Straight up trigger warning for this chapter: discussions of past sexual assault. RECAP at end of chapter

11/12/1999…

Early in the morning most of the gang was back around the table, after being divided for the last two months the group had been able to slowly mend together.

The Tension in the group was still there. Jaune sat on one side of the group at the extra table they pulled over so all of them could relax and was quietly listening to Penny chatting him up regarding something she read online about bears. The others would occasionally glance at Jaune as he quietly sat and listened intently to the young autistic teenager while sipping his coffee. Jaune's right eye was bandaged up as it had developed a rather severe photosensitivity issue as it recovered from the injury he sustained at the hands of the trio that jumped him.

Ruby was similarly ignoring Jaune and was signing discreetly signing out a conversation with her sister. [Look at those two carrying on, it's disgusting how much attention he's showing her.] Ruby signed from behind her bag that was blocking the others from seeing her hands...

Yang signed out of view of the others [I don't see the problem, he's just listening to her ramble on about animals again.]

[He's clearly doing it to get under my skin] Ruby signed back making it a point to not look at Jaune.

[I don't know what to tell you Ruby, it just looks to me like their chatting.] Yang signed back.

Ruby barely contained her disgust as she asked her sister to walk with her, Yang smiled said sure and followed her. As the pair got up and started walking off the almost ran head-on into Alan who quietly waved the pair past with a slight look of concern.

"Alright Ruby, you're officially acting weirder than usual, what gives?" Yang asked her sister

[I'm just pissed off at him, I spent almost two days in that hospital room out of concern for him and he barely acted like he appreciated the gesture.] Ruby signed out in anger.

"Your ex-boyfriend barely responded to you after waking up after being unconscious for two days, from an ass-beating that might have tangibly been related to you, wow stop the presses," Yang said.

[And now he's carrying on with that look alike like nothing happened.] Ruby signed. [He didn't even say hi to me today.]

"Gods, you're being irrational, I mean did something happen while you were in the hospital with him?" Yang asked.

[He was… cold to me, he still claims he doesn't know who did it, and I'm sure that has him on edge, but he won't even give me the fucking time of day. Hell, that asshole probably thinks I had something to do with it.] Ruby signed out.

"Just think it over, he clearly doesn't know who did it, I mean, part of the reason he was out was someone tried to bash his skull in and he had a concussion. Also you two were and still are on kinda shit terms, so yeah, maybe he does think you had a couple friends jump him?" Yang said.

"Well, in that case, he deserved it!" Ruby said out loud as she walked away from her sister. Neither took note as sage walked past them in the hall with a smirk on his face he was trying to hide.


Minutes later back at the table Jaune and Penny were still idly chatting, or it was more of a case of Jaune being chatted at. While he had, in fact, learned more about bears in the last fifteen or so minutes he was sitting there, he mostly enjoyed the fact he wasn't be hounded with questions by her such as "Are you okay?" "Did the police catch them yet?" and so on.

Jaune also was trying to, as he sipped his coffee not dwell too much on how Penny clearly didn't bother with a bra that day and every time she bounced in her seat her chest, well… Moved in a way that Jaune was not entirely complaining about.

Penny finally broke her rant and asked him "So, uh, are you free this weekend?"

Jaune tried to scrawl out with his left hand a messy 'No, why what's up?'

"I was…" Penny paused "I was wondering if you wanted to go catch a movie with me?"

Jaune shrugged as he wrote 'I mean it's not like we haven't done that before, why the hesitation though?'

Penny read the note and blushed as she was not quite making contact while she tried to find her words "I don't know why" She leaned in close and started speaking softer so the others couldn't hear "It's like, whenever I think of the idea of us going out together to do things I get a weird feeling in my stomach I never felt before."

Jaune just shook his head in confusion.

"It's like my heart starts beating fast and I just feel nervous at the idea of being out with just the two of us, you know?" Penny said.

Jaune wrote out 'Like your scared of me or something?'

