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Working Towards Trust

The hours that followed the attack were filled with a dreadful silence. Even after my explanation, we all had more questions that answers. Blake remained unconscious, but silence from her is something we all expect. Not even Kane had a smart-ass response to the situation. We truly had no idea what to do or what to say. All we had were our questions, and we knew that we'd get nowhere if we discussed them. I stood up and called Yang through my helmet. "What's up, Milo?" She answered.

"Hey Yang. Would and your team mind coming over to the warehouse?" I asked.

"Why? Did something happen?"

"Long story." I looked Blake, who was still out cold. "Did you tell your team about Adam yet? He has a whole apology speech planned for Ruby and Weiss."

"We'll be right over." She hung up.

I took off my helmet and pointed to one of the small storage room. "Adam, you'll be staying in there. There's something on the bed you might want." I had ordered Kane and Viper to set up a room for Adam in one of the storage rooms, identical to the ones they slept in.

He hesitated before entering his room, most likely still not believing he was being given a second chance. I sent him to take what I had put on his bed; Wilt, whose blade was clean of blood, and Blush, which had a piece of his Grimm mask from the Battle of Beacon attached to it. He emerged with the sword on his hip and a grin plastered on his face. He unsheathed Wilt and twirled it a few times. "Oh how I've missed you."

As Adam sheathed Wilt, Yang knocked on the door and entered with her team. After we exchanged pleasantries, she asked the question I dreaded, because I knew what was about to happen. "Hey, where's Blake?"

Deciding there was no point to hiding the truth, I motioned to the couch where Blake was still unconscious. Her eyes turned red and she glared daggers at Adam. "What did you do to her!?"

Adam gripped Wilt's handle defensively. Yang clenched her fists, and Ruby and Weiss drew their weapons as well. I unsheathed a data pick and stood in front of Adam. "He didn't do it. Back off. He has an alibi."

"And what would that alibi be?" Yang asked through gritted teeth.

"We were jumped by a mercenary who has a past with Milo. He knocked Blake out cold and destroyed one of my knives," Adam explained.

"And you expect me to believe that?!"

"I believe him," I said. "What I'm about to say will make what Adam said even less believable, but as your friend, I'm asking you to trust me. When the IMC attacked and I ordered you all to hide under the school, Rumble and I went to, uh, stop the threat. When we did, we ran into a merc with the same name and similar physical description. I thought Rumble killed him, but I suppose I wrong. How he got to the surface and how he survived his injuries, I don't know yet."

"How can I even believe that?!" She was tearing up. "I thought we were friends! But you lie to my face and defend this... this psycho?!"

"Yang, please listen. I speak from experience. Mercs in the Frontier have to be tough as nails to survive the unforgiving game. You can ask Scavenger, I've survived worse. I have no problem believing that this merc survived. He's not like anything I've seen before. Remember on the first day of school that only Simulacrums like Rumble and Ash could phase shift? Manta, this mercenary, is human, and he was able to phase shift. He wore a cloak and used a flamethrower, very unorthodox for a pilot. I really think Adam is telling the truth. If you won't believe him, believe me. We're friends, and I would never lie to you."

Her eyes turned back to their normal lilac. She calmed down and breathed deeply. Just then, Blake woke up with a gasp. Ilia, Yang, and Adam rushed over to check on her. "Are you okay?" Yang and Ilia asked.

"I'm fine," Blake said. Her cat ears were pressed flat against her head. "What happened?"

"Let's see if Adam was telling the truth," Yang said. "What do you remember?"

"I remember a mercenary. He was wearing a maroon cloak and he had a jump kit. I think he was a pilot. His visor was in the shape of a manta ray. He fought with flamethrowers and swords, stored in his arms. He disappeared and then everything went black."

I could tell Adam was debating between wearing an 'I told you so' look or an innocent look. He opted for the innocent, but he rested his hand on Wilt's handle. Yang looked over at him, still not fully trusting him. "The mercenary wasn't even after Blake, he was after me," Adam explained to the still-untrusting Yang. "But the question remains, we still don't know who he works for."

"Thinking about the situation, I have some ideas." Mercury decided to join the conversation. "This might sound like a longshot, but at the Battle of Beacon, me, Emerald, and Adam all turned our backs on guess who. Salem. And what would be the perfect way to get to us? A mercenary with no public link to her. Think about it."

Everyone stared in disbelief. I defended him first. "Merc can be surprisingly smart when he wants to be."

"It makes sense," Adam said. "Who else would send him after me?"

"Oh, I dunno, the thousands of people who still hate you?" Yang's anger began to grow again.

"What happened to our talk at Junior's? I thought you forgave me." Adam began to frown, looking as if he could not decide between being sad or angry.

"I did. That doesn't mean they did."

"I still need to apologize to some more people here. Ruby, Weiss, I know I caused you both grief. I'm sorry for that, but I can't undo my actions. The best I can do is ask you both for a second chance."

Ruby spoke up first. "I gave Milo a second chance. Why should I treat you differently?"

Adam cracked a smile.

"Adam, I will tell you the same thing I said to my team about the White Fang," Weiss began. Even though it seems like I grew up with a very easy, cushy childhood, I didn't. It was made difficult by your organization. Entire shipments of dust: stolen. Board members: executed. After things like that happened, my father would always come home furious it drove my family apart."

"I'm sorry that happened to you, Weiss. But perhaps you failed to notice the mark the SDC left on me. I worked since I was child, treated like a slave in the dust mines. Apparently, I made one-too-many mistakes, so do you know what those bastards did to me?" Adam approached her, his teeth gritted. "This is what they did to me. They branded me, blinded me in one eye. Because of the supervisors' tyrannical behavior, I'm forced to wear their brand as a constant reminder of what I am: a filthy Faunus slave. When they did that, I screamed, I sobbed. You know what they did? They laughed at my agony. That's why I joined the White Fang. To get back at the men who tortured me." He was silent for moment. "I've decided to end that chapter of my life. I'm a huntsman now. This is what I wanted to do since I was a boy. I'm going to dedicate myself to helping defend the world from harm."

Weiss was silent. She did not speak at all after hearing Adam's speech, as I assumed her father kept quiet to her about company's subjugation of Faunus. "I knew his methods of labor were questionable, but I never knew anything about this..." Weiss confirmed my hypothesis.

"Let's just both agree we had difficult childhoods and move on. A few certain someones have taught me that it's important to let go of the past." He looked over to Blake and me. "If you don't trust me yet, at least let me work towards it."

"I think we can do that," Ruby said softly.

"Thank you. I know I don't deserve it, but thank you."