So I'm leaning into the humor crack fic angle for this story. People seemed to like it and it avoids any unnecessary angst. Hopefully you guys like it.

Blake had a problem.

Actually, that wasn't true: she had a lot of problems. First there was the whole 'ex-terrorist' bit. Yes, she made a mistake, but she was legitimately trying to make up for it and was prepared to dedicate her life to fight the Grimm to serve as an example that Faunus and Humans could stand side-by-side. It wasn't enough to absolve her entirely, but it was a start, right?

Then came her second problem. Jaune Arc, her partner and, unknown to everyone else, secret agent of the White Fang. The last time she'd seen him he was this bumbling recruit who could barely swing his sword. Granted he wasn't much different in that regard, but he also somehow faked trancripts good enough to pass Beacon's no-doubt rigorous standards. There must have been a reason he alone was chosen to do this.

And of course there was her third problem. Weiss Schnee, heiress to the SDC aka the future CEO of Racism. Blake thought fate had given her a break by not putting the two of them in the same team, but she should've known better. Now the worst person in the school to ever find out her secret had, and she was damn sure she'd lord it over her; if she didn't just reveal it to everyone straight out.

Her head was a mess as she went to sleep after that horrible day, flitting in and out of consciousness until the next morning finally came. By the time she woke up she felt and looked like trash, eyes baggy and skin even paler than usual with worry. Ruby and Yang had worriedly asked if she was skipped, but she'd brushed them off. She wasn't going to show weakness with Jaune in the room.

They left early only to run into team WNNR. Blake clammed up and shuddered as the heiress looked at her, "Good morning, Blake," she said, looking at her with a bright smile through half-lidded eyes. The hidden Faunus shuddered and resisted the urge to run. Oh, she was relishing in it, wasn't she? Weiss hadn't told anyone yet, that was the only reason she could think no one looked twice at her brilliant disguise, which meant she was keeping it a secret for her own reason.

What that reason was, Blake could only shiver to think.

"M-Morning..." She looked away.

"We should get to class. Don't want to be late," Jaune said. Hah, as if he was actually here to learn.

Professor Peter Port's self-aggrandizing tall tales were enough to distract her, at least. The rest of the class was quickly falling asleep...except for Weiss. The heiress just kept on looking at her. Or, more specifically, her bow. She wasn't even trying to be subtle. She didn't even pretend to listen to the story and she- did she just lick her lips?! Oh God, what vile, horrible things was she thinking about?!

Sitting close - but not close enough, Weiss' humble opinion - Weiss only had one thought that ran through her mind on repeat.

'I want to touch her ears.'

Could she reach out and touch them? No, no, that would be rude. While those ears were the cutest thing she'd ever seen - even cuter than Neon's fluffy wuffy tail - she needn't rush. All she had to do was get her alone in a private place and then...convince her to let Weiss pet those adorable shells. Oh, she could just imagine it now. How soft and delicate they'd feel between her fingers. And oh, what if Blake purred while she did it? The overload of cuteness would be enough to end her, she thought.

Back in her seat, Blake felt a shiver go down her spine as the heiress licked her lips again. She was probably getting off on the power she had over her. Those Schnees were all the same, trampling the Faunus under their feet. It made her sick.

It was why when the portly professor asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to fight a Grimm he'd brought, Blake immediately volunteered. She needed to do something, hit something, to feel like she wasn't helpless. And if she couldn't do it to Jaune or Weiss, at least not yet, then she could do it to a Grimm.

She barely even remembered the fight with the boarbatusk when it was all said and done. She killed it after Ruby shouted advice about its belly being a weakspot and that was it. She appreciated it. Her knowledge on Grimm was pretty sub-par, if she was being honest. She'd killed her fair share to avoid them wandering into camp, and especially when she left the White Fang and had to use anywhere she could for shelter, but usually she just had to slash them to death.

The entire class applauded as Port congratulated her, but that went in one ear and out the other. All she could focus on was Jaune and Weiss. The former looked troubled, as if realizing that she wouldn't be an easy target, and the latter just kept on smiling and slowly clapped as she made her way back to her seat. Blake convinced herself that she had to confront the other girl as soon as possible. She couldn't live like this, knowing that someone had power over her.

Classes passed by in a blur until it was time for lunch. As if fate decided to ruin her day just one more time, she also found out there wasn't any fish. Oh it was temporary, they said, they should get some more by the next week, but that didn't help her already flagging mood any.

And Weiss still wouldn't stop staring at her.

The others had noticed too. Ruby asked if something was wrong, which the heiress had brushed off with paper-thin excuses. Meanwhile, the rest of their little group didn't much care despite the realization. Yang was muttering something about love triangles, Nora was ranting about pancakes, Pyrrha just had that placid smile on her face, and Ren was seemingly staring off into space. The only one who seemed to sympathize with her plight was Jaune, and that only made her feel worse.

