A/N - Hey all! Sorry for the long wait on this chapter. I wanted to really take my time with this one, and I'm not sure how well it's going to go over. There's an obligatory trigger warning that I need to put here - there's an implied assault recounting that some might find a little upsetting, so be prepared. As we get back into RWBY, I'll try to be a little more regular with my chapters. Thanks for reading!

Adam worked for nearly an hour to transfer his notes to Yang's notebook. By the time he was finished, his hand had started to cramp. He tossed the pen and it landed on the desk with a clatter, and he leaned back to dig his thumb into his palm. "There you are, Xiao Long. Don't think I'm going to do that for you every day."

She sidled up and jostled him with a clap on the shoulder. "Well, it shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't let others rope you into their lies." He scowled, but she ignored him as she flipped through the pages to check his handiwork. When she got back to the front, he noticed her doodles on the inside cover.

"Who's the dude, an old boyfriend of yours or something?" He didn't really care, but he wasn't used to writing that much once, let alone twice in one day. As he squeezed stiff fingers open and closed a few times, he gave in to the petty desire to get at least one good dig in.

Yang refused to take the bait. Instead, she laughed and closed the notebook. "Nah, that's Harry the Wizard." He gave her a perplexed look, and she was about to elaborate when Ruby spoke up.

"Oh my God, don't get her started," Ruby groused. Adam half turned in his chair at her remark with one eyebrow raised. Ruby was lying on her stomach up in her bunk, and she rolled over on her back, letting her head hang over the edge of the bed. When she caught his look, she rolled her eyes. "It's all she talked about this summer."

"Hey, don't be jealous, sis!" Yang shot back. "It's not my fault my dreams are so much cooler than yours."

"It's completely ridiculous! Wizards and faeries!" Ruby scoffed. "I still think you're making it all up." The two sisters fell to bickering, and Adam wondered where his headphones might be when Weiss began massaging her temples. She said nothing, but the look she gave him was one of unfettered annoyance, which she accented with squinty blame.

He flipped his hands up and curled his fingers back toward himself with a frown. "How is this my fault?" Her only response was to sniff in disdain and turn back to her homework. He snorted and stood up to stretch as his partner and team leader devolved into name-calling, though it seemed more playful than heated. Still, he wasn't about to sit around and listen to it, so he checked his scroll. Dinner was an hour away. He pondered on whether he would have time for a jog when there was a gentle knock at their door.

Yang and Ruby were still going at it, and Weiss had managed to find a pair of earbuds. He sighed and stepped over to open the door. When he opened it, he was greeted by the smiling faces of Jaune and Pyrrha. Their cheerful looks drifted into curiosity, and they leaned to either side of him to peer into the room. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the siblings had begun wrestling – or rather, Ruby was trying and failing to wrestle her sister. He shook his head and faced his neighbors.

The two straightened and Pyrrha spoke first. "Is.. everything okay in there?" Jaune, on the other hand, had a wry grin on his face.

Adam shrugged and simply said, "They're sisters." Pyrrha gave a polite 'ah', but Jaune's humor only deepened. Adam stepped out into the hallway, half closing the door as he did so, and they made room for him. "What's up?" he asked.

"Right," Jaune answered. "We were talking about Coco's meeting tonight and Nora thought maybe we could just bring dinner back to the dorms." Adam tilted his head, not certain what would necessitate such a thing. "You know, because Velvet seemed so skittish?"

"Ren suggested that it might make Velvet feel more comfortable if we were to share a meal together," Pyrrha interjected. "I think it's a lovely idea, though it may be a little cramped in our room." Adam could see the logic in it, but they were right about the problem. A dozen people in one small room didn't seem very practical, especially if a meal was a part of that equation.

"It would probably help if Velvet didn't have to cross paths with Cardin," he mused. Out of sight, out of mind wasn't going to have any real impact on the situation, but if they were going to do this, it would be helpful if she wasn't on edge. "I don't know – does the cafeteria let us take food out?"

