"Hey Jaune?"

He missed Nora. Jaune would never go as far as to rank his relationships; he cared greatly for all of his family, but the feeling of missing someone was different. He felt her absence the most because her presence so often had a monopoly on his attention.

"Jaune."

You don't realise how much time a person takes up until they are gone, and Nora was time consumption incarnate. If it wasn't a new idea or a story, it would be an accident or a misunderstanding. Everywhere they went, she seemed to find some new spin that would land them in trouble. It wasn't always superfluous either; it was difficult sometimes to remember that behind all that spontaneity and excitement lay a girl who had had one heck of a tough life.

"Jaune..."

Pancakes and hammers were all well and good, but it was the non-obvious stuff that really drove his friend. His sister. The hatred of bullies and power abusers. The ability to read behind the lines and direct her positivity appropriately. That burning need to give levity when the situation grew too serious. She wasn't a genius; she still put her foot in her mouth plenty, but there was a definitive method to her madness. Gods, did he miss her. What was that dream she told him about? Sometime in Anima, it must have been. Or was it Atlas? The one with the Goliath stepping on the bakery. Was it a bake-

CLANG

Jaune grips his helmed head with a groan, his eyes squeezed shut as he tries to endure the ringing in his ears. He turns while suppressing a huff, ready to ask for an explanation with full indignance. The sight of an annoyed Cinder and a tired Ruby quickly eliminates the question before it can leave his throat. Cinder was gently tapping a summoned baton against the side of her leg, a raised eyebrow daring him to try ignoring her again. Well, that explains his headache.

"Sorry, were you saying something?"

Cinder rolls her eye, still angry but with a hint of something else. Amusement maybe? He still couldn't read the woman that well; he didn't enjoy thinking about her more deeply than was strictly necessary. Trying to keep her separate from the entity that came before was the only thing that worked. In contrast, he knew exactly what Ruby's stare meant on instinct. She could surprise him sometimes, but this expression was older than time itself. A request to strategize. She's a little quieter than usual, and only then did he realise that the metallic girl who had been glued to her side since the river was nowhere to be seen.

"We need to do something about Penny. She's..." Ruby raises her hands, trying to mime out the words that seem to be escaping her vocabulary. She gives up with a sigh, opting instead to gesture off to the small gathering's side.

Jaune's eyes follow the instruction, landing upon the cloaked figure standing alone in the distance. Penny had been pestering him a lot less lately, since the river at least. He couldn't tell how long it had been since she had almost been lost to it. Penny had been damaged before; they had learned a long time ago that fighting Grimm hordes would always be a part of their lives, no matter what else changed. Sometimes they would clear up what they found and live up to the expectations of their former profession. More often than not, they wouldn't. It was almost easier to let the Grimm tear them to shreds for a few hours before moving on. Pain wasn't so bad when the threat it warned of didn't really exist.

The river was different.

Being swallowed completely and having your mind slowly eaten away by the hostile liquid was an awful experience. Like being devoured by an infinitely dense swarm of insects, even with all they had been through, he still wouldn't risk the experience without good reason. That, as much as it sucked, wasn't the problem, though. The problem was what happens after you have been completely disintegrated. After your brain has been wiped from existence. The non-existence, of course, felt like nothing. Not even like a dream or a coma, just absolute nothing. No thoughts or memories could be had about it because the machinery to generate such things was no longer operational. Then came the regrowth.

He rubs his thumb against his palm, a subtle reminder to himself not to think about it too hard. A lesson he taught himself long ago in the Ever After when experiencing something too alien for the human mind, some thoughts are poisonous and shouldn't be touched. He tries and fails to sound sympathetic.

"There is nothing we can do for her. Time is the only thing that helps." Cinder looks frustrated at the response, but Ruby was at least more accepting. She knew just as well as he did what coming back did to a person. What that point between existence and non-existence truly was. She had cried after the first time. Poisonous thoughts. Any thought of their time here before Penny was poisonous. Ruby's accepting look grows more forced with every second, fidgetting with the hem of her stained skirt when she finally speaks again.

