Been far to long I know, sorry! If you're curious why I left it in the note below, otherwise I hope you all like this chapter!

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Chapter 18

"You went way too far." Jaune called out into the darkness of his mind, he wanted to be angry but the whole ordeal left him exhausted both physically and emotionally. "I'm sorry Jaune, it wasn't my intention for you to suffer her pain." Whitback attempted to explain, trying to keep its voice neutral.

"That isn't what I meant and you know it." Jaune said with a hint of irritation. "What we did… The way we treated that woman… It was wrong, no excuses." Using the bodies senses against itself like Whitback did was monstrous. "I wanted to help people, not torture them!"

"And what was the alternative?! Just leave her be?" Whitback fired back immediately "To what? Rot in prison or face execution at the hands of the very humans she despised so much? All the while trying to escape and kill us!" Whitback mirrored Jaune's irritation, it was not going to back down. "Even in the best case you would still have to deal with Adam sending more assassins, we needed information."

"We came to this school to learn to be Huntsmen, to save others. Not to save ourselves, if Adam sent more we could have stopped them like we did this one." They were getting stronger everyday, Jaune was confident they could handle whatever was sent against them.

"This was the first attempt, and it showed how much he learned from a single encounter with us. I don't know how durable we are but I am not willing to test it if it means putting us in danger!" Whitback was clearly frustrated but Jaune couldn't bring himself to accept what they did was anything other than a horrible mistake.

Whitback could tell his words weren't having an effect so he changed tactics, an argument was just a verbal fight after all. "What if others got involved? What if we were training with our team when that assassin attacked." It pointed out and Jaune felt himself freeze up.

"Not only would your secret be out but they would be caught in the crossfire. You can lose an arm and bounce back but them, they could be crippled for life." Jaune didn't reply at first, trying to think how he could prove Whitback's methods were wrong.

"We're supposed to be the good guys Whitback, we're not supposed to cause suffering and pain." Jaune knew he was losing but what else could he do? Close his eyes and pretend he didn't allow an invasive attack on a helpless victim? All of it was his fault and yet the woman he left without a family was forced to pay the price.

"I'm sorry Jaune, but you can't save everyone."

\-/

Jaune woke up with a start, snapping into a sitting position and looking around the dark room. He saw Yang and Weiss sleeping peacefully in their beds but he was distracted by the headache that plagued him. He felt sluggish and found himself yawning despite his anatomy.

We've not recovered yet, we should rest for a bit longer. Jaune ignored Whitback's warning and got out of bed with only a slight stumble before reaching to his nightstand for his scroll. The digital clock told him it was just past midnight, was it really so late? He had forgotten how fast time went by when sleeping, did he actually do this every night before Whitback? The memories were so foggy it was hard to remember.

He didn't want to go back to sleep, his mind was churning over what Whitback said and he wanted to at least try thinking of a better way. Jaune made his way out of the the room while sliding his scroll into a makeshift pocket in his armor, he felt the need to keep moving as if it would move his thoughts along too.

Jaune waited until he was outside to start talking, not wanting to wake others or have any misunderstandings about his sanity.

"..." Nothing came out, what could he say? Whitback was right; if they didn't do anything, next time it might not be him who loses an arm.

With a sigh he turned around and sat against a tree while closing his eyes, the weary feeling almost keeping him from noticing the red cloak that was approaching. "Ruby? What are you doing up so late?" Jaune asked while looking up at the young Huntress.

"I couldn't sleep." She offered and sat next to Jaune, sliding her cloak underneath her for a makeshift seat. "And you were mumbling in your sleep." She added, causing Jaune to feel a touch of panic in his chest.

"Mumbling…? W-what did I say?" He asked cautiously, did he really talk in his sleep? Did she hear him say something about the woman? What would she think if she found out what he had done?

"Nothing clearly but you did say a name." She scratched her head, as if trying to figure out something to say. "A name that reminded me of a boy I met once when I was younger."

A light flickered in Jaune's mind as he realized she finally remembered their first meeting. And seeing as how she wasn't running away he hoped that meant her morals hadn't changed much since then.

"To be honest, I was hoping you'd remember sooner rather than later." He said while reaching for his mask. "I hate having to lie so much." After a moment of contact the mask disappeared into his fingers and he turned to Ruby with a nervous smile.

"You look tired." She said suddenly, surprising Jaune. Nonsense, our flesh looks the same as always. How could she notice our fatigue? Whitback sounded confused. "What do you mean?"

"Your eyes look like they are struggling to stay open, even your voice sounds more tired than I've ever heard during hours of training and studying." Ruby explained, staring at Jaune who could only lean back against the tree and close his eyes.

"I didn't know you were so perceptive…" He let out a long breath, feeling exhaustion weighing down on him as he began to doze slightly. They sat side by side against the tree for some time in silence, Ruby beginning to join Jaune in his semi conscious state.

