A/N: I swear when ever you upload something to the site's doc manager it always messes things up. Whether it be changing words or deleting them entirely. My usual beta catches these but he couldn't beta this effectively because of irl stuff. So I apologize for any mistakes and will try going over the chapter and correcting them later.

Anyway, here's chapter six. Enjoy


The sky was turning a hue of orange as the sun was starting to set on the horizon. Arcee, who carrying Jaune and being steered by Winter, burst through the tree line and Arcee saw that they were close and rapidly approaching the same town where she found Jaune. They were up on a hill so she could see further into the town.

With the higher ground, she had an easier time seeing the scale of the destruction those monsters brought. It sadly reminded of the devastated areas of Cybertron. She was probably light years away from her home, yet the death and destruction was still the same. She guessed some things never change.

Above the town, she could see several ships flying around. She could make out slight differences in their designs, they all shared a similar bi-winged design, similar to the one she saw crashed that was full of-

VRRRRRROOOOOOOSH

Arcee almost inwardly panicked, but it was Specialist Schnee's nonchalant manner at which she glanced up that told her it was fine. Two of those ships flew overhead from their side. 'They even sound like the 'cons too,' Arcee thought. 'Hate those things.'

They soon reached a dirt road and entered the town through a guarded entrance. Arcee then slowed down a little bit as Winter turned twisted the handlebar. She twisted the wrong one but Arcee needed to keep up the disguise. As they drove down the road, it was hard for Arcee not to noticed the increased activity.

There were a lot more of these creatures around now. She concluded that it wasn't just a random patrol she ran into, but a full military force that came to retake the town. Many of those armored soldiers and similarly sized mechs marched and jogged to and fro along the side of the road.

Arcee also noticed that there were a few other individuals. They were less armored than the regular soldiers, but they had more color to them and seemed to wield less conventional weapons. Some we so large that she wondered how they effectively wielded them, while others were so small that if she didn't see the Specialist's power with that thin sword earlier she would have thought them worthless.

It just raised more questions. Were they all like the Schnee and Joan? Did they have special abilities as well? No matter if they did or not, seeing the creature's military might like this put Arcee at ease. While those monsters had definitely won the battle and killed many of the organics earlier, these creatures did have the capability to fight back and stand tall against such evil, just like her fellow Autobots back on Cybertron.

Cybertron… Arcee's thoughts raced as they turned back to her situation and she wondered what was happening back home. How long was she in stasis on the ship? Solar cycles? Mega Cycles? Stellar Cycles? Millenia? If she was out that long… was the war still going on? Were the Autobots still holding their ground?

Were her friends still alive?

Arcee was thankfully drawn out of negative thoughts as they turned and she was able to see into a square straight ahead. Arcee recognized it as the town square she fought the horde of monsters and found Jaune in. Off to the side by the downed ships, the fire was put out and some of those creature soldiers were moving the bodies of the dead.

There were putting them in black bags and putting next to each other in rows. There were a lot of black bags, some smaller than others, stacked up in rows. These creatures took many casualties, sparklings included.

Before Arcee could think further, they entered the town square and stopped. To her right, she and the Specialist saw several more of those ships. These ones had big red crosses on them, just like the medic from earlier. These were the medivac ships. But, most of the ships have already taken off and were flying away. The others were just preparing to or were in the process of taking off.

"Crap," Specialist Schnee muttered. She gripped the handlebars tighter and twisted them hard. The engines revved up as Arcee accelerated faster than she should have, but if the medical ships left now, who knows when the next ones will come? Who knew if Jaune would last that long, even with this 'aura'?

"Hey, wait!" She called but got no response, not even a soldier on the as the ships still lifted up. "Damn it!" The Specialist glanced at Jaune's unconscious for a moment, she then let out a breath and gritted her.

Arcee suddenly felt some kind of sensation below her. She didn't know how to describe it, but she somehow felt lighter than before. She then realized that the Schnee's holographic glyph grew in size so they both were on top of it, or she summoned a new larger one altogether.

'Wait a cycle...' Arcee thought as she remembered something from earlier. 'She used those glyphs to jump around earlier and- wait… she's not actually considering doing that now, is she?! Primus please tell me she's not that insane!'

As they speed forward, a trooper in the closest ship noticed them. His head rose up slightly and he turned towards the inside of the ship, shouting while pointing his hand behind him and towards them. The ship then paused before it slowly started to decende.

Arcee would have been happy that the medevac was coming back, but she noticed that Schnee didn't make any moves to stop. Instead, the glyph glowed brighter for a moment and the Specialist gripped jaune tighter. Not even a moment later, they were suddenly launched into the air.

'BY THE ALLSPARK SPARK, THIS WOMAN IS CRAZY!' Arcee internally shouted. Did the Specialist not even consider the possibility that the impact against the ship could hurt Jaune even more, or the possibility that they could miss the ship entirely?! Even Hotshot would have considered this reckless, and he was one of the most reckless Autobots early in his career!

