Jaune silently watched Pietro work. The old man peered through his spectacles as he fiddled with his tools making minor adjustments and tweaks Jaune wasn't even trying to understand the tiny circuits and motors of his new fingers.

The grey metal pinky and ring finger sat in front of the elderly man disassembled for him to see every minuscule wire and screw. Jaune looked at the metal caps on his fingers. He'd only received them yesterday after a short surgery installing them in preparation for his new prosthetic fingers.

"Do you still feel them?" Pietro asked, he didn't even glance away from his delicate work.

"Huh?" Jaune was pulled away from his thoughts and looked up at the old man as he worked.

"Your fingers, do you still feel them?" His voice was warm and he looked away from the little fragments of machinery to meet his eyes.

"Sometimes," Jaune admitted, "the doctors said it's called phantom pain, sometimes it feels like they itch and I can't scratch anything."

"Well hopefully these will help put an end to that," he said, grabbing a small length of copper wire. "You'll be able to feel through these, tactile surfaces at least, and temperatures. These pads in the fingers will send electrical signals so you will be able to feel through them."

"Is it like how Penny feels?" He asked looking around his workshop idly.

"More or less," Pietro explained. "Penny has extra sensory systems in her synthetic flesh so she has more data being sent to her brain. But you also have experience with touch and feel different than Penny, your brain will interpret the sensation differently because of it. Like how your brain knows what itchy fingers feels like; it'll probably feel familiar over time."

"Can they feel pain?" He asked.

"Yes, if they experience heat or pressure or a surface capable of causing harm you'll experience pain." He explained to him as he installed the wire into one of the tiny motors.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" He said awkwardly.

Pietro chuckled, "we'll you've already asked a couple, you might as well keep going."

"Well uh… why did you design Penny to feel pain?" He asked tentatively. "I mean… wouldn't she be a more effective fighter if she couldn't feel any pain?"

Pietro chuckled. "You know General Ironwood asked me that once?"

"What did you tell him?" Jaune asked.

"Well… what is pain?" He said picking in a screw with a pair of tweezers installing it with a thin screw.

"Uh… it is when you physically hurt?" Jaune knew his answer was lame. This felt like when Penny would ask him to describe how something tastes or how some kind of natural sensation felt to him leaving him rather stumped. She hadn't asked him anything like that since they were back in that abandoned home huddling in front of the fire.

Pietro laughed. "Ironwood didn't exactly have an answer either," he assured him. "Pain is the body registering damage," he explained. "Or potential damage, it's a signal in our brain that something is wrong and we act to avoid it. Penny too is able to sense damage or the threat of it and work to avoid it. A soldier that is careless about getting injured or risks injury unnecessarily won't be fighting for very long will he?"

"So that's why you programmed her to feel pain? So she could be a more effective fighter?" Jaune asked his brow furrowing as he watched Pietro assemble the two fingers. He knew every piece and it's precise position like an expert watchmaker knowing every gear and spring in a pocket watch.

"That's one reason," Pietro explained. "It's the answer I gave the General and he found it satisfactory."

"But she's more than just a weapon!" Jaune said, perhaps a little more passionately than he should. He felt a little jab of embarrassment at his little outburst. "Isn't she?"

Pietro smiled as he assembled Jaune's new ring finger and moved to build the smaller pinky. "She is more than a weapon," Pietro said, "the other reason I programmed her to feel pain was so she might learn empathy."

"Empathy?" Jaune asked.

"I figured the best way to teach someone compassion was through pain," he explained, "if you can understand what it means to be hurt you learn why it's wrong to hurt others, that's the other reason why I gave her the ability to feel pain."

In moments the pinky was assembled and he laid it out for him on the table next to the assembled ring finger. Jaune starred as the grey metal pieces of machinery. These were going part of him now? These little pieces of circuits and screws?

"You gonna try them on?" Pietro asked, he sat back in his mechanical chair, the legs pulling away from his personal workbench as he moved to the end of his personal workshop.