"Ow, that hurts!"

Her justified self-pity was broken at the sudden shout. The entire group's attention was drawn to a sadly all-too common scene. A Rabbit Faunus she didn't recognize being bullied by a human who was painfully tugging at her ears. She didn't know him, but the grin on his face told her all she needed to know. A bully and a brute who was used to getting his way and never facing any consequences. She'd met dozens of his kind before.

She wanted to go over there and punch the bastard in the face, but she knew that would be a bad idea. She needed to keep a low profile, and as ingenious as her disguise was, people would ask questions about a Human standing up against another of their kind for the Faunus.

Blake had barely finished justifying it to herself when Jaune and, much to her surprise, Weiss stood up and stomped their way over there. Blake found herself automatically following before she could stop herself.

The bulky boy, who she'd found out later was one Cardin Winchester, and the rest of his team turned at their approach. He'd grinned and said something about about them wanting to see the 'animal being being put in her place' when Jaune punched Cardin in the face and Weiss froze the rest of her team with some ice Dust and her Glyphs. The latter left the three of the four brutes literally on ice.

The former just made the biggest bully angry.

Blake pushed Jaune out of the way before Cardin could grab him. As much as she despised him, he was still a Faunus, and now that she was here she couldn't just watch a human abuse him. The other boy's meaty fist caught nothing but air and she did the first thing that came to mind.

She kicked him in the balls.

Cardin was either overconfident or careless since he didn't have his Aura up. The hulking bully crumpled to the ground with a high pitched squeak, cradling his family jewels with both hands. Most of the men in the cafeteria, even Jaune, winced in male solidarity at the painful attack. She didn't feel guilty at all.

"Are you alright?" Jaune asked the victimized girl before she could say anything.

"Y-Yes, thank you..." She looked down worriedly at the still trembling bully, "You didn't need to do that. Any of you."

"Trust me, it was our pleasure to put those brutes in their place," Weiss purred. Blake felt a chill go down her spine. Oh, now she understood. She was trying to put the poor girl in her debt. How horrible. At least with a bully you knew where you stood.

"It shouldn't have be like this." Jaune sighed, acting like he wasn't completely superflous to the entire thing, "Faunus shouldn't have to live in fear or be discriminated against just because of their traits. It needs to be better."

"I...I suppose?" The girl muttered, gratitude replaced with confusion.

"So have you ever considered being a more active participant in that fight for equality? Say by joining a group dedicated to that cause?"

Blake's eyes widened in realization. That son of a bitch. He was recruiting Huntsmen into the White Fang! That was why he'd come to Beacon! It wasn't to spy on her, it was because he wanted to bolster them with Huntsmen-level recruits. Blake shook her head. No, no, no! She couldn't let that happen! No matter how much a part of her still sympathized with her old cause, it wasn't the way to equality.

"You don't have to," Blake said just a bit too forcefully, "I mean, us humans-" she gave a pointed look to Jaune "-have no idea what it's like to live like you do, but there are better ways than joining unspecified groups. Much less violent ones."

Velvet Scarlatina looked betwen the bickering blonde and brunette, unsure of whether she should intervene or try to find an excuse to leave, "Oh, your poor ears," The short, white haired girl said, and she shuddered when those small hands reached out and gently touched the still-hurting appendages, "That brute really did some damage. Would you like to come to the infirmary with me? I could h-help you."

Why did she stutter that last part? And why did Velvet suddenly feel like she was better off with the racist bully?

Blake continued to argue with the blonde until the time for the bell ran out. She had to stop him. His mission here couldn't succeed. But, she had other problems to deal with,. One at a time.

"Weiss? Could we talk alone?" she asked when classes finished that day.

"O-Of course." The heiress' pale cheeks flushed pink. Was she flustered at being called out so soon? Maybe she was disappointed that she couldn't hold it over her head anymore and watch her squirm. Well, she'd have to disappoint her.

The two walked silently to an empty classroom bathed in the afternoon sun's light. It was a typical setting in many of her favorite novels, though right now all she felt was a rising sense of dread. She had to establish some kind of control.

Taking a deep breath, she closed the door and turned to her tormentor, "You know my secret," she started bluntly. There was no use beating around the bush.

"If you mean hiding your Faunus trait, then yes," the heiress nodded, "Why are you doing that?"

"It doesn't matter." She wasn't going to give the...the Schnee more power over her, "What matters is what's going to happen now. There's something you want from me, I can tell. You've been looking ever since you found out what I really am." People clear on the other side of Remnant could tell with how obvious she was.

"Oh, well..." She looked down and fidgeted with her fingers. Why play shy now? "Could you...take off your bow first?"

