Chapter 15: War Face

Cinder Fall is not a good woman.


His heart was racing. He didn't know what to do. Why had she been there? Why had she been there? Why was she there? Why did she appear?

He felt aimless, uncertain of where to go, aside from going away. It was not going to plan, she was going to get him killed, that's what happened to all the people who were born bad. He wasn't trying to hurt people, he just wanted to live and be of some use. He really didn't want to hurt people.

"Jaune?"

Someone grabbed him from behind, arms wrapping around him, a familiar smell hitting his nostrils. Yang. He felt the urge to pull away, to get away, to make sure that he was safe. Home was safety, home was safety and people who didn't whisper or stare. "Jaune, it's okay. I don't know why you ran, but it's fine."

"I have to get away."

He mumbled the words. They'd said that he couldn't approach her, that he couldn't talk to her, that she shouldn't talk to him because he'd go to jail. It'd been protection from him, even though it had been not true. They'd said that it would be so, so it'd be so.

"Jaune, calm down, please. Hey, it's okay, I'm not mad at you. If it's something I did I'm sorry."

She sounded so understanding. He realized that she was holding him in a grip that her mother also used. He felt safer now, with her warmth there.

"I wasn't supposed to talk to her, or to be near her."

Lilac eyes looked at him, uncomprehending of the topic, thinking she had done something wrong. She hadn't, of course. She was wonderful. Didn't she understand? Didn't she know?

"Cinder."

A coldness in Yang's eyes that he didn't like. It reminded him of her mother, as those eyes darkened a little.

"Wait, that was Cinder?"

She'd probably never met Cinder. Ruby had. That was logical. He had forgotten that Yang and Ruby weren't always together. Stupid him, he had forgotten that. "No wonder you ran."

"I'm not supposed to be around her. Protection order, but mom said that it was to protect her from me."

He thought for a moment whether he should tell her. Yang and Summer were good people, much better than him. Ruby didn't know, nor would she likely remember. She was remarkably forgetful if something didn't really fit with her world. It was nice to just talk and then have to make more smiles happen with her.

"That's okay. As long as we stay out of her reach, you're going to be fine."

Her voice said something else, a tone that sounded as if she was angry. She looked much like her mother at this moment. Her eyes were deepening in their colour, their intensity changing. He found that to be pretty.

"Now we've just…"

Yang's phone was out and in her hand and she was dialling a number. The name on the screen read 'Sandy' as she called. "got to get my stepmom here… Don't worry, I'll wing it with an excuse." She was a good young woman, just like his sisters. They might tease him a lot which he didn't like, but his sisters cared for him in their own way.

He watched Yang's expression, her lips moving but the words not quite registering. She was beautiful and he felt pain in his chest from looking at her too long. He didn't want to feel like this because it was forbidden, but for a moment, he tried to imagine what it would be like to be the boyfriend that she loved.

The pain increased more, as he watched her put the phone back into her pocket, hugging him again. "Don't worry, you're good. Everything's going to be okay. I'm not going to let you drop." He didn't know what that meant, but he hoped that she would keep on hugging him.

"You could've told us that you had to go to the bathroom, boy."

Sandy's face looked at him with a look of disgust, something a touch deeper than before. She didn't like him in the slightest, yet she was open about it with those little twitches that she showed.

He'd seen Cinder. She'd seen him. He was going to go to jail if she reported it. It wouldn't be nice, he wouldn't get to see Yang and Ruby again, or Summer. That wouldn't be good.

"Sorry."

He mumbled. Yang's excuse would work. Yang was strong and understood a little. She was warm. She hugged him a little tighter, her fingers brushing over his back. It felt nice and comfortable.

"Say something next time, Jaune. Can't let my boyfriend make himself messy, or it'll make me look like a bad girlfriend."

He turned his head from her, as Sandy rubbed the bridge of her nose, looking at him with a look that he had seen many times before. Disgust and loathing, a look that had been repeated many times since people had heard about the situation.

Yang's arm around him made it worth it though, the warmth that she gave like a beacon lit with warm flames, as he looked at her. "Sorry." He said again, as she smiled.

"We should get you back home and get the stuff taken care of, Jauney boy… Tomorrow I've got to meet with my friend Blake, so there'll be no more exercise until the day after she returns with her mom in tow. She'd love to meet you, by the way."

Yang smiled at him again, the chest pain returning with that beautiful smile, her eyes glinting with that way that showed that she was seeing him as…

'Is this how normal people feel?'

She smiled softly and leaned forward, giving him a feather-light peck to the cheek. "Let's get going, loverboy." He was ashamed that he reacted, that he felt the stirrings of those feelings. He liked Yang a lot. She was with Blake though and she was going to be with her real girlfriend.

"Yes. We should go."

He said, voice still flat, as Sandy looked at him. She was the one carrying the bags, he saw, and he offered to take them. She just unloaded all on him, giving him a warning look. She didn't like him. That was normal. Not many people liked him.

"Good, now to give Taiyang a call… I should've called him as soon as I had the time."

The woman mumbled under her breath, her eyes looking at him with suspicious eyes. It was a normal look by now, he had gotten used to it.

Yang's hand was in his own though, smaller than his own. She had this really soft skin on the back of her hand and he brushed a finger over it. The smile on her lips broadened a little, which made his chest feel more pain. He liked her a lot, and she was so pretty.

"You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen."

He could forget about Cinder, about everything else, just looking into Yang's eyes. There was a distance in those eyes of hers that he would never be able to breach, but the knowledge that she was already seeing someone was in the back of his mind. It was forbidden to think about her in any way.

Cinder would do to him whatever she wanted, because he was born wrong. She'd seen him with Ruby. She'd wanted to hurt Ruby and make her hate him.

'No. Ruby must be kept safe.'

She was his friend. She was his friend and she was his friend because she was like him but smarter. "Let's get a picture of the two of us, Jaune." A smile on her lips, as she pulled him into a picture booth, wrapping an arm around him and then putting in the coins for the picture, her beautiful body pressed against him.

He did his best smile, seeing the flash. Yang grinned boldly, pulling him in, another flash registering as he felt her lips press down on his cheek. "This is for fun, Jaune. Something to remember later." She'd be with Blake again when her father would be gone from their household.

This was just pretending.

He turned to face her and kissed her on the lips. She froze up and tensed, before she relaxed slowly. The kiss lasted for a short while, as the flash lit up brilliantly. It was a shiver that worked through her body, her eyes gazing at him with a faintly misty quality in them. She looked very nice.

"Just a good memory." He said, even though he mentally kicked himself for being too forward.