Pyrrha gave a firm nod. "Many of the students here do so all the time according to Coco. She likes the idea, though Fox and Yatsuhashi wouldn't be able to join us. She didn't say why." She gave a little shake of her head; Adam wasn't certain if it was disapproval or mere acknowledgement. It did simplify the problem, though. Fitting ten people would still be crowded, but they could make it work.

"I suppose we could do that then." So much for his jog. Whatever epic struggle was taking place behind him had further degenerated into something that involved a lot of helpless laughter and squeals. The distraction had become too much for Weiss, who then emerged from the room with thinned lips.

She closed the door behind her firmly, which served to muffle the commotion within, but only a little. "Un-believable," she said in disgust. Adam stepped aside and her expression morphed into one of curiosity. "What's this all about?" Jaune gave a rushed explanation, which caused her features to somehow darken and be thoughtful at the same time.

"We were just about to ask, but it sounds like some of Team Rowan is otherwise… occupied," Jaune finished. "Would you mind giving us a hand at the cafeteria?"

Adam was more than happy to get away from the chaos of his shared room. Weiss, on the other hand, looked as if she would rather swim in a pool full of snakes. She looked at the door, and then to him. She hooked a thumb at it. "You tell them," she said, and she crossed her arms in resolute defiance.

Adam grumbled at her imperious tone, but he opened the door and poked his head in anyway. Yang had managed to get Ruby pinned to the floor, and she was sitting on her sister's back. She had trapped Ruby's legs with her own, and the younger girl's unshod feet were being mercilessly tickled. Ruby was gasping and pounding the floor with her fists, begging for a cease-fire between choked breaths. He stared, open-mouthed for a moment, and then seized upon the opportunity for a little payback. He pulled out his scroll and snapped a picture of the pair.

Once he was done with that, he cleared his throat loudly. The girls paused in their tom-foolery and looked up at him. "We're bringing dinner back here. Do you think you two nut-jobs can get this worked out of your systems by then?"

"Only if Yang says Uncle!" Ruby huffed.

Yang smiled wickedly. "Oh no, crow can't save you this time!" He wondered what the hell that even meant, but Ruby took advantage of the distraction and wriggled around enough to start digging her fingers into Yang's ribs. The blonde flailed and barked in surprise, "Why you little!" Adam eased back into the hallway and closed the door as fresh gales of laughter erupted.

He turned to the other three and shook his head. "Jury's out on that one." Pyrrha was snickering into her fist. Weiss had had tipped her face up and was taking deep breaths and silently counting to ten – Adam couldn't blame her, but he also got a small sense of petty satisfaction from her irritation. He decided then and there that he could tolerate at least some of the sisters' hijinks – if they occasionally got under her skin, it was a fair trade.

Jaune, on the other hand, had a knowing look on his face. When Adam raised an eyebrow, he shrugged. "I have seven sisters." He tilted his head toward the door and shrugged. "This is a walk in the park to me."

"That explains a lot," Weiss said. Jaune just shook his head and waved a hand wordlessly. They set out for the cafeteria, and Jaune regaled them with his misadventures as a middle child, the only boy – besides his father – in a family of ten. Adam listened with amusement, trying to picture a much younger Jaune being dressed like a doll and having his hair put into pigtails. He wasn't sure if he was missing out on the whole 'family' experience or not, but it sounded a far cry better than his own childhood experiences.

Adam snuck a glance at Weiss a couple of times during Jaune's tale and was surprised to find that she had a barely perceptible smile on her face. He knew that she had an older sister, and a younger brother, but he had trouble picturing any of them getting up to anything even remotely resembling Yang and Ruby's display of affection. Then again, he could easily be wrong; the Schnees were a very private bunch.

She caught him looking and her ever-present scowl returned. "What?" she asked.

He shook his head dismissively, but answered her anyway. "I was just wondering how lively your family is compared to his. Behind closed doors, of course," he added quickly. Jaune and Pyrrha were sharing breathless laughter at some swimming pool story he was trying to tell, so they missed the stormy cloud that brewed over Weiss' head.

