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pa tr eon.c o m (slash) MrLightbringer0


Meet me in my office.

A very surreal group of words that forms a sentence he still has trouble wrapping his head around on.

He had an office. And he just invited the younger versions of his team to this place.

Looking around it, he thinks he might have been too hasty deciding to meet them here. In his defense, this was also the first time he was actually entering his own office.

Removing his helmet, he takes in the dusty table, the empty shelves, the stale air, and the aged wood of the lone cabinet in the room. It's long window, the only source of natural light in the room, was covered by faded and grimy curtains.

As it was, it certainly was the image of an old, empty office. Not really fit for use just yet. Before he could even decide how to start cleaning this place however, he heard the door creak open behind him.

Snapping towards the sound, he sees...Glynda Goodwitch looking back at him. He stares at her for a moment, perplexed why she would be here considering he just left the class to her.

"Is the class already over?"

He cringes when he sees her raise an eyebrow at that.

"...Greetings, Mr. Arc." Glynda nods slowly at him, stepping inside his office with floating stacks of books and papers trailing behind her.

Ah, right. Greetings. That's a thing. In his defense however, he spent about two decades isolated in a fairy tale place without having to greet another person.

"Hello, Professor Goodwitch." He greets belatedly with a nervous tone.

"Please, call me Glynda. We are colleagues now after all. No need to be so formal with me.

"Only if you call me, Jaune." The words fly out of his mouth before he could even think about them and he finds that...he does not regret it.

"...Alright...Jaune." She answers slowly and a warm feeling spreads throughout his body.

He can only nod with a smile at that. It's been years since another person said his name so kindly and he finds the experience satisfying.

"To answer your previous question. The class ended the moment you left." Glynda coughs out and Jaune suddenly rubs his head in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry I left so suddenly."

"Don't be. You gave them a hard lesson. They just need the time to take it in. We don't typically teach them the harshness of the job on the first day of classes after all." Glynda shakes her head before talking to him slowly.

"...I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing, Mr. Arc. I-

"Jaune." He interrupts, surprising the both of them.

"What?" Glynda calls back, tilting her head in confusion.

Jaune could only smile at that but since he's already here, he continues.

"You promised to call me Jaune."

Glynda's eyes widen and she nods slowly before clearing her throat to continue.

"Ah. Apologies, Jaune. Anyways, I gave you the prerogative on how to conduct the class and I must say as unorthodox as it was, you did not disappoint."

"...Thank you, Glynda." He says slowly, staring at her eyes as the both of them look at each other.

Glynda was the first to look away as she clears her throat and waves at the objects she brough with her floating behind her.

"...Yes, quite. Now allow me to help you put your office in order."

With a use of her Semblance and a wave of her hand, his office is suddenly bathed a soft pink light. His eyes widen when dust from the furniture gathers into a ball.

"Thank you. I appreciate it really."

"Nonsense, Jaune. It is my duty as your senior to take care of you. Besides, I needed to drop these off on you in the first place."

Bam!

"Uhm? What?"

"Paperwork!"

"...What?"

"Pre-employment papers to be exact. Ozpin wants you to fill it up so we can start forging your identification."

"Forge...you are going to forge my papers?"

It takes Glynda a moment to get what Jaune was getting at.

"What? You think you're the only one who can forge something?" She rolls her eyes exasperatedly at him.

"No...just surprised you'd do this at all."

"We can hardly tell the public you're the Rusted Knight."

"Too late for that. I just appeared in front of everyone after Initiation, remember?"

"I doubt anyone would forget, Jaune. Besides, this is Ozpin we are talking about. I'm sure he could spin something."

"If you are sure."

"I'm sure. You just need to talk to him. If it makes you feel better though, it would not be easy for any of the students to prove that you came from a fairy tale."

"And if they still do?"

"Deny, deny, deny."

"So what do I put in here?"

"That is up to you. Just write your name and sign your signature. We can fill in the rest."

"So I can still write Jaune Arc?"

"Well...I've avoided calling you Jaune in public because I didn't know if you still wanted to use that name."

