Heart to Heart

Chapter 43: Inner Conflicts

Jaune had to admit that things were going great for not just him but all of them. Atlas was turning out to be a good move. They had become fully licensed which he couldn't wait and tell his family about. He had asked that a message be sent to his sister in Argus, the reports said that they had repelled the Grimm invasion with no civilian losses but it would be nice to hear something from them. A good thing they had the General for all of Atlas as their friend at the moment.

In fact, he would write up a letter to be sent her way on the next supply run to that base. Maybe he would get a letter back next time. There was another reason he was content at the moment they had finished up work for the day as they were all wanting to just relax. Currently he was on a large couch in the common room watching an old film with Yang and the others. Yang was curled up against him as he had his arm around her.

Jaune felt at peace at the moment, it was odd how just a few months ago he had been in a dark place. Sure, the pain of that day in Beacon would never go away, he would always miss Pyrrha, he might always feel like he should have done more that day. Today however he was just glad how things were at the moment. They were all together, they made some new friends and he had a girlfriend who he was pretty sure he was in love with.

Granted he didn't know what love really felt like but he was sure this was it. Being with Yang had taken him out of that dark place he had found himself in, she also had been in a dark place and together they had come so far. He smiled thinking about things, maybe when they got out of Atlas, he could visit home and introduce her to the rest of his family? They could bring the others too as he wanted his family to meet the people who have become like a second family for him.

"What are you smiling about?" Yang asked him.

"Nothing really."

She poked him in the ribs. "Nope, what is it?"

"I'm just happy, aren't you?" He asked.

Yang thought about it, it had taken a lot to get here but yeah, she was happy. She had come to terms with missing an arm, she didn't get those shakes anymore. It had been alike a week since she had a nightmare. She also had a great boyfriend as well, he made her feel safe when she was vulnerable, best of all she honestly felt loved by him.

It was strange how she always looked for the bad boy or the really good-looking guys. Jaune had grown into a handsome man and all but he was the last thing she would consider a bad boy. Even with the whole using fake transcripts and his plan to steal an Atlas airship. So maybe he wasn't all good which suited her just fine.

Being here now just against him without his armor felt scarily natural to her now.

"Yeah I'm happy too," She smiled.

"You ever thought of what we're going to do after Atlas?" Jaune asked her.

Yang shrugged. "Don't know, I mean if Salem doesn't attack here, she might go for Vacuo or something."

"Yeah, plus we have to retake Beacon at some point."

"Thankfully I have a kick ass little sister with magic eyes," Yang laughed a little. "That should help."

"Yeah actually it should," Jaune had to admitted. "But I mean…well I was thinking of a more personal things on what to do after Atlas."

"Personal?" She asked.

"Yeah…I mean if there's time I was kind of hoping we could stop by my family's home. I haven't seen them in a long time and well, I kind of, want them to meet you as well." He blushed bringing it up.

"Oh." Yang blinked as she tried to process that. Sure, Jaune's sister and sister-in-law had been great but this would mean meeting other sisters and his parents.

'Great now I'm worrying if they'll like me,' She mentally scowled at that. He always said they would like her but damn it, she never got to the point in a relationship where she had to meet the boy's family. In fact, this whole relationship had gotten her into new territory she had never been in before. She cared so much about him that it did scare her at times. Then there was the fact they slept together and even had sex.

She didn't regret any of it but she just wasn't used to being in a real relationship. It also bothered her a lot that she hadn't been able to say that she loved him. She could show him but every damn time she tried it died in her throat and she wished she could figure out why.

It really was staring to bother her. Maybe she needed someone to talk to. The problem was who? Blake was technically in a relationship but it was still new and was currently separated. Not to mention how long it took for her to admit her feelings as well didn't encourage Yang. The only other person she could think of was Nora. Both her and Ren seemed to be happy enough being together so maybe she needed to find a moment to talk with her?

"Hey you okay?" Jaune asked rubbing her arm.

"What?"

"You look a bit out of it." He replied.

