It's good to see everyone again so soon. To be honest, this is the fastest I've ever churned out so many words for me so fast. I'm a bit addicted to writing this ship. I want to have the next chapter out quickly too, I just have to get to it. So stick around and enjoy!

CHAPTER 3 - Interrogation for Two

"You shouldn't be spending so much time with her Jaune. What if she like, stole all your nails-or-or she put a micro chip in your drink that explodes!"

Jaune sighed, looking across the room at his best friend. "Ruby, she won't do that."

"You never know Jaune, she's evilll! I bet she puts her milk in before the cereal!" Ruby exclaimed, throwing her hands around. Also letting out an "eep" of pain as one hit the bunk above her.

The two had been in Team JNPR's room for a short dozen of minutes, the rest of their teams having left to train, read, shop, or anything for the weekend. Ruby had stopped him from making his way to Cinder's room, calling an intervention of team leader to team leader and best friend to best friend. It had been a good month or so of Jaune visiting Cinder, and it had become a habit, really integrated into his schedule to go to her room.

The several weeks worth of visits had added up. He no longer felt a hole burning into him while he talked to Cinder, her stare like fire to him. There was less repulsion at his antics, more playing along with them these days. Jaune found himself constantly thinking about and looking forward to the visits. Sometimes skipping out on outings with either teams, friends, or using it as a place to get assignments done.

He learned quickly that Cinder was all bark and some nibbling than bite, opting for crass comments and hollow threats to shield herself. It took consistency of kind remarks and persistence of staying near to create cracks in her barriers. Jaune figured out her was weak to sweets, soft touches in respectful spots, and (knowledge that he had to keep at all costs from Yang) actually laughed at his puns. Cinder melted at a simple gift or truthful statement, she tried to hide it but he saw it.

There was still a ways to go, there was no reason to lie about the fact. Her first episode had come last week, where he had hoped she had made a decision on revealing information on dust warehouses. Jaune had brought a simple plastic horseshoe game for them to play, something to keep them busy while he bet more things with her. But one look at the game and Cinder had rushed to a corner, sobbing and trying to keep him at bay. He hadn't expected such a thing to be the reason for his first hug with her, once his shirt had become soaked with her tears and his rib cage was sore from her grasp he realized all that mattered was making her feel better.

After everything had calmed down, Cinder explained to him that the family game night in the past had been with metal horseshoes. With her neck as the post to send them to. Jaune hadn't stopped holding her while she told the story, even holding tighter after she finished. Neither opted to discuss their closeness in the following meetings, and after he had mentioned it in passing to Ruby she had shoved him into the room.

Jaune fell back into his pillow, "Look, Ruby, I know this might sound cliché. But I genuinely think that Cinder isn't the villain we think she is. A criminal that never had a father figure and her mother figure literally waterboarded her, not the fun kind by the way. All it will take is a second chance and some elbow grease, then she's good as new."

"But Jaune," Ruby looked at him, giving him her best serious face. "You can't ignore that she literally tried to kill Prryah. It's not like everyone can just forgive and forget after something like that."

"Your right, your right, " Jaune huffed, "And I'm not saying I have forgiven her. I mean, don't you think I understand the most out of anyone what she did to my partner. I don't know if it's superstition, or a gut feeling, whatever it is, there's a reason that my semblance activated to save her. With the past month, I think that it's becoming evident that the reason was to give her a second chance."

Ruby blew a razzberry, "Jaune, I think you're a genius at leading and strategy. Heck, I've seen it plenty. But come on, don't you think that you're saying something out of one of Blake's books?"

Jaune shrugged in reply, "Yeah, maybe I'm just banking on the universe having planned for us to conveniently meet at the moment she was dying. Then conveniently me having the semblance that she would save her life. Oh, and then her being the one behind one of the largest crime organizations in the city, and just so happens to be on the fence about betraying everything she knew to try to be good. Well, I guess I'm just crazy and everything lines up way too well. I'll go tell Ozpin that he should just toss her in the stockade, let her stay there while we twiddle our thumbs thinking about how nice it would be if crime was a little less."

