All credit to respective owners.
-Y.A.R.N.
The cell was cushy.
Well… At least by the standards Jaune had experienced after and/or during his stint in Curdun Cay.
A simple light hung from the ceiling and Jaune was thankful for that, it wasn't like he cared that he was in a dull grey shirt and pants and his bed was little more than a slab of metal with a blanket or two thrown on top. Curdun Cay was much more utilitarian — ergo skimping on the comfort of the Conduits — in return for more power-testing — ergo overspending on the power-gauging equipment — so he welcomed the comfort more than the use, drinking in the light to help shake some of the grogginess off. He had been in a major display of his powers yesterday and a very very draining emotional revelation; while adrenaline and natural light had stopped the physical exhaustion, only his will kept the mental exhaustion at bay while he was on his feet. Much to his embarrassment, he had nearly nodded off on the drive here after he sat in the squad car that was taking him away. The officer who had been kind to him and Saphron was a bit amused by that and Jaune was quickly rushed through the whole 'arrest' process and was set to appear in front of panel of the movers and shakers of the city to determine if he was a threat today.
He sighed, he was.
A conduit always was.
Then again, hopefully there weren't any bigots among the panel and they could see he was trying his best to limit the collateral by guiding Yuma to the park and healing the wounded officers by the end of the fight. The CCS officer had promised it shouldn't take more than a day to leave, so Jaune didn't mind. Of course he hoped this little altercation wouldn't cost him his job, he did almost get Blake killed by being near him. Sure, he could be a threat, but he could also be an regular civilian to the people so long as he didn't go on a power-spree for no reason. He didn't really want to either, he had done just fine without his powers up until yesterday and he was pretty sure he wasn't going to be targeted by any more attackers that were conduits after his attacker — named Yuma — was arrested.
It was a bit strange for Jaune at the end of the day, he had worried so much about being outed as a Conduit…
Now that his big bad secret was out?
He felt oddly free.
No more skulking in the streets wanting to draw on the light but forcing his body not to, no more clamping down on his powers so he wouldn't let anyone know. He wasn't going to thrown his powers around, but he didn't need to hide them with all his being anymore.
He leaned back on his hands an stared at the bland ceiling, wondering if it would be rude to ask for the time or if he would even get a response. Before he could make up a mind, the door that was spaced from his cell wall — because he could just phase through the bars — swung open and a officer walked in.
"Jaune Arc, right?"
"Um… yes?"
"You have a visitor."
"Can I ask who?"
"He didn't say."
"He?"
Of all the people he expected or even didn't expect, Cardin Winchester was the last person he even thought of to visit.
Yet there the Winchester sat on the other side of the plexiglass, looking dusty and tired as he waited. He absently toyed with a rock he had conjured as he made it weave around his fingers and morph into different shapes. Normally, Conduits doing that even to amuse themselves would be hauled into the prison — generally for assessment — Jaune was currently incarcerated at, but Cardin had more than enough pull to keep out of it. Cardin looked up as Jaune was led in, and rested his elbows on the desk as he steepled his fingers, letting the rock dissolve into dust before it hit the floor.
Jaune sat down, eyes narrowed, "Why are you here? To tell me this is where I belong? Mock me like you always do?"
Honestly, Jaune wasn't the type to cause a fight or be caustic, but seeing Cardin here and his recent battle with Yuma made him angry with the world in general and Winchester was an easy target for very good reasons.
Cardin stilled and sighed heavily "I felt like you deserved an apology from me personally, so here I am."
Jaune blinked, shook his head and stared at the man who had made his life as hellish as possible though all the ways under the sun.
He rubbed at his eyes, squinted and then dug a finger in his ear — more to stall for time than comedic effect because he was still computing — to make sure he was hearing right, "What."
"I said I was sorry." Cardin replied, clearly uncomfortable for actually having to say it.
Jaune even pinched himself hard enough to draw a hiss from himself.
Okay, not a dream.
So…
Jaune was stunned, "You want to say sorry? To me?"
"To be fair, I did try to get in contact before but you've been… pretty preoccupied with other things if the stories are right. The city decided they could reach out to anyone that had the ability to help with what damage you and the other Conduit tore through the city, so I have been busy all night clearing out concrete damage. I will be compensated for it later, but I figured helping out was a decent way to work my powers so whatever. Either way, I am saying sorry for everything I did, everything I was planning to do. You were just the name given to me at the beginning of my whole act."
Jaune was lost in more ways than one, "What does that mean? What act? What are you even talking about?"
Cardin heaved a sigh, "Your dad hired me to push you to suicide."
Cold sheared into Jaune's soul.
