AN: This story was originally a three chapter one shot. Please read chapter four, posted yesterday, before this one if you haven't.
One week, it took one entire week for her to receive authorization for a few days of leave. Three things kept her from agonizing over the delay. One, the employee had already been in the household for some time without incident. Two, Weiss continued to send her occasional messages about her training. Three, Penny served as a great distraction during her spare moments of free time.
Once she received the green-light for her leave, Winter wasted no time heading back to the Schnee estate. Seeing the estate always brought back mixed feelings. Some of her happiest and worst memories were tied to the estate. Thankfully, the people responsible for the worst of those memories were not people she needed to interact with. Her unannounced visit surely helped to avoid any shenanigans on their part as well.
The estate guards did not attempt to stop her entry. They knew better by now. Though she may no longer be heir, she was still a Schnee. She had the Schnee bloodline, the power to prove without a doubt what it meant to defy a Schnee.
Though they did not attempt to impede her progress, one of the guards did inform her of where her siblings could be found. Both of her siblings were currently practicing at a firing range at the back of the estate. She needed to see for herself, to see their training. Weiss learning to use a firearm was expected, Whitley was less expected but it made sense given their gifts. She approved of both of them learning how to use firearms, assuming they were being taught correctly.
A short walk later, she spotted both of her siblings alongside two others. One of the additional figures was one of the members of security of the estate, the other was the entire reason she made her trip. Whitley was standing near Weiss and seemed to be correcting her firing stance. Both the member of security and the butler seemed to notice her. Winter held a single finger up to her lips to tell them to keep quiet.
Winter moved closer before stopping a short distance away from the firing range. She continued to watch Whitley make small adjustments to Weiss's stance. At the very least, she could approve of the Atlesian firing stance her siblings were being taught.
"No, Weiss. You need to extend your arms a little more," Whitley extended out his own arms for a moment.
"It's still uncomfortable, how long did it take you to get used to this?" Weiss sounded irritated to her ears.
"Who said I was comfortable with the stance? I can only practice for so long before my arms turn to noodles."
The butler took a step towards the pair, "Just use your Aura, Miss Schnee. It should help stabilize your muscles."
Winter watched a small trace of white light enveloped Weiss, "Wait! This is so much easier. We've been practicing this for a week and you only just now tell me I could just do this?"
Jaune shrugged, "Not everyone has Aura, it's a crutch. Why would I bother mentioning a tip that doesn't even apply to everyone here?"
"Do not be a cheater, Weiss. I am relying fully on my arm muscles."
Winter had to hold in her laughter. Weiss was grumbling while Whitley was posed next to her showing off his lanky arms as if he honed them in a gym. Both of her siblings seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was nostalgic in a way.
The last time she remembered seeing both of them playing happily together was right before she left home at sixteen. Weiss was eight years old at the time and Whitley would have only been five. Disrupting Weiss and Whitley's lives by departing the household early was something she regretted. A part of her wished she stayed around a little longer before taking the plunge into preparing for a life in the military.
Whitley took a step away from Weiss as she readied the revolver. Weiss fired her revolver at a distant target. From her position, Winter was able to see Weiss's shot had been a success. She could not help herself, Winter clapped her hands. The attention of all four individuals immediately fell upon her.
"Winter! You didn't tell me you were coming!" Weiss was the first to run over to her.
Her little sister had always been needy. Winter reached out and embraced Weiss in a one armed hug, "Weiss, it's been a while hasn't it? Your firing stance is not terrible, continue to train it and it will only benefit you in the future."
Winter looked away from her sister for a split second to focus on Whitley. She couldn't read his expression. The joy from just a few seconds ago was replaced with his usual indifference. Yet, he still took a step forward towards the pair.
"Winter, have you been well?" Whitley spoke only a few words to her, yet his tone was not the usual indifference she expected.
To her ears, Whitley's question sounded genuine. He sounded concerned. Winter held out her free arm silently.
Whitley took a few steps forward before quietly accepting her hug. How Weiss could ever think Whitley would become another Jacques was beyond her. Winter would have taken extreme steps if there were signs of such a thing occurring. Thankfully, Jacques had far too much pride to bother personally raising Whitley during his formative years.
