Author's Note: Excerpts from the original AN:
(PSA: go read "Not this time, Fate").
I've gotten some feedback concerning Jaune's motives and whether or not they are strong enough, so I have taken that into consideration. That being said, the premise of this story has been what would Jaune do if he couldn't get over it?
Past
(Jaune's POV)
I slowly cracked my eyes open, only to give up as soon as I started. My head is pounding and I don't fully remember how I got here. Or where I am for that matter.
I slowly forced my eyes open, bracing myself for the worst. But instead of painful light, my eyes were greeted by a dark room. There was only a hint of light that was being smothered by heavy curtains over a window nearby.
I took stock of my surroundings: I am laying on a couch. I have a blanket. This couch is very comfortable. This room looks familiar, but it's too dark to see anything.
From just beyond the room, I can hear hushed voices having an argument.
"I don't care if he's hungover. I'm still gonna kick the sh—"
"Yang, SHHH! You'll wake him up." That voice I recognized as Ruby.
"Confronting him now would be pointless. He'll just tell us whatever we want to hear so that we let him go back to sleeping it off." Ren's voice cut in quickly, likely to keep Yang from getting angry at Ruby.
"So we wait till he comes out on his own, and then we break his legs?"
"I'm not completely certain breaking his legs is going to solve anything, Nora." Weiss responded softly. I could only hear it because of the silence that followed after Nora's question. I don't like how long they thought about that.
"Hey now, let's not rule anything out…" Yang responded.
"Uncle Qrow, where did you say you found him?" Ruby asked softly. Even from a different room, I could hear how concerned Ruby was. In fact, I could picture the look on her face, and it makes me feel bad. I've got to put thoughts like that away. I can't afford to think like that, not with…
Oh, yeah. That's why I'm hungover. Memories of my…er, meeting…the other night came back to me, as well as the reason for my current hungover state. That was my cover for being gone…wait, did Mercury say days? That's one hell of a bender that I'm going to have to sell. That explains why they are so concerned—well, Ruby sounds concerned—and angry.
"Some bar on the far side of town. Bartender said he had been trying to drown himself for a couple of days. Clearly there's something wrong with the kid." Qrow answered in a calm, matter-of-fact voice.
"Yeah, he hasn't had any sense knocked into him yet." Yang answered. I still can't tell if she's being funny or not. I don't think she is.
"Yang, what Qrow is saying is that there's something eating away at Jaune that he's trying to forget. I don't think attacking him is going to get him to trust us enough to explain what's wrong." Weiss answered very calmly, but with a hint of the same concern Ruby had shown earlier. "But once he does explain what's wrong, I won't rule out kicking his ass."
Oh jeez, thanks Weiss.
So how am I going to handle this situation? I mean, to them the answer should be somewhat obvious. They already know that I made the ill-advised choice to get drunk over Pyrrha once—it won't be hard for them to imagine me doing it again. The only problem being that that issue doesn't have any actual reason to bother me anymore. Pyrrha being gone is the least of my worries now, but they cannot find out about that.
Think, Jauney-boy, come up with a decent excuse. What's happened recently? Well, there was the blind date Yang set me up on with Wiess, which still sounds weird when I think about it. Could that be made into an excuse? Yeah, so the date with my first crush as Beacon stirred up too many memories. That doesn't sound half bad, plus it might make Yang back off since it would make her partially responsible. Then I would only have to worry about Nora hurting me.
The bigger issue at hand is what I'm going to do. With the angry glares and knowing smirks shared by both Cinder and that scorpion dude—Tyrone? Tyler? Something like that—it doesn't take a genius to know what they were thinking.
They're planning on betraying me. Shocker, I know, because who expects your enemies to betray you? It's more than that, though; they're gonna use me. They'll continue to get whatever they can out of me as long as I have something to offer, and once I'm useless they'll either abandon me or take me out. It's not exactly surprising to know, but it means that they don't have any intention of actually making good on their end of the bargain. They have no reason to even bring Pyrrha back—if they even can —and if they do they have no reason to actually return her to me.
