WARNING

This story contains strong language, themes of child abuse, and violence that may be disturbing to some readers. If you find it difficult to get through the story, please don't force yourself to keep reading. Find a different story to read instead.

For more context behind the creation of this fanfic, read the note at the end.

Finally, please be civil in the comments. This is just a "what if" scenario I wanted to explore for fun. It ain't that deep.

Weiss was 4 when she first met him.

She initially spotted him at Father's work, pushing a large cart of shiny jewels out from the mines. After a long day of meeting adults in tight suits and practised smiles, she was delighted to see another kid—even if he was dressed in a dirty jumpsuit.

What drew her attention the most was his fiery red hair and the two black horns sticking out from the crimson mass. She'd never seen someone grow horns out of their head before. She wondered if he was wearing a costume or if he was really born with horns.

Winter ushered her into the waiting airship before she even had the chance to say 'hi'.

They were staying at Father's work lodge across from the Dust Mines, and Weiss hated it. The only thing to do there was read confusing documents and order servants around to make meals.

It bored her to tears.

"When can we go home? I hate it here!" She complained to her sister in the privacy of her new bedroom. She wouldn't dare speak a word out of place out in the open, not after experiencing Father's temper the last time it happened.

"I'm afraid we'll be here for another week," Winter said. "Father wants you to familiarize yourself with the family business, so you best pay attention."

That translates to boring adult business for Weiss. She groaned dramatically.

"I promise I'll treat you to ice cream if you're good."

"Can I have any flavour I want?"

"You can order a whole truckload of ice cream if you wish."

"Fine." Ice cream was worth all the boring meetings.

Her sister smiled and pecked her on the cheek. After helping her change into fuzzy white pyjamas and tucking her into bed, Winter clicked off the lights and left her in the dark alone.

Weiss tried her very best to fall asleep in her new room, but it just wasn't the same as her comfy bed back at home. The fabrics didn't smell like roses, and her bed was completely devoid of her piles of stuffed animals. There was no way she could sleep without her stuffies.

Weiss huffed in annoyance and threw her covers off.

Back at home, when she couldn't fall asleep, she'd either play with her stuffed animals late into the night or pretend to be a daring adventurer looking for treasure—like the ones she'd seen on TV. Her massive house and patrolling staff made her nighttime adventures just the more exciting.

Here, she didn't have any stuffed animals to play with, so the only thing she could do was sneak out and explore.

And she was an expert at it by now.

'I could go back to the mines and look for those shiny jewels!' She realized with an exciting jolt. 'It'll be like a real adventure!'

With her mind made up, Weiss dressed in her winter gear as quietly as possible and tip-toed out of the house.

The first part of her plan went off smoothly. Her small size made it easy for her to sneak past the tired guards patrolling their lodge, though the ice made it a bit tricky for her to run at full speed.

The hard part was figuring out where to go once she left the property. The mines were located out in the middle of nowhere. During the day it was nearly impossible for her to know where she was going when everything looked the same, and it was even more difficult at night when she could barely see through the darkness and hundreds of flying snowflakes.

On and on the icy plains seemed to stretch with no end in sight. No matter how far she walked the scenery never changed.

A shiver crawled down her spine as the wind and snow began to pick up. Her winter gear didn't seem to be doing anything against the chill of the incoming snowstorm.

Weiss was certain she was going to turn into a popsicle when she finally saw the lights of the mine in the distance. They didn't have heating, according to the mining manager at least, but they could protect her from the wind.

Weiss ran as quickly as she could through the snow and ice. She could barely feel her face by the time she stumbled into the cave.

The front entrance to the mine was lit up with dust-powered lanterns, but the rest of the inner core was shrouded in darkness—even darker than the outdoors. She whimpered at the shadows and quickly turned her back away from them.

Suddenly the idea of exploring the cave didn't seem all that fun anymore.

She frowned as she looked out into the growing storm. By now it was impossible to walk back without getting blown away. If it got any worse she wasn't sure if she would be able to make it back ever again.

