The next morning, Weiss found Adam in the cafeteria with a cup of coffee in hand. Blake sat across from him, reading through yet another newspaper. Whispers erupted around her when she sat down beside Adam. She ignored them, greeting her friends with a pleasant smile.

"Coffee?" Adam offered his cup to her.

"You know me too well." Weiss accepted his mug and took a sip. It was more bitter than she expected, but she enjoyed it all the same.

"We should come here earlier next time." Blake poked her head up from the paper, scanning the crowd with a frown. "Don't they have better things to do than stare at us?"

"They probably don't see people like us in the Academy. We must be one hell of a sight." Adam said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Now that Adam mentioned it, Weiss hadn't seen a single Faunus student amongst the crowd. Perhaps they arrived a bit too early for the rest of the student body to come down for food. Back in Beacon, it wasn't unheard of for students to come down last minute before classes start. It was probably the same in Atlas.

"Did you sleep well last night?" Adam interrupted her train of thought

"I slept like a log. What about you?" She didn't want to ask about nightmares when Blake sat right across from them.

"I got carried away looking through Atlas News."

His Scroll was on the table, showing an article speculating on known White Fang agents that could be responsible for the recent crime sprees.

"Did you find anything else?" she asked, feeling inexplicably nervous about his answer.

"There's been another new leak. This time it's on some jewellery brand."

"Jewellery brand?" Weiss perked up at once. Back in Frangipani, she'd heard the news about an Atlas jewellery brand being victim to a mysterious break-in. Could this be the same company?

Adam pulled up the article in question, confirming her suspicions. Like the last incident, whoever leaked this found evidence of Faunus slave labour and trafficking. They also sabotaged the company's airships, keeping them from taking the Faunus slaves elsewhere and restraining all guards on site. The article ended with an unnamed group of volunteers coming together to help victims reconnect with their families and provide social services.

"They're as thorough as ever. I don't know how they keep finding these things, but it's impressive," Adam said, almost in awe.

"And you're sure this has nothing to do with the White Fang? My sister seems pretty confident they're involved," Weiss said.

"Without a doubt. This doesn't sound like their MO."

Weiss still had her reservations. Had Winter not sounded certain about the White Fang's involvement, she would be more inclined to side with him. There must be something Winter knew that they didn't.

"If you want White Fang-related crimes, this is what it looks like," Adam said, tapping into another news article.

She skimmed the story. A body was found dismembered at the back of a strip mall yesterday morning. The victim was a Human employee who was closing the shop. His cause of death was poison – the same poison used in the recent White Fang murders. A nearby CCTV camera caught footage of a woman before it was destroyed. Authorities speculate this may be Sienna. New security measures and screening processes have been implemented at the mall to prevent more tragedies.

Further down the article, a rough sketch of Sienna stared back at Weiss. The rough sketch depicted her rougher than she was in real life. Her tiger stripes were shown as jagged scars, disfiguring her face and body with rough crevices. Her hair was drawn as matted and unkept, a complete far cry from a neat asymmetrical haircut. The sketch went as far as to give her tiger fangs. With how exaggerated they depicted her, Weiss doubted anyone could recognise Sienna in person.

The article mentioned the Silver Robins in the last paragraph. They were blamed for causing public unrest at the new security measures.

"It doesn't make any sense." Blake set her newspaper aside. "The White Fang isn't normally this reckless – especially not in Mantle. Why are they drawing so much attention to themselves?"

"Well, it could be because they aren't as organised after Sienna's defeat," Weiss speculated. Even if Sienna was in the Kingdom, her influence might not be as strong anymore.

"They'd still know better than to do stuff like this. It's dangerous." Blake scowled at the paper. "It feels like we're missing something."

"It feels like we're missing a lot of things," Adam said, running a hand through his hair. "Have you read the accusations Robyn Hill has been making?"

"About the Military letting Mantle get attacked? Yeah." Blake frowned. "I don't get it. There's video evidence to prove her wrong. Why is she still so popular?"

"It's possible the news is filtering out information. That or someone's feeding them false evidence."

"That sounds like a conspiracy."

"Then why do you think she's so popular? She has to be right about something to get so much support."