You shouldn't kiss people when it's not wanted, and she hadn't wanted this. She was someone else's girlfriend, not his girlfriend but…

She smiled at him, understanding. "Hmmhm… I wonder what Blake would say of that picture, huh? Might get her kitty all heated up, heh." She would be angry, no doubt. Blake had staked her claim on Yang and had said that she wanted his children. It wasn't illogical for Blake to be upset with him too.

"You're a good guy, Jaune."

Her voice was a little sad, as she smiled sadly at him, her eyes looking at him with that expression, her fingers lacing with his own again. It was warm and nice, even as his chest hurt. She looked like her mother, but Summer had never given this feeling.

"A really good guy. That Fall woman…"

A sigh, as Yang's eyes turned down, her teeth visible as she bit down on her lower lip.

"She's wrong."

She pulled him out of the booth with a smile. He smelled her shampoo still. Feelings of like were strong in him, as she turned around and smiled. Her blonde hair was like a halo, almost like an angel. He could believe her to be some kind of guardian angel. She certainly was warm enough for that to be the case.

'I like spending time with you.'

He had to admit that. Yang, if she made an effort to, was like a darling of the world, someone whose life would have a wonderful ending undoubtedly as one of the people who had the purity of spirit, not like him, who was corrupted by the virtue of being born with a broken defect in his head.

She pulled him along without a problem, her smile bright, as her breasts moved with every step, Sandy's eyes disapproving on him and her together. Undoubtedly, Yang resembled her mother to such an extent that she'd be a blonde copy of her, according to the picture that he'd seen of the woman.

Yang was a burning spirit who loved Blake, rather than him. To imagine her as someone who would be willing to date him was but a fancy that would only be a fantasy. Weiss had been a fantasy as well, as the truth of her nature had shown itself. She wasn't interested and he had been dumb enough to believe that she'd warm up to him eventually.

"You're silly, Jaune."

He was. He'd been silly to think that, as Yang pulled him closer, holding the picture of the time when she'd kissed him up. It was nice to see the way that their hair mixed together, their different shades of blonde mingling, the look on his face happy, for some reason. The smile certainly looked happy and there was that little twinkling in his eyes that he hadn't seen before.

'Why did I look happy?'

He wondered about that, as she brushed her fingers over his cheek. "You're staring, Jaune. So surprised that you've gotten a bit of blonde in your life?" It was pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend, he knew, but Yang was someone who he thought he could trust. She was Ruby's sister. You could trust Ruby, even if you didn't always agree with how she acted.

"I'm honestly still surprised that you'd go out on a date with me."

He said honestly. He was still surprised. He wasn't supposed to feel this good, like it was a dream that was going to pop and burst. Cinder had come, but he'd gotten away. He was waiting to wake up anytime now, but Yang smiled at him and the distractions all faded away.

"Good, because you're just the dreamy type of guy that I like. Such a strong body with that smart little ticker up in your brain."

He would correct her that there wasn't really much of a clock in his head, as the ticker was more in the heart, he'd heard, but she smiled at he was distracted again.

"Can we just go to the car and get out of this place? His kind isn't really the type I'd like to be around."

The dirty look that Sandy gave him was enough, as he looked at her, understanding where she was going with that. She didn't like Ruby much, even though she was always friendly towards Ruby, because Ruby and her father were really close.

"I don't know what your pro-"

He grabbed Yang's hand and pulled her close. She shut up, and he looked her in the eyes, shaking his head slowly. An argument would just blow up. Yang frowned at him, before she closed her eyes and visibly suppressed her anger. That was good. He didn't want her to shout. She was too pretty to shout.

"Fine. I should be a good girlfriend and listen to my boyfriend."

He wasn't her boyfriend. She was going to meet her real girlfriend tomorrow. He was just the pretender, the one that she had to play around with to make sure that she had a good alibi. She probably didn't even like him that much, knowing that he was weird and freaky.

It was okay. He knew what he was. She was Yang and she was amazing. She looked a little awkward as he smiled at her, his eyes peering into her own. His heart hurt some more. She was so pretty. Prettier than Weiss, prettier than Cinder.

He was let out of the car in front of his home, Yang smiling at him. He grabbed the bags with his new clothes in them and watched them drive off. There was no police there waiting for him, so Cinder must not have gotten in contact with them yet. He hoped that it wouldn't be a bother to his family. His sisters were good sisters, because they loved him, or so his father and mother always said. He trusted his mother and father, even if they occasionally were frustrated with him.


He entered the house through the front door, looking at the schedule to see who was off at work and who wasn't. His sisters had different hours of activity, with some of them sleeping at odd hours, the creak of the door loud in the near-quiet of the afternoon.

"Had a fun date, son?"

His father's voice came from behind him, the cane that he used to walk with at times resting on the wooden floor. He made sure that he arranged the shoes perfectly in order. One had to mind the small details. Straight, located right behind the ones that belonged to Cassy.

"It was nice. I saw Cinder again."

He stalled, unsure how to proceed. His father was waiting for an answer, for a solution to that problem. He always wanted to know how he responded for some reason.

"I ran away from her."

The man gave a soft sound, a sigh that seemed to rumble around and turn into a cough. He looked serious, perhaps a little sad? Concerned?

"Sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is run. I'm glad you're able to get a few joys out of life, even if you're… you."

His father always danced around the word, as if it was going to reach out and bite at him. The man's eyes looked fierce still, as he looked at him. "Let's go to the study, son. We need to have a chat." The man's cane bonked on the wooden floor as he led the way. The study, the room that'd been furnished with several leftover cabinets and held most of the military stuff that dad had collected over the years, was at the end of the hallway.

The man sat down in the comfortable seat, the wooden chair in front of him being reserved for Jaune himself. Jaune sat down after his father motioned him to.

"Son, those marks on your throat worried your mother. I've explained to her that sometimes, it's just a reflex, that it could've been worse but… I'd like to take you to the doctor to see whether there's any damage."

He could understand that. The pain wasn't there anymore, but it was a little annoying. He knew that his father meant well though, because that's just what fathers did. "Okay." The man looked a little off-put by his answer but seemed to get it. "So, the girl…"

"She's nice."

He said, because Yang was nice. She made him feel like he was human, even though he knew that he wasn't on some level. Cinder had told him well. "She's meeting her girlfriend tomorrow." The man gave a soft sigh, shaking his head lightly.

"You've got to stop being so friendly to girls, son. You're going to get taken advantage of one day… Even with that hullaballoo with Fall, you've still got a life ahead of you."

Jaune didn't think he had much ahead of him, but that was just his own interpretation of events.

The trip to the doctor's office was tiresome, even with his father sitting in the car next to him. He knew that the man meant well, but that did not mean that he fully understood what the fuss was about. The marks on his neck were starting to slowly turn purplish-blue now.