"It's taking too long. She barely speaks, and even when she does, it's worse than usual. Penny isn't like us; maybe something has to change for her to get over this. We can't just sit around waiting." Even through the concern, Jaune doesn't miss the way her eyes shoot to him at the word 'waiting'. Finding a way to jab at him even during a heartfelt plea. His voice comes out a little higher than he would like.

"Has it even been that long since the river?" Cinder looks at him with enough incredulity to flatten a mountain. Ruby shakes her head with a sigh.

"Jaune." Another gesture, his gaze looking past Penny now to the flat horizon. He could see it, ever so small but undeniably there, the tiny pinpricks of black against the grey. Buildings tall enough to be seen at this distance meant only one thing: they were close to the city of Mistral. How long had he been thinking about them? About Nora. He missed Nora. She would've known how to cheer up Penny; you couldn't help but be cheered up when she put her mind to it. Her big hazel eyes full of laughter and empathy. Or were they blue? No, they were definitely blue.

"...fix this." Cinder's request is as surprising to him as it is uncomfortable to her, her amber eye shooting to the ground like she had just confessed to some terrible crime. He pins her with a stare for a moment, searching for something. He finds it, the gentle flexing of her hand into a fist, the tap of her bare heel against the ground. Fear as surpressed as a human could possibly manage. He couldn't blame her; the worse Penny was, the more likely she was to have an episode. She wouldn't attack with Jaune and Ruby there, but they couldn't always be around. Cinder's lack of aura made her especially vulnerable to surprise attacks. Ruby, sensing Cinder's growing tenseness at his studying moves to inject,

"Look, we spotted a village not too far from here. We need to go there anyways, unless you plan on going commando the whole way?" Thank the gods for his helmet. Damn him for still blushing after all this time. Damn him and damn her. She wasn't wrong; while his armour had survived his plunge into the river, the protective undergarment had been stripped. His modesty was spared, but the feeling of rough, tarnished metal chafing against his bare skin was still a nuisance. The rest weren't any better; Ruby's already ramshackle appearance was now streaked with black grime. Cinder's modest shawl and robe were completely encrusted with filth from where she had landed after falling. Penny had it worst; the girl only had Ruby's cloak protecting her from the elements. Not that she really needed it. Regardless, they needed to scavenge some clothing. "Penny likes the villages! Or, well, um, I think she does? She finds them interesting, at least. Perhaps we can cheer her up while we're there, but..."

Silver eyes plead at him through the dimness of his visor; he knew the look well. Ruby was a particular type of person before all this: a motivator. She could pick up people and lead them away from the place they had been. However, sometimes people didn't need to be picked up; sometimes they just wanted to stay down for a while. It was never a luxury the girl had afforded herself, and naturally, she wasn't the best at providing it for others.

But Jaune knew plenty about staying down.

"I... What do you want me to say to her?" It used to be so easy to comfort people; it wasn't something he ever really needed to think about. Extending a hand to someone who looked down came so naturally. It would be hypocritical of him not to. So many times in his life did he himself need to be picked up; how could he not do the same for others? Now was a different reality; he couldn't stop the sarcasm drenching his words. "Oh, hey Penny, I know you are coming to terms with what having you subconscious regrow atom by atom feels like, but hey, there's some cool rubble we get to search through."

Ruby's face slowly creases with anger with every word out of his mouth. It's a cold anger, the type of long-experienced negativity that came from having had the same shape of a conversation many times before.

"Fine, then, let's just ignore the problem till it goes away. Par for the damn course!" The way she hisses the words out only demonstrates how much she is holding back; if they hadn't been with company, he could imagine the same sentence coming out as a scream. If she's so insistent, why doesn't she handle it herself and leave him out of it? Ruby's hands are balled into fists at her side, his own shoulders rising up in response. He feels himself inhaling something hot and venomous, ready to spit back at her with the same intensity. The whisper of their forgotten third party steals the moment from both of them.