"Oh, just tired I guess, we've been working a lot." Yang was only partially lying about that as they were all starting to feel some of the stress of missions every day. Sure, being a real Huntress was great and all but it could get real tiring when you went out every day. At least in Beacon they got weekends off but there was just always something to do that the only time off was after work.

It wasn't so bad at the start but it was starting to wear on them all.

"You want to call it an early night?" Jaune asked her.

"Maybe," Yang sighed although she liked being here her mood just wasn't into it. She had a long mission today and she felt tired or maybe it was her mood turning that was making her feel tired.

Jaune could feel a bit tired. "You want to go back to our room or separate tonight?"

Yang thought about it. "Together tonight."

They got up as they walked off hand in hand to the dorms. It wasn't a long walk but on the way she saw Nora heading there too. This was too big of a chance as she paused getting his attention.

"Hey you got back first babe? I got to talk to Nora about something."

Jaune was a little curious but living with all his sisters he knew better to ask what about. "Alright see you there."

As they separated Yang went right to Nora. "Hey Nora, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure what about?" Nora asked happily.

Yang was about to say something but this hallway wasn't exactly private and just anyone could walk by. "Hang on a second, come with me will ya?"

She led the way down the halls looking for a more private spot that she hoped no one would walk by and hear it.

"So where are we going?" Nora asked.

Yang looked around and thought that she found the perfect place as they entered an empty side room. "Okay this should be good. So, are things going well between you and Ren?"

"What? Yeah, why did Ren say something? Is there a problem?" Nora asked now getting worried.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa!" Yang quickly said to calm her down. "He didn't say anything like that. I'm asking for another reason."

"Oh, don't scare me like that." Nora sighed.

"Look I'm just…" Yang sighed wondering how to take this. "As the only other girl here in a relationship-"

"Wait I thought Blake and Sun got together?"

"Relationship with a guy that's actually here," Yang added after the interruption. "Have either of you said the L-word to each other yet?"

Nora's eyes widened as she blushed. "W-well not yet I mean both of us I'm pretty sure feels that way. Ren's not big on expressing his feelings and I'm okay with that, since I pretty much do it enough for the both of us."

Yang had hoped she could have gotten an answer with Nora's help but maybe not.

"So why are you asking?" Nora innocently asked.

Yang fidgeted a bit looking around just a little to make sure they were alone as this was a personal conversation. She took a breath as she leaned up against the nearest wall. "Well Jaune said that he loved me."

"He did!?" Nora's eyes widened as she clenched her fists bringing them up to her mouth in a happy expression nearly dancing in place.

"Yeah he did," Yang blushed a bit at the warm feeling that she always felt inside at the thought of it.

"Well that's great right?"

"It is, it's just that, I want to say it back but something keeps stopping me." Yang said in frustration.

"Well…do you love him back?" Nora asked simply.

"Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty sure. I've never felt like this with someone so it's all new to me. How do you really know when you're in love? How is it supposed to feel like?" She really wished she could have someone to ask that question to. Even her dad she would ask him, it's too bad Summer wasn't still alive, she could have asked her so many things growing up.

"Well, I mean…" Nora tried to search for the words but how do you explain something like that. "I just think you should just know. I know Ren is the one for me, do you think Jaune is the one for you?"

"Well I can't really see anyone else in my life at the moment," Yang admitted. Could she see herself with someone else? Not really, she hadn't really met anyone else that she felt could live a life with. Hell, she even had that dream of being married to him with a kid. She had seemed happy in that dream even.

"So, doesn't that tell you something?" Nora asked her.

"I guess but why can't I say it back? He deserves it and I want to say it so why can't I?"

"Well…are you just scared to say it?"

"Scared?" Yang felt a bit insulted from that. She had already beaten her demons, hadn't she? She hadn't had her arm shake for awhile now and the gripping fear she had felt in her chest wasn't there anymore. Sure, she did feel more cautious now since she knew she could be hurt and hurt bad if she wasn't careful but she wasn't controlled by fear like she had been.

"Why would I be scared of it?" Yang asked her.

