The last stretch of their mission went by smoothly. The Grimm at the core of the Mine didn't stand a chance with everyone combining forces to take it down. Adam's coat kept his scar covered throughout, but he still kept his head low and stuck closely to Weiss throughout.

Excited chatter erupted from their group as they made their way back to the surface. The tension that plagued them earlier vanished in the face of their first successful mission.

Weiss, Adam, and Blake secluded themselves at the very back of the group. It was only then Blake learned what happened between Adam and Jaune.

"I'm glad he's making new friends. Now he can't steal my title of being the mysterious loner," Blake joked at the end of it.

"You guys are making a big deal out of nothing," Adam retorted. "He was being nice. It's not like we're suddenly good drinking buddies."

It was only a few minutes later that Jaune left the larger group to continue his conversation with Adam. This time Jaune was eager to hear how Adam developed his fighting style. Weiss couldn't have been happier to listen to Adam stumble through his story with Jaune.

Weiss' elation from completing their first mission vanished once she stepped outside. Father was talking with Clover and Qrow in front of their airships. Whitley stood next to Father, holding himself up like he was as important to the conversation. The mere sight of them stopped her in her tracks.

Ruby and Yang both slowed down, eyeing Father cautiously as they neared. Only Whitely noticed their presence. Father was too agitated with whatever Clover and Qrow had said to see them staring.

"What's that bastard doing here?" Adam asked darkly.

The cold air outside dug into her bones like claws.

"Come on," Blake unsheathed her sword and stepped forward. "Let's go."

Right. They couldn't stay in the Mine forever.

Weiss shakily rested her hand on the hilt of her sword and followed Blake's lead. Adam and Jaune sandwiched her between them. She was grateful her friends acted as a barrier between her and Father. Though fear still wrapped around her heart like a serpent.

Father's eyes locked on Weiss as they neared, ignoring Clover's explanation of why they had the authority to enter his abandoned property. She inched closer to Adam, the weight in her chest expanding the longer she felt Father's eyes gouge into her. He looked at Adam's coat before turning back to her. The fury in his eyes knocked the wind out of her chest.

Adam's sword clicked out of its sheath, but he didn't draw it out. She instinctively reached out and grabbed hold of Adam's arm. His strength alone kept her from collapsing onto the ice.

Ruby and Yang waited for them to catch up before leading them past Father and Whitley.

Weiss' eyes met Whitely's as they passed by. Her brother held his head up a bit higher. The condescending grin on his face reminded her so much of Father it made her skin crawl.

"Oh dear, Sister, don't you know it's unsanitary to hang out with wild animals?" Whitley asked as he eyed Blake. "Careful now, I heard they carry fleas."

"Watch your mouth, you little shit!" Yang snapped.

"Is this what you call professionalism?" Father sneered at Clover. "Is it protocol to verbally assault a defenceless child?"

"My niece wouldn't have to tell him off if your son learned basic manners," Qrow snapped before Clover could respond.

"So she's related to you? I'm beginning to see the family resemblance."

"That's enough," Clover cut in. "Yang, go back to the airship with the others. I'll handle Mr Schnee."

Ruby pleaded for Yang to leave them before her sister reluctantly backed off. They hurried past the group as fast as they could.

"Keep running away like a petulant child, Sister," Whitley said when they had their backs to him. "Poor Mother would love to hear you've chosen a bunch of strangers over your own family. You're as despicable as Winter."

A wave of white-hot anger sparked to life from his taunts. She looked over her shoulder, ready with a sharp comeback. The words crumbled apart when she got a clear view of his arms held behind him.

His sleeves were rolled up, revealing ugly purple splotches bruising his pale skin. Anger gave way to sickening dread. It was only then she noticed how much more sickly and tired her brother appeared. He looked so much worse when he was standing in the daylight. His complexion was like snow.

Whitley yanked his sleeves down and folded his arms in front of him. Their eyes met once more, but she could no longer see condescension on his face. All that she saw was resentment.

Robyn Hill and Father debated live that evening. Blake propped up her Scroll for their small group to watch after dinner, not caring if she was blasting the volume into the cafeteria.

Father spoke first. Weiss wasn't listening to his speech. She'd only caught bits and pieces to know it had something to do with Mantle's safety concerns.

"He only likes hearing himself talk," Jaune observed, sitting on Adam's other side. "If you pick apart everything he says, he's repeating himself."

Upon returning to the Academy, Adam locked himself in his dorm while Jaune disappeared looking for Ironwood. Weiss didn't see either of them until she went to grab Adam for dinner. She didn't know what surprised her more. The new eyepatch covering Adam's scar or finding Jaune inside the room with him.