The Specialist moved her sword forward and another glyph appeared. They passed right through it and it seemed to propel them forward with more speed. The soldier near the ramp shouted something and jumped back. Arcee braced for impact. But then suddenly several glyphs stacked on top of one another appeared on the ramp below them just over a second before they landed.

As they fell through the first few glyphs, their speed decreased drastically. It wasn't sudden or jerky, or even forceful. It felt natural and slow, yet it wasn't. They then landed softly on the ramp. 'Huh, I guess I misjudged her,' Arcee thought. Though she still disagreed with the action, especially with Jaune in his current condition, she couldn't deny that it worked out ok in the end.

They then moved inside the ship and the ramp closed behind them. Inside there were four soldiers lying down and strapped securely on what looked like medical beds. They had white cloths wrapped around parts of their bodies, and tubes with fluid filled bags on top of poles connected to their arms.

There were also three soldiers with red crosses on their armor, looking at them. She couldn't the top half of their faces, but their agape mouths showed that they had trouble processing what just happened.

"S-...Specialist Schnee?" The closest medic said as he looked from the closed ramp to the Specialist. "Wha- where did y-..." he stopped when he and the other medics noticed the boy strapped to the motorcycle.

"He's wounded badly," Schnee explained as she hopped off of the motorcycle and slashed the ropes with her sword. The closest medic rushed forward to help her gently lift the boy up, while the other two medics prepared a medical bed and got more of those fluid bags and tubes.

"Do you know how bad his injuries are?" The one medic grunted as he and the Specialist placed Jaune on the medical bed

"Multiple lacerations, broken left arm, a concussion, bruised if not broken ribs, and our field medic said he could have internal bleeding," Winter explained as she fastened a strap on him.

"Alright," the first medic said as he secured the second strap. The second medic was tending to another soldier while the third medic rolled up the cloth on Jaune's left arm, rubbed an area of with a wet rag, and stuck a needle inside allowing the fluids from the bag to flow inside of him. "Antibiotics and painkillers should hold him for now, as should the bandages. Once we get to Outpost Gamma he'll be in good hands."

"Very well," Winter sat down and sighed in relief, with Arcee wishing she could to the same. "Thank you trooper."

"Just doing my job ma'am."


Four days. Joan had been waiting in the damned Atlas outpost for four days and she hated it.

Not that she wasn't unwelcomed or anything, far from it actually. As long as you didn't intentionally get in any of the soldiers' way you were good. Most of the staff were very friendly to her and others in the med center and they were kind enough to let her and others use guest rooms to stay in while their friends and family healed.

Joan sat at a table in the lobby and rested her head on her head as her thoughts turned to her younger brother. Jaune still hadn't woken up yet, and it was worrying her. The doctors and surgeons said that the worst he had were bruised ribs and the broken arm. Everything else would heal and he'd be up in a few days.

Or so they'd told her. He should have been up by now. All she knew was what the doctors told her. She couldn't see him while he was unconscious, something about being against Atlas military protocols, or something along those lines that she thought was bullshit.

Despite the doctor's reassurance, Joan's mind couldn't help but race with doubt and worry. Jaune was supposed to wake up by now, but didn't. The cut on his forehead was a nasty one that left him with a concussion. What if it was so bad that he wouldn't wake up at all? What if he would have to spend the rest of his life like this? What if he was going to be in constant pain and the only way to stop it was to pull the-

Joan gripped her aching head to try and stop these thoughts, but she couldn't help it.

"My fault," she whispered as she lowered her head. "It's all my fault." She continued to blame herself. But she had good reason to. Jaune wasn't even supposed to come here. She just wanted to visit some friends before she headed to Beacon. Jaune didn't have to come along to do his history paper, he could have done it just as fine at home. She used it as an excuse. She wanted to drag Jaune along to try and get him out a little bit more.

Her younger brother's life was secluded with comics, video games, and no real friends outside of the family. This got him bullied at school, no matter how much he denied it. Joan was exactly like him once too. It was how she always got along so well with him and why she always enjoyed being his player two. But as she continued her huntress training, she made friends and she found that she was happier with them. She thought that if she brought him along, made him get a feel for another town, that he'll like it and reach out more, maybe even make a friend or two and get out of his little shell.

Instead, things got out of control and now her brother was almost killed in a Grimm attack. All because she-

"Miss Joan Arc?" A voice called out in the lobby. Joan's head shot up to the voice's origin and saw a doctor tapping a pen on his scroll.

"Yes, that's me!" She got out of her chair and rushed over to him.

"Alright Miss Arc, standard procedure is that I have to escort you to Jaune's room," he said and Joan felt hope well up inside of her. "But," that hope almost shattered, "I have several other patients I need to tend to right now" He paused and looked around the room and the hallway behind him. "I know you've been here for four days and..." he took out a key card and held it up, "room 018. If anyone tries to stop you tell them I let you in."

"T-thank you," Joan nodded as she took the keycard. The doctor stepped to the side and she rushed past him. She ran and turned down the hall, keeping an eye out for the room numbers. Eventually she found room 018. She paused right outside the door, took in a deep breath, and swiped the card in the slot and opened the door.