In the waiting room, he observed some of the children that played with the toys that'd been there. He wanted to get up and arrange the toys in their proper line but he stopped himself. It wasn't orderly and he should keep his control. Only retards could not control themselves and he wanted to be human, even if he was one.

"Arc?"

The female assistant asked and his father nudged him as he got up, the man following after him. His doctor looked at him with a clinical look, the man's eyes looking him over with a clinical eye, his usual formal manner of behaviour a constant. It was understandable and felt good and orderly.

"Arc, Jaune, aged seventeen. Good physical composition, except for the marks on the throat. It has been some time since I have last seen you, young man."

The man walked to him and motioned for him to sit down on the examination table, a set of fingers tracing over the marks.

"Signs of strangulation, the pattern indicates non-consensual strangulation, or at least with rougher trends than most often seen… Run afoul of some angry womenfolk, young man?"

He didn't think that Summer had been angry with him.

"It was a mistake, she said. Her ex-husband said that she does that at times because of the memories."

He wasn't sure whether he should tell, but the doctor could be trusted, the man nodding.

"Post-Traumatic Stress, with a dash of losing track… Common, these days, what with the servicemen coming back. Yours is going well, Arc?"

His father nodded. Jaune felt some dash of sympathy for the man. It wasn't nice to be choked and he hoped that his mother was okay. Mom didn't need to be choked, she was a good mom.

"No attacks of any kind for the last nine months. My wife was concerned because Jaune came home with these."

A pinch and a squeeze, the doctor making a soft sound, before pulling something out of a pocket and taking a small measurement on his neck, humming something to himself.

"Breathe out through the mouth." He followed the orders, the man looking pensive for a moment, as he looked at his father.

"Aside from some minor hoarseness for the next few days, he'll be right as rain, given some rest. It is hindersome, but not a life-threatening issue. Tell your wife that she has no cause for worry."

It was a good thing, Jaune understood. The doctor looked him over, taking a few more measurements before patting him on the head, like he'd done when he'd been younger. "A fine specimen of a young teen-aged male. Are you doing better now, Jaune?"

"Probably. I don't feel pain much."

The man nodded to that, his father just looking on with that passive look. "She's not a bad woman. Just a little sad sometimes, just like dad." The doctor's fingers brushed over the metal chromed instrument that stood in the corner, a contemplative look on his face.

"Intriguing. Does she on occasion act scared? Skittish? Like she wants to run away but can't because something is keeping her?"

The doctor mused aloud, and Jaune thought back to Summer. Perhaps she did. The doctor was smart, he'd graduated from… some school whose name he didn't quite remember with what had been a mark. Doctor Watts was a good doctor.

"Sometimes. Ruby is like her too at times when she doesn't understand what is going on. They might have the same thing, I don't know. They are both nice though."

The doctor nodded, his clinical manner of tapping onto the metal instrument enough to warn him.

"A teenager with your condition should not worry too much about such things, Jaune. They are your friend and her... mother?"

The man's clinical tone was formal still, as the moustache was brushed through with a finger, the man's eyes a deep colour, as his shrewd mind seemed to come to conclusions. He nodded to confirm that the doctor was correct.

"I shall not say that they are wrong for having such issues, as the human condition is still something we are still learning about… Why, when I was studying at MIT, there was this brilliant student who had come up with the schematics for an android that was almost life-like… But alas, he outshone my genius grafting techniques. It is thus that I am here, rather than there."

A wistful look on the man's face, as his gaze went to Jaune's father for a moment, a thoughtful expression coming to his face as the eyes returned to him once more.

"Could you leave for a moment? I would like to speak with the young man privately for an instant. Some questions that the young man might have might not be spoken about with his father present…"

"If you say so…"

His father left the room, the doctor taking a seat behind his desk again, looking at him. There was a pause, Jaune waiting for the doctor to say something, but Doctor Watts just looked at him with eyes that were calm and analyzing.

"Jaune, do you remember what Miss Salem spoke of?"

He felt a touch of something go through him, the man's face turning serious.

'She told him. She said that she wouldn't tell anyone!'

Fear rushed through his body like something living, a serpent that wrapped around his heart and constricted, the man shaking his head a little, as he spotted the response. The man was really smart and he knew a lot, so seeing his reaction undoubtedly had not gone unnoticed.

"Let me make this clear, Jaune Arc. I am here to help you. The affair with Miss Fall…"

The curling of the upper lip in distaste, as the man's professional status had been called into question. "has borne no fruit. They did not even ask for my testimony, so they do not have the details. The short-sightedness of the system, but alas…"

"I saw her again today. I ran into her at the mall, she came too close. I had to run away. I don't want to go to jail." The man closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. The man's eyes opened again and he looked at him.

"You are a bright child. You've registered in the top percentile, even with your handicap requiring a longer time for testing purposes."

They were just tests. It didn't matter what the tests said, Ruby was still smarter. She got higher grades, he took time to read things and was too slow.

"People will never understand what it is like to be smarter than those around you, to be more intelligent than others. My friend Sherlock was like that, a precocious young man, eager to delve the mysteries of the world." The man got up, walking to the globe he had in the corner of his office.

"I believe you when you say that you have not touched Miss Fall."

The man's words were true, he could tell from the way that the man's face did not even twitch as he spoke, as he turned the globe, stopping at a point in Germany.

"You have no capacity to lie, and if you try to hide the truth, there will be nothing that will convince someone."

There was a softness to the man's eyes that was squashed, the man's fingers brushing over the globe. "The file was sealed, yet I am aware of what happened, Jaune. To help you, I need to understand." The man's voice sounded genuine, the green eyes that watched him holding something in their depth, a quest for knowledge, for something more.

"Can you take your clothes off? I would like to formalize the… marks, record the pattern that Miss Salem described."

The man's voice was softer, as his eyes looked with what might be disgust, or perhaps empathy. The man and himself were fairly flat on the emotional spectrum.

"I didn't want her to make a fuss. It would have hurt my sisters."

He confessed, the doctor giving what might be a smile of pity, if he'd guessed it right. It might also be something else, but it didn't look too happy.

"Once upon a time, there was a boy I knew who also did not want to make a fuss. His fate was… most unkind."

The man's eyes were calm as the camera was picked, a recorder, similar in make as to what Miss Salem used, put on the side.

"Arthur Theodore Watts, session with Jaune Arc, aged seventeen years. Detailing the injuries as stated by Salem Alexandria, report number seventeen-five-zero-one-two-eight-nine-nine-three. Photographic evidence will be in folder seventeen."

The man's voice was smooth and without any sort of flaws, accented faintly with that British tone.