Penny nervously laughed "I guess you have been a bit scary lately, but I don't think it's me being scared of you."

Jaune just tilted his head in confusion and looked at her.

"I feel, I guess nervous, but I also feel warm in my belly as well, you know?" Penny said putting a hand to her stomach "Have you ever felt that way?"

Jaune reached over to messily write out an answer but was interrupted by the bell. Jaune felt a hand on his shoulder as he turned to look at Penny. "Uh, maybe we can talk at lunch okay?"

Jaune just shot her a smile as she got up and left, he knew exactly what she was saying "That girl just admitted to having a crush on me." he thought for a moment, "I'm still too much of a mess to date anyone, so I should consider playing dumb for right now."

When Weiss pulled herself up to her walker and Blake joined her he reached out and grabbed blake's wrist for a second. If he had been anyone else that would have earned him a slap in the face by Blake, but she just turned and asked "Yeah Jaune? What's up?"

Jaune fingered signed out with his good hand [Can we talk after school?]

"Yeah, sure what's up?" Blake asked confused

[It's nothing major, I just wanted to ask you a few things.] Jaune said as his expression slipped to a neutral expression.

"Sure thing then, I'll meet up with you here then?" Blake said as they both stood up from around their tables.

The group scattered and went about the day.


Jaune ended up not making lunch, he decided he to rest in the nurse's office when the pain got to him. He found the entire day to be a struggle, a direct result of forcing his battered body to do something it would rather not have done.

He ended up meeting up with Blake after class to talk, they pulled up a seat at their table and Jaune took care to make sure they were not being watched by anyone.

Blake just chalked it up to paranoia. She could honestly understand seeing as he had taken a pretty brutal beating and didn't know who did it.

"So what's going on Jaune?" Blake asked.

Jaune signed out with one hand [So I need to ask you a favor if anyone asks, we didn't have this conversation okay?]

"Uh…" Blake said before chuckling "A little weird but okay, what's going on?"

[I'm serious, you can't even tell Weiss of your parents okay?] Jaune signed.

Blake's smile faded quickly "Yeah you need to explain that one then, you know I'm not a fan of keeping secrets, and why that is."

Jaune nodded and signed [I get it, believe me, I do. And I know how much I'm asking for her, I'll pay you back for it somehow.]

Blake nodded "Alright, I trust you, and you clearly trust me so what's up?"

[I would like you to tell me about Sun Wukong and his friends.] Jaune signed with as serious of an expression as he could muster.

Blake just looked confused for a moment, that was a name she had not thought too much about in the last year. "What? Why do you want to…" she trailed off as she put two and two together in her head. "Of course, Your so fucking good at keeping people in the dark, of course, you know who attacked you and didn't tell anyone."

[Look, I get it, but for once I actually have a kinda legitimate reason for keeping quiet about this okay?] Jaune struggled to sign out. [I can't actually prove it was them who did this. I can toss names out but that's all I'm doing is names, I have to be able to prove that they were behind this.]

"Just give up Jaune, those three can't be touched, they learned how to cover their tracks from the best," Blake said with a defeated tone.

[Then tell me who taught them] Jaune signed [Then we work on how to beat them.]

Blake sighed out and said as she folded her arms across her own stomach "Adam…"

Jaune signed and thought "Fuck me…" Before he signed [I know you didn't talk much about him, and I'll drop it if you're not up for this.]

Blake shook her head as she held her stomach "I know I didn't talk much about him… I needed time to heal from everything he did, I got a couple of permanent medical issues that only my parents know that I'll never fully heal from him."

[Your honestly the strongest person I know, a lot of people would have given up.] Jaune signed out to her.

"I can't have children…" Blake said. "Botched abortion that from a guy Adam had hired from a gang to do to me. Fucker would have had cleaner results if he just kicked me in the stomach a dozen times."

Jaune was speechless and could feel the color drain from his face and his anger rise from the implications [Jesus Christ…] was all he could sign in anger.

