"Jaune?"

The smoking body said nothing. It did not move. It did not respond.

He should be getting up. He should be giving her that warning look of his saying she was going too far. He should be gearing up to give as good as she gave in their usual, run of the mill fight.

He should.

"Jaune!"

She rushed over to his unmoving body, smoke trailing out from underneath him. He was face down on the scorched marble of the bank floor, and she quickly rolled him over, eyes roving his body for signs of severe injury or...or...

No. He wasn't dead. He was breathing. She could see it, the small rise and fall of his chest. Her relief was dampened by the raspiness of his breath. At the scorch marks lining his arms and chest. At the fact she had been the one to hurt him. Him.

Jaune had managed to worm his way into her cold, long dead heart, just like Khione had. She never wanted to...couldn't even fathom the thought of hurting him intentionally. Not after what he'd told her, not after he'd bared his soul to her in a tiny, beautiful way that showed that for some stupid, silly reason he trusted her. That he...he thought of her.

She didn't want to hurt him. The realisation should have been startling, but it wasn't. She'd known it for a while now, ever since they had stumbled across one another and he had had a tiny daughter at his side who would miss him if she took him from her. She didn't want to hurt him not only because of what he'd told her or because of Khione's existence but also because of what he'd shown her. Through his actions and his words and by seeing him be himself she had witnessed something she didn't believe was possible after her father had descended into grief and alcoholism in the aftermath of mother leaving them both-a good man.

Her father had shown her she could not trust men. They were fallible, overly emotional and could be broken with ease. He'd stopped functioning after his marriage broke apart and barely managed to do the basic functions of feeding, cleaning and earning for himself and the daughter he was stuck with. He'd managed to somehow find someone who could love him in the form of Cinder's stepmother, who had promptly decided Cinder was an unwelcome addition getting in the way of her picket fence life with Cinder's dad. Her life had been made miserable by her stepmother by intentional design and that had been made all the worse in turn by her father's ambivalence to her stepmother's cruelties, whether that was out of fear his new lover would leave him if he did step in or out of a dislike towards Cinder herself. Once he had confessed whilst drunk that Cinder looked too much like her mother, her biological one, sometimes so much so he couldn't bare to look at her.

Because her father had been weak she did not miss him when he died. Because he was weak his lover and the two children they'd sired and raised to torment her had followed him into the afterlife after the pushed Cinder too far and she unlocked her powers to protect herself. The wild, raw, untamed power of her flames as they scorched her childhood home was something that had guided Cinder up until recently. Strength and power were the only constants in life, so she would pursue both in order to ensure no-one could bully her, mistreat her, abuse her or nearly kill her ever again.

Then the Huntsman. Then Jaune. At first she feared the challenge he posed, the way he always managed to scupper her nefarious schemes. Then she grew accustomed to him, and she welcomed the challenge he brought and the chance to finally let truly loose against someone who was her equal. Then she had actually met Jaune, with no costume, with no need to fight and all of a sudden things had changed. She had been proclaimed a mother to a small child whose own biological mother loathed her.

Even before she knew the story behind why Khione's biological mother, though egg donor was more appropriate a term considering what she'd tried to do to Khione, Cinder had felt a strange feeling of connection to the girl. Khione, in some ways, was a young Cinder, though in this case she was in the more fortunate position of having a father who had not broken down to the failures of his relationship with her mother. Cinder was now her stepmother, and the thought frightened her until she realised it meant she could be to Khione what her stepmother should have been to her.

That idea, that chance to be the thing she had desperately wanted, desperately needed, was something she relished. She didn't realise how much she enjoyed living a simpler life away from schemes, power plays, betrayals, murder and worse. She had operated out of the law believing that she needed her strength to be unrestrained and unbound in order to live a safe life, but now she had started to see she was wrong. That she could be powerful and normal. Powerful and happy. Powerful...and loved.

And the reason why she had that chance, why she could start to enjoy life, why she could finally feel safe, secure, content...she'd hurt him. She was holding him in her arms, calling out his name, hoping he'd hear and wake up because she was still a stupid little girl inside who deserved to be punished, who deserved to be hurt, who deserved to be hated because she was a stupid little cretin who could only leech off of her father!