He stood there, as the man looked at him, inspecting him for the damages that had been reported. "Do I just… show?" He didn't want to, really, but the doctor was there to make him feel better. The man nodded.

"Please, in the manner that makes you the most comfortable."

He pulled his member up, showing the man what he had. The doctor's fingers, clad within a set of disposable latex gloves that smelled like cleaning chemicals, clicked the button and a small flash of light came from the camera.

"Patient shows signs of wounding on the external part of the scrotum, in the manner of burns, caused by a cigarette or small burning stick. Patient seems to not exhibit many signs of physical distress, burn wounds having already scarred with minor rawness of the surface due to sweatiness due to the location of the burns. Scars appear to be permanent due to a lack of proper treatment and repetitive marking."

Pictures were snapped, the man's face looking serious, more serious than he had ever seen. There was something in those eyes, as the man treated him with a light touch, making sure that he felt a little discomfort.

"Conclusion: Intentional scarring and burning of the skin with intent to mark and harm, consistent with the pattern of abuse as reported by Salem Alexandria, case file Arc, Jaune."

The man's fingers grabbed a hold of his member, holding it facing upward. "Size is moderate for the flaccid state, burn marks seem to be mostly on the scrotum. The patient seems unconcerned by the touch of the physician."

He wasn't concerned. A doctor looked at your body and helped you. That was what they did. The man's fingers touched some more and the pain flashed through him, wincing at the touch. "Patient experiences distress when touch is applied to the burnt area. Psychological state unknown." The words were calm and formal, but something in the man's eyes had changed, something that seemed to be intrigue if he recognized the look well enough.

"Examination complete. Wounds inspected and judged."

The man looked at him with a frown on his features. Those eyes still showed interest, intrigue. "I will prescribe you something for the marks in order to smoothen the skin." There was a pause, as the man's inscrutable look continued.

"It is not right for you to be treated like that."

The man's voice was calm, as he turned away. Jaune wondered for a moment whether the man was thinking about something, a balled fist slowly relaxing, the man's smile as made-up as most of the behaviour that he'd seen from others.

"It is what I deserve."

The man didn't speak, walking to the desk and seating himself again, looking at him with a look before he realized something.

"You may get dressed again, Jaune."

The look on the man's face was not pleasant, as he started to type, the recorder having somehow been put on the desk as well.

"I will contact the authorities after making my final concluding report, submitted this Friday after I return from the international congress, which is an appointment I am afraid I cannot delay. Miss Salem might have sealed the file, but I will not let a bright young man like you suffer." The man's voice held more emotion than usual, as those green eyes fixed him with a look.

"What happened to the boy? The one you spoke about."

Jaune asked, the man's eyes closing for an instant as the lengthy exhale made the moustache quiver a little.

"Hospitalisation, after his father brutalized him. It turned a bright young child into a machine with little feeling, thanks to the trauma of the brain."

The man's fingers brushed over the desk, as the man's eyelids opened again.

"Somewhat like you, but with a complete and utter absence of morality, to explain it properly. People are like pawns on a chessboard, toys to play with… it is so easy to pick apart people and see what makes them tick, to see what measures to take to ensure that they work as you want them to work."

There was a pause, as the man smiled. It was the fake smile that would put people at ease. He saw through it easily. It wasn't genuine, like when people said that he was special. He wasn't special. He was a retard.

"It took therapy for a young man to regain his way after growing up in that way. Therapy and rigid discipline. Still, the adult is someone who lives by strict rules, to make sure that the urges are restrained and locked away. Sometimes, I do wonder if that young boy is still somewhere lost within the mind of the adult, but such curiosities are best left for more philosophical minds."

There was an unspoken moment where the man looked at a picture on the wall, a younger version of himself standing next to a woman who obviously was his mother, looking at him. A picture hung next to it of the doctor wearing a lab coat, still with the stoic look on his face as he held up a single device that had gotten some sort of warning label on it.

"It is not what you deserve, Jaune. You are a bright child, still as curious as you were when I first had you in my practice."

The man's voice was soft in the background, as he looked at that picture of the man with the device in hands. "Even with your autism, you have survived well."

"Doctor, I'm not sure whether that is the right thing to say. I was born with a defect and-" He wanted to say more but the man looked at him, an angry look on his face.

"You were born smart, Jaune. Nobody could understand you. That is not a defect, but a gift. I can ask you a question and receive an answer swiftly, as soon as your mind catches up. You have been sorely wasted on these people. It is a pity that I only saw it later in your teens when I evaluated the tests… The potential, the drive, that focus on the smallest of details."

The doctor's words were better than he deserved. It wasn't something that he could really do anything about, but it was not enough to really do anything. He wasn't smart, like the doctor was. He just could do some things pretty well, but he was stupid too.

Cinder had said as much. He'd seen Doctor Watts seventeen times over the course of his life, his mind told him. The man had never shown much of an interest outside of the various illnesses that he'd been at the practice to before.

The test had been a curiosity at fifteen. The man had let him sit for it in the side-office, checking it out of curiosity, only noting with some amusement that he'd picked one of the wrong forms. It hadn't been until the seventeenth question had been graded that the man's eyes had lit up and the eraser had come out, making some minor alterations.

It was not too difficult at times. He'd seen it before. He wasn't smart, but he knew some things. The man's fingers had tapped a beat on the desk as he calculated, looking at him a few times before taking the test and writing out something for him on a note, telling him that he was to hand this to his school's principal post-haste.

He'd met Ruby at that first class, even though he didn't quite get some of the topics that were being covered. He was used to being stupid, because that's what they'd called him. Not that he was smart, Ruby was smart. She'd been advanced a few grades and was aware of what it meant. She was the smart one, even if she didn't quite get some of the things that he had. She'd never had a problem with handing the work in on time or getting every square filled out.

He liked the direction that people gave him. Not so much after the presentation, though. The public speaking part always ended badly.

"What will you do now?"

The man looked at him with a look, before a short nod was given. A pause lasted for a while, the man's eyes lighting up.

"I will make the file and keep it here, whilst copying it to the hard drive that I keep on my person at most times. I will ensure that appropriate measures are taken… This is not the first time that I have seen someone be abused simply for their brilliance."

The man's eyes drifted to the picture of a young child in the hospital, the picture somewhat faded. A scrawled – 'Happy birthday' – was on an edge, the child's head swaddled in bandages, a young child at the other's side. The green eyes looked tender, as the big cake in front of the child's face, candles already blown out.

"You will not have to fear. Whilst some parts of our legal system are… woefully inadequate, know that I will ensure that you have nothing to fear from Fall. Those weaker in society should be protected, even from the rich who accuse them of heinous things."

