Well guys I finally got this in for you guys. I hope you enjoyed it as this story is becoming very hard to write so far, and I'm thinking of taking a break for it. It wouldn't be an indefinite hiatus but it would be a small while before I would begin writing for this again, just until I can figure our what I'm doing with this. As such, I'm going to create a poll soon for a story you guys would like to replace this one with.

I hope you guys understand, and I know a lot of people are invested in this story so don't worry I AM COMING BACK TO THIS ONE. Thank you guys for listening to me ramble for a bit, and enjoy the chapter.

XOXOXO

CoffeyJoe

0-0-0-0

Jaune was back in that place from before. The sort of half-remembered place from the night awhile ago. Colors mixed into a sort of grayish blur and shapes were little more than blobs, save for the lone figure in front of him.

Its suit was more ragged now, the edges frayed and tattered and the tie loosened. Despite the younger visage the face seemed older, more defined with what looked to be small bruises and blemishes that stood out glaringly against the white skin. The veins had gotten worse, no longer were they almost entirely tucked behind the color but instead they crawled upwards and over his chin, nearly reaching his eyes.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"What?" Jaune asked, the scene more of a throwback to the first time this happened.

"Jaune, Jaune, Jaune. You really are slow on the uptake aren't you?" the figure sighed, disappointed. "No matter, your intelligence is not what I'm here to discuss. No, what I want to know is if you've given any thought to what I said before?"

"No I-"

"You can't lie to me Jaune, I'm you." he chuckled mirthlessly. "I know it's been eating away at you, my words I mean. You can admit it, I do find I'm able to raise good points."

"Shut it, and get me out of here!" Jaune yelled, raising a fist in a fruitless display of anger.

"That temper, it's always gotten us into trouble hasn't it? Besides the point, I know, but what I really want to know is why haven't you taken that first step into a truly free life?" The hideous doppleganger said, gesturing to Jaune. "If it wasn't enough beforehand to make you want to leave how about now? You try to help that cat faunus and what does it get you? A missile into your chest."

"I knew what I was getting into, I didn't help Blake without knowing I could get hurt."

"Fair enough, but did you not warn her to stay away from Torchwick? And then, if I'm remembering correctly, you took a bullet for that girl because she wouldn't let up correct?" the not-Jaune tapped a finger against its head in contemplation.

"That's irrelevant, I would've done it again." Jaune hissed at the creature, to which said creature just shrugged.

"Seems like a monstrous waste of potential to go get yourself killed protecting some brat who'll forget about you in no time."

"I- No they wouldn't do that. I'm a team leader!" Jaune stammered for a moment before recovering.

"Oh? Did I strike a nerve?"

"Shut. It." Jaune gritted out, the creature looked more amused than intimidated but brought its hands up in a show of complacency.

"Ok Ok, didn't mean to get your knickers in a twist, but, before you go, I have just 3 questions for you." the figure said, raising three fingers and lowering sequentially. "1: What is it that you're truly doing here? 2: Do you truly mind hurting people for personal gain? And 3: If given the opportunity, would you abandon this place in return for true freedom? That's all for now- and Jaune, do remember: There will always be someone with an opportunity for you, as long as you want to find them."

The rest of the scene turned to static as Jaune was pulled out into the waking world once more.

0-0-0-0

White. White, white, white. That's all Jaune saw as he woke. Wight and bright light, both of which helped supplement his theory that he had died and was in the afterlife.

Funny, I thought hell would be in a much darker color. he tried to sit up when he was suddenly confronted by the awe-inspiring amount of aching pain in his chest. He tried to gasp in surprise but it came out more of a broken wheeze than anything before he gave up with a grunt and fell back on the bed. The blur from the lights was beginning to die down a bit which gave him some time to look at his surroundings.

Well, the plus side was that he was not, in fact, dead and in hell, but instead in a Hospital of some kind. White beds littered the room he was in, only two of which were occupied by someone he couldn't make out. Jaune gave a tired sigh and let the minutes tick away in his hospital room.

That lasted all of 5 minutes before he needed to do something before he went crazy. Leaning over to the desk on the side he noticed a small glass of water, it was lukewarm as he took but that was the least of his concerns. He downed the thing in nearly one gulp before breathing a sigh of relief and falling back onto the bed, wincing as the shock sent a throb through his chest.

"Finally up?" came a sickeningly familiar voice from one of the occupied beds.

"C-Cressida?" he asked, brow furrowing.

