Jet strode down the corridor of the hospital. Dressed in his usual black jacket and trousers, he dodged past a nurse in a white uniform. He was moving quickly, only paying attention to two things.
The piece of paper in his hands.
And the numbers of the rooms going past him.
The paper comprised of a table with two columns. On one, different conditions were listed underneath the words 'Lilac Ayane Test Results'. The second was a string of 'Negative's.
Except one difference, which Jet knew was going to be there. Where the word 'Hymen' was listed, the word 'Broken' was paired with it. He'd known before he'd received it.
While he'd been asleep, Lilac had scouted their rendezvous location for her night with him that took place as part of tonight's Team Night. She'd been cornered by someone, trapped by that same person, and raped by that same person.
His own teammate. All alone.
Helpless.
Jet clenched his fists around the paper as he continued to advance, rounding a corner. As soon as the testing was complete on the DNA of the sperm sample left in her body, he'd find the person responsible even before the law did.
They would suffer. No-one did something so horrible to a teammate of his own.
He reached the door he was looking for, and without waiting or knocking, shoulder barged the heavy iron door and crashed into the room. His unorthodox method of entry caused Lilac, who was in a hospital bed (roughly a queen size), Izzet and Nouvelle to all jump, while Ozpin merely turned around, his eyebrows raised.
"Vell?" Nouvelle asked immediately, a stern expression on her face as Jet caught his breath. "Ezz she vell?" She brushed her flaming red hair out of her face.
Jet paused and scanned up and down the chart before him. There were many terrifying listings, HIV, Syphilis, Genitalia Dysfunction/Damage. Thankfully, all of them were negative, though Jet felt his blood boil at the fact that there wasn't one that listed 'Psychological Harm'. Nouvelle was definitely hurting.
But no. All there was was the Hymen Broken abnormality (was it really an abnormality after what she'd been through?!).
"She's fine." Jet replied, and heard Izzet give an audible sigh of relief. "Only her virginity."
"Any information about the culprit?" Ozpin asked, his eyes not leaving Jet's.
"No." Jet replied. "But the doctor I spoke to assured me that we'd be the first to know. She said that she didn't envy the one who had done it now, what with one of the strongest hunters now 'chasing his tail'." He supplied the last with air quotes.
Jet checked his scroll. 11:43.
"Vhat should we do, Jet?" Nouvelle asked. Jet looked up in time to see Ozpin give him a look that plainly said 'your choice'. His choice, hm? He did remember what he'd said to Goodwitch.
"Ozpin and I will return back to Beacon." Jet replied. "You two remain here. Keep Lilac company." He then realised that, by the light of the artificial glow cast by the building, the pleading eyes of both Izzet and Nouvelle that made it clear they wanted his reassurance that it was the right course of action in the face of all this. "Ad mortem."
"Eet vill be done." Nouvelle replied, putting a fist to her chest, and bowing her head. Izzet did the same, and Ozpin's eyes widened slightly, something Jet might have missed had he not been well immersed in the art of discerning emotion from eye movement.
He knew why. His whole team respected him as both a leader and a friend. This had nothing to do with strength, however, as Jet knew that, if it was a three-on-one, his team would defeat him without any hassle. However, what garnered their respect was an aptitude for battlefield tactics that had saved them on more than one occasion.
Not only did his wings allow him to gain an elevated view of the field of battle (provided they weren't facing an enemy who could snipe him) but he was practically unparalleled in his craft. Ozpin himself had recognised his talent, and after demonstrating it in a supervised mission that should have killed them, his team had grown to appreciate his leadership.
Both the unconditional following of an order he gave and their salute were not enforced by his own hand, rather that the three women on his team had applied it themselves following their discovery of his ability at the head of an army. While Jet had protested numerous times, they had maintained it, and any more complaint from his own side would only make it harder to follow him, so Jet allowed for the simple reason that they would not discontinue.
"Well, we should be off." Ozpin declared, turning and exiting the room. Jet then turned and followed.
'Stay safe.' he sent to his three teammates behind him.
Jet and Ozpin stepped out of the doors to the hospital, side by side.