"Let her decide what we do..." Again comes surprise; Cinder's interjection is not accompanied by the same fear as before. She had something hard in her eye now, a look of command he hadn't seen in a while. It was easy to forget that the small creature they travelled with was once herself a leader. Though he supposes they had all once been leaders, the thought is so rotten that it almost makes him want to laugh. Cinder looks off towards Penny, pausing to either contemplate her next words or simply trying her best to work the air past her damaged throat. "...like any mission, when your..." He can almost see her mind scrambling for a synonym for the word 'pawn'. "...'Ally' is distressed; it's because they feel they are lacking some sort of control... Give her the illusion of power... Tell her about the village and let her decide what to do..." Cinder's ability to corrupt genuinely good advice into a lesson about manipulation was impressive as always.

She might have had a point, but Jaune was still sceptical.

"Won't she find that weird? We never let her decide." Ruby rolls her eyes at the statement, though the fire from earlier had left at the suggestion of a possible solution.

"It's Penny! She'll be curious, but she'll still roll with it." He still didn't get why he needed to be the one to do it. He knew at least that Cinder saw him as some sort of proxy for the rest of the group, but why was Ruby dragging him into it? She was the one who forced them to cross; she should deal with the consequences. Maybe she just wanted a break from being Penny's babysitter? He shakes his head and sighs, pondering why Ruby changed her whole damn approach so often was more exhausting than just getting this out of the way.

"Fine." Cinder looks satisfied with the result, but something wasn't quite right with the smile Ruby was giving him. He was used to her usual maliciousness, but there was something more desperate in her features. She was hiding something about Penny. He turns from them, making his way towards the lone girl.

This might work, at least. He didn't really know. Nora would know what to say, or at least she wouldn't hesitate to say anything and everything that might have helped. Even if it hadn't, she might have at least gotten a laugh. None of them would have survived the later half of the war if not for her; she was so damn strong even when everything around them was falling apart. It tickles him to remember just how clingy she had been after their separation. She barely let him out of her sight for a few weeks when he finally go to Vacuo, even as her own pain threatened to consume her. She was still hiding her scars back then, out of shame. When they started to fall, they all thought Nora would be the first to break. Especially when he... when... Dammit, you know his name. Lotus flower. Tight lips. Wise eyes. Ren! His name is Ren. His brother. He needed to spend more time thinking about him; he couldn't let himself forget their names.

When Ren was taken from them, they all thought that would be the end for Nora, that she would give up. He couldn't blame her; he himself sure as hell wanted to. He could've filled a lake with the amount of tears he spilled over it, all that time to mature in the Ever After, and he still fell apart at the first sense of loss. But not Nora; they had all underestimated her. When they threatened to fall, she rose. Scars bared to the world, a smile that refused to fade. A true huntress. Living every day like it was her last, living enough for the both of them in his brother's absence. Right up until the end.

She was so damn strong.

He missed her so damn much.

"Oof!" Something gently bumps against his chest plate; it takes a few seconds of blinking before he realises he had almost barrelled Penny over in his stupor. The girls eyes look up at him wide, the first hint of any emotion in them for quite some time. The light fades almost as quickly as it appears, a stiff, neutral expression sliding into place. "Oh. Hello, Jaune." The faux enthusiasm of her voice seems almost comically misplaced on her glum, cloaked form. He doubts she has any control over it, like a default voice setting that can't be turned off.

"Hey Penny..." He didn't have as hard a time with the metallic girl's idiosyncrasies as Ruby; he supposes he never got the chance to be as close with the original as she did. Still, that didn't mean he enjoyed the experience. He tried not to interact with her that much; his endeavour to keep the original's memory alive in his head was somewhat spoiled when she would pester him with a new discovery or a question. Ruby's little 'jokes' that she'd sometimes slip into the android's vocabulary really didn't help. "You doing alright?" She looks away from him now, to some imperceivable point in the distance. She only gives a shrug in response, nothing betraying the struggle that was undeniably taking place within. Jaune sighs before continuing, "Look, there is a village nearby; we were thinking of stopping by..."