Something about what she said just sent a pang of pain through his heart.

"I see...So I have to change it, huh? To think I already liked the way you call my name." He says wistfully, thinking back to hearing how his name sounded from her lips. It reminded him of memories long lost but recently returned.

Glynda blushes and Jaune only notices after the room stays silent for a while before he blushes as well.

"Sorry...It's just been some time since someone said my name like that."

Ahh. He remembers what it reminds him of now. It reminded him of how his friends used to call him.

Aw, Shit.

Pain shoots through his heart as he suddenly hears his heart beat louder.

Jaune could hear Glynda gasp and in one smooth motion, she was already gently cupping his cheek.

It reminded him the pain of losing all of them.

"Oh, Jaune." Glynda sighs remorsefully and Jaune's breath gets caught in his throat as she continues. "You can absolutely use your name if you want to."

No...

"What about..." He doesn't like the way his voice breaks at being treated affectionatetly like this and the words get caught at the tip of his tongue.

Keep it in...

"If you want to then you'll use it. No buts, no ifs. We'll just put Ozpin to work in crafting your backstory." Glynda shushes him firmly and he could only chuckle wetly at that.

Don't let it out...

He only nods in response, getting a small smile from Glynda herself as she takes her hand off of his face.

For a moment, he thought everything would be okay. That they would move past over this and everything would be back to normal.

His mouth moves before he could keep it closed.

"Did you know I actually forgot what they looked like?" He lets out shakily, long buried fears and frustrations coming to the fore.

And just like that, the dam breaks and her hand comes back to his face. She might have whispered something but Jaune was too busy closing his eyes harshly and trying to pull his emotions back in.

"It's been 20 years since I last saw Nora and Ren that I forgot the color of their eyes or the shapes of their face. I don't even know if they were okay after...after crossing to Vacuo." He says painfully, tears pricking through his eyes as he opens them to look at her in embarrassment as he starts to break down.

This...was something he never thought would happen. Him, crying in front of another person about this let alone Glynda Goodwitch.

Back in the Ever After, he managed to keep himself together by waiting for his friends and holding on to his self-assigned duty of protecting the Paper Pleasers.

Here in the past at Beacon however, he had no such things to hold on to keep himself together. Frankly, with all the reminders of all he has lost, Jaune should have expected something like this sooner.

"Sorry." He says as he tries to pull away from Glynda to rub his wet eyes in embarrassment.

Glynda however resists and pulls him closer with both hands now to rub the tears that falls on his cheeks.

"Jaune...It's okay. I.. should be the one sorry I reminded you of your lost."

He could only glow red in shame as he pulls her hands away by grabbing her wrists.

"It's silly. I shouldn't be-"

"Don't Jaune. Don't say its silly. You lost them for 20 years. You are allowed to grieve them." Glynda interrupts, twisting their hands so she could hold both of his.

He holds her hands tight, letting the words wash over him as he clenches his teeth.

"I know. But I..."

He was about to say he got them back when he realizes...that he didn't, did he? Just as the Pyrrha now isn't his, so are Ren and Nora. So are the rest of Team RWBY. He really lost his friends.

He closes his eyes tight in grief as his hands lose all strength in them at the realization.

Glynda...he feels her hesitate before she firmly pulls him closer...and just like that, the surprise blows the grief away.

Jaune's eyes snap wide open as he feels his fellow blonde put her arms around him.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." She says slowly even as she tries to tighten the hug.

Jaune...Jaune was thankful he was wearing his armor because he was sure he would feel things other than the awkwardness he was already feeling right now.

When it comes to dealing with grief, it's good to know he can count on awkwardness to beat it back with a stick.

"It's...uhm...it's okay. I've had twenty years to deal with it." He replies as he tries to awkwardly pat her back in comfort.

He doesn't really know how him starting to break down led to him trying to comfort the beautiful woman who was originally trying to comfort him but he would take this without hesitation than ugly crying in front of said beautiful woman.

He is thankful then that Glynda finally pulls away to look at him but his eyes just open wider as he sees her teary eyes looking back.