Nora shrugged. "I don't know, it's your head. Why would you be scared?"

Yang felt frustrated as she pushed herself off the wall and paced. "I don't know."

"Okay then how about we try something else," Nora tried to rack her brain around this. She was more used to dealing with issues head on most times. "Are you scared he wouldn't feel the same?"

Yang gave her a leveled look. "If he said it first then no."

"Okay so we strike that off the list, are you scared that it won't work out?"

Yang paused feeling that same fear gripping her chest for a moment. It happened so fast she had been caught off guard by it.

"Wait you think Jaune will leave you or something?" Nora asked seeing the reaction.

"What? No, I can't see him doing that," Yang could feel that wasn't the answer.

Nora was quiet for a moment as something she knew about Yang entered her head and made her think. "Do you think if things get anymore serious that you'll screw it up?"

Yang felt that grip again as she hated herself for feeling like this. She shouldn't be afraid of screwing things up but as she thought about it, she couldn't help but feel some part of her was worried about it. She had never been in a stable relationship like this before, never felt like this before with someone and it scared her. Not what it would mean but what if she did something to mess that up and she would lose it.

What she ended up doing something stupid like…her.

Yang leaned against the wall again as she felt the truth was finally coming out. She saw the worried look on Nora's face but looked away for a moment. "I think…I think I'm worried that I'll just end up like Raven."

"Yang," Nora said in a soft tone knowing how hard it was for Yang to talk about her biological mother. "I don't get the whole parents thing as I never had any or at least I don't really remember them. I always thought it would be great to have a family. But I know that she hurt you a lot."

"She abandoned me and dad," Yang said feeling the anger welling up inside of her. "I didn't even know she existed until after Summer died. Summer always loved us but she stayed, she even loved me and I wasn't even her kid."

Yang felt her eyes stinging at the memory of Summer. She always looked at Summer as her real mother, she had been the one to be there and do all the mom things while Raven, she never showed up once. Learning that Summer hadn't been her biological mother had been a blow to her, to know she had another mother out there.

Now after meeting her Raven, talking with her, she just couldn't understand the woman.

"She was supposed to love us but she left us," Yang gripped her arm. "If you love someone, you're not supposed to just throw them away or hurt them like that but she did."

"But you're not her." Nora said.

"I keep telling myself that," Yang said looking at a reflective surface. "But after seeing her in person as much as I hate it, and I really hate it, I do take after her. I mean look at me? I look so much like her, even my eyes turn red like hers. I always thought it was just a part of my semblance but it was just a part of her."

Yang had spent years wondering about her biological mother, what she was like and why she did what she did. She didn't fully understand Raven's reasons only that after meeting her, the woman broke Yang's heart in the end. Was that another reason she was afraid to say that she loved him? That she would just end up heart broken again? While she was sure that Jaune wouldn't cheat on her or anything like that, what if he died?

She had seen what her father had gone through, what they all went through went Summer died, it nearly broke her family apart. Maybe that was another reason she was afraid, she never wanted to go through that kind of hell again.

"I'm a mess," Yang sighed coming to her conclusion.

"Well I think we all are in a way," Nora shrugged as Yang looked at her. "Oh come on, me and Ren are orphans who saw our village destroyed. Jaune lost Pyrrha and you saw how he was. Weiss has her whole family issues, Blake was involved in criminal acts, Penny is a robot wanting to know what it's like being human. Then we got Oscar with an immortal spirit inside his head, Ruby like you lost family and now has this whole silver eye thing dropped in her lap, Maria lost her eyes and has been hiding for most of her life and your uncle was an alcoholic."

Yang blinked before laughing at it all. "Wow…we are all messed up in some why huh?"

"Totally but it's what makes us, well, us. It's why we work so well together."

"Misfits united huh?" Yang mused.

"Hey if we don't look out for us, who will?"

"Yeah, that's true." Yang had to admit that everyone that she just listed were people that Yang would fight with and fight for with every part of her being.

"Feeling better?" Nora asked.

