Lilac sat on the bench at Beacon's travel station, awaiting Izzet and Nouvelle. She had seen her parents, but she missed her team more. She held out her hand and watched as sparks flowed between her pale fingers.

She wondered briefly how Jet had been. How much closer had he gotten to Ruby? He had seemed really happy with her, and vice versa. Did that mean that, once their time at Beacon was over, they'd still be together?

This, and a hundred other questions flowed through Lilac's mind, but she was distracted but Izzet, whom she'd heard teleporting behind her. She spun around and embraced the petite girl, who gave a shy little gasp. She was dressed in her school uniform, but with a silver flowing skirt that glittered in the sunlight flowing through the windows.

"Hello my gurl!" Lilac greeted endearingly, as Izzet extricated herself from Lilac's grasp with a thin smile. "Come to keep me company?"

'Not by choice, you big brute.' she heard Izzet reply cockily, and she placed a hand on her heart in mock horror. 'I couldn't stand the length of my journey.'

"How far away is Nouvelle anyway?" Lilac asked her silent companion. A couple passed by and gave her an odd look, before resuming their journey.

'Just a few minutes longer.' Izzet answered. She was about to continue when a red blur caught Lilac's eye. She quickly nudged Izzet and pointed it out as it flashed across the train station. Her teammate nodded and vanished instantly, having stopped time to give chase.

Barely a moment later, Izzet reappeared, holding Ruby Rose by the arm, a decisive look in her eyes. Her captive, for the moment, looked confused.

"Huh? Izzet? Lilac?" she asked quickly, looking around. She seemed troubled.

"What's the matter?" Lilac asked. Ruby's worry was plain to see.

"I'm trying to find Jet! He's vanished and Sun said he hasn't come back and I was worried about-" Ruby babbled worriedly, but she was silenced by Izzet, who put a finger on Ruby's mouth.

"Slow down there." Lilac said gently, deciding to put her softer face on. "What's happened to Jet?"

Jet opened his eyes. The first thing he saw were white panels of a roof, a couple of lights illuminating the room he was in. There was pain in his chest and a streak of it down his leg. An icy feeling was emanating from his left arm. Looking downwards, he realised he was in a hospital bed, and the icy feeling was due to a drip that was inserted into his arm.

"It's ironic." a crisp and clear voice spoke from behind. Jet recognised the owner as she came into his field of vision. "This was the exact room that you sent Ruby to after our match in the tournament."

"Weiss." Jet said, focussing on the heiress' eyes, trying and failing to raise his aura, not out of a need for defence, but to merely regain his powers. He saw Weiss sitting down on the edge of the bed, clearly intending to bring up a very important subject.

"Jet… you should-" Weiss started to speak, but she paused to take a deep breath. "You should know that you're causing out team to tear itself apart."

"Tear itself apart?" Jet asked confusedly. He had never thought Team RWBY, of all teams, could succumb to such a fate.

"Yes. Only two hours ago, I warned Ruby that it would be… inadvisable for you to return to us, with Yang being in her current mood. Blake also is starting to distrust you." Weiss recounted. "Ruby also… fought with me. About you."

Jet could sense her building frustration, but there was nothing he could do. He wouldn't give up his bond with Ruby for anything; if he had to fight Weiss, Blake and Yang for her hand, he would crush them without a second thought.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Jet replied flatly. Almost immediately, he regretted it, as Weiss slammed her fists against the side of the bed in frustration and turned to glare at him.

"You don't understand!" she yelled, her emotions replacing the control she normally exerted. "We had a PERFECT team Jet! And you messed it up!"

"Hey!" Jet shouted, anger he didn't realise he had flowing to the surface. "In case you hadn't noticed, every single time you've broken yourselves, it's always been a misunderstanding about me!"

Before Weiss could even offer a riposte, he continued mercilessly. "Who was it that misunderstood Ruby's mockeries of my words? Who was it that attacked me for a single mistake that I had no knowledge about? And who," he gave Weiss a piercing glare, "didn't see it fit to voice their distrust of me before something like this happened? Not me, my friend, you've been the catalysts for your own team's undoing!"

Weiss was completely silent, brooding over Jet's words, trying, Jet thought, to come up with a counter. Before she could get any further, Jet activated his one defence that could be used when he had no aura to fuel into it, the one that was at its most powerful when in this state.

The red shockwave blasted Weiss off the bed and onto her back on the floor. Jet immediately raised his right hand as she stood up from the floor, her face livid.

"I will stay away from Team RWBY." Jet growled, as he shone the lights that signalled his call for his team. "But if you ever try and prevent Ruby from seeing me, or vice versa, you'll have more than me to deal with."

It seemed that Weiss knew better than to challenge him, because she left without another word. Barely a moment after she had left, Jet saw the familiar silhouettes of his teammates' teleportation.

They appeared one by one, accompanied by none other than Ruby herself, who spun on the spot, hopelessly unbalancing herself and toppling over. The rest of his team stared at his broken form.

Lilac gazed upon Jet, drip in his arm, bloodstains coming from under the covers he was laying within. Real fear broke its way through her as nothing else had.

Jet had been the unbreakable, no, the undefeated knight of their team. Whenever they'd struggled, he'd spurred them on. When they looked set to break, Jet's infinitesimal power had reinforced them. Now here he was, fallen and defeated, gazing up at them with weak eyes.

"It isn't much of anything," Jet said in his formal tone, his voice trembling a little, "but welcome back, my team." His gaze then fell on Ruby, who was a little dizzy, trying to get up woozily. "Izzet, move Ruby into another room to wait for me, then return."

'As you command.' Lilac heard Izzet's public telepathy, before the girl herself put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, before vanishing, returning moments later without the cheery girl at her side. Lilac noticed her mouth, a thin, straight line. Nouvelle was frowning too as they approached Jet's bed.

"What 'appened?" Nouvelle asked.

"Flux has returned." Jet replied, as Izzet peeled off the covers that lay between her and their leader's injuries. Lilac winced as she saw the deep cuts and gouges; those had to hurt.

"Returned?" Nouvelle asked, confused. "What do you mean? She eez back in your 'ead?"

"No." Jet said, closing his eyes and hissing softly as Izzet tapped on of his wounds with a gloved hand, and Lilac saw purple sparks fly at her touch. "Flux has a new body, ever since she escaped. She's returned, and I just fought her. She's too strong for me."

Lilac was astonished. Someone more powerful than Jet?

"I'll speak to you with Ruby. Wait with her, please, Lilac and Nouvelle." Jet requested, a plea in his silent eyes.

"Of course, Jet." she replied, and held out a hand for Nouvelle to take. Nouvelle tapped Izzet on the shoulder, grabbing her attention.

"Make 'im better quick." she whispered insistently. Lilac didn't hear her reply as Nouvelle took her proffered hand, and the two teammates stepped outside the room.

Once outside, Lilac turned to Nouvelle.

"We should have asked where she left Ruby." Lilac said, feeling somewhat idiotic that she hadn't asked.

"She said it to me." Nouvelle replied with a smile. "Come."