What if she got lost and never found her way home? What if she was stuck here until morning—or worse?

Weiss felt her eyes burn at the thought of being yelled at by Father again. She tried to hold back her tears, Father always said crying was a sign of weakness, but the more she tried to stamp them down the harder they fell.

She hated hearing her cries echoing off the walls, hated how she couldn't be strong like Winter—hated that she was stuck in a creepy cave far away from her warm (uncomfy) bed.

"Hello? Are you okay?"

Weiss felt her heart leap up to her throat when she heard a voice calling out to her from behind. She whipped around but she couldn't see anything.

"W-who's there?" She whimpered.

"I heard crying. Is everything okay?"

Her heart was hammering out of her chest when she saw something moving in the dark tunnel. Weiss was just about ready to run out screaming when she noticed the kid she saw from earlier stepping out into the light.

The boy froze just as he locked eyes with her. He looked just as scared as she was, but she wasn't sure why he was scared. It wasn't like she was sneaking around in the dark to scare him.

"Hello." She waved shyly at him.

He began to slowly back into the darker portions of the cave.

"Wait!" She cried.

He stopped in place. When he didn't make a move to say anything she pressed on.

"What's your name?" She asked the boy. "I'm Weiss."

The boy didn't respond. She was going to repeat her question when she saw he was trembling. It took her a moment to notice he was still wearing that dirty brown jumpsuit, even during the freezing weather.

"You're going to catch a cold. Winter always says we need to dress warmly to prevent sniffles." She unwrapped the white scarf around her neck, but just as she took a step forward he quickly backed away.

She frowned at his reaction. It reminded her of the times she tried to run away from Father during his…moments.

Seeing another kid do that to her left her chest feeling funny.

"You don't have to be scared." She smiled. "Here, I'll leave my scarf on the ground and turn around!"

She gently folded her scarf on the ground and backed away. She smiled at him once more and turned her back to him. For a moment she thought he'd snuck back into the depths of the cave, but the soft sounds of his footsteps approaching her made her smile.

"You still didn't tell me your name." She said without looking back.

The footsteps stopped. She held her breath and strained her ears to pick up on any signs of movement.

"Adam." The boy breathed.

"You should wear a winter jacket, Adam. It's super cold at night."

"We're not allowed to."

"What? That's silly. Everyone needs to dress warmly."

"Maybe for humans, but we're not allowed to."

Weiss frowned. She wasn't sure why he was talking like he wasn't a human. He looked like a human and he talked like a human. Maybe he just really liked to play pretend like her cousin Lavender.

"Well, I think humans and everything else should dress warmly in the cold. Except for Grimm. They can turn into popsicles."

Adam laughed. "I've never seen a Grimm popsicle before."

"Maybe we can get rid of them forever if we turn them all into ugly popsicles!"

"Eww. Who wants to eat Grimm popsicles?" Adam made gagging noises.

"We can dunk it in a bunch of chocolate! Everything tastes better with chocolate!" Weiss giggled.

"Chocolate? What's that?"

Weiss gasped in horror. "Only the bestest thing in the whole wide world! How have you never had chocolate before?"

"I just haven't. What is it?"

Weiss immediately taught him everything she knew about chocolate. This, she deemed, was an emergency.

"I still don't get it. So it looks like poop but it's…sweet?"

"I didn't say it looks like poop!"

"Well they're both brown—"

"Chocolate is heaven and poop is yucky! You know what, one day I'll bring you some to try. Then you'll see why it's the best thing ever."

"I don't know…I don't want to eat chocolate Grimm by accident."

Weiss laughed at the image of giving him an entire chocolate-dipped Grimm for dessert.

"Don't worry, I'll give you normal chocolate." She promised. "I'm too small to drag a chocolate Grimm here anyways."

The storm outside was beginning to calm down, but Weiss made no move to return to her room any time soon.

"Can I turn around and look at you?"

"No."

"Why? I like your hair!"

There was a pause. Weiss was tempted to sneak a glance at him, but she kept her head facing forward.

"You…like my hair?"

