A/N: Two chapters in a single week? I'm on a roll! I got taken up by one of the scenes, and ended up finishing the chapter around it. Not to be the downer, but just a reminder that I can't promise regular updates on this. But thanks for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoy chapter three!

This one's for you, Bad-Luck-Charm, because I bet you thought I was kidding.

Jaune wasn't sure what the professor had told Pyr, but he knew he'd have to thank her about a million times; the Pyrrha that came out of the interview might not have been at 100 percent, but she didn't look like she could barely walk anymore. They made their way, with the professor's instructions, down to the cafeteria and collected food for eight. The walk there and back to the tent was silent, but Jaune didn't feel like the quiet was crushing him to the floor this time, so that was a good sign.

Returning to their shared space, Pyrrha was herself enough this time to actually greet Nora, still doting over Ren, as well as look over to Blake. Blake hadn't left her spot in the corner, but she hadn't returned to the ruinous state she had been in when he first arrived, so Jaune counted it half a victory.

"Brought some food, guys. Did we miss anything?" Jaune carried a tray over to his teammates, but Pyrrha surprised him by going to sit by Blake, he joined his partner beside their distraught friend.

"Prof. Peach came by to ensure we were settled, and a medic running checks on the students, but nothing serious." Ren supplied.

"Any word on…", Jaune immediately regretting trying to ask about RWBY, he knew he couldn't put it a right way. Blake was the one who spoke up, however.

"Weiss messaged me, told me Ruby is still in examinations. Nothing on- on Yang." She choked on her partner's name, and Pyrrha rested a hand on her back.

The tent fell into silence again as the five ate their meals, and while Jaune was content to give everyone a break, he knew they'd have to keep an eye on Blake.

She was reminding him of Pyrrha, right before the locker.

The five spent the last hours of the day in an uneasy mood. Ren, Nora, and Jaune tried to talk about what would come next, make plans for the coming days, while Pyrrha remained firmly seated beside Blake. Late into the evening, there was a knock on the tent post, quickly followed by a pair of medics with a stretcher.

Yang was back.

She was in a hospital gown, tubes running to solutions and blood bags hooked to her, and bandages covered the end of her left arm. The moment she had been set down, Blake was beside her, checking every inch of her teammate, but refusing to look at the arm. Blake had eased over the evening, but the sight of her partner wound her right back up. She took Yang's hand in her own, staring at her partner's face.

Jaune didn't know what to do. Blake was clearly troubled, but maybe holding onto Yang would help her? Remind her that her friend, while hurt, was still with them, still alive. Pyrrha had not risen with Blake, watching in silence like the rest of JNPR. He put his own hand on her back, as Pyr had for Blake, to remind himself.

"How are you feeling, Pyr?" He didn't know how to help Blake, but everyone staring would just unnerve her.

Pyrrha turned to him with some effort and met his eyes briefly before looking down. "I'm… doing better, Jaune. Speaking with Prof. Goodwitch was difficult, but it helped."

"That's good."

…

"Pyrrha, I don't really understand what happened today, but I don't need to understand. I, I just need you to be alright. If you need to talk, if you need anything, I'll be right beside you."

It sounded right in his head, but Jaune started to panic when Pyrrha started to shake a little. He was about to start apologizing for the next month when Pyrrha scooted closer, wrapped him in a hug, and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you." She got out between sniffles, "Thank you so much, Jaune."

Just as the group were preparing for bed, another set of medics arrived, this time bearing Ruby. Weiss was right behind them, taking quick note of the group. Blake hadn't left Yang's side, instead claiming the cot next to her friend. Pyrrha could admit she and Blake had never been very close, but their group of eight was inextricably bound together; even a distant friendship with Blake was closer than most of her old ties in Mistral had been. But watching Blake with Yang scared Pyrrha. She was worried Blake would do something foolish. "Like go off to fight someone far above her ability?" No, she couldn't let her mind drag her down! She had to get back in control. Weiss was sitting across from Blake now, between the two sisters.