She rolled her eyes and sniffed. "Of course there's more to my family in private. That doesn't mean we had time for that sort of foolishness." She huffed. "I hope it isn't going to be like this all the time. We have homework to do." He could hear Yang clearly say 'Come on, don't take all the fun out of it' as if she were right beside him. He might not be prepared to deal with Ruby and Yang if they were going to be like that every night, but it was different. Different didn't have to be bad in his experience.

Retrieving dinner proved to be even simpler than he thought. The kitchen staff was in the midst of preparing portable carts for other diners-in. One of the younger women, Iris, reminded them to be sure to pre-order any future take-outs with their scrolls. She let them off with a smile and soon had them on their way with assurances that leaving the cart in the hallway would be fine: Someone would be along to collect them later in the evening. It was all very efficient, which didn't surprise Adam at all.

By the time they had returned to the dorm, other students were going the direction they had come from. More than a few eyed their group, and it was clear by the looks on their faces that many of them had also not realized they could bring food back. The cart itself was laden with several trays, and he had wondered how they would get it up the stairs. Pyrrha solved that problem for them. She stretched out a hand and a shadowy light played along the surfaces of the cart itself, and then it lifted into the air. That was handy, though she didn't explain until they reached the third floor.

When the wheels settled back onto the floor, she relaxed. "That's a pretty neat trick, Pyrrha. Your semblance is levitation, I take it?"

She winked at him. "Something like that," she replied enigmatically. When Weiss started to speak, the redhead placed a finger to her lips. "See if they can figure it out." Jaune, he noticed, was just as clueless as he was.

After a moment, the blonde shrugged it off and started to push the cart. "That's pretty cool! Can you do that with anything?" He paused for a second and shook his head. "No, I'm betting not, because something like levitation means you probably can't, am I right?"

"Correct." She gave an affirmative nod as she said it.

Jaune rapped his knuckles on the top shelf. "Is it control of metal?" Adam may have had doubts about Jaune's fighting capability, but Juniper's team leader seemed intelligent, at least. Pyrrha nodded encouragingly, but waggled her hand. "Hmm. So not quite control of metal, but kind of." He thought for a few more steps as the trays rattled quietly. "Is your semblance like your personality, magnetic?"

Adam rolled his eyes, and Weiss shared his sentiment at the bad come-on. She made a disgusted noise, but Pyrrha took it with good humor and snapped her fingers. "Got it in three!" she exclaimed with pride. "Very good, Jaune, you've guessed my semblance: Polarity."

Jaune burst out with a dozen questions, and Adam saw Weiss pinch the bridge of her nose. "You would think he's never heard of her before," she muttered. "Honestly, how does he not know?"

Adam shrugged as the pair wheeled their dinner down the hallway ahead of them. "Hey, I didn't know either." He wasn't exactly standing up for Jaune, but he'd figured it out before Adam had. It only seemed fair to offer at least a token defense.

Weiss, however, gave no ground; she glanced at him and shook her head. "Boys," she murmured in disapproval. Pyrrha was demonstrating her finer control with some of the silverware, which she did right up to their section of hallway. Weiss waved her scroll in front of the door and cautiously peered inside. Whatever she saw caused her to sigh in relief and push the door the rest of the way open.

Jaune let go of the cart handle and tapped Adam on the arm with the back of his hand. "You mind? I'm going to go get the chairs – and Ren and Nora – from our room." Adam grunted and took charge of the food, pushing it through the open doorway. Ruby and Yang had called a truce while the rest of them had been gone, and had used the time to push the desks together. Coco and Velvet had yet to arrive, but he expected that they would be along shortly. They worked together to unload the meal onto the makeshift dining table.

Chaos reigned for about a minute before Weiss firmly took charge and handed out assignments for everyone. There were a lot of things he could say about her attitude, but Weiss had everything organized in a matter of moments. Adam and Yang were assigned the task of setting the dishes in the middle, Ruby and Pyrrha dealt with the plates and condiments. Weiss was setting out the silverware when Jaune, Ren, and Nora all shuffled in with extra chairs.