She shrugged, "Maybe? I still don't think I can say it yet but maybe I can work on it."

"Yeah, I mean it took me years to finally work up the courage to admit that I liked Ren." Nora blushed scratching the back of her head smiling.

"So, time huh? Well at least for now things are good." Yang could accept that for the moment. She did want to work on trying to overcome her personal issues. "Thanks for the talk Nora."

"Always happy to help!" Nora grinned at her.

"Well I'm going to bed," Yang told her walking off. She did after all have a great guy waiting for her in their room together and she felt like she could use the time to snuggle up to him and fall asleep in his arms.

-Mantel-

He fell onto the cold floor again with a grunt as he breathed out angrily. Adam slowly pushed himself off the ground as he reached up with his flesh arm to the pipe on the wall, he had been using to help him walk. He seethed at how his body had to relearn just to walk again, even with all the enhancements.

But there was a single thought going through his head that allowed him to push through the pain, the humiliation, the struggle to keep his balance.

That was revenge.

Blake and that Blonde friend of hers, they put him in this state. Not only that but them and their friends had ruined the planned attack on Haven, the White Fang had been decimated by so many members captured and him being the only one to get out had turned the rest against him. He had lashed out, he remembering killing them as he sat alone on the throne that had been Sienna's before he had killed her.

He should have felt bad about that but she had been in the way. She had been holding them all back from striking out.

At least that's what he thought at the time, what he told himself.

Adam pulled himself alone the wall with the pipe as he strained to walk, to get his muscles and cybernetics working together. He had a lot of time to think, to look back on his life and losing everything made a person take stock of their life.

When you lose everything and have nothing left it changes a person. He had thought he had been a champion for Faunus rights, to protect them from the evils of humanity, to rise them up in the world and bring humanity down so they would know how it felt to live in the dirt.

But if he was, he would never have killed Sienna, despite all her faults she had been the legitimate leader and he killed her and why? He thought he was removing something that was blocking The Cause, that she was in the way, he realized it was just a lie he told himself. The real reason was, he killed her because he enjoyed it and it was an excuse, he knew he could use to get away with it.

Killing always came easily for him he didn't know why, it just did. He tried to hide it behind some kind of reasoning, to dress it up as someone who was fighting for a cause, fighting against oppression or something else that others accepted. It was funny how if you gave the right reasons people would accept so much when normally they wouldn't.

In the end he did it because he was good at it and he enjoyed it. It made him feel powerful, it made him feel in control.

He slipped at he grabbed the pipe as he turned around and now with his mechanical arm grabbed it and walked back the way he came. This had become a ritual for him, when the doctor wasn't tweaking his cybernetics or putting him through physical therapy, Adam was here in this hallway with the pipe that stuck out of the wall. He used it to walk back and forth getting stronger as his body got more used to it.

It gave a man time to really focus and think on things.

Back and forth, back and forth, he had no idea how long he did it or how many times he walked up and down this hallway but he knew that day he fell down that cliff he had died. Or the person that he had been had died at least. What was he really? What was Adam Taurus?

He had no White Fang, no followers, he didn't even have his sword anymore. Parts of his body were gone and replaced by machines. No Blake, the only person he felt he could open up to (was that another lie he told himself?), no goal, even parts of his body he lost.

It wasn't until everything is stripped from you when you truly find what kind of person you are. When all the trappings and illusions you give yourself are torn away from you, when you are reduced to your very core and forced to see yourself for what you truly are, what will a person find?

He looked like a monster, a nightmare made of flesh and metal and he found that he just didn't care.

He wore a mask to not only strike fear into others but to hide the brand he had on his face. Well that brand was gone as was the eye with it. Now a metal eye and metal 'skin' replaced that area of his face. He couldn't hide what he was anymore but he could still strike fear in others.

As the days went by as he got more used to his new body, he slowly started to think and come to some epiphany about himself. Maybe those humans that had burned the SDC mark into his eye had been right. Maybe he was a 'beast' all this time, maybe he was the monster he tried to become with the mask he made for the White Fang.