"I've been well, Whitley. Thank you for asking. I'm happy both of you are spending your time learning useful skills. Keep practicing."
Weiss was smiling brightly at her, "Of course! I wouldn't be very useful against Grimm if I couldn't defend myself in close range and at a distance. This is an opportunity I will not squander."
Whitley did not meet her gaze, "I have been enjoying myself out here. I have no reason to decline practicing."
Winter looked away from both of her siblings and at the two members of the staff, "I suppose I have you two to thank for teaching them the Atlesian standard firing stance?"
"You should be thanking Jaune here for the idea ma'am. I would have never considered it," Liam, the security member, spoke up.
"Couldn't have done it without Liam, Miss Schnee. He's the professional who got everything setup for us. He's been incredibly helpful. He's the one who showed Whitley the Atlesian firing stance," the butler nudged the security guard with his elbow.
Neither wished to claim sole responsibility for training her siblings it would seem. Respectable, if nothing else, "I will ensure both of you are properly rewarded for going above and beyond your duties. You will accept."
Her pay was not bad within the military. It would be simple to order both individuals an expensive gift. Perhaps, something practical like a sampler package of multiple premium meat cuts. She would put in the orders tonight. A rushed delivery should allow the packages to arrive before her departure from the estate.
Between his role in the training of her siblings and not taking the credit for himself, her initial impression of the butler was positive. The odds of someone with a background like his being stable seemed low. She would need to continue her evaluation. More importantly, she needed to catch up a little more with her siblings.
"Come, let's head inside. I want to hear what you two have been up to in detail," there was no way she was going to stay outside in the cold weather on one of her rare days of leave.
Winter dragged both her siblings into the estate, the butler following behind them. She brought them to her favorite room within the household on the second floor. The room was a small study room she spent most of her youth within. Seeing the six bookshelves against the study room wall brought on another wave of nostalgia for Winter.
She recalled spending cold afternoons within the study, bundled up in blankets. Sometimes Weiss or Whitley stumbled into the room to bask in the heat of the study fireplace with her. She had dedicated one of the bookshelves to containing only kids books just for them. How many of those did she even get to read to them before she left? Far fewer than she wished.
There was one noticeably different thing within the study. The desk in the corner she used to do her assignments at had a plethora of various papers covering it. Last time she visited, the room was still unused.
"Sorry, Winter. I forgot to clean up my things," Weiss seemed to have noticed her staring at the desk. Her sister stepped forwards to clear the papers.
"No need, Weiss. Either of you can make use of my study if you wish to. It would be pointless to leave it unused," besides this was their home. She did not have the right to tell her siblings not to use her old study.
Whitley wandered away from her towards the bookshelves, "I believe this is the first time I have ever really bothered to look at the books in here. Do you still have an affinity for romance stories, Winter?"
Winter's face suddenly felt warm, "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, Whitley."
"Oh? Well, this bookshelf appears to be half filled with stories of war and half filled with stories of romance. If you look closely, it appears a book may even be missing from the romance section."
Weiss suddenly spoke up by the desk, a blush on her face, "Whitley! Don't you think it's a little cold here? Can you get the fireplace going for us?
Her fiendish brother turned away from the bookshelf, a small grin on his face, "Very well, let the youngest do all the work for his elders. I shall get the fire going. Jaune, can you get us some refreshments?"
Winter turned to see the butler standing in the doorway, his face a mask of neutrality, "Right away, Master Whitley."
The butler shut the study door as he departed, leaving the three alone in the study. Winter looked over to see Whitley crouched by the fireplace. Not far from Whitley was a sofa flanked by two armchairs. A coffee table, with drinking coasters, was placed just in front of the sitting arrangement. Winter took her usual seat, the armchair to the right of the sofa.
Weiss sat on the left armchair, while Whitley moved to lounge on the center sofa after lighting the fireplace. Winter let a few moments of silence pass as she took in the scene in front of her. This peace was something she missed, something she would sacrifice anything to protect. Moments like this are what drove her into the military, to ensure others did not lose out on this peace.
