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.

Chapter 11

"What if I wanted you to be on the team?"

Winter froze. "You, want me on your team?" She asked accidentally sounding vulnerable. She wasn't quite sure what to make of that innocuous statement. Did he mean that her skills were valued, were they complimentary to his and the team? Or did he mean that he wanted her on the team?

Jaune smiled and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. I do." Jaune said mustering of the confidence. "Working with you has reminded me what its like to have a partner again. Someone I can trust and rely on. Someone I want to fight alongside. At Beacon, I was the least of us. What saved me was Pyrrha. She was strong enough for the both of us. I settled into my role as leader, not because I was the strongest, or the fastest, or even all that skillful, but because I had the strongest, fastest, and most skilled looking out for me. I had forgotten what that felt like."

Winter was just standing there in stunned silence.

"Things don't seem so bleak when I know you're there, looking out for me." Jaune said finally making eye contact with Winter. "I know you've been operating solo for a long time, but I think this could be good for everyone."

There was a prolonged silence. "I'll, let you think it over." Jaune said turning away. "You know how to get a hold of me." And with that Jaune left Winter alone with her thoughts.

Eventually she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat at her desk. She simply sat down for a while, coming to terms with what Clover referred to as the "New Normal". She was working on a team again. Though it was only a single mission thus far with Valkyrie and Lie, Jaune Arc was proving to be more then she had initially assessed. His, boyish charm wasn't the result of immaturity, but rather a genuine hopeful optimism. He simply wanted things to be more pleasant for all those around him so he operated in a world of black and white. What makes things better and what doesn't.

She sat in silence and pondered the present and the implied future. She scowled and cringed when she took a sip of her coffee and discovered it cold. One glyph later and it was hot again. She considered putting her thoughts into words and making a list of pros and cons of accepting Jaune's offer. She sighed and leaned back in her chair. She already knew what she wanted to do, but her duty, her responsibility meant she didn't always get what she wanted.

She was excised from her musings when her scroll began chiming. "Good evening Weiss." Winter said answering the call. She hoped that her sister's reason for calling had nothing to do with the general's appointments or contingency plans.

"Winter. We've just received an updated mission assignment and I'm free tomorrow if you like to have that tea. Ruby will be securing a transport with Penny, Qrow and Clover, so I'm sure we can fit in some time in at the training deck. I'm most eager to show you how my summoning has come along." Weiss said, practically bubbly.

Winter smiled at her little sister's eagerness. "Of course. I too have no assigned tasks for tomorrow. I will reserve the slot for us in the afternoon, then we can have that tea. There is much I wish to discuss with you."

"While I agree with your choice and assessment, I wish you would have consulted us before you made the offer." Ren said sitting lotus on his bunk. "I think Winter Schnee would make a fine addition to the team seeing as the general has removed Oscar from field work."

"Yeah, and it'll be nice to have another girl on the team again. I can dish out all the juicy gossip again!" Nora exclaimed practically bouncing. "Ren's not really interested, Oscar's too wittle, and you can't keep a secret to save your life."

Jaune attempted to rebuke Nora's slight, but failed before the words left his mouth, only throwing his hands up in mock defeat with a smile on his face.

"Speaking of, when did you get so chummy with the Senior Ice Queen?" Nora asked elbowing Jaune ever so slightly in the ribs.

"Wait! You did what?" Nora said bouncing around Jaune.

Jaune smiled as he slipped his armor over his head. "What? We checked in with Doctor Polendina and then I showed her Benny's Haven. We were hungry." Jaune said pulling on the straps of his chest piece. "We were just lucky that Benny hadn't closed yet. Turns out Winter's old team used to be regulars."

Nora was barely able to contain mirthful giggles. "So you did!" Nora said before bounding around the room. "Oh this is JUICY! Ren! Are you hearing this?"

Standing at the door already prepared, Ren nodded slowly. "I am indeed 'hearing this' Nora. Though I am failing at understanding or believing." Ren said with an on brand thoughtful tone. "I'm sure we're simply misunderstanding the situation or Jaune has accidentally left out a key detail." Ren then looked at Jaune. "So is there something more to this evening, or did you indeed take Winter Schnee out for dinner after a successful investigation?"