Both student and headmaster walked away from the building that housed both teammate and fellow student.
"You have an intriguing level of authority for a team leader." Ozpin commented as they walked past several higher-tier shops selling dust and resources for weapons.
"I've made it clear several times that the salutes aren't necessary, but my team just has that much confidence in me." Jet replied. His focus wasn't on their surroundings, however. Jet lowered his voice. "Personally, I don't think I deserve it."
"Why not?" Ozpin asked. "I stand by what I, and Professor Port, said about you to General Ironwood when you were admitted here."
"That I rivalled him?" Jet responded. "Perhaps, but my abilities speak of someone that takes the power of their allies and wields it as his own."
"Are you referring to the move that your team refers to as Dark Ultimatum?" Ozpin queried. "The ability to drain an ally's aura, replenish your own and bolster your dust abilities temporarily?"
"That and others." Jet replied. "You and I both know that those mark me as far less than someone worthy to bear the title of Ironwood's rival."
"Perhaps, but do not forget that it was I and Port who bestowed you with said title." Ozpin said, as Jet took a quick glance around him, now beginning to recognise his surroundings. "And I do not believe you are less than that. You hold your teammates in much the same way as they do you, else you would not care as you do about taking their strength."
Jet couldn't find an argument to that. He and his teammates were practically like family in their trust of one another. Still, part of what kept him from feeling whole was the fact that they knew only half the truth about him.
If they knew the rest…
Jet shook his head, and followed his headmaster. Both he and Ozpin had agreed that that truth would not emerge unbidden, and that both would silence any that broke his own quiet on the matter.
Jet crash landed on his bed in his dorm room, and he soon felt it rise until it was hovering in the air once again. As much as it pained him to lay on Izzet's daily masterpiece, he couldn't help himself. He buried his head in his hands, feeling the muscles in his wings complain as they folded against his back.
How? How had this happened?
The answer was simple. Lilac had been ambushed by someone who'd either sabotaged her own combat potential, or they were much stronger in combat than she was. He found no bruise or blemish on his teammate's skin, so he guessed the former.
And both Nouvelle and Izzet had been shaken up by this, not to mention Lilac herself. All three were looking to him for support. So his move had been to order the three of them to stay together, while he started to search for the culprit.
Had that been the best move?
What if that same person came after another of his team… or Ruby, while he was just laying here?
No. Jet knew better than to question that. While Lilac may have been overcome by this person, now she and the others were in a secure building with both security cameras and themselves. One member of LIJN might be weak alone, but when two or more were present, they were brutal.
Jet knew that better than anyone. And that just left Ruby.
Jet laughed to himself. Anyone he knew would tell him that Ruby was able to take care of herself. But then, Lilac was as well. There again, Ruby had her own team, three teammates of her own that could protect her and themselves. He hadn't faced the rest of Ruby's team in combat, but she was something else.
He'd only bested her because he had something similar to her semblance. He'd taken her by surprise by demonstrating his proficiency with a scythe, and taking her on with said scythe. That was during the training fight.
When he'd fought her without holding back…
Jet sighed. That was a fight only one person had won in the past. When he unleashed his true power.
He was distracted from his musings from a tiny knocking on the door to the dorm room. Jet leaped down from his bunk, the pain in his wings instantly subsiding as the pressure was taken off of them. He strode to the door, his bare feel brushing through the black carpet of the dorm room.
He opened the door a crack, figuring it to be a teacher, possibly Ozpin following up, or maybe Goodwitch, come to check up on him. Jet was therefore surprised to open the door to find a familiar pair of silver eyes staring back at him from the small line of the door.
Izzet sat upon one of two chairs that had been pulled up next to Lilac's bed. Her eyes were on Lilac, who was currently wrapped up in her snow white duvet, even her shimmering curls hidden. Nouvelle was currently calling someone on her scroll, outside of the room.
Izzet slowly outstretched a hand to the shaken Lilac, and watched as she flinched. Since coming here, Lilac hadn't said a single word, both Jet and Nouvelle having supplied the only dialogue of their team between themselves, Ozpin, and Goodwitch.