She was spiralling, her chest tightening, her breathing turning into nothing more than short, harsh pants.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Cinder repeated, over and over like a mantra. Her ears filtered out the sounds of sirens and shouts and reporters and former hostages as her mind got stuck in a loop once again. All she could say, all she could do, was say sorry.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Cinder cried, cradled into a ball and holding the broken pieces of porcelain against her chest. If her stepmother had only given her a little bit more to eat, she might have had the strength to carry dinner over to the table.

"Useless girl!" Her stepmother roared, and Cinder cried all the more as spittle landed on her face and as harsh slaps rained down on her, make her skin sting and her vision to get dizzy. "You can't even do a simple task like bring dinner to the table! Now you've ruined everything, as per usual, and we have nothing to eat! You vile thing!"

Her father watched impassively. Her half-sisters cheered their mother on. All Cinder could do was say sorry.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Put your hands up and step away from the Huntsman!"

Cinder didn't, couldn't, turn away from Jaune's limp body still cradled in her arms. She still couldn't stop pleading, still couldn't stop not breathing, but she could register the danger posed by the dozen or so SWAT members who had entered the bank that was now empty apart from herself and Jaune.

"Bit late for that don't ya think?"

"Detective! Now isn't the time for snarky quips, and get outside! This isn't your jurisdiction."

"I've been tracking little ole Miss Sorry over there for months, I have right to be here." The detective said, and Cinder heard the sound of a flask uncorking and imagined her father standing there. "Besides, this is weird, new and I'm curious."

The conversation was enough to shake some sense back into Cinder. She reluctantly lowered Jaune, knowing they would help him due to his hero status, and stepped back, glaring at the SWAT team plus detective through tear stained eyes.

"You." She said, eyes narrowing on the detective. She recognised him, having always down checks on whoever was in charge of the ongoing effort to track her down and lock her up. "Don't get used to this. I needed him for something and if he's decommissioned I can't use him to advance my plans."

"And what would those be?" The detective asked, eyes glancing towards Jaune's body. She bristled defensively, only to blink and force herself to back down when he gave her a curious look. He'd noticed. "And what was with that 'sorry' thing. You don't seem like the type to have guilt."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Cinder replied sweetly, quickly conjuring a wave of fire she launched at the SWAT team. They had been moving to encircle her, and most of them dove out of the way of the incoming fire. A few fired their guns, only for the bullets to melt in the fire hurtling towards them and for the smelted sludge to bounce harmlessly off the walls or her Aura.

She conjured a ball of fire in her palms and created a hole in the roof of the bank with it. Then she conjured jets of flames in her hands and soared through it and out into the air.

/#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/

"The Huntsman got his butt kicked!"

"Really?"

"Yeah it's all over the news on Mrs Bowers' phone!"

"Lemme see!"

"Yeah move over!"

"Show us Mrs Bowers!"

"Yeah!"

"Please?"

"Children." Mrs Bower said firmly. "Stay back, this is serious stuff and you're too young to understand it."

"But-!"

"You can ask your parent's later." Mrs Bower interrupted with a frown that supressed the rest of the students pleas. "Speaking of, do you know when your father will be here Khione?"

"No." Khione mumbled, feeling herself start to panic. "He should be here. Why...What's going on?"

"I don't know dearest." Mrs Bowers admitted, doing nothing to help Khione's pounding heart. "I've tried calling but he hasn't answered. Didn't he get another job recently?"

"Yeah." Khione nodded, swallowing her dry throat. "The news? About the Huntsman? Can I see?"

"Khione..."

"Just to distract me." Khione blurted out, eyes welling up as she stared up at the stern teacher currently in charge of after school club. "Please Mrs Bowers!"

"Let me check to see nothing graphic occurs." Mrs Bowers compromised and Khione's fellow after school clubbers cheered and some patted her on the back, as if she was a master performer who'd purposefully manipulated Mrs Bowers and succeeded.

She needed to know. She didn't want to. There was a difference.

"Hm." Mrs Bowers sighed. "It isn't exactly pleasant news children."

Khione's heart trembled.

Someone loudly knocked at the doors to the club, which was hosted in the assembly hall. Mrs Bowers tucked away her form and went over to it, expecting a parent. The kids around Khione let out 'awws!' of disappointment as their learning of the Huntsman's fate was delayed, and Khione gasped when someone pushed past Mrs Bowers.

"Khione!" Cinder barked, eyes red with tears and cheeks wet. "Come with me, we need to get to the hospital."