They were still at it when Coco and Velvet appeared at the doorway. Coco peered over her sunglasses with a surprised smile, and Velvet looked over her shoulder with a nervous smile. Or maybe she was just shy.

Whichever it might be, Ruby seemed not to notice it at all. "Hey, you two!" she chirped. "Come on in!" She waved them in and took a seat close to the window. Everyone else found chairs, and grouped together in their respective teams.

Coco cast an eye around the room, pausing to stare at the precariously perched beds and books before taking the seat farthest from them. Adam couldn't help himself and whickered sardonically. Everyone was chattering about the selection of foods offered and how the first day of classes had gone. He noticed that Velvet still seemed uncomfortable, with one of her ears drooping as she sat next to her team leader.

He opted not to say anything about it, but Yang wasn't so circumspect. "Hey, Velvet, cheer up, huh? You're among friends." She pitched it quietly enough that it didn't interrupt the various conversations, but loud enough that the rabbit Faunus could hear. "Relax and enjoy the food, and the company, eh?" She added an encouraging, soft shoulder-bump that seemed to have the intended effect.

Velvet put on a bashful smile. "I suppose I have been dreading this all day. Everyone seemed so serious after we left the Headmaster's office." Yang gave her an encouraging pat on the back that rocked the girl forward a tad harder than was probably necessary, but the blonde began to work her bizarre magic of bantering her way through the awkward moment as if nothing were amiss. Adam supposed that she'd had plenty of practice on her sister over the years. Wherever she'd learned, it was effective in drawing Velvet out of her bubble of discomfort, and soon enough they were talking happily about the classes they would be sharing for the semester.

The room was noisy with the excited teenagers, and at first Adam spoke very little, instead choosing to eat and listen. Nora, however, took notice and dragged him into the discussion. "So Adam, Yang tells me you're an orphan like Ren and Me?" The question took him by surprise. He didn't know either of them very well, but it would have been awkward to leave it at that, or even give a simple answer.

Her partner gave him a way out, though. "Nora.." Ren said with mild disapproval. "Maybe dinner isn't the best time…" and the way he said it seemed to be more for Adam's benefit than to spare himself.

Adam waved a hand. "It's fine, and yeah, I am." He supposed this might be an opportunity to solidify his cover story if pressed. "I don't really remember my parents, and I ran away from the orphanage early on. What about you two?"

Ren's expression grew distant, but he nodded. "I was old enough to remember my mother and father. We survived a Grimm attack, and after that we drifted from town to town." He seemed hesitant to say more, and it was something Adam could appreciate. It was a familiar story, to him at least. Living outside the kingdoms was often met with hardship and failure.

Nora, however, was more than happy to carry on. "I don't really remember my parents either. I was traveling with some grown-ups, but they sort of left me behind." She shrugged. "That's okay, though, because I found Ren, and we've been together ever since." Her gaze shifted sideways, and she quickly interjected, "But not, together-together, y'know?" She covered her embarrassment by taking a large bite of roast.

Pyrrha leaned over to grab a dinner roll. "Why did you run from the orphanage, Adam? Was it that bad?"

He unconsciously rubbed at his arm, but shrugged off the real memories. "There were too many kids," which was true enough. "Food was scarce, and it was always crowded." That was also true, at least partially; the reason was because the older children often stole food from the younger ones. "I left when I was maybe six."

If she was bothered by the idea, it only showed a little. "And how long before your mentor found you?"

He made a show of thinking about it, but shook his head. "I couldn't say for sure, but at least a couple of years." He decided a little more truth couldn't hurt, and he let himself grin. "She caught me picking her pocket, and decided that if I was going to be a thief, I should be her little filch."

Pyrrha was shocked, "I don't believe you – you're pulling my leg," she laughed.

He shrugged. "It's true. Of course, what she really meant by little filch was more like little helper. I must have lugged a small lake's worth of water to pay her back." That might not be exactly what he had done, but it was near enough – early on, anyway. "But she always looked out for me, made sure that I was fed."