Surprisingly, the silence was broken by Whitley, "I want to apologize to both of you. I have been reflecting on my actions or more so my lack of action. I have not been treating you two as well as I should have been."
Winter was puzzled by his apology, "Explain, have you done something to directly harm us? If not you have nothing to truly apologize for. If this is about not staying in contact with me, it is equally my fault for not reaching out to you more."
Weiss shook her head, "We're all at fault for things being as they are. Whitley distanced himself from us because he thought we would just leave completely."
Whitley grumbled from the couch, "It's a fair assessment isn't it? How often do you visit, Winter? Maybe once a year, if at all? Excuse me for thinking I would end up stuck in an empty household with an alcoholic and a megalomaniac."
Whitley's words hurt, "My responsibilities leave me with very few opportunities for time off. I may have been able to push for more occasions to come visit, but I couldn't bring myself to. The estate is as unpleasant to me as it has always been."
Weiss looked disappointed, "You mean you could have come home more, but you avoided it? Are you really that afraid of seeing Father or Mother?"
Weiss's question bothered her. Was she afraid of seeing Jacques and Willow? Afraid of seeing her mother shrivel even further into the empty husk she already was? Afraid of seeing Jacques's arrogance grow even larger, painting an even greater target on his back? Maybe a part of her did fear having to see them, to acknowledge they still existed.
"I don't know. I can't answer you, Weiss. Seeing them makes me feel ill, it's not pleasant. I never intended to ignore you two. It was just easier for me to stay at the academy or on base. My job comes with a lot of stress already, I didn't want to stack dealing with Jacques or Willow on top of it all."
"You picked the path of least resistance. I can begrudgingly accept the logic behind your decision. I just want you to know the path you chose had consequences. I hated you and Weiss. I am unsure if I would have given either of you another chance if I was not advised to do so."
Winter closed her eyes, trying to keep her simmering rage from boiling over. She fucked up, she fucked up hard. How was she foolish enough to overlook such an outcome? Just as Jacques was foolish enough to not establish full control over Whitley, she left him equally abandoned. She should have called him just as much as Weiss called her.
Winter stood from her seat and headed over to the couch. She stood in front of Whitley as he remained lounging on the sofa. Winter took a knee and held out her arms, "Come here. I admit it, I fucked up. I wronged you. I was someone you should have been able to rely on, to lean on. Dammit! I practically raised you two."
Whitley pulled himself from his lounged position and leaned forward to meet her embrace. She wrapped her hands around his back. He was silently shaking in her arms. Nothing needed to be said. Winter closed her own eyes, this was another regret for her to bear.
Whitley's voice cracked as he whispered, "I-I missed you. I'm sorry for not trying more. I'm sorry for not wanting to be a Huntsman."
Winter felt as if she had been stabbed by his words. Was that what he thought? Did he think she was disappointed in him for not trying to follow in her footsteps? She was the worst, the lowest of the low. How much damage did she wrought through abandoning them to this nightmare of a home so early in their lives?
Winter's composure was cracking. She wanted to scream, to fight, anything to stop the hatred coursing through her veins. This was her scar on her family. Not the fault of Jacques, not the fault of Willow, but her own damage to her siblings.
A pair of arms wrapped around her back. She heard sniveling behind her. Winter opened her burning eyes to see Weiss's face buried against her free shoulder.
"D-don't be angry, Winter! All of us are at fault. You can't blame just yourself, it's not fair!" Weiss was crying.
Winter needed a moment to think, a moment to calm herself. She latched onto her cherished memories of spending afternoons reading to the two in this very room. Their childish glee, their contentment in life. Days she missed, days she wished she never surrendered.
Winter took a heavy breath, "Listen, both of you. I love both of you more than anything. Neither of you have ever disappointed me. I will always be proud of what you do, of what you accomplish. I will never force you to be something you don't wish to be. We are family, we only have each other to rely on."
