Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. I wish I did. All characters, terms, and settings are property of Rooster Teeth. This is just a Fan creation. No profits are had. So enjoy this detour into my odd fascination with irrational Ships. It was either this or Knightfall(Jaune/Cinder).

Chapter 3

Jaune sat in the hallway, head hung low, nervously tapping his his foot. Aside from his Aura depletion, his wounds had been numerous, but entirely mild. The worst of it was a broken finger and a minor concussion. He briefly looked down at the splint on his left hand. Meanwhile Winter was in Intensive Care for her leg. The break while a concern was the least of the problems, or so the doctors told him. The concern was possible internal bleeding and nerve damage. If she lost usability to her leg, then that would severely affect her ability to move, and could possibly be the end of her career as a Huntress.

He looked up at the opposite wall, which now had a shattered monitor from when he punched it out of frustration. Even with his Semblance, if the damaged was not corrected in a manner that could be healed correctly, no amount of Aura would be enough. The Doctors explained it to him that if they didn't properly repair her nerve endings, then even with a boost to her Aura, the damage would be irreparable.

For now he could only wait, and hope.

Only a short while later the doors opened and Jaune watched as General Ironwood marched in. An expression of tightly controlled anger and concern on his face. "What happened?" Ironwood demanded of Jaune.

Jaune sighed and stood up. Jaune did his best to explain in detail and expediency how this had happened. How they were already running low when the Megoliath appeared. They prioritized the evacuation of the workers and delaying and shoring up the defences. But to middling results.

The was a moment of awkward silence when Jaune finished and Ironwood just stood in front of him, staring at him. Finally Ironwood sighed and closed his eyes while massaging his brow. He slumped into a seat and his professionalism faded away. "Is she going to be okay?" Ironwood asked, pleadingly.

Jaune took the seat next to him. "The Doctors are hopeful. Had we waited longer, maybe not. If everything goes well enough, then she'll need a few weeks of physical therapy before she's marching through the academy glaring at anyone." Jaune said with a smile. "She's really something isn't she. I can see why you'd pick her for your executive officer."

Ironwood nodded. "Yes, she really is."

They both sat in silence for a moment contemplating the fate of the women in the other room. "I've not yet informed her sister." Ironwood said finally breaking the silence. "I don't want her to worry unnecessarily. Not until we have definitive information for her. Be it for better or worse."

Jaune was going to argue this decision but remained silent. If Winter were to come out of this no worse for wear, then all was good. But if the worst should happen, then Weiss would be there for her. In the current situation, all Weiss could do is be as miserable as Ironwood and himself, more so. It was cold, but it was probably the right call.

Ironwood suddenly let out a small chuckle. "Would you like to hear how Winter and I first met?"

Jaune was at a loss for words. It felt like he was about hear something top secret or intrusive, given how impersonal and reserved Winter was. "Uh, yeah. I guess. If you don't mind sir." Jaune said sitting up and giving Ironwood his attention.

"You can call me James for now. Makes this whole situation easier to bear." James said leaning back in the chair. "Well, this was many years ago and I wasn't General yet."

Many Years Ago

"This makes 3 disciplinary actions this month alone. I swear, if this doesn't stop, I'm gonna have to take more drastic measures with her."

James smiled and looked across the staff room table. With a chipper smile and not yet sporting any grey in his hair. "Seriously? You're this out of sorts by a single first year?" James asked stirring his coffee. "How bad can Winter Schnee be? I've seen her scores. She's practically top of all her classes. What's the issue Harrow?"

Penelope Harrow dramatically sighed an exaggerated sigh. "That's part of the problem. She's too damn good for her own good. She's constantly second guessing instructions, lessons, and even orders. She undermines me constantly and argues with her classmates." Harrow racked her fingers through her hair. "I've had to stop several altercations and that doesn't seem to temper her at all. She's just so vindicated. At first I thought it was a sense of entitlement that she got from her father, but from all evidence she seems to despise the man and this is all just her. She's just naturally high strung and a total pain in my ass!"

James just laughed at his colleagues woes. "And this is why I never dealt with first years." James said before standing up. "If you'll excuse me I've got to go prep my forth years for the Vytal Festival." James patted Harrow on the shoulder and took his leave.