"You know what I mean Jaune," Ruby glared, a somewhat unsettling thing with her silver eyes and having rarely ever done so. "From what you say, Cinder's been lying, stealing, and just being a bad person for several years at this point. How do you know that she isn't just leading you on? Waiting for the right moment to escape, then go back to life as normal for her."

"B-Because, I, ugh, I don't know Ruby." Jaune ran a hand through his hair. "How 'bout this, I've been thinking for awhile. She responds greatly to challenges, and she's a great teacher too, don't tell me you didn't catch me how easy I bear Cardin in class a couple days ago."

"I-Yeah, that's great. I'm real proud of you Jaune," Ruby got up from her side of the room, going over to sit next to Jaune. "It's great that you have a goal, and I don't think I've ever seen you light up like you do when you talk about Cinder, but I don't want to lose my best friend."

"Thanks Rubes, that means a lot." Jaune looked Ruby in the eyes, preparing himself for her reaction. "But as I was saying, I think Cinder has a lot of pros that no else has seen or knows but me. And I think, if I can convince Professor Ozpin of it, that she needs some breathing room from everything. We're both smart enough to know that her being in the room isn't just for us. Right now, no one but our teams and some others know she's alive, or even who she is. I'm sure that they're worried about the bad guys tearing up the school again to find her."

"Where are you going with this Vomit Boy?" Ruby asked.

Jaune gave his best puppy eyes, hoping Ruby would agree with him. "Ozpin needs results, as much as he says that he cares to help people. Cinder needs support, a goal, chances...okay a lot of things, and more than I think I can provide alone. She needs to be able to work for some things on her own, and get back on her feet. So, I want to bring it up to Ozpin that, considering finals are in a few weeks, and I'll be going home...to, well, bring her with me."

Ruby shot up from the bed, "Jaune are you crazy! She's in no position to be with you and your family. You're going to be doing training in your backyard, then one of her goons are going to see you, then you'll have to perform a bunch of tricks in their underground circus to survive, and-and then they'll throw you out after you miss one of the chainsaw's you were juggling, and then you'll end up in a ditch! I don't want my best friend to end up in a ditch!"

"I'm not going to end up in a ditch, let alone in an underground circus." Jaune gave her a look. "You need to stop going down that rabbit hole of videos on your scroll at night."

"I just start with cat videos, somehow they spiral out of control after that."

"Anyway, what I was hoping is that today I can bring you with me." Jaune prepared even bigger puppy dog eyes. "Please, if Ozpin hears two good opinions on her, I really think that he'll let her come back home with me."

Ruby didn't reply for a few moments, keeping Jaune on edge. "I can't say second chances have ever happened to me frequently. Though, considering I'm even next to you today and not two years from now says that chances do matter. So, I'll go. That doesn't mean I'll say good stuff to Professor Ozpin no matter what, but I am willing to talk and listen."

Jaune gasped in joy, enveloping Ruby into a bear hug, "Awesome! Ruby you won't regret this! I'll be sure to make you a bunch of batches of chocolate chip cookies later, even some milkshakes too."

"Oh, you better mister."

The two set off for Ozpin's office first, having to get permission from him first. There weren't too many rules concerning Cinder; Jaune had to always make sure he kept the door shut, at least one or two people knew when he was there, and get approval for anything he brought her. Among other things, there weren't too many constraints on how he dealt with her. Though, more people was a non-negotiable unless he got approval. Which placed him and Ruby in Ozpin's office.

It didn't take too much convincing, only a guarantee of being safe and careful. With one additional clause, pertaining to Jaune's original mission of information. For Ozpin to even consider allowing Cinder back to his household, Jaune had to get information on her criminal empire. The decision could also be influenced by what Ruby said to him after their meeting. Which didn't worry Jaune in the slightest, surprisingly enough. He was confident that Cinder would play nice enough to be passable for Ruby, and with the few weeks ahead before they could leave he knew he could get the information he needed.

All of this lead the two leaders to Cinder's room, and Jaune with a single bead of sweat at what would come.

Jaune opened the door to the room, going in first to give Cinder the familiarity of himself. And honestly keep someone in between the two if anything happened at their first sight of each other. "Hey Cin, how's it going? I brought a different kind of something for today?"

