Interlude 3-1: Birthday

"You know, it's kind of scary how familiar we're getting with the route here," observed Ruby.

"I know, right?" agreed Yang.

The "here" in question was the Beacon hospital. After her fainting spell, Blake had been rushed there by her companions. The Shadowbolts had carried her there on a collapsible stretcher they had handy, while the others had followed behind. There were, of course, too many people for the hospital, so the doctor had told them to wait outside while he gave everyone's favorite femme fatale the once over.

"Don't worry. I'll send you a message when she wakes up," Weiss told the Shadowbolts softly. "Just get some rest."

"Hey, this isn't our first sled run," quipped Reverb. "Just don't be afraid to call if you need help foiling your assassins."

Weiss blinked. "But I don't have any assassins."

"You don't have any assassins yet," corrected Reverb before she and the others left.

"Well, that just fills me with confidence."

The snowcapped girl then looked around the room, now seeming just a little bit bigger than it did before. She knew everyone there quite well, even the redhead in the room. Yes, even Adam Taurus. At least, she knew enough from footage, from others - mostly Blake - but not from him.

She might not have been a Schnee anymore, but she had been at one point, and he deserved whatever apology she could give.

He also deserved all the threats she could give, but one step at a time.

With a solid back, she walked up to him and firmly declared, "Hello."

Adam looked up at her, his expression inscrutable behind his big sunglasses. "Hello."

It occurred to her suddenly then that, having renounced her Schnee name, it could be interpreted as insincere if she gave an apology.

Into that gap, Adam stood up tall from his seat, much taller than her, and spoke in a neutral tone. "So, you're Weiss Schnee, only without the Schnee anymore. When Yang said that you were on her team, I called her crazy."

Weiss blinked, surprised at the turn. "You did? That's…" She trailed off and sighed. "I suppose that's to be expected. After all, Lady Belladonna thought that message to her was a forgery before traveling here. I suppose Team Ruby really was unbelievable."

Adam nodded. "The giant alien robots were really far more plausible."

"Surprisingly, I would have to agree," Weiss said.

"Were you going to threaten me about Blake?" he asked suddenly, pointedly.

"I… not at the start of the conversation," admitted Weiss. "However, some of the things she has said about you and your prior relationship with her have been quite scandalous, and I just want to get your word that you shall be a perfect gentleman going forwards."

Adam glanced at the others, who were all looking at him in turn, before readopting that stoic expression. "I don't actually know what that means, but I'm not going to try and hurt anyone anymore."

"That will suffice," allowed Weiss.

After all, as she understood it, he had been raised by Raven Branwen, bandit queen. He must have gone through so much. It was a miracle he hadn't turned out worse, considering the influences in his life: a bandit tribe, a terrorist organization, the SDC...

The SDC.

Adam cocked his head. "Except that's not everything, is it? What else do you want?"

"I- Can I- can I see it?" Weiss asked timidly, her hand moving halfway up before she stopped herself. Don't be rude, Weiss, she reminded herself.

Adam scowled at her. "See what?"

She hesitated. "Your scar," she said finally. "Blake..." She trailed off at the look that crossed his face, a mix of emotions she couldn't begin to identify.

"So she told you," he said simply.

"I saw it on the news," Weiss said, declining to confirm or deny his statement. "I realize I'm overstepping my bounds by asking, but..."

"But some things don't feel real until you see them up close, in person," he finished.

"I'm sorry," she said, lowering her gaze in shame. "I should-"

"No," he cut her off. "I suppose... I suppose there's no harm."

She looked up expectantly, but he made no move to remove his sunglasses. Hesitantly, in fits and jerks, she reached up to his face, gently grasping his sunglasses by the end pieces and pulling them off his face.

Blue.

His eyes were startlingly blue, utterly beautiful, surprisingly gentle-looking, despite the perpetually angry - or at least grumpy - expression he wore. But they held her attention for only a moment before her own eyes were inexorably drawn to the ugly red scar branding his face over his left eye, the letters "SDC" unmistakable between a pair of horizontal lines, so clear that it sent a shiver down her spine as she calculated the long seconds he had to have been held down, pinned in place while someone - one of her father's "valued employees" - branded him.

Compared to that, the scar she wore so proudly over her own left eye felt... shameful.

A part of her wondered how his eye had avoided destruction by the brand, but only a small part; she was far more thankful that the wound, grievous as it was, hadn't visited more harm and mutilation on the surprisingly handsome young man before her.

Unconsciously, she let the sunglasses hang in her left hand as her right - now free - reached for the scar itself. "I'm sorry," she repeated.

His left hand moved with startling speed, one moment at his side, the next up by his face, wrapped firmly - almost painfully - around her wrist.

"You didn't do this," he hissed. "You are not a Schnee."

He was trembling, she realized. She could feel it in his hand, where it wrapped around her wrist. Why?

Setting that question aside for a moment, she met his gaze again and smiled bitterly. "But I was. I should have stopped this. I used to think I could fix things once I took over, but... but this isn't something that can just be fixed, is it?"

Adam's eyes bored down on hers for a long moment. "You're seventeen, right?" he guessed, breaking the silence. "Almost eighteen?"

"Eighteen, thank you very much," she corrected. What was this about?

"That means you were five, maybe six years old when this happened," he said bluntly.

Weiss's eyes widened as she ran through the math in her head.

"They did this to you when you were twelve?" she shrilled.

"Eleven," he corrected, his voice incomprehensibly calm.

Weiss looked away, unable to maintain his gaze. This, she reminded herself. This brutality is what I was defending, what I thought to redeem. I'm such a fool.

She heard him exhale loudly. "You really are just like Blake."

Despite herself, Weiss found herself smiling as she looked back up at him.

"Why thank you," she said primly.

With a wordless grunt, Adam shoved her away with one hand and snatched his sunglasses from her with the other, putting them on and adjusting them with exaggerated care before turning away.

Weiss was left standing there in the room as Adam left it, heading for parts unknown. She was left standing in a pile of her own shame and humiliation. She had screwed that up royally.

"Huh, that went better than I expected," dryly commented Yang.

"Yeah, I expected way more stabbing," agreed Sun.

The snowcapped girl sighed and palmed her face. At least I understand now why Blake fell for him. He's gorgeous! One of the most handsome men on the planet… and he was marred irreparably by the SDC, by my father. It would have been better that he should have burned down a museum, for far less would have been lost than with this atrocity. I wasn't able to stop it then, but I can stop it now, stop it before even more beauty is lost forever.

"The weak die; the strong live. Those are the rules. As everyone in this tribe has done for generations, it is time for you to prove which one you are."

"But-"

"Go on, boy. The first kill is always the hardest, and I can't have you freezing up when it counts."

"P-please! Mercy!"

SHINK!

With a horrified snap of consciousness, Adam awoke. His hands were trembling, he could feel sweat soaking into his clothes, and there was adrenaline running through his whole system like he was being stalked by a Chill. Once again, he had awoken from a nightmare.

His hand clenched in frustration.

It had happened again. Power naps, sleep, sedation; in a car, up a tree, in a motel, in a safehouse; nothing stopped it. He was plagued by nightmares wherever he went.

Ever since the battle in Vale had ended, they had hounded him, and every time, it was the same one. He'd long forgotten, but now, the memory rushed forth with crystal clarity. He couldn't remember the man's name. He couldn't even remember where the man had come from or how he'd come across them. But he remembered his face, pale and pleading as he knelt in a grassy clearing, surrounded and helpless. Or... he thought he did. Sometimes, the face he saw was different, people he knew, people he'd killed elsewhere, elsewhen, under vastly different circumstances.

He remembered the feeling of the sword pressed into his hand, his fingers, stiff and unwilling, being folded over it; the sound of the man as he whimpered and begged, too afraid to even scream; the pressure of flesh parting before the blade; the feel and smell of blood as it splashed across his face.

Adam swept his hand across his brow and in the process smeared sweat everywhere. He knew from experience the last few days that it was a fool's errand getting back to sleep, but at the same time, he needed to do something. He was so tired, and there was still so much going on.

The First Minister wanted to have a sit down with him for rather naked PR purposes. He had several interviews scheduled. Ruby's birthday was at the end of the week, and she'd invited him to come.

It was that last one that worried him the most. There were no doubt others who would be in attendance, others he might be more comfortable avoiding in general

Suddenly, unconsciousness took him once more, and so did the nightmares.