"Ugh, I don't know what to think anymore. How do we know what's reliable or not?"

Weiss kept to herself as they threw around more difficult questions with no easy answer in sight. She could see why Sienna partnered them up in the past. They bounced ideas so seamlessly off each other that it was easy to forget they'd only recently started talking again. Adam wasn't even this conversational when he first started travelling with her.

A tight knot twisted in her throat the more their conversation went on. Weiss got up to grab her own cup of coffee in the middle of it. The fact her leaving didn't put a dent in their ongoing speculations set the knot on fire.

She brushed off her agitation as an unspoken disagreement on what they were saying. Weiss trusted Winter and her colleagues to protect Mantle. It was only natural she felt a bit irked that they doubted her sister's integrity as a Huntress.

The conversation finally ended when Jaune's team joined them at the table. Blake kept her head down when Yang and Ruby came down not too long after. Blake kept her voice soft whenever she spoke as if to keep Yang from hearing her. Breakfast went by in a flash. They talked amongst themselves until Ironwood, Winter, and Dr Watts came in to give them back their Scrolls.

"I still need to take a look at your Scroll, young man," Dr Watts said to Adam when he handed Weiss her Scroll. "You won't be able to contact anyone without my security clearance."

"I only talk to Weiss, and she's already cleared. Is it really necessary?"

"It's protocol. I don't care who you're friends with, rules are rules. If I make an exception for you then I'd have to make an exception for everyone." Dr Watts spoke to him as if he were a child. "Is it so hard for people to do as they're told nowadays?"

Adam looked about ready to punch him before surrendering his Scroll with a scowl. Dr Watts thanked him curtly and promised to return it at the end of the day.

"He's got an attitude problem," Blake muttered once Watts was out of earshot. "Why couldn't they find a technician who has manners?"

"Probably because he's the best they've got," Weiss whispered. She could put up with his attitude if he's competent with his job.

"I almost feel bad for his colleagues." Adam scoffed.

"Unfortunately, we're considered his colleagues now." Blake grinned, pulling up her official Huntress license for him to see.

It was surreal to see Blake's portrait attached to an official license number and Huntress rank. Weiss didn't think they'd ever be able to get their licenses after the fall of Beacon.

"Let's see yours," Adam said to Weiss.

She blushed, suddenly self-conscious about letting him see the portrait they'd use for her license. Would it look as good as Blake's? She'd always dreaded getting her photo taken. Her pale complexion often gets exasperated in photographs. Especially if it wasn't taken in a professional studio.

"I-it probably looks the same as Blake's."

"So? It's still yours. I want to see how it looks." He smiled warmly. The curious glint in his eye melted her defences. She couldn't say no when he looked at her like that.

"Fine, but my picture might make me look like a ghost, so don't get your hopes up."

Thankfully, she didn't look like a white sheet, but her complexion was still dangerously close to the colour of her hair.

"You look great," he said, peering over her shoulder. "I don't think you look like a ghost."

"I guess it's not that bad." His comment made her feel a lot better about the state of her photograph.

She turned her attention to the credentials on her license. No matter how many times she read it, it all felt so surreal. She didn't feel all that different now that she was an official Huntress. She wasn't strong and fearless as Winter, and she still didn't know as much as her sister.

Was she a real Huntress if she still felt as clueless as she did yesterday?

"It must be great to finally be considered a professional," Adam noted quietly.

"It doesn't feel like I earned it," Weiss confessed. "I didn't graduate from Beacon, and I haven't been training for as long as Winter. It feels like I cheated to get here."

"I disagree. You've been through hell and back recently, but you never gave up fighting. If that doesn't make you a worthy Huntress, then I don't know what does." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Congratulations, Weiss, you deserve this more than anyone."

Butterflies tickled her belly at his compliment. She ignored the proximity of her friends and sister to thank him with a tight embrace. They would never know how much his comment meant to her.

Their very first mission was a standard Grimm clearing job. It wasn't the most exciting task, but it was still their first job as professionals. As Ironwood promised, Adam was welcome to join them. Weiss didn't expect him to jump at the offer, so it was difficult to hide her grin when he agreed to go.