"Cin? Cin, really Jaune? Nicknames?" Ruby whispered, her irritation showing in the sharpness of her voice.

"Ah, afternoon Arc. I was thinking of changing to a different color scheme of clothes, probably not good to have so much blood red on me. Considering everything, ri-" Cinder stopped her discussion, her one working eye staring hard at the new visitor. "And what are you doing in my establishment Miss Rose."

Ruby gave a small wave, opting to hide somewhat behind the shadow of Jaune's body. "He-Hey there Cinder, nice to...I see that you're enjoying Jaune's company. A little too much, if I say so."

"You have no clue what you're saying, you gremlin!" Jaune cocked an eyebrow at Cinder's strangely red blush on her cheeks.

Ruby growled and pointed a finger at her adversary, "I'm an adult, I drink milk!"

Jaune waved his hands wildly, putting himself in the middle of the two as well as he could, "Alright, alright ladies, I think we can talk civil if we sit down with some sweets, yeah?"

Cinder scoffed, "Not unless the cookies are chocolate chip."

"Okay, maybe I'll sit down with a fellow connoisseur." Ruby mumbled.

With the niceties aside, their discussion began. Though, it took a minute of munching on their sweets and a bit of direction from Jaune to begin talking. At first it was small talk, centered around sweets, and eventually they began a more serious discussion. The first question as serious as the young scythe wielder could get.

"Why did you shoot Pyrrha?" Ruby asked, no hesitation in her voice. Jaune could tell she had been mulling it over for weeks at this point. He hadn't truly considered that Ruby actually had a real set of questions to ask the ex-villainess, and he was curious to find out what she planned to ask.

Cinder looked at the table Jaune and her usually sat at, now the three of them did, "I did it out of necessity. At the time that is. I had a mission, a goal too, and she was just too important to be alive. She isn't some cog in the machine of hunters, she's the Gods nut in the rotor blades of a helicopter. My time to execute and finish the mission hinged off of her death, among other things, and would skyrocket me toward my goal."

Ruby looked at the subject of her questioning with confusion, "I don't understand, how is Pyrrha so important. Sure, she's like uber top of our class in like everything. But what do you mean by that? That doesn't sound like the misunderstanding Jauney boy over there has been trying to pitch."

"I've said too much already," Cinder side-looked at Jaune, "And likely everything, as much as I lend it to my strength and not weakness like he does, Jaune has told you is true. I am where I am because of my past, and you will have no future without your champion friend alive. Not that you will nonetheless, it will only settle as a facade of an umbrella for your fear."

"I still don't really get it," Ruby said, "Let's just move to the next question. Do you regret it?"

"Do I, no-" Cinder stopped herself from continuing, physically pulling herself back. "I will be truthful Ruby Rose, I am not sure. In the sense of understanding the other side in the fashion I do currently, I might say yes. But to negate the fact that the decision has lead me to the position I am in presently, well, I could certainly say no."

"Is it because of Jaune?" Ruby asked innocently.

Cinder didn't reply for a belayed moment, "Jaune I would like you to leave us alone for the next fifteen minutes. I will not harm Team RWBY's leader, you can have my word. And we both know that if you don't take it, that will discredit a large portion of your self-worth and persona."

Jaune chuckled, "I've told you time and time again Cinder. I trust you, and that includes when you're with someone like my best friend. I'll be back in fifteen, behave."

Within seconds it was just Cinder and Ruby. Both wary of each other, but understanding of their situation. Ruby was particularly intrigued behind the reasoning on Jaune's exit. This gave her the momentum to ask the next question, until Cinder beat her to it.

"Do you have romantic feelings for your fellow leader?" Cinder asked, propping her head on her hands.

Ruby didn't blush, yell, or stutter. Only a loud laugh came out, "Nah, that would never happen. We're just best buds, pals at most. Why, afraid I might encroach on your territory?"

"N-Not particularly, I must say." Cinder leant forward, lowering her voice. "Look, Jaune has been preaching and shoving it down my throat to trust someone and see the benefits. And well, even I know the social constraints of talking to him about this. So, I ask in trust that you won't blab through your paper slit mouth to him, why do I feel so uncomfortably mush around him?"