"Days since the Battle of Vale, and we are finally expecting a speech from local White Fang commander Adam Taurus. The up and coming leader has been credited as a moderating force in the organization and peace advocate who has driven efforts to deradicalize the Vale branch of the White Fang over the last year. A minority of critics have pointed to his criminal record and say that he was a key member of Sienna Khan's regime. Whatever his controversial past, though, one thing is for certain: the people of Vale are eager to hear from the man who has done so much to defend and rebuild this fair city. One can only imagine what he is about to say."

Lisa Lavender's voice continued on in the background, while in the proper part of the dressing room, Adam examined his suit. Taiyang Xiao Long was there with him, wearing his own suit while fixing his. It was most embarrassing, in Adam's opinion. He was just glad that no one was there to see him learning how to tie a tie from Tai.

"I look ridiculous," he declared, "and feel worse."

"You look great, and you should feel great," countered Taiyang immediately. "You're the man of the hour, after all."

Adam shook his head. "It should be Optimus making this speech, not me."

His... father... shrugged. "Yeah, well, for reasons known only to them, the public have decided they don't care about the Autobots and Decepticons. They care about you though, so knock 'em dead, kid... Not literally, of course."

Adam scowled. "I'm not that homicidal." He paused. "Anymore."

"Most people would find that unsettling," dryly commented the blond.

"'Most people' is perhaps the least accurate description of this tossed salad of a family I have ever heard of," shot back Adam.

"You noticed!" the older Huntsman agreed cheerfully.

Adam's scowl deepened.

There was a knock at the door, and then Headmaster Ozpin poked his head into the dressing room. "How are things going in here?"

"Oh, we're doing just fine," replied Taiyang with a smile. There was a ringing in his pocket, and then he brought out his scroll. "Hold on, I've got to take this."

He exited out of the room, passing by Headmaster Ozpin as he did so. As the door swung closed, his voice could be heard on the other side. "Tudor! What a pleasant-"

Ozpin quirked a smile as he looked at the door. "That's either going to be a very short conversation, or a very long one. I'm glad she didn't see I was here, though. Summer's sister and I… Well, it's a long story, and more amusing for others than myself."

"Headmaster," Adam grunted, bringing the older man's attention to him. "What brings you here?"

"Just thought I'd check in on the man of the hour," the bespectacled teacher replied. "How are you feeling?"

"This is ridiculous," snorted Adam derisively. "Don't you people know who I am, what I've done?"

Ozpin leaned forward a bit on his cane with a catty smile. "Oh, we are well aware of your crimes, Mister Taurus - the extent of them, if not the specifics - but the people don't care."

Adam glared at the headmaster. "How can they not care?!"

Ozpin seemed unphased as he explained, "The short of it is that the media has a very limited attention span. The long is that you targeted the SDC, who's not exactly very popular in Vale right now, especially with Weiss denouncing her own family publicly; you turned the local White Fang away from violence, conveniently allowing them to ignore your role in taking them in that direction in the first place; and you helped save the city and sealed the Lost Valley Square breach. Right now, Vale needs a hero, and you're it. Congratulations."

Adam's anger flickered, and his gaze dropped. He shook his head. "I'm no hero. I'm just a man, and not a particularly good one."

Looking at the floor and lost in his own thoughts, Adam didn't notice Ozpin's lips twitch.

"No, I suppose you're not," the older man agreed. "Even so, I'd say it's a good sign that you can still remember that, even in the light of... all this. It gives me hope. For you, and for the future."

Adam scowled. "I was trying so hard for so long to be a hero, to do great things... I'm not liable to forget any time soon. And even if Vale can conveniently forget what I've done..." He trailed off and looked up, then shook his head again, unable to find the words.

"My advice?" Ozpin offered. "Don't think about it too hard. All you can do is keep moving forward. Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man and let history judge for itself."

The door opened again, and Taiyang came back in. "Okay, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that Summer's family is coming to Ruby's birthday party."

"What's the bad?" asked Adam.

"Summer's family is coming to Ruby's birthday party," repeated Taiyang.

"Ah, that makes sense," Ozpin agreed with a nod. "Very well, I shall leave you two to your contemplations for now."

Ozpin exited, and once more, Taiyang and Adam were left alone.

"Will you be coming?" asked the blond man softly.

Adam thought about that, but perhaps reached his conclusions a bit too quickly. "Maybe," he allowed reluctantly. Better than an outright denial which would likely result in him getting pestered about it.. "It's not like the rest of the White Fang have anything going on. We're just enjoying our first leave ever."

"Can't think of a better way to spend it?" asked Taiyang mirthfully.

"This is my first leave ever," repeated Adam.

"Ah, in that case, my advice is to sleep when you get to Patch. You're going to be surprised how good that feels after so long at work."

They finished up the last of what needed to be finished then, and left the private dressing room. It was nice for the people putting this together to make that accommodation, but… well, it still felt weird. It felt insincere. It felt some other third thing that swirled around in his mind as he passed through the building on his way to his destination and to any number of people.

Adam saw her then, that police officer who had arrested Qrow and threatened him. She was standing with a human man with blond hair and a Valish Coast Guard uniform, along with two young human boys with hair matching their parents. They didn't see him, not at first, and that was good. It gave him the chance to look for another way into the studio.

There wasn't one.

Especially not when he had been noticed by the Grand Marshal.

"Adam Taurus, just the man I wanted to see!" declared Grand Marshal Keller as he strode over to Adam and Taiyang with a smile on his face and his hand outstretched. "How's it feel, being the man of the hour? The big hero everyone's looking to?"

The policewoman had definitely noticed him now, and so had the humans with her. There was a snap of tension through the air, and then an eerie sort of calm. She wanted to get away with the others and quickly.

Adam took the offered hand and shook it. "Not how I expected things to go, if I'm being honest, but I'd be out of my mind to turn it down now."

Keller's smile took on a slight smirk briefly. "Well, if we're being honest now, I don't think anyone here was thinking last year that what's happened could even be possible, and yet, here we are. Speaking of which, have you met the new police commissioner?"

At that, Keller broke the handshake and walked a step or three to gesture towards the policewoman.

"Adam Taurus, meet Daisy Jo Hikaru Martinez, the new Commissioner of the Vale Police Department and the woman who saved the city from Decepticon sabotage. Along with her husband, Commander Micheal Hengst of the Vale Coast Guard, and their two children," Keller introduced them. "Commissioner, this is Adam Taurus and his father Taiyang Xiao Long, the Heroes of the Breach."

Neither Martinez nor Adam extended their hands, though Taiyang and Hengst did awkwardly shake theirs while exchanging platitudes.

"'Commissioner,' huh? Quite the promotion from lieutenant, isn't it?" Adam asked rhetorically.

"Why yes, yes it is," confirmed Martinez.

Keller's eyes darted between them, evidently picking up on the previous hostile relationship but choosing to keep the smile up. "It is a big jump, but Martinez has the cleanest record on the force, and right now, that's what's needed. The Council wanted a person who would clean up the VPD, and a hero like her fit the bill perfectly. As I'm sure Commander Hengst can attest to."

"Yes, sir," agreed Hengst, his back stiff. "And I'm not just saying that because she's my wife."

Taiyang cracked a smile. "Not that you'd need any other reason."

Hengst's smile returned a bit at that. "No, sir."

Martinez didn't take her eyes off Adam and spoke in very deliberate terms. "I assure you that the corruption issues of the past shall be dealt with. No crime shall escape our sight, and no criminal shall escape our might."

"Oh, then I suppose the SDC is about to be clapped in irons?" Adam asked with false curiosity.

"As many of the key movers and shakers we can get our hands on," interjected Keller, drawing their attention. "The SDC's been working with an actively hostile military power, after all. Shutting them down is a matter of kingdom security."

Adam looked keenly at him, his sunglasses glinting under the ceiling's illumination panels. "Really now?"

Keller nodded. "Mind you," he said, "the majority of their employees are probably innocent."

Adam rolled his eyes at the hint of warning in the Grand Marshal's words. "Of course," he agreed easily. "Most of their victims were their own employees, after all."

"I'm glad we all understand that."

"It's my sister you should really be concerned about," Adam said blandly. "Some of the things she's said..." He trailed off and shook his head.

Martinez's eyes narrowed slightly. "What has Ruby Rose said?"

Taiyang blinked. "Why do you think it was Ruby?"

"She once ran into the middle of a three-way firefight without backup and got shot for her trouble; that speaks to a very reckless mind," Martinez reasoned evenly.

