we had the same idea," the high leader replied. "Join me?

He smiled and slid into the seat opposite the high leader at his corner table, setting his bag down and removing his mask. The barkeep took their order and returned with their drinks in a short time. Getting a sense that they pair wanted some privacy, he disappeared into the back, leaving Adam and the lieutenant to themselves.

They ate in relative silence, only making small talk until the sandwiches were gone.

"You seem spooked," Adam finally said, "Did things not go well in Atlas? Were you able to get what I asked?"

"I had it on her bed the night before," he said dismissively, waving his hand. "I fared well. You, however, high, leader have caused a huge division in the Atlesean. Artis was not impressed after the assault on Haven, especially wanting to cut ties with Hazel after the first time we've made a real impact in the world at large in the last decade." He rested his forearms on the table and leaned closer, lowering his voice. "Artis attributes it to our alliance with Hazel and his associates."

"Moving away from human support to become self-sufficient is exactly the example we want to set for the faunus. Can she not see our interests won't align forever?"

The lieutenant shrugged while keeping his arms on the table, only his shoulders rising and sagging with his lack of an answer. "They might not, but cutting them off so suddenly might make us vulnerable on both fronts: Hazel wanting to punish us for leaving and the huntsmen coming at our front without a support system. We're weak right now; and Artis perceives you weak as well."

"She is just as big of a fool as Sienna was," Adam replied. "Hazel, and the rest of them are going to turn on us eventually anyway. "We have to find a way to get out before they have us dependent on their aid."

"I trust you, Adam, I always have, and I've supported you as high leader. I'm just reporting what Artis says and is telling her people in Atlas." He took a drink. "You need to be careful. Most of the Atleseans are siding with her, and it looks like she's' going to try and build a case to overthrow you the same way you did with Sienna Khan. She was not impressed with your wanting to alienate our only ally and your antics with the humans, particularly the Schnee heiress."

"Antics?"

The lieutenant leaned back in his chair. "Do I really have to spell this out for you? In front of the chapter heads, Hazel and the brat that came with him and your hand-selected officers, you ran into a burning building full of your comrades to rescue, not them, but the huntress daughter of Jacques Schnee."

When he put it like that, it did sound unbecoming of the White Fang High Leader.

He continued, "You were screaming "I need her!" and giving her mouth to mouth while your own men were fighting grimm and being burned alive, and then, for whatever reason, you brought her to Haven where she made a spectacle out of herself and you, so I'm told. She isn't given regular beatings like the other humans, she gets blatant favoritism in realms of clothes, food and sleeping arrangements and then to top it all off, you send one of your highest ranked officers on a fetch quest for her birthday present." His voice was growing more intense as he spoke. He didn't agree with Artis, per se, but he could at least see where she was coming from, "Look, it was fine when she was just your pet and you liked to parade her around, but now, she's affecting you in a way that's affecting us. Don't expect any more favors from Atlas until you can solidify your claim as High Leader and start acting like you're actually for the faunus, and not for you little snow mink you keep in your lap."

Adam said nothing. He couldn't deny it. He'd allowed himself to be too public. He removed his outer mask and rubbed his temples. "We can't fracture the White Fang right now. And we can't afford to lose our main source of vehicles and dust. I knew she was displeased with me, but not to the point of trying to oust me."

The lieutenant let out a long exhale, the kind one does before delivering bad news. "There's more. Artis helped smuggle two of Hazel's associates into Atlas. A scorpion and a human: Atlesean, thin, arrogant."

"Tyrian and Watts." Adam's brow knitted in displeasure. Not only did this mean Salem had her eye on Atlas next, but it also meant Salem had decided to work with the White Fang independently of him. She was growing bolder and that didn't bode well for anyone. "I…do…need Weiss, but not how you think." he chose his words carefully. He didn't want to give too many details away and be perceived as crazy with his leadership already in question. "Hazel and his associates work for a woman called Salem, and as you can tell, she has a number of vast resources, the White Fang being among them. She and her cronies are responsible for everything that happened in Vale. The dust robberies, Roman, the train, and everything that went down and Beacon; it was all Salem."

"The woman we saw with Roman sometimes? Red dress? Glass shoes?"

Adam shook his head, "Tahtwas just another one of her servants. She builds a network of people so she can remain in the shadows. Salem gets Cinder, Cinder gets Roman and the White Fang, Roman gets the Xiongs and the Malachites."

"They're all connected to her?" the lieutenant seemed a little disbelieving. "What does she want?"

