The Prompt – In a surprising twist, Jaune manages to kill Cinder after she killed Amber and absorbed the Fall Maiden's power.
The More Surprising Twist – The prompt didn't specify HOW LONG after, and this mini-fic ended up being a sequel to Strange Bedfellows.
Characters – Jaune Arc, Cinder Fall, General Ironwood, Winter Schnee
They said when you loved someone, you'd be willing to do anything for them.
"Jaune… I need you to kill me."
Jaune Arc was about to learn what exactly anything meant.
He gaped at Cinder Fall, not believing what he heard. "Are you being serious? Because we're not exactly in a position to be making jokes right now!"
On cue they both winced as another explosion rocked the building they were in. Ironwood's troopers were doing their best to break into the safe house Jaune and Cinder were in now, courtesy of Winter Schnee's help. The reinforced door still held, but they only had minutes before their last line of defense was toppled.
"I am serious!" Cinder refuted. "Jaune, you know what he'll do when he captures me. I… I can't go through that. We both know there's no way I'd survive then."
Jaune grimaced, all too aware of what she meant. Ironwood had grown zealous in his pursuit of the Fall Maiden's power. When he captured Cinder, he would stick her in the same machine initially intended for Amber and Pyrrha over a year prior. They still had no idea what exactly would happen, but Jaune could only imagine the worst outcomes when Cinder's Aura was ripped out of her body.
"But there must be some other way," Jaune pleaded despite being painfully aware there were no avenues of escape, and he knew Ironwood couldn't be reasoned with. "I can't just… kill you, Cinder, not after everything we've been through."
"It won't be permanent," Cinder assured him, though there was still a frantic edge to her voice. "Just long enough to be considered clinically dead, so the Maiden's powers will leave me and go to a new candidate. You can bring me back afterward."
"How could I possibly do that?"
"With these." Cinder withdrew two syringes from a pocket and handed them to Jaune. One had a sickly violet color, and the other was a warm amber. "The violet one is a targeted muscle relaxer. It will… stop my heart, essentially."
"Where did you get these?"
She gave him a guilty look. "I confessed this might be an eventuality to Winter, and she procured these for me. In light of the other transgressions she'd be making, I thought a few missing drugs wouldn't land her in any more trouble than she'd already be in."
"Right… and the other one?"
"An adrenaline shot. I need you to inject this into my heart after you've confirmed I no longer have the Maiden's powers."
"Cinder, I don't know if I can do this," Jaune fretted. "What if when the Maiden's power leaves, it means your soul's gone too, and then there's no coming back." His hands clenched around the vials. "I can't… I can't lose you. Not you too."
Slender fingers slid over his, and Jaune looked up into Cinder's beautiful golden eyes, feeling how her limbs trembled with trepidation. In the background another boom could be heard, followed by the creaking of the door in protest. They didn't have long.
"I don't know if I can do it either," she whispered. "I don't want to die, Jaune, but Ironwood will never let me live while I still have the Maiden's power."
She pulled on him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Jaune buried his face into her shoulder, holding Cinder as tightly as he dared. He wished they were anywhere else, someplace safe where they could just… be together.
"What I do know is if there's anyone who'll do anything to bring me back from the dead, it's you," Cinder continued, voice free of doubt. "I know you can save me, Jaune. You've already done it twice before."
He let out a shaky laugh. "I wish I had as much confidence in myself as you do." He pulled back, giving Cinder a steady stare. "If this is what you think is best, we'll do it. I promise I won't let anything happen to you."
"Thank you, Jaune," she whispered. "I'm sorry I have to ask this of you, but I only do it because there's no other way. Now I'm going to need your belt, so take it off."
"If only Yang were here," he sighed, just the thought of their bombastic friend enough to inject some levity into the dire situation. Together they kneeled on the floor, with Cinder tightening the belt around her arm while she showed Jaune where the needle would go.
A pale arm in one hand, vial of poison in the other, Jaune couldn't help freezing up. He was essentially about to kill the woman who murdered his closest friend. If Cinder were still that evil and malicious woman he would have done so without hesitation. But this was his Cinder, and despite all odds he'd grown closer to her than anyone else he knew. He was afraid, simple as that. Afraid it wouldn't work; afraid he'd lose her forever… afraid the old Cinder Fall might come back.
But then he looked to her, and while he saw the same fear in her eyes, he saw determination there as well. Cinder was willing to do anything to protect those she cared about now, and Jaune had his own promise he intended to keep.