"That… that's fair," admitted Taiyang. "Very well, I'll give her a stern talking-to so she doesn't do whatever it is she's talked about doing."

Adam facepalmed. How the little barnacle seemed to have gotten everyone convinced they were actually related was beyond him.

"The broadcast will begin in twenty minutes," came the announcement over the speakers.

Martinez leapt on that opportunity. "That's our cue to move. I wish you all luck in the broadcast. Good day."

Martinez and her family left, and Taiyang said, "I'm going to double check where we're supposed to be."

With him gone, Adam was just left to lament into his hand. "I was talking about Yang. Ruby and I aren't even related."

"No one believes it, son," said Keller bluntly. "Might as well get used to it."

The Inn Definite had seen better days, days where it wasn't condemned because of battle damage, but it still provided a good enough meeting place for the White Fang. Or, at least, it provided a decent gathering point for the remains of the White Fang in Vale.

It was an odd triumvirate that stepped into the darkened second-storey hotel room, the windows thankfully still intact. Vix, Maple, and himself, Adam. All members of the White Fang, and all friends of the shining blonde who was conversing with those left over in the lobby.

"Is that really all we have?" demanded Vix the moment the door was shut. "There aren't even a hundred guys down there! Where did they all go?"

"To ground, most likely," answered Adam gruffly.

"Tch. Cowards," sneered Vix. "Not that I can't understand where they're coming from. Humans looking up at us in admiration instead of fear? It's disgusting."

There was a big part of Adam, an old part, that agreed. There was a new part that was picking apart the problems with that position. Behind all of it, though, was a frightful specter wearing the faces of everyone who had died by his hand.

"Are you serious?" asked Maple in disbelief, her glare fixed on Vix. "'Disgusting'? As far as people out there are concerned, we're heroes. Heroes! Now you're saying that you only want to be a villain?!"

"Oh, come off it, beaver!" shouted back Vix. "Do you really think this will last? They're going to go back to keeping their foot on our necks, and then the only way out will be shooting our way out."

Maple's gaze shifted to Adam. "Surely, they offered us something, right, Adam? You've been rubbing elbows with them for days."

Adam nodded. "In addition to the blanket amnesty they announced, the Council's offering us pretty much anything we want as thanks for helping in the defense."

Technically, the amnesty - for prior crimes only, of course - applied to anyone who had helped defend Vale during the battle, not just the White Fang, but while it remained unspoken, it was clear to everyone just whose benefit it was mainly intended for.

"That's great!" cheered Maple. "What did you ask for?"

"Nothing," he said. "Yet. I haven't replied to them."

"Are you trying to choose something really good?" Vix prodded eagerly.

"I... have no idea what to ask for," he admitted.

Maple stared. "What?"

Adam looked away. "I always thought that we'd burn the old system down and create something new in its place, that it would be the province of other people, better people," - people like Blake - "to build what came after. I never considered the possibility that I could ever just get... given what we want."

Vix tilted his head back and forth, weighing it in his mind, then shrugged. "Makes sense. Figured things would just work themselves out once we put humans on the bottom."

"You didn't have a plan?" sputtered Maple, looking at Adam. She looked at Vix. "Neither of you two had a plan?!"

"Do you have any suggestions?" Adam asked. "Their gratitude won't last forever," - Vix was right about that, if nothing else - "so if you have any ideas, I'm listening."

She looked back at him but didn't answer for a long moment.

"What I have is a desire to throttle someone," she growled. "What I'm going to do is find a lawyer who can go through the Valish legal code with me so I know all the loopholes we need to close so that the bastards who've been screwing with us through them can't do it anymore."

"And when you find out there are no loopholes?" asked Vix mockingly.

Maple snapped her head around to glare at him. "Then it's a matter of enforcement, and we tell the government to shape up the police force and boot out the bigots and bums in favor of people who'll actually do their jobs."

"Tch. Like that'll ever happen," dismissed the reindeer faunus.

"Vix, that's enough," ordered Adam. "Things are bad enough as it is without you backbiting everyone." Privately, he agreed with Vix; the new commissioner spoke of intent, but he'd found that governmental intent rarely translated to effective or efficient action.

Vix threw up his hands but kept silent.

Adam glared at him behind his mask, but then shifted his focus to Maple. "Do it. No sense leaping before we look."

Vix seemed rather discontent at that, shifting irritably in his seat.

"Thank you, sir. I'll do just that," replied Maple.

"Okay," Vix cut in, "so most of our people went to ground, but have you heard anything from the other kingdoms?"

Adam inclined his head. "I'm still in contact with the Vacuan branch through the Autobots. Nothing of interest is happening there. I haven't heard anything from Mistral, and I received a message from Atlas."

Both of them perked up with interest. No wonder. Things weren't as bad for the average faunus in Atlas as in Mistral, but by the same token, the worst excesses in that northern kingdom were worse than the worst from the former slaver kingdom. And for all of Mistral's problems, it lacked the might of the Atlesian military; there were reasons Sienna Khan based herself in Mistral, not Atlas.

And given the news regarding Chrysalis's mad attempt to destroy the kingdom itself, well...

"The White Fang now has a voice on the Provisional Council."

Adam found it easy to hear the big metal footsteps in the empty hideout, and so, the voice that followed them was no surprise. Who else would it be?

"Adam, where are the rest of the White Fang?" asked the gentle rumble of Optimus Prime.

"On leave," replied Adam as he closed up the box he had been working with to turn and face the leader of the Autobots. "Nothing's happening right now, and we're not criminals anymore, so why not? Five years is a long time to go without a break."

Optimus chuckled. "I'll have to remember that the next time I'm stationed at an outpost for five hundred thousand years."

Adam winced. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Optimus replied. "It was a good time, or as good a time as any in this war." He paused, then added with good humor, "And I suspect our perspectives on time are a little... different."

"I suppose you're right," acknowledged Adam. After a moment, he said, "The Regency Council has granted us amnesty, you probably heard about that. What you might not have is that they've offered us whatever we want."

"This surprises you?" the big 'Bot asked.

"In my experience, people tend to be... ungrateful."

"That wasn't necessary!" Golden eyes bored into Adam accusingly, judgmentally. "This is the very reason they think they can treat-"

"And yet you fought to protect this city," Optimus observed. "Why?"

Adam opened his mouth in reply... then hesitated.

"I don't know," he finally admitted. "I just... it was..."

"It was the right thing to do," Optimus rumbled.

Adam frowned. He instinctively felt the need to reject the claim, but he could find no other answer within him either. Beyond, perhaps, that it seemed like a good idea at the time.

A pair of silver eyes flashed across his vision.

"It doesn't make any sense," he finally said, confusion evident in his voice. "I should have run - that would have been the smart move - but I didn't, because I mustn't run away."

"You are confused. You're confused because the person you are now is not the person you were a year ago, and you're just now stopping long enough to realize that," observed Optimus. "You now recognize who you were then, but fail to see how you have changed."

"I haven't changed that much," Adam insisted. "I'm no hero."

"Perhaps," Optimus acknowledged after a long moment. "I have misjudged people before, but I believe you are a better man than you were. A year ago, you wouldn't have said that."

"...no," Adam agreed hesitantly as memories of being cheered by his brothers and sisters of the White Fang flashed into his mind with a bitter taste soon following. "I suppose not."

"That's not all. There would have been no shame to flee before the odds you chose to confront that night," Optimus insisted. "And yet, you didn't. You say you mustn't run away. Why?"

Adam shook his head. "It would disappoint Ruby."

He froze, as if struck with terror. Behind his mask, his eyes were wide. He could not comprehend the words that he had just said.

"This… this never gets back to her," he ordered, his voice so very desperate. "I haven't even figured out how to tell her that I can't make that birthday party she invited me to."

The proud smile on Optimus's face was positively infuriating. "I think you should go. After all, you're taking a break now, aren't you?"

"No, I shouldn't," insisted Adam. "Don't you see? I'll never hear the end of it if I go, and I'll have to stay overnight in a cramped cottage where Taiyang, and Sunfire, and Uncle Qrow, and that little bloody barnacle will be crammed in alongside me. I heard they're even having more of the family coming. Not the Xiao Longs, something about a lack of convoys. The point is that I can't just fritter away my time talking to family when there's work to be done."

"Adam, you're taking a break," repeated Optimus, clearly very amused by it all.

"I can still help you!" declared Adam feverishly. "The Decepticons still need to be defeated. What's going on right now, anyways?"