"Yeah, it's me you ass. Hopefully you'll stop all that whining from now on." the redheaded brute muttered bitterly. "Keeping me up all damn night..."

"What are you doing here?" Jaune winced as he immediately realized the stupid question.

"Are you serious?"

"Sorry, I forgot for a moment."

"Good to know you're keeping us in your prayers." she snorted. "My Russel and Sky have been dismissed "tentatively" as they called it, while Dove and I have to stay here for extra checkups."

"I-I'm sorry, Cressida. I'm not sure what happened."

She snorted again. "Save it Arc, there's no need for "i'm sorry's" at this point, I just hope I'll never see you again."

The rejection stung, more so than he would have liked to admit. The room fell back into silence and the clocked ticked on and on, suddenly Jaune could hear footsteps coming from down the hall. They stopped outside the room where faint murmuring could be heard before the door opened to reveal Rin and Nora, Jaune felt a strange surge of relief at just seeing the two.

"Rin, Nora you're alright." he said, a tired smiled barely making it onto his face.

"If I remember correctly you're the one who got hit by a rocket." Rin jabbed with a small smile on her face. Nora was not so tactful and bounded across the beds and medical equipment to wrap her leader into a bone-crushing hug.

Jaune had never experienced "seeing stars" before now as pain exploded through his chest. It was so profound and sudden that he could do little more than give a small hrk! as his teammate squeezed harder.

"Fearless leader I thought you were a goner!"

"Nora, you're hurting." she stared at his expression before adding. "Immensely it seems."

Nora dropped the wheezing boy back onto his bed with a bashful smile. "Oops, sorry fearless leader."

"Y-Yeah Nora, just don't do that ever again." Jaune said hoarsely, clutching at his chest in pain. Nora continued to laugh as Rin filled him in on what had happened for the last two days while he was out cold.

It seems that tensions were at an all-time high between RYBN and ARSN after the escapade at the docks. Weiss personally blamed Blake for the entire thing and had been vocal about it at one point. The ensuing argument had driven a rift between the two teams as both Nora and Rin, although she was aghast to admit it, reflected their white-themed teammate's sentiment.

Going out of your way to achieve closure and try to stop something dangerous is one thing, but willingly giving into your anger and getting someone hurt was another. Rin had mostly stayed out of it for the most part seeing as Blake was already dealing with the monumental guilt of getting Jaune injured. Blake had been personally interrogated by Headmistress Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch, but luckily she wasn't expelled.

Rin couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief at that tidbit of news, for, while they weren't incredibly happy with their faunus comrade, they didn't wish to see her thrown out onto the street. Especially with the White Fang possibly alerted to her whereabouts. Overall the fallout of the dock incident had been a complete and total mess, and it served to do nothing but get someone hurt.

The White Fang down at the dock had been taken into custody which had helped to serve as some silver lining to that disaster. So, once again, to sum up in a few short words, the night had been completely shit for Jaune and everyone else. Rin stuck along a bit longer with Nora as they delivered a pile of homework and books that had been thoughtfully provided by the teachers while he was comatose.

Fucking Port and Oobleck, for some reason they delighted in his pain.

They left soon after, asking him to save his strength and nodding to Cressida before exiting. And, that of course, left an oppressive silence between the two enemies for life. More minutes ticked by and by, until Jaune thought his head was about to explode and decided to say something.

"Look, about Forever Fall, I was just angry. Unreasonably angry, more so than I thought I could get." he took a moment to collect himself. "But you threatened my team Cressida, the people I had been directly tasked with protecting above everything else. I-I'm not sure what happened exactly at Forever Fall-"

"You nearly killed my team that's what happened." Jaune flinched but he was sure she didn't see it.

"No, I mean that there was something wrong. In all my shit years of life I've never been that angry, it was borderline madness." he nearly whispered to the quiet room, his talking only interrupted by the beeping of machines. "I-I haven't been feeling myself lately, I don't know what's happening but I think I'm going crazy."

He would have laughed at the thought if he had any energy to laugh with. He heard Cressida shift in her bed but she didn't say anything, once more the silence permeated the room. They stayed like that, the default mood for the room it seemed, for what might have been hours, perhaps she had fallen asleep without him noticing but he just couldn't get his mind of things.

I'm not really crazy am I? I've never been crazy before so why now? he sighed as she leaned back into the pillow. Those questions, what could they mean? Is it possible to have an illusion seem so lucid and real?

Why did this have to happen to him? Why did life feel like in needed to beat the dead horse known as Jaune Arc? What had he done to deserve this? All of which were relevant questions but none of which served to help him.