"Uh, yeah," Jaune said, his thoughts disrupted. He picked the ring finger up and inspected it. "Do I just… pop it on?" He asked looking at the little metal caps on the nubs of his fingers.

"That's all there is to it," Pietro said, opening a drawer. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. "Do you mind if I have a cigarette?"

"It's your place," Jaune said. He attacked the finger, it clicked into place easily and with a twitch the finger flexed. "Woah!"

"Something wrong?" Pietro asked, releasing a cloud of smoke. His cigarette burned between his fingers. "I can make adjustments if necessary."

"It's fine," Jaune assured him, touching his thumb and mechanical ring finger together, "it's just easier than I thought it'd be."

Pietro smirked, "Well that's good," he said, "try the pinky on."

Jaune did, again the mechanical limb snapped into place and he was able to move it with ease and dexterity he hadn't expected. "It seems fine to me."

"Get some practice with it and see," The old man suggested taking a long drag off his cigarette. "It can take a little getting used to."

Jaune nodded. "They do feel a bit heavy," he said, flexing the mechanical digits again and again.

"You'll get used to that, I might be able to design something a lighter in the future but since you're a huntsman I figured you'd adjust to the added weight and want something tough and resilient."

"I think I'll make do with these for now," Jaune said forming a fist. "Thank you, it's nice to have ten fingers again."

"It's the least I could do," he said, giving Jaune a friendly smile. "You helped bring my darling girl back after all."

Jaune frowned and looked away scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "You're not the first person to tell me that," he confessed. "But I think it's honestly the other way around." He touched his abdomen feeling where Vasily had stabbed him. He was told that Penny had stopped the bleeding with her laser burning the wound closed to stop the bleeding. He couldn't remember that aside from bits and pieces, thrashing and screaming in the snow screaming.

Pietro flicked away some of the ash of his cigarette before taking another drag. "It seems to me that it was a bit of both," he said exhaling the smoke from his lungs. "I saw the footage Jaune, I know what you did."

"I got my ass kicked," he said with a forced chuckle.

"You stood between her and that murderer," he said seriously, "you shared your aura with her."

Jaune looked away awkwardly. "I would have been screwed either way," he explained. "If she died… well I wouldn't have been far behind her. I slowed her down like that assassin said, and she also ran out of power and died trying to save me."

Pietro sighed and snubbed out his cigarette. "I appreciate your efforts nonetheless," he assured her, "don't hesitate to call me if those fingers give you trouble."

"I won't." Jaune waved as he showed himself out the door.

Just outside two soldiers waited and chatted idly outside waiting to help escort him. "Are you ready to return?" One of them asked him.

Jaune sighed and nodded. Back to Atlas to spend his days killing time however he could. He wished he had an excuse to stay out a little longer but he had none. "Yeah I'm ready," he said walking with them.

"Blake!" Penny said, walking swiftly down the hallway towards the Faunus girl.

"Oh hey Penny," Blake greeted standing outside the door to her team's dorm room. "Ruby isn't here right now, I was just leaving."

"Actually I wanted to talk to you Blake. Do you have any more of those books?" She asked her expectantly.

"I got plenty of books," Blake said, her brow furrowing a little. "Is there one you mean in particular?" She asked her.

"The sundered crown!" Penny told her. "I want to know what happens next and see if Princess Elize and Sir Ashton find love!"

"You think Ashton should be with Elize?" Blake asked skeptically.

"Oh course," Penny told her. "He's brave and kind and noble and he's always risking himself to protect Elize!"

"But he's also bullheaded and naive," Blake argued. "I prefer Darvin personally."

Penny frowned at that, "Darvin? But he is so dishonest and mean."

"He's cynical, not mean, and he'll do anything for Elize!" Blake told her, "just like when he was a spy there's no boundary he won't cross for her."

Penny deflated, "please do not tell me the princess ends up with that spy."

"It's… complicated," Blake said, "I won't spoil it for you but are you sure you want to read the next book?" She asked tentatively. "I didn't actually mean to give you the first book, and the sequel is a bit… explicit."