Her two younger siblings continued to cry against her. The gravity of what they meant to her hit her hard. Did Atlas really mean more than her siblings? Did the safety of the many truly take priority over her family? Now was not the time to think about herself. Right now, all that mattered was Weiss and Whitley.
Winter opened her eyes. She didn't remember the last time she took a nap. The safety of this room and the memories within lowered her guard. She freed herself from the tangled limbs of her siblings. Whitley and Weiss remained asleep on the couch as she quietly exited the room.
Winter softly shut the study door behind her. She needed time to think, today had been more than she expected. Today was more exhausting than training multiple laps in full gear. Her gaze drifted away from the door, towards the hallway. A simple serving cart was placed a little ways to the left of the room door.
Atop the cart, was a pitcher of water and a few glasses. Winter filled one of the glasses as she looked further down the left side of the hall. As expected, the butler was still lingering around the area. Jaune was sitting at a cushioned bench underneath the window at the very end of the hall with an opened newspaper.
Winter approached the butler, "You have my thanks for not interrupting us."
The butler lowered the newspaper, "Whitley needed today. I didn't want to risk ruining anything," he sounded genuinely worried.
Winter sighed, "The three of us needed to have today's gathering. I fear what may have occurred if I did not come out here. You have played your part well, haven't you?"
He shrugged at her, "I've done what I can. Whitley's a good kid, he deserves to be happy. I wasn't going to let him keep dragging himself down if I could help it."
"Whatever you did to push Whitley to be more honest with us, I appreciate it. Regardless, I would have to be a fool to not worry about you having this much influence over Whitley. I don't know you or what you stand for. Who are you and why are you here?"
A small smile grew on his face, "I would be concerned if you didn't worry. Let me introduce myself. I'm Jaune Arc, personal butler of Winter Schnee. I don't really have anything I stand for. My only goal right now is to serve Whitley as best as I can."
Winter crossed her arms, "Not good enough. Where are you from? What drove you to serve as Whitley's butler?"
"Originally? I was born in Vale. I'm a Mountain Glenn orphan, so Atlas has been my home for the majority of my life. I developed a friendship with Whitley over the course of a few months when he spent his free time at the arcade I worked at. He offered me a job here and I knew I had to accept. Whitley reminded me of myself enough that I needed to nudge him in the right direction. He's stubborn enough that he would have distanced himself even more from the world," he was grinning.
Winter filed away the information about how they met for later. The butler's story of being an orphan matched his records. He had not lied to her so far. Still, something bothered her. He was too composed for his origin. She needed to test something.
Winter took a step forward towards the butler and swung her fist with her Aura activated. The butler did not blink or flinch. A flicker of yellow light enveloped his arm for a mere moment as he prepared to use his arm to brace for the attack. She stopped her fist just before it met his arm. He no longer had a grin on his face.
Winter took a step back and let her hand fall to her holster, "Explain yourself. You have not registered your Aura. You are aware not being registered comes with a hefty fine? Grimm are attracted to Aura use."
The butler lowered his arm, keeping his hands exposed, "You and I both know that fine is nonsense. Small amounts of Aura usage only matters in frontier towns. I wouldn't put others at risk by protecting myself."
"Not a fan of the rule of law are you? Not registering your Aura or paying for your parking ticket. Tell me, are you concealing a weapon right now?"
He looked baffled for a moment before laughing, "You looked into my background? Like I told Whitley, I'm clean enough. Maybe not perfect, that parking ticket was bullshit. Oh, yeah I am armed at the moment. Right jacket."
Winter drew her sidearm as she moved to check his for his firearm. He moved his hands into the air slightly and extended both legs forward. Winter kept an eye on him as she lifted the fabric of the right side of his uniform. True to his words, there was a small holster with a firearm.
"Who knows you are armed?" It was nearly impossible for a member of the staff to be armed without the knowledge of someone in the estate.
"Mr. Schnee and security. You can verify it yourself."
Winter did exactly that. She kept her guard up as she sent a quick scroll message to the estate's head of security. It took a few minutes before she received confirmation. Jaune Arc was in fact given approval to carry a firearm in order to protect her brother. Liam had vouched for his character and that had been enough for the head of security to allow him to carry a firearm.