"Well I guess it doesn't matter with Weiss, it's not like she would have ever had a chance of knocking me up at least," Blake said as she tried to laugh it off. However, there was a clear pain in her voice as she tried to play it off. "I'll help, I got my payback on Adam, but I know the rest of his clique is still in this school."

[Sun, Sage, and Scarlet.] Jaune asked.

"Yeah, his so-called 'enforcers' as he liked to call them," Blake said as she wiped her eyes "The funny thing was they were some good eggs as one point, they went really bad though after they met Adam" Blake added.

[I'm sorry Blake, I shouldn't have brought you in on thi-] Jaune started to sign before Blake grabbed his hand.

"You and I want the same thing… We both want revenge." Blake said. "I'm in, but you have to be straight with me," Blake then demanded "No secrets Jaune, who else is in."

Jaune sadly smiled and signed [Funny you should ask…]


Later on that evening as Jaune sat and typed at his keyboard with one hand into an IM screen to someone he had not spoken to recently. He typed out a single message.

DARKKNIGHTARC: Your plan sucks, so I'm outsourcing.

Jaune leaned back into his seat and waited for a response. As he took a sip from his drink.

RBYROSE1: Bullshit my plan is perfect, I already planted the seeds when I saw Sage walking past when I was talking to Yang earlier.

DARKKNIGHTARC: It's still a shit plan Ruby, your setting yourself up to be beaten or gang-raped by Sun's goons.

RBYROSE1: I'm being careful.

DARKKNIGHTARC: Yeah well after talking to Blake I don't think you're being careful enough, I don't want you to do this, we can keep the "You hate my guts angle" if you really want. But I am not allowing you to try to worm your way into their clique.

RBYROSE1: You're being paranoid.

DARKKNIGHTARC: Not really no, from what Blake said they absolutely will beat you half to death and gang-rape you.

Ruby went silent, on her and she was weighing what Jaune was saying and trying to fend off the uncomfortable mental images that were worming around her head at the moment.

DARKKNIGHTARC: It's not worth that Ruby.

RBYROSE1: Alright, so what's the plan then?

DARKKNIGHTARC: I really don't know, I didn't know what the hell I was getting us both into. I just feel like everything has been spiraling out of control since our breakup.

RBYROSE1: Have you… you know, seen her since the last time we talked?

DARKKNIGHTARC: No… But I still feel like I'm slipping a bit more each day, I don't talk about it, or even admit it to anyone.

RBYROSE1: We should backburner all of this until you have had a chance to get help for yourself. Get your mom and Ozpin involved. You need to tell them that you don't think the meds are working anymore and you're worried that whatever is wrong with your brain, it's no longer depression.

It was Jaune's turn to hesitate. Ruby kept typing on her end

RUBYROSE1: I mean unless you think the answer is for us to… well, you know…

DARKKNIGHTARC: Honestly in hindsight the answer I should have given you last December was "no". I don't regret saying yes, or getting with you, I just regret that I wasn't the boyfriend I could have been if I had been more honest with how I was doing mentally. So… I'm going to say no now… I don't think we should get back together Ruby.

On Ruby's end, she sighed and rubbed her eyes, while it hurt to read his sudden rejection, she felt more hurt over the last two months without even being able to just chat over IM like this.

RBYROSE1: Yeah I guess that goes for me as well. I told myself to be patient with you and to be understanding, and I failed at that. I got it in my head that our romance could be like a fairytale or something like what Yang and Neptune had. I don't know when it happened, but I stopped being patient and stopped taking your history into consideration. You know the rest…

DARKKNIGHTARC: Lets both just agree to be friends for now and see what happens in the future.

RBYROSE1: Okay… But if Penny and you become a thing… well, good luck I guess, and don't stop being my friend okay?

Jaune smiled thinking about how penny confessed her crush in that adorable unknowing way she did today before he wrote out.

DARKKNIGHTARC: I'm not going to get with anyone until I get some help, and we sort this bullshit out with Sun's gang…

RBYROSE1: I'll try to be there the best I can be, even if it's just on here for now okay?

