Mina Carfax woke up; it was a strange sensation, waking up, finding herself resting on a mattress, warm and comfortable as it was, particularly seeing as she had neither expected nor intended to.

"Good Morning, Miss Carfax,"

Mina tensed at the sound of the man's voice, recognizing it as that of Headmaster Ozpin.

"Easy, Miss Carfax, you're quite safe here,"

"Much to answer for though you have," It was Professor Goodwitch this time.

Mina sat up in the bed, feeling the suspicion contort her features, "I was prepared to do so…" she was very aware that Sanguine Heart was missing, in all its components, "Where am I?"

"The infirmary of Beacon Academy," Ozpin answered, "Your teammates carried you back after the… incident… and after a certain degree of explanation, you were left in my care; we have much to discuss,"

"I think not Professor; you know who I am-, what I am, and most importantly, what I've done; your course of action should be rather self-evident," Mina turned her head between the sources of the two voices, "I have been a threat, and now I am in your grasp to be disposed of as I so richly deserve."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow at this, "Oh really? Much as I agree with Glynda that certain… measures are necessary, I hardly think you need pay with your life," he paused for a sip of his coffee, "And frankly Miss Carfax, I don't think that you are in such a hurry to die as you want yourself to think,"

Mina furrowed her brow, "What are you playing at?"

"Show more respect, Miss Carfax," Goodwitch ordered.

Ozpin didn't seemed fazed though, "Between you and me, and this is pure speculation on my part, I admit, but I doubt that the aura of one genuinely eager to end their own life could have been shield enough to spare your life from a weapon the likes of Crescent Rose,"

Mina stared sightlessly down at her knees, "I… I discovered that I'd been living in contravention of the wishes of-,"

"Miss Belladonna? Yes, and now we come to it," Ozpin nodded thoughtfully as he cut her off, "Congratulations Miss Carfax; you've passed my test, though admittedly, you've probably failed this 'Adam's,"

Mina blinked several times in perplexity, "I beg your pardon?"

"When Miss Belladonna debriefed me on last night's events, and admitted to your history, the subject arose that you believed that my toleration of your presence here constituted a test of her character," He chuckled, "A fair enough assumption, for certain, but in all honesty Miss Carfax, I've been more interested in you of late, and woefully, woefully misguided though your actions were, you acted out of love, as opposed to senseless hatred," He took another sip of his coffee, "This does not justify your behavior, but it does show me that there's hope for you yet,"

"And what better reformatory institution than Beacon Academy?" Goodwitch nodded her somewhat grudging agreement as she posed the rhetorical question.

"Where indeed? That is, unless you'd genuinely prefer that we turn you over to the authorities…"

Mina cocked her head, as yet still flummoxed, "But… Why?"

"You can hardly take responsibility for your actions if you're dead, Miss Carfax," Goodwitch stated flatly, "Thus the Headmaster and I have decided to offer you the chance to follow Miss Belladonna's example: become a huntress and dedicate yourself to doing good in the place of harm. You certainly have the skills for it; it would be a shame to waste them,"

"I…" Mina's eyes suddenly widened, "Today… They'll come for her-,"

"The White Fang?" Ozpin raised an eyebrow, "Yes, about them… I have something of a reputation, as I'm sure that you're aware; a sink or swim attitude of sorts as pertains to the initiation of my students as a start-,"

"Let's not beat around the bush sir, frankly it's rather unethical-,"

Ozpin cleared his throat, "My point, Miss Carfax, is that, though you have to earn your way into Beacon, once you're here… We take care of our own,"

"I…"

"The options hardly compare, if you want my opinion, but I won't force you to choose right away," Ozpin stood, "For now though, I think that it's high time that we let your teammates come to visit you, seeing as you're awake. Come Glynda; we should leave them some privacy."

Mina sat in silence as the two sets of footsteps receded and the infirmary doors were opened. It was only shortly after Ozpin and Goodwitch's footfalls had fallen silent than the doors were violently thrown back open and a cacophony of footsteps stormed in and suddenly she found both hands grabbed by a startlingly apologetic Miss Rose.

"OHMYGODMINAIAMSOSOSOOOOSORRY!"

After the initial shock had subsided, Mina sighed, "You should not be-,'

Miss Rose was abruptly wrenched as Miss Schnee caught up, and promptly slapped Mina across the cheek, "That's for the damned bite!" She shivered before taking a deep breath to calm herself, "That was my favorite jacket…"

"I deserved that," Mina admitted, turning the other cheek, "I do apologize, Miss Schnee-,"

Another strike and Miss Xiao Long heaved her to her feet by the lapel, "I swear, I oughta beat you…"

"And you would be well within your rights to do so, Miss Xiao Long,"

"Sis! Let her go! No harm done… not really…" Ruby objected as Yang's eyes flared red.

"Put her down Yang…"

Mina felt Miss Xiao Long's grip slacken ever so slightly as she hesitated, and then roughly set Mina back down where she'd been seated, "GAAAH! I am so pissed right now, I could friggin' pull my hair out!"

"Mina, look at me,"

Mina obeyed, best as she was able, orienting her face in the direction from which Blake's voice had come, "Dearest-,"

It was Blake's familiar hand to strike her this time.

"Blake-!" Ruby objected again, but Weiss shook her head at the younger girl as if to say 'This is necessary.'

"I most certainly deserved that-,"

"Damn right you do!" Blake was plainly furious, but it was the hitch in Blake's voice that led Mina to finally activate her semblance and find that Blake was also tearing up, "Don't you ever scare me like that again! Do you hear me, Mina? Never!"

"Dearest, I-,"

"I'm not finished!" Blake cut her off, "What the hell did you think killing yourself would fix? Mina, that was just stupid! So stupid!" The tears were rolling freely down her cheeks now, "I love you Mina! How could you possibly think that losing you would make me happy? Tell me, because I have no idea!"

