A/N: Real life is being insane for me right now, switching jobs, moving, then not moving, a vacation, the worst food poisoning I've ever experienced in my life, severe sciatica pain. It's been a lot of ups and downs but I've been trying to write throughout, so hopefully the next episode won't be as long of a wait as this one was, but these next two chapters are super important and I want to get them right. I apologize if there's a dip in quality.

Thanks for stick with me: I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have writing it.

"It says she was with a 'mysterious gentleman' all evening, but there's hardly any pictures of him." Ruby was reading aloud, seated in the small cabin of Winter's ship while Winter herself paced back and forth nervously.

"It doesn't give a name?"

Ruby shook her head. "It just describes him as tall, black-haired and with an eye patch. Also, he's apparently very handsome, but he declined to comment to anyone in the press. A lot of people are assuming he's her private bodyguard. There's even a suggestion that he's a faunus."

That gave Winter pause. "That's how she got out. Whoever this guy is, he helped her escape." She began pacing again, "Which means he'll probably need safe passage as well, and that might prove difficult if he has no ID or existing arrest warrants if he's a White Fang operative…just something else I'm going to have a wild time trying to explain to Ironwood…and Cordovin…I am not looking forward to dealing with that dwarf hag again." The cabin wasn't necessarily small, but it wasn't designed for standing and walking, giving Winter only maybe ten steps before she had to turn and reverse course. How she didn't go dizzy as she ranted boggled Ruby's mind, but her nervousness was understandable.

"We survived Cordovin once, thanks to you, and with the internal investigation, she knows now you'll follow through on your threats," Ruby said, trying to be optimistic.

"Will she resent us for not coming for her sooner?" Winter asked herself aloud. "Will she think we're too incompetent to find her and bring her home? Will she be traumatized?" Her mind raced to Blake's medication induced rant at the hospital a few weeks before.

Ruby shrugged. "We'll have to wait and see. But either way, you're family, I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

The rest of the ride to Argus consisted of mostly the same type of dialogue: Winter being a nervous, guilt-ridden wreck while Ruby tried to remain objective and cheerful, though inwardly she was nervous, too.

They landed on the air strip at the Argus military base and walked off the aircraft to be met by one of Cordovin's underlings and not Cordovin herself; a faceless, but tall male officer who did very little talking. She was given the keys to a sedan from the motor pool and wasted no time. Multiple articles Ruby had read aloud to Winter mentioned the name of the hotel she was staying in, taking pains to mention that Weiss and were sharing a room for extra intrigue. Neither of them were sure they liked that additional piece of information, but knowing what most likely had transpired during Weiss' captivity, understood it.

Walking into the luxury resort, Ruby felt horribly out of place. This was the kind of glamorous resort that only people in movies actually got to go to. Polished marble tiles, elegant support columns, perfected lighting. Seeing the wealthy and famous from Argus walk about as if nothing was happening outside their tiny sphere, Ruby wondered how these people would react when the Amity Tower went up. Would they be afraid? Would they even care?

"Officer Schnee," the woman from behind the reception called to her as if they were expecting her. Waving her over, she smiled politely and handed her a keycard.

"Miss Schnee said you'd be by today and reserved one of our private meeting rooms for you. It's down the main hallway and it's the fourth door past the atrium."

Winter took the keycard in her gloved hand, slightly perplexed and muttered a thank you. She knew her way through the hotel, even though she hadn't been in high society in over a decade. It was a short walk but it seemed to take decades to get there, weaving through throngs of the resort's patrons and staff bustling about. In reality, it was less than five minutes before they reached the windowless door to the conference room, the small light on the keycard scanner shone green to indicate it was unlocked.

She put her hand on the doorknob and looked over her shoulder to ask Ruby if she was ready, only to notice Ruby had remained a few steps behind.

"You should go see her first. She's your sister." Ruby said with a smile.

Winter nodded resolutely, unsure of what to expect on the other side of the door as she pushed down on the handle and opened the door. A small piece of Winter wondered if this was all in her mind and Weiss was still in the wind at the mercy of the White Fang.

But Weiss was here.

She was leaning against the conference table, her hands positioned behind her. She looked so casual, and yet so adult. The last time Winter had seen her, she hadn't yet turned 18. Now, she was past 20, her hair, clothes and demeanor all evidence that she was no longer a child, but a woman: independent and confident. Her face brightened the moment she saw her sister. Pushing off from the table, she approached, throwing her arms around Winter and squeezing her tight before either could even get a word out.

For a moment, they just embraced each other in silence. It had been over a year and despite all the setbacks, they'd finally found each other. All of Winter's apprehension melted away as she held her sister. Tears were next.