He based his mask upon the Grimm, the world's greatest monsters.

Adam remembered a line from one of Blake's books, he had never been much of a reader but she was and sometimes she could tell him certain passages of her favorite books. One of them strangely came to mind.

"He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man."

Strangely he found that line very fitting for himself now.

Maybe in his heart that's what he wanted to become a beast, a monster like the Grimm. Something that did what it wanted without regard for anything but its own needs. To maim and kill because that's what it did. It was a simple and yet pure existence that didn't have any of the trappings or illusions people had in their lives.

And that's what he knew he was in his core. Adam Taurus was a beast, a true Beast. A beast he was and a beast he would become, he would become a living nightmare for the world. He didn't care about Faunus rights anymore, he didn't care about his own body anymore, he didn't care if he lived or died. He just wanted to see the world burn.

Most of all he wanted to see two people in particular burn.

After he dealt with them, he would show the world his true self.

He paused as he noticed footsteps coming up behind him. After all, one of his ear drums had been replaced and now he could hear even better with it. He noticed that they weren't the doctor's footsteps, and they weren't the heavy ones from the robots he used. They were lighter and he thought he heard heels.

Stopping what he was doing he turned around to face two people.

"Well you are looking better." Cinder stated looking him over. Adam was bare chested so she could see a lot of the new cybernetics on his body. "Although you've seen better days."

"I could say the same to you Cinder." Adam said back to her. She had a large patch over her left eye but he could see some scared tissue coming out from under it. Her left arm was all in bandages as well and not because of a fashion statement. She had changed since the last time he had seen her and her plan to destroy Beacon with Grimm and his White Fang members.

The other woman seemed younger and much shorter. He had to search his memory but he realized he had seen her with Torchwick a couple of times. He didn't remember her name in fact he didn't even remember her saying anything. He just figured she was the quiet type and left it at that as he didn't really see her as important just one of Torchwick's people.

Cinder's good eye narrowed a bit at his jab but let it go. "Yes, it seems we all have the same enemies who've hurt us."

"Do we?" Adam asked.

"Team RWBY," Cinder saw his own good eye narrow as the red cybernetic eye seemed to glow a bit more red. "We both have reasons to have them killed, we figured they were the ones that left you for dead when we came across you."

"Blake and her blonde friend." Adam said with venom.

"Ah, so Blake and Yang." Cinder nodded she had figured she had guessed right in Team RWBY being the cause of his injuries.

'Ah Yang, so that's the blonde's name,' Adam never really bothered to learn the names of Blake's teammates. The only one he knew was the Schnee girl for obvious reasons.

"So you saved me to use me." Adam surmised.

"I like to think-" before she could smooth things over by trying to use her skilled tongue on manipulating him into her side he cut her off.

"Don't bother, if we're going to kill them then I only want Blake and her friend Yang. The rest I don't care about." Adam simply told her.

Cinder paused at this it seems that Adam's near-death experience had changed him in some way. She had gone through several ways to twist him to her needs but it seems she didn't have to like with Neo. This was an interesting development so she would run with it.

"Very well, Neo and I only want their leader Ruby dead." Cinder tilted her head to Neo who drew a line across her neck.

"That leaves some extras." Adam told her.

"Anyone that gets in the way of course we'll kill," Cinder told him as Neo smiled and nodded. "They also have a small object with them that I want."

"I don't care about that, as long as you let me kill those two, you can get whatever you want." Adam told her simply.

Cinder nodded her head as the bargain was done. "Are you well enough to fight?"

"Not yet," Adam growled out. "give me some time."

He went back to walking down the hallway as he got used to his new body parts. Now he knew why he had been saved and that Cinder had a plan, a plan that was in line with his needs. If Cinder was here then he knew that Atlas itself would most likely fall like Beacon. He could get behind that, he always wanted to see the Upper City of Atlas fall. He didn't care where it landed but it would be a sight to see.

Cinder watched him as she had to think, this wasn't the same Adam she remembered he seemed more focused but also something else she couldn't put her finger on. At any rate they now had him to use and once he was up to fighting strength, he would he a nasty surprised for team Ruby.