"Yeah. I've never seen red hair in real life before. It's pretty."

"Oh…well I guess you can look back. B-but if you say something mean I don't ever want to talk to you again!"

Weiss eagerly turned around. Up close he was smaller than she was. The dirt staining his jumpsuit was even more obvious to see now that he was just inches away from her, her clean white scarf stood out like a sore thumb around his neck. And she could see the tiny black horns sticking out from his head.

"You need to tighten the scarf if you want to stay warm, silly."

She fixed the scarf so it would protect his neck better, just like what her Mama did.

"There, all better!"

"Thanks." He glanced at her for a split second before looking away. "You're different, for a human."

"Why do you keep saying that?" She asked. "You look human to me."

"Humans don't have horns on their heads." He frowned.

"You mean they're real?"

"Of course they're real! They're just like my dad's!"

Weiss tried to imagine what her father would look like with horns, but it only made him ten times scarier.

"So how come you were crying?" His question made her blush with embarrassment.

"W-was it that loud?"

"It's why I came up here." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"

'He's not mad?'

Normally Father would yell at her for showing weakness, Winter would tell her to try harder to hide her tears, and Mama would remind her she wasn't a baby anymore.

"My mom says you always feel better when you talk to someone about why you're sad." He said when she didn't answer him. "You should try it."

"Y-you promise you won't get mad at me?"

"I promise."

Weiss shyly explained to him her late-night adventure and how quickly it'd gone wrong.

"That does sound scary," Adam said kindly. "If I got lost in the storm, I'd be crying too."

"R-really?" The fact that he didn't make fun of her at all left her chest feeling warm and fuzzy.

"Yeah, my dad says storms are super dangerous. You don't want to walk through one unless you know where you're going."

"I guess I got super lucky."

"Well, it doesn't look like it's snowing super bad anymore." He pointed to the little snowflakes fluttering gently in the air outside. "I think you can go back."

"I guess so, but I want to stay with you a bit longer."

"Huh?" He tilted his head in confusion. "Why me?"

"Because it's more fun to talk to another kid than boring adults." She explained. "Father wants me to keep meeting these super important grown ups and it's awful."

If she had to talk about 'business' one more time Weiss would blow up from utter boredom.

"I guess that makes sense. I always have more fun talking with my friends than the adults."

"Y-you have friends?" Weiss gasped. "What is it like?"

Adam looked completely confused. "What do you mean? Don't you have friends?"

"Father only lets me talk to family and work people, but the only cousin my age is Lavender and she's a meanie!" Weiss frowned at the memory of her cousin breaking her favourite doll for fun.

"Oh." Adam looked thoughtful. "Well…if you want I could be your friend."

"Really?" Her heart jumped excitedly at his offer.

"Why not? You're really nice. I don't mind being your friend." He grinned.

"Oh, thank you!" She tackled him into a hug.

Weiss could barely believe it. She had a friend, a real friend! Not like the imaginary friends that she couldn't hug. Her mind raced through all the fun things they could do. Maybe they could make friendship bracelets like the ones she saw on TV. Or maybe they could go outside and make matching snowmen.

"Adam!"

They both gasped when a lady emerged from the dark half of the cave. Weiss noticed her red hair immediately, it was just like Adam's. She even had a pair of small brown horns growing out of the side of her head.

What stood out the most was the metal ring around her neck. It reminded Weiss of the collars she'd seen on dogs and cats; she never knew people wore them as necklaces as well.

"What are you doing, Adam? You know you can't be up here!" The woman snapped. Weiss squealed when she turned her eyes on her.

She didn't know who the lady was, but something about her look made her freeze on the spot.

"It's okay, mom. She's my new friend!" Adam quickly explained.

"Friends with a Schnee?" The lady sounded even angrier than Weiss' father.

"She's different, mom! Weiss is really nice, she even gave me her scarf to wear!"

"Adam, how many times do I have to warn you about trusting strangers?"

The lady was storming towards him. Weiss could recognize the situation anywhere. For a moment she felt like she was seeing her own Father march up to her, ready to leave a painful burn on her cheek for being bad.