"She's medicated right now, but Yang should be awake tomorrow, Blake."

The faunus girl said nothing. Weiss eyed her, but addressed the whole tent.

"They don't know what's wrong with Ruby. She should be perfectly fine, they said. Someone has to keep an eye on her, just in case."

Jaune spoke up from the cot next to Pyrrha: "We'll take turns watching her; with six of us, no one will have to stay up long."

An order was hashed out easily enough, and the friends began to call it a night, Weiss taking first watch.

Pyrrha had always been a light sleeper, and no amount of physical and emotional wear seemed to hamper that trait. Normally this was a problem when you shared rooms with other people, especially when their sleeping habits were so dramatically different. Tonight, however, Pyrrha was relieved that the sounds had woken her. Without rising from her spot, she quietly called out: "Blake?"

The shuffling froze, and Pyrrha knew she had hit her mark. She sat up in bed, looking towards where she had heard the noise.

"Blake, can I speak with you?"

A hard silence followed that, but eventually it was broken: "Okay."

"I… I nearly died yesterday, Blake. I didn't realize how close I was until I stopped to think about it, but I nearly died. It wasn't the idea of dying that hurt most though, Blake. It was the thought that I betrayed Jaune, betrayed my team by trying to go fight alone."

No response.

"Jaune saved me from myself. He can be difficult: he's bad with people, he's stubborn, and he has terrible fashion." No laughter, but it was worth a try, "That wasn't the first time Jaune has saved me, though. I owe him so much, I owe him so much for the happiness having him has brought me. And hearing the hurt in his voice after I turned my back on him nearly crushed me."

A quiet noise as something fell onto a cot.

"I was scared and I was angry, at myself and at the people that did this, and I acted rashly. I thought what I was doing was for the best.

"But Jaune saved me, again. I'm still scared, I'm still angry. I've lost so much, but… I still have them. If I have Nora and Ren and Jaune, I think I'll be alright. I know they wouldn't be were I gone."

Pyrrha prayed she was right, prayed her words would work.

"… It's my fault, Pyrrha. It's my fault Yang is hurt. They'd be better off without me!" The harsh words cut oh so close.

"I kept telling myself this was my fault as well, Blake. I still think it is, really. Jaune won't let me go, though." Even asleep, her partner had a hand stretched out towards her cot.

"My team cares about me, and your team cares about you. People are dead because of me, Blake, and they still don't want me gone. Do you really think Yang wants you to leave?"

Silence again.

"Ask her in the morning, Blake. If you think she wants you gone, if you think any of us want you to leave, then stay until the morning and ask. I know I want you to stay." Pyrrha laid back down, pulling Jaune's hand into her own, like the lifeline it was. "Sleep well, Blake. The eight of us are going to be busy together tomorrow."

Pyrrha froze at the sound of footsteps in the tent, but she barely suppressed a cheer when she heard "Nora, your shift. I need to sleep."

Nora's cheery "good mornings" woke Jaune up, as they had for the last eight months.

The muffled "Shut it!" from outside the tent suggested more than her friends had heard.

Laughing quietly, Jaune sat up in his cot to look over his friends. Nora was hopping from foot to foot over Ren, who seemed to be himself again and in a zombie-like state. Pyrrha was burying herself farther into her blankets, trying to stave off the day. "She knows she won't go back to sleep, but she'll try anyway." The thought brought a smile to his face, but Jaune knew his duty.

He grabbed the blanket wrapped around his submerged hand and flung it back.

"Nooooo," his partner whined, "Jaune, you traitor." She was curled up in a ball now, but Jaune knew consciousness had won.

Weiss was up as well, checking on Ruby. The younger girl was still asleep, which clearly worried Weiss, but she was in control of herself. Blake was stirring from her bed, looking very haggard; bad dreams weren't surprising after yesterday.

But it was the eighth person in their group that had his attention, now. Yang was up. She was blinking blearily, slouched over on her cot. With a jolt, Yang's hand flew to her other arm, and she froze. Everyone else did too, when the girl gasped.