If they wrap me around their finger, then why would they? After all, they would literally be resurrecting a powerful enemy with the potential to hamper their efforts and then setting that enemy free. That's a pretty poor plan in anyone's book.
So how do I get murderers, thieves, and terrorists to keep their word?
"No one is kicking anyone's ass, got it? That's not going to help him." Qrow announced forcefully, although still quiet enough that he didn't think it would wake me up.
"How would you know?" Yang snarked back.
"Because, my dear second favorite niece…" Qrow started, earning an undignified squawk from Yang, "…in this group, I am uniquely qualified to tell you how to prevent your friend from becoming an alcoholic."
The room was quiet for a few moments, save for a sheepish "Oh. Yeah…" from Yang.
Heh. Practice what you preach, Bad Luck Charm.
"Here's what we're going to do. You all are going to go get some rest. You're not going to help Jaune running on days with no sleep. When he wakes up, I'll deal with him."
Oh fun, a heart-to-heart bro-session with Drunkle Qrow.
There were grumblings from the room, but no one said anything, and I began to hear footsteps fading away as everyone filed out. I waited for a few moments to see if Qrow was going to come in, but when I heard the sound of a chair being moved around, I assumed that he took a seat outside.
I felt around my pockets looking for my scroll, before glancing around to see it charging on the armrest above my head. I grabbed it and pulled it off the charger, instantly regretting my actions as the screen lit up on full brightness and burned into my eyes. That HAD to be intentional; someone must have turned the brightness to max manually. After a few moments, the screen adjusted itself to the darkness of the room and dimmed itself, and after a good long wait I finally reopened my eyes.
The front of my scroll was covered in text messages. I flicked my finger on the screen and watched countless lines of messages received fly by. I scrolled to the very bottom to see what they held.
Ice-Queen: If you ever want to get Yang back for setting us up on a date, I've got some good ideas for revenge
Ice-Queen: Would you want to talk about them over lunch again?
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I made a mental note to remember that line. It was sent a few hours after the blind date—actually, right around when I was being 'kidnapped'—and was actually really clever. I thought that that lunch had gone really well, actually, but not enough for Weiss to pretty much ask me out again. I wonder how long Weiss spent crafting those messages and then debating on whether it was worth sending. I wonder how I tell her that I enjoyed it, but I'm kinda busy trying to resurrect my girlfriend at the moment.
I began scrolling further down the messages.
Look, Ma, One Hand: So that place didn't burn to the ground. I take it things didn't go horribly?
Okay, to be honest, that's probably a mean a nickname. But she did earn it by setting me up on a blind date (and kicking the crap out of me to convince me to do it), so…
As I began to scroll further, I could watch the progression as my friends started to get worried about where I was.
Pink Hair Streak: Where are you? You missed dinner. We all ordered pizza.
Don't Give Her Sugar: JAUNE what the heck WE EVEN GOT YOU A PINEAPPLE PIZZA
Don't' Give Her Sugar: do you know how HARD it was for me to look that pizza guy in the eye KNOWING that I was PAYING for such a terrible pizza
Don't Give Her Sugar: i feel like i need a shower
*Missed Call – Pink Hair Streak*
*Missed Call – Don't Give Her Sugar*
Smol Child: Hey Jaune, your team is worried about you. Where'd you go?
That was just the first night that I was gone. Over the next few days, I missed a total of 73 phone calls and 183 messages.
I briefly scrolled through all of them, and went to put my scroll away before the most recent one caught my eye.
Ice-Cream: Can you slip away from your team? We need to talk.
What would Weiss need to talk about that was be this important? Surely if the others found out I left them—when Yang still wants to strangle me—to meet with her then they'd be pissed at Weiss too.
I clicked on the message and unlocked my scroll to respond, but as I was typing something caught my attention. The contact photo in the top corner looked different. There were colors there that were not white, which is mostly what you see when you have a picture of Weiss bunched up into a contact photo. I clicked on it out of curiosity, for it to enlarge into a picture of a bowl of ice cream.