Jaune doubted it. They were probably going to take him away. Cinder had held power, even though she had said that she was but a weak woman. "She will get away with it." He said, the man's lips thinning for a moment, as the man's eyes hardened.

"Possibly. The system is unaccustomed to such a thing, at times. Oftentimes, it does not understand what a child needs, choosing to believe the adult."

There was a hint of distaste, as the man looked at him. "If you had been my child…" The man's face turned to face the window.

"Suffice it to say that I would not be so kind to Miss Fall. She is not my patient, but I would not hesitate. Abuse is a terrible thing to happen to a child, a teen…"

The hands were tightly gripping each other behind the man's back, as the man seemed to firm up a little.

"Why aren't you married? Mom said that you had been single ever since you started to work here."

He'd heard his mother mention that a few times, when she had commented on the doctor's visits. Every single one of his sisters was at this practice.

"I cannot have the blessing of children, Mister Arc."

The coolness with which the news was delivered was a sign that the man was a little sad. "It is regrettable but true." He felt bad for him. Retards shouldn't get children too, but the man was convinced that he was smart, just like Ruby. He just knew how to do a few things well. He didn't really care about school very much. People were confusing. Summer made sense. Yang made sense. Ruby was nice and Weiss was… not so nice.

"Miss Salem said that something could be done." The doctor nodded, as he turned around to face him once more. He looked somewhat more emotional, he seemed to understand. He said what Miss Salem had said multiple times.

"She said I was worthy of life."

The man's eyebrow rose, minutely. "Clarify." The man asked, as he sat down at his desk again. He said the two words and the man's lips thinned in displeasure. The green eyes moved rapidly back and forth, before the man came to some conclusion.

"Undoubtedly a distasteful ideology, though I can see some scientific merit in it. No, Mister Arc, you are not 'defect' or 'life unworthy of life'. Comparing you to the other animals who roam these streets, begetting children with mere sows who yap and squeal at the bargain bin prices is to do yourself a disservice."

The man's words were irritated at the people, he knew. He felt bad for telling. He shouldn't have told the man, but he knew, he must've known, he must've-

"Hyperventilating, signs of panic… Not so good, Jaune. Calm down. I will not harm you."

The man's hand brushed through his own scalp, scratching at a particular spot. "I will prescribe you some medication and I want you to apply it twice a day, to the injured area. In the morning, after you have showered and in the evening, after you have showered. It might be overstepping my boundaries a touch by stating this, but I have high hopes for you, young man."

The doctor was confident in his ability. He didn't feel so very confident in his ability. He was the stupid one. Cinder had been nice, but she'd said he was a retard and that he wasn't worth living. He didn't want to be stupid.

"Calm down, be at ease. Bah, Miss Alexandria is much better at this than I am. She still has the… requirements."

The man's hand was on his shoulder, offering a tense feeling of stress, as he took deep breaths. The man looked at him with a stern look, or what Jaune thought to be a stern look.

"Mistakes were made. I have not the full breadth of your psychologists' evaluation, but she briefed me on the essentials. Law enforcement is not equipped to deal with unique circumstances such as your situation. Their understanding of Autism is woefully outdated."

The man's voice was calm, rational. He could understand that but also not. Did that mean that Cinder had been wrong?

"I will finish the report and ensure that it gets to the proper authorities. With a signed report and documentation from Miss Alexandria, there will be enough grounds for a reasonable investigation of the events that occurred earlier. Cases such as yours are not rare." He just stared at the man. He blinked once, as the man gave what might be a genuine smile.

"Everything will be okay."

It would not be.


On the trip back home, his father remained silent. Only when they pulled into the driveway did the man speak up.

"Did you have a good talk with Doctor Watts?"

Jaune nodded. It had been a good talk. He might have to do some thinking. It was not wrong to think about things. "We talked for a bit. He said he was going to file an official report of the injuries." The man nodded in confirmation.

The man had asked. That had felt nice. The man had understood, at least a little. Perhaps Cinder had been wrong. Perhaps things were going to be better.

'I should get Yang her gift.'

She was Yang, after all. She deserved the gift.

Returning home, he looked at the clothing, noticing the picture that'd been tucked in the new shirt that'd been in the bag. Yang kissing his cheek, a chaste kiss that nevertheless made him feel a pressure in his chest. He just stared at the picture, aware that it had felt good, that she had kissed him and he had kissed her and she hadn't pushed him away.

'I should get the money for her gift.'

It was a small thing, he thought, to give her something that would make her smell good. As he stripped once more for his evening shower, he let his mind wander to the thoughts of before, remembering what Doctor Watts had said.

Cinder had said that he was dirty, that he was diseased with an affliction of the mind. Looking at himself in the mirror in the shower, he took note of his features, the facial features that were so similar to his father, the blonde hair that fell in his face. He looked like one of the pure people, but…

'Did she lie to me?'

He wondered, as he stepped into the shower. Washing himself with quick and deliberate motions, he made sure to get in bed without hurrying after applying the salve. He would make the world outside of the comfort of his bed feel the burden of his presence in the morning, his eyes looking at the picture of Yang giving him a kiss to the cheek.

A shiver, as he imagined what it would be like. Summer had been energy and passion, the warmth that she'd given him, before she'd choked him, that feeling… would it be like that with Yang as well? Would Yang be as her mother, as the woman who cared so much for her and her daughter that she'd wanted him to know how it felt?

He drifted on that stream of thought, imagining what it would be like to be with Yang. He wondered if she would be passionate and wild, or whether she was more of a hesitant and calm person.

"Spread. You're not allowed to feel good. Retards cannot feel good, they cannot feel love!"

The thought shattered in his mind as he felt the burns again, knew that he'd had a bad thought. Retards should not love, but…

'What if she was wrong? What if she was the bad one, like Miss Salem had said?'

He curled up, carefully making sure that he was comfortable in the bed. His thoughts were disturbed, and he felt that desire inside him. He looked at the picture again. She'd be with her girlfriend, just like Ruby was with Weiss.

He didn't want to think about the stuff with relationships and people. He just needed what was familiar, to not think too much about stuff that was hard and to keep doing as he always had. They always talked about him, talked about his state of being the only boy in a house of girls.

He awoke the next morning not to the ringing of an alarm clock but to the sound of someone cussing, a womanly shriek of righteous indignation and his youngest sister banging on the door to the bathroom, demanding to be let back in because 'her hairdryer was still there!' to the mocking tones of his older sisters, who preferred to share the bathroom to do 'twin stuff'.

It wasn't very useful, he mentally remarked, but he had to apply the stuff to his private bits. He'd been neglectful, but that didn't matter. He rubbed it in, remembering briefly the feeling of how it'd been when Summer had given him pleasure, feeling the warmth sink in.