"… What?" Jaune whispered, hurt jolting through him.
And Cardin explained the whole deal, all the amounts of cash, how Jonathan never specified why, every single detail.
By the end, Jaune was blankly gone.
Utterly lost.
Jonathan hadn't let it go?
He was disowned.
What more could the man do to him that would satisfy his desperate hate?
Death?
Suicide?
Jaune scowled.
No.
Enough.
He was done letting that man disappoint him.
He would live.
And by god he would live well.
And it would be the best revenge against Jonathan that Jaune could ever do.
He would remove the stain of disappointment that was his last name, make sure that Jonathan would never beat him.
There was silence and Cardin stood, knocking Jaune out of his musings, "Well Arc. I've got places to be, see you round."
"… Hey Cardin?"
Cardin paused.
"I appreciate you letting me know."
Cardin waved a hand in dismissal and walked away, but the Winchester's shoulders were even lighter than he thought they would be.
He had spent a decent part of his night and day preparing his responses, figuring out what questions he might have to reply to, how he could word his responses to seem less of a problem for him in the trial.
Jaune waited patiently as he stared at the cuffs around his wrists as he sat in a chair on the opposite end of the desk from five people got settled in their seats. It was silent except for the slight scrape of the chairs and shuffles of shifting clothes. The room was actually rather bland but two men armed with weapons stood at either end of the desk, eyes on Jaune. In all honestly, the simple cuffs Jaune was told to wear would not hinder him in any way if he wanted to fight — he could phase out of them, blow them up, or literally pull them apart, the list went on and on — but he decided to keep that to himself.
He winced at Arthur Winchester who sat in one of the chairs dressed in an immaculately tailored suit. The older Winchester coolly seemed to inspect the young man in front of him and his face didn't betray any of his thoughts. Jaune stomped down on the wedge of pain and anger at how his face had resembled his father's and mother's own indifference towards him at his arrest. Jaune could only hope that Cardin and his constant 'interactions' hadn't poisoned the man's perceptions of him, but Jaune would bet all his money that Arthur already was aware of his and Cardin's clashes.
Ozma Ozpin sat in another chair, intelligent and thoughtful gaze leveled on Jaune, who — despite not knowing much about the man — seemed to be nice enough. He even offered a smile at the nervous Arc, and told him to relax so he wouldn't sound guilty. Jaune had managed to calm himself slightly but didn't relax fully, he honestly had never intended or wanted to be in this position at all.
The next on the panel was a bit of a shock as it turned out to be Taiyang Xaio Long, or Yang's dad. Jaune had not met him too many times seeing he was really closer to Blake and her family, but they had met and Jaune had done his best to give a good impression to the man. Yang could be considered a friendly acquaintance at the least, and Jaune appreciated the way Blake would lighten up around her. Hopefully, Jaune hadn't done anything to make it seem like he intended any harm, but any extending time had only been when he made coffee for Taiyang and Ghira when they met in the cafe.
Next one observing him was the Leader of the Conduit Containment Services; who happened to be a gorgeous woman with midnight black hair and bright yellow eyes. Jaune tried to not to think much of how she was looking at him in clear interest, a dark delight dancing in her eyes. Jaune had spent enough time in danger to pick up on dangerous feelings — his instincts honed to a fine edge — and everything in his body screamed 'don't take anything she said at face value'. He did his best to remain polite though, smiling at her awkwardly when she had introduced herself as Cinder Fall, but the hand she laid on his shoulder as she smiled politely at him felt… almost possessive, claiming even. Jaune resolved never to be alone with this person if he could help it, nothing lay her way that he would agree with or be a part of, he was sure of it.
The last person was a stern looking man with black hair and beard who carried himself with an military bearing who Jaune had never even heard of, and he was locked on Jaune like a eagle. Jaune could tell he was being sized up and while he was very capable, he decided looking meek and not meeting his eyes was probably better. Jaune wished he could get a better read on the way the man felt, but in the glance Jaune gave, the man's face was stoic and unreadable. Jaune wasn't sure about his position, he didn't seem like the chief of police or the head of some random security force, but Jaune had a feeling the man could definitely fight if he needed to.
"So… Mr. Arc." Ozpin began, "I assume we don't have to discuss much about why you are here?"
"I am a Conduit?" Jaune offered hesitantly, "One that involved in a altercation with another Conduit?"
"Altercation?" The stern man scoffed, "An altercation doesn't cause that much damage to the city."
"James, please." Ozpin said calmly, raising a hand, "We review the damage and we both know most of it was caused by the concrete Conduit's lack of care. In any case, we should ask Mr. Arc what exactly led to the situation and what was the reason it escalated as it did."