"Explicit?" Penny asked curiously.

Blake's cheeks turned a little red and she averted her eyes. "It has some scenes that are rather… graphic, you know what I mean?"

Penny shook her head no.

"There's uh… there's a few sex scenes," Blake blurted out for her, "graphically detailed sex scenes."

"Oh!" Penny said. "I see… well uh… I mean… I did not know that."

Blake smiled awkwardly, still rose red in her cheeks. "Yeah… I just thought you should know that."

"Thank you," Penny said a little flustered herself.

"Yeah," Blake said, with a nod and moving to leave.

"I really want to know what happens next!" Penny exclaimed looking at the floor bashfully as Blake looked back to her. "Would you mind if maybe I… borrowed it?"

"Of course," Blake said gently moving back to the door of the dorm room and slipped in for a minute before emerging with the desired paperback in hand. "Here you go," Blake said, handing the worn book to her, "enjoy it, sadly we're going to have to wait a bit for the final book."

"You mean the story is not finished?" Penny asked, accepting the book and looking at the cover showing a sword, a dagger and a crown. Penny frowned a little, "will it end with me desperately wanting to know what happens?"

Blake giggled slightly, "oh yeah, even worse than before." She waved goodbye and left.

Penny walked away holding her prize in both hands staring at the cover contemplating the various possibilities. As much as she wished to return to her room and read it privately and sate her curiosity on the continuation of the story Jaune would be getting back soon after visiting her father.

She walked through the hallway alone. They would have thought that finally being allowed to leave the infirmary would have given them more to do but with being confined to the academy and their friends being constantly busy their options for entertainment were still rather sparse.

So far they were spending their days together watching movies or taking occasional walks around the academy. With her guidance Jaune was becoming intimately familiar with the area as he never missed an opportunity to stretch his legs. But it seemed she was failing to keep the blonde knight from boredom. Try as she might she could tell that Jaune was loathing this time confined to the academy.

Jaune was only seeing his team and friends for a fraction of the day and even though he no longer needed to remain in the infirmary with the doctors and nurses observing him he was not well enough to train. He still wasn't able to maintain his aura, it was still healing him despite most of his external injuries having been healed. His nose was still bandaged and healing and his handsome face was still colored with bruises.

She was at least trying to stay close to him assuring that he was timely in taking his medication properly and getting sufficient rest and nutrients along with whatever entertainment they could find.

Jaune had shown her all of his favorite Spruce Willis movies and all his comic books. He'd given up on playing any board games against her, he always lost. He was a talented chess player but he was hopeless against her, chess was easy for her, it was just a manner of observing every piece and considering the options before choosing the most obvious maneuver.

She stepped out onto the landing pad feeling the cool wind take hold of her hair and skirt as she waited for his bullhead to arrive.

Jaune stepped off the bullhead to find himself being already greeted with a familiar smile and wave. "Hey Penny," he greeted giving her a little wave as he walked closer.

"Hello Jaune!" She said falling into step beside him as they stepped inside. "How did it go with my father? Is he doing well?"

"He's fine," Jaune assured her, holding his left hand up for her to see the metal fingers. "And so far so good."

Penny stopped an evident frown on her face. "Jaune… were you smoking?" She asked, her tone was uncharacteristically serious.

"Huh?" Jaune said, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"My artificial olfactory sensors have detected traces of nicotine on you," she explained gasping as realization dawned across her face. "Was it my father? Was it?"

Jaune backed away from her intimidated by the sudden intensity from her. "Uh, he had a cigarette after he finished constructing my fingers."

"He lied to me!" Penny said. "He promised me he stopped smoking!"

"Uh I know it isn't really any of my business but it's not a big deal." He said rather meekly.

"He lied to me! And he knows how bad smoking is!" She told him.

"I know I know," Jaune said holding his hands up. "But I mean we all have our vices." He kind of felt a little silly the moment he said it. What vices could Penny possibly have?

"Why would anyone do something if it is harmful to themselves?" She asked him.

