I got the date wrong at the bottom of last chapter. I did edit it the next day but my apologies for any confusion caused. This fic is updated every two weeks, not every week.

This chapter is also going to be rushed today. I'm really sorry about that but I have to go into the doctors again to have my eyes looked at. They told me it was just an allergic reaction with some scarring, but it hasn't gone away despite what they gave me for that. I recognise that they're so much busier with the vaccines and everything, but a problem is a problem, and they have told me to come in for a few tests. Ugh. I'm expecting blood tests. I hate blood tests.

The squeamishness is making it very hard to write well.

Cover Art: JustFun101

Chapter 24

"Bloody Schnee!" Adam growled, shoving Wilt between the Beowolf's jaws and using it like an iron bar. The pure white creature snapped and bit at him, its huge forearms planted down on either side of his head. "Even when we're on the same side you find a way to annoy me!"

"Good work Neo!" Torchwick scrambled to his feet, the illusion of Weiss shattering like glass. He winked back at Adam. "And see you around, Taurus. I'd stop to chat, but it looks like you've got your hands full."

Adam roared and rolled the Beowolf onto its back. Wrenching his sword from its teeth, he stabbed down with two hands, puncturing through its skull and killing it in an instant. As if it wasn't bad enough he was being made to work with a Schnee, he now had the galling experience of losing to an idiot who made puns as he ran away. Someone would pay for this; of that he was determined. Angrily, he stabbed Wilt back into its sheathe and ground both into the gravel.

By the time he was free to look around, Torchwick and his accomplice were gone. Of the White Fang, most had already surrendered and were on their knees being watched over by the Atlas soldiers. Two of them glared hatefully his way, clearly recognising him. Adam had no time for them and rounded on the woman who had attacked him.

"Damn it, Schnee! Damn you and your whole stupid family!"

"Looks like Torchwick and his new accomplice got away." Qrow helped Adam up, who dusted himself down. "We managed to protect the dust and capture near all the White Fang, however. That ought to give us some intel."

"I doubt it." Adam said. "They won't have been trusted with anything important and I can guarantee those behind them are wiping their hands clean right now. Anything these lot know will be out of date within the hour. We'd have more," he said, voice rising, "if it wasn't for me having to fight for my life against an ally."

Winter Schnee had gone beyond shock and straight to anger. Her teeth were clenched so hard he could only dream of them shattering. If it weren't for the two soldiers she was with and had to keep her calm in front of, she might have attacked him.

"I saw you attacking my sister!"

"Your sister who you knew for a fact was back in Beacon, and who if I'd ever wanted to attack, I could have multiple times by now without you being able to do anything about it. I've accused your family of many things in the past, Schnee, but I may have to add complete and utter incompetence to the list. I wonder what Ironwood would think."

"Guh." Winter shook with rage. "Torchwick's accomplice was an unknown. We had no intelligence on her Semblance and couldn't have prepared-"

"I didn't realise Atlas was so pathetic as to need perfect information to complete even the most basic of tasks. Perhaps I should have guessed that already since you couldn't deal with us."

"You were hardly able to defeat us either!"

"Oh no…" Adam drawled sarcastically. "The ragtag bunch of untrained civilians could not defeat the military superpower any more than said superpower could defeat the civilians. Those two things are completely comparable. Face it, Schnee, you and your vaunted General are the biggest military failures of this generation. Ironwood will go down as the next General Lagune."

"General Ironwood is a great man! Take that back!"

"Great? Ha. He's barely half a man at all."

"He's more man than you are, Taurus!"

"Checked yourself, have you?"

"How dare-"

"Does he come with a vibrate function?"

"Okay! Okay!" Qrow waded between them with an awkward laugh. "While I'm normally all for riling Winter up and insulting Jimmy, I think this needs to stop. Preferably before one of you attacks the other."

"Again." Adam added snidely.

"Winter, can we leave you to handle securing the White Fang and getting them back to Beacon? I'll take Adam and report directly to Ozpin. I'm sure he'll fill Ironwood in."

Winter took a deep breath and nodded. "Of course. I wouldn't trust him with his former allies anyway. He might free them while we're not looking."