Jaune shifted uncomfortably, "To be honest… Someone wanted me dead, and that was that Conduit's second attempt to kill me. There was that video from a couple of weeks ago… That was us, I admit I wasn't exactly prepared to have to fight… From what I was told… my father hired him to kill me."
The tone of the room changed at that.
Taiyang scowled, fury filling his face.
Arthur closed his eyes and heaved a large breath.
Ozpin face flashed with a deep disappointment.
The leader of the CCS brow rose in mild surprise.
And James face lost some of the irritation, distaste replacing it instead.
"I see…" Ozpin murmured, "Why would he want you dead?"
Jaune closed his eyes as he shrugged, trying to give an answer to others when never got one himself, "He always thought Conduits were freaks and monsters. He probably didn't like that Curdun Cay hadn't killed me and wanted the job done properly."
Another bout of uneasy silence.
"Do you know the Conduit in any capacity beyond the two fight you had?" Taiyang inquired, trying to cut the morose and frankly uncomfortable atmosphere to move on.
Jaune shook his head, "I never saw him outside of those incidents, after the first attack I was... not entirely in a good frame of mind. I was terrified of him attacking me again at a place where innocent people could be caught in the crossfire. Honestly I didn't even know his name till this morning."
"So why did you fight back, rather than report it to the CCS in the first place? That would have saved you this interrogation." The woman inquired silkily, leaning forward to rest her elbow on the desk and cradle her chin.
Jaune looked down fists clenching, "I… don't doubt that maybe it would have been a decent idea to report to the CCS, but I never really had a good relationship with lawful factions that handled Conduits. I don't share the sentiment that the CCS are the DUP under a new name, but I was in Curdun Cay for years. I was arrested for simply saving people in my hometown from an accident. I don't think I will fully be able to trust the CCS, and while it's irrational, I just… I am tired of being suspect for something I couldn't help. Besides, how could I have avoided this? To have knowledge of the fight that was barely recorded would already cast suspicion, and I had no clue what he looked like or and distinguishable features as he hid those before he attacked both times."
She hummed thoughtfully at that before leaning back, apparently satisfied. However, her gaze didn't leave him and Jaune tried to avoid looking uncomfortable at that.
Arthur cleared his throat and Jaune started, bracing himself, "What caused you to fight the second time, and why did you prolong the fight so? Analysis of the fight showed you had ample opportunity to strike back and keep the fight centered."
Jaune tried to scratch his head in his habitual embarrassment and anxiety, but the cuffs made it difficult so he just let his hands flop back onto his lap and looked down at them again, "There would have been casualties if the fight remained there. I tried to lead him to the park as it was wide enough for people to flee and give space. He had no intention to spare people who didn't have a relation in that fight; maybe he even wanted it so that if we got arrested, I would be deemed too dangerous to see the light of day ever again."
Jaune remembered Blakes terror and winced at the news she had probably gotten.
What was she thinking of him right now?
Arthur nods at this and folds his arms, "Smart."
Jaune is nearly breathless at the frank compliment.
This is Arthur Winchester?
The man whose son made his life hell?
It must be the twilight zone.
Or maybe Blake was right when she said Arthur was no longer covering for Cardin.
Or maybe he shouldn't have judged how Arthur would be based on Cardin.
Jaune begins to fully relax and answers all the queries they throw out without hesitating.
Jaune was dressed in back in his work clothes and was stepping out of the doors of the prison into the warm sunlight. Jaune closed his eyes and drank it in, his body not-quite glowing but definitely brightening slightly around the edges. He let out a slow breath, savoring the freedom of being able to draw it in without reservation or betraying his no-longer secret. He took a long breath, breathing in a lifetime's worth of pain, worry, anger, and shame. He exhaled and let it all go, let it all leave him as he stepped out of one chapter of his life into the next chapter.
And that was when two blond haired missiles tackled him by slamming into his stomach and wrapping their arms around him. Jaune wheezed as he automatically caught the two and landed with a cough. He looked to see the youngest of the sibling burying their faces in his chest, nuzzling into his abdomen with endless affection. His expression lit up like the sun as he wrapped them in a hug and stood up spinning them around while pressing his face into the tops of their heads. His eyes drifted up where all of his siblings stood, varying expressions of joy and awe mixed etched onto their faces. Jaune dropped his head into his sisters' hair, trying to stem the happy tears that were bringing behind her eyelids.
"I missed you." Was all he could whisper into the top of their heads, "I missed you so much."
He was mobbed by his sisters and all he could manage was one thing amidst the chaos.
"Thank you for loving me."