"Ok."

"...but we wanted to ask first what you wanted to do." Gears begin to turn in the android's head; they could be literal for all he knew. He doesn't miss the glint of green that flitters around the base of her neck as her eyes squint in contemplation. That part of her that was alive was shy; he imagines that even souls have some sense of self-preservation. Hopefully they would be getting the pleasant version of its emergence.

"Why are you asking me?" He could almost be forgiven for forgetting he was, by all accounts, talking with a traumatised person. Nothing seemed wrong when she asked the question, and yet the fact that her intrigue didn't come with her usual zeal about information spoke volumes.

"Well, we thought maybe you could be in charge for a little while. At least until we leave the village." As nice as this gesture was, they couldn't extend it to their trip to Haven. As pointless as Jaune found it, they still had a mission and couldn't afford to indulge her beyond what was necessary for getting her back on track.

"Why? I have never been in charge before." A little more animation in her body. Even in her sadness, she can't deny her programmed need to learn more. In her eyes, leadership would be an experience worth learning about.

"Call it an experiment?" It wasn't the most suave convincing he had ever done, but it wasn't like she needed much. Eyes sit stock still on him for a few quiet seconds before that exact same smile she always had switches onto her face. He doubts she has suddenly forgotten about the experience, instead partioning some section of her mind to it while leaving the rest for them. Still, a distraction was more valuable than anything else in their current lives, and Penny was not going to miss out on the opportunity.

"You are okay with this? Ruby and Cinder as well."

A nod.

"Really really?"

Another nod.

Her arms shoot up, almost exposing herself to him as they rip through her only form of clothing. Her hands curl to her fists before coming down in a pumping motion.

"Sensational!" He can't help but smile a bit at the exclamation. As jarring as her nature was, there were still moments of amusement to be felt from the robot girls antics: "Come, Subordinate Arc. We must make preparations for our mission to the village." The girl is already marching towards the rest of the group; he follows behind with an accepting shake of the head.

This was going to be something.

This was so stupid.

Nora would have loved it.

He thought that maybe Penny would have taken her queue on leadership from her immediate company, but Penny's mind was different from their own. Her learning algorithm was first come, first serve, and when it came to authority figures, there would always only be one for Penny.

"Forward March!"

Penny was leading their little column of 'Operatives' past what would once have been the outer wall of whatever village this had been, her arms tucked behind her back and her chin held high with a strict, tight-lipped expression.

"Keep pace now! Left. Right. Left." He can hear a growl of frustration coming from Cinder behind him. It was enough to make the situation bearable, knowing he wasn't the one hating it the most. Ruby, for her part, was playing her role well, even adding a playful little swing in her arms ahead of him. Anything to her would be better than a quiet, solemn Penny, he supposes. It was their own fault they ended up like this; when Penny first came into the world, they had all been unnerved to the point of avoiding her. Winter wasn't deterred; she was simply happy to have a friend she had lost with her once again. Even with all the new responsibilities Maidenhood brought with it, she still always made time for Penny's questions.

"Unit. Halt!" They were at the centre of what was once a quiet argicultural and trading point, now nothing more than decolored ruins. Buildings were still standing, which wasn't that unusual for villages near major cities. Any survivors would obviously choose the security of high walls and sometimes the operational infrastructure of Mistral over staying here. As such, so did the rain. The group line up in front of Penny, Cinder having to resist the urge to creep behind him when the metallic girl's unusually steely green gaze scans over them, landing on Ruby.