"We're scouting out the positions that Beacon's intel provided to us. It will take some time to choose a suitable target," explained Optimus. "Two weeks, at least. Not to mention that we still have to find out where the Nemesis slunk away to."

"No," Adam declared firmly. "I'm not going."

"Glad you could make it, bro," Yang greeted Adam as he stalked in with a proverbial storm cloud over his head. "Figured you'd be busy with White Fang business."

He scowled. "My life doesn't revolve entirely around the White Fang."

Yang's reply came in the form of a derisive snort. "Name one thing in the last five years you've done that hasn't involved the White Fang."

He was silent a long moment, and Yang smirked victoriously. "You can't, can you?"

"I spoke with Optimus," he said finally. "A lot. Those conversations... they gave me perspective."

"What kind of perspective?" Yang asked curiously.

"He showed me how... narrow my worldview was, how much larger and more wondrous the universe is, that understanding is a three-edged sword."

"'A three-edged sword'?" Yang echoed. "How would you even use a weapon like that?"

Adam rolled his eyes. "It's a metaphor."

"Uh huh. For what?"

"Three sides to every story, Sunfire: your side, their side, and the truth."

"It's Yang," she reminded him. "You really should start getting used to it."

He grunted wordlessly in acknowledgement.

Yang shifted cheekily in the pause. "So, where's this sword, smart guy? Give me an example."

"Well, there's Blake and-"

"Okay,, yeah, I understand now," interrupted Yang in a slightly embarrassed tone. "But seriously," she pressed, "this isn't like you, Adam. Maybe the White Fang isn't all you care about, but it's still a big part of your life. I've... I've never seen you take a break before." She paused, then corrected, "Well, one that wasn't medically-mandated, anyway."

Adam was silent for a long moment, then asked, "Do you know why I joined the White Fang?"

"To fight for faunus rights," she answered, but her expression was suddenly uncertain. "Right?"

"That's what I thought," he said. "Now, I wonder if it was ever true, or if it was just a lie I told myself."

"What do you mean?"

"I think... looking back, I think I joined the White Fang because I wanted revenge," he elaborated, gazing out the window at the deceptively peaceful-looking front yard. "Against the SDC, against the humans, against the whole world. I just wanted to see it all burn. I just didn't really realize it."

That seemed to tamp down on the vivacious blonde's exuberance. "And now?"

"Now..." He trailed off, struggling to find the right words. "I was a child with a temper tantrum. The cause was an excuse, but now... now that I can feel it within my grasp, I'm lost."

He felt a hand come down on his shoulder comfortingly. "What do you mean?"

"You heard about the amnesty?" he checked.

"Yeah."

"The Regency Council's effectively handed us - the White Fang who fought, I mean - a blank check out of gratitude," he said, turning to face her.

Yang snorted. "I guess having the Grimm knocking on your door put things in perspective for them."

"Mm." He shook his head. "But now that it's within my grasp, I don't know what to ask for."

"You don't?"

He shook his head again. "Laws against racial discrimination have been on the books since the Faunus Rights Revolution. What's the Council going to do? Pass more laws? To do what?"

Yang's expression grew pensive and thoughtful. "I... suppose you're right. The problems we're talking about aren't things you can just fix by dictating from above, are they?"

"No," he admitted. "I suppose it was easier when I just wanted to flip the equation, burn it all down and rebuild with the faunus on top, but that's..." He trailed off.

"Wrong."

He nodded. "It's just revenge on a larger scale, an endless cycle." And that, perhaps, was what left a sour taste in his mouth. Too much of his life had revolved around vengeance. If it weren't for Optimus - okay, and Yang - where might he have wound up? He didn't like the answers he was coming up with. "Maple's started looking through the legal code, looking for loopholes we need closed. A crackdown on police and judicial corruption, for certain. But beyond that? I just don't know."

The two lapsed into silence for a moment.

"It's a start."

The voice of Taiyang - of the man who styled himself his father - startled Adam, and he and Yang both turned.

The blond man stood in the kitchen doorway, leaning against the frame, arms folded. "And sometimes, a start is all you need," he added. The older man straightened up. "At your age, it's easy to want quick and simple solutions, like in the movies and comics, but real life doesn't work that way. What you're talking about? It's not about laws; it's about culture. And if you want to make a culture change fast enough that you can see it happening? Well, there's generally a lot more blood involved, and it generally doesn't stick. People don't like being told what to do, let alone what to think. Causes pushback, retaliation, and you generally wind up right back where you started, except with a lot of people hurt and angry over it along the way."

"Mercy! Please!"

SHINK!

Or dead, Adam thought with a grimace.

"But they're wrong, and they're hurting people right now," countered Yang. "Were Maple and the rest supposed to wait while the police got around to changing their culture one day? If people don't like people telling them what to do, maybe they should stop being such scrapheads."

"Yaaaaaang!" moaned Ruby as she walked down from upstairs. "I thought we agreed, no politics in the house. I don't want this ending up like the time Aunt Tudor and Grandpa Hsienyang got into it over-" Silver eyes lit up, then vanished in a cloud of rose petals. "Adam! Adam! You made it!"

Adam felt all the air leaving his chest from the speed of the impact. "Wouldn't miss it."

"Thank you, big brother," said Ruby in the most sickeningly sweet happy tone he had ever heard. "Thank you so much."

Sunfire looked pleased as punch, and Adam really wished at that moment that there was some way to hit her without disturbing Ruby.

Adam glanced at Ruby, wondering what could have silenced the little motormouth, and found her staring. He followed his... sister's... gaze to a pair of figures removing their bags from an air taxi, each wearing a hooded cloak much like her own: one green, one yellow.

"Sunsprite! Auntie! You made it!"

With a swirl of rose petals, Ruby vanished from his side.

Adam blinked slowly, then looked to his other side at Yang. "It seems every time I turn around, I find myself with more family. I blame you."

She didn't even have the decency to deny it or be embarrassed. Instead, the blonde gave him a big grin and a friendly thump to his shoulder. "You're welcome."

"Tch," was his wordless response, only for her to tug at his arm.

"C'mon, let's go meet them."

"What?" he protested, then looked toward them, where three pairs of silver eyes looked at him, one eager, one measuring, one curious. "Fine," he grunted, yanking his arm free. He wasn't going to be dragged anywhere.

"Adam!" Ruby said excitedly as the air taxi left the ground behind. "This is Aunt Tudor and my cousin, Sunsprite! Um, on Mom's side. Auntie, Sunsprite, this is my brother, Adam!"

The green-cloaked older woman's measuring gaze stayed on him for a long moment. A lesser man may have cringed away, but he had stared down far worse than a disapproving look.

"They're roaming Huntresses," Ruby said, breaking the moment. "Tested for their licenses at Shade. They drop by when they can, but oh, I'm so glad you two made it! Things have been so crazy this year at Beacon-"

"Yes, about that," Sunsprite cut in. "You were accepted into Beacon two years early?"

Ruby nodded vigorously. "Yuh-huh! Even better!" She dug into her cloak and pulled out her scroll. "I'm already a fully-licensed Huntress!"

"You're just turning sixteen!" protested Sunsprite. "That is so not fair."

"Sunsprite," Tudor said warningly. "Don't pout. It's unbecoming."

"Yes, Mother."

"And Ruby, what is this I hear about you running into a three-way firefight and getting shot?"

"Oh, come on!"

They certainly were a classic pair, though Adam wasn't particularly keen on how they were looking at him. They were trying to hide it, but they were suspicious and uneasy around him. It wasn't hard to guess why. In fact, it was hard to guess why it wouldn't be. Still, despite them having many reasons, Adam didn't like it, and that meant he didn't much like them either.

His eye covering wasn't his Grimm mask that day, but he was thankful for it all the same.

"So, you're the new cousin," stated Sunsprite with a hint of wariness.

Tudor continued. "The real question is just who and what you are, Adam. I assume the relation is through Taiyang's first wife?"

"Very astute," he replied.

She gave a noncommittal shrug. "I know my sister, and I know my brother-in-law."

"So, Ruby," Sunsprite said, breaking the tension a little, "what's with the goggles?"

"Oh!" Ruby perked up, taking hold of the aforementioned goggles strapped across her forehead. "You like?" She pulled them down over her eyes. "They've got all sorts of awesome stuff in them: light amplification, thermal, ultraviolet, even an active ultrasonic system! They're a gift from Hot Rod." She looked around, then grabbed her cousin's hand. "Look! There he is!"