With coffee in hand, James was in a good mood. He never had to deal with such insolence or drama from his fourth year cadets. He was considering his students when he turned a corner and noticed a commotion down the hall. A crowd had formed around a group of students clearly arguing. He was about to gloat to himself that none of his students would ever be so unprofessional to cause such a scene when he saw specifically a group of his own students in the center of it all.

They were arguing with the one and only, Winter Schnee. "Atlas protocol dictates that the transfer of munitions from live fire zones need to be overseen by a professor, prefect, or ranked officer. You are obviously none of the following." Winter said standing in front of a team of fourth years. She was standing at perfect attention, arms firmly behind her back.

"Oh stow it Schnee! We're Seniors and you're just a Freshman. What gives you the right to give us orders?" Inquired Abigail Towse, leader of Team TEAL. "We aren't your butlers and this isn't your fancy manor, so take that holier-than-thou attitude elsewhere unless you're willing to back it up." Abigail stared Winter down, clearly willing and ready to escalate the situation.

Winter didn't falter. "Operational Code 4.231.9 clearly states that it is the duty of any and all Atlas Academy member, student, faculty, or military to inform, correct, or report any deliberate mishandling of legitimate live fire ammunition." Winter said loudly for everyone to hear. "Your intention to use said Fire Dust rounds for your celebratory outing, regardless of your seniority or selection to represent Atlas at this years Vytal Tournament, are not above reproach. Now as I have already said. You must return those boxes to wherever you found them." She gave Abigail a frosty look of disdain. Who in return closed the gap between them.

"Is that right? Well, why don't you make me." Abigail said confidently. Clearly attempting to force Winter to make the first move. James shook his head. He had been teaching Team TEAL for the semester and thought that Abigail was one of his bests. She was confident and proactive. She'd assess a situation, get her team in where they could do the most good, then get them out if need be. Now James just saw a bully. Unbecoming of a Huntress. What he saw Winter do next was inspired

"That won't be necessary. I'll simply return them for you." Winter said as she conjured several glyphs on the Fire Dust crates, levitating them several feet in the air, out of reach of Team TEAL. "I'll let Headmaster Chopfyt know where I acquired them from as well." Then she turned to leave. James smirked from the corner.

Although his mood was instantly soured when he saw Abigail clench her fist and pull back to strike Winter from behind. James was ready to intervene, but that was clearly unnecessary. Winter had predicted this outcome and defended herself with a glyph behind her. There was a brief moment when Abigail's hand was stuck within a white glyph, confusion on her face, then the glyph turned black and threw Abigail across the room.

She landed with an undignified thud and tumbled a few feet further. When she regained her wits, she got to one knee and glared at her Team. "Well don't just stand there! Get her!" Abigail shouted at them.

In a few seconds the commotion turned into a brawl. James was intent on intervening but was shocked to see that he wasn't needed. Winter Schnee simply avoided the 3 upperclassmen. Using her glyphs to propel herself between their strikes, to move them away from herself and into each other on occasion. It was clear that should couldn't take them in a proper fight, but she wasn't fighting them. She was dancing around them.

A first year was making fools out of his, formerly, favourite forth year team. He was content to just watch and see how it turned out, but then Abigail did something, unfortunate.

Winter flipped over the rest of Team TEAL and propelled them into each other using a generous application of repulsion glyphs. She returned her attention to Abigail who now had a handful of Fire Dust crystals aimed at Winter. "You need to be taught your place around here Schnee." Abigail said as the Fire Dust started to glow. With Abigail's Semblance she could activate and direct the power of any dust she came in direct contact with.

The raw dust crystals in Abigail's hand crackled with small bursts of energy. The onlooking students started to flee. "A few burns should do the trick. I'm sure Headmaster Chopfyt will see reason when I tell him how you assault my team when we found you with a crate of Fire Dust, and couldn't convince you to return it."

Winter prepared her strongest glyph to take the brunt of the attack, but from the stories she wouldn't be capable of stopping it all. What happened next shocked them both. The ensuing explosion of Fire Dust went wide, shooting completely off target and out a window.

When the smoke cleared it was clear what had happened. James was standing behind Abigail with a grip on both of her wrists, one arm stretched outward pointing at the now destroyed window, and the other arm bent painfully behind her back. "That, was a critical error Cadet Towse." James said sternly.

Within the hour Abigail Towse was packing her bags and being escorted off Academy premises. James had called off his class that day and sat in his office with Winter across from him. "Coffee?" He offered gesturing to a fresh pot behind him.