The Ace Ops and Qrow tagged along to help supervise them. Weiss was thrilled to meet Marrow again during introductions. After exchanging their names, Clover introduced them to their task.

There have been sightings of a massive Grimm occupying the Schnee Dust Mine #2. Their job is to go in and clear the cave of any Grimm. She was surprised anyone still paid attention to the old site. No one outside their company had been there since the cave-in. Weiss didn't think Adam would still want to join them considering the setting, but he assured her it was no big deal.

"I'm not going to freak out over some old cave," he said when she brought up her concerns. "Don't worry about me."

"Okay, but let me know if it gets too difficult."

The conflict of interest she hadn't considered was Yang's reluctance to work with Adam. Yang was especially upset to hear Adam would be tagging with team RWBY. She voiced her displeasure with the team arrangements when the Ace Ops announced the team arrangements on the airship. Ruby quickly jumped in and tried to reason with her.

"No! I'm not putting my safety in his hands. That kind of thing requires trust, Ruby!" Yang snapped when Ruby tried to give a speech about teamwork. Weiss was relieved Yang didn't mention Adam or Blake's involvement with the White Fang while the Ace Ops were listening.

"Yang, this is important," Ruby pleaded with her. "We can't do this without you!"

"And you're insane if you think I'll walk into some creepy cave with him swinging his sword!"

Adam ducked his head at her comment. He hadn't spoken a single word to Yang, putting in the extra effort to distance himself whenever she was nearby.

"Yang, you won't be alone–"

"It's either me or him, Ruby. Some people have already made it clear who they choose." Yang glowered at Blake and Weiss.

"Look, we don't have time to deal with petty drama," Harriet intervened. "If you guys aren't able to work in your usual teams, then you either need to come up with two new teams or we'll do it for you. This isn't school. You need to get your act together now!"

"Adam and I could go in there alone," Blake suggested. "We're used to working together anyway, so the rest of you can stay together."

"No, I don't want us to separate again!" Ruby protested. "It's been too long since we worked as a team!"

"We can't collaborate if we're going to keep fighting each other like this. It'll become a liability on the field." Blake glanced over at Yang for a brief second. "And it's not like we'd be in a better situation if Adam wasn't here."

"But…" Ruby struggled to find an answer to keep everyone together.

"We're almost at the Mine," Clover spoke up warningly.

A few of the Ace Ops whispered something to each other and laughed. Marrow and Clover didn't find the joke amusing.

Weiss wanted the ground to swallow her whole. Letting Atlas' best Huntsmen team see them argue like this on their first day was humiliating. There was no telling what they'd say to the other teams once they got back – she didn't want to hear what Winter had to say once she caught wind of it.

"Maybe it'll be better if we split for today," Weiss said before the conversation could spiral any more out of control. Her gut twisted with guilt when Ruby looked at her like a kicked puppy.

She felt horrible for ruining Ruby's plans like this, but Blake brought up a good point. Even if Adam wasn't there, she doubted they'd be able to work together when Yang was still so upset with Blake. That and she couldn't bear to embarrass herself any further in front of industry veterans.

"I'll go with Adam and Blake. I've had experience fighting alongside them both for it to work." Weiss ignored Yang's eye roll.

"Then…are Ruby and Yang joining us?" Nora asked. She sounded reluctant to get in the middle of their argument.

"That'd be five people with us and only three on the other team…" Ren murmured hesitantly.

"How about this," Jaune jumped in. "I'll go with Weiss, Blake, and Adam. Ruby and Yang can replace me in my team. That way, each team has a nice even number, and no one is at a disadvantage."

"I don't want to kick you out of your team," Ruby argued.

"It's fine." Jaune placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It'll be cool to branch out a bit. We can both learn new things that way, right?"

They didn't have more time to debate as they arrived at their location. Ruby profusely thanked Jaune for the help and went to stand by Ren and Nora. Clover promptly divided his team up as their airship landed. Weiss was relieved Marrow would be joining her team rather than Harriet, who still looked annoyed at having to babysit a bunch of rookies.

With the teams finally sorted out, they set off to explore their assigned section of the Mine.