"We never stopped looking for you," Winter could barely get out in a whisper. "I looked for you everywhere. I went to Menagerie when they found your locker. But I got called back…I had to stop looking. Ironwood closed the borders…"

"I know. That's why…that's why I went to the gala, I knew it would make the news and I knew you'd find a way to get us to Atlas." Tears were flowing from her eyes as well. "I never lost hope that I'd make it out. I followed our training and I survived."

"You were so brave, and getting that information to us about Watts was helpful. We've had to overhaul the entire military network, but it's secure now."

Weiss sighed audibly, relieved. "I never gave up hope that I'd get out, but I wanted to get you that information as quickly as I could." She released her embrace from her sister.

"You're ok?"

"Yes, I'm ok. I made it. A little worse for wear, but I made it."

Winter looked her sister up and down. It was a hard thing to pin down, but somehow, Weiss looked hardened. Her scowl was more determined, and the slender muscles in her arms were more toned than she remembered. "Let's get you home. Ruby's waiting outside…"

"Ruby!?" Weiss cut her sister off, making for the door as quickly as she could without losing her composure.

Ruby was waiting patiently outside, fidgeting with Crescent Rose and trying to keep herself occupied until the sisters were finished. Their eyes met.

More hugs.

More tears.

"We missed you so much!" Ruby said. "Yang and Blake: we all met together in Mistral, and we made it to Atlas. We can put the team back together!"

"As we should be," Weiss said. She pulled away until she was holding both of Ruby's hands. She inhaled and exhaled deeply before turning to Winter. "Adam should be ready with our bags if you want to load up. We can talk on the way."

They followed as she led them back into the lobby where the "mysterious gentleman" was waiting for them next to a luggage cart. He was just like the articles described him: tall, with one piercing blue eye and an eyepatch that covered the other. His black hair concealed his horns, but he was indeed a faunus, with the bearing and posture of someone who had been in a position of leadership before.

"I'll pull the car around," Winter said, pushing out the door. Something about how she said it was off. After she disappeared, the three stood around with a brief moment of awkward silence.

"Oh, how rude of me! Ruby, this is Adam," Weiss said, deliberately leaving off his last name. In her mind, it would be best to introduce Adam to them slowly. Truthfully, she was glad it was Ruby that had come and that Blake and Yang hadn't. Ruby would have an easier time accepting him and his help in the fight against Salem, and if Ruby stood behind her, the rest of the team might have an easier time as well.

Ruby smiled, extending a hand to shake. "Hi. I'm Ruby."

"The team leader that turned the dragon to stone," Adam accepted the gloved hand and shook it. "Weiss talked about you a lot."

"We were partners. I'm just glad you helped her escape."

Adam nodded, his face remaining stoic. "It was something that benefitted both of us." He replied vaguely.

There was an awkward silence at first until Ruby finally spoke up again. "I like your hair."

Weiss smiled. "Thank you. I didn't intend for it to be this short, but after the fire, there was some damage and we had to cut off a lot. Luckily, Nessa is a good stylist and was able to make it look super cute."

Ruby nodded, but no immediate conversation followed and the trio became silent again.

"Who else came with you to Atlas?" Weiss asked. "I know the rest of Team RWBY, but what about Sun?"

Neither of them noticed that Adam clenched his jaw.

Ruby shook her head. "Sun went to Vacuo with a bunch of former students from Haven. With two schools down now, Vacuo is opening its doors to any former huntsmen-in-training. We went to Atlas with our team, JNPR, a boy we met named Oscar, and my Uncle Qrow."

Weiss' eyes narrowed. "The one Winter fought in the courtyard?"

"You mean the one that kicked your sister's butt in the courtyard?"

Weiss rolled her eyes playfully. "Whatever." She noticed the car parked in the portico and Winter exiting to open the back end for the luggage. "That's us." she said to Adam, who pushed the rolling luggage cart toward the sliding glass doors.

They loaded up the luggage in the car and like the last time Winter was in town, she headed straight back toward the base with extra passengers in tow. Unlike last time, Winter was eerily silent. Ruby, sitting in the front seat acted as a buffer and kept up the conversation with Weiss and her "mysterious gentlemen."

"So…how did you escape?" she asked.

"I pretended to be transporting Weiss as a prisoner. I was given access to a vehicle and we used it to get to Mistral. By the time they noticed we were missing we would have been on the train to Argus."

Weiss nodded. "From there we used my status and the SDC resources to get ourselves some notoriety that couldn't be ignored."