Winter shifted ever so slightly. "No thank you sir." Winter said tersely. Her ever present scowl seemed less disdain, and more worry. "Sir, with all due respect, if this is the conversation where you tell me I've been expelled then I'd rather just get this over with quickly. I'm sure my father will be quite enthused to hear of my failure and need to return to his, care."

James was a little taken aback by Winter's shortness with him. Clearly she had a chip on her shoulder that Jacques had spent years carving into her. "You know, I've actually met your father a few times. We rub elbows with the same people at some Military functions. I'm there on orders, but he's there like a shark in water." James said as he poured himself a fresh cup of coffee.

"So I get your desire to stay as far away as possible." James said before sipping on his coffee. "No, what I'd like to know is why you did what you did. Its one thing to report other students for breaking the rules, its another thing entirely to confront them about it." James leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers.

Winter immediately opened her mouth to respond but paused before a single word was spoken. She seemed to reconsider what she was about to say. "In my experience, telling someone in power about an abuse of power garners no results. It needs to be dragged into the light, kicking and screaming to be seen, otherwise no one will care, and it will continue to happen." Winter said, clearly dropping her guard ever so slightly. "If I had simply told someone about it, then there was no guarantee that that person would be held accountable to do anything about. So when Towse flagrantly flaunted the rules, the fundamentals of Atlas Academy, I simply could not stand for it. This is Atlas. We do not falter in the face of adversity. We rise above it."

Present

"And from there on I took a particular interest in Winter's career. I changed my curriculum to make sure I taught her in her second, third, and forth year." James said with smile on his face. "Then she graduated. A year later I was General and a year after that, Headmaster. She's been next to me the whole time."

Jaune had been enthralled in the story. He had a goofy smile on his face. "So even back then she still had that pole, I mean she was still unyieldingly professional?" Jaune fumbled. He coughed awkwardly and looked at his shoes.

James laughed a little. "Yes, she's always been, professional to say the least. Obviously more intense then me in certain regards. I'm sure you noticed something similar with Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch." James said giving Jaune a knowing look. "Men of power, who can't be the stone cold leader, need someone to support them with a sense of certainty. While I can stray into leniency and forgiveness, Winter is my rock. She can be demanding and on occasion harsh, while I can be less intimidating sometimes."

Jaune laughed sarcastically. "I'm sorry, but from where I'm sitting you both have mastered intimidating." He said with a smile. "But I get what you mean. Ozpin was always patient and calm. We were never worried too much about getting in trouble with Ozpin. It was always a lesson, or we had disappointed him." Jaune's smile quickly faded though as he remembered how Ozpin had betrayed their trust. He was about to mention this, but remembered that they had opted not to tell the general about the Jinn's revelation.

"Yeah. That sounds like Oz." James said with a smile. "But let me guess, Glynda was a force of nature?" James gave Jaune a knowing look.

Jaune smiled and laughed nervously. "Yeah. Professor Goodwitch, Glynda was the one we all feared." Jaune said before rubbing the back of his neck. "I had quite a few detentions for under-preforming in her class. She was quite demanding, but I get it now. We weren't ready. When Beacon fell, we were just first years, then we were thrown into the deep end with no warning. She was just trying to do her best to made sure we had the best chance at getting through it all."

"Sir, I don't mean to pry, but, well. There were rumours back at Beacon about you and, uhm Glynda." Jaune stammered out, still uncomfortable referring to Professor Goodwitch by her first name. His curiosity getting the better of him. "Were you two, like a thing?"

James' smile faded ever so slightly. "Once upon a time, yes. There was something there." James said, clearly with an old sadness. "Before our duties demanded more of us. It was hard, We travelled to see each other when we could. Wrote to each other when we couldn't. But eventually, Glynda just couldn't do it anymore. I never, blamed her for it. It hurt, but I understood. Having someone that close, yet so far, when dealing all the things we dealt with. It was a nice distraction from what we knew we were fighting."

"For a while I thought Ozpin was to blame, that he had stolen her away from me. But that was never the case. I just didn't want to see the growing distance between us." James said before standing up and stretching. "After that, though, there was no one else. That special place was just too hard to fill. I, understand you know what that's like."