"Operative Rose!" The girl in question steps forward while giggling gently under her breath. A raised eyebrow from Penny is enough to shut her up. "You are tasked with finding clothing for us." A tickle of green crosses her chest, her strict expression faultering ever so slightly as she leans in and whispers, "Try to make mine pretty. Please." A sweet smile adorns Ruby's face, with the huntress giving a little salute before disappearing into a burst of petals.

"Subordinate Arc!" Wait, why was he— nevermind, "You will find us any tools or equipment that might be useful in the city." Well, at the very least, she was taking this seriously. Rope would need to be a priority as always. Haven was a mountainous region, and degraded infrastructure meant plenty of vertical obstacles. Shovels too; those Mistralies loved their tunnels almost as much as the Atlesians. He gives a nod in acknowledgement, "Do a good job, and you might just make Operative status yet, Subordinate!" Oh, lucky him.

He turns to leave but is stopped by a gentle tug on his arm, looking around to see Cinder. She still has her gaze locked ahead of her on Penny, meeting the android's eyes when she turns to her.

"Last but not least, Specialist Fall! You will accompany me as we search for survivors." Oh, now he gets it. He doubts there is any malice in the girl's decision. Likely, she thinks giving their least physically capable member such an easy task is a kind thing to do. Not realising that being alone with her is the last thing Cinder wants. The increasingly frantic tugging on his arm all but confirms it. Damn it. Just when he thought he might get some peace and quiet again, time to think,

"Uh, actually, Penny, how about I help you with the search and Cinder takes my job?"

"Subordinate Arc. Are you disobeying a direct order? This infringement could land you back to trainee status." He's surprised his eyes aren't squeaking with how hard he is rolling them.

"No, uhm... no, just offering some tactical advice." The faux serious expression on Penny does nothing to encourage his convincing, but the pinning stare he was receiving from Cinder was definitely providing some pressure. "Yeah, like, if we're going to be looking for survivors, then some of them might be injured, right? Well, I can heal them with my semblance if we find them." There weren't going to be any survivors. His semblance also didn't heal people without their aura unlocked, but neither of those things particularly mattered. The orange-haired girl gives him a look he imagines is meant to be analytical. It was a classic; even if the image of Winter's face slipped from his mind, that classic Schnee stare would long stay. Penny eventually replies,

"Very well, Subordinate Arc. I can see the wisdom in this. We will meet you later, Specialist Fall." Cinder's face unstiffens is just a tad. An expression of gratitude had emerged from a kinder face; likely, it was nothing more than relief. The woman hobbles off towards the larger storehouse buildings on the far side of the village, leaving himself and Penny to make their way to the living areas.

"Have you found anything, Subordinate Arc?" Bones. Dust. Bones. Dust. Claw marks. Scraps of cloth. Rusty cans. Collapsed walls. Empty bed frames. Bones. Dust. Bones. Dust. The only difference between this place and 99% of the places they visited was the occasional presence of a roof overhead. He stops seriously looking every time the girl's eyes are off him, instead trying to remember Nora's dream. It wasn't a bakery; was it a noodle stand the Goliath had stepped on?

"Nothing in here, uh, Captain Polendina?"

"General!"

"General Polendina. Nothing to report." He goes to find the girl in the living room of the cottage they found themselves in. Penny was by a hole in the wall where a fireplace might have sat, bent over yet another pile of bones. The girl was carefully picking up each one and studying it like an archaeologist at a dig site. She arranges what she finds on the floor in neat little rows; only she could tell you why she felt the need to, and he didn't feel like asking.

"Male. Maybe around 16? See the epiphysis?" She holds up what might be a femur, pointing with her other hand to the little ridges and bumps where it would have connected to the pelvis. He remembers reading about it, another piece of information learned and lost back when paper hadn't all rotted away, some anthropologists piece about determining a skeleton's age. It doesn't matter; he tries his best to avoid any sort of time-taking activity. Knowing an exact number makes things infinitely worse when trapped, like a ticking clock on a prison cell wall.