"But…won't the White Fang come looking for you?" Ruby asked, genuinely concerned.

Weiss shrugged. "They might already be. I'm sure they'll have it out for both of us." She took Adam's hand in her own. "So far, they haven't bothered us, and hopefully we'll be safe in Atlas."

"We'll see about that," Winter said with a sigh.

"What's that supposed to mean?" her sister asked.

"Winter shrugged with her hands on the wheel: only her shoulders raising and lowering as she shook her head in exasperation.

"Ironwood hasn't…been making good decisions since Beacon. He's become paranoid and distant. He doesn't even trust Ruby's team…or Jaune's…or even people that used to be part of his inner circle like Qrow and Ozpin."

Weiss' eyes narrowed as they usually did she was skeptical or confused. "Ozpin?"

"Oh yeah!" Ruby brightened up. "Ozpin isn't dead."

"...how?" Adam asked, clearly as confused as his partner.

"So…remember the lady who attacked Beacon? The voice on the radio?"

"Cinder Fall, who is now the fall maiden and has otherworldly powers without the use of dust, yes." Weiss replied.

Ruby sighed in relief. "Ok. Good. I didn't want to have to explain all that. So, when Cinder killed Ozpin, his body died, but his soul didn't. It went to inhabit a new body. He's a boy, named Oscar. He's fifteen and he doesn't have a lot of training yet, but he's learning fast. He's a good kid."

It was a lot to take in. For a moment, Adam and Weiss just exchanged glances.

"And Ironwood doesn't believe you? Or Ironwood doesn't trust him after what happened at Beacon?"

"Not since Beacon. He's given us no reason to. We found out that he lied, but Oscar is trying to figure everything out. And," Ruby paused, daring to admit something she'd been thinking for weeks but not ready to tell the rest of her team, especially Jaune. "I think that we won't be able to take Salem down without his help. Ironwood wants to try, but Ozpin is the only person with the kind of magic that can withstand her."

To Weiss' surprise, Adam nodded. "Salem can use magic too, but hers is a dark magic, from the grimm. Ozpin must be the counterbalance."

"Not exactly," Ruby said. For the next few minutes, she relayed the information she'd experienced from Jinn the day they'd been thrown from the train. About Ozma's charge from the God of Light and Salem's curse of being plunged into both of the brother's pools.

"We know she was part Grimm, but not how she became so," Adam mused.

"You seem to know more than we expected about Salem," Winter interrupted brusquely.

Her intensity didn't phase Adam. He merely ran his fingers through his hair, revealing the tiniest sliver of his red roots growing back in. "I never saw her. I only dealt with Cinder at first and then Hazel…and the brat."

"Mercury." Weiss clarified. "You would probably have seen him at Haven."

"We did." Ruby replied.

As Winter pulled onto the base, she handed her electronic ID to the guard and was waved through. "I think its best if you let me do the talking and head straight to the ship. It's on the closest airstrip to the motor pool and the pilot will be able to let you on. We'll take off as soon as I get clearance." Even though it was subtle, there was a change in Winter's demeanor. She was colder, and her typical scowl had hardened into a frown. Even if Weiss and Adam couldn't see it from the back seat, Ruby could from shotgun.

"Cordovin is kinda hard to deal with," Ruby said out loud. "I can show you where the ship is so we can leave Winter to tackle her."

"It wasn't our intention to make it hard on you," Weiss said. "I know neither of us have ID and Ironwood's got the borders on lockdown, but we knew if anyone could make it happen, it'd be you." She reached forward and put her hand on her sister's shoulder. Winter made eye contact with her through the rear view mirror and feigned a smile.

Twenty minutes and one terse conversation with Cordovin later, the pilot lifted off the ground and was at cruising altitude over the northern channel between Atlas and Argus another fifteen minutes after that. Winter had remained tersely quiet and everyone seemed to follow suit.

It was finally over.

They were going home.

After over a year as a hostage, she'd made it out alive.

They'd done it.

She'd get to see her home again: her mom, her team; Klein…she suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion overtake her. When she'd been with the White Fang, exhaustion was the only thing that overcame her fear and apprehension to help her sleep, but the sensation was more of a temporary blackout than a truly restful sleep. She thought it would improve with the downy penthouse bed in Argus, but the nervousness of planning and executing their plot to get to Atlas and undermine her father kept her up at night and she spent as many hours pacing the floor and laying in bed awake as she did actually unconscious.

Around her, she was vaguely aware that Ruby sat next to her, and Winter had stood and approached Adam, offering him a handshake and saying some words of gratitude for his bravery in getting her only sister out of the clutches of the White Fang…

One doesn't really feel themselves falling asleep, but Weiss felt herself jerk back to wide awake from the edge of slumber by Adam's voice.