Neo tapped her shoulder as she looked at the shorter woman. She held up a scroll with a message on it. It was from that mane Jack that worked for the Crooked Man, apparently, they had a job that needed some help with.

Cinder sighed, part of the deal she made with that man was that she and Neo would help deal with some issues that the Cooked Man wanted to be dealt with. She couldn't really complain as they got free room while in the city, his information resources and how he had paid for Adam's medical fees that doctor had for his work.

"Let's get this over with, we have other things to do." Cinder said in a bored tone.

Neo rolled her eyes as she would prefer to just kill Ruby and be done with it all but they had to figure out exactly where they were and how to get to them. Still at least it was something to do and it was a bit of fun. Still she wanted to kill 'little red' when she got the chance.

-Atlas Drilling Complex-

Outside the safety of the cities Atlas and Mantel there were certain facilities set up. They were usually mining areas as the land was covered by ice and snow making farming not very practical except for the areas inside the cities that had areas made just for farming. Where artificial heat could keep the soil warm enough to grow food. So mining was one of the major things the Kingdom of Atlas had invested in. They had mines for iron, copper, limestone and a few other resources. The precious metals were dug out and forged in the kingdom as a lesser known resource for them and export.

Even though the continent wasn't as big as the others and had plenty of room it didn't hold a population like the more southern kingdoms. On top of the Grimm that every nation had to deal with, they also have to deal with harsh environment. But people did make a living there still, humanity and Faunus were if anything adaptable. There were even a few hunting villages that also traded meats, a few scattered areas people could live in but not many. Some people worked at the mining stations for instance.

Or in this case, a drilling station that was West of Atlas.

One of the workers was stamping his feet to get the blood flow working as he did his task of checking the pressure gauges. It was night and the nights in this kingdom could get very cold but the pressure gauges had to be checked like clockwork. You had to be very careful that the pressure didn't reach a critical mass, this might not be dust but the material they drilled here could be just a volatile.

"Hey you know when the next supply run is coming? We're nearly out of a few things," another worker, a Faunus man shouted down at the man from a catwalk above him.

"Either today or tomorrow," He shouted back up to him.

"What the hell? Why is it always late?"

"No idea, we just order stuff and it gets here when it gets here. Now get back to work before the foreman catches us, you know how he can be." He finished as the other man nodded and walked off on the catwalk above him.

He went back to his work with his clipboard, he honestly had no idea why the supply runs lately always seemed to come late. He just figured it was because Atlas was cut off from the rest of the world so there were no imports like usual. He was about to move to the next area before a loud crashing sound and soon cries went up from the night shift workers.

At first, he thought it was an explosion but there was no shockwave, no fire or smoke. He ran to the area. He could see one of the metal drilling stations bend down, something hit the supports or something had happened to them to cause the towering drilling station to lean. He rushed over and could see others panicking as he had to dodge a few people. He rounded the corner and saw that one of the walls that were around the facility had been broken as Grimm were inside the complex now.

He could see other workers running away as the Grimm hunted them down, tearing into some of the slower ones.

"Oh shit! Shit-shit-shit-shit!" He turned to run, someone had to get to the alarm, they had to get to the shelters and hope Atlas could sent support. This was the major fear of everyone that worked outside of the city. Sure, they got extra pay because of the dangers of Grimm showing up but they had gone too long without a major Grimm attack that he was starting to actually feel a bit safe out here. The only Grimm that usually showed up had been a small pack now and then but usually the defenses could handle it.

He could see some of those robots marching off and shooting but he didn't care about them. There were way too may Grimm, more than usual.

He felt his lungs burning with the cold air he sucked in trying to remember where one of the damn alarms were. He only got a little further away when he heard the sounds of heavy footsteps above him. He looked up to see the cat like Sabyr was on the catwalk overhead stalking him.

He only managed to cry out for a moment before the creature pounced on him. He lived just long enough to hear the sounds of the siren blaring as someone managed to get to the alarm.

TBC…