'Take my hand. It'll feel a bit better.' Izzet sent, using her own telepathy. The same telepathy that wasn't unique to her, as Jet could also use it. Thankfully, where words hadn't gotten through to her teammate, Lilac seemed to respond to her inner voice. She suddenly withdrew her hand and grasped her own, pulling it underneath the wrappings.
There was a knock on the door. Izzet glanced back in time to see a tall man in a white overcoat combined with a grey undercoat and red tie, black hair with grey streaks adorning his head. As he walked into the room, Izzet's hand not currently trapped by Lilac twitched towards her left sword, which was sheathed on her back.
"I'm here to check on the situation." he said, his firm tone and low voice not one Izzet recognised. He didn't seem to be a nurse.
Her hand clenched on the hilt of Temporal.
"Hi Jet." Ruby said, seeing the one emerald eye looking back from the crack in the door. "Can I come in?"
"Anytime." Jet responded, opening the door. As soon as Ruby saw her boyfriend's expression, her heart sank a little. He was anything but happy, his mouth a thin line, and his eyes had that harshness behind them that Ruby had seen back when they'd had their first conflict.
"I heard about the accident. Is everyone okay?" Ruby asked him anxiously. Jet grimaced in response as he led her inside, closing the door behind her.
"That was no accident." Jet replied, sitting at a desk to her left, and using his leg to grab another from another desk and push it towards her. Ruby sat down after putting Crescent Rose by the door. "Did Goodwitch tell you that?"
"Yes." Ruby said slowly. "Why?"
"Lilac was cornered and raped in Vale." Jet replied, bluntly. "It happened last night."
Cornered and raped? Ruby inadvertently let out a gasp as she processed this new piece of information. What happened? Was she hurt?
"Right now, she's in hospital." Jet continued, as Ruby looked down. "Izzet and Nouvelle are there, looking after her. I'm back here, and Ozpin is looking into things for me." Ruby heard a thump as his fist hit the desk. "I told him that no-one should know outside of my team. That means you'll have to keep quiet as well."
"I won't say anything." Ruby responded, looking up into Jet's eyes. "You know you can trust me."
Jet held her gaze for a moment, a searching look in his eyes.
"Yes, I do." Jet replied. He looked away for a moment, and Ruby sidled closer before putting her arms around his front, before embracing him from behind. Jet did not resist, instead leaning into her hug.
"What's your next move?" Ruby asked him.
"Right now?" Jet asked. "Simple really. Take this hit rolling, then get my team up and back into their learning. It won't be easy."
"Is it tough?" Ruby asked him, running a hand through his sleek, black hair. It had the feel of cold steel. "Being a leader, I mean. I'm a leader too but I've only really had Jaune answer that question, aaannnd he might not be the greatest comparison point."
"I hear you." Jet responded. "That guy has a heart of gold, but he's not the greatest combat-wise." He paused. "Honestly, it's not hard for me."
Ruby felt her stomach drop a bit. Really? It wasn't hard for him? Ruby tried her best to lead her team, and she always found it tough to decide for her team, and some of those decisions hadn't even been right. How did he do it? Was there a secret?
"What is hard though," Jet continued, as Ruby continued stroking his hair, "is living up to what Ozpin said about me. When he tested me himself, he called me Ironwood's upcoming rival in leadership, and that is no boast." He turned in his chair, forcing Ruby to both release him and stop stroking his spikes, and affixed her with a serious expression. "In combat, I'm also very dangerous at my best. But being at my best takes a huge effort. Can't you say the same?"
"Yeah." Ruby replied. It made sense. Jet knew his team just as well as she knew her own, probably. There again, she did have one other question to ask. "Does your team use moves?"
"Moves?" Jet queried, tilting his head. "We do have combination attacks, where two of us attack together. Is that what you mean?"
"Yeah. Could you tell me them?" Ruby asked, hopefully. "I just want to hear the names for them."
"Sure." Jet replied. "Well, we have many combinations, but you should probably know what we can all do." He paused, and Ruby waited for him to continue, wanting to know more. "I generally use dark-based attacks, Izzet uses time, Lilac uses electric-based attacks, and Nouvelle uses fire. My combinations are Chaos Silence with Izzet, Shadow Storm with Lilac and Balefire with Nouvelle."
"What do they do?" Ruby asked, interested. Jet gave her a smile, as if welcoming her curiosity.
"First, Chaos Silence."
In Ruby's mind's eye, she pictured Jet and Izzet back in that arena.
"Izzet uses her semblance to speed up our time, increasing our speed."
A blur appeared around them both, and Izzet drew her parallel blades, Jet following by deploying Midnight Rose.
"I then sacrifice a little of my aura to boost our power level, increasing the force of our strikes."
A dark aura, visible through the blurring, appeared around the pair's weapons.
"Then, we strike too fast and too hard for our target to react."
They flew forwards, and the mental picture faded.
"Next, Shadow Storm."
Jet and Lilac appeared. Lilac drew her two whips, which crackled with electricity.
"I perch on top of Lilac, and boost our power level."
Jet leaped up and landed on Lilac's shoulders. The dark aura surrounded them once more.
"She electrifies her whips and starts to spin, using magnetism to keep me in place."
Lilac spun on the spot, outstretching her glowing whips, making her and Jet look like a spinning top.
"Anything that gets hit by us gets paralyzed by Lilac then blown away by me."
The spinning top-like combination barrelled forwards.
"Finally, Balefire."
Jet and Nouvelle appeared. Nouvelle brandished Burning Meteor, the staff's flames burning fiercely.
"Nouvelle surrounds herself in flames."
Nouvelle bursts into flames, the crackling conflagration surging around her.
"I fly above her and she sends the flames upwards at me."
Jet took flight and hovered above Nouvelle, who gathered all the fire and sent it upwards at Jet in one big fireball.
"I then strike it and send fire in all directions, in an area-of-effect attack."
The scythe fell, and a storm of fire descended around the pair. Ruby's mental image faded as she returned to looking at Jet. She only had one statement to what she saw.
"That's awesome!" Ruby exclaimed, her volume causing Jet to flinch. "Did you come up with those yourself?"
"I did." Jet replied, smiling and tilting his head.
CLANG!
Izzet crouched and took a step back from this man, who'd just deflected her blade using a silver revolver. He was not crouched in a combat stance of his own, his eyes following Temporal and Tempest as Izzet angled them across her body in a defensive stance.
"Now, now." the man spoke again, lowering his weapon and pointing it downwards. "My name is General Ironwood. I just came to check on your teammate. Ask her a few questions."
Izzet tensed up. The name didn't ring a bell, and she still didn't recognise him. Maybe this was some big shot up at Beacon, Vale, or somewhere, but at the moment, she wasn't taking any chances. The man sighed.
"Would it help you if Ozpin or Glynda spoke with you? You clearly are a bit… agitated." Ironwood asked.
In response, Izzet raised Tempest, and mentally commanded the swords to display a grey light. They did so, and she shone it upwards.
Only Jet would convince her that this man was who he said he was.
"…and also Ice Flower, with me and Weiss." Ruby finished reciting. Jet listened to her intently, keeping a warm smile. She'd taken his hand in both of her own, the warmth gentle and loving as it poured from his body into her own.
Jet didn't respond immediately, but looked over her left shoulder, his gaze suddenly intense. Ruby whipped her head around, only to find… nothing. She quickly looked back at Jet in time to see him stand and remove his hand from her grasp.
"The hospital. Izzet's calling me!" he said, his voice raised. Ruby jumped to her feet, the motion pushing the chair away from her. How? Ruby couldn't hear any scroll going off. Seeing her confusion, Jet explained. "We all have a part of another semblance gifted to us. We can call our teammates to us by using a psychic signal. Izzet's using it to call me."
"Should I come?" Ruby asked as Jet perched himself on the window of his dorm room after opening it.
"I'll need the backup, if Izzet's signal means what I think it means." Jet replied, and Ruby grinned, taking Crescent Rose and moving up to the window.