Whatever embarrassment Weiss felt vanished when she walked into the front entrance of the abandoned Dust Mine. It wasn't the same Mine where she met Adam, but it was so familiar. The cave opened up like the jaws of a beast, with dozens of jagged icicles baring down on them. Darkness bled from the throat of the cavern. The only big difference was the piles of fallen debris and limp caution tape cluttering the entryway. If she tried hard enough, she could place their younger selves playing in various spots of the Mine.

"Talk about a trip down memory lane…" Adam noted quietly.

"Y-yeah." The last time she was in the Mines was when Father caught them and–

Shattered glass.

A howling blizzard.

A bloody mirror fragment.

Red staining her hair.

Re–

Weiss didn't notice she was shaking until Adam's hand wrapped around hers. Trusting him to guide her through the cave, she closed her eyes and focused on the feel of his hand. She stuck close to his side as they traversed further into the cave.

"Are you alright?" he whispered when she calmed down.

"I-I am now." She opened her eyes, startled by how dark it was now. The only light source was the dim flashlight from Jaune's Scroll up ahead. "What about you? Are you remembering…?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine, though."

She held his hand a bit tighter, hoping that at least helped to keep his demons away. She wasn't fooled by his calm voice.

"I'm sorry for causing your friends so much trouble," he added quietly. "I wouldn't have come if I'd known this would happen."

"Don't be. It's not like we wouldn't have run into a similar disagreement if you stayed behind," Weiss assured him. "I'm glad you're here."

Revisiting such a familiar site wouldn't be the same without him by her side. Even if her other friends offered her the same support, they didn't understand the complicated history she has with the Mines as he does.

Jaune kicked a metal object up ahead, producing a sharp bang. He erupted into colourful curses.

"Can you guys turn on your flashlights? It's impossible to see anything," he complained.

"Oops, I forgot about that," Marrow said from somewhere up ahead.

"What do you mean you forgot?"

"Faunus have night vision," Blake elaborated with an amused laugh.

"I got it." Adam unsheathed his sword and activated the Red Dust infused into his blade, surrounding them in a bubble of amber light.

Weiss could see why Jaune was complaining so badly as he'd managed to collide his foot right into an abandoned minecart.

"The light might attract Grimm, so try to stay close, guys!" Marrow warned.

They all quickened their pace to catch up to Marrow, with Jaune grumbling about being the only one wandering blindly in the dark.

The tunnel they followed shrunk the further they went. Piles of crumbled stone on their left funnelled them down a narrow pathway. Abandoned tools, minecarts, and the occasional Dust Crystals protruded out of the ground like grave markers.

"That friend of yours seems rather hostile to you two," Marrow said to Adam and Blake.

"Things have been…complicated between us," Blake replied. "She's not normally like this."

"It's still not right to take all that out on you two specifically."

Marrow looked like he wanted to say more but stopped when they approached a rusted ankle cuff on the ground. It was small enough to fit a child's foot. Adam's grip on her hand tightened by the second.

Marrow kicked it aside and hurried ahead. Weiss didn't spare the awful object a second glance as they passed by. Jaune; however, was particularly distracted by it. So much so that he almost fell flat on his face when his foot caught a rough snag on the road.

"H-hey, Weiss." Jaune fell in line with her steps. He looked at absolutely everything except her. "I have a question."

"Go ahead." She knew what exactly was on his mind.

Jaune didn't answer right away. He kept opening his mouth to say something before the words always failed to come out.

"Why would the Schnee Dust Mine need shackles like that?"

Blake's ears twitched at the ominous question bouncing off the walls. Though Marrow showed no signs of hearing him, she had no doubt he was listening to their every word.

"Remember what Adam said last night about people getting away with Faunus slavery?" She didn't hesitate to answer him. "That perfectly describes my Father and my ancestors."

Jaune looked like she'd just punched him in the stomach. Weiss wished she could say to help him feel a bit better, but she didn't have anything which could make it any easier to digest.

"My friend's parents died here," Blake suddenly said. "They got left behind during the cave-in."

Weiss recalled an incident that forced Father to shut down the Mine prematurely. She never got the details about what happened, but she remembered his temper the weeks after the incident. He'd lost millions in resources alone from the indecent.

"D-didn't anyone try to help them out when it happened?" Jaune asked.