"I guess that's a horrifying concept for a Schnee."

"What is?" she asked, frowning.

Adam smirked. "Free faunus." He brushed past her, ignoring the way she bristled. "Try not to brand, mutilate or otherwise enslave any of them while we're gone. I count twelve faunus and I'll be sure to count again at Beacon. Wouldn't want any to disappear into the mines and never come back."

/-/

"Roman escaped?" Ozpin sighed through his steepled fingers. "That is frustrating news. I'll be sure to inform James that it was not Adam's fault this occurred. This accomplice of his might prove to be a problem in the future, especially if we can't tell friend from foe."

"It wouldn't be a problem if the Schnee used her brain."

"Is it wise to antagonise her, Adam? If you feel she's been childish then you could be the bigger person and turn the other cheek. Reacting only brings you down to her level."

Adam bit off his next comment before it could slip out. Whether Ozpin was right or not, a line like that was designed to make him look stupid if he argued. He bit his tongue and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"We'll try interrogating the faunus captured. I should be able to offer them plea deals and if they're as green as Adam thinks, they'll fold. We may not get much out of them but even an idea as to why they want the dust will be enough to get the Council moving."

"Am we done here?" Adam asked. "I don't want to stick around if you're going to talk to the incompetent general."

"We are done here, yes. Qrow, you shall stay and offer a witness account for James. Thank you for your time, Adam, and for your effort. I'll be sure to include you in anything we discover from the prisoners."

Good enough. Adam nodded and took the elevator down. While he would have enjoyed mocking Ironwood, the taste of failure was still rank in his mouth. To say nothing of gravel and grit all over his clothes.

Torchwick was surprisingly easy to beat. I guess Vale is just that peaceful a city. Still, who could have taken over after I left if they'd work with him? Sienna would never allow that.

He could contact her and find out. It wasn't like she had a scroll number anyone could reach, but most faunus in the White Fang's leadership knew the channels and methods by which to pass a message on. Those would still be available to him. The problem was he'd have to do it from the CCT and then he could almost guarantee Atlas would use it as proof he was spying on them.

In the end, it was none of his business. The whole point of leaving the White Fang and coming here – aside from proving Blake wrong – was to not dive straight back into the White Fang at the first opportunity. This was acceptable since Ozpin was assigning him to it, but he wouldn't put in any extra effort. That'd just prove Blake right.

"All I need now is a shower and-" Adam paused in the corridor. Outside the dorm to Team RYST's room stood Weiss Schnee, face an angry red. "-another angry Schnee…"

His voice drew her attention, though she thankfully hadn't heard him.

"A-Adam." Her words stuttered a little. "We need to talk."

"What I need is a shower, Weiss," he replied, pushing past her and opening the door. "A warm shower and a good night's sleep. I'm sure whatever this is can wait until morning."

"It can't!" Her hand tried to grab his and stop him opening the door, but he was too fast for her. Weiss almost tripped into the room after him. Yang and Ruby looked up from Yang's bed, the two watching a video together on a scroll.

"Where have you been?" Yang asked.

"Somewhere I wish I hadn't been." Adam pulled off his black jacket and tossed it onto his bed. Snagging a pair of clean pyjamas from his dresser, he headed for the bathroom. "With people I wish I hadn't been with. Your uncle was one of them."

"You went out with Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked.

"Please don't say it like that again."

"Adam!" Weiss spat. "We need to talk! Now!"

"Do we? Or is it you who needs to talk?" It wasn't fair, he knew, but Weiss looked and sounded very much like Winter at that moment, and Adam's mood hadn't improved any. "That's typical of a Schnee, isn't it? Everyone else should bend over to accommodate you when you want something, and we should all drop whatever it was we were busy with."

"Adam…" Ruby warned. "Can we not start a fight here?"

"I'm not trying to," he lied. "I just want a shower. Whatever Weiss wants can-"

"WE NEED TO TALK NOW!"