He had reacted. The dream last night had been pleasant too. It hadn't been bad like last night's dream, but it had been nice. He'd gone on a date with Yang. She'd smiled at him and said that she loved him. He'd felt human for once. It felt good.

He got dressed. The police hadn't come, nor had there been anyone waiting for him. He'd feared that there might be, but there hadn't been anyone. Dad had been concerned, but now it was nothing. Perhaps it had been because he'd ran.

'I'm…'

He paused. Looking at his hand that'd balled into a fist, he slowly relaxed his hand, looking at his fingernails that'd dug into his palms. Blood had gotten under his fingernails. He should wash his hands.

'I'm safe at home. I'm safe at home and nobody can touch me when I'm safe.'

He exhaled and inhaled, exhaled and then inhaled again. He looked at his reflection in the mirror before getting the money bin that he'd kept from when he was younger. It was in the shape of a bunny rabbit, after a cereal brand that'd fallen out of general production.

He got the money out after some tries and then put it in his wallet. He checked the clock and then made sure that he got something for breakfast. It was a silent affair, with most of his sisters still quarreling about the usage of the shower. He would shower when he got back. He went for exercise and showered after that, so it was not too much of a change of the routine.

He spotted Miss Burns' son busy painting the roadside fence, looking like he was labouring under the heat. He hoped that he didn't have to smell the paint for too long. It always irritated his nose.


He stood in front of the shop an hour later, a soft dinging sound as he entered the store, a faint bristling of the air that he felt hard to put into proper feelings, his gaze directed to the perfume section, the sound tapering off as he searched for the proper number, matching it up to the number that he had in his mind. He found the bottle, picked it up and then heard a clearing of the throat behind him.

"Mister Jaune Arc?"

He turned around, holding the gift for the girl that had made him feel warm inside. The sunglasses on the woman's face hid her eyes from sight, the dark blue hair tied back in what seemed to be a loose bun. He recognized the symbol on the outfit. It wasn't a formal uniform, but it looked like the uniforms that he'd seen.

'Police.'

"I need you to come with me for a bit, kid." The woman said, her voice sounding a little weary, as he held up the perfume.

"Well, after you ring that up. Gift for the girlfriend?"

He nodded. Yang wasn't his girlfriend, it was all pretend, but he wanted to make her smile.

"Good, that's a nice scent you've got there. I'm sure that she'll be happy with it."

He knew that. She would love it, if he got out of prison. That's where they were going to take him, probably. The shop assistant looked at him with a look that was mistrustful, but he didn't know enough about it, popping the wallet open and counting out the bills and the coins. Just enough, just as planned.

"The price went up a little, you're still missing ten dollars. The sale was on yesterday."

He blanked. What did he do now? He had counted the money out, he'd made sure that it was there and that it was all correct. He'd tried to make sure that he had the exact amount, because it would be a gift for Yang.

"Here's ten to add to his money." The police officer put down a ten-dollar bill next to his money.

"Make sure to gift-wrap it for this guy here. It's for his girlfriend."

It wasn't standard procedure, he knew. If they'd wanted him in for questioning, they would've handcuffed him again. He didn't like that. He'd not struggled but they'd hurt him.

"Am I under arrest?"

He asked, voice trying not to show the fear that he felt. It felt like he didn't succeed, as it quivered. The policewoman was walking with a slow pace for his benefit, as she pulled something from a pocket, lighting it up and puffing out a smoky ring.

"Nope… But my partner does want to talk to you."

There was a faint smoky scent, even though the menthol in the cigarettes made it smell different. Cinder hadn't really been too nice with her smoking.

They came to a fairly nondescript car with tinted windows, the woman jerking off her uniform's jacket and throwing it into the bac, her long dyed blue hair coming loose. There was a woman seated in the backseat, the window half-opened and smoke curling from the inside, a set of sunglasses visibly looking at her. He thought that he could recognize something about her, but it was just a faint familiarity. She looked like one of the people he might've seen at his father's barbecue.

"Get in. We're going for a drive, whilst my partner speaks with ya."

The woman got behind the wheel, as he got into the car in the backseat. He sat down on the uniform, the woman in the backseat of the car wearing what seemed to be a formal suit of sorts, the white collar popped, her cleavage looking somewhat interesting. A few pictures were in front of her on a small tray that'd been pulled out of the driver's seat's back, a laptop stand that'd been repurposed for that purpose, as the sunglasses gave her more of an intimidating look.

"Sit." He set the gift-wrapped perfume bottle down next to him, the woman lifting it up and looking at it and tilting the packaging for a moment

"Perfume… "

The woman put it close to her nose and sniffed, before she set it down again, a puff of smoke coming from her lips, her fingers covered in a set of gloves.

"Yesterday, the system said that you violated a restraining order by coming into contact with the recipient of said protective order. Granted, in a public place, but given the circumstances..." There was a pause, as the woman regarded him with a look.

"Jaune Arc, aged seventeen. Arrested on suspicion of rape of Cinder Fall, birth name Zinder Gefallen. Suspect did not budge on statements during interview of his innocence. Suspect did not alter claims of innocence."

The words were clinical and calm, as the cigarette was extinguished in the ashtray, several stubs already there. The cigarette case that held the cigarettes was marked with different colours, similar to the ones that he had seen on Saphron's rainbow flag. She pulled out another cigarette and lit it, taking a deep drag.

"Jaune Arc, mentally impaired with an Autism spectrum disorder, a kind young man who wishes to help others, according to other statements collected.."

The words were still clinical, as she held up a picture. He recognized the people that had been photographed from a distance, dressed for exercising.

'That's me. That's Yang.'

"You've been an interesting topic of debate, Mister Arc. Melinda, go to the burger joint. I need some raw meat that's grilled to some sort of standard of cow murder…"

There was a grimace on the woman's face, as her fingers brushed through her dark hair. There was an annoyance in her motions, as she seemed to pause for just a moment with that outspoken choice.

"I'm in the business of knowing about people. Mister Arc, you have made… questionable choices."

The woman's fingers traced over the picture, stopping on Yang and tapping her twice.

"The daughter of a former Marine and raised by her godmother. A girl with the future ahead of her still."

He kept silent. She was still speaking. "A girl that has some potential to make it in the boxing ring. Not a sport I personally enjoy, but there is still merit…" The woman picked out a picture from the folder at the side. He blanched as he saw it.

"And then there is you. A young man, sending this image to Miss Fall."

The caption with those three words burned in his mind, as he whimpered, trying to get away but knowing that he couldn't. The car was still moving and you didn't get out of a moving vehicle, that hurt. The woman looked at him with her gaze behind the sunglasses, as she ran a finger over the outline of his body on the picture, tapping it once.

