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-Chapter 25- Cards on the table

Eada and Daisy headed back to the inn, they had laid out a plan to tell Tiger about Austin being alive however to protect Jade she needed to see Austin first instead of being told her friends and teammates kept this from her especially Daisy of all people. Daisy had just gotten together with Jade and this could potentially destroy their chances of being a couple. One thing they forgot when they walked in was everybody knew Daisy's face in this small town, Stacey and Carl weren't exactly thrilled when she walked in the door. She pushed by them and went to find Jade as Eada met up with Tiger pulling her aside for an urgent talk. Tiger stunned went with Eada and outside after she processed the news she turned to see Austin, his first words to her weren't what she expected.

Telling Tiger that he wished it was Gretchen standing in his place instead of himself, that really hit Tiger's heart but she still didn't know how to react, Eada and Austin both told her what had happened and how Daisy was the one who found Austin alive. Word for word they didn't leave anything out while inside Daisy had found Jade and the two caught up as they danced on the dancefloor as Jade tried to inquire about the contact. Daisy kept it to basic minimum information waiting for Eada and Tiger to come back in so they could go with their plan, it wasn't the best plan as they wouldn't know how Jade would react but it was the only one they could pull together for today. Of course they could postpone it but each day that passed would only make it harder especially for Daisy.

She had no idea if Jade would automatically dump her and try get back with Austin, Austin gave her his word but that didn't include Jade. Jade the very woman she loved she had lied to, however their plan today was to put everything on the line right now and if things got messy then it would be good to get messy while it was early, if she had known for a year the betrayal would only be greater. Austin entered around back with the band as they were setting up. He gave the thumbs up to Eada who nodded to Tiger which had Tiger wink at Daisy on the dancefloor with Jade, they hoped this would at least absolve them from knowing Austin was alive before Jade until Daisy thought to herself the one question she should've asked and that was how Austin planned to get on stage?

A female singer walked onto the stage announcing that this song was a request as they went into their own cover of 'Before the next Teardrop falls' the song Austin had sung on their first training mission in the field while at Beacon. Yes it did end up happening to be the day that Gretchen was killed, Eada and Austin hospitalized and Jade feeling like she was the worst leader ever but that point of the day was Jade's highlight, she always tried to get Austin to sing more openly when they were dating, all he did was sing with her around every now and then however today Austin was going to sing in front of everyone as halfway through the song he joined the female singer on stage turning the song into a duet.

Jade and Daisy were dancing in each others arms and when Austin took to the stage and started singing Jade knew the voice was familiar as she spun herself and Daisy around to look at the vocalists. She stopped dancing as Austin was now singing on stage, she stood still in Daisy's arms not believing the image, she tried to talk to Daisy to see if this was real but couldn't find any words. She just held Daisy tight wandering if this was a dream, perhaps it could be a look alike, more reasons filled her head as she thought what if Austin and Eada were triplets, however she found that to be unlikely. As Austin finished up the song he looked out to the crowd, his eyes did not meet Jade or any of his former team members or friends and as the song finished he thanked everyone for coming out tonight.

Instead of following the plan Austin then continued saying they were 'The Silver Eyed Band' not to be confused or affiliated with 'The Silver Eyed Warriors'. Austin then sat down at a piano and started a cover of 'Everything I do' as everyone danced to the music Jade just stood there staring at Austin, she really couldn't believe Austin was alive. Daisy mentally decided to let Jade follow her heart, if she wanted to be with Austin then she wouldn't try stop her, the hold Jade had on her heart could not break even if she wanted to, she would always love Jade even if she didn't love her. However Jade just stood there staring at Austin in the middle of the dance floor, Austin hadn't even seen her and Daisy tried to snap her out of her transfixed daze.

Tiger and Eada had made their way over to Daisy and Jade concerned but also looking to Daisy to see if this was the true plan but just by the look of confusion on Daisy's face they could tell this is not what she had planned. Jade now had tears forming in her eyes, she looked at Daisy who was looking at her in concern, she let go of Daisy and started to make her way to the front of the crowd. The three girls followed but were stopped by the crowd, Jade had trouble trying to get to the front of the stage but determined she made it as Austin and the band were on their 3rd song as she called to Austin, he glanced at Jade but kept singing and looking out to the crowd. Jade took off running as Daisy gave Austin a filthy look before joining Eada and Tiger chasing after Jade.

