It was cold. Very cold.

Weiss had always liked the cold. It felt. . .comforting somehow.

But this cold was different. MUCH different from the natural cold air of the night that resides in her mansion. It was the experiment lab. This was a place that she knew but could not yet, not ever, get used too.

She flinched as she felt another needle working it's way into her arm. She waited for the dust to be injected into her veins, then suddenly convulsed.

She didn't know much about the 'operations'. But she knew that the new dust would make her stronger.

"D-daddy." She sobbed. "I-It hurts." tears started streaming down her face in free fall.

She felt the needle in her other arm push water into her body. Weiss's father said it was to keep her 'hydoated' or something like that. It was a strange sensation. It felt sort of like drinking water but different. Weiss didn't really know how to describe the feeling.

"I know sweetie." Said Jacques Schnee from behind the wall of doctors.

No.

They weren't doctors. They where scientists who did nothing but cause her pain. Everyone wanted to hurt her.

Except her father.

Her father loved her.

If she could make it though this, her father would take her outside again. Oh, how she yearned for that snowy ground of her home in Atlas. So she pushed through it.

For him. And for the outside.

She attempted to force her body to endure the pain. Which did nearly nothing to help the pain.

But after long, her body started to move nomialy again.

"Sir! Her vitals have stabilized." Said one of the scientists. "Excellent! Looks like this 'Black Dust' is amazing in every way. I'm glad we increased the dosage." Said Weiss's father while patting the said scientist on the shoulder.

The scientist nodded and walked away. The C.E.O of the Schnee Dust Co. then walked over to his daughter. He crouched beside the table to which she was bound to. "You did great today my snowflake." He said patting her on the head.

Weiss turned to look at him. She didn't mean to, but she accidentally looked him in the eyes. There was nothing wrong with that of course. But whenever Weiss looked him in the eyes. . .she felt like she was looking at a different person completely. His eyes where too wide, too sharp, too crazy.

And what scared Weiss most of all, too knowing.

"Thank you daddy." Weiss said smiling through the tears. She felt exhausted. Usually there would be a bit of pain and it would stop after spreading through her entire body. But this time the pain was much worse, and it felt like the electric shocks that they used for her endurance test every Monday.

"Say, it's your birthday tomorrow isn't it?" He said. Weiss smiled, happy that he remembered. "Yes!" she said moving to hug him. But only to find that she was still bound by leather shackles.

"As your present You'll go the whole day without 'Testing'." He said smiling. Weiss was delighted! She would have started to jump for joy if it weren't for. . .well you know.

Her father noticed this and stood up. "Let's get those dirty things off you shall we?" he undid all of her restraints allowing Weiss to move once again. Once he undid them he expected Weiss to sit up and try to hug him like she usually did.

But she did not.

He looked over to her chest, half expecting her to be dead. But her chest still pulsated along with her breathing.

Merely satisfied, he motioned for one of his servants to pick her up and take her to the next room.

Weiss felt something soft underneath her body. It was comfortable, relaxing. And it didn't feel anything like the lab table she usually spent her nights on.

Her eyes opened slowly, and she found herself sleeping on a bed. A real bed! It had been so long she had nearly forgotten what a bed felt like.

She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. She was in a large room full of furniture including a desk. A desk of all things! She had always wanted a desk more than anything. Ever since she saw her father's huge one her had in his office.

Why? Weiss didn't really know herself. They just seemed so amazing to her.

The floors where an ice blue color, matching the snow white color of the bed and chairs that sat in the corner of the room close to the desk.

Weiss looked up and found that the bed a an overhang supported by the bed posts. Directly adjacent to the bed sat a long dresser.

Weiss crawled out her new bed, feeling more refreshed than ever. Already bored of exploring she walked out of the room in only her night gown determined to explore. Feeling like Dorthy, exploring the land of Oz for the first time.

She wandered down the hall for a while before finding an open door. She slowly peeked through, wondering what other mysteries this place could hold.

She saw her father through the sliver of open door. Smiling, she ran to greet him with outstretched arms.

Suddenly, she stopped no longer smiling. Her father was kneeling before some man who had something that resembled a syringe in his hands. It was still pointing at him when her father noticed her open the door.

"Weiss! Run!" He screamed. Weiss suddenly jumped as she heard a loud bang coming from the small device. Then suddenly, her father, the most powerful man Weiss had ever known, was on the ground. Blood oozing from the hole in his chest.

The sight of blood was all too familiar to her.

"Daddy?" Weiss said to her father who lay on the ground before her.

She felt frozen. Not quite petrified. But as if something was forcing her to keep still.

The man with the syringe thing quickly pocketed the tool and hurried to Weiss. "Kid! I'm here to save you. Come with me and you never have to feel pain from this bad man again."

He sounded. . .genuine. something Weiss had only heard by her sister from so long ago.

Weiss looked at his face.

It was so soft. So caring. So honest. Just like his baritone voice. She looked at his body and noticed his robotic arm and uniform that only a general of the Atlas Army would wear. "My name is James Ironwood. I'm here to rescue you."

He said that last part with uncertainty. As if he wasn't sure if Weiss could understand. . . No. He wasn't even sure if she could COMPREHEND human speech.

He held out his hand as if he wanted her to take it. "Let me show you the rest of the world."

Weiss felt herself sway. She always wanted to explore the world. To see beyond her mansion walls. And when her father woke up she would tell him all about her adventures. She could always come to visit and roam the halls of the mansion once again.

As she reached for his hand she felt something moving along the left side of her body.

She looked at her hand to see the black marking there. And suddenly her mind grew blank.

James' eyes widened in surprise before he was suddenly thrown backwards. He hit the wall hard and was thankful for his mechanical arm which took the majority of the impact.

He looked at Weiss quickly, already fearing the worst. Black markings have slivered up her arm and covered half of her face.

James cursed under his breath. He KNEW he shouldn't have hesitated when he first saw Jacques Schnee. He should have gone in there guns blazing and neutralizing the threat before she could see any of this.

Now he had to deal with this.

White glyphs appeared around him and James knew she was moving in for the kill. Small daggers of ice seemed to unsheathe within the glow and aiming to strike true.

He jumped straight up dodging the ice daggers. He rushed before Weiss and pulled a cloth from his coat pocket.

"Sorry." he said as he put the cloth against her mouth. Weiss tensed up in surprise before she relaxed and slumped to the ground.

James cradled her in his arms and ran to the entrance of the mansion. It was a long hall but James managed to make good time thanks to his military training.

"Winter!" He shouted. "I got her! Let's get out of here!" He said handing the unconscious heiress to her older sister.

Winter brushed the hair out of Weiss's face."Thank the older brother." Winter said exasperated. "Did you set the charges sir?" Winter asked looking at the face of her general. "I did. And I assume everyone has been evacuated?" Winter nodded moving her attention back to Weiss

Weiss hung limp in her arms. She felt so fragile. As if she would break if Winter held her too tightly.

"I won't let anyone hurt you anymore." She said with a voice quivering with love and regret. James then hit the button on his detonator and ran with the intent to live.

Winter looked up with newfound determination in her eyes and ran to the air ship docked just outside of the infamous Schnee estate. She thought the place needed redecorating anyway.