"You are still seventeen. You're not going to be tried as an adult yet."

The woman's voice was grim, but the look on her face was somewhat kinder. "Melinda, get me that damn burger or I'll make you into a damn burger."

Her partner said something back that sounded like 'fucking bitch', but the woman merely looked at him with an unflinching stare. "Consider this a warning, Arc. This isn't my first rodeo with someone who couldn't keep their hands to themselves and let themselves go and touch what isn't theirs to touch. Once is a mistake, twice is a pattern… And it's only out of respect for the captain that I'm doing this little interview rather than let the grunts at it."

He hadn't spoken yet, as the woman's gaze remained fixed. "I didn't do it." He said, the woman looking at him for the longest time and then nodding.

"Then that's the official answer, Arc."

The woman's tone was frosty, even as her fingers pulled something out of a pocket, a small recorder device that he noticed, the woman shutting it off with a clicking sound. They pulled up to the Burger Donald, the woman known as Melinda looking back.

"So, Orange, what you want?"

The woman, now identified as Orange, gave a snort of obvious impatience.

"If it's bloody and smells like the ranchers just beat it to death, it's good. Burger and fries, no damn onion rings this time. Light on the tomato and mayonnaise and tell them to skip the damn mustard this time." The woman had obviously ordered stuff before, as Melinda gave him a look.

"Arc? You want something to munch on whilst the little ray of sunshine's giving you the sixth degree of hell?"

He wondered if he should. He gave a look to the woman, whose features seemed to convey to him a looming threat.

He didn't think that he'd get much of a choice. "Burger, no cheese, with fries, please. And…" He paused. He remembered what he'd had yesterday. "And a cherry milkshake."

He tried to cling to what was familiar, even as the woman sitting beside him gave a low scoff, obviously in distaste. The woman's finger brushed through her hair and he could see that it was a low auburn shade in the light, her pale skin looking a little sallow, the sunglasses reflecting his features for a moment due to the sunlight that fell in from the darkened window.

"We take care of our own, kid. If it's one of our kids, we take care of it too, because we're not turning our back on family. That's what we said we'd do when we signed up to the service and-"

A gritting of the teeth, as the woman looked at a picture, looking at it for a while as she just focused on it.

"When someone falls down, we pick em up, put the gun back in their hand and make sure that they're the meanest, toughest son of a bitch around."

Something that he saw in Summer and in Mister Frank showed in the woman as well. That edge, that attitude that held something that was familiar. The woman's lips curled into a smile, as she looked at the picture for a while longer, but didn't turn it to him.

"Melinda! Where the fuck is that burger? Do they still have to butcher the nearest hippo on legs or something?"

The partner gave a deep sigh, handing over the card to the window, and he noticed that he was getting a few wrapped things shoved at him.

"She's usually better when she's had food. When you're eh… yeah, we never quite introduced ourselves, did we? Best we don't. Kind of hush-hush, our line of work. My name's Melinda though, as Orange has been reminding you constantly."

There was a pause, as the woman known as Melinda gave an apologetic smile, pulling the badge off her chest.

"Am I going to be put in jail?"

He asked, Melinda shaking her head.

"No, no… Considering the circumstances and who is involved, probably, but Orange pulled a few strings. Your father has been… concerned. We're…" The woman paused, as if trying to find the right words. "friends, yes, I suppose you could call us friends."

"Listen, kid."

A bite out of the burger like some sort of rabid wolf, the woman's look fierce, as ketchup dripped down her chin, making her look more grizzly bear than woman. "If we didn't handle you with the kid gloves, you'd be getting intimate buddies with Bubba and the crew from the back door entrance. They know how to take care of you, a fresh-faced piece of candy ass."

"He's seventeen, Orange! You can't just go and threaten him with that. You need to be kind, you need to be gentle and-"

The partner cut her partner off with a threatening growl. "Eesh, that's what I get for being stuck with your grumpy bitch ass. I should've just taken the other one, but nooooo… I had to pick you." The blue-haired woman commented as she shook her head.

"If you didn't love me so much, you'd have stuck with being White for ages, Mel."

The sound that Melinda made was not even a laugh as the half-choke and the car suddenly jolting with the pedal being pushed down.

"Go back to your girlfriend, Orange. She'd not be happy to see you flirting with me."

Jaune didn't think he was supposed to hear that comment, as the woman next to him stiffened in her posture, exhaling softly, angrily.

"It is none of your business what I do in my personal life off the job, Melinda."

The woman's voice was strong, as she bit down in the burger. Juices dripped into the napkin that she'd wrapped around it, perhaps the saving grace for her outfit.

"We're just… Here to make sure that no mistakes happen. Consider this your get out of jail free card, Kid." The woman said, her voice a touch lower with a hint of something else through it.

"Fuck, if I didn't owe a damn favour…"

'She's a friend of dad, then.'

That made sense. Dad wouldn't want him to go to jail and be killed. Nobody liked retards in jail. He wasn't sure though whether he counted as one. The talk with Doctor Watts had given him time to think. Yang was… important.

She was dating Blake, but… Blake didn't mind him. She wanted him.

"Arc? Front and centre with that attention. I ain't old enough to forget the look in a guy's eyes when he wants some nookie, and I don't 'preciate you looking at me like you want me to give you a good night hug with extra snookums."

He was jolted from his thoughts when the woman rapped her knuckles on his knee.

"What we're getting at, Arc, is that you're to stay put. Your family would be worried and I'm going to say that there's a good chance that there'll be some rough times in the future for you. Kids like you who mess with a woman of good standing of the community tend not to be treated so well…"

The woman was younger than his father, given the lack of grey in her hair. The pictures that she had in her hands were still there, as Melinda coughed to get the woman's attention. The car was moving through traffic, and the woman kept her attention on the road.

"Do we just deliver him in front of his home, or do we… eh, call his family to retrieve him? I've got the number somewhere… I can just make them collect him and we can hit the interstate so we can go to-" The woman known as Orange held up her hand.

"Drive the kid home, of course. We've got this little hitch in our schedule, so we're right back to the job… Consider it a bit of a touch-up of the makeup, we'll declare the food as 'necessary expenses' and we'll be right as rain for when we check in again." The woman was definitely the one calling the shots, her gaze at his burger for an instant before she looked away.

She ran a finger over her lips, checking for ketchup, before she gave him a strict look. His mom looked just as intimidating if one of his sisters messed something up in the kitchen.

"Eat your fries or I'm going to eat em for you."

He drank some of his cherry milkshake and started on the fries.

"She's not that mean when you get used to it. Soooo… How'd you get together with the hot blonde girl, eh?"