Weiss' shrill scream echoed off the walls, likely through them and even further. There was no doubt the next couple of rooms overheard her, and Yang and Ruby recoiled in shock. Adam did too. He'd heard Weiss get angry, snappy and sharp before – that was normal – but this was the first time she'd ever really screamed.

"I… I think Weiss needs to talk…" Ruby said.

"I'm beginning to think the same." Adam felt stupid even as he said it. "I… suppose the shower can wait." He let the door close. "Well? I'm here. I'm sure whatever you want to say can be said in front of-"

"I know!" Weiss snapped. "I know about your past!"

Fear. Cold, cloying fear. Weiss might have meant a lot of things when she talked of his past, but the sheer anger in her eyes left no confusion. Adam's eyes slid to Ruby and Yang, clearly curious.

"On second thought, would you like to speak outside?"

Weiss walked to the door stiffly and opened it. Adam was quick to follow, ducking away from the curious gazes of their other teammates. Slamming the door behind them, he eyed the empty and quiet corridor. Too quiet. It wouldn't surprise him if everyone was listening in to figure out why Weiss shouted like that.

"Not here," he whispered, reaching for Weiss. She shied away, yanking her arm out of his reach. "Weiss, I'm not going to-"

"How can I trust anything you're about to say?"

"Well… I…"

Good question. How could a Schnee trust him? How could he trust a Schnee? This wasn't a situation he could cut through with a sword, and his social skills hadn't been the best even before the White Fang.

"Your sister knows who I am. What I am. Do you think she'd leave me alone with you without surveillance? Even if I wanted to hurt you, I'd not have a chance. I'm only asking for a private place to talk."

"The library. It's quiet at this hour."

He would have preferred a room all to themselves, maybe Oobleck's classroom, but she obviously didn't feel safe being alone with him right now. "The library will do…"

/-/

The library was mostly empty, much to his relief. There were one or two people here and there, studying among the alcoves, and the receptionist was working behind the desk. Or playing on the computer. It was hard to tell. That he noticed at all was only due to how anxiously he was looking around, trying to avoid the main topic.

Tsune was right. I should have handled this sooner.

"Weiss-"

"I wanted to know why my sister hated you so much. I was so angry at her, judging my teammate without knowing him, making all those assertations. It's the first time I was ever disappointed in her. Humiliated by her, even."

Adam kept his hands in his pockets, his shoulders stiff. "We have history."

"I know that now! It wasn't easy to find out, not with your name erased from almost any records I could find. Was that your attempt to hide from the truth?"

"Actually, that was Atlas' doing."

"What? Why?"

"To prevent my becoming a rallying point. They prefer for the names of any who best them to be erased from history, all the better to pretend it never happened. You can't call it a loss if it never happened in the first place, or so they seem to think."

Weiss stepped back. "It's true, then? You're not even going to deny it?"

"Before I do," he said carefully. "May I be sure of what I'm being accused of?" His smirk was just a little bitter. "I'd hate to blurt out some terrible secret when you're accusing me of wearing uneven socks."

She had only two words for him. "White. Fang."

"Ah." His smile slipped away like oil over water. "I thought it might be that."

"Well?" she demanded. "Aren't you going to deny it?"

"Would there be a point?"

"Damn it, Adam, I'm the one asking questions here. Stop answering with them and tell me what I want to know!"

"What do you want to know? Was I a part of the White Fang? Yes. Did I rise to the top? Yes. Did I lead squads against your sister in battle? Yes. Did I kill anyone under her command? Yes, but she did the same to those under mine. It was war, Weiss. That happens."

"It wasn't a war at all! It was terrorism!"

"Terrorism is just a name people give to war when they consider it unjustified." Adam sneered back. "Usually when they think the truth might paint their Kingdom as being in the wrong. We publicly declared war on the SDC. Atlas vowed to hunt us down and kill us. Ironwood bombed encampments, made mass arrests and ordered soldiers to open fire on us. What did you expect us to do? Roll over and die?"

"You bombed SDC convoys!"

"Our polite letters weren't reaching your father."

"Did you ever try?"