DARKKNIGHTARC: Alright… I should go have a chat with my mom… Talk to you later?

Ruby on her end smiled and typed out "sounds good, later." Before typing out… but not sending a second message saying "I love you…" to him.

Ruby cried herself to sleep that night.

Jaune meanwhile walked into the living room of their house where his mother and Alan were both sitting watching a story on Y2k when Jaune knocked on the door frame.

"Hey buddy, what's up?" Mina asked.

Jaune thought about it and signed out [Hey, do you both have a moment? I need to talk to you guys…]

Jaune sat down and started to sign out [I don't think my meds work anymore…]

It was the start of a conversation that was long overdue.


**RECAP** This chapter got a hell of alot done. To recap in case you skipped to the bottom for the TlDR due to the above warning. Chapter starts with Ruby acting irrationally angry due to Jaune and Penny's otherwise innocent conversation. Yang pulls her aside and Ruby seemingly takes joy in Jaune's beatdown.

Scene moves back to Penny and and Jaune as their talk shifts to Penny, who is not good at understanding her own emotions all but admits that she has a crush on Jaune while asking him out on a date. Jaune doesn't answer and seems to be unwilling to commit at this point in his life, he also asks Blake to talk to him after class.

The later conversation between Blake and Jaune starts hostile as Blake gets upset that Jaune lied to them about knowing who attacked him, but quickly comes to understand who his attackers were. We learn that Blake through Adam had some past dealings with Sun and his gang, and Jaune learns a dark secret about how Adam forced Blake to abort a pregnancy, unstated to be but strongly implied to be his via someone that was unqualified leaving Blake unable to have children. After Jaune expresses sympathies for Blake, Blake brushes it aside stating a desire for revenge against Adam through his Gang.

Later on, Ruby and Jaune talk over IM revealing that Ruby's earlier anger was part of a plan to keep the pair looking divided while they try to find out a way to expose Jaune's attackers for what they are, Jaune knowing how far the trio would go, even implying that they wouldn't hesitate to sexually assault Ruby, has cold feet about the plan. Once Jaune and Ruby both realize how deep the danger these three represents, opts to hold off on their plan until Jaune could get reevaluated as he feels like his medication is no longer working, and fears he's losing control of himself.

The chapter ends with just as Jaune sits down to talk to his mother and Alan about it.

**END RECAP**

So I don't have to much to say this chapter, I was surprised how much I managed to get into this chapter to be honest, and I really wasn't expecting to go into details about Blake's history with Adam in as much details as I did this chapter. I think it went kinda unsaid through out the story that Blake was badly hurt physically and emotionally by Adam, but I never explored the long term effects it had on her till now.

This is also the first "True evil" I had the gang go up against, up to this point, the team was squaring up against events more than villains and this is going to directly lead into the next major story arc of the story in a clear and noticeable way. It also contextualizes last chapter's title of "Shadows of the monster" as Sun, Sage, and Scarlet are *very* different from their canon takes. I almost would like to think that had the three of them fallen in with Adam and the white fang, they wouldn't have ended well.

Not much for reviews in the last week, MasterScarcity1 and I talked it out on Discord shortly after the chapter dropped, SgtChrysalis also talked with me about his misgivings with how the rest of team SSSN got introduced with it being a bit to out of character for the trio. hopefully this contextualizes that a bit for you.

Dragon lord Syed 101: I'd like to think Jaune was never a Mary Sue, he's made a lot of questionable choices and made more mistakes than half the cast throughout the story, and he might have been a Karma Houdini, he never got away with anything scott free. Even if it was subtle such as Ozpin knowing what happened between Jaune and Cardin and the lack of respect. Also going through the first 30 chapters of this story suffering from violent hallucinations probably was not a walk in the park for him either.

Next chapter is going to be the big talk, and a bit more, hope you all enjoy it, and as always, I'll see you all next time.