"Yeah, looks about right." No harm in playing along; whatever ends this quicker,

"Mhm!" She lays the femur down, starting a new row as she sorts through the rest. "As for cause of death..." He doesn't need an answer for that; he can already see it. Half the collection looks like any other remains, morbid perhaps, but nothing he hadn't learned in science classes as a young boy. The other half, however, was warped to the point of being barely recognisable. Each one was like looking at a picture of butter halfway melted on a hot pan, yet still solid and free of any burn marks.

"The rain got him." The young guy must have managed to get back inside when he realised what was happening to him. Jaune lets his eyes defocus a little, taking in the full breadth of the room. He can see the story of the events play out in his mind, the thick layer of dust confirming that his death likely marked the last time anyone had entered the abode. The tosses chairs and toppled cabinets as he tries to keep his balance despite his now lopsided form. Collapsing on the floor when the reshaping finally solidified. Most starved when they got like that, unable to move. Maybe he just wanted to be somewhere warm as he passed. They would never know. Poisonous thoughts.

He turns away from the scene and the ideas it brought, opting instead to look out the window. He can see Ruby whizzing about in a blur from building to building in the distance. Clothing wasn't easy to find, so the task often fell to her. Not that she minded; it gave her the opportunity to search for anything red that she might be able to fix her cloak with. She still manages to be annoyed whenever she has to compromise with browns and oranges. Always moaning about how stupid she is for losing the original. She doesn't remember that she didn't lose it; she gave it up. A makeshift burial shroud. Her sister. He hadn't thought about Yang in a while; he needed to amend that. He can't let himself forget her face; he can't let himself forget any of them. It was all he could do for them now. For all of them. For Nora.

"Jaune. I need to talk with you." No new title; that didn't bode well. He can see her face returning to its previous neutrality. He guesses even a computer can only compartmentalise for so long; whatever part of her that is still thinking about the river is now re-emerging in the quiet din of the cottage. He sighs. Maybe he should just bite the bullet and talk it out with her; at this rate, he wouldn't have any time to himself. He keeps looking out the window when he replies,

"Look, Penny, it gets easier with time." It didn't really, but the distance from the event made it easier to not think about it. It helped you look at it logically whenever you are forced to remember. The brain is a machine; it performs many functions but also acts as a storage centre for personality. When the machine is shattered for whatever reason—crushed, blown up, shot—those scattered pieces of grey matter still house the now-scattered remains of that personality. It wasn't a fact most anyone in history had to worry about; those screaming, segmented pieces of thought and feeling were, for all intents and purposes, dead to the world. When you heal from disintegration, the process happens in reverse; those screaming separate pieces slowly come back together to reform the whole. You mind is healed and full again, and yet, some subconscious part of you remembers what it was like to be fragmented. There were very few experiences in all of existence quite as sickeningly horrible as that. "You, ugh... Look, you just have to not think about it. Find a distraction or something." He shrugs; he really did lose his ability to comfort, didn't he? When did it get so hard?

"It isn't that. Not now, at least. I wanted to thank you." He gives her a blank stare.

"...for what?"

"For rescuing me. For coming back for me when I fell." Oh, he hadn't been expecting that. He didn't even realise in his confusion how natural the girl's speech felt saying it; it's enough to make him take a seat next to her on the floor.

"Well... you're welcome?" It hadn't really registered to him as something worth being thanked for. The amount of time they would spend refinding the girl was worth some regrowth pain.