Yang turned her head to fix him with a playful gaze. "And now you're here, eh partner?"

"So it would seem." They moved on to other small talk, and he was relieved to discuss more mundane subjects. He weathered playful jabs at being singled out for special training by Professor Goodwitch, and they all commiserated at the prospect of trying to stay awake through Professor Port's tall tales.

Coco stole all hope from them. "The best part about Port's classes are the hands-on lessons, but there aren't as many as you might think." She grinned wolfishly. "Thankfully, second year looks like it's going to be mostly field work." She leaned back and adopted a more serious tone and posture. "As amusing as this has been, we've got something to discuss."

The mood dimmed a little, but Yang spoke up first. "So, Velvet, I know I was pretty upset with what happened earlier. I get what you were trying to do - I just want to understand why." Coco seemed like she wanted to object, but then shrugged. Whatever else she had in mind could wait, apparently.

Velvet took a deep breath and pushed stray vegetables around her plate. "I'll do my best, but before I do, I need everyone to agree not to let it leave the room." After a scattered chorus of agreement, she laid down her fork and continued. "Before I came to Beacon, I was a student at Shade Academy. Things went well, at first. Faunus have less trouble in Vacuo than the other kingdoms."

"Attending at Shade was great, really. We – er, they use a different system than the one used here at Beacon." Adam leaned back and folded his hands across his stomach. He was more familiar with Vacuo's Huntsman academy because Blake had considered sending him there before she settled on Master Skrin instead. "They use a sort of rotating buddy system – not true partners. I think the idea is supposed to be about working with anyone."

The others listened on while she continued, which took a moment for her to work up the nerve. "Every week was a new partner, on a four week rotation." She closed her eyes and her ears drooped. "I came to dread the fourth week because of a boy – Robin. He seemed nice enough when we first met, but after a few months he started getting… aggressive." Velvet was trying to fold in on herself, and it was clear that she was uncomfortable.

Yang laid her fingers on the back of the girl's fist. "It's okay, Velvet. Take a breath – you're safe here." It was easy for Adam to see that his partner was well-practiced at calming others, because it had the desired effect on Velvet, who calmed somewhat. "Aggressive how?" She started to elaborate and Adam reached out to squeeze her arm gently, giving a minute shake of his head when she glanced his way. He had a feeling that this was going to be yet another familiar story.

Velvet took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she continued. "Over time it became clear that he was interested in me. He was sweet, and patient, and kind." She smiled bitterly as she stared at the remains on her dinner plate. "But then he started to get pushy, even when I asked for space. I put him off as best I could for months, but one night, he tried to…" Whatever she'd been about to say caused her to shudder and bow her head. "We fought, and I…"

Yang abandoned all pretense at keeping her distance, and she slid her chair closer so that she could wrap her arms around the shaking girl. Ruby and Weiss had both placed hands over their mouths in horror. Adam noted that the dark looks most of the others had on their faces mirrored his own. Jaune – and not surprisingly, Nora – both looked like they wanted to find this Robin guy and beat the crap out of him. It was a sentiment that he shared. Yang was whispering to Velvet, who had buried her face into Yang's shoulder.

Coco's face was neutral as she stood up and circled around the table. She was obviously just as upset as everyone else, but she also didn't want to upset her teammate further. She nudged Ruby, and everyone quietly changed seats to make room for her. She sat and rubbed her hand over Velvet's back. The rest of them remained silent as the two worked to help her settle, and eventually she did.

Once Velvet dried her tears, she seemed relieved. Yang eased back to give her room, but stayed close enough so Velvet's fingers could remain intertwined with hers. Ruby was the first to break the silence, if reluctantly. "But you're okay now, right?"

Velvet smiled, but it was weary and sad. "Yeah."

"What happened? After, I mean." Jaune had mastered his anger enough to ask, and Adam frowned. "You said there was a fight."

Velvet's expression grew haunted, but she answered him. "I don't remember any of it, but when it was over, Robin was badly beaten." She grasped her elbow and looked down at her lap. "By that point, the professors had come, and it was two days before I found out what happened to him. They suspended me, and there were so many questions. In the end, they were more upset that I hadn't come to one of them sooner."