"No. They all packed up and left." Blake's hands balled into fists. "The Schnee Dust Company rescued all their Human workers. Our people were left behind to die."

"Father wouldn't save people he thinks are dispensable," Weiss added tightly. He also would've disposed of all evidence of Faunus abuse before the paramedics got to the site.

"So the rumours are true," Marrow chimed in, sounding eerily calm.

"You've investigated this before?" Adam asked.

"No, but I've heard stories growing up. No one could ever prove anything, even when they had irrefutable evidence. I always thought becoming a Huntsman would help me get to the bottom of it, but I've never gotten a chance to investigate the Dust Mines. I've tried to bring up my concerns, but they're not interested in conspiracy theories. There are always more pressing matters to deal with."

"Let me guess, they're too busy solving problems for Humans," Blake scoffed. "It's so typical of them."

That earned a humourless laugh from Marrow.

A pit twisted in Weiss' stomach. There must be a logical reason why Huntsmen and Huntresses never got around to investigating Mines. Father likely didn't leave enough evidence for them to conduct a full investigation. Or they'd investigated in the past but came up with nothing.

Real Huntsmen and Huntresses like Winter wouldn't allow such a thing to slip by. They couldn't let it happen.

There must be more to the story.

Her terrifying thoughts were momentarily interrupted when Marrow ordered them all to stop. The narrow tunnel trembled around them.

She drew her sword, summoning Black Glyphs beneath her team's feet as the Grimm reared their ugly heads out from the ground and walls like squirming maggots. It didn't help that they so closely resembled overgrown centipedes.

Weiss activated her Red Dust to help Jaune and her see better. Adam also kept his sword burning throughout the fight. Fighting in an enclosed space was challenging, but not impossible. She relied less on her Glyphs and more on her Red Dust to provide light and a constant source of fire to fight with.

They'd just about cleared the incoming Grimm when Jaune's heavy weaponry worked against him. His movements became sluggish, and his reaction time was delayed. The longer the battle dragged on, the more his fatigue grew.

Her concern spiked when two particularly large Grimm tunnelled out from the wall behind him. He didn't notice their presence, his fatigue forcing him to stop and catch his breath. His arms struggled to keep his heavy sword steady. They charged at him. A flash of red leapt between them.

One of the Grimm's front legs nicked the black cloth covering Adam's scar, cutting the fabric in half. His Semblance painted the tunnel red. A single slash from his sword left a deep crescent gash in the wall where the monsters had emerged.

Weiss finished off the last of her Grimm before extinguishing the fire on her blade and rushed to his side.

"Are you alright?" she asked in a whisper.

"Yeah." He was more focused on the severed black cloth on the ground than anything else. The fire on his sword continued to burn.

Weiss wished she brought her bag along. They would've at least had bandages to cover up his scar. When she suggested they cut up a section of his coat to use as a substitute, he refused.

"I'm not destroying the expensive coat you bought me," he protested.

"I can always get you another one if that's what you're worried about."

"It's not that it's–"

The small gasp from Jaune made them both turn to him in surprise. Adam snuffed the fire burning on his sword, but the damage was already done. Jaune had seen what was underneath the black cloth.

"Is everything okay back there?" Marrow called out to them.

Weiss heard him curse. It didn't matter if they had no light. Marrow would see his scar regardless of how dark it is.

"Nothing!" Jaune answered for them. "We're just discussing who should keep the fire going!"

"Hurry up and get a move on! There might be more of those things nearby!"

Weiss let out a breath of relief when Marrow's footsteps moved away from them.

"One of you should actually light a fire because I don't have a Faunus friend to help me through the dark," Jaune whispered.

"I-I've got it." Weiss plunged them all into a steady amber light with her Red Dust.

Adam turned his head so Jaune only saw the non-scarred half of his face. He was avoiding both Weiss and Jaune's eyes. His completely blank expression only worried her more.

"It might help to throw your hood up. It looks big enough to hide it," Jaune suggested quietly. "Come on, we wouldn't want them coming back to check on us."

Adam didn't say anything. He sheathed his sword and threw the dark hood over his head. With some slight adjustments, it was able to fall over the scar, as Jaune suspected.