"Of course we fucking did!" Adam didn't swear often but having her question that had him fuming. His hand slammed into the bookshelf and Weiss jumped. Damn it. He restrained himself, pulling back, but the damage was done. He'd gone straight for violence again and Weiss knew it. "We staged protests," he said, struggling with his voice. "We collected petitions, we lobbied Atlas, we reached out for those who would support us. We appeared on TV, we indulged in interviews, we exposed the awful conditions your family put on us and we did all that for years! Years, Weiss!" He leaned in. "No one cared! No one gave a damn!"

"And so you went straight to the murder! Great job, Adam!"

"As if your family were any better. They were killing people long before we appeared on the scene."

"If that were true then you would have proved it!"

"We did prove it. Multiple times. Atlas was just happy to write it off as workplace accidents. Those clumsy faunus always getting themselves killed in the mines. Nothing to do with the disgusting working conditions-"

"Stop it!" Weiss snapped. "I'm not the terrorist here. I'm not the murderer!"

"That's the thing though," he continued. "When you're trying to change the world with words people tell you that actions speak louder. Go with action, however, and suddenly you're a coward for giving up on words. Ultimately, we were never given a chance. Atlas didn't want to change. Cheap dust and profits were more important than our lives."

"We're not talking about this!" Weiss pushed him away, buying space. "Stop making this about the faunus – you know I'm not racist! This is about you, Adam. About us. You – You're a criminal! You're a terrorist! You lied to us!"

"I didn't lie. I just… omitted the truth…"

He felt stupid even saying it, and Weiss' angry expression didn't help any.

"I wanted to tell you all," he said. "I was tyring to think of the right way to do it. I've left the White Fang and put it behind me. I haven't once tried to harm you despite you being on the same team as me."

"How am I supposed to trust that isn't a plot to get close to me? Earn my trust?"

Adam growled and ran a hand through his hair. "Because if it was, I'd be doing a pretty poor job of it. The White Fang would send someone a little less obviously faunus."

Weiss crossed her arms. "This isn't a laughing matter, Adam."

"I'm not laughing."

"What am I supposed to think?" she demanded. "What am I supposed to do? I've found out my teammate is an anti-Schnee terrorist." She threw her hands up. "How am I meant to act?"

"It's no different than when I found out mine was a Schnee."

"Being a Schnee isn't a crime!"

"It is to us. To a faunus, it represents one of the worst things imaginable."

"Do you have to twist everything to involve my family in some way?"

"You're the one who brought up the terrorism," he snarled. "It started because of your family's business practices and the atrocities committed by your father and his people."

"Atrocities like what?" she snapped.

It was too easy. Put her on the back foot, his mind suggested. Win the argument. Had he been in more control of himself he might have thought twice, but here and now he wanted to win. Adam reached up and ripped the bandage off.

"Atrocities like this!"

/-/

"Where is Weiss?" Ruby asked when Adam returned to the dorm. He was surly and quiet, ignoring them as he made his way over to his bed, ripped off the covers and threw himself down into it. "Adam? I was asking where Weiss was?"

"How should I know?"

"Uh. You and her went out to talk…"

Adam tightened the sheets around him.

"Adam…?"

"She'll be back by morning," he growled. "Weiss didn't like what she heard and ran off. Probably complaining in a bathroom stall about how everyone is bullying her and her family."

Ruby and Yang shared nervous looks. "I take it your talk didn't go well, then?" Yang asked. "Mind us asking what it was about?"

"Yes."

"That's a yes you do mind, or yes it's okay-?"

Adam's answer was to roll over and ignore them both.

/-/

Weiss couldn't breathe.

The SDC. Her company, her name, her beloved grandfather's legacy. Even in her mind she couldn't picture the floral initial stapled on a pale snowflake. Instead, she saw burnt and blackened flesh stamped into the face of a human being.

She had run.

How could she not? How could she face that?

Adam hadn't given chase, and of that she was grateful. She couldn't face him right now. Face, she thought, What a poor choice of words. Words were failing her too, bubbling past her lips.

Father had lied.