Blake raised a brow but ultimately complied. It wasn't anything she hadn't already seen, after all. The heiress' breath hitched as Blake untangled the bow and her ears sprang free, moving slightly in relief of no longer being confined, "Alright, I did it. Now what?" she asked, trying to sound calmer than she felt. Her heart was beating a mile a minute at how open she was to someone who'd take advantage in a heart.

"Could I..." the heiress gulped, "Could I...pet your cat ears?"

...

This...This sick witch! Blake's hands trembled and she had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming out in a rage. It an innocent enough request, more more weird than touching someone else's ears. A weird thing to ask of an acquaintance, but it was hardly malicious. Or was it? Blake knew better. This was her trying to establish her dominance. To make it clear to the dirty Faunus that she was nothing more than an animal she could pet at her leisure.

"And...And if I say no...?" Blake asked back.

"I'd be...disappointed."

Oh, sensed the threat in that clear as day. You wouldn't want to disappoint me, would you? She could almost hear her ask the silent question. Yes, Weiss Schnee would be disappointed...and then she would make sure that Blake would pay for making her feel that way. She was technically free to say no, but they both knew she wouldn't. Not if she wanted to keep her secret.

"...Okay." Blake turned and sat at one of the nearby chairs with her her back to the heiress. She refused to look her in the eye. If she was going to debase herself so much then she'd at least pretend to have some dignity.

The heiress shuffled forward and reached a dainty hand out to touch the furry shells. Blake bit her lower lip as Weiss' delicate fingers slid up and down. It felt good, but she would never admit it even under pain of death. The cat faunus' fingers shuddered as the hands touched her in a way no one else had done in almost five years. She wondered what that witch was thinking right now.

'So soft...'

Weiss let out a soft, shaky breath as she pet her new friend's utterly adorable ears. When Blake had asked what she'd do if she said no, her heart ached. She told her she'd be disappointed, and that was the truth. She wouldn't push and she wouldn't try to coerce her, damn what those filthy liars like Flynt Coal thought. If Blake said no then she'd be sad and have to find some other way to express her completely innocent desires. Perhaps by asking that adorable Velvet girl?

Which was why her heart soared when her new friend agreed. Weiss traced the other shell with a gentle caress and had to stop herself from drooling. It wouldn't do for someone of her stature to appear so crass, but it was difficult when she was so excited. The last one she'd had was Neon a year ago. After Flynt's lies the other Faunus students had kept a wide berth from her. She would never forgive him for it.

She wished she was more like her older sister. Faunus were throwing herself at her feet in such numbers that she actually had to reject most of them. Oh, what a luxury to have that choice! But she also wasn't surprised. Winter had a reputation of coming to the rescue of anyone in danger, Human or Faunus, and many of them were oh so grateful for her assistance.

And oh, if Whitley could see her now. He always sneered and him and Winter both for their 'peculiar tastes'. Tch, as if it was his fault that he didn't see how utterly adorable the Faunus were. Yes, Whitley, he was treating them like people! People could be cute too!

Maybe...Maybe she would be open to the collar too? She'd ask when they got to know each other better.

The ropes could come later.

Blake was in hell.

It was the only way she could describe the situation. It felt good, it reminded her of being back home in Menagerie with her loving parents, but the fact that it was coming from Weiss Schnee, of all people, made it feel like a stab in the gut. No matter how good it felt, at the end of it all she was only doing this to establish her control.

"C-Could we do this again?" Weiss whispered softly, close enough that her peppermint scented breath brushed against her ears.

"Wh-Why?" Blake asked shakily. Hadn't she done enough? Hadn't she already established who was in control here?

"Because I want to." So even after this...this debasement, she still wanted to stomp her into the dirt, hm? She shouldn't have been surprised, but she also knew that she couldn't live like this. Having the attention of Weiss Schnee on her 24/7 would be utter hell and she couldn't stop Jaune's nefarious plans.

And then an idea came to her.

"You know...I'm not the only Faunus on both our teams." The fingers stopped their tantalizingly good petting and the heiress' breath hitched, "Jaune, our team leader? He's a Faunus too."

"Wh-What kind?"

"Rabbit." Had Blake turned around, she would've seen the heiress drooling at the reply. Because she didn't, however, all she heard was the unexpectedly heavy silence. She was dragging Jaune into this torture with her, but if you really thought about it, it was his fault her secret was outed to Weiss. The only reason she was there was to stop his nefarious scheme. Besides, if he was distracted by Weiss then he couldn't enact his plans.

"I...I didn't see any rabbit ears on him. His trait must be different."

"It's a tail." She only knew because his pants ripped at one point while she was still with the White Fang.

"A tail. A fluffy, poofy tail." Blake blinked. Her words sounded off, though she was still too stubborn to look back. The cat Faunus shuddered again and closed her eyes as the heiress resumed petting. She would go through any torture if it meant protecting her new start.