"That's just it. I don't know. At first, I just thought she had some bone to pick with humanity in general, but this is more than just creating havoc. She has a plan and a system for enacting it, but she hasn't told any of us."

"Have you seen this woman? This Salem?"

Again, Adam shook his head. "She only deals directly with a small group: Cinder, Hazel, and the two Artis got into Atlas."

He was skeptical, but the lieutenant was being won over: the attack on Vale, Beacon and Have were too well organized and too well funded for just a rogue crime lord to pull off. "What are the implications then, for us?"

"That we're just a pawn in her game, just like Roman and Junior. As soon as we outlive our usefulness, she'll turn on us, too." It was easy to see the pattern: Vale, Mistral, Atlas…Vacuo would be next and after that? "There's no guarantee she won't come after Menagerie the way she did Beacon and Haven."

"What are we supposed to do?" The lieutenant mused aloud. "If we try to get out now, she could destroy us, but if we stay, we're just delaying the inevitable, at least until we know her true intentions."

Adam almost smiled. Knowing that the lieutenant was fully aware of their dilemma, he was comfortable sharing at least a part of his plan. "We do what we need, but neither side will suspect: we join forces with the huntsmen."

"No one would go for that," The lieutenant countered. "Even if our brothers and sisters agreed and reached out, the huntsmen would never agree to aligning with what they perceive as terrorists."

"And that," Adam threw his head back and finished his shot and set the glass down with a clink. "is where Miss Schnee comes in."

"Offering her return in exchange for the aid of the huntsmen?"

"No. We get her to advocate for us when it's time to join forces with humanity. Look at her: human, huntress, she comes from prominent family, with connections to the SDC and has a sister in the most powerful military in the world. She's Atlesean, but went to a huntsman academy in Vale, meaning she has connections in both. People have seen her face on TV and heard her sing on the radio. She fought during the Fall of Beacon: if there's any one person the huntsmen of Remnant would rally behind, it's her. And I have spent the last six months getting her to understand the plight of the faunus, the goal of the White Fang, but more importantly to connect with us. These allowances I make for her: Artis sees them as me being soft on her, but in truth, it's a way for men to soften her to us. That's why I went after her during the fire, why I let her go without a collar and why I wanted her weapon back in her had. If we can win her over, she can win humanity over, and we will survive whatever Salem's endgame is."

There was a long silence. Across the table, the lieutenant was trying to take it all in at once. "You can't have been planning this from the very beginning, but how long? How long has this been your design? With the Schnee heiress?"

"I never intended to kill her, but to trying to get her on our side to convince the huntsmen to help us in the future? I've been planning that since just before Sienna Khan's escape attempt."

The lieutenant sat all the way back in his chair, shaking his head in disbelief. "And what if this fails? What if now that she has her weapon, she tries to bolt? What if she murders you in your sleep?"

"Is that any more of a risk than staying with Hazel?"

It was a fair question that the lieutenant couldn't answer. The high leader stood and dropped a few coins on the table. "I trust you'll be able to keep this to yourself until the time is right. Until then, I need you to just trust me We'll have to tell the rest to be careful with the dust and tech we have until this all gets settled."

"I'll see to it," the lieutenant said, giving him an affirming salute as Adam turned to leave.

He wasn't sure of the stress of the past few days or the whiskey or the fatigue, or a combination of all three was making him feel this irrationally tired, but he'd heard enough. "Ok, stop, just stop!" he growled. In his days as a teacher at Signal Academy, Qrow had been in charge of the second-year huntsmen enrollees: fresh faced thirteen-year-olds, most of whom hadn't even hit puberty yet and still had underdeveloped motor skills. They talked big games and ridiculous weapon ideas that would have never panned out. They were young and unrealistic and even they wouldn't have come up with something as harebrained as the solution Jaune had concocted for getting the relic to Atlas. "Look, if this thing goes south, it's not something we can just fight our way out of. This is the Atlas military we're talking about. For your sake, just drop this."

Of course, Ruby, ever the optimist hadn't heeded his advice and they were now gathered in the front room of the Cotta-Arc house trying to make Jaune's scheme work.

"I know it's not ideal but…if we need a ship, and we have to have one with Atlesean security credentials, the best way to get to Atlas at this point would be to just take something that has everything we already need," argued Nora, "He's not saying it will be easy, he's saying it's the best chance we have."