"Even though you didn't have to. Or want to. You saved me." It almost makes him want to jump; he was so certain this had to be another one of Ruby's little pranks. Saving anyone? Him? He shouldn't have thought of Yang, that same old joke playing in his mind like a movie reel: 'Hey there, Lady Killer'. He wants so desperately to let a bitter laugh out and get some of the building acid out of his throat. He holds it in and swallows it. Saving anyone wasn't what he did; getting people killed had been his forte. He didn't know how many people his incompetence had killed—his inability to be reliable. Anything more than two was a pattern, so in the end, the number didn't matter. The only good thing about their predicament was that he was literally incapable of getting the three with him killed. He doesn't try to hide his shakiness when he replies,

"P-Penny, I didn't save yo-"

"I know you don't like me." The statement is enough to draw him out of his own thoughts, finally noticing for the first time that Penny had curled herself into a ball, knees tucked to her chest, hidden beneath the cloak. The corners of her face creased, nowhere natural like on a human face but enough of a sign that her neutral expression was about to morph into something else. Only during her episodes did he see something similar: "I know you don't like being around me." What could he even say to that, especially when it was the truth?

"I never said that, Penny."

"You avoid my presence. You look away from me when we talk. When forced to engage with me, you often tense your muscles. Your heart rate also noticeably increases. Indicators of a cortisol spike. I increase your stress with my presence."

"Penny..."

"I notice similar changes with Cinder. Ruby as well, though she is better at hiding it than you. I increase all of your stress."

"Penny, you can't just read a person's heart rate and suddenly know what they are feeling. People are more complicated than that."

"Why did you save me when doing so came at a significant risk to yourself? If you left me, you would no longer be required to travel with me." It was jarring hearing the words coming from her mouth. While she could sometimes be annoyingly persistent in her curiosity, to the point of scepticism, it never came from a place of self-doubt like this. Had the river knocked something lose in her head? A chilling thought comes over him, reminding him of that pleading look in Ruby's eyes when she asked him to talk to Penny. This wasn't the first time since then she had asked these questions, was it? Oh boy, no wonder Ruby had wanted to tag out.

"Look, Penny, we need to stick together. We need you; you shouldn't doubt that just because we sometimes feel a little uncomfortable." He isn't helping the situation by looking away from her as he says it. She was wrong, though; it wasn't stress that drove his gaze away. Something more like guilt,

"I understand that I am required for the mission. I am to become a Maiden if one can be found. However, my presence is not required for the search. Only the conclusion. I could wait in Beacon while you search." No, not an option; they needed to stick together. Guilt again, thicker and stickier in his throat. It stops him from responding before she can continue. "I know I am not the real her. I am not real. I am sorry for that." It's ironic that this very sentiment might be the most Penny-like thing the girl has said in a long time. He never wanted to have this conversation, but this was going too far.

"Penny, we don't keep you around for the mission. Heh, that's why we keep Cinder around, but not you." The attempt at humour falls on deaf ears, but it at least draws her gaze back up to him, still creased like a mask about to fall off, that trickle of green meeting her eyes in a way that almost makes them look alive. Something stirs in his gut looking at them; this couldn't be done half-heartedly. It was a long time coming. With a sigh, he reaches for his helm, unclasping the binding that holds it to his head. The cool air against his face makes it scrunch up a little. All this time, he still couldn't grow back his beard; immortality was so unfair.

She's quiet, staring up at his now-uncovered face, green windows faltering slightly at the sight. Maybe the gesture would at least prove the sincerity of his words. He tries to give her a grin, but knowing it won't reach his eyes, he opts instead for a small smile.

"Look, Ruby and I don't like talking about it. The time we spent before we found you. We were..." How do you explain insanity to a person? How do you explain what watching the world wither away is like? He can't say because he doesn't really know. Ruby might not remember much about their lives before this, out of choice or simply forgetting with time, he can't say, but he knows that both of them chose not to remember when they were alone together. When hope was gone but people still remained. What happened to those people. What it was like when those people were gone and it was just them. For so long. The mind is a funny thing, not unakin to a computer in a way. If it tries to hold too much information, it runs out of space. If it detects something dangerous, it deletes it. "I don't know how to explain it; I'm sorry. Ugh, it just wasn't a good thing for any person to experience."

She scoots a little closer to him, her interest in the topic starting to draw her out of her own calculations.