"WAHOO!" Ruby called, throwing her arms up as Hot Rod zipped down the roads at what was surely an unsafe speed. She glanced over at her cousin, who was wide-eyed but grinning.

She and her mother had taken the whole "giant transforming alien robots" thing remarkably well.

"Say, what do you two say to me taking it up a notch?" Hot Rod asked.

"Do it," Sunsprite said before Ruby could respond.

Ruby grinned.

Best. Birthday. Ever!

"Are they going to be all right?" asked Tudor curiously as she looked out the window at the three-way rumble that was developing on the lawn between Yang, Taiyang, and Bumblebee.

Adam snorted and shook his head. "Sunfire and Bee do this all the time. I can't see how adding him will change anything."

Tudor turned away from the window to look at him curiously. "You are incredibly reluctant to call them as they are."

Adam felt a spike of anger welling up inside him. He fought to keep it down, though. He was doing this for… why was he there again?

"And what are they?" he asked instead.

"They're your family," declared Tudor with certainty.

Adam blinked. "Excuse me?"

"They are your family," Tudor repeated, slowly and with a slight accent. "I should dare say that I am as well, given that I have neither choice nor objection in the matter."

"And you don't have any objections to having a faunus in the family?" asked Adam with an acidic edge.

Tudor stared at him with an indeterminate expression, and for a moment, Adam thought she was going to admit to it, and then the most bizarre thing happened. She began to laugh. That by itself would be unexpected, but not strange. No, what made it truly odd is that she laughed like the most stereotypical high-class noblewoman imaginable, all while doubling over and slapping her knee like the most stereotypical yokel ever.

Was he really the only sane person in this family?

...Oh no. He'd admitted to being in the family. They were corrupting him more than he even imagined.

"I'm sorry," apologized Tudor as her laughing died down. "It's just… that's such a cityslicker attitude to have."

Adam blinked.

On the couch, Qrow groaned in annoyance. "Here we go again. Tudor, stop it. The poor kid already got out of one murder cult; he doesn't need you dragging him into another one."

"The White Fang isn't a murder cult!" snapped Adam instinctively, and then the rest of what the Branwen boozehound said hit him as he turned to Tudor. "Wait, you're a cultist?"

"Tch, typical. You've always been so enamored with that vaunted Beacon Tower that you can't see anything else," growled Tudor at the uncle, and then to Adam, she said. "I prefer to think of myself and my compatriots as advocates."

"Advocates for what?" asked Adam, his mind flashing back to one particularly poignant conversation with Optimus.

"Settlement rights and culture," replied Tudor primly. "Life on the frontier gives one a different perspective on life, a more righteous perspective. Why then should they be subject to dictates and quotas by decadent city dwellers living thousands of miles away who take and take but give nothing in return but promises for help that never comes?"

"Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me," agreed Adam, things falling into place for him with some of the philosophies he had heard put into practice during the Golden Age of Cybertron, before the dark times, before the Empire.

"Exactly. We in the Villages of Vigilance believe in setting things right and defending what we have," elaborated Tudor, her expression mimicking many of the White Fang recruits Adam had seen who had finally gotten a chance to vent all their frustrations at humanity instead of bottling it up. "Take that racism issue. In Vale it's a bloody mess that's so tangled up in a dozen different issues that folks can't make sense of it save to hate their neighbors for immutable characteristics. Now, one of my comrades for example, both her husband and co-wife are faunus, and nobody has any issue with them. And do you want to know why, Adam? Because out on the frontier, if you let race bias you against potential allies or blind you to possible foes, you'll wind up dead, and you'll wind up dead quick. We don't have time for luxury beliefs."

Setting aside the useless jolt of bile he felt at the proclivities of people he didn't even know the names of, Adam found himself being drawn into the conversation. "But that's clearly not the case. Back when Ghira Belladonna was still in charge of the White Fang, we were getting shot at in the Mistral outback while he was pleading for peace."

Tudor had a glint in her eye when she looked at him. "You killed them. You personally. Good form and a righteous design on its own, but bad strategy for a civil rights movement."

Adam was taken aback by the response. "You… what?"

Qrow groaned as he stood up. "Look, kid, me and Tudor disagree on a lot of things, but I don't think even she's crazy enough to condemn you for self-defense. There's nothing wrong with that."

"No, but the media would condemn him because their cowardly black hearts cannot stand the sight of those more righteous than them," pointed out Tudor. "Politicians too, for that matter. Terrible people worried more about optics than the lives of others."

"You said it was a bad strategy, though," Adam reminded her, now thoroughly confused.

"Yeah, because that black-hearted media is always stupid enough to go with the easy story," elaborated Tudor. "If peaceful activists are attacked and killed, the media will pitch it so that the poor people are being oppressed and try to make the activists' agenda more popular, but if those same people defend themselves like they should, then they are considered butchers, and their whole cause is condemned."

Qrow gave her an annoyed look before turning back to Adam. "Anyway, point is that we don't have a problem with defending yourself. We have a problem with you following in my sister's footsteps. You've stopped doing that though, so we're good now."

"Just as long as you don't backslide into holding up little old ladies on the street for lunch money," snipped Tudor.

Qrow laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" asked Tudor. "I actually saw her do that during the Vytal Festival once. She only stopped when she saw me."

Adam flinched. "That sounds like her."

"It doesn't have to sound like you though," proclaimed Tudor. "You, at least, have the fire of a revolutionary spirit."

"He joined a terrorist organization!" objected Qrow.

Turned it into one, really, thought Adam sadly, deciding that perhaps it would be best not to bring that up.

"So his fire needs to be tempered. Were you so different?" Tudor asked rhetorically. "You found your cause. Why can't he?"

"Of course he can," agreed Qrow. "Just not yours, because it's a crazy, neofeudal, seditious, pie-in-the-sky, nonsense cause for spoiled little children who want to run away from home but don't want to give up their stuff."

"You dare?!" shouted back Tudor, again adopting that weirdly stereotypical noblewoman voice.

"Tudor, you know me. Of course I dare."

The rest of the argument was cut off by Sunsprite slamming the door open as she came in the house. "I have returned!"

Adam quickly bolted over to her. "Where's Ruby and Hot Rod?"

"Still having their fun," answered Sunsprite as she began to walk to another part of the house with a glance at the now silent "adults" in the room. "I came back to prepare for my part of the patrol tonight. When Uncle Xiao Long and Yang come in, then we will have further planning to do."

He followed her, and when they were in another room, she whispered to him, "Did they get political again?"

"Yes," answered Adam. "Thanks, I wasn't sure where that conversation was going."

"Anytime, cousin," replied Sunsprite with a smile. "In case you were put off, I would ask that you not judge all us frontier Huntresses by her boisterousness."

"I don't know," mused Adam. "Some of what she was saying made sense."

There was a strangled snort of laughter from her. "In that case, I'd ask that you not judge all frontier activists by her."

Adam smiled. "I'll be sure to meet some the next time I'm in the area."

If anyone had told Ruby exactly what her next birthday would entail the year before… she probably would have believed them for reasons beyond all comprehension, but if anyone else would have been told, they wouldn't believe it.

Yet here she was, stalking through the wilds of Patch with her back covered by a giant transforming alien robot wielding a giant transforming energy bow, and wearing a pair of the most advanced - and, in her opinion, stylish - goggles on the planet made by another giant transforming alien robot as a birthday gift for her.

She'd felt like the second luckiest girl on the planet, and then! Then they had found one of the last Beringels left on the island, and then she felt like the luckiest girl on Remnant!

And Hot Rod's energy bow! How awesome was that?! She wasn't so sure about its name, though. "Firebolt" sounded cool, but it was a bow and so fired energy arrows, not bolts.

Even if, she reluctantly admitted, "Fire Arrow" didn't sound quite as cool.

Curse you, Valish language, she ruminated. I'll get you next time. Next time.

"How are you enjoying the goggles?" asked Hot Rod.

"They're awesome!" gushed Ruby. "And so stylish too!"

"Glad to hear it. I might be a wiz when it comes to Cybertronian fashion," bragged Hot Rod as he smiled approvingly at the flame patterns on his arms, "but I was shooting in an electrical storm when it came to human fashion, and keeping Wheeljack reined in is a task all by itself some days."

"Hey, sometimes you hit something by blind firing," replied Ruby with a shrug… a split second before she snapped Crescent Rose up to shoot at something, but stopped. "Deer. Good thing I didn't shoot. I'm not sure about the etiquette about eating meat when around Autobots."