"We'd never make it out of the bay," Blake countered. She knew what the Atlesean Military was capable of and how tight security was. "Especially if Ironwood has shoot-on-sight orders, we won't be taken into custody, they'll just shoot us down."

"If we could get away from the main base when we seized a ship, we'd be able to at least get a head start." Yang, like Nora, preferred using brute force to get what she needed and the plan made sense; all they needed was to hammer out the logistics.

Oscar shook his head. "And what if we're captured? We can't let the Atlas military get ahold of the relic, not knowing what it is. It's too risky." It was clearly the farm boy's tone and cadence. Ozpin had long decided to stop helping out after Jinn had revealed everything to the survivors of the train crash.

"Is there a possibility we could sneak someone on board?" Ren asked. Ren typically aligned with Blake, using a strategic and subversive approach.

"I doubt it," Maria Calavera said, nonchalantly as she bounced baby Adrian on her knee. "If they can detect half a pound of cashews in a hidden pouch in a 60-pound piece of luggage, they'd find a person trying to stow-away."

Qrow had found the darkest corner in the room and put his arm to shield his eyes to keep his headache from getting any worse. He hadn't contributed to the conversation at all, hoping the idiot kids would figure out on their own it wasn't possible.

"What about not an air ship, but a….a submarine? The Atlas military has submarines, right? If we could take over one of them, it would protect us from air fire, and we'd probably be harder to find in the water," Jaune offered as an alternative.

"Atlas does have submarines, but there's no port for them here," Saffron said, "Plus, the way Terra talks, the security protocols are extra rigid since the border closing."

Terra nodded her head in agreement. "The only way you're going to get into Atlas airspace is if you're sent for, or they actually send someone from the Atlas military to come get you."

"Maybe we could do it that way," Ruby offered. "We could say we have information to the whereabouts of Weiss Schnee and they'll take us to Ironwood."

"And once they find out she's not actually with us? Will they do anything?" Oscar asked, "Won't they just have us give the information to Cordovan and then still keep us from going to Atlas.

"Cordovan wouldn't let us through, but if we got ahold of Ironwood directly, I'm sure he'd send an escort," Ruby insisted. "I just don't know how we'd get directly to him. Cordovan probably wouldn't let us communicate with him."

There was a blessed moment of silence and Qrow was silently relieved they'd finally seen the light and shut their mouths.

Then Jaune spoke again.

"Terra works for a communication relay, right?"

Saffron already didn't like where this was going.

"Yeah?"

"Would she be able to send a communication to the main comm tower in Atlas?"

There was a brief moment before Terra spoke. "I can, but if I do, they'll most likely be able to trace it back to me."

"What about reaching out to Ironwood directly? Is there any way you can send a message to his scroll directly?"

Terra shook her head. "If I use the tower to relay a message, I have to have a specific recipient, meaning it would have to be someone whose scroll number you know or a specific comm terminal, and I doubt Ironwood has any that are for him to receive incoming calls.

Blake piped up. "Winter might. She has both a scroll and a private ship. If there was some way we could call her directly, I'm sure she'd convince Ironwood to send someone for us."

"Yeah, but it's not like any of us have Winter Schnee's private number," Nora replied.

There was an exaggerated sigh from the corner. "Actually…one of us does," Qrow said sitting up, secretly livid not only that he still couldn't go to sleep, but that this plan was actually viable and he'd have some explaining to do to the kids. He removed his arm from covering his eyes and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "And I'll share it with you on one condition: you need to keep it quiet when you're around Ironwood. I don't want Winter to get in trouble for anything, especially with how paranoid James has gotten recently."

Jaune's face lit up with joy that their plan had all the ingredients they needed to succeed, while Yang whispered a short, "I knew it!" under her breath to her sister.

"I know we said no more lies and half-truths, but I think this is one of those things you were talking about with using some discretion and giving you some privacy," Ruby said.

"You're secret is safe with us," Ren assured him.

While the other kids caught on, Oscar seemed mostly confused. He'd heard the Schnee name before, and had heard Ruby talk about both Weiss and her older sister Winter, but this conversation had some history behind it and without the context, he had no idea what they were talking about until Nora gave him a subtle hand gesture, tapping her two index fingers together before he connected the dots.

"I can get Jaune into the comm tower easily enough since he's my brother-in-law," Terra said, "But hacking the comm and using it to get Winter Schnee's signal is something you're going to have to do on your own. You understand? I can't be arrested: they could put Saffron and I both in jail; they could even take Adrian away and I'm not willing to risk that."