Ruby bounced on her seat excitedly, but quickly became serious. "Okay, before we get into that. You still have to answer my questions, and I'll help you with yours."

Cinder took a few seconds, looking a bit on the fence, "Fine, we'll see. I still don't fully trust Ozpin, and I only trust you with my questions. All I will say is that I trust Jaune the most out of anyone alive, and only when I think he can handle everything will he find out about everything else."

"Is it something about you? Like you're a vampire! Ooh, ooh, or you can only eat cucumbers because of a rare disease." Ruby gave Cinder a look of sympathy, "I'm sure Jaune will accept you no matter what."

"No, nothing about me." Cinder looked away bashfully, "To be honest, he already knows just about everything about me he can. But everything else is for him to decide what to do with the knowledge. Not you, or Ozpin, or anyone else. And I give my word, as little as it matters to you, that he will receive such information when I'm sure where he and I stand. Now, answer my question...please."

Ruby nodded, sated by the answer. "Well to answer your question with a question, is it a kind of uncomfortable like you want to get super far away or a kind of uncomfortable that you have never experienced the feeling before?"

"The latter."

"I see." Ruby stroked an imaginary beard. "Okay, so describe to me what happens, say, when you get close or touch him? Like a hug, or holding hands?"

Cinder contemplated, referencing her many interactions with the knight over the number of weeks, closing in on well over a month, "I get very warm, like I'm back in the winter months wrapped up in a blanket. And my cheeks heat up, then my stomach gets...unsettled. When he hugged me, I can't say I ever felt as safe as I did then. To be honest, it's partly why I am even spewing this nonsense to you. I can't understand why my body is reacting around him the way it is, and I'm afraid I might ruin my second chance I've been given."

Ruby hummed, having finally grasped everything Jaune and Cinder had said about each other. She was confident in her future decisions regarding the two, and steeled herself for the earful she would get from Weiss alone. But maybe, just maybe, she would get to be the cool Aunt if it worked out. Even the super godmother, that sounded like a pretty sweet gig to her. "I think I get it now Cinder. But I don't think it's my place to tell you what you're feeling, only guide. All I can say is that its good what it is, nothing bad. Game changing, sure. Jaune might take a bit to understand too, so don't count yourself out."

"Ah," Cinder didn't seem to catch on, "I seem to be misunderstand even more now."

Ruby got up from her chair and patted Cinder on the back, "Don't worry about anything, I'm going to give you some of Blake's research material and I think you'll realize just fine what you're feeling. Just know that you can get Jaune to give us some girl-talk time whenever you feel like it again, I will be on your side through this from now on."

"I..." Cinder wasn't sure what to say, no one other than Jaune had given her such a level of support. It was refreshing how different the Beacon students were than her coworkers once she got to know them. "I appreciate it Ruby."

"Now, let me grab Jaune and you two can keep going as usual. I'll be across the hall if you need anything, just ask him." Ruby said, making her way to the door, only stopping at it to give a goodbye wave.

A couple moments later, it was just Cinder and Jaune. Alone with each other once again. After an awkward start back into their groove they had developed, it was business like usual. The discussion with Ruby was still at the forefront of Cinder's mind, but it slowly receded as she became more and more comfortable with Jaune throughout the afternoon. She would likely take advantage of Ruby's kindness over the next few weeks, and use the time separated from Jaune over his winter break to unpack whatever she was feeling.

The session ended on a positive note, nothing too crazy for Jaune. He headed straight to Ruby after he was done, doing his best to squeeze, tickle, and bribe anything out of her. After his efforts were fruitless, he asked for her to accompany him to Ozpin's office. She had quickly responded with an affirmation and a strange pep in her step as they went to the office. He wasn't sure what they had discussed, but it had sure done one-eighty on most of Ruby's opinion on the fire-fueled woman.