He blinked, as the woman had pulled over and was currently munching on something that definitely looked like onion fries.

"Yang? Oh, we're not together. I'm just making sure that her dad doesn't find out that she's gay."

The woman made a sound of concern, running a finger through her hair, her expression more intrigued than before.

"Her dad doesn't like that her little sister is into girls much. So she's just using me to play pretend. I like her a lot though. Her dad wouldn't like it if she dated her girlfriend."

A snort of derision from the woman beside him. "Guys who can't accept that you love who you love are the worst."

The woman had a partner, undoubtedly. If Melinda had said that she was looking at her girlfriend, it must mean that the woman was dating. "And when they just see you grab your best friend by the tits and just plant a fat sucker on her face, they just go 'ooh, we want to join in'. As if!"

"Oh no, my sister is gay and I've never had the urge to ask whether I could join in." The woman barked a laugh, shaking her head, amusement, as she snatched one of his fries. He drank some cherry milkshake, watching the woman.

"Soooo… No girlfriend?"

He wasn't sure whether he should tell anyone else about the situation. He shook his head. Best not to tell anyone. Yang might get in trouble. Not that these two women looked like they would tell anyone, but they were friends with his dad. Dad had many different friends, including mister Barracuda.

"Who would want me?"

The woman known as Melinda gave a toothy smile. She looked like she was going to say something but her partner cut her off immediately.

"No, not going to happen, Blue. Listen kid, the world out there is big and wide, so you just go out there and do something that makes you feel good. You'll meet someone who makes your heart flutter, who makes you smile and who is the summer to your winter with a slice of fall when she's on her monthly flow. When she smiles, your world is good. When she frowns, you gotta step up. Hardest thing to do is to make em happy because you're out in the world, fighting for what's right and just." The woman sounded a little wistful, as she sighed deeply.

"At least, that's the plan. You just go and do what makes you work best. That's what I did, when I was asked." The woman's body language spoke of sadness, as the phone rang in the car.

Melinda answered, a female voice speaking up with an inquiry as to where they were. The woman sounded on the verge of a thunderous tirade. "Agent Orange is currently entertaining some food and visiting the bathroom, ma'am. I'll brief her on the update and we'll be in the next state by the end of the evening." Jaune knew that it would take shorter than that, but the woman seemed to be mollified by that answer on the other end.

"I'll let her know, ma'am. Of course."

The answers were curt and polite, tinted with that bit of obedience. "As you wish. We'll report in when she's off the can and she'll- Yes, there was an expense charged to the card, and we were- No, I promise you that we'll leave immediately. Of course. I'll inform her immediately." The woman looked at her partner, who was looking more amused with herself than before the phone call.

"The boss wants you to call her when you're off the can, Orange. Gee, you'd think they have it in for you or something."

The toothy grin on the woman's face was enough of a clue for him to say that it probably was the case, as she rolled her shoulders a little, the suit moving slightly with the motion.

"You'd think so, but you've got to break a few eggs before you make an omelette… Arc, we're dropping you off at your home and you can walk to the front door yourself."

Agent Orange, which made him think of a chemical that had been in use during the Vietnam war, said, her sunglasses pulled off and then rubbed with some sort of white cloth that'd been plucked out of a pocket.

She put her sunglasses on before peering over the rim, her eyes a deep brown colour that looked at him with a look that was familiar in its intensity, having seen it before in other people. With the shadows in the car, it was hard to make out the proper expression in those eyes.

"We're not going to be seeing each other again, Arc. Don't mention that you've met with us, don't mention my name or Melly's, keep that mouth shut and we don't have to meet again under less fortunate circumstances."

The woman's voice was implying something bad.

"People start dying when they see me on the job. It ain't pretty. It ain't fair. It's one hell of a ride, but you do it for the country that you love and the people that you care for." The woman looked at him and then nodded.

"Melly, show him out. The sun's too damn strong these days…"

The partner of Agent Orange had already driven up to the block where he lived, stopping in front of his home. The car rumbled slowly, the exhaust fumes strong in the air, a cloud of fumes making him cough.

"Keep out of trouble, kid."

He had much to think about, as Melinda waved at him, offering him a genial smile. He got out from the car and they drove off, without looking back, the window opening up and the woman throwing out the contents of her ashtray all over Miss Burns' freshly painted fence. It probably wouldn't make the woman very happy.

'So, they were friends of dad.'

He arrived home, the perfume in his pocket and the smell of cigarette smoke clinging to his shirt and pants. His entire routine had been disrupted, but he felt better. A message on his phone, plucking it from the pocket he had it in. It wasn't the most high-tech, but it worked.

Tomorrow, meeting with Blake and her mom and me. I hope you're alright. Looking forward to seeing you, Jaune.

Yang's face looked happy from the picture attachment that she'd sent to the message, looking like a beautiful girl should. It was so hard to stop the beating in his chest, as he tucked his phone away. He'd make a good effort. Blake was a nice girl too and he would do his best. If dad's friends had kept Cinder away, he'd make sure that she'd stay away.

For the first time in a while, he felt safer. It might be that Yang had messaged him or that the two women had just delivered him a get out of jail free card through their interference, but he felt somehow less burdened.

'Maybe…'

The two hadn't treated him any differently. Orange had been blunt and direct, whilst Melinda had been somewhat informal and more like a sister, trying to connect to him. They'd gotten the information from somewhere, but they'd not bothered with the subject of him being broken, they'd just said it in clear tones: Don't do it again and you're good.

"Thanks, dad."

He said as he passed by his father. The man looked at him with a questioning look. Jaune remembered the words of the woman. They were never there. They did not get asked to do this. It was all off the books.

"For taking me to see Dr. Watts. It was nice to just, talk, I guess."

The man smiled, even with his mother's worried look, the man giving her a look that seemed to tell more than Jaune could understand.

"You're our big man, Jaune. If you've got a problem, you can always come to find us for help. Back in the Marines, we called it Semper Fi, till the day we die. Pick your partner up, drag them to the safe zone and then go and beat the bastards until they're crying for their momma." The man was confident, Jaune had to admit that.

He didn't feel that confident yet, but it was better. He was just Jaune Arc. He wasn't like anyone else, but he was probably loved by his family.

And he had forgotten to ask Doctor Watts about the chest pains when he was around Yang.

That wasn't good.

He hoped it wasn't anything serious.


People have been paying attention to Jaune, even if he didn't notice it! Some questions answered! Next week, Blake, Yang and Jaune and Blake's mom!

Orange and Blue are references to something from the Vietnam war. Defoliating stuff! Bad stuff for the health!

Leave a review if you'd like to! Thank you for reading!