"Hey Ruby?" Jaune spoke as quietly as he could and she acknowledged him with a soft hum. "If it meant protecting people, would you hurt someone?" Ruby blinked awake at the odd question and looked to Jaune only to see his mask replaced, covering his features once again.

"What do you mean? Like how we fight criminals?" She tried to clarify, unsure what Jaune meant by the question. He shook his head.

"What if somehow, someone you loved was going to be seriously hurt and could even die" Jaune spoke slowly, trying to properly explain without giving away what had happened.

"And the only way to save the person was to seriously hurt someone else, someone you didn't really know anything about." Ruby went silent for a few minutes, her head turned downwards as she thought of an answer.

"I guess I would try my best to find another way, and if that wasn't possible…" She paused for a moment, a conflicted look crossing her eyes. "Well I would do anything to protect my sister but…" She trailed off, unable to finish. "I-I don't know…" She said quietly.

"Ya..." Jaune mumbled under his breath. "Me neither…".

\-/

Within the remains of an abandoned warehouse, somewhere in the industrial district, Cinder Fall sat with a calm smile on her face while Adam Taurus looked as tense as always beside her. In front of them Roman Torchwick worked on setting a recording to play on a large screen, cursing quietly about having to do grunt work without actually confronting the terrifying pair.

"This had better be worth it" Adam commented idly. "I don't enjoy sending my people on suicide missions." The faunus was clearly unhappy about having to use one of his marksmen as a "test" for something he already knew was dangerous

Roman didn't help when saying "Bet she didn't cost you half as much as the rifle I lost." It was difficult for him to give such a fine piece of hardware to some lackey he never met and it was downright painful to hear the filthy condition it was in when Neo retrieved the recording hidden inside from the police station.

"Gentleman!" Cinder silenced both of them before an argument could start. "If you two are finished bickering, I have yet to see this "monster" and my patience is wearing thin. So Roman, if you don't mind." She motioned to the screen while leveling a threatening glare to the man. The screen lit up a moment later, showing a video feed from the Rifle's scope.

No one said a word as the video played, lasting only a few seconds before ending abruptly.

"I didn't think it could strike from that far away…" Adam trailed off while thinking to himself, last he saw the abomination it relied upon a blade and tendrils. Could it's tendrils reach that far, or had it thrown it's weapon?

"So is this what you call "handling my monster"?" Roman attempted to mock Cinder but she was far too distracted to notice.

"Play it again" She stated with her eyes transfixed on the screen and a smile growing on her lips. Roman shivered slightly, the intensity of her stare denying any further arguments.

Cinder knew grimm could come in all shapes and sizes, Salem was proof of that, and as such she wasn't surprised to hear Roman's and Adam's stories of Jaune. They made it clear she was dealing with a monster but never before had she seen a grimm's armor plating move so freely that it could replace muscle and skin, the potential was astounding. Salem had to see this recording.

"This changes things." Cinder made her way to the screen and plugged her Scroll into it. "I want both of you to keep your heads down and continue business as usual while I deal with the "monster" Jaune Arc." She downloaded the video while carefully explaining what she wanted. "This little development will not delay our schedule."

"Very well, but don't take too long. That thing has killed hundreds of my people, he must be punished." Adam didn't trust the smile Cinder had but he wouldn't challenge her yet. She had already proven to be too much to handle on his own, but if she failed to punish this criminal he may be able to force her to answer to the entirety of the White Fang.

Roman just let out a defeated sigh and mumbled his agreement, waiting until he had the room to himself before lighting up a large cigar. "Damnit Roman, what have you gotten yourself into this time…" He blew out a cloud of smoke, praying to whatever god or devil that might listen "Please just let one, or both of them be hit by an Atlassian warship. Is that too much to ask!?"

\-/

The sun had barely begun to rise when James Ironwood took a sip from his third cup of coffee that morning while scanning over scouting reports. The amount of Grimm activity had been increasing over the past few years and James was struggling to grasp at the reason. Was this Salem's doing? Or was it the climbing crime rate and subsequent negativity that drew the grimm?

Feeling sleep start to slow his thoughts encouraged James enough to down the rest of his mug's contents in an effort to stave of the rising need for a nap. Putting the empty cup down and looking at all the remaining reports he needed to sort through brought only one thought to mind; He needed more coffee.

"I'll be back." He said to Winter while she continued to manage the day to day operations on her scroll. "How do you take your Coffee?" He didn't need to ask if she wanted one, she had been up just as long if not longer than himself. "Three cream, no sugar. Thank you." She said, turning up from her scroll for a moment to give him a grateful smile.

The break area he made his way to was a fairly plain room with one fridge, a table with chairs and a counter with the coffee machine on it. The early hours of the morning ensured the room was empty when James walked in and began making a fresh pot of coffee.