With Ruby's enthusiastic briefing on her interaction with Cinder, and another isolation of Jaune from the room, Ozpin agreed for Cinder to tag along with him for the break. His family would be contacted shortly after, especially his parents, both of which had graduated with him and Professor Goodwitch (among the many other professors at the school) previously from Beacon. He still had a gut feeling that his fake transcripts had been approved because of Ozpin's closeness with his parents, and he had always had a sneaking suspicion that Ozpin knew from day one they were fake.

All that stood ahead of Jaune was passing his finals, and a long talk with his parents, not just on bringing Cinder, but his whole life changing decision. It would be an eventful break to say the least. Jaune was just glad that he wouldn't be alone on the familial battlefield.

Note to self, don't listen to bumpin go lucky music while trying to describe Cinder. It's a little hard to write sad when you're bangin' your head to music. I should also probably stop typing these chapters up from midnight to four in the morning.

Anyways a HUGE thanks for over 100 follows on this story! This is now the third most popular story based off that metric that I've written, and considering how fast I made it to that point is crazy. The support and everything keeps my writer's block at bay and honestly keeps me going. So, I hope to provide an extra experience of Knightfall in a sea of more prominent ships.

We're speeding along in the story, with next chapter featuring the Arc family and the one after furthering the plot a bit. I want everything to pace as naturally as I can excuse, and as cliche as I feel, well, I think there does need to be a couple of decisive points in the relationship before fluff and progression can continue.

A pre-ramble of sort, I debated heavily on writing out Ruby and Cinder's talk. A simple couple of paragraphs to get me to a somewhat reasonable word limit, and some movie magic would have caused the same understanding that Ruby gets her a bit, there's something more than she and Jaune know going on, and more trust gained when she's brought home should help with that.

Or I could give a two-for and not just deal with the shadow of Salem and her plans looming over head, I could also pinch along Cinder's feelings toward Jaune. Without some sappy reason between the two of them. So, hopefully the extra chunk of words instead of a couple paragraphs served their purpose. I'm still trying to balance pacing, and keep interest.

To continue more my now usual ramblings, I have always liked Cinder's parallel with another ship that I never expected to enjoy; Sokka and Azula (thanks Gladiator). The almost tsundere attitude that the two hold at the beginning and middle of their relationships have been refreshing on the cliché. Will I include misunderstandings that plays on Cinder's extremely low self-worth and anxiety at even being worth it? Ehhhh, I don't know.

These type of cliches are a grey area in my opinion. Like watching different genres of shows or reading fanfiction off certain characters or points in the show. There is just givens with how interactions and characterizations are supposed to go. How dialogue is written to give distinction, and how actions like the aforementioned help round out, no matter how negative, the given character.

On a side note, I always try to set a few constraints when writing a character. For a even sider note, Vinyl Scratch, the DJ, tomboy, roudy character is always written with contractions, slang, and such like wanna, won't, 'bout, aight, etc. Octavia, an elite, classical type, Cellist, and somewhat uppity character will never use contractions, no matter how awkward it sounds, and it practically a word of the day machine.

This style translates pretty directly to Cinder at least, where I look to keep her in a position to sure, use contractions, and be crass. But always feel like she says things with a purpose, or is playing multiple games at once; a mental, visual, and physical. A picture can say a thousand words, and a video can says tens of thousands. So, when writing I have to condense these thousands of words into distinction and reason to get across what I could just show in a picture.

To stop rambling, I guess I hope that Cinder isn't too OOC. And Jaune, well, I hope he's just likable at this point. The Arc isn't just coincidantly in relation to Joan of Arc, and I think that means something. His personality should balance out Cinder's, to guide her to be better, and for him to try to better himself because of her influence and challanges. I hope their characters are up to snuff.

Thanks as always for reading, I will forever appreciate it. Please review if you so please, comment on what you think of everything, whether its what the Arc family will say, their future, or just what you think so far, I won't miss any. And I'll try to figure out the replying, still a bit knew to this side of the site.

P.S. Sorry for the cliche of characters saying quotes from the show, I can't help with Ruby's 'I drink milk' one. It just cracks me up too much not to use it.

P.P.S. Also, for those confused at the 'Gods nut', its a reference to the Jesus nut of an Apache helicopter. If something happens to the retaining nut on it, well, the next person you'll meet is Jesus.