The three of them caught up to Marrow and Blake without another word. Blake was more interested in learning more about Marrow's career to notice the tension between the three of them.

Weiss remained awkwardly sandwiched between them. Adam slowed down his walking pace to lag behind, but Jaune caught on and matched his step. Weiss felt obligated to match their pace.

"Sorry about causing you guys so much trouble," Jaune whispered, studying the sword strapped to his side. "We wouldn't be having this conversation if I could hold my weight in battle."

Adam tensed when he caught Jaune staring at him. Noticing his discomfort, Jaune turned his head away.

"I never had proper training before Beacon…I guess it's pretty lucky I made it this far," Jaune went on conversationally. "Anyways, thanks for covering my back again. I owe you one again."

Someone kicked a pebbled, sending it bouncing down the dark tunnel.

"That's a pretty insane Semblance you have there, it's only a bit cooler than the fire sword. I'm sure glad you're on our side now."

Blake sounded impressed with something Marrow had said. She asked how she could use her training to help the Faunus as he had.

"Man, those Grimm back there were disgusting. I've never seen those things vomit acid before, talk about nightmare fuel…h-hey have I ever told you guys the crazy Grimm we fought in–"

"You don't have to pretend like you're not curious," Adam spoke up quietly, still refraining to look at him. "Stop beating around the bush and ask me already…I don't need this pointless small talk."

"Look, man, it's not my place to ask. I get not wanting to talk about the past, trust me." Jaune clenched the red scarf hanging by his hip. "I won't tell anyone if that's what you're worried about."

Silence.

"Hearing all that stuff yesterday and now this…I guess it explains why someone would want to join the White Fang. I never got how Blake and a guy like you could do that…it never made sense to me until today.

"I'd be pretty pissed if that were me too."

"I see," Adam answered. His voice didn't betray how he really felt beneath his calm facade.

"I don't know much about stuff like this, but if you ever want to…I don't know…talk or spar or whatever I can help out. It's cathartic to hit things with your sword sometimes."

More silence.

Weiss reached out for Adam's hand, tentatively brushing against his fingers. She relaxed when he accepted her hand into his.

"You can stop pretending like you never saw it." His grip on her hand stiffened. She ran her thumb over his knuckle, hoping to ease some of his anxiety. "Plenty of people have asked me about it. I don't care if you want to know too."

"Maybe I'll ask once you stop pretending like it doesn't bother you." Jaune shrugged. "Honestly, I'm more curious about you and Weiss. Uh…no offence but it's pretty bizarre you two get along so well. N-not in a bad way, it's just…weird."

His response made Weiss laugh. She even caught a low chuckle from Adam. His hand relaxed at Jaune's continued disinterest in asking him about the scar.

"It's a bit of a long story," Adam admitted softly. "This isn't the best time to go into detail."

"I get it. Nothing says romance like a bunch of creepy tunnels and vomiting Grimm," Jaune joked.

"W-we're just friends." Weiss clarified at once, mortified that Jaune was also getting the wrong idea about their dynamic.

"Wait, seriously? I thought you two were a thing!" Jaune spoke so loudly it even got Blake's ears to perk up.

Blake looked over her shoulder, zeroing in on her and Adam's joined hands. Weiss ripped her hand out of his, stuffing them both deep into her pockets.

"Trust me, Jaune, I know," Blake said with a pained expression before resuming her conversation with Marrow.

"W-well, that aside, it's still cool you two are so close. Guess not everything is doom and gloom." Jaune dropped the subject, much to Weiss' relief. "Can't say the same about my career as a Huntsman. Let's see if I can survive whatever is at the end of this creepy place."

They resumed a quicker walking pace as another moment of silence lapsed between them.

"You uh…you mentioned you never received proper training before Beacon." Adam changed the subject awkwardly. "How did you learn to fight?"

Jaune, not bothered by Adam's struggle to make friendly conversation, delved into the disastrous self-taught lesson plans he came up with when he was a kid.

Thanks to Yeet, GNTR96, Andiclip, Iwr1918, a Guest reader, BrazeRancor, Gleaming Onyx, LiteralWhiteTrash, and Unsung Senpai for the reviews!