"What is this?!" Adam almost never raised his voice, but this time it was loud enough and with enough incredulity it snapped Weiss into the present as she saw the hand he'd extended to shake Winter's was locked in a dust cuff.

"What are you doing?" she heard Ruby say from behind her, surprise in her voice.

"I'm detaining this dangerous criminal and putting him in the brig until we can get him to Atlas and decide what to do with him." She locked eyes with Adam before she said, "And if he wants to make a show of good faith, he'll let me put this other cuff on him and go without a fight."

Adam remained generally unfazed. "Put me in the brig, then. You probably have a pretty good grasp of what I'm capable of, so you also know that won't do anything to eliminate me as a threat. Or was this just a test to see if I would comply."

Weiss on the other hand stood and stormed over to her sister. "What do you think you're doing, Winter?"

"I'm incarcerating the High Leader of the White Fang. I can't just leave him loose to wander about an Atlesean Military aircraft"

Ruby's eyes went wide. "You're that Adam. You're Adam Taurus." She drew her weapon from off her back, keeping it compact in front of her but ready if he tried anything violent.

Weiss seethed. "Are you serious? He's risked everything to bring me here! To get both of us out!" She seized Winter by the wrist, pulling her a few steps away from Adam. Winter indulged her at first, then pulled her hand free.

"Risked everything for you, or to cover his own hide once he realized he was going to lose power because Sister Artis started vying for the position," Winter chided. Their looks of surprise only seemed to irritate her more." What? You think I haven't kept up on every detail of the White Fang's activity since you went missing? I know about the fire, the relocation in an abandoned Mistral Village, the sacking of Haven for supplies, the and about your inability to unify your officers after you deposed and probably murdered Sienna Khan."

"That's not true," Weiss countered. "Sienna Khan escaped. I helped her and Adam let her go. She's probably somewhere in Anima raising a resistance. We just hoped she would have come through before Artis made her move."

"And now, all that's left is for you to "have a change of heart" and come to Atlas for protection from when Salem finally unleashes her wrath on mankind. You realize you're asking the very people you attacked to keep you safe from the person who sent you after us in the first place?" All throughout this, Winter never raised her voice. She was intense, but never at a loss for control and never taking her eyes off Adam.

Adam stood completely still, and said nothing while the sisters on either side of him bickered.

"Adam helped me escape."

"Adam kidnapped you in the first place."

"He wants to get the White Fang out from under Salem's control."

"Because he doesn't want an authority figure telling him who he can and can't terrorize?"

"Because he knows working with humans is the only way we're going to defeat Salem! We have a common enemy now, Winter!"

"We can't have an ally who will stab us in the back and loot our academies." Winter remained resolute, "Have you forgotten that Adam was the one who let grimm loose in the school during the Vytal Festival? Adam Taurus cut off Yang's arm and stabbed Blake in the kidney."

"I actually made sure I got it in the tiny window between her kidney, her spleen and her large intestine. I should have missed all three of those." Adam said flatly.

"How merciful," Winter replied sardonically before turning her attention back to Weiss. "He has attacked not one school, but two. He's responsible for the deaths of countless civilians and huntsmen."

"And he's trying to change," Weiss interrupted her sister. "He knows that right now, humanity and faunus are joined in our existences being at stake. If there ever was a time for everyone to unite under one banner, its now, and that won't happen unless people like us in places of influence begin reaching out. That's why he came with me. That's why he helped me escape instead of killing me or merely letting me go: he wants to help and show the world that the White Fang is for the faunus, even if that means working with former enemies and oppressors."

"And you're just going to be his mouthpiece the whole time?" Winter shook her head and took a step away from her sister. Standing directly in front of Adam, she looked him squarely in the face, her piercing blue eyes examining his cerulean iris. Even in heels, she was half a foot shorter than him, but any intimidation she may have felt knowing what he was capable of she concealed well. "I want to hear it from you," she said to him. "Why did you leave with Weiss and what are your intentions in Atlas?"

Adam thought a moment before speaking, his voice remaining even and measured as always. "Although it will be tenuous and also temporary, I think it is everyone's best interest to join forces against Salem for the sake of our survival. It was my intention to extend the olive branch first between the White Fang, the Atlesean Military and the huntsmen…whatever of them are left. I know in your eyes, I'm a terrorist and a fugitive of the law, but I'm also the high leader of a force that no government, military, academy or grimm have been able to eradicate. We have a skill set that would only compliment the forces you're currently trying to muster."