Neapolitan ice cream.
I backed out and verified that this was not, in fact, Weiss, who is still saved as Ice-Queen. No, there was only one person this could be.
Me: You want to "talk"? That may be difficult…
Ice-Cream: Very funny.
Me: You know, last time I clicked on a link like that, I ended up being kidnapped.
Ice-Cream: That was Salem. I'm not one of them. I work differently.
Me: Well you have a funny way of showing it.
In reply, she sent me an image of a cane leaning against a wall. The picture looked as if she had simply turned and snapped a quick picture from wherever she was. At first I didn't get it, but after remembering everything Ruby had said about Neo, I remembered something: she worked for Torchwick. That must be Torchwick's cane.
Ice-Cream: We're in the same boat. Our allegiances lie elsewhere and she knows it. They'll just keep us around until we aren't useful anymore.
Me: What are you saying?
Ice-Cream: I need a way out, and I think you can help me get it. Or more accurately, I'm getting out, and I'm going to help you do the same.
Me: Why would I need you for that?
Ice-Cream: Because I can help you make sure that Salem keeps her end of the bargain
Me: And how would you do that?
Ice-Cream: You have to be more useful than they expect. You have to claw for every inch they give you until you finally get what you want.
Ice-Cream: And when you do, you need to already have your plan for escaping her ready.
Me: And you want to help me?
Ice-Cream: I think our only chance is if we betray her together.
Me: And how do I know you aren't setting me up?
Ice-Cream: You don't. But you know that you don't stand a chance alone.
Ice-Cream: So follow that link and find out for yourself.
I looked over to the window. I could slip out easily. They wouldn't think to check my phone's location since they know that I'm sleeping in here, and when I get there I could turn it off.
Do I dare trust this? When something seems too good to be true, it usually is. One of Cinder's minions who just happens to want to help me get Pyrrha back and escape from Salem's wrath? That would take some astronomical luck. A true byproduct of chance.
However, she wasn't wrong. By myself, there isn't much I can do. I'll play Salem's game, and when she's done with me I'll be powerless to stop her. But with help from the inside, I just might be able to pull something off. It's a huge a risk, but if I don't take it I'm doomed anyways.
Besides, I'm not a big believer in chance anyways. Luck is just another term for fate, and I'm really not a fan of Fate at all. I make my own fate, which means I make my own luck. If I want this to happen, I have to make it happen.
If that means making a deal with the enemy, then so be it. If that means making another deal with another, lesser enemy to betray that first enemy, then so be it.
Not long ago, I would have said I would be lucky to be able to save Pyrrha. But I make my own luck.
Present
(Jaune's POV)
This was…this was new. To be honest, I had expected to be turned over to Winter and have the screws put to me. Literally, if those stories that Mercury tried to scare me with had any accuracy.
If I weren't handcuffed to a table with likely all of my friends watching from behind the glass with disappointed stares, then I might have even found it fun so far. Qrow Branwen has been pacing around and asking questions all over the place, like I'm some sort of master criminal whose very silence answers his questions. With every question I didn't answer, Qrow recoiled like I had just told him that there were bombs planted across the city. I felt like a supervillain who had everything planned out and was cryptically monologuing.
In the end, silence just meant silence. It was quiet funny to me, and honestly the hardest part was not cracking a smile.
And then he brought Ruby back in here for a second time, but this time didn't reserve his glares for me. It almost felt like he wanted to interrogate both of us.
"I don't like it when people lie to me…" Qrow started slowly, walking in a slow circle around the table so he could eye both of us. "I've had to put up with Jaune all day, and he's really worn down my patience."
Ruby, sitting across from me, followed Qrow curiously with her eyes.
"So imagine my surprise when my own second-favorite niece lied to me, too."
"Yang?" Ruby asked surprised.
Qrow, who at this point was standing behind me, never answered. Ruby continued to stare above me, leaving me to watch her eyes curiously. As Ruby began to realize Qrow's meaning, her eyes went wide with shock and horror.
