"Seriously?" He pounded on the locked door. "Let us out!"

"Jaune," Pyrrha Nikos said tiredly, "that's not going to work." She sat on a shelf at the back of the closet that team RWBY, Ren, and Nora had locked them in. The only light was a dim light bulb hung high on the wall.

"Yes, well –" The blond suddenly doubled over, grunting in pain, and slid down to the floor.

"Jaune!"

"I'm fine." He mumbled something under his breath and pulled out his scroll, holding its black edges as it expanded into tablet form.

The red-headed girl narrowed her eyes. "Where did you get that?"

"This? It's mine." His fingers flew across the holographic keyboard, typing faster than anyone she'd ever seen – in fact, she was fairly certain Jaune usually "hunted and pecked." He leaned against the wall – whether it was by choice or by necessity was anybody's guess – and hummed softly to himself as he composed his message.

"No, I mean –" His form seemed to flicker, making her pause. "You…aren't acting like yourself."

He shrugged and tipped his head back against the wall. Pain flashed across his features.

"Is something wrong, Jaune?"

"If I say no, will you leave me alone?" He grimaced. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I just can't tell you."

Pyrrha slid off the shelf and sat down next to him. "You and I are partners; you can trust me with anything."

He closed his eyes. "You had to word it like that, didn't you?"

The redhead's eyebrows knit together. "Jaune, what are you –"

"I'm not Jaune."

She drew back. "What?"

"My semblance involves illusions. I was…practicing when Miss Valkyrie saw me as Jaune and threw me in here." He ran a hand through his hair and smiled sheepishly. "My name is Alexander. I'm from team ARGT." It was pronounced like "argent."

"Are you a First-Year?"

"No."

"A Third-Year?"

"No."

Pyrrha's eye twitched. "A Fourth-Year then. Who is on your team?"

Alexander looked at her. "She will come in a moment."

True to his word, not a minute later, a dark-haired girl ripped open the closet door. "Are you two all right?" She pulled the Jaune-imitator off of the floor.

"Thanks." The blond leaned against the girl, using her as a support.

"Come on. Let's go get your pain medication." The dark-haired girl grabbed her friend, threw him over her shoulder, and started walking away.

"Wha – hey!"

"Wait," Pyrrha called after them. "Who are you really?"

Despite his…situation, he grinned at her. "I can't tell you."

The two turned the corner and disappeared from sight. As they neared the courtyard, the illusions over the two shattered.

"Was this really necessary?" Ozpin asked. "And would you please put me down?"

"It was faster than you limping along next to me, and fine." Glynda set the headmaster on his feet but kept her hand on his shoulders. "What did you tell her?"

"She knows that I'm not Jaune, my current name is Alexander, my team was ARGT, and I'm not a first, second, or third year." He smiled. "No lies needed."

The blonde laughed. "You need to teach me how to do that."

"I would, but I don't want to." Again, not a lie, but not the whole truth. It was a politician's tactic – one that he had mastered over the years, one of the few things he would never allow her to learn. If she became like him, he would never forgive himself – but she didn't need to know that.

A/N: Another chapter written in the early days- back before I put everything in chronological order. That's why it's written as a reveal even though it contains information y'all already have.