"And you came to this conclusion, when?" Winter cocked her head up and folded her hands behind her back. "Two weeks ago? Three?"

"The night we attacked Haven," Adam admitted. "Hazel made it out to be a partnership, but the truth was, he left us outside and encouraged us to loot the place and plant bombs so that we could draw all the attention away from what his private little mission was inside the main hall. At Beacon, we shared the blame and the hatred of the population; but Haven? Hazel wanted to ensure the White Fang took the fall for everything that happened, and the Mistral police hunted us and us exclusively. I don't appreciate feeling used: it's something that makes faunus particularly resentful. So now, we can either use what we know to attack back at Salem while keeping up our conflict with you, or we can set aside our differences for now, deal with the grimm queen and then pick back up where we left off."

"And Weiss?"

"Weiss agrees with me."

"Is that why you brought her with you?"

"I didn't bring her with me. I let her go and she asked me to come with her."

Winter looked to Weiss for affirmation. Weiss nodded.

"Why?"

"Because Weiss thought if I just released her, my life was going to be in danger anyway, so I might as well let her protect me and us continue to work on this effort together rather than risk either or both of us getting killed."

"Then why release her at all?"

Adam didn't respond immediately, confirming Winter's worst fear.

"You two are involved romantically."

As they were speaking Ruby had slowly been lowering Crescent Rose as the conversation dragged on, but this made her stow the weapon altogether.

Winter put her head in her hand, sitting in defeat. There was nothing she could say: not at this moment. Even if Adam decided to become violent in some way, he wouldn't be able to make it off the ship alive. Her concern was after they landed.

"Seeing as putting you in the brig would only put a rift between my sister and I, I won't. But once we land, I think it would be best if we escorted you to a cell and detained you until you've been thoroughly debriefed and Ironwood himself has had a chance to speak with you."

"I find that reasonable." Adam extended his arm for Winter to take off the cuff.

The military specialist removed the other cuff stiffly and turned on her heels to begin her nervous pacing. She stopped as she passed Weiss to say, "my quarters are free and there is a cot if you'd like to rest. I can see you're looking fatigued. We'll deal with all of this once we land."

To her surprise, Weiss took up Winter's offer and disappeared into Winter's quarters for the rest of the trip.

Adam kept to himself while Ruby and Winter did little to talk to him in earshot. Eventually, Ruby stated she'd also like to nap and headed down the ladder to the cargo hold where the pilot's cots were available to sleep. Adam declined the offer, leaving himself and Winter alone in the cabin to sit in silence for hours. Finally, the military specialist took the opportunity to approach Adam, standing and looming over him as he sat with his elbows resting on his knees.

"Is this the part where you get me alone and threaten to make sure no one ever finds my body if I ever hurt your sister?" he asked, a hint of cynicism in his voice.

"I'm not going to threaten you with anything," Winter shook her head. "But I can promise you something: if you hurt her; if you take advantage of my sister, General Ironwood would personally ensure you were published to the full extent of the law and if you escaped, you'd be hunted down like a dog. There would be nowhere in Atlas for you to hide and if you fled to Mantle, you'd be gambling with running into the huntsmen and your own faction that's turned against you. But before Ironwood could even get a crack at hunting you down and taking you to trial, Weiss has friends who would hold you down and break your legs, and while I think you could take any of them individually, you wouldn't be able to take all 3 of them, and I'm not talking about her teammates, her teammates would probably get to you before her friends would and two of them already have an extra bone to pick with you, but before even they get a chance to exact vengeance on you, you're going to deal with me first. And I can assure you, if I get my hands on you first, there'll be nothing left for her team, her friends, or the Atlesean Military to find. I will strike first, and I won't hesitate to end you." Her face snarled up into the classic Schnee sneer, and despite himself Adam smiled.

"I think I see a family resemblance between you two, and I am encouraged to know Weiss has so many people that care that much for her." His eyes focused on her and his smile vanished. "And I am pointedly aware of the gravity of my situation in her life as a faunus and as a criminal. I understand your mistrust completely."

"I've given you all I can of my good will. Don't squander it." Winter stood. "We'll be landing in two hours or so, and I'd like to get in a few hours worth of work. I'll be in my cabin if Ruby or pilot need me." She disappeared into her cabin, leaving Adam alone in the cabin.

He slumped forward, his head in his hands as he suddenly felt the same wave of simultaneous relief and exhaustion Weiss had just a few minutes prior.

It was finally starting.

They would be safe in Atlas.

After over a year of planning, things were finally starting to fall in place.

He'd done it.