Jaune was still oddly surprised by how naturally being a father came to him.
As he was giving Kara a bath he came to think about how not even three months ago this sudden father role came to him. Of course he accepted it, it was his responsibility after all. He had never imagine that this would be the consequence of his little trip through the multiverse and meeting another version of the woman he had pinned after for years.
Maybe growing up with seven sisters had made him more sensitive and caring instead of the typical macho man that he saw in old movies. Though he never truly aspired to be one of those men, he always aspired to just be who he wanted to be. A Huntsman. That was his dream and goal, that was how he would define himself and his family's legacy.
And now all those plans and dreams had changed in an instant.
His daughter completely covered in bubbles as he scrubbed her hair, one that was colored a mix between his and her mother's….
Her mother…
Jaune felt a pang of guilt inside him. His bright expression sunk down, an action that to the smiling almost three year old did seem to notice.
"What's wrong daddy?" she asked softly and innocently.
Jaune forced a smile as he patted his daughter on the head "nothing sweetie, daddy's just got a lot on his mind. But it will all be fine."
He wasn't sure if he should feel bad for lying to his daughter, but considering the complexity of the circumstances they were now as well as the fact that she didn't grasp the extend of what was going around her.
But the truth was they were lying to her every day, the biggest lie was that while Weiss pretended to be her mother even though she wasn't. Although only technically. The logic behind that still confused him. Regardless of what was the accurate description of the events where. The fact remained the same…
They were still lying to Kara. His Weiss was only pretending to be her mother. Knowing full well that she was only pretending to go along with it as to not potentially traumatize Kara. Jaune still felt guilty about it. Weiss had accepted the responsibility flawlessly and was there to be a mother to Kara…but it didn't feel right.
And that wasn't even to mention the uncertainty when it came to their feelings. After that kiss everything was just…uncertain.
He grabbed Kara out of the bathtub and dried her off before proceeding to dress her in a form fitting white colored attire that Weiss had picked out, ending up with a special hair pin to get her hair into a ponytail which now began to go to the side.
"Do you think mommy will like my hair?" Kara asked.
Jaune smiled her "of course she will sweetie."
A knock on the door came. "Open" Jaune responded quickly as he saw the doorknob turn and Weiss enter through it. She must have been waiting quite a while to come and knock on his door since about an hour had passed since his and Gojo's "argument", if he could even call it that.
"Mommy!" Kara yelled happily as she ran up to Weiss and the latter bent down in order to hug her. It was a scene that both broke and warmed his heart. It was unique how such conflicting feelings where taking place in him right now.
"Hey sweetie you ready to go out today" Weiss said in a sweet formal and surprisingly motherly role tone as she hugged Kara.. Jaune might have been surprised by how easily he fell into the father role, but Weiss suddenly accepting the mother role and moving into it rather gracefully.
"Yes!" Kara happily squealed. Weiss smiled and turned her gaze towards Jaune "you okay?" she asked concerned.
Jaune nodded "yeah I just needed some time to myself," he said sighing "it's just what Gojo said it just makes me…."
Before he could continue Weiss stepped forward and placed her hand on Jaune's chest "I understand. I am upset to. What he said was totally out of line. But you got to understand what's at stake here."
Jaune didn't need to be reminded about the reason they were stuck in this unfamiliar world. After all he felt himself responsible for it all happening even though he had been told many times he wasn't at fault.
It was Thanos. It had always been Thanos.
Jaune had ample time to think about it all. It was the Mad Titan's act of fatherly love towards his version of Weiss that had left him stranded in her world to begin with and started this entire sequence of events involving the Collective. Jaune clenched his fists, the last time he had seen the Mad Titan was that dinner party, where he saw the Collective as completely different then the sort of supervillain team up he read about in the comics he used to read as a kid. They had been like an almost tight family unit.
It made everything that followed so hard to understand. He had heard that other Weiss had come and killed the Winter Maiden to take her powers and that Ruby in her hurry to defend their Weiss had thrown the other out of a window to her presumed death.
His heart fell thinking that. Yes she was possessive, yes she was borderline obsessive…but she was still the mother of his child.
He was smacked out of his thoughts by Weiss snapping her fingers right in front of them.
"Sorry sweetie seems your dad was lost in his own thoughts again" she said as she held Kara up in her arms who was laughing hysterically at him. Jaune simply smiled and tried to breathe and clear his head as he decided to join them.
"You're right we should enjoy the day! Let's go out on the town!" Jaune said as he took a glance out of the window at the beautiful early morning sun shining down on the town. He took in the beauty of the city and imagine the amazing things he would be able to see there.
For a moment he imagined he saw a small distortion in the sky in the distance. But quickly shrugged it off as his worried mind making him see things as he quickly went and joined Weiss and Kara as they exited the room.
A distant alleyway away, the four mysterious figures landed on the ground.
Asa wearing her usual attire was the first to stand up as she looked at the state of the others behind her. Her mentor Oroku Saki was dressed in a black kimono and looked very much appealing and professional. The Fairy Godmother had magically concealed her wings and was appropriately dressed in her normal blue dress but without the glittering shine.
Silco got up. The scar on his face now completely gone courtesy of a temporary concealer potion from the Fairy Godmother. It made a world of difference as he looked more refined right now as he dressed in a fancy yet casual and formal black suit.
"Alright rescue team let's move out!" Silco commanded.
"If you think I'm going to take orders from you then you're a fool" Saki said spitefully. Silco turned to him with a glare "I do not care whether you want to follow orders or not Saki but remember why we are here, deep within enemy territory. We have a mission and we must finish it before he finds out we're here. So the faster you simply do as I say, the faster we will be out of each other's hair."
Silco's tone was calm and composed yet oozed distrust and contempt. Asa observed it carefully before he started walking forward, at which point he began following him, her mentor quietly going along but an angry scowl etched onto his face.