"You don't have a license for carrying a firearm in Atlas city," something like that would have popped up in his background search.
"I'm working on it with Whitley. Technically, I've only carried it on private grounds. Think of me as an extra body to toss in front of Whitley if anything bad happens."
Winter frowned, "You still haven't explained why you are concealing your Aura or how you obtained it."
"You didn't get out of Mountain Glenn without Aura or without someone with Aura helping you. Got my Aura when I watched my dad die in front of me. You know how Aura is the manifestation of the soul or whatever? My soul really wanted to fix my dad. It didn't work out," he seemed detached as he spoke.
"As for why I concealed my Aura? I was homeless at twelve. The people I cared for were scattered across the kingdoms and I was left to fend for myself. Even Atlas city has shady parts of town. I was safer having a backup weapon in my arsenal. Aura was my answer for getting away."
His answers were reasonable. She may not have liked them, but they were logical enough. Winter placed her sidearm back into her holster. The butler was not an immediate threat to her. The firearm he had with him was not Huntsman grade.
"Do you know your Semblance? I would appreciate it if you were fully transparent with me at the bare minimum."
"Kind of? It's some type of Aura amplification or something similar. I can gather my Aura and infuse parts of my body to improve efficiency to a high level. I mostly use it to cheat on the range by infusing my eyes. Whitley would probably kick my ass if he knew."
"Are you able to use your Semblance on others? How has no one noticed you using your Aura?"
"Yes, although the last time I did so was back when I lived in the orphanage. The orphanage was a great place for learning how to conceal my Semblance. I've gotten pretty good at hiding my Aura activation when I'm not under immediate threat."
Once again, he sounded genuine to her. Although his response did make her curious, "What made you use your Semblance at the orphanage?"
"If I focus my Aura on someone's skin, I can heal bruises. Let's just say I got a lot of mileage out of that particular talent at the orphanage."
Winter's eyes narrowed, "Did they beat you at the orphanage?"
"I would have preferred if it was just me. Unfortunately, it wasn't. I did volunteer for most of it though. Turns out talking back was a great way to keep attention focused on me," he grinned at her.
"I see, you must have wanted to ensure the safety of the other children. The orphanage burnt down, correct?"
He laughed, "I see what you're playing at. Yeah, it did burn down. No, I wasn't responsible for it. I was the last orphan they kicked out. The others got scattered across the kingdoms. I was just tossed out the door. They were done with the place, probably just wanted a payout. They were scattering fire dust all over the place before I left."
"Explain what you mean when you say the others were scattered across the kingdoms," Winter had underestimated just how vile the people who ran the orphanage were.
"I mean exactly what I said. They only let kids get adopted by people outside of Atlas. Apparently, people were willing to spend more money getting kids from Atlas. I did some research on why a few years back. A lot of business owners wanted to adopt Atlas kids because of their Atlas citizenship. They can open businesses here with their kid's citizenship. Just so happens, some of us were a two for one special."
"I assume you are talking about your Vale citizenship?"
"Yeah, Mountain Glenn kids should still be citizens of Vale regardless of where they end up. I'm not an expert though. I'm sure you looked into my records, so you tell me," once again he sounded amused.
Winter reached into her coat pocket to pull out a folded document. She originally planned to use it as a way to confront the butler if he lied, but he had been forthcoming with her. She unfolded the missing persons report containing his name.
"This was the only Valean match for a Jaune Arc when it came to documentation. You will need to go through official channels to confirm you are alive. Whoever was initially responsible for your entrance into Atlas, did not fully do their duty."
Jaune sighed, "Figures. I'll work on it alongside my weapon permit. Now, it's only fair that we get to talk about you."
Winter tapped her foot, "Excuse me? What exactly do you mean by that? I have nothing more to speak with you about."
"Really? I'm not so sure about that. You Schnee are really bad at hiding your tells when something is bothering you. Whitley does this thing with his eyebrows when he's in deep thought about something. Weiss did it once and you did it when you left the study."