The last time I saw her eyes like that, I had just shot her.
Alright Jaune, you can do this. It's just an Atlesian Airship. How hard could it be to pilot? It probably has an automatic landing AI and maybe even full auto-pilot. All I have to do is land it somewhere in the city and then slip into the crowds. I'm in the home stretch.
"Oh Jaune, thank goodness your safe. Do you know what's going on?" A voice called out from behind me. Ruby's voice. This was supposed to be an empty hangar. This was supposed to be my escape.
Perhaps…perhaps this could work even better. After all, I still have one final offering to make to gain her favor. I already have the offering Neo and I planned out, but if I have Ruby as a hostage, that might distract her enough for our plan to actually work.
"I'm trying to get out of here, Ruby. Didn't you hear? We're abandoning ship!" I answered without turning around to face her. I could hear her footsteps approaching.
The problem with my new plan is that it requires me to take Ruby captive. If that's what it takes, then I would be willing to try. But my willingness is not the limiting factor here; it's how much better Ruby is.
Just means I have to fight really, really dirty.
"What? When did they announce tha—"
I cut Ruby off part-way as I drew my sword and spun with it, landing a large diagonal swipe across her chest that threw her onto her back.
"U-uncle Qrow? What a-are you talking about?" Ruby asked nervously. I had to fight an urge to roll my eyes. Qrow would destroy this whole airship to protect Ruby if she was in any real trouble.
"I'm not certain yet, which is why you're not wearing handcuffs too…" I really had to fight the urge to roll my eyes this time. Ruby's face went even paler than usual. Not long ago, I would have imagined I would have been just as easy to interrogate. "All I know is that I let you have your two minutes with Jaune, and now suddenly you're lying about whatever it is happened in there."
"I think I know where this is going. It's a little embarrassing for me, seeing as it lasted all of just two minutes, but you should know that—" Qrow smacked me on the back of the head before I could even finish the joke.
"I'm tired of you. It would be wise to shut up now."
"And here I thought the issue was me NOT talking…" I quipped back.
"GAAH! Jaune, it's me!" Ruby called out surprised as she hit the floor.
Her aura didn't crack, but that was a large blow and Ruby is not exactly built to take hits. I stepped forward to slam my sword on the ground where Ruby lay, but she rolled sideways and scrambled to her feet before it connected.
"JAUNE, SNAP OUT OF IT. IT'S ME, RUBY!"
I thought about answering, about making a cryptic threat or just some statement to unsettle her. In the end, I decided to meet her eyes and let my stare do the talking. Whatever story she could imagine was far more terrifying that what I could tell her.
I stepped forward and swung at Ruby again, forcing her to dodge and draw her weapon. I had basically just challenged her to a duel and given myself a large handicap. Maybe not large enough.
"J-Jaune, what's going on?! I-I don't want to hurt you!" Ruby stammered.
"Then don't."
Ruby's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she timidly followed Qrow, up until the point where he walked behind her. It was a really simple and honestly ineffective intimidation technique, but you didn't exactly need to be all that scary to get to Ruby right now.
"What happened between the two of you, Ruby?"
"Wh-what do you mean?" She asked back, very obviously feigning ignorance.
Qrow sighed and walked over to the side of the table so he could see both our faces.
"You're a terrible liar, kid. First, he shot you, then he abducts you. Next thing we know, you're in a random hospital room under some random name dropped off by an anonymous man not fitting Jaune's description. And after two minutes talking to Jaune, you now suddenly are hiding information on his behalf. I'm not stupid, kiddo. What happened?"
"GAH!" I let out a muffled cry as Ruby dodged under my below and used her Semblance to shoot behind me, then used that position to take a large swipe across my back with her Scythe.
I kicked back with my right leg and caught Ruby off-guard as my foot slammed onto her knee. She wobbled off balance and gave me enough time to spin around and slam my elbow into the side of her face, knocking her backwards.
Her aura cracked and fizzled.