"W-Why?" Khione asked, hands trembling as she grabbed her schoolbag and shakily hurried over to Cinder, who held out a hand that Khione immediately took and felt all the more safer for taking.

"Your dad had an accident at work and has been taken there." Cinder explained, and Khione felt the tears that had been welling her eyes start to spill onto her cheeks. "We need to get there quickly, I don't know what condition he's in."

They raced out of the assembly hall and school grounds, leaving Mrs Bowers' calling after them. Cinder led them to a taxi that had been idling outside the school, and Khione settled in next to Cinder in the backseat.

"Vale General Hospital." Cinder told the driver, who nodded and quickly drove off. Khione tugged on Cinder's sleeves, before blinking through teary eyes when she realised that underneath Cinder's shirt was her Nefarious Nightstalker costume.

"Work stuff...as in work stuff?" Khione asked, not wanting to taxi driver to listen in and blow her dad's and Cinder's undercover identities. Cinder nodded jerkily. Khione leaned close against her for comfort and relaxed as Cinder tucked her arm of Khione's shoulders, holding her close and giving her a modicum of comfort to wade off the overwhelming fear she felt towards her dad's unknown status.

The driver was quick, perhaps sensing the urgency of the drive, and he suddenly turned on the radio, as if he couldn't bear with the silence anymore.

"-after the brawl at Vale Central Bank the Huntsman was taken to the grounds of the Vale Air Base, which houses a military hospital where it is presumed he would receive treatment. However the Nefarious Nightstalker intercepted the ambulance and absconded with the unconscious Huntsman. It is unknown why or where the evil villainess abducted him-"

"Turn that off." Cinder snapped at the taxi driver. "Or at the least put on some music instead. Her father's in hospital for God's sake."

The taxi driver changed the channels of the radio with a grunt and annoying pop music filled the taxi.

"What happened?" Khione asked Cinder in a hushed tone, the music concealing their conversation from the taxi driver, who had turned the music on loudly. "Did someone attack Vale? Did you save Dad from the government?"

"Aren't you a little young to be disillusioned with the state?" Cinder asked back, a hint of amusement in her tone. Khione huffed and poked her side threateningly.

"They're always evil in the movies." Khione explained, heart clenching when she remembered another reason. "Plus dad was always worried they'd want to test on him."

"It wasn't the government." Cinder replied hoarsely. "I'll explain at the hospital okay?"

"M'kay." Khione allowed reluctantly, falling silent for the rest of the journey as she curled up against Cinder's side.

Shortly after they arrived at Vale General Hospital. Cinder hurriedly paid the taxi driver and they hurried inside the busy lobby, which was a mix of nurses, patients and visitors.

"We're here to see Jaune Arc, but we don't know what ward he's on." Cinder said to a tired receptionist, who glanced down at Khione briefly.

"And your relation to him?"

"Housemate." Cinder answered, rubbing Khione's hair. "This is his daughter."

"What is the patient's date of birth?"

"What?" Cinder blinked.

"It's for security purposes." The receptionist explained. "I can't let you see him unless you know his date of birth."

"116th October 1993!" Khione exclaimed, remembering the knowledge from the darkest depths of her mind. "Where's my dad Miss Receptionist!"

"G Floor, Ward 23." The receptionist said, a small smile on her face. "From what these notes say he's fairly okay, so you don't need to worry much about your old man."

"Thank you!" Khione exclaimed, quickly dragging Cinder away towards elevators she spotted near the lobby "C'mon! C'mon!"

Cinder laughed and suddenly picked up Khione, making her yell out and giggle as she was raised in the air as Cinder raced towards the elevator. She set her back down onto the ground once she pressed the button for it, and Khione raced inside the moment it's doors opened.

"You're lucky it's empty." Cinder remarked as she followed Khione inside, pressing a button. "Could've been a doctor or a big trolley inside."

"But there wasn't." Khione pointed out with a smile, feeling giddy and elated with the knowledge her father was okay. He was sick obviously, he wouldn't be in the hospital otherwise, but she wasn't going to lose him like she had the mother before Cinder.

Cinder chuckled and the elevator doors closed. It was just the too of them inside, so Khione turned to Cinder and tugged on her sleeve expectantly.

"What happened?" She asked, and Cinder looked away, a look of fear and shame clear on her face.

"We fought." Cinder admitted. "I went too far, he passed out. The police took him so I took him back. I wouldn't be able to take you to see him at a military hospital and it would blow both of our secret identities, so I brought him here instead as just Jaune Arc."