"I owe you that much in penance-,"

Blake slapped her again, "You know what? No! Just shut up! I'll tell you what you're going to do to make this up to me: you're going to take Ozpin up on his offer, and you are never, EVER going out of my sight, do you understand?"

"Ozpin said something about passing a test…?" Ruby was asking, rather than telling, "But anyway, he said you could stay if you-,"

"She's staying,' Blake asserted, "Because it's clear to me that you have to be my responsibility,"

"Ya know," Yang huffed, crossing her arms, "It's kinda weird to see someone put all that give-a-damn all in one place…"

Blake sighed, "That's… That much is at least partly my fault…" she paused, searching for words as she took a seat on the bed opposite Mina, "We were very… codependent in the White Fang… I didn't really understand how things were changing until I resolved to leave, and Mina…"

"Was, as I remain, a parasite," Mina finished staring down again, "To sustain both the flesh and the soul…"

"Don't say that about yourself!" Blake chided again, "She didn't know anyone in the White Fang, and due to her… needs… She was used to condemnation… So when I…"

"She imprinted on you hard, didn't she?" Weiss asked, sitting down herself.

Blake nodded.

"It was selfish of me, yes," Mina admitted it, "She was my sustenance in every possible sense… I only wanted to repay that debt…"

Blake looked away, "Even in the White Fang… the only reason anyone else would have anything to do with her was because I started getting anemic…"

"Still doesn't explain why she went bat-shit… That was… a poor choice of words…" Yang trailed off.

"No, it is quite alright," Mina sighed, "Everything in my experience told me that the one thing Blake wanted was our rights… so when she left…"

"You thought I'd given up…"

"And I thought perhaps if the task was accomplished, you would… come back…"

As Mina started choking on the words and tearing up herself, Blake hurried over and caught her in an embrace, "I'm sorry Mina… I'm so sorry… I should have told you…"

In that moment Weiss couldn't help but see Mina as a gifted child, and Blake in a very motherly role; Mina was clearly intelligent, but she displayed an almost complete lack of independent moral sense. Her whole world had revolved around Blake for most of her life, to the point that the mere memory of when they'd been separated reduced the sardonic tease that they'd thought they'd known to wracking sobs, as though a child waking from a nightmare.

"Oh Mina… Don't cry…" Ruby weakly tried to console her, not really knowing what to say, "You're together now… We're all here for you…" She looked hesitantly from Weiss to Yang, both of whom wearing expressions conflicted between sympathy and displeasure, "I think…"

Weiss sighed with a little shrug and nod, "What's a jacket anyway? I can just buy another one…"

Ruby's face lit up a little as she turned to her sister, "Yang?"

Grumbling a bit, "Yeah, fine… But you're gonna have to show me how come I couldn't hit you though…"

"See?" Ruby exclaimed happily, "It's alright; you're forgiven, now let's just be a team again, okay?"

Mina sniveled with a little nod, giving a little squeak by way of affirmative, still at a loss for words.

That is stupidly cute,! Yang fumed enviously, but restrained herself from vocalizing it.

Once Mina had calmed down, Blake leaned back and did her best to put on a serious face, for nobody's benefit but her own, "We are going to have to make some changes, however; there will not be another incident like last night, am I clear?"

Mina nodded, "My life is yours; I'll never-,"

Blake winced, but shook her head, "Good, but I was talking about the kidnapping,"

"Yes, I'd prefer not to wake up bound hand and foot against a cold stone wall again," Weiss added dryly.

"Done," Mina hastily agreed, then shot Weiss a teasing look at odds with the tears still drying on her face, "I'll be sure to buy you dinner first next time,"

Weiss blushed furiously, "I told you that I'm-!"

"Atta girl," Yang sat down at Mina's side opposite Blake, patting her on the back, "I kinda missed those jokes,"

"Yang…" Blake said dangerously as she noted the steadily lowering position of her partner's hand on Mina's back, "You're setting a very poor example," She tugged Mina close jealously, "and besides… She's mine…"

Yang averted her eyes, "I don't know what you're talking about…"

With a little sigh and a roll of the eyes, Blake looked down at Mina again, "Ozpin said that he'd arrange for you to see the nurse for a blood-pack as needed, and I'll… contribute…" She cleared her throat to steel her resolve, "But from now on you are going to behave yourself Mina; no abductions, no strangulation, and no… feeding on anyone but me…"

"Someone's possessive,"

"Shut up!"

Mina nodded with mounting enthusiasm, "Yes, of course, whatever you say-,"

"I'm talking monkish virtue here, Mina,"

Mina finally managed a real smirk again, "I'll happily take vows of silence and poverty.." she walked two fingers up Blake's chest, "But we may have certain… difficulties with a vow of chastity…"

"Um…" Blake swallowed and looked away, rapidly reddening, "We'll talk about that later…"

Yang whistled despite herself.

"Oh shut up!"

Author's Note: Okay, so here's the reconciliation and for now, the ending. I say "for now" because I'm in no way opposed to the idea of coming back to this with more chapters of one variety or another, but at the present, I have no such plans/ideas, and so I'm going to tentatively stamp this one 'complete,' but I'll level with you; I enjoy writing Mina Carfax far too much to stick her on a shelf forever, so eventually there will probably be more of this, whether in the form of one-off chapters or a new story arc, but again I don't have any ideas for such at time of writing, so yeah… I certainly appreciate all of you who've taken time out of your day to read this, especially those of you who've left feedback. For anyone interested, the next project I have planned is a Valentine's Day chapter of "For Every Occasion" and a St. Patrick's day chapter in the slightly less immediate future. Thanks for reading, and please, don't hesitate to let me know what you think.