"Is it wrong?" asked Hot Rod curiously.

"Well, uh, kind of?" theorized Ruby. "There are people who think it's wrong to kill another living thing in order to live, so they only eat plants."

Hot Rod cut her off. "But aren't plants living things?"

Ruby paused in thought. "Well, yes, but that's different."

"How?" he asked, and at Ruby's uncomprehending blinking, he continued. "Sorry. I guess I just don't have the brain module for this stuff. As far as I'm concerned, though, you organics need to eat other organics in order to survive, so I can't really go around blaming you for something you can't change."

"Huh. I guess that makes sense," mused Ruby. "Never really thought about it before... Does that mean that I can go hunt that deer now? 'Cause I could really go for some venison."

"Hey, just because I'm tolerant doesn't mean I want to see you boring into another organic like an energy drill through a 'bot."

"I don't eat like that," protested Ruby. "Who told you I did? Was it Yang? …Adam?"

"Merely a logical deduction," Hot Rod defended himself. "Yang won't stop talking about you if anyone gets her going, but I've never heard of that going into your eating habits. Haven't heard about Adam saying anything about you. I don't even even think he knows about you running into the middle of a three-way firefight and getting shot."

Ruby let out a long-suffering groan as her heart dropped through the ground into the center of Remnant. "He knows. Everyone knows. Even Megatron knows."

Before a reply could be made by Hot Rod, a terrible noise rose up from nearby.

"That's a Bushwacker!" gasped Ruby in excitement. "Let's kill it!"

The little red reaper roared ahead with tremendous speed and a tornado of Petal Burst. Hot Rod followed behind at a more careful but still rapid pace, dodging trees as he went. Then, suddenly, they were upon it.

It was an abominable sight, the wicked combination of a gar, a gharial, and the landscaping department of a hardware store. The body was sixty feet in length and shaped much like a crocodilian, but was smooth and slick like a fish's. The head was shaped like an elongated cone, with helical ridges running up and down the length of it, and teeth in a long mouth that blurred and whirled just like the teeth of a chainsaw. All of this was toned in the oily black and bone white colors of a Grimm with hateful glowing red eyes.

"Oh, she's a beaut, isn't she?"

The essence of fear was perhaps a bit lost on Ruby Rose, however, so enthusiastic for her job was she.

"I got this!" called out Hot Rod as he let loose an energy arrow from Firebolt.

The Bushwacker was already in motion, however. Slapping its paddle-like tail to the ground, it propelled itself up into the air and out of the way of the loosed arrow. In the air, it twisted such that it was facing down, and thusly, it began to spin with sinful swiftness. It hit the forest floor nose first, and absurdly, it drilled through the dirt and disappeared down a collapsing tunnel in a tower of topsoil.

"It's going to come out from under us!" cried out Ruby as she flew up into the trees.

Hot Rod slammed his hand onto the ground and paused for a moment before leaping up into the air. The Bushwacker came spinning out of the ground just where the Autobot had been, leaping once more skyward. It was the opening needed for another arrow loosed from Firebolt to piece through the shoulder of one of its short stumpy legs and explode with a heroic snap, crackle, pop.

The Bushwacker came crashing to the forest floor with a horrid wail of pain, even as Ruby fired upon it from above. Rounds loaded with ice dust exploded upon the other limbs, encasing the three remaining legs in blocks of frozen water that fused with the ground and plants around them. Showing tremendous strength, however, it tore itself free and lashed out with an open mouth to bite onto the trunk of the tree Ruby was using as a perch.

With a loud whir and a torrent of sawdust, the Bushwacker bit straight through the thick trunk. Ruby jumped with her semblance even as the tree fell down… upon Hot Rod. The 'bot let out a cry and found himself pinned under the giant log.

The fiendish Grimm opened its mouth to bite again, this time upon Hot Rod, and found its maw filled with repeated explosions of ice dust. It struggled to close its mouth again, so filled with the aftermath of the cryogenic ammunition was it, but not for long. The fist of Hot Rod smashed into that icy jaw, and then the three "exhaust pipes" mounted to the forearm unleashed a torrent of superheated plasma straight down the throat of the monster.

The sudden freezing followed by the equally sudden heating caused a rapid thermal expansion beyond the speed of sound. In other words: a titanic explosion that tore the Grimm apart from the inside out.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Ruby as she fluttered to the ground in the all-too-quiet aftermath. "That was so cool! Here, let me help you with that."

She jumped up and dug the scythe blade of Crescent Rose into the trunk of the tree that had Hot Rod pinned. They counted down, and when the time was right, Hot Rod pushed while Ruby fired off a series of recoil boosts, the two together rotating the log off of him. This would have crushed the young Huntress like a mound of dough, but she was able to use her semblance to avoid such a fate.

"Thanks," said Hot Rod with a smile. "You know, it occured to me that I probably should have asked what a Bushwacker was before rushing in."

"It occurs to me that I should have told you regardless instead of rushing in," replied Ruby.

The two stared at each other for a long moment.

"We're not going to tell anyone about this, right?" asked Hot Rod.

"Oh, no," Ruby assured him.

The forest was remarkably quiet that night, and so it was easy for Adam to hear Ruby approaching from behind.

"Hey, why are you out here?" she asked, breaking the ice first so as to not alarm him.

"I needed some space to think," answered Adam honestly, "so I volunteered to cover the next watch."

He needed it, but he didn't want it. He felt like he was completely torn up inside. Nothing made sense; it was like he was in a dream world, and… and he didn't want to wake up. Because he knew that if he woke up, he'd be living in a nightmare.

"I came out to go on an extra patrol in case any Grimm are attracted to what's going on in the kitchen," Ruby stated as she came up alongside him.

Adam looked at her, back to the house, and then back to her. "What's going on in the kitchen?"

"Dad and Aunt Tudor are going at it," she answered nervously, drawing Crescent Rose in carbine form. "Yang and Sunsprite are trying to hold them back, but…"

Into the silence, Adam asked, "But what?"

Her shoulders slumped. "But I can't deal with all that. So I came out here."

Adam looked across the dark forest. "How many Grimm do you think will arrive?"

"I don't know," admitted Ruby. "The Rangers have been stepping up patrols after the battle, and the Autobots have been doing their own sweeps, so I don't know if any will show up. Still, there's no guarantee that all of them will be stopped, so I'll help stand guard out here."

"Feel free to," he said without moving.

Ruby nodded, snapped her new goggles over her eyes, and then sped off in a cloud of roses, leaving him alone.

Alone with his thoughts…

"Come now, boy. One good swing, and it's over. Put your back into it."

Unbidden, he could feel bile rising up out of his throat. There was a retching noise, but nothing was coming out. He was doubled over, and then suddenly, in a rose-scented burst, small hands were upon him.

"Adam!" cried Ruby. "Adam, what's wrong?!"

He snapped away from her, and in the process managed to hit his back on a nearby tree. He slid down, and Ruby crouched in front of him. Her face was creased with worry. His face was still concealed by the mask he'd traded his sunglasses for when he'd left the house.

Mother's visage flashed in his mind again.

He tore off the mask.

"Adam!" cried Ruby, her voice rising in concern.

"Why?!" he shouted. "Why are you treating me like this?!"

"What do you mean?" asked Ruby innocently, panickingly.

"Why are you so kind to me?!"

"Why wouldn't I?!"

"Because I'm a murderer!" admitted Adam, tears in his eyes. Silence descended upon them for a moment that seemed to last forever, and then his head fell with a sob. "I'm a monster."

Ruby's face had grown into a mien of compassion. "What happened?"

"'Wha-what happened'?" stammered Adam. "I killed someone! Defeated guards crawling away, civilians going about their days, soldiers in combat, I've killed so many I stopped caring. I- oh gods, I never even found out who he was."

"Who who was?" asked Ruby.

Adam's mouth twitched, but no sound came out.

"Please, Adam, tell me," begged the dark-haired girl whose silver eyes seemed to be gleaming like unbroken moons.

"I…"

"It's okay, Adam. Take it one step at a time."

"It was after Mother killed a woman named Robin Scheer," began Adam suddenly, his voice on autopilot. "She seemed... different, after that. Mother said that I was getting old enough that it was time I became a man. So she went out by herself and brought back a man. He was scared, he was begging for his life, but Mother had broken his legs so he couldn't run away. She told me to grab my sword, so I did, and when I came back with it, she told me to behead him. I hesitated, she told me I needed to do it, everyone in the camp was looking at me, so I did. I… I killed a man. I didn't know who he was; I didn't know anything. I still don't. I just- just killed him, and I kept on killing. She was right, Mother was right; the first time was the hardest. It just became so easy after that, until it was like nothing at all was happening.