"Oh, Jaune. You shouldn't have had to. I sometimes forget that you were alone for two decades when you look this young." Glynda responds, putting a hand on his chest place while staring at him.

Jaune knows they're having a serious conversation but he could only stand there and start to blush as she pins him down with a look.

He never knew Professor Goodwitch had a side like this but thinking about it now, it should have been obvious she had a life of her own outside of being a strict teacher. He's just seeing it now that they were colleagues and in private. He finds that thought enlightening as he finally starts getting to know her as someone empathetic and caring beneath her stern exterior.

"Is that why you wanted to talk to them?" She speaks slowly as she keeps staring at him.

Jaune, for his part, finally finds the strength to pull her hands away from him as he steps back.

Mercifully, Glynda notices his intention and she steps back hastily herself.

He doesn't notice the blush rushing to her cheeks even as she tries to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Y-yes... I wanted to see them." He answers truthfully because even while he wanted to talk about something else, wasn't that the deeper reason? He missed them. He missed his team.

"Do...you plan on telling them anything?"

And wasn't that the crux of the matter? To be honest, he himself didn't know whether he wanted to or not.

Part of him immediately wanted to do so. To warn them of what was coming. To get ready so that they could face the coming storm together.

However, as Glynda has just reminded him, this was not really his team. The sooner he comes to grips with it the better.

So the Rusted Knight does what comes familiar to him. He hardens his heart and hunkers down. The decision is made.

"I won't. There's no reason to involve them in this war."

Let them live their lives without worrying about Salem or Maidens. By the time he is done, they'll only have the Grimm to worry about.

If they do figure out something on their own however...he wouldn't keep the answers away from them.

Glynda looks...approvingly at him at that and Jaune couldn't help but return the smile growing on her face.

"I'm glad but let me tell you, you do not have to fight this war alone." She tells him with a pointed look.

"Is this one of your ways to tell me that I should tell you what my plans are so you could help me?" He rises an eyebrow playfully at her action and Glynda's eyes widen before she realizes he's joking with her.

"Jaune! It's not like that." She berates, slapping his shoulder, although the smile on her face betrays her mirth and Jaune could only laugh.

"Hahaha. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He apologizes while wiping the tears off of his eyes before givimg her a grateful look. "I know what you mean and thank you."

"Honestly..." Glynda shakes her head with a sigh before giving him a considering look that sends shivers to Jaune's spine at their intensity. "Come to the faculty lounge after your talk with your old team and bring your papers with you."

"And the lounge is..."

"Silly me, I keep forgetting we haven't had the time to give you a tour of the place. It's just at the end of this wing past Port's and Oobleck's. You can't miss it."

"Huh, I didn't know Beacon had a faculty lounge. In fact, I didn't realize that this was the faculty wingggggg...oh shit."

"What is it Jaune?"

"Do you think my old team could find their way here?"

Glynda seems to have realized the same thing but a timely intervention puts their fears to rest.

Knock! Knock!

"Uhm, hello? Is this...the Rusted Knight's office?"

The knock and the muffled sound from behind the door jolts them back away from each other.

"Huh, I guess they're already better than I was when it comes to directions." He chuckles lightly, trying to settle both their nerves.

Glynda chuckles back before coughing to herself to get herself under control.

They nod to each other and Jaune says the word that changes some lives altogether.

"Come in."


Glynda saw the door open and Team JNPR freeze at the entrance and Glynda has the sudden urge to mess with them.

"Ahem." She coughs, maintaining a cool image as the students' wide eyes turn towards her.

"I will leave you now to your talk with them...Jaune." She nods gracefully, getting a jolt of surprise from the whole team.

The older Jaune chuckles beside her, getting in on the joke to mess with his younger team members.

"Thank you...Glynda."

She does not blush. Anybody who says otherwise is a liar of the highest proportions. But...the sincere gratefulness in his voice warms Glynda's heart. To be appreciated like that by someone looking so young is certainly a breath of fresh air.

"What the fuck?"