"You...You hurt-"

"It didn't mean to!" Cinder blurted out, falling to her knees and grabbing Khione's shoulders. "You understand that right? I wouldn't hurt him! Not on purpose!"

Khione trembled as Cinder gripped her tightly, eyes wide and pleading and full of tears. She didn't know whether to believe her. She loved her new mom, trusted her, but she had seen her dad come back from her fights with ugly wounds and bruises and cuts he would try to hide from her before they had met. But there was a clear shame on Cinder's face, and guilt had laced her tone when she spoke.

Against her better judgement, Khione chose to believe. Her father had trusted Cinder to be a good mom for Khione. She would do the same for her dad.

"I believe you." Khione replied shakily, and she was suddenly wrapped in a tight bear hug that she reciprocated easily.

"Thank you." Cinder whispered, tears staining Khione's neck. The elevator dinged and they parted, but Cinder held out a hand that Khione willingly took. She was led through the myriad halls to the room her father was, and her heart stopped at the sight of him sleeping on the bed, an weird machine stuck to his arm and bandages on his arms that were practically camoflaged against his drab hospital robe.

"Mrs Fall?" A man said, and Khione noticed a doctor at the foot of her father's bed. "I take it that's Miss Arc?"

"It is." Cinder nodded, and the doctor gave Khione a kindly smile.

"My name is Doctor Merlot, I'lll be taking care of your father dearie." Doctor Merlot said. "Don't you worry, he's in good hands."

Khione giggled as the doctor waved his fingers from the top of his clipboard, and the Doctor smiled before turning to Cinder.

"I have some questions, if you don't mind?"

"Ask away." Cinder said, ushering Khione into the chair next to her father's bed. Khione stayed there silently, not knowing if she could hold his hand or not.

"He had third degree burns on his arms." Doctor Merlot said, gesturing to her dad's bandaged forearms. "Do you know how that occurred?"

"He works at a janitor for a high school." Cinder replied, telling the lie easily. "The kids have been giving a hard time."

"To the extent they set him on fire?" Doctor Merlot frowned.

"To the extent they set some bins on fire." Cinder clarified. "He said he thinks it's some sort of hazing thing."

"Hm." Doctor Merlot said. "You don't suppose there's anything else to it do you? It would appear Mr Arc has been submitted to hospital for thid degree burns on a number of occasions, though he always seems to miraculously recover. I don't suppose you know if he has access to a Fountain of Youth do you?"

"He has Aura." Cinder said, and when it became clear she wasn't going to clarify why the doctor sighed.

"Does he now?" He mumbled, casting a glance at her father that made Khione feel a little uncomfortable. "Very few can achieve such a thing these days. He must have been in a very stressful or very dangerous situation, likely both even."

"That is true." Cinder replied, and Doctor Merlot glanced at Khione before nodding for some reason.

"I see." Merlot nodded. "Very well then. Mr Arc seems to have suffered a collapse due to exhaustion. I would suggest he not overwork himself, but I doubt anyone works two jobs because they want to. I'd advise letting him rest as much as often at home, as well as to try and ensure he takes things a little easier. It may be why his Aura failed to protect him from the fire."

"R-Right." Cinder said, eyes falling to her dad guiltily. "Thank you doctor."

"I will compile a list of recommendations for him to undertake to prevent another episode like this." Merlot said, before glancing behind them. Khione turned to see a nurse approaching them. "It may take some time, we are woefully understaffed and have exceptionally high demand."

"That's fine, thank you." Cinder said, and Merlot nodded before hurrying towards the nurse. "See? Everything's going to be okay."

Khione nodded, before frowning and kicking her feet together.

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot to ask if it was okay to hold dad's hand." Khione said, letting out a sad sigh.

"That's more than okay Khione." Cinder smiled, moving so that she was on the opposite side of the bed. She kneeled, taking her dad's left hand in her own. "See? Just be gentle."

Khione nodded determinedly, before reaching out and softly grabbing her father's hands. She felt it twitch, and she gasped as his hand tightened around hers. She looked up at him, only to see he was still asleep, and a warm feeling rushed through her. A determined settled over her face, and she shuffled so she was comfortable in her seat.

She was going to be there when he woke up and give him the bestest hug of his life.

A/N: Next update on 05/07/23