Jaune was blindsided by James' statement. He sighed and wrung his hands together. "Yeah. Pyrrha. But then you already knew about her involvement with all that, yeah?" Jaune said, trying not to sound bitter and resentful towards the general. He knew that involving her as they had planned wasn't meant to be the death sentence it turned out to be. "Pyrrha was so many thing to so many people. To Ozpin, he was her Guardian. To the people of Mistral she was their Champion. But to me and my team, she was Pyrrha. We loved her. The way she'd laugh when something caught her off guard. The way she put other's before her own wants. I'd give anything to have her here now. Even if it meant I wasn't."

James put a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "We've all lost people, and I wish we hadn't. But we continue to fight so that no one else has to." James said with experience. "We do what we do now to make the world better and safer. That doesn't mean I want you charging towards Death. What you did today, prepared to fight to the last for the people of Mantle. That's the behaviour I considered when I approved you and your friends as Huntsmen and Huntresses."

"When all is said and done, if you'd want it, you and your friends would have a place here at Atlas." James straightened his coat just a little. "I'm sure Winter wouldn't mind having someone that can keep up with her, Professional-ness, eh?"

Jaune was about to make a witty remark when the doors to the operating room opened. "Ahh, General Ironwood. I wasn't aware you were here." Said the Doctor. "I'm happy to say, everything went perfectly. We were able to set everything in place as it should. She's currently sedated and won't be capable of having visitors until tomorrow at the very least. But so long as she actually listens us this time, she should be perfectly fine."

James let out a deep breath. "That's wonderful. Thank you Doctor. I'll see to it that she stays off her leg as long as possible."

Jaune while elated couldn't help but ask. "This time?" He looked back and forth from the Doctor and James.

"Yes, well. Winter has a bad habit of overworking herself when she should be resting." James said. "She always thinks that we can't manage without here. Last time, as the doctor put it, she tore some stitches on her abdomen and further increase her recovery time." James shook his head. "But this time, I think have someone overseeing her and her recovery might be beneficial. Perhaps someone with a particular talent for accelerating the healing process."

Jaune only took a moment to realize what was being implied. "Oh. Well, if you think that would help." Jaune said not entirely sure of what kind of affect he could have. "But if its okay, sir, I'd like to continue with my current regular, uh, assignment in Mantle."

There was an awkward silence before James realized which mission exactly that was. "Well, so long as no, actual mission critical assignments come up, you're approved to continue with that particular assignment in Mantle."

"Well, if you'll excuse me. I should probably inform Weiss of her sister's condition." James said, obviously not looking forward to that conversation. He pulled out his scroll but was interrupted before he could arrange the meeting.

"It its all the same, would it be alright if I did it?" Jaune offered. It was not something he was particularly looking forward, but Weiss was his friend and he had been there with her sister when it happened.

James looked apprehensive. "Are you certain? This won't be a pleasant topic to explain. I've done this before." He offered, but Jaune was adamant.

"Weiss is my friend, and I was there." Jaune said knowing full well that Weiss was likely to blame him for her sister's condition. "It might be better coming from a friendly face. No offence." He knew that what he was offering to do would be uncomfortable, but it was the right thing to do.

James nodded but accessed his scroll regardless. "Well, then I'll leave you to that. If you need anything, or if Winter's condition changes, you can reach me at this number." James said as he waved his scroll in proximity to Jaune's.

There was a brief indicator that the contact information had been received. "Thank you sir. I'll keep that in mind." Jaune said before accessing Weiss' number. "I should probably do this in person. Right?"

There was a moment in which Jaune was worried that James took his query as rhetorical. "That entirely depends on Weiss and you. Though if I were to offer some experienced advice, do it in person unless that if you suspect that she'll lash out at you with some misplaced aggression. Other then your own safety, yes. You should probably inform her in person."

Jaune nodded and slipped his scroll into his pocket. "Thank you, sir. Not just for the advice. But for everything." Jaune said, getting a little emotional. "This were looking kind of bleak for us before getting to Atlas. But you've welcomed us in, gave us something we can fight for again and people we can trust. If you had turned us away, or worse, well... I don't think all of us would have kept up the good fight."

"I see. Well you're most welcome." James said before adjusting his necktie. "Let me know if there's any change in Winter's condition." And with that he left.

There Jaune stood alone for a moment and collected his thoughts. He took a deep breath before making his way to the Atlas dorms to tell Weiss what had happened to her sister. "Ah man, this is gonna suck."

Another Chapter DONE! Yay me.