She learned then that Jaune had asked Ironwood for a new eye patch without mentioning why he needed it. He even went out of his way to make sure it matched the rest of Adam's dark clothes.

Adam didn't mind when Jaune invited himself to their table for the rest of the evening. Jaune was still doing most of the talking between them, but Adam was more inclined to respond now.

"How's this guy so popular?" Jaune spoke over Father's speech. "He's so smug about everything it's annoying."

"He's popular because of the filthy rich," Blake said, tapping her finger against the table.

"He's also good at playing on people's paranoia," Adam added. "His security measures will appeal to Humans scared shitless of the White Fang right now."

Weiss' hands balled into fists when the camera focused on Father's face. Father spoke to the camera with a beaming smile, but all Weiss could see was the monster that ruled their household like a warden. Now he wanted to subject the rest of the kingdom to his tyranny. Her mind kept circling back to the bruises hidden beneath Whitley's sleeves.

She's never noticed her brother sporting any serious injuries until today. Winter would've done something if she saw Whitley was in danger, but she hadn't ever voiced any concerns for him. Were his injuries from an accident? Were they so recent Winter hadn't caught on yet?

A firm tap on the shoulder interrupted her train of thought. Winter looked down at her with a blank expression. Weiss greeted her with a polite smile, unsure how she felt about seeing Winter right now.

"Can I borrow you for a couple of minutes?" Winter requested.

Weiss excused herself from her friends and followed Winter to an empty classroom at the end of the hall. The room was bare, with only a few educational posters explaining how Aura worked. She took a seat on one of the empty tables as the door closed with a soft click.

Winter stood in front of her, her expression taut. This was likely about her team's first impressions as professionals. Weiss knew this was coming, but she didn't think Winter would drag her into a lecture hall to reprimand her.

"You seem rather close to that guy back there. The gentleman with red hair I mean," Winter began. That wasn't what she expected to hear.

"Yeah…I am," Weiss confirmed, glancing at the closed door for a second before looking back at Winter. "I don't think you've met Adam yet."

"He's the same Faunus who travelled with you in Mistral?"

"He is."

"I find it curious he had planned on getting into Atlas alone."

Weiss winced as she remembered the conversation Winter likely overheard when she reunited with the team.

"If he's your friend, why travel alone? Why not go with the rest of your group?"

"He doesn't like travelling with people he doesn't know." She shrugged, fingers fiddling with the edges of her sleeves.

"Does he now? Or is it because he's a questionable character? I heard what happened today from the Ace Ops. One of your friends was so uncomfortable with him that she had to work with another team. How curious."

Weiss didn't know how she was going to talk her way out of this one. If Winter caught her lying now, it would only make the situation worse.

"Weiss, I understand it must be exciting to be in a new relationship, but it's dangerous to give your heart to someone you hardly know. It's easy to exploit–"

"It's not like that!" Weiss quickly put an end to that line of thought. "If I tell you the truth, you have to promise that you won't freak out."

"Weiss–"

"I know it sounds bad, but I promise I know what I'm doing," she cut her off. "Please listen to me?"

Winter narrowed her eyes, but she nodded and waited for Weiss to explain herself.

She started from the very beginning, from the night she first saw him at the Dust Mine. As she did with Ruby, Weiss skipped over any personal details she felt Adam wouldn't want others to know.

Weiss summarised how her trip through Anima actually went, skimming over the rough parts of her journey so she could focus on the good parts. When she caught up to the most recent events, Weiss hoped Winter would be more empathetic towards their situation. Somehow, the story only made the tension in Winter's shoulders tighten.

"You're friends with someone from the White Fang?!"

"He's an ex-agent," she clarified without missing a beat. "He's proved time and time again that he's trying to turn a new leaf. I trust him."

"Weiss, I've dealt with dozens of White Fang agents during my career. People like him have a difficult time changing their ways. It doesn't matter if they've left the group or not. Do you have any idea of the risk you're putting yourself in with someone like that?"

"Did you hear anything I said? He's put in a lot of work to move away from White Fang ideologies. You can't assume he's still like that – you've never even met him."

Weiss leapt from the table and paced around the room. The lecture hall felt uncomfortably small. Its walls were closing in on her by the second.

"He may appear to have changed, but we often miss warning signs when we see the world through rose-coloured glasses, Weiss."

"What are you trying to imply?"

"I'm stating a fact. You're young and impulsive. It's only natural you find yourself attracted to less respectful men in the heat of the moment."

"That's not what happened! I told you–!"

"Your temper is only proving my point, Weiss. You're too immature to see the danger of this situation. You're allowing your feelings to get the better of you."