He hoped someone else was having a better day...

0-0-0-0

Roma Torchwick was not having a good day...

Screwing up a dust heist is one thing, annoying and tedious yes but not dangerous to his life, having to retreat from a bunch of teenagers and nearly being exposed by every cop in the city was something that her boss felt the need to address. One does not simply make the mistake of displeasing Cinder Fall and walk away without their fair share of scars if they're lucky.

So here she was, mastermind criminal and leader of the most influential mob in the whole kingdom, sat square across from a woman who would most likely light both her and Neo on fire if they messed up. For all intents and purposes Cinder seemed uninterested in what was going on around her, twirling a raven lock of hair as she stared at the bottle of wine next to her. Roma desperately wished for a cigar right now, anything to keep the razor sharp silence in the room from caving her skull in from the sheer pressure of the situation. Roma saw Cinder shift slightly as she peered down into her wine glass.

"Roma," she began, instantly causing the thief to snap to attention. "I needed to talk to you about what happened at the docks a couple days ago."

"Ah yes, well you see there was a minor setback but it won't impede our plans at all-" she snapped her mouth shut as Cinder interrupted her.

"That's not what I meant Roma, and I think you know it. Or are you simply that dumb?" Cinder asked, eyes finally looking into the thief's. Roma felt Neo tense at her side but she knew that she wouldn't attack someone such as Cinder. To be honest the fiery woman had them by the metaphorical balls right now so they needed to play her little game.

"What- What do you mean Cinder?"

"I'm referring to the fact that your incompetence just costed us several squads of White Fang, literally tons of dust, and you nearly being apprehended by a bunch of teenagers. The Fang are simply animals that's true but even they will begin to doubt our success if we keep throwing their fellow soldiers to the wolves, no pun intended."

"Look, the heist was set up to go off without a hitch someone must have tipped the kids off to-"

"So you think someone went behind your back without your knowing?"

Oops, that had been the wrong thing to say. Although their employment together had been short the pair of thieves realized very quickly that Cinder despised incompetence beyond everything else in the world. Yes they learned that lesson after watching some Fang lieutenant get immolated for losing a battalion of soldiers to a police bust.

"I ugh- No not at all Cinder, look don't worry about I have everything under control this was just a minor hiccup in a series of perfect heists so far." Roma said, trying to regain some semblance of control over the situation. She reached for a cigar that wasn't there and leaned back at the minor faux pas, Cinder regarded her subordinate carefully for a moment.

"It is true that your ability to collect what we need is useful Roma, but remember that everyone can be replaced." Roma swallowed hard at as Neo tensed up again, both sharing a quick glance at the other. "But worry not, I did not invite you here in the intent of killing either of you. No what I wished to discuss is the man you indisposed during the fight."

That kid? Sure Roma had heard the guy with an aura was studying at Beacon, and sure she was surprised to find herself fighting him but it didn't really concern her when both he and the cat were double-teaming her. He was ok with a sword he supposed but obviously not nearly good enough to battle him and certainly not Neo and most definitely not Cinder. Honestly she was unsure as to why she was bringing it up.

"Yeah that guy, I remember." Roma said slowly.

"Well it has come to my attention that he could be most useful in my endeavors as it would seem. I'm sure a woman such as yourself would most certainly understand the intricacies and necessity of building a network am I correct?" Roma nodded woodenly as she continued. "Getting a spy into Beacon was one of my original goals anyway, however this young man represents a golden opportunity for me and my associates."

Oh great, this woman had associates? More people like her?! That was something she did not need to think about at the moment. "So, ugh, what does this have to do with me?"

"Well looking back at the footage I see that he took the blast originally aimed for the cat, and that presents a perfect opportunity to work at that little chink in the armor. The boy will be mistrustful for the moment, my master has already been planting ideas into his head for awhile, and I believe your work will be the perfect catalyst to kickstart a chain reaction."

"Once more Cinder, I don't see how this involves me."

"Well Mr. Arc could very well prove to be our inside man as it would seem, being so close to the teachers is certainly invaluable." she sipped her wine before looking back at the master criminal. "I'm sure you follow my thinking, yes?"

Another wooden nod from Roma.

"Well, you see, there is one issue with getting to him at the moment. The council and faculty do keep a close eye on him and I do not wish to reveal myself to the whole school as of yet. However, I do know of a way to bring him to me, but that would require a certain friend of ours."

Neo tensed up once again.