Pyrrha leaned forward and rested her forearms on the table. "May I ask why you didn't talk to someone?" She sounded apologetic, but it was a fair question. Adam had heard of the reputation of Vacuo faculty, and he doubted that any of them would have ignored that sort of behavior.

Velvet's eyebrows drew together in regret. "I don't know. At first it was because it didn't seem that bad. Robin was popular with students and staff alike. Little things added up over time, and before I knew it, it seemed impossible to speak up."

Nora seemed dissatisfied with that answer, and she crossed her arms. "What about him, did he have anything to say for himself?"

Velvet's looked away, and her voice was thick with shame. "Robin has been in a coma since it happened." Adam was stunned, and so were most of his fellow classmates. His earlier assessment of her combat ability rose dramatically.

He was also understood why she didn't want to be the focus of any trouble. The others may not have started to put the pieces together, but she confirmed his suspicions. "After that, we agreed that it might be best if I transfer." She looked around at them uncertainly. "My friends would have understood, but I didn't have many."

"That's why you didn't want to rat out Cardin and his team," Ren said. Of the lot of them, he had remained the most placid. "Does Professor Ozpin know what happened?"

She nodded. "Both he and Professor Goodwitch know the whole story. He made it clear that while he understood that what happened wasn't my fault, he wouldn't tolerate any loss of control on my part." Nora raised an angry finger to interject, but Velvet stalled her with a firm hand. "He's right to be concerned. Huntresses who can't keep their heads in a fight are dangerous at best."

Adam thought that seemed harsh, but it was also fair. He had seen what could happen to people in the wilderness when they gave in to battle fever. "So, what you're saying is that you covered for Winchester because, what? You're on probation?" he asked.

"More or less," she replied. "This situation with Cardin is completely different. He's young, and he's angry – out to prove himself. His family doesn't have the best history with the Faunus."

"That's putting it mildly," Weiss replied. Everyone shared confused looks, and she grunted. "Seriously, has no one here even looked at a history book?"

Ruby held up her hand before her partner could launch into another episode of pedantic lecturing. "Look, family history aside-" Weiss glowered at her. "I'm sorry, Weiss, but knowing that there's bad blood for him is plenty. Going into detail about it won't change anything. What are we going to do about it?"

"Can we break his legs if he gets uppity?" Nora asked.

Ruby rolled her head and slapped her forehead. "Nora, I love your whole direct approach thing," Ruby began, "but I was kind of hoping for a solution that wouldn't get us thrown out of the school."

"We can make it look like an accident?" Nora supplied hopefully.

They all shared a chuckle, but Coco rapped her knuckles on the table. "This is the reason I wanted us to meet up tonight, but hang on a sec." She turned to face Velvet and leaned forward. "Velvs, honey, I'm so sorry that you had to go through all of that, and I get why you didn't want to talk about it – I'm glad that you did." She looked around the table at everyone else. "I think we can all understand why you reacted the way you did, right guys?"

There were agreements and nods all around, which satisfied Team CFVY's leader. "Good. Professor Ozpin agreed to transfer her as a second year student, even though she missed the last four months of her first term."

"Well that's not so bad," Yang said. "At least you don't have to repeat a whole year, huh?"

"But it also means that she has to do some classes over, like history and biology. We don't share any classes until after lunch," Coco explained. "I was hoping to get you all to stick together."

"As if you have to ask," Ruby said with excitement. "Of course you can hang with us, Velvet – we'd be glad to have you!" Everyone agreed with her, and Adam saw no reservations among them.

"It makes sense," he said. "Winchester won't have an easy time getting his jollies if he's faced with an entire group."

"And what about you, Adam?" Coco asked. "Word is he's got a beef with you."

"It won't be the first time I've dealt with someone like him. I can handle it," he replied.

"And he won't have to do it alone," Yang said firmly. "Right, partner?" Adam was pleased, and he held up his fist, which she bumped it with one of her own.