"Excuse me for getting upset! I don't like listening to someone accuse my friend of being an abuser!"

She hasn't raised her voice with Winter since she was fifteen. Weiss wasn't sure if she felt angrier with Winter for throwing accusations at Adam or sad she was even having this kind of conversation.

Weiss turned her back on Winter when she approached. This must be a big misunderstanding, just like last time. Maybe she didn't explain herself as well as she thought or maybe Winter misinterpreted her words.

She wasn't going to assume the worst about her sister over one misunderstanding. Winter wasn't like that. Her sister wasn't like that.

"I'm sorry for upsetting you, but I'm worried you're trusting someone who's taking advantage of you," Winter explained more gently. "Are you certain he hasn't done anything to make you uncomfortable? He may be disguising his intentions by being friendly, but the warning signs will still be there."

Weiss took a breath to calm her temper. Winter's an overly protective sister. That's all there is to it. She's completely blowing things out of proportion.

"He's an incredible friend to me," she said, turning to face Winter again. "I feel safe with him, and I trust him completely."

"There's never a moment he makes you scared? No incidents of intimidation or attempts to blackmail you into doing things you don't want to?" It was like she didn't even hear Weiss' response.

The question further irritated the anger rising to the surface. Weiss ignored its flames and forced herself to reply.

"No."

"You spend an awful lot of time with him. Is he keeping you away from your other friends?"

"No."

"And he never pressures you into doing something you feel uncomfortable with? He never tries to humiliate you or touches you inappropriately–"

"Are you asking this because he's a Faunus?" The words slipped her mouth before she could take it back. Weiss clenched her teeth, wondering what compelled her to say that.

The lecture hall went so still it made her ears ring.

"Of course not," Winter answered at last. "I'm worried about his checkered past. That's all."

Weiss latched onto Winter's answer, yet it did not ease the growing weight on her chest.

The encounter with Father and Whitley messed with her head more than she thought. She'd been in a weird headspace since they ran into each other, and Winter being overprotective added fuel to the fire. It wasn't fair to paint Winter in a bad light when she was only looking out for her.

"You can always talk to me if something comes up, Weiss." Winter rested her hands on her shoulders. "I'm happy to hear you're doing well."

"Thank you." Weiss smiled forcefully. "I'm sorry for raising my voice."

"And I apologise for keeping you for so long. Let's go back to your friends."

Weiss couldn't have been happier to leave the restrictive lecture hall.

"I heard from Clover that Father dropped by today," Winter said during the walk back.

"He wasn't too happy with us poking around in the Mine…Whitley was there too."

"Of course he was. He's been voicing his loud support for him as of late."

"Hey, Winter?" Weiss paused as she searched for the right way to approach the question. "Does Whitley seem a bit…different to you?"

"Different how?"

Weiss rubbed her arms, recalling what it was like to hide so many horrible bruises beneath long sleeves and makeup.

"He seems so…thin now."

"He's always been thin."

"But I don't remember him looking ill. Are you sure you haven't seen anything off lately? I…I thought I saw bruises on his arms."

"Father mentioned Whitley was getting self-defence lessons. With the current events, it makes sense. Aside from that, he's been the same as ever when I last saw him. Perhaps your time away has made him unfamiliar to you."

"Yeah," Weiss agreed.

Maybe it was all in her head. Maybe she was seeing things that weren't there. After all, this wouldn't be something Winter would overlook. Seeing Father again, being in that Dust Mine after so long, it was all so overwhelming. It left her paranoid about nothing.

Winter parted ways with her when they reached the cafeteria.

The debate still played on Blake's Scroll, the volume blaring for all to hear. It was now Robyn Hill's turn to take the stage. Unlike Father, she spoke kindly yet held a strong sense of authority in her voice.

"This isn't about Us vs Them. Military vs Civilians. Mantle vs Atlas. The issues Mr Schnee brought up all stem from the same source: the complete disregard for the laws created after the Great War." Robin Hill's voice bounced off the walls. While the students continued talking among themselves, Adam, Jaune, and Blake remained transfixed.

"This is about protecting and honouring the basic rights and freedoms we all deserve as people. I can't possibly know the unique struggles of everyone in Mantle. But I promise to use my power to amplify the voices that need to be heard the most. I'll fight for communities that have been neglected and abused for far too long by greedy businessmen like Mr Schnee."

Thank you to Iwr1918, MajorBrony95, Gleaming Onyx, BrazeRancor, and a Guest reader for the reviews!

Lemme know what you think and see you again next week! I think some of you will find the next chapter to be quite delightful :)))