"Language!" She barks automatically, flushing immediately once she realizes she still has Jaune's eyes on her.

This is highly inappropriate, she thinks to herself. To be so unbalanced by a younger man, well older but younger looking man, is unprofessional.

She takes a deep breath to calm herself before looking at the source of the curse word before locking eyes with a young Jaune Arc who cringes at her glare.

"Sorry Ma'am. I was just surprised." He answers apologetically and Glynda's ire cools at the act.

"It's no problem. I understand the reason why." She nods towards the older Jaune Arc still in his armor who only chuckles at them.

"I haven't introduced myself, have I? The name's Jaune Arc."

"Short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue." The younger one finishes with wide eyes.

"Hmmm. I guess you could say that but I'm also the Rusted Knight." The older one hums with a glint in his eyes that only Glynda would recognize.

"You...we have the same name."

"I guess we do, don't we?"

That was cue enough for Glynda to leave. However, she pipes up one last time before she moves to exit the room.

"Ahh, Jaune. Remember to bring your papers to the lounge after your talk."

"What?" Young Jaune tilts her head at her and Glynda has to stop herself from laughing out loud at the look of confusion.

"She was referring to me, Jaune, but for convenience sake...you may call me Professor Arc." Older Jaune or Professor Arc cuts in with a smile of his own.

Glynda chuckles at that, unable to stop herself from shooting some parting words. "Only after you submit your papers."

"Yes, yes. I'll be there after this, Professor Goodwitch." Professor Arc rolls his eyes at her and Glynda could only smile gently at him.

"I'll see you later then, Professor Arc."

It's good to see that she could put some joy to someone as broken as him.

Moving past Team JNPR, she ignores their stunned looks. She has a reputation as a strict disciplinarian to maintain after all. It would do no good if she allows herself to be affected by their stairs.

Closing the door behind her once she's in the hallway, she takes a moment to close her eyes and think back to the earlier events inside the room...

What was she thinking?!

Glynda puts her hands on her face and groans to herself im embarrassment at her own words and actions. Hugging the Rusted Knight while calling him just because he likes the way she calls him?!

Ughhhhh, Glynda Goodwitch, you are better than this!

Slapping the side of her cheeks and opening her eyes, she shakes her head to remove any weird thoughts. She does not expect to see figures from the corner of her eye.

Turning towards said figures...she stares at a frozen Team RWBY staring back at her.

"...Not one word." She growls, red hue growing on her face.

Team RWBY, in an impressive display of teamwork coordination and teamwork, mimes zipping their mouths at the same time.

Before anything else can happen however, the door slams open and out peeks Jaune Arc, Rusted Knight and about to be Professor Arc of Beacon.

Glynda's heart leaps to her throat in terror but luckily for her, he only glances at her for a moment before turning towards Team RWBY.

"I had a feeling you'd be here trying to sneak in or eavesdrop. Come on in, no need to wirry." He invites, and Team RWBY takes a moment to defrost from her glare before nervously entering Jaune's office.

"Alright, see you again later Glynda! By the way if you see the Cat, kick them for me please." He finishes once the students are all inside before closing the door just as quickly as he opened it.

Glynda Goodwitch is now left alone the hallway of the faculty wing to take in what just happened. Slapping herself awake with both hands, she decides the best way to handle it is pretend that it never happened in the first place.

Turning towards the faculty lounge, she brings out her scroll to compose a few messages. She has a welcome party to organize after all.


The last thing Jaune Arc expected to see when entering the Rusted Knight's office was the sight of himself talking amicably with Professor Goodwitch.

Sure there were differences between them like Jaune having longer hair and looking younger but put them side by side you'd think they were brothers.

Sure he knew the Rusted Knight was an Arc but the resemblance was just that similar that it was weird. Change their hairstyle to look the same and you'd think they were twins with one of them just being bulkier! The fact that they have the same name makes everything weirder!

It was certainly weirder than seeing Team RWBY trying to tail them and eavesdrop on the upcoming conversation. Keyword on try because the moment Glynda Goodwitch got out of the room, the Rusted