Winter raised her hand against her brows, "Truly? I have never noticed such a thing myself. Now you have me curious. I will have to watch both of them while I'm here."
"Is that what's bothering you, The whole, 'while I'm here' thing? You want to talk about it?"
Winter scoffed, "Why should I- well… hm? I suppose I owe you a little honesty for answering my questions. Indeed, I am worried about leaving again. I feel as if I'm on the verge of a midlife crisis at only twenty four. I'm questioning if leaving was ever the correct decision in the first place."
"Well, you wouldn't be who you are today without going through what you went through, right? Not too late to make up for stuff you want to fix. It's only too late when you're dead or the person you care about is dead. That's when you're allowed to start hating yourself," he spoke with cheer in his voice.
Winter stared at him. She was getting sick of the smile plastered on his face. His cheer and positivity was almost offensively falsified. It took her a little while to pick up on it during her interrogation of him, but everything finally fell into place. For someone bragging about her and her siblings having an easy tell, he seemed to have a hard time hiding his true emotions.
"I suppose you have some experience in that department?"
"You got it in one, Miss Schnee. Zero out of ten, not fun. Heavily recommend avoiding that outcome at any cost. Maybe you should consider a job change closer to home?"
"Leave the military? I will admit the thought did briefly cross my mind. It is… feasible. My deployment renewal is coming up within a few months. I am curious about the implications of your 'closer to home' comment."
"Pretty sure you're really going to hate this suggestion. I know Whitley would hate being stuck in your position. You see, guys in the estate security let something slip they probably shouldn't have. I was cleaning up after them when they got drunk. Mr. Schnee has some recent ambitions he seems to want to make reality. He wants to start up a SDC driven private military company."
Winter was caught by surprise, "A private military force? Private militaries are not allowed to operate within Atlesian territory. Jacques has finally lost it if he thinks Atlas will let him establish one within the kingdom."
"That's assuming he establishes it inside of Atlas. Nope, rumor is it's going to be in Vale. Mountain Glenn left a lasting legacy behind. Vale relaxed their ban on private militaries or something to help prevent the same devastation from occurring in other frontier settlements. I don't really get the legal stuff behind all of it. Seems like a pretty good opportunity to jump on, right?"
"You realize you're telling me to go beg to work for the man who stripped me of my heirship?"
"I'm telling you it might be worth tossing your pride aside for a few minutes to get a central role in something Mr. Schnee plans to establish no matter what. Something within your field of expertise. Not to mention, he's getting older isn't he? You'll end up working with Whitley eventually."
Winter closed her eyes, she couldn't believe she was even entertaining this idea, "Your plan has merit. I could even take in Weiss after her Huntress training."
"Right? Between the three of you, the SDC would be in good hands. Whitley's a good kid, but I don't think he can do this all alone. Hell, I've tried to read some of the books he's being assigned for this stuff. It makes my head spin."
"Fine, I will consider it. There are people I will need to speak with first, especially my siblings. You have proven yourself to be loyal enough. Continue to work as hard as you have. I shouldn't have to tell you this, but if anything happens to Whitley..."
"You'll kill me, right? You'd have to beat me to that finish line first."
Winter slowly nodded, "An acceptable enough answer. Now, check up on my siblings in around thirty minutes. If they are still sleeping, let them remain as they are. If they wake up within that time period or ask for me later, tell them to meet me in my old bedroom. I have to check on some things related to my job, so I am in no hurry."
He gave her a small salute, "Yes, ma'am!"
She sighed before turning away from the butler. She just knew if she stuck around any longer she would end up throttling the man. He wasn't exactly what she expected from his background. She couldn't quite decide if he was better or worse than what she feared. At the very least, his presence had so far been a positive influence in Whitley's life.
AN: I am satisfied with this two chapter extension to the one shot. Winter felt left out with the original three chapter story. This was my way of incorporating her into the changing Schnee family dynamic. I do personally consider the story done as is. Will that stop me from suddenly adding an additional chapter or two in the future? No idea, we'll see if inspiration strikes again.