"When we found you, we really couldn't believe it. All that time, and there you were, turned off and safe in the Shade Academy vault. No worse for wear than all those years ago when we left Vacuo. It was a miracle." His smile grows a little bigger, a little more sincere. He could never truly express how staggeringly unreal it was to find her there; who placed her there, they'll never know. "And then when we switched you on..." The same guilt as before threatens to choke him, a large lump stopping his next words. It was not a conversation he was ready to have. Maybe not ever. "Well, when you came into our lives, you saved us in a way."

"Then why do you avoid me? You and Cinder." Different guilt this time, the type that is much easier to process.

"Look, I won't speak for Cinder, but maybe you should stop trying to be alone with her." He doubts that relationship is ever being repaired, though perhaps that is the wrong word given there was never anything positive there to begin with. "As for me, it's... it isn't you. It's the mission." It was her to some extent, and Ruby even more, but now wasn't the time to untangle that whole mess. She just needed something identifiable to help understand, something clean-cut.

"The mission? You do not agree with the mission."

"I don't disagree with it. I'm here, aren't I? I just don't really think it's going to work. Not in the way Ruby is hoping, at least." Just enough for an explanation, not too much to make her start doubting it herself. "I think she thinks that whatever we find in that vault will undo everything that's happened. Reset it and give us all a second chance."

"But you don't."

"No, I don't." She moves to ask another question, but he shoots her a grimace that tells her not to. This was enough for now; anything more and her thinking might get infected. Poisonous thoughts, not something that only applies to him, "Penny, I'll try to be a bit less... standoffish? I'll at least try not to avoid looking at you; that isn't fair."

"Ok." It's quiet but accepting. Enough for now. He hesitantly brings a hand to her shoulder, patting it a couple times. In this moment, he was talking to a real girl who was having a tough time. Maybe that wouldn't last into the future, but at least in this moment, that was true. Eventually they get to their feet, with Jaune slipping his helmet back on before gesturing for the door.

"Let's go find the others; I don't think we're going to find any survivors here today."

She looks back down at the little rows of bones she had created, her eyes shaking back and forth a little as she processes the information. Then, like a switch, the solemn figure is gone, replaced once again with her facade of leadership. Another thought stored away for later. She walks past him, her chin once again held high in a show of classic military haughtiness.

"Yes, Subordinate Arc. Mission complete. Expect news of a promotion in the near future."

They make their way back to the centre to reconvene with the others. Ruby would no doubt have some surprise clothing items for him, like she always did. Something embarrassing, but tame enough that it would amuse the others. They'd probably need to go and find Cinder when it becomes clear she isn't capable of carrying any of the equipment she's found with one arm. Then they'd acquiesce to Penny, as she gives them all a 'debriefing' on the mission. Maybe even a mock promotion ceremony for him and his new 'Operative' title. Distractions mostly, but he would entertain them, but only for a little while. The moment they were back on the road, his mind would go back to remembering them. Remembering their faces. Their names. Little details about them that made them feel real—anything to keep them in his mind as accurately as possible. Ruby might mock him for waiting, but there was a certain guarantee that came with patience. Even if the short-term hope of the mission turns out to be nothing, even if they never manage to open the vault, there is always the long-term hope. They weren't the first immortals to walk on a Remnant devoid of life. Long ago, Salem had been right where they were, and what happened? Enough time passed, and life once again grew to inhabit the planet. He would be damned if the people that came after didn't at least know about the people that came before. About the heroes that tried and failed to save the world. That, in a way, had saved. At least from total annihilation. It was all he could do for them. Maybe it was all he was ever capable of doing.

It was a pancake shack that the Goliath had stepped on. Of course it was; it was Nora's dream after all.

God, did he miss her. He missed all of them.

This chapter was interrupted several times as I was writing it. Any advice and criticism regarding writing issues, characterization issues or pacing problems would be greatly appreciated. I am slowly learning and feedback helps immensely.