She couldn't let that happen to Adam. It wasn't his fault she snuck into the cave.

Just as the lady was about to grab him, Weiss pushed him out of the way and stood up as tall as she possibly could.

"You can't hurt him! It was me! I snuck out of my room! I-I didn't mean to…" she shivered as the lady looked at her with wide, angry eyes. "I-I promise I won't do it again. Just please don't hurt him!"

'Please don't hurt me.'

"Why would I…?" The lady gave her a funny look before stepping back. "Oh gods, even to his own daughter…"

"See, mom? She's different!" Adam ran up to his mom before Weiss could stop him.

"I-I can see that." To Weiss' surprise, Adam's mom simply patted his head. She didn't even slap him or push him away from her.

Although she was scary, Weiss liked Adam's mom. She was much nicer than Father on his good days.

"Weiss is your name?" Adam's mom asked her in a much gentler voice.

She nodded.

"It's very dangerous to be out here all alone, Weiss. You need to go back home."

"But I can't sleep. The bedroom isn't like the one back at home!"

"If someone sees you here with Adam, we could all get into big trouble. I know you mean well, but promise me you'll go back right now."

She pouted but she knew better than to talk back to an adult. And she really didn't want to make Adam's mom upset when she was being so kind to her and Adam.

"Can I come back and play tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure that'll be a good idea, Weiss."

"But I like playing with Adam!" She complained.

"Me too, mom." Adam piped up. "She's cool for a human!"

"I'm sorry, but this cannot go on. For everyone's safety."

She ripped the scarf off of Adam's neck, revealing the same metal ring around his neck, and wrapped it over Weiss again.

"But Adam needs it! He's cold." Weiss tried to push the lady's hands away, but she was too weak.

"I know." Adam's mom fastened her scarf tightly around Weiss' neck. "But he can't be seen with it or else he'll get in trouble."

"Get in trouble with who?"

Adam's mom didn't answer. She simply smiled and patted her on the head just like she did with Adam.

"You must promise to never speak about this friendship to anyone. Do you understand?"

Weiss shivered at the strange look in her eyes but nodded. She wasn't good at many things, unlike her sister, but at least she was good at keeping secrets.

"I pray to the gods that your heart will remain just as pure in adulthood. Take care, Weiss, and never lose your kindness."

She took Weiss by the hand and led her towards the cave exit.

"Wait!" Weiss dug her boots into the ground. "Can I say goodbye to Adam first?"

Adam's mom hesitated for a second but finally gave in. Once she let go of Weiss' hand, she ran back to Adam and tackled him into another tight hug.

"Tomorrow night. At 12." She whispered into his ear before letting him go.

He didn't answer, but the smile on his face told her everything she needed to know.

The walk back to her room was just as miserable as the walk there. Once she snuck back inside, she curled into her cold bed and spent the night daydreaming of all the cool games she could play with her new friend.

The next night she went back, he was already waiting for her at the cave entrance.

Weiss snuck out every night that week to play with him in the cave. It was hard when they couldn't go anywhere and they had to talk using their indoor voices to keep the adults from hearing them, but it was a thousand times more fun than playing with her imaginary friends and Lavender.

Adam was nothing like her cousin. He didn't know any of the latest cartoons, didn't have a favourite cereal, and didn't even seem to have a favourite clothing brand.

He did, however, listen to her when she told him what she liked. He never made fun of her for liking red over the latest trend of purples, didn't care that she liked dragons over princesses, and he was always super nice to her whenever they met.

Weiss wished they could replace Lavender with Adam. He was just so much cooler.

Winter noticed Weiss was more sleepy than usual and put her to bed even before her bedtime. That annoyed Weiss as it was difficult to stay awake until midnight when she was curled in a soft blanket, but the thought of another fun night with her new friend kept her awake just long enough.

It was on her last day at the mines when Weiss found herself wishing to stay for just another week.