Jaune smiled and waved off the insinuation. "What? No. It was nothing like that." Jaune said confidently. "I simply... I just, uh." Nora and Ren could see the gears turning and catching up with him. "Then we... It was... She..." He almost fell onto the locker room bench. "Oh crap, I took Winter Schnee out for dinner."

The next day Jaune had been wondering around the training facilities without a particular goal in mind. Ruby had been given an assignment with Penny, Qrow and Clover to safely transport another shipment to Amity. Blake and Yang were in Mantle attempting to make nice with Robyn and her Huntresses. Nora and Ren were, Jaune ignored his own imagination. Oscar was with Ironwood discussing Ozpin things, which meant it was either Ironwood telling old war stories, or asking Oscar his opinion on things and seeing how in line it was with what Ozpin had told Ironwood.

Jaune had seen Weiss and Winter stalking away from the training deck with rather serious looks painted across their faces and decided to give them space. When he entered he found Marrow lining up shots on holographic targets. Jaune spent the next few hours with Marrow in the training deck doing a variety of exercises. At first they were simply training independently in the same space, then Marrow point out that while the prescribed method, he didn't have to only use his Shield and Sword, or Shield and Gun.

"Mix it up a little. See what you feel with a weapon in each hand."

Then they began training together. Once Marrow relaxed and stopped putting on airs, they got along quite well. Then, as most things between young men do, it turned into a friendly competition. Ultimately it turned into a match. Jaune struggled at first with Marrow's weapon, Fetch. Blocking the rifle shots was easy enough, but he had a hard time keeping track of it once Marrow decided to throw it.

Jaune attempted to recreate his advantage he had during his fight with Harriet, but Marrow gave him no opportunity to do so. Every time Jaune attempted to retreat and gain some cover, Marrow adjusted the direction of his attacks forcing Jaune back out into the open.

There was a lull in the combat when Jaune had lost sight of Marrow and his boomerang. Jaune scanned his surroundings as fast as he could. Marrow was favouring the range he had over Jaune, forcing him to be on the defensive. Jaune would need to change things up to make his move. Quickly he sheathed his sword, pulled out, his new weapon, with a brand new coat of paint and a name.

Now emblazoned with Red and Gold, his newly named Arkos flipped over his hand. Jaune quickly checked his ammo and clicked off the safety. Clover had been adamant regarding that. 'If its not in your hand, ready to shoot, then the safety should never be off.' Jaune kept his shield up and Arkos at his side. He reminded himself that Marrow is a skilled mobile opponent. Uncharacteristically nimble and agile for his size and frame.

Jaune's attention snapped to his left as the telltale sound of Marrow's Fetch finally revealed itself to him. Jaune quickly managed to get his shield in front of it and deflected it overhead. That had been predicted though. Marrow was also overhead and collected Fetch midair, converting it to rifle and opening fire on Jaune as he practically soared overhead. "Nice try kid, but you gotta watch the angles."

Landing with flourish just behind Jaune, Marrow continued his assault now at melee range. Several high powered swings of Fetch had Jaune backpedalling. Jaune was forced to defend again and never had the opportunity to bring Arkos up. Things were not looking favourably for Jaune when Marrow's attack stopped. Jaune peaked over his shield and saw Marrow standing in front of him, just out of range for his bladed boomerang weapon. Marrow was unable to move, affixed to the floor via a glyph. Jaune saw that he as well was stuck in place by a glyph.

Jaune turned towards the training deck entrance and saw Weiss stalking towards him, Myrtenaster drawn and fury on her face. "With my Sister?!"

A/N: Oh boy. Jaune is in for it now. We're getting somewhere now. I've been trying to keep a certain time frame steady. I knew that I wanted certain things to happen before V7E5, specifically Ruby and Co coming across Robyn in the Tundra, and Weiss learning about the Winter Maiden from her sister. Now that we're here, things might accelerate a little. I've got a plan, but certain aspect I'm gonna play it by ear. As always please, like, comment, and subscribe. You guys keep my boat afloat. Later Days!