Back in their dorm room, Jaune suddenly felt a chill go down his spine.

Adam Taurus had a problem.

Blake. Or more specifically, everyone else making assumptions on his thoughts about Blake. Yes, he'd been in a bad mood ever since her betrayal. Why wouldn't he be? She'd been with Sienna's iteration of the White Fang for almost as long as its conception. She was a valuable fighter and operative, but more importantly, she knew secrets that could jeapordize them all. Identities, safehouses, connections. A whispered word to the wrong person could spell their doom.

So of course he'd been in a bad mood. Did those fools realize how much they had to shuffle around? Safehouses had to be evacuated, connections burned, all because they couldn't risk Blake making a plea deal with Atlas and Vale.

And for what? Because she'd misunderstood his intentions. When she asked about the fate of the crew he'd said, "What about them?" Of course he said that. The alarms had already rang! The crew were already gone! Of course he asked that question. It would've been like if she asked, "What about the air?". The crews were a non-factor by that point. He would've responded the same way.

But of course she took it as him assuming that he was some kind of callous mass murderer. He'd killed humans before, certainly, but only in self-defense or if it accomplished a goal. Their cause was for equality, not widespread destruction. If he wanted to just kill humans he'd start putting bombs in hospitals and crosswalks, but that wouldn't have solved anything. Dead humans were a necessity, not the end goal.

Yet for some reason people assumed he was obsessed with her, that he'd drag her back by force because of their past relationship. Honestly, it wasn't even that good. Blake was flaky and constantly preferred going off and reading a book alone in the forest than actually doing anything couples did. Now Adam wouldn't say he was a charmer, but even he liked to think that he was less socially stunted than she was.

Now he had another problem. Ilia was sent to Vale on a scouting mission. Just get in, find out the situation in the White Fang cell, and get out. Except now she was making up excuses to stay and claimed to be 'investigating' that Cinder woman that came to them months ago. Why? Adam had refused her offer and fought her off when she tried to use force. It was a difficult fight, but they'd managed it. He wasn't going to be servant of some Human, especially since he doubted her cause would help their fight for equality.

The scarred bull Faunus pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a tired sigh. He'd just finished spending close to half an hour arguing back and forth with Ilia about her decision to extend her stay in Vale. The girl was smart, one of his best agents, but she always turned stupid when it came to her not-so-subtle crush on Blake. He assumed that meant she must've been in Vale, or at least close by, and she was finding an excuse to stick close.

He tried to confront her on it, but of course she'd denied everything and cut the call after making up a poor excuse about needing to feed her cat. Her black cat, which she also named Blake.

Honestly, why was everyone so obsessed with her? She even still had fanclubs in some sects despite her turning against them. It boggled the mind.

Adam sighed again and turned his mind to other matters. He'd ordered Ilia to confirm if Blake had given out any information, but he doubted she would. Regardless, he had more pressing things to worry about than a traitorous ex-girlfriend. No matter what anyone else thought.

Poor Adam. When you just wanna fight for equality but everyone assumes that you're a psycho ex-boyfriend obsessed with Blake. Because why wouldn't he be? She's Blake. Eventually the entire White Fang and Faunus plotline just converges around her like a black hole.

But yeah, this chapter establishes that pretty much everyone is fucking crazy or insane in one way or another with just one exception. Ruby is the only sane one in the Xiao-Long/Rose family, Whitley is the only one sane one of the Schnees, and Adam (and possibly Sienna) are the only sane White Fang members. Everyone else is riding the crazy train.

Meanwhile, Blake and Jaune are now going to 'suffer' under Weiss' hands. And it's all because they both make assumptions and think Weiss is threatening them just because she's a Schnee and therefore she must be evil.

Wanna help support me? Then check out the link below:

P a treon . com (slash) Vendetta543

Question:

1. So what do you guys think of Adam's characterization? I asked last chapter between serious and cringe lord, but someone suggested the Only Sane Man role and I liked the idea. Should we keep it or go for something else? I can re-write the last segment if people don't like this version.

2. Does Weiss make anyone uncomfortable? Her actions are played for laughs, but I wonder if it comes across as too close to something like sexual harassment despite the crack fic tone.

Review Answers:

Chuck B. Winanaki - How dare you! Blake's disguise is foolproof! Also, Weiss is a big believer of consent, so she likely asked specifically if Neon was fine with the collar rather than taking a 'maybe' to go all out.

CMDR Quillon - Think of it less like a romance and more Jaune and Blake thinking they're in a survival horror scenario. And failure means being petted.

BrazeRancor - This Adam idea came from you :)

ahsoei - This Pyrrha is a battle freak and Ren has given up on enforcing sanity after ten years with Nora.

Waterdust5 - Probably not too serious, sorry. This is a real hard comedy fic now.