Why did that surprise her? It shouldn't have – he lied about almost everything. Finding out that they were branding faunus like cattle was a little beyond stocks and figures, however. It was pure evil. Maybe he hadn't known. Maybe it was done without her father's knowledge. Did that make it any better? What was worse, that her father willingly allowed this, or that he turned a blind eye to it? The Schnee family were responsible for either occasion.

I can't stay there tonight. I can't. How can I even look at him? He'd been so angry and full of wrath, looming over her with one pale blue eye narrowed and the other stained pink with blood. For a second, a brief but horrible second, she thought he might have killed her. That Adam might reach out, take her neck between his hands and choke the life out of her.

Team RYST's dorm was out of the question. Where, though? Where was she supposed to go? Winter! Winter had a room here for now and would let her stay over.

"Did Taurus do this to you, sister? I knew it would happen eventually. Stay here, I'll have him dragged out of Beacon and flown to Atlas to pay for all his crimes."

No, no, no. Weiss shook her head. If Winter saw her like this it would be the Great War all over again. Except… didn't Adam deserve to pay for his crimes? He was a terrorist. A criminal. And I didn't even warn Ruby and Yang! What if he does something to them?

He wouldn't. Despite everything, she was sure he wouldn't hurt them. There was no need to, was there? They weren't Schnee and they hadn't burnt their initials into the face of a child.

Who else did she know? Pyrrha? It wasn't fair to burden her with this, and Weiss didn't have a clue who her teammates even were. It struck her suddenly that she didn't have a lot of friends at Beacon. Only Yang, Ruby and Ad- and a Schnee-hating terrorist who may or may not want her dead.

What am I doing…? Where am I running to?

Weiss bit her lip.

What should I do?

Adam wasn't going to go away because she found the truth out. He was a part of Team RYST, and apparently the teachers knew. What they were smoking when they decided to pair him with her, she didn't know, but he obviously hadn't broken any rules, or he would have been expelled.

"This puts so many things into context. Miss Goodwitch, the bullies, Adam's constant meetings with Ozpin. How did I never think of this before?"

"Perhaps because assuming a faunus evil simply because they are a faunus would only prove him correct?"

Weiss jumped violently, twisting in shock. Behind her stood a taller woman with brown hair, brown eyes and two fox ears atop her head. A bushy tail swung gently behind her white lab coat.

"M-Miss Kitsune?"

"Tsune please. My full name is uninspired."

"H-How much did you hear?" Weiss demanded.

"I heard very little, only your last question. What I know is much more." The faunus' lips curled up. "After all, I'm a faunus too so I would know of the Adam Taurus. And he's been quite a common visitor to the infirmary. Seeing you in such a state out here, well, it's either something Adam said or another childish argument between you and your team leader."

Weiss flinched. "Childish!?"

"Ah. I shouldn't have said that. Peter likes to gossip."

Peter? Professor Port. Shame and mortification crept up Weiss' neck at the confirmation that her teacher – the one she'd gone to for private advice – had not only told her problems to others but made it a piece of teacher's gossip. And worse, they all thought it childish.

"I-I was mistaken," she stammered. "It was a lapse in judgment-"

"Is this your issue?" Tsune asked. "And here I thought it was Adam you're freaking out over."

Her eyes widened. "It is Adam! I… I mean… Did you know…?"

"His past?"

Weiss nodded quickly.

"I did."

"And it doesn't bother you!?" Weiss' voice scratched out. "Having someone like that around children doesn't make you worried?"

"Someone like that, hm?"

Weiss' face burned shamefully. "Why are you acting like what I said is wrong? He's… He's a…"

"Terrorist?"

Weiss flinched and looked left and right.

"That you're worried about revealing that is curious. You've found his big secret, Miss Schnee. Isn't this the best chance you'll ever have to remove the filthy faunus from your team?"

"Don't put words in my mouth! I… I didn't say I wanted him gone…"

"Then what do you want?"

She didn't know. To have never found out in the first place would have been nice. Ignorance was bliss. Ignorance of Adam's crimes, his history with her family and what her family had done to him in turn. If she hadn't gotten so curious, they could be arguing and talking like normal.