She stepped inside, letting the door close behind her as she took in the site in front of her. She had been in a hospital room before when she got injured and when she visited dad when he did. The room didn't look too different except for a few changes. The room had a more white, polished shine to it, the monitors and equipment looked updated, and the window glass looked thicker and reinforced.

But she paid little mind to those. He attention was focused on the bed in the center of the room. More specifically, the person in the bed. Jaune was sitting up slouched forward. He had a white bandage on his head and his left arm was in a sling. His eyes looked a little tired, but otherwise he looked fine.

It was a contrast to the mental image of him she had for the past four days. Laying on the ground, beaten, bruised, bloody, dying…

Those thoughts ceased as Jaune turned towards her. It took a moment, but his eyes widened and a small smile grew on his face when he saw her. "Hey Joan," he said as he sat up straighter, "how are y-" he never got to finish his sentence as the older Arc sibling immediately crossed the distance and wrapped her arms tightly around her younger brother, though was still careful to watch his injured arm.

Jaune then wrapped his right arm around her and hugged her as tight as he could. Joan rested her chin on his shoulder. Her breathing became heavier as the tears she didn't know she was holding started to flow down her cheeks.

"Y-you're ok..." she managed to get out, rubbing one hand up and down Jaune's back. "You're ok." She held her brother as close as she could, afraid that if she let go she'd lose him. For a while the two of them sat there, feeling comfortable in their sibling's embrace.

"J-Joan?" Jaune said after several moments. "Thank you," Joan couldn't help but smile, "and… I'm sorry." Her smile dropped and she pulled away.

"What?" She looked at her brother dumbfounded. "W-what are you apologizing for?"

"For making you worry," he said. "I didn't mean to-"

"Jaune stop," she quickly demanded. "You… none of this is your fault. No one could have predicted-"

"Not that," Jaune interrupted. "I… I..." he shook his head, as if he didn't want to say it.

"Jaune, what's wrong?" She asked in a soft voice. "You can tell me. I promised that as your big sis I'll be there for you. So please, just tell me what's wrong."

Jaune hesitated for a moment before looking back at Joan, but he had trouble keeping eye contact. "Back at Rorke's Drift," Jaune started slowly, "when I fell out of the ship… I ran. I just ran away. I probably could have helped some people, but I didn't. I just ran away."

Joan started to think she thought she knew was eating at him. She wanted to speak but thought it was best to let him finish first.

"I… found a gun and then I hid in a building. But along the way, I… there were so many people in the streets. All their… all their bodies were just torn apart." His eyes started to water and Joan put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"Outside I could hear the Grimm coming closer and closer and… I-I couldn't stop thinking about those people. About how painful it all was and how the s-same thing was going to happen to m-me. I… I didn't want that to happen to me, but I couldn't see a way out. But... but then I remembered that Grimm don't go after the dead… and I was holding a gun."

Joan gasped. She honestly couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her brother was telling her that he wanted to… she stopped those thoughts. He may have thought about it, but he didn't do it. Obviously, because he was still here.

"I even thought about you guys," Jaune continued. "I kept thinking what would happen if I did, what you guys would think if I did and… despite all of that I..." he shook his head unable to find the words to continue.

"But you didn't," Joan said. "You didn't and that's what matters." She didn't want to hear any more.

"But I did." Those three words put the room in an uncomfortable silence before Jaune continued speaking. "Despite all of that, I was more afraid of what the Grimm would do to me. So I lifted the gun up and..." Jaune looked away in shame, leaving the roof in silence for several agonizing moments. "Somewhere when I was running I tripped and the magazine fell out. I didn't realize the gun was out of ammo until I… Joan I'm so sorry."

Joan didn't know what to do or say. Who would have in her situation? Her brother… her dorky, kind, one in a million, only brother, tried committing suicide. Thoughts raced through her head a mile a second. What felt like hours passed before she came to a conclusion: it was her fault.

Jaune wanted to kill himself because he was afraid of what the Grimm would do to him. He was in the town because he fell out of the transport they were on when it was hit. He was on the last transport with her because he didn't want to get on an earlier ship and leave without her. He was only in the town because she dragged him along in some asinine attempt to get him out a little more.

He went through so much because of her, yet he was the one apologizing.

Jaune opened his mouth to speak but stopped when Joan put two fingers on them, silencing him. "Shh," she cooed and then slowly pulled him into a hug, one arm around his back and another around his head. "Jaune its ok. You're still here. That's all that matters now." Jaune then wrapped his free arm around her and started to sob. Joan wished she could do more to help him, but she didn't know how.

Meanwhile, the same doctor who gave Joan the keycard waited outside of the room. He was about to walk in and give them a final rundown before discharging Jaune. But after hearing that, he figured they deserved at least a few minutes to themselves.


A/N: A little more dramatic then I had planned but I think it turned out well.

So what do you guys think? Good? Bad? Think something can be improved? Leave a review, all criticism is welcomed and I like to see how I'm doing.

And thank you to Cyberleader2000 and nomb8217 for giving this a lookover.

Thanks again for reading, have a good day :)