Not losing any time, I jumped at her and attempted to bring my sword down on her, but I executed it sloppily as I realized it would be a killing blow and she rolled to the side of the it. She found her footing and lunged back at me, kicking off of my arm and forcing me to drop my sword. She then used that kick-off to put her feet into my chest and run up me like a wall, kicking off of my face this time.
As soon as she landed, she used her Scythe to hook my shield and yank it from me before I had regained my balance. I finally did plant my feet, but by then I looked up to see a trail of rose petals leading between my legs, and the next thing I knew is Ruby had jumped on my back and wrapped her legs tightly around my neck. I closed my eyes and began struggling to throw her off of me, but I staggered as I felt a sniper round being fired into my stomach point blank, straining my aura.
When that didn't do the trick, I felt several more rounds fire into my stomach until my aura was also gone. Ruby released her grip and I threw her in front of me, but she landed and immediately pointed her still-loaded Scythe at my now defenseless body.
To her credit, Ruby still didn't answer. Not to her credit, however, you could tell she was about to crack. She looked to me as if waiting for me to bail her out or throw her a bone, but doing so would have tipped something to Qrow. Besides, it was more fun to watch her squirm; it meant that I wasn't being interrogated at the moment. I gave her a nonchalant shrug.
"I'm…not doing it for Jaune. I still don't know what to think about him." Ruby answered truthfully, if in a very scared manner.
"Then who, Ruby?" Qrow asked with loads more care and sympathy in his voice now that he had his niece back.
"I…uh, I had a visitor." Ruby trailed off. When Qrow made no attempt to say anything, she felt the need to explain. "In the infirmary. I had someone I didn't expect come talk to me."
"What did they say?" Qrow asked after a few moments to choose his words carefully.
"She said that…well, she started off by telling me that at the end of our talk, she would decide if she was still going to kill me. It's pretty safe to say we both felt differently at the end of our talk."
Ruby is clearly new to this. She just gave away that it was a 'she.'
"You had someone in the infirmary threaten you?!" Qrow asked quickly, apparently abandoning his slow-to-speak strategy.
"Well, I guess technically it was a threat. But I don't think she would hurt me now, if that helps."
Qrow sighed and rubbed his forehead, trying to put those thoughts out of his head long enough to get whatever information out of Ruby that he could.
"Okay, so this mysterious assassin who came to your room: no chance you're going to tell me who she is?" Ruby very timidly nodded to affirm that notion. "But this assassin who wanted to kill you convinced you to protect Jaune?"
"Nope." Ruby answered almost gleefully as she shot me a quick look that confirmed her statement. "I don't know anything about Jaune that you don't know. I just wanted to give my assassin friend enough time to escape!" Ruby answered in her usual playful glee, as if the whole thing was benign. I mean, it is, but Qrow won't see it that way. Also, I'm going to have to remind Ruby for helping her escape. Let's just hope it doesn't come back to bite her.
"Don't move, Jaune! I-I don't know why you're doing this—whatever this is—but it's over! I-I'll shoot if I have to!"
I put my hands down to my sides and weighed my options. I'm too far away from Ruby to charge her. I'm too far from either my shield or sword to dive for them. I definitely can't talk my way out of this.
I do have one more option, but it's a lot riskier. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. In fact, I would say the odds favor someone dying, which is something I absolutely cannot have for the plan to work. Salem has orders that Ruby is not to be killed and is only to be captured if engaged, so if this move backfires and kills her then my plans are over. And if it fails and I die, well, that's no good too.
A quick glance at Ruby revealed that she was shaking now, either from combat or the stress of holding a friend at gunpoint. Good. That will make her aim worse.
As Ruby took her eye off of me to grab her scroll—presumably to call for back-up—I slipped my right hand back behind my waist and wrapped my hands around the grip of the pistol I used on Ironwood earlier.
A massive handcannon designed for executing soft, aura-unlocked targets. There's no telling what kind of damage it could do to such a small person.