A moment later he was distracted by the ringing of his scroll, causing just the slightest twinge of anxiety. Not many people had his personal number, and those that did very rarely called for good news. Pulling the scroll from his pocket gave him a surprise, a surprise that managed to bring a smile to his face while he answered the scroll.

"Jaune, it's good to hear from you again." He said once Jaune's familiar mask appeared on the small screen. "It's good to see you too James, I hope I'm not waking you up." Jaune's rough voice played through the speakers, reminding James to adjust his volume.

"Nothing to worry about." He waved off the concern, Jaune would have known he was almost always awake when the sun began rising. "So how was your first week being around other students? I haven't heard anything from Oz yet so I assume you haven't broken down any walls yet." Jaune looked downward and James could imagine the embarrassed look that would have come across his face.

"I did that once by accident…" Jaune mumbled to himself before looking back up. "Classes have been good, not as hard as Qrow's training or Glynda's studying so that's good." James wanted to chuckle but something felt a little off, why had Jaune specified classes? And did his voice sound almost tense?

"Did something happen?" Jaune hesitated, confirming something had happened. James was tempted to take a stern tone and command him to report, Jaune would most likely comply but felt wrong treating him like soldier when he was still just a child.

It took a few moments of waiting before Jaune final spoke. "Have you had to interrogate prisoners before?" James raised an eyebrow, the question caught him off guard. Was Jaune trying to change the subject? "I have on a number of occasion performed interrogations, yes."

"Why?" A simple question, lacking Judgment or resentment. "Sometimes someone had information, information that I needed to keep my men alive or my country safe." Even as a general his interrogation skills had him working closely with any of his higher value prisoners.

"Did you… hurt those people?" Jaune was looking down at himself, that combined with the odd questions worried James to no end. "...Sometimes." Jaune seemed to have trouble finding the right words before speaking again.

"I hurt someone yesterday…" James could hear him struggling to keep his voice steady. "A white fang assassin tried to kill me and Whitback wanted to consume her for information. I refused. I-I thought nothing could be worse than killing her… But what I did… I'm not so sure anymore."

James could picture what had happened, Whitback was a threat unlike any other and he shuddered to think what it could do if it wanted you alive but hurt. "I want you to understand something Jaune." he tried to convey the necessity of his words. "No war is won without sacrifice."

"You learned from a young age that you can lose everything you care about in an instant." James didn't mean to sound so curt but the message needed to be clear. "Now You're learning sometimes you have to do things you're not proud if you want to protect what you care about."

Was Jaune too young to go through this? James shot down the foolish thought, of course he was too young, but what option did he have? Whitback gave Jaune unbelievable abilities but at the same time it painted one of the biggest targets possible right on his back. He would need to be willing to do whatever it took if he wanted to live free.

"But thinking about it makes me sick…" The way he spoke, so devoid of his usual energy, drove a spike into James' heart. "We do whatever we need to in order to protect what's important to us. You're not any worse than I Jaune, nor are you any less human."

Jaune pulled his mask off and wiped away the tears forming in his eyes before turning back to James with a shaky smile. "I'll keep doing my best."

"Hopefully it'll be good enough to save someone."

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So this chapter was interesting for me to write, since I wrote half of it a month before the other half, because of this please let me know if anything seems disjointed or if you notice a major shift of some kind that doesnt feel right. I'm also finding it difficult to "fit in" so many different characters if that makes sense, I really didn't give roosterteeth enough credit for juggling so many characters. Anyway hopefully the next chapter wont take so long, I look forward to any feedback and as always I hope you all have a good morning/evening.

Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh, being sick sucks more than most things, I hope you can get better! I'm not much for romance Irl either lol, I prefer to spend my me time on me but anyway I hope you like what I'm doing with the characters! I'll keep your advice in mind, hope to hear from you again! sorry for taking so long!

Artjom435, Glad to hear you like it! I'm glad I'm able to show the line between Whitback and Jaune, being the same person but two personalities cant be easy for the pair! Dont worry at all, I dont mean to pressure anyone into writing a review (sort of) like many other creators I'm just very curious how my work is being viewed! I hope you continue to read and enjoy!

reason;

So some stuff happened, dropped out of school and had to get a job and if I'm being honest I'm kinda terrible at handling a lot. I get mental exhaustion fairly easily and I have never worked fast food as a cook before, which if you haven't holy hell can rushes be fucking terrible behind a hot grill. That being said I'd be lying if i said that was everything, kind ashamed to admit it but I got hooked on a new game (kenshi) and had trouble doing anything else after coming home from my shift. All this is me trying to say I want to and will continue to write but I don't know when I will be able to continue a proper schedule. Until I figured something out my updates may become of bit spotty, for which I apologize and hope i dont lose too many people because of it.