Jade had ran to a fountain outside crying thinking how Austin wasn't phased on seeing her again and now thinking he had faked his death just to get away from her. The 3 girls caught up to Jade as they embraced her and tried to make her feel better or even offering some suggestions like he may not have recognized her with her longer hair or perhaps couldn't see her face in the light. Jade dismissed all of this as she was sure he knew who he was looking at, Eada and Tiger then suggested that they should go back and wait backstage, after he finishes performing then they could press him for information. Daisy had stopped throwing out suggestions thinking the worst was yet to come, now thoughts of Austin possibly telling Jade that she knew he was alive all this time were appearing in her mind.

Daisy stayed quiet unsure what to do, having a mental battle with herself, the truth and just thinking of Jade, she thought she could handle this but was losing grasp on Jade. Unbeknownst to Tiger and Eada she hadn't revealed to anyone that just before they made their trip out to Anima that they had their first fight and it was all about Austin. Daisy had planned on telling Jade about Austin being alive but she started the conversation sloppily which led out to an argument as Jade now thought Daisy would just be paranoid on how she was feeling 24/7 and Daisy was worried that Jade was still in love with Austin and if he were around that she'd dump her and jump straight into Austin's arms.

Jade noticed how quiet Daisy had gotten as Tiger and Eada were the only ones trying to make her feel better or offer solutions but they weren't the right ones, running away, fighting or even ignoring Austin among other ideas were pointless. Eada and Tiger finally had run out of ideas as the group ran quiet after Jade told them to stop declaring she had no idea what to do, Daisy then chimed in with the words she was always afraid to speak but needed to be said telling Jade to go talk to him. Tiger and Eada turned around and faced Daisy, their facial expressions basically asking Daisy if she was sure as Jade had that expression to written across her face.

Daisy stepped up taking Jade's hand telling Jade to just go ask him why he did what he did?, What's he up to now? and after a pause she then told her to ask him if he still loves her?. Jade looked into Daisy's eyes, she could tell Daisy was being genuine but of course she was worried but most importantly she was right as she nodded and started marching back to the inn. Tiger followed Jade after putting a hand on Daisy's shoulder with a quick pat but knowing Jade needed someone with her, Eada put her hand on Daisy's other shoulder giving her support but Daisy told her to head back inside to as Jade could use all the support she could get. Eada reluctantly headed inside, she wanted to be there for Daisy but she needed to be alone as she went to catch up with Tiger and Jade.

Daisy stood looking at the fountain, the cold running water as she began crying softly truly thinking that this was the night that Austin and Jade would be reunited, followed with a long talk and then Jade sitting down with her trying to let her down gently claiming that she and Austin were back together. She wiped her tears away and turned back heading to the inn as she was proud of herself as nobody could say she didn't give Jade a chance. Austin and his band had finished their set and were now backstage, Jade had been trying to get in the back for a long time now but when Daisy arrived the security seemed to change as he led them to where the band was. Instead of opening the door to a room full of a drunk band and partiers they found Austin waiting for them leaning back on his chair with his feet up.

Eada and Tiger let Jade through as Austin stood up stating he would stay and answer questions if Jade wanted him to. Jade just looked at Austin, asking if it was really him. He nodded confessing that he was still alive, Jade yelled at Austin as tears fell down her cheeks saying how she mourned him, how she blamed herself and asked if all of that was in vein?. She shook her head telling him he had a lot of nerve to do something like that, she was so mad that nobody expected it except for Austin as she pulled out her longsword and started to strike Austin. Austin stood there as Jade stopped just before the blade made contact, she wasn't going to follow through with her strike and Austin seemed to know that.

He understood she was mad, happy, sad and goodness knows what more emotions she was feeling. Eada and Tiger stepped to Jade offering their support as Eada took her sword telling her to ask questions instead. Jade looked down, secretly she was overjoyed that Austin was alive. Daisy had shut the door quietly as the 3 girls stood behind Jade awkwardly as they all thought they should be waiting outside. Austin admitted that he didn't fake his death to get away from them, it was something much more that drove his decision to do so, Team JDTE stared at him waiting for him to continue as he also admitted he was Professor Ozpin's contact but the reason that he faked his death, putting his cards on the table, was how he wanted to stop trying to become a Huntsman...

To be continued...