Cinder nodded to him, Jaune nodded back, and he pushed the needle into her skin.
She hissed with discomfort as the fluid was injected, and once it was gone Cinder undid the belt. Both it and the vial were tossed away, and together they waited for what would come next.
For a moment nothing happened. "Is it working?" Jaune asked.
"I don't know," Cinder said, brow furrowed with worry. "Winter didn't say how long it was supposed to-"
Cinder gasped weakly, pitching forward. "Cinder!" he panicked, lunging forward and catching her before her face impacted the ground. She was starting to minutely shake, and her eyes were wide as they sought his own.
"J-Jaune?" she whimpered, her voice deathly quiet.
"It's okay, I've got you," he tried to say reassuringly. He shifted Cinder onto her back so he could cradle her head against his shoulder. "I'm here."
Her eyes started to drift close, and Jaune felt her body go limp. "I'm scared." Her voice was barely louder than that of a mouse.
"It's okay to be scared," he told her, mostly because he had no idea what else to say. "But I'm gonna bring you back, and then everything will be alright. Okay?"
The noise she made was quiet and weak. Jaune wasn't sure if it was a response; he wasn't sure if she'd heard him at all. He held her close; rocking her somewhat in what he hoped was a soothing fashion.
A last, tortured breath escaped her lips, and Cinder went still. Something caught in Jaune's throat, and slowly he moved his hand to feel he neck.
There was no pulse. Cinder Fall was dead.
He didn't stop holding her as he waited. There was another explosion, and Jaune saw the door visibly cave inward somewhat, but by some miracle it did not yet yield. He knew the next assault would be the last, but hopefully it would be enough time.
When one minute stretched into two, he started to panic. Jaune wasn't sure what was supposed to happen, but he felt something should have happened by now. As the third minute ticked by he started eyeing the adrenaline shot more meaningfully. He wanted to respect Cinder's wishes, but more than that he didn't want to lose her.
Just when he couldn't wait any longer and raised the vial, Jaune froze when Cinder's body suddenly started glowing with amber light. Before he could realize what was going on, the light convalesced over her chest and more or less exploded outward. The intensity of its flash caused Jaune to shield his eyes and look away, and when he looked back it was gone, finding nothing more than the woman in his arms.
That must have been it, he decided. He had no idea if Cinder's plan actually worked, but he couldn't wait any longer. Carefully laying Cinder on the ground, he ripped open her top just enough to expose her upper chest and found the space between her ribs where her heart would be. Jaune gave Cinder one last pleading look, and then he jabbed the needle into her heart and pushed the plunger.
After the amber fluid was done being injected, Jaune tossed the vial away and waited.
Cinder didn't move.
"No…" He felt for her pulse again, but there was still nothing there, and then the panic truly set in. "No no no no no… Cinder!" He gripped her shoulders and shook, softly at first but stronger when she didn't respond.
"Cinder, wake up!" he pleaded desperately. Not knowing anything better to try, Jaune placed his hands over her chest and started doing compressions. After a set of those he tilted her head back and pressed their lips together, blowing air down her trachea, then repeated the actions.
"Please don't do this," Jaune begged between reps, his voice ragged. "Please, not you too. Not you too. Wake up, Cinder, wake up! I can't lose you!"
There was yelling outside, people telling each other to get back, and Jaune knew his time was up. He just managed to throw his body over Cinder's when the explosion hit, sending the door tumbling in to the room with a shower of debris. Chunks of rock pelted his back and legs while a cloud of dust settled over the room, causing him to hack and cough.
It was then Jaune realized he wasn't the only one coughing.
Despite how much the dust made his eyes water he forced them open, and what he saw made him sob without abandon. Golden eyes blinked away tears of their own, and after a moment they focused on him.
"Ja… Jaune?" Cinder whispered between wheezing coughs.
"You made it," he breathed, breaking out into a wide smile. Cinder smiled back weakly, the effort strained because of how sapped her body was. But he didn't care about that. She was alive; that was all that mattered.
"Get on the ground!" someone yelled, and Jaune yelped when someone dragged him off of Cinder. His face was forced to the floor and his arms bent backward as cuffs were slapped on his wrists. Beside him the same was being done to Cinder.
Even as Atlas soldiers dragged them out of the safe house by the scruffs of their necks and into an altogether worse situation, not once did Jaune's smile dampen even the slightest.