Blake was beside her in an instant, hands on Yang's shoulders. "Yang, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! This is all-" her words were cut off when an arm and a stump wrapped around her and pulled her into a hug.

"I was so scared!" his fellow blonde wailed, "I thought I was going to lose you!" Blake looked like she had been hit over the head with a brick rather than received a hug.

"Yang… Yang your arm…"

She didn't answer, she just held Blake closer. Blake eventually returned the hug, and the two held on for a full minute, the others dead quiet. Eventually, they broke apart, and Yang's eyes fell on her sister.

"Rubes?" She was moving to Ruby now, more than a little fear in her eyes. Yang went to sit down, but reached out with her missing hand to break her fall. Weiss caught her, and for a long second, Yang just stared at her arm, but she wrenched her eyes back to Ruby.

"We found her unconscious by the tower, she's been this way since yesterday." Weiss began, "The doctors say there's nothing wrong with her, she just won't wake up." Yang nodded slowly. She moved her sister's head onto her lap and began to stroke her hair; the whole scene reminded Jaune of his own sisters, but was far more saddening than those memories.

"It's weird. I should be freaking out right now, how am I so calm?"

No one could answer Yang.

"I need you to wake up, Rubes." Yang whispered to her sleeping sister, "I need you to wake up, so I know you're okay. So I know I'm okay."

Blake had pulled herself together, and moved to sit down beside Yang. Team RWBY gathered around their sleeping leader. He was worried for them, worried for all his friends. They would pull through this, though. He just had to keep believing they would.

Jaune stood up, and motioned towards his own team. As JNPR rose from their beds, he addressed RWBY: "We'll get some breakfast and bring it back here, cool?" the sister team nodded in agreement, Weiss giving a quiet "thank you". As JNPR stepped out, Jaune leaned over to Pyrrha.

"How ya doin', Pyr?"

She smiled, and lightly punched Jaune in the side. "I was doing better before I was so rudely woken."

He smiled back, this was a good sign. "Well, a leader has to look out for his team, right? Who's gonna save Ren from Nora if you sleep all day?" Nora looked like she was debating carrying Ren to the food halls, just to be sure he didn't tax himself. Ren let out a weak "Save me, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha laughed a little, but she grew more serious. "I am doing better, Jaune. Thank you. I know what you'll say, but I still feel responsible for so much of what's happened. Beacon's gone as well, I don't know what we're going to do." Her head fell as she spoke, walking slowly beside him.

Jaune nudged Pyrrha with his shoulder, making her look back up. "Pyrrha, none of this is your fault. As for what we're going to do? We've got some plans, but we're going to make it through whatever comes our way as a team."

"Whatever comes our way is what concerns mem, Jaune. Things have been... well, crazy."

"Crazy adventures is kinda RWBY's thing, JNPR has to settle for regular whatevers."

"Jaune, the headmaster offered to give me powers from a fairy tale, but we were interrupted by the largest terror attack in decades." Pyrrha was trying to be serious, he could tell.

"Really? I don't want to think about what the new level of 'crazy adventures' is for RWBY now; normal just got a lot harder." Pyrrha laughed so hard she started to snort.

They would all pull through.

Post notes: So yeah, next big change in the AU! Blake's running away is something I find interesting; Yang says Blake didn't leave until everyone was in the city, but in this situation, she's not alone when that happens. If Jaune, Nora, and Ren are all in better states, not to mention Pyrrha, I don't know if Blake gets away clean. I also feel like Pyrrha and Blake have a lot of parallels in this story, which should be obvious from their talk. I do not have personal experience with major trauma, but I based Yang's response to waking off her behavior in the V3 finale; she shows very little emotion through the first half of her talk with Ruby, and detachment is a known response.

Feel bad if you laughed at that word choice.

Now, just because the gang isn't broken up now, doesn't mean it'll be all sunshine and rainbows.