I began drawing the weapon carefully. I kept my movements slow and subtle, and the moment she looked back up I would hasten everything and fire; it should let me get the first shot or two off.
Two shots. That's all I'll get before she returns fire. I've trained with a sword and shield and barely ever held a gun before, much less fired one under such stressful circumstances. I'm just as likely to put a round between Ruby's forehead as I am to accidentally shoot my own foot on the draw. If I miss, I fail. If I hit something vital, I fail. If I don't walk away, I fail.
By the time Ruby looked back up, I almost had the barrel pointed at her chest. Adrenaline surged through me as our eyes locked and she realized what I was doing.
I pulled the trigger as many times as I could. After all, I make my own luck now.
Past
(Emerald's POV)
Standing off to the side, I had a good view as Tyrian returned to Salem's table. He walked in and stood at the end of the table, waiting to be addressed.
"Ah, Tyrian. Have you done what I asked?" Salem asked expectantly.
"Yes, my Queen! Taking prisoners is not usually my specialty, but you'll find a good array of people with a wide array of injuries for your tests."
"Good." Salem moved her gaze, which normally would dismiss Tyrian, but he persisted.
"My Queen, may I ask a question?"
"I'll allow it."
"Why are we not betraying that boy? What good does it do us to return an enemy to the battlefield?!"
Salem chuckled and fiercely returned her gaze to Tyrian, who flinched.
"Clearly you do not see my plans. The very fact that someone of the Arc bloodline lives defies me. I went to great lengths to punish that entire lineage for their heroics, and the fact that a boy now carries Crocea Mors is an insult to me. I have no doubts that Ozpin chuckled from behind his coffee mug as he admitted that boy to Beacon. Do you not yet see what I am getting at?"
Tyrian cowered further and failed to answer, which was answer enough.
"If I merely killed him now, then he would still have gotten the last laugh by living this long. If I used him against Ozpin, then my revenge would go even further, as I would have turned the Arc line against its former glory. That alone would make my plans worthwhile."
"AH HA, yes, I-I see it now. Th-thank you." Tyrian sputtered out, clearly regretting questioning Salem's plans.
"But that's not all. If I betrayed him, his old friends and his team would eventually take him back. After all, he would learn his lesson and rededicate him to his original cause. But if he doesn't regret his decisions, even if his friends refuse to forgive him for it? Well, that would tear a rift into them, not to mention the emotional distress it would cause your maimer. Such an opportunity shouldn't be passed up."
"And how do w-we get him to do this?" Tyrian asked.
Salem looked at the other two members of the room, Cinder and myself. "Well, tell the boy how we would do it."
"If we give him what he wants—if he can justify all his actions to himself—then he's never going to admit any of it was wrong. That's how we divide them." I answered after a few moments to ensure that she had actually invited me to speak.
"Ah, this one gets it. It's good to see your time cooped up here hasn't dulled you, Emerald. At the end of the day, we turn an Arc against Ozpin and tear a steak into the heart of Ruby Rose and her supporting cast."
"And all it costs us is one resurrected Maiden candidate?" Tyrian asked, trying to finish her line of thought.
"Yes, though there is the possibility that even that may drive more confusion and hurt into their teams. But we will have to wait and see on that matter. Tyrian, you are dismissed."
Once Tyrian had bowed, thanked Salem for her graciousness, and left, she turned to Cinder and, by extension, me.
"Now Cinder, it's your turn. Do you know why I sent Tyrian out to capture (and maim) anyone he could find?"
I began to step forward for Cinder to whisper her answer to me, but Cinder shook her head to indicate no, though very timidly.
"You came to me as a girl looking for power, and now that you have it you can't ever seem to use it properly. You've failed to kill Ozpin and you captured someone's soul without even knowing it. It seems that if you're to avoid becoming a failure, then you need some hands-on instruction.
"The capture men are for practice. You will capture the souls of men with various wounds and practice resurrecting them until I'm confident that you can bring back the Nikos girl. Bear in mind that you need this to be successful, because so far it would be your only success. Do I make myself clear?"