"Well?" Tsune prompted. "I'm not Ozpin, girl. I don't ask open-ended questions so people can walk off and have introspective moments in the bathroom. What is it you want?"

"I… I…" Weiss swallowed. "I want somewhere to stay for tonight so I can sort this out."

Tsune cocked an eyebrow. "You want to avoid the problem? Alright. You can come sleep in the infirmary tonight."

"W-Wait, really!?"

"Sure! Why not?"

"I-Isn't avoiding the problem wrong?"

"Meh. What do people who say that know? Oh look at me, I stabbed my hand on a knife. Guess I'd better not avoid the problem and try and pick it up again. Idiots. Pain exists for a reason. It's to teach people not to do whatever it was they did again." The faunus' tail swayed happily as she walked away, forcing Weiss to follow. "That's why pain is the greatest gift we can ever have, and something we should cherish."

"Um-"

"Except period pain. That can go to hell."

"Miss Tsune-"

"Tsune."

"Tsune, then." It felt strange to call a teacher by their first name, but everyone knew Beacon's doctor was a little off. "Do you… Do you have a problem with me? Or the Schnee family?"

"Nope."

Weiss dared to hope. "None at all?"

"None. Course, that doesn't mean I like them either. I've never met any of you before now, and I can't exactly say I know you well, can I?"

"No. Of course not." Weiss breathed a sigh of relief. This was what she wanted, to be judged by someone who was prepared to get to know her first. Then again, Adam had gotten to know the Schnee family, hadn't he? Intimately. "Do all faunus hate us?"

Weiss dreaded the answer.

"Don't be daft. Do all faunus hate broccoli? Do all humans like the SDC?" The woman laughed and pushed open the door to her infirmary. It was empty for once, dark and quiet with only a few blinking lights here and there. "Pick any bed you fancy. I'll try and remember not to stick any needles in you. No promises."

Weiss hesitantly chose one near the door and climbed up. "It feels like most faunus hate us. I get looks from them the worst."

"That's not hate, girl. That's fear."

"As if that's any better than hate…"

"It is!" Tsune took her own seat, crossed one leg over the other and watched Weiss settle in. "They're afraid of what they've heard, cautious in their dealings with you, but fear can be proven wrong. It can be overcome. If you prove you're not like what they're afraid of, that fear will disappear."

Weiss clutched her sheets tight. "Why should I have to be the one to prove myself?"

"You don't have to. Even the act of doing nothing will make people relax. Everyone judges everyone. That's normal." The doctor winked. "I know you've judged me based on the rumours you've heard. You're even judging me now, probably as being unprofessional."

Blood rushed up her face. "I'm not! I promise!"

"And now you're lying to me. Ah, how typical of a Schnee."

"It's not typical of me!" Weiss yelled defiantly. A second later, she realised who she was shouting at. "I-I'm sorry, I lost control of my temper and-"

Tsune was clapping. Weiss sat there, stunned.

"Better. Better. The real you is much more interesting than the overly polite mask you put on. No wonder Adam likes you so much."

Adam. Weiss grimaced. "I don't think he likes me much at all."

"Oh? And are you the one he comes to for advice on the sly? Are you the one who patches up his injuries and gets to hear all the juicy little things he tells you under the guise of doctor-patient confidentiality?"

Weiss' jaw hung open. "B-But you can't tell me any of that!"

Tsune tilted her head to the side. "Why not?"

"B-Because it's doctor-patient confidentiality. You just said that. What he told you was told in confidence."

"You care a lot for the privacy of a man you consider a terrorist."

Weiss paused. Why did she care? Adam had betrayed her trust, lied to her and then had the gall to shatter her world like it was her fault he chose the wrong path. Worse, he'd even chased her out her own bed by going back to their dorm first and daring her to follow. Weiss scowled and thumped her hands down onto the mattress.

"You know what, fine. Tell me everything."

Welp. Off to go stress out for some tests. I'm so bad at the doctors for these; they must think I'm a nutcase for how stiff I get. I once had a doctor ask me if I've taken drugs and she told me later that I answered so stiffly that she was convinced I was on narcotics before my test results came back clean.

Next Chapter: 9th February

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur