Jaune's eyelids creaked open reluctantly, his mind protesting that five more minutes wouldn't hurt. At least his body wasn't complaining; the enhanced healing that his large aura reserves lent him had dealt with any physical issues over night. Jaune had been woken by Nora's usual morning chorus; sitting up in bed, he could see her shaking Ren into wakefulness across the room.

She slept in basically the same outfit as Jaune, a t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms, though hers were more...colourful. Ren wore what he called a 'jinbei' when he was sleeping; it closely resembled a t-shirt and pyjama trousers, though the sleeves hung from the top's main body by thick threads instead of being fully attached, and the shirt was tied closed. Pyrrha's sleepwear consisted of a simple pyjama bottoms-and-top combo.

Swinging his legs out of his bed, Jaune couldn't take the time to appreciate Ren's failing attempts to sleep through Nora's alarm-clock impression. His thoughts were too occupied. Pyrrha gave him a sleepy wave as he walked to the bathroom he and Ren had used the night before, but he barely even noticed. I was...convenient. Jaune pushed open the bathroom door, walking to stand in front of a sink. He stared at himself in the mirror. I didn't earn this; I'm not the only person who could have done this. I wasn't even the tenth...

Jaune struggled with his emotions, his hands clenching into fists on the counter. The Jaune in the mirror seemed to taunt him, as it brought to mind all the ways in which Jaune knew those around him so outshone him. Anger, humiliation and self-loathing rose up in equal measures, and not able to take it any more, Jaune spun around and drove his fist into the wall as hard as he could.

He kept hitting it, again and again, and didn't stop until he was back in control. He panted, leaning against the wall, before finally taking a deep breath. So I was convenient. That's not great, but it doesn't matter now. I'm here; for whatever reason, I am here, and I have a second chance. I won't waste it for my ego's sake. Get your head in the game, Arc! Straightening, Jaune felt that he was stable enough to go out into the world now. After he checked on his fist of course. Strange how it didn't hurt despite what he must have...done to...it...

Jaune stared at his hand. His totally unblemished hand, which had just been thrown full-force into a solid wall at least ten times. He flexed his fingers in disbelief, and it responded flawlessly. There was still feeling in the hand...his nerves were working as normal. So what was going on? A sneaking suspicion dawned in his mind, and Jaune looked to where he'd attacked the wall.

His breath caught in his throat as he registered the cracks running across the tiles, and the knuckle-depth indentations which revealed the more solid load-bearing wall behind them. He'd done that? The only person he knew who could break walls with their fists was Yang, and only because of her Semblance.

Jaune curled his hand into a fist again, moving it up to the imprint in the wall. His knuckles fit perfectly, and he realised that even his fingers had left slight indents. What in Monty's name... The sound of the door opening came to Jaune's ears, and he spun around to see Ren entering slowly.

"Hey, Jaune? Are you okay? There was a really strange feeling coming out of here, and then we heard something breaking..." The martial artist looked from Jaune to the wall beside him, eyes assessing everything, from the look on Jaune's face to the way he held his right hand away from his body, and the obvious fact that the damage was inflicted with a fist.

"Well, at least that explains the cracking sound we heard." Ren moved closer to Jaune, eyes narrowed...but they were examining the air around Jaune, rather than the blonde himself.

"I...I had a bad dream." Jaune managed to mutter. While he knew the characters of his team mates, if they thought he was unbalanced, then it was going to make his plans for the future much more difficult to implement.

"I can understand that. It's plain to see that you're dealing with something – my guess would be on a major loss." Jaune shivered. He'd known that his acting wasn't great, but Ren had seen through it in less than a day. What else would you expect from Jaune Arc, patron saint of uncontrollable coincidences and personal failure? asked a snide voice from Jaune's mind, as he gritted his teeth.

Ren moved forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's all right. I don't think the others have noticed – though I'd bet you can talk with them about it. Nora and I have...our own experiences, with loss. And unless I'm wide of the mark, that Nikos girl would be more than willing to lend you a shoulder." Jaune sighed, the hand on his shoulder settling his chaotic mind. Yes, this was the Ren he remembered. Always quiet, because when you see everything, you come to realise that discretion is often the better part of valour.

"Thank you, Ren. I might take you up on that one of these days." As Jaune's thoughts re-ordered themselves, his mind took up its previous question. What was happening to him? Ren, who was by far the most skilled manipulator of aura Jaune had ever heard of, had said there was a strange feeling...and what had Monty said to him the night before? That his aura and Semblance might have become...unusual?

Was that what had caused this? "Now then Jaune" began Ren, "I'm sorry to ask, but would you mind activating your aura for me? I'd like to check something." Jaune nodded. He had his own suspicions, and he wanted to try and deal with them.

Jaune focussed inward for a moment, and his aura flared into white fire, a nimbus floating around him. He looked at his arms, specifically at his right hand, and moved it closer to his face to get a better look. Ren was also leaning forward, he noticed, eyes narrowed. What Jaune found almost made him try to take a step back from his own arm. Somehow, between the night before and waking this morning, his aura had swollen - it was actually visibly larger.

Not by much – but when you've already crossed the 'Impossible' line, the word 'little' tends to lose meaning. "What in Monty's name...?" he muttered, as he went to ask Ren. Just as he did though, his mind picked up on something his eyes hadn't, drawing his attention back to his arm. It took a moment, but Jaune realised what he was looking at. His aura was gradually shrinking, and as he watched for another ten seconds or so, it reached its usual levels...and stopped.

Jaune looked up from his arm slowly to meet Ren's eyes, which were just as shocked as his own. "You just saw that, didn't you?" asked the blonde, who found that he was shaking slightly.

"Yes...but I'm not really sure what I just saw." Ren admitted, shaking his head. "I've never even heard of something like this...but it does fit with the weird sensation I was getting earlier." He paused, and Jaune gave him an imploring look. "Well...okay. I'll start at the beginning. You see Jaune, a person's aura generally extends a couple of inches beyond their skin – this is its natural state, and most people accept that it is also it only state.". Pink eyes checked blue momentarily, to see if he was following.

"What I was taught, however," Ren continued, "is that an aura can actually extend to several feet in diameter. When this is done, the aura takes on a mist-like form and mingles with the air. It can register things like other auras or the complete lack of aura that means a Grimm, and alert us. That's what causes the sensation most people associate with being watched.". Ren seemed uncomfortable talking about it - Jaune idly wondered if this was meant to be a secret that Ren was sharing with him. If so, he wouldn't have thought that Ren trusted him enough to tell him yet. The martial artist was continuing, though.

"Anyone whose aura has been unlocked does this from time to time, unknowingly. Hence the reason that they don't always know that they're being watched – only sometimes. However, those of us with training can replicate the effect at will, and I always have it running to some degree or another." Ren had never talked about this during team JNPR's first run. Though, as he came to think about it, Jaune had never really asked about his friend's unusual skill set.

"Anyway, after you wandered in here, I got this really weird feeling. It was like when another aura moves through mine, but..." here Ren seemed to run out of words, he gesticulated wildly with his hands, as if reaching for a way to explain. He got it after a moment, and he turned back to Jaune. "It was aura unbound; it wasn't attached to a person or animal...it was just there, and it was flowing. Past me and the others, and straight toward you.".

Jaune swallowed. Going off that explanation, he finally caught up with Ren's reasoning. "So, you're telling me that I, somehow, pulled aura from...somewhere...into my own?" Ren's eyes were completely serious as he nodded.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. And while I may not have heard about anything exactly like this, I can tell you this much: just as having too little aura can impact your physical condition, having too much can cause problems as well. It's a theory that's been floating around forever that, were a person's aura to be forcibly expanded to a much greater capacity, it could place a major strain on the aura's source – the person's soul."

"Apparently, my pulling you out of the cycle of life and death has twisted your soul a bit.". Monty's words echoed through Jaune's mind.

"So whatever I'm doing is dangerous then?" Ren held out his hand, wiggling it from side to side.

"Yes and no. Yes in that if you push your aura too far, the repercussions for your body and soul could definitely be fatal. No in that, according to what I know, the kind of aura capacity you'd need to reach to do that kind of damage would go above and beyond anything that's ever been recorded. To do that, you'd probably need to actually be trying to achieve that kind of result."

Jaune breathed a sigh of relief, but only a small one. He didn't actually know if he could control this new-found ability, but if it took that much aura to cause problems, then maybe he'd be able to shut it off in time should it activate again. "Of course, what you've got there is actually a really useful power." Ren commented.

"Despite the fact that it can kill me?" questioned Jaune, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah; if you can increase the power of your aura like that, you could become basically unstoppable in combat. You'd heal most injuries in moments, assuming anything could actually hurt you through your defences." Unstoppable...that was a word which Jaune had never associated with himself. He liked the sound of it, however - unstoppable would be a useful adjective for dealing with the times to come.

"Of course, that's assuming we can teach you to control your ability. Or that it doesn't have some in-built limit." Bubble sufficiently popped, Jaune sighed, nodding.

"All right. Are you saying you'll teach me to use it?" Jaune's team-mate nodded.

"I'll do my best. Since that Nikos girl is such an accomplished warrior, I'll ask for her assistance as well. She'll doubtless have some useful information." Ren clapped his hand on Jaune's shoulder a couple more times, then headed back into the main room.

"Now come on. We've been talking for ages, the others will be waiting." Jaune waited alone for a moment, considering his hand. A new power, eh? This was probably his Semblance. Discovered in under 24 hours? That's got to be a new record. Chuckling, Jaune looked in the mirror once again. The blonde figure which looked back at him didn't seem so taunting any more. He smiled, and walked out the door to see his team.

Pyrrha and Nora were already in their uniforms; size-and-gender-appropriate uniforms had been hung in the walk-in-wardrobes, and Jaune returned Pyrrha's earlier wave with a smile before heading into the one he and Ren had claimed, putting on the uniform which was ready for him. Walking out, he surveyed team JNPR. His team. His friends. His family. Pyrrha gave him a reassuring smile. Nora beamed as she almost always did. Ren gave him a nod and a grin.

Jaune smiled even wider. Yes, he thought, with them at my side, I can do this. Then, as he picked up his scroll from the chest of drawers where he'd placed it the night before, he registered that he hadn't unpacked yet. In reaching for his bag's zip, his grip failed, allowing the scroll to fall to the floor. It activated, sliding apart to reveal the screen. As Jaune bent to pick it up, he registered the time on it. 8:50.

"Oh crap!" he yelled, grabbing the device and hastily closing it as he shoved it into his pocket. He turned somewhat frantically to his team, who were looking at him in confusion. "Class is in ten minutes! Let's move people!" Jaune ran to the door and pulled it open, checking to make sure the others were following him before he took off. He heard the other door in the corridor open as they passed, and moments later a cry of "To class!" echoed from behind them.

With Team RWBY hot on their heels, Team JNPR sprinted through the now mostly empty dorm building and across the courtyard, heading for the school's main building. As he ran, Jaune laughed, pleasant memories swimming to the forefront of his mind. Monty might not have singled him out for any outstanding traits, but he had still picked him. Jaune might not have been the best warrior in his team, but Ozpin had chosen him to lead. He'd make them both proud; he'd save everyone this time.

Just so long as he didn't get detention for being late to class.

Author's Note

So...bit of a cop-out? I'm going to make the assumption that you thought "yes", and address it. Jaune's a good guy, yes, and he's got a strategic mind as well...but there were other choices that would have been just as, if not more, effective. Like Ozpin or one of the other teachers; maybe General Ironwood. Hell, even Ruby was more involved in most of the events which led to Beacon's fall. But I wanted this story to be about Jaune, so after talking it over with Zenaku, I went with what seemed the most plausible reason for Jaune being chosen.

I hope you enjoyed reading this even a fraction as much as I enjoyed writing it. Leave any criticism or comments as a review, and I'll be sure to get back to you. Enjoy your day!