She knew once she went back home she'd have nothing but her silent stuffed toys to play with her. And if she was unlucky, Lavender would be over at her house to play. She wouldn't have someone nice like Adam to share adventures with no matter how hard she tried to pretend.

This would be goodbye for real.

That night, just before she donned her winter gear, Weiss dug in her jewellery box until she found her favourite charm bracelet. Only a single, diamond snowflake was hanging from the silver chain, at least until her next birthday. She stuffed it into her pockets and headed out to meet with Adam.

He was waiting for her at the mine entrance, shivering from the cold. She greeted him with a hug and handed over her scarf. He may not be allowed to take it back home with him, but she still wanted him to be warm when they were together.

"Do you really have to go home after tonight?" He asked her.

"I do. Father won't let us stay for another day unless we have to. But I'm happy we still got to be friends." She tried to smile but it didn't feel real. She felt colder than usual.

"Will you ever come back?"

"I don't know."

For once the two of them had nothing to say to each other.

"Here." He shoved something warm into her hand.

She looked down at the beautiful red crystal. It was a strange jewel, unlike the dozens of sparkling jewels father had given her, Adam's felt warm to the touch. It was like holding a warm cup of cocoa on a cold snowy night.

"You said you liked red, right? I-it's not super big but I thought you should have it."

Her first gift from a friend. It felt like a dream come true.

Weiss had dozens of shiny jewels waiting for her back home but none of them made her smile as widely as she was now. Not even the ones that were worth millions.

"Thank you!" She squished him into a hug. "I promise I'll take super good care of it!"

"I know you will." He hugged her back just as tightly. "If you want, I'll still be your friend if you ever come back again."

"I'd like that a lot."

"Okay, it's a promise then."

A promise between just the two of them. It was the first time she'd ever made a promise to someone who wasn't an adult or her family. It left her feeling warm and bubbly.

"I got you something too, Adam." She dug into her pocket and pulled out the bracelet. "I got this as a good luck charm from my sister. But I want you to have it."

"I-I can't take this." He stared wide-eyed at the snowflake charm. "I-it looks too pretty."

"Don't worry, Winter's going to get me another one on my birthday." She shoved the bracelet into his hand just as he did with his gift. "Just take good care of it, okay? It's my favourite."

"Are you sure?" He looked down at the charm. "I don't want to take all your luck."

"It's fine. Besides, you're my friend. I don't mind sharing my luck with you."

"Okay." He closed his hand around the snowflake. "I promise I'll protect it forever and ever."

"So…what do friends normally do when they need to say goodbye for a really long time?"

"I don't know. I never had to say goodbye to my friends like this before." He scratched his head. "I guess we could play all your favourite games, but I don't know if we'll have enough time…"

"What if…what if we try to play all our favourite games at the same time?" Weiss suggested.

"At the same time? Is that even possible?"

"We won't know unless we try. Come on, let's hurry before it's time to go."

Turns out, combining tag, play fighting, eye spy, and house was much harder than they both thought. Though their idea went up in flames just barely five minutes in, that night Weiss laughed harder than she ever had in her entire life.

I think as many of you probably guessed, I am one of the people who was very disappointed with what they ended up doing with Adam's character. Had they not revealed what was beneath his mask I wouldn't have been this disappointed, but alas here we are.

I think it was tragic Weiss never had any sort of meaningful screentime with Adam given his history with the SDC. That was the initial spark of inspiration for this fanfic.

This story initially started as a "what if Weiss and Adam met before they were knee-deep in their own hatred and bias?" scenario. An innocent little idea spiralled into something that spanned more chapters than I initially estimated.

I am not a professional writer, I write for shits and giggles on a whim and I had no intentions on writing a 20 chapter story (I tried real hard to cut down the content too). Despite this, I try my best so I really hope this is entertaining(?) to some degree.

I'm sure this scenario could be better explored in a big, length fic (40 chapters at the very least to work through all the baggage these characters have) but I don't really like making long fics so I hope this (relatively) small story will be suffice.

Thanks for reading and once again, please be civil in the comments. At the end of the day this is just a fun little AU. It really isn't that deep.