"I'm a monster, an unfeeling mon-"

Ruby ceased her distance and wrapped her arms around his. "Stop it," she ordered. "Stop it. You are not a monster."

"How can you say that?" asked Adam pleadingly, blinking as tears came out of his eyes.

"Because…" Ruby trailed off as she pulled back to look him in the eyes. "Because if you are, then so am I."

Adam blinked in confusion. "How?"

"Hundreds of people are dead because of me," confessed Ruby, her voice cracking along the way. "Remember what I told you about our raid on Starscream's lab? He had captured the village of Darius, an entire settlement trapped in his lab, but… but because I rushed in like a stupid fool, we were only able to save four. The rest burned to death.

"I checked the last census numbers. Around four-hundred and twenty-one people lived in Darius. That's four hundred and seventeen people who died because I was an impulsive idiot. In the battle of Vale, people died because I didn't check my cover; I know they did."

"Ruby," interrupted Adam in bewilderment. "Ruby, you don't know for sure; you're making assumptions, and even if you weren't, there's a big difference between deliberate murder and unintentional deaths caused by enemy action. Starscream killed people at his lab, Megatron killed people in the city; you didn't. Those distinctions matter."

"Not to the people who die," insisted Ruby. "All that matters is that a life that could have gone on for many years… didn't."

"Optimus told me once that I should learn to tell the difference between what I can change and what I cannot," Adam said quietly. "That even in a hopeless battle, what matters is if I fight, why I fight, and how I fight. Those were the choices we made, Ruby, between good and evil. And I chose evil."

She reached over and took his hand into her own, giving him a faint smile. "And we can't change the past, Adam. But the future? That, we can change. All you can do - all any of us can do - is keep moving forward."

Wide, silver eyes met blue, begging - pleading - for him to understand, to accept her words.

And... he couldn't deny the truth of them. What use dwelling on the past? Perhaps in some other world, he had chosen to travel a different path, lived a different life, but even if so, it mattered not. For him, this world was the only one of consequence. The past was the past, not to be forgotten, lest it be repeated, but to be left behind nonetheless. Even so, he owed a debt to those he had wronged, and while it perhaps was foolish to flagellate himself in penance, if any called upon that debt...

"She's right, kid," a gruff voice interrupted his thoughts.

Adam looked up, and so did Ruby. They found a corvid standing on a tree branch above them. Then, in an instant, Qrow Branwen - Uncle Qrow - was standing before them.

When he spoke, his voice was calm and clear. "Figured Raven wouldn't have made an exception for you with our tribe's little 'coming of age ceremony,' but I didn't want to say anything."

Adam felt his lips tighten. "I see. And will you share with me what wisdom you have gained from the experience?"

Qrow snorted. "Experience, yeah, but 'wisdom' ain't what I'd call it. Truth is, kid, that little ball of guilt roiling around inside you? It sucks, but it's what keeps you from going back to what you were, to being the kind of man who'd do those things without hesitation. All you've gotta ask yourself is: is it worth it?"

Adam opened his mouth, then closed it, his eyes darting reflexively toward his half-sister's half-sister standing next to him.

Qrow continued, rolling his neck. "I figured the best thing I could do was take things one day at a time and try to leave this world a better place than I found it. Or at least do what I could to keep it from getting worse." He shrugged. "Don't know that that'll work for you. You seem like the kind of guy who needs something specific to shoot for."

"Well, it's not like there's a shortage of targets," quipped Ruby. "You know, between the Decepticons, and Salem, and MECH, and the SDC, and those people you upset, Uncle Qrow."

He pointed a finger at her. "Hey, Cobra really is a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world. If I hadn't stopped them when I did, then they could have caused all sorts of havoc."

"You forgot about the White Fang," observed Adam.

"What?" asked Ruby in confusion.

"The White Fang; you didn't list them as a possible threat," clarified Adam.

Ruby shrugged. "Are they a threat? I mean, you're the good guys now, right?"

Adam leaned back into the tree. "I don't know. Sienna's smart, but… Ruby, a lot of the people who survived the battle left because they didn't want to go legitimate. They were disgusted at the idea of helping humans, even against the Grimm."

"What? But... why? They're the Grimm!"

"Because we didn't sign up to help people," Adam declared. "We signed up to hurt people."

"I don't understand," admitted Ruby in clear confusion.

"Spite's a powerful thing, kiddo," said Qrow.

Adam sighed. "At the end of the day, I think I just helped turn the White Fang into yet another bandit tribe."

"Maybe," Ruby said, then darted toward him and wrapped her arms around him again. "But it won't happen again. I won't let it. I promise."

Adam blinked. "What?"

Ruby blushed furiously. "I can explain."

"No you can't, kiddo," offered Qrow with a shake of his head. "That sentence made no sense."

"It does too!" Ruby protested. "It, uh, it… okay, it's not as clear as it could have been. The point, though, is that I'm not going to let my big brother fall into darkness again. Same for you, Uncle Qrow."

The two older men looked at her in bemusement, and then Qrow reached down and gave her a headpat.

"Hey!" objected Ruby.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, we'll do the same for you," offered Adam jokingly.

"That's right, kiddo; you won't become a bandit princess on our watch," declared Qrow in good nature.

They laughed, and Ruby joined in the laughter on the outside, but on the inside, things were a different story altogether.

"Please, please, please be telling the truth. I don't know if I have the strength to resist by myself.

Of all the things Adam expected to see roll up to the house the next morning, a convoy of black vehicles sporting little Menagerite flags on the front was definitely not one of them. Of course, neither was Kali Belladonna and a cadre of bodyguards. It certainly wasn't that little annoying ex-Schnee that acted so much like Blake… who stepped out of the middle utility vehicle after her.

"I don't want to be here," he whispered to himself.

"Neither do I," revealed Yang, because of course the annoying younger sister had overheard that.

Adam groaned, but then said, "There's an irony here somewhere."

Yang cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "Eh? What do you mean?"

"For a long time, I would have done anything for Blake, to get her back. And now? I've gone and given her everything she ever asked for from me, and I didn't even do it for her," Adam said in a heavy tone that led into a short pause. "Well, almost everything."

"What didn't you give her?" asked Yang curiously.

Adam's declaration came with deadly seriousness. "I refuse to make tuna melts at two a.m."

Yang laughed.

"You think I'm joking?" he asked crossly.

"Sorry, sorry," Yang got out between laughs. "It's just… Don't worry about it, bro. They're probably just here to give Ruby some gifts. See?"

They watched and listened as the entourage walked up to the approaching bloodcrowned girl in question. Weiss handed her off a package, and Blake and her mother seemed to have gifts in hand as well.

"Here you go, Ruby; happy birthday," Weiss declared as she handed off a massive tome. "I hope you like it. Tukson helped me track down a copy."

"Oh wow!" cheered Ruby happily. "The Song of Olivia!. In leatherbound! This is incredible! It's just… thank you, Weiss."

"Just... don't end up like her, okay?" asked the snowcapped girl in a light tone.

"Pfft! Don't worry," insisted Ruby with a wave of her dominant hand while the other kept the tome close to her heart. "I've already done, like, three literary analyses of this story's e-book version; I already know that."

Weiss's expression instantly shifted to something far more accusatory. "Then why did you run into the middle of a three-way firefight and get shot, Ruby? Why did you run into the middle of that firefight?"

Yang barked out another laugh at her sister's misfortune as her head collapsed on top of the book. Adam hummed thoughtfully.

"Oh, relax," said Yang with one hand clapping his shoulder. "They'll be gone in a few minutes anyway."

Many hours later…

It was too crowded in the house now. Adam had mostly managed to evade... certain people... after they'd arrived, but once he'd had an opening, he'd quietly excused himself and stepped outside to get some air.

And if that meant he was able to avoid the crowded interior by standing on the roof, gazing at the sunset, so much the better.

"Adam."

He felt his fists clench at the all-too-familiar voice from behind him.

"Blake," he replied curtly.

"You've... been avoiding me," she observed as she crept up closer behind him. He refused to acknowledge the statement of the obvious, refused to give into the instincts telling him to turn around, leap away, attack, do something. Instead, he just silently fixed his gaze on the reddish horizon.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out

That got him to turn around, to see Blake standing just a few feet behind and to his right.