"We understand completely," Jaune said, "Just tell us what we need to do and we can do it."

Through the rest of the evening, they hammered out their plan between Saffron, Terra and Jaune mostly, but with everyone contributing in some way. Qrow wasn't able to get any sleep until much later in the evening that he had hoped, cursing his headache and swearing that he'd never get that drunk that early in the day ever again.

Adam was quietly relieved Weiss wasn't in the house when he returned. Seeing her sword case not in her room, he correctly assumed she'd gone to the dojo. Using the time to himself, he showered, changed his clothes and played on his scroll until he fell asleep on his bed.

He hadn't entirely lied when he'd told the lieutenant what he was planning, but he was leaving out key information that he couldn't reveal yet. Everything in due time.

By the time he woke up, it was dark outside. He came downstairs to find Weiss had already unpacked his bag and was sorting the laundry.

"The house looks nice," he said, trying to make conversation.

"Thanks. I made sure I always had something to do so I didn't have to report elsewhere."

"You weren't here when I got back, I assumed you were in the dojo."

"I was," she replied shortly.

"I take it you liked your gift then?"

"Yes, thank you." She didn't particularly sound appreciative.

"Can we talk?"

She looked up at him and tossed the pants in her hand back in the pile.

"Sure, let's talk." She folded her arms.

So, she was not particularly excited he was back. He took a deep breath and gestured to the dining room table. She picked her way through the piles of clothes she'd organized and sat in the table, scowling in a fashion that was more akin to a sneer. To her misfortune, when she had that stone-faced, arrogant look on her face, particularly how she pressed her lips, she looked like her father did in his youth before he'd let his mustache grow in. She and Winter both had the Schnee glare, but Winter's was more intimidating where Weiss's just made her look snobbish.

"Nessa did a good job on your hair."

"Thank you."

"Look, I know the last thing you want right now is someone to talk at you, but at least hear me out?"

Weiss let out a long exhale, but eventually nodded. Adam sat across from her, removing the cloth mask so he could appear as transparent as possible.

"I know an apology won't make up for what happened, but I at least owe it to you. You're right: I let the adrenaline and the booze do the talking for me instead of controlling myself and you ended up getting hurt as a result. It wasn't my intention, but I still…I made you feel like a tool, and that isn't what I wanted at all."

"I know…and I overreacted…"

"Please," he interrupted her. "Please let me finish." He put his elbows on the table and held his hands out palms up inviting her to put her hands in his. She took them and he gently folded his fingers around hers.

"I kept telling myself that it was just the slip of the tongue, that I wasn't comparing you to Blake and it had just been so long since I'd shared any kind of romantic moment with anyone my brain reverted to her." His eyes fell, and his voice began to break as he had a difficult time choosing his words…the smoothness in his voice being interrupted by pauses as he gathered his thoughts "But the truth is, I've been comparing you to Blake this entire time in my mind because everything I wanted in her I found in you, but not in the way you think. It's true that I thought the political aspects of our relationship would be good for the faunus, but that was just on the surface, what I wanted for the faunus and for the White Fang. For me… I thought she could change me, make me not want to be selfish anymore, help me follow my vision even when I had lost sight of it myself. I think I wanted Blake to fix me, and that's what she wanted to do too, but not you." He finally looked up and met her gaze. "You didn't want to fix me, you wanted me to fix myself. And through getting to know you and see you and how you interact with my people, I wanted that too, for myself…but also for you. I wanted you to have a better version of me. You deserve it…so yes, I was comparing you to Blake, and no that wasn't fair of me, but I promise you that I don't think of you as a replacement for her. I think…I think lots of different things about you…things I didn't feel with her…things I didn't know I could feel at all."

Throughout all of his speech, her face changed from indignant, to curious, to genuinely touched.

"And so this is me now: sober and calm telling you that I meant everything that I said two weeks ago when we came back from Haven: I don't know where we stand in our relationship, but I do feel like I can trust you and I want to see where our relationship can go from here."

Weiss was silent for a while, her hands lingering in his as he stroked the back of her hands with his thumbs. He'd returned her weapon to her, apologized for everything, and even arranged for a pamper day. Honestly, he'd done everything a boyfriend in the doghouse would do except bring a bouquet of flower back with him. Boyfriend being the operative word: he'd been acting much more like a romantic partner rather than a captor as of late. Maybe…maybe he was changing.

"I'd like to see where this goes as well."