"Because we like it I guess," Jaune answered. "I mean I don't smoke but I eat my fair share of junk food, some people just do things that are kind of self destructive for one reason or another."

Penny's frown remained. "It is just… so illogical," she said evidently frustrated. "Such habits can eventually kill you."

"Well we all die eventually," Jaune explained and immediately saw that it was the wrong thing to say.

"So you carelessly indulge in these harmful practices?!" She asked him pointedly.

"No it's just… I guess it helps some people accept their own mortality," he explained, "like it helps them feel like they're in control of something that they have no control over."

"That does not make any sense," Penny said.

Jaune sighed, "no it doesn't," he agreed. He supposed trying to justify harmful vices like alcohol and tobacco and junk food was pointless. There wasn't any way to justify it with cold logic and she had no means of enjoying such things herself. "I don't really know how to make you understand."

"I do not think I want to understand," Penny told him.

"Fair enough," Jaune said, ending the conversation. They walked in silence for a little bit as he moved for his dormitory with Penny following along with him as she had been doing the last several days.

So far he was seeing her more than anyone else. He supposed she was as bored as he was, probably more since she didn't need to sleep like him. For the most part he was happy to have the company but her constant presence and her insistence to help him with every little thing was becoming somewhat irksome.

"Why don't we ever go to your room?" Jaune asked her idly, trying to make a little conversion.

"You want to go to my room?" Penny asked him.

Jaune shrugged, "why not?" He asked, "We've been hanging out in my team's dorm day and night, I'm a little sick of it to be honest."

"Well alright Jaune," she said, turning down an unfamiliar corridor leading the way. She led him to an elevator taking them up several different levels to a maze of corridors that she navigated seamlessly before arriving at a rather nondescript door. "Here we are," she announced typing in a code and opening it.

Jaune's first observation was the size. He estimated it was a little less than half the size of the dorm room they had here at Atlas. It had a bed pressed against the corner, a glass shower stall in another with a rack of Penny's usually green and white dresses. Calling it spartan would have felt like an understatement.

"This is where you live?" He asked, stepping inside behind her into the cramped little room.

"I do not spend much time here," she explained to him, turning to sit on the corner of her bed. "I usually just come here to recharge or change my clothing once it has become damaged or dirty, or to clean my hairy and synthetic body."

That explained why there was just a shower and none of the other amenities of a dorm room. "Still, I feel like you should have a window at least." He said looking around to find the walls plain and unornamented. It felt more like a closet to him than the room of a young girl. Shouldn't she have posters? Pictures? Stuffed animals?

"I'm fine here," Penny assured him, turning to a little shelf beside her. She set a book she'd been holding down on a little self next to a few other books. "If you want we can go to your room like usual." She offered a little sheepishly.

Jaune shook his head no. "It's fine," he assured her. "What do you want to do?" He asked sitting on the little single person bed next to her.

"I have downloaded a new movie we could watch," she offered.

"Sure," Jaune said looking around and seeing no TV.

Penny scooted back against the wall as a single one of her eyes glowed to life projecting a holographic display. The studio logos flashed and played before him and he simply scooted back to lean against the wall with her watching it play from her projection.

They sat shoulder to shoulder with each other and watched another one of Penny's preferred romance movies play out in front of them. He was starting to get tired of movies in general but Penny was always ready for another having hardly ever seen any before now.

Penny blinked and the movie stopped.

"What's wrong?" Jaune asked.

"It is time for you to take your medication," Penny said standing and moving immediately towards the door, "I will retrieve it along with your water."

"It's-," Jaune tried to offer to go with but she was out the door before he could even offer. He sighed sitting on the empty mattress where she recharged herself between missions and various duties. He looked at the bland lifeless walls and wondered idly if he could find a poster for any of these romantic movies she liked so much.

Hope many of you are still reading and enjoying this fic. I don have a lot to say except that I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe in these uncertain times. If you're quarantined I hope this helped you escape boredom for a moment or two. Please review and give your thoughts and opinions. And as always thank you MidKnigntMoonglow99.