"What?" he hissed incredulously.

"I'm sorry, Adam," she repeated.

He stared at her, trying to comprehend what was going on. The sorrowful, regretful expression on her face was unmistakable. A part of him wanted to accept the apology at face value. It would be so easy to let her take responsibility, to lay the blame at her feet. To shed the sins of his past like a tattered cloak.

"There is a difference between what you can change and what you cannot," Optimus Prime said quietly. "In the end, the former is all that truly matters."

After a moment, she said, "I failed you. I-"

"No," he cut her off, stepping back and swiping his arm through the air. "No, you don't get to apologize to me."

She jerked back in surprise. "What?"

Adam took a moment to collect his thoughts, then shook his head. "You always took responsibility that was never yours to take, Blake. You are not responsible for what I did." He turned away to look back at the setting sun. He swallowed hard before forcing out the bitter truth he'd come to accept: "No one is, except me."

"If I had-"

"Had what?" he demanded, swinging around to face her again. "Punched me in the face?" He shook his head again emphatically. "No, Blake, you're too kind for that. You always were. It's one reason I-"

He bit off the words before they could escape, then turned back to the sunset once more.

Blake spoke up hesitantly. "One reason you... you what?"

"Doesn't matter," he said curtly. "Besides, while I'll admit it was effective on Sunfire's - Yang's - part, she had powerful friends, friends I couldn't fight, friends I needed. If you had struck me back then... I think I might've done something we'd all have regretted."

Assuming, that is, Blake would have lived to regret it.

"You wouldn't have done that." Her voice was quiet, gentle and kind, but wrapped around a solid core of certainty that she should not have, not about this.

"What makes you so certain?" Was there something else? Had she seen something in him back then that he couldn't see in himself now?

"If... if nothing else, I brought my name to the table. I gave you legitimacy among the White Fang."

Adam felt his face twist with annoyance. "There you go again," he spoke harshly, "taking responsibility that isn't yours to take."

"What?" she sputtered. "But I-"

"Are you even listening to yourself?" he hissed angrily, turning to glare at her again. "I had legitimacy because I had High Leader Khan's blessing, because what I did worked! Yes, sure, it was just an illusion, but none of us saw it that way!"

"I should have known better!" she protested. "I should have steered you away from that!"

"Now you're actively trying to blame yourself!" he roared. "Why? Do you actually like having a guilt complex?"

"Because I refuse to believe I fell in love with a monster!"

He froze, staring at her, losing himself in those golden eyes of hers, pleading - begging - him for... for something.

It would be so easy...

"Yeah?" he snarled. "Well. You did. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I think it's pretty clear you misjudged me."

With that, he turned and hopped off the roof.

"No! Adam, wait!"

He kept walking.

Kali's ears flattened against her head as she listened to the scene above and rubbed her temples in annoyance.

"Teenagers?" asked Tudor knowingly.

"I don't understand!" snapped Kali, bringing her hands down in a mighty chop as she did so. "She has a wonderful blond right in front of her who's willing to wait years to marry her, and she's still chasing after the bad boys!"

"Hmm," agreed Tudor as she walked up besides the gesticulating politician to offer some Apple Family brand Solesian cider that her brother-in-law probably wouldn't miss. "You could turn that question around just as well."

That sentence was said with a gesture towards Taiyang, who was chasing after Raven's boy with the sort of fervor that only came from trying to make up for lost time.

Kali took the cider and sighed. "Hopefully, her mood will improve when she gets back to Menagerie and away from these love triangles."

Tudor hummed in agreement again, and then, after a few seconds, turned her head for an address. "What if Weiss gets into a love triangle?"

The First Lady of Menagerie groaned.

The Huntress's scroll vibrated in its holster with a specific pattern.

"Excuse me," Tudor said, and with deftness downed the rest of her drink and swooped into a nearby bathroom to take the call "Ahoy-hoy."

"Tudor," the voice of Charlie Burns, Chief of Police for Griffin Rock, came over the scroll along with a video feed showing him in his home. "I don't suppose you've gotten the same job offer I have from the new commissioner of the VPD, have you?"

"That depends; is it the same job offer that Shipwreck and Taiyang have gotten?" asked Tudor in turn, her mind flashing back to the generically worded e-mail she had gotten at the same time as Taiyang.

Charlie's brows furrowed. "I've contacted two dozen other Huntsmen, and they've all gotten the same message. Tudor, whatever this Martinez woman is planning, I don't think it's a simple extermination mission or clearing out some bandits."

A few things clicked together in Tudor's mind. "No... no, I think that's exactly what she's going to be paying us all so much to do."

Judging by his expression, it clicked for him too. "My gods, that's insane."

"Many things are, until they happen," replied Tudor, and at that, she had to give one of her laughs that everyone complained were strange at the sheer absurdity of it all. "Oh, I had no idea the new commissioner was such a revolutionary."

He'd run all the way to the cliffs above the sea. It was quiet, and peaceful. If there were any vehicles anywhere, they were under the surface of the beautiful nighttime ocean that was illuminated by the reflected light of the rising broken moon.

In retrospect, it was amazing how much Yang had gotten wrong about him and Blake over the months before they'd realized the connection. In nearly all ways, she had been not only wrong but spectacularly wrong - he made a mental note to rib her on that theory about Blake being an SDC turncoat - and yet...

She was right about one thing, Adam mused as he took in the scent of the autumn forest. Blake and I really are bad for each other.

It had been hard, seeing her again, and his feelings hadn't changed, but on that rooftop, something had. He'd made a choice.

He felt free.

There was a crunch of leaves, a courtesy noise, and his remora of a would-be father came striding up to him.

"Why'd you follow me?" Adam asked neutrally, his gaze cast out onto the sea.

"We all heard you and Blake up on the roof," he said. "Besides, you're unarmed, and the Grimm are still out here."

Adam blinked at the obviousness of it, and the impending awkwardness of if he decided to return. "Oh."

"You know, there's some teachers who say that being a monster is a good thing," Taiyang suddenly said.

Adam looked at him in surprise and confusion.

The blond continued. "I mean, from a certain point of view, that's what a Huntsman is. We're relentless forces of death and destruction that deliver violence onto our enemies. The difference is that we've got our claws pointed at other monsters."

Adam scowled slightly. "I'm not sure I like that comparison."

"Well, I could have used the sheepdog analogy, but I didn't think it would work," admitted Taiyang, his head reaching up to scratch the back of his head as he did so.

Mirrored sunglasses turned to look at their companion more properly. "Why not? I like dogs. I definitely wouldn't mind being compared to them."

"It probably feels a lot better than the alternative," thought the blond patriarch aloud.

There was a slight jingle, and Adam turned around again to see Zwei bounding up to them. He gave a light laugh and bent down to pick him up. There was nothing forced about the smile on his face.

"Hey there, little guy!" Adam said with uncharacteristic cheeriness as he brought Zwei into his arms and got a face licking in reply. "Hear what I just said?"

"I think he was just worried about us going out alone," observed his mother's husband in amusement.

Adam brought one hand up to deftly scratch the little furball in his arms. "That's because he's a good boy, a very good boy."

Zwei barked in reply, and this time, his tongue knocked Adam's sunglasses out of place. The redhead just laughed. Then, very suddenly, a silence both happy and somber overcame him.

Out of the blue, he announced, "Hey, Dad, I'm getting this scar removed."

Taiyang Xiao Long felt like his heart was going to burst as he gave his answer. "Sounds good to me, son."

Author's Note 1 (Cyclone):

What? Did you think it would really be that easy for Adam and Blake to move on? They don't just have issues with each other, they have subscriptions, but it's well past time for them to cancel those subscriptions and move on.

Author's Note 2 (Cody MacArthur Fett):

How did production on this chapter go? Glacially slow at first, and then all at once.

I'm starting to really appreciate Chandler's Law. You can really see it in play at several points in this chapter. Things are going along in a scene, but we don't know how to continue or end it, so in walks Ruby or her cousin Sunsprite.

This chapter is using up yet more ancient dialogue! A lot less than usual, actually. Turns out Blake was actually just a small part of Adam's character, and most of the old dialogue was about that, so it had to be thrown out.

Crossposting Note:

With this update, FFN is now fully caught up with what's written, so the next update is scheduled for "when it's done."

As a reminder, if you want to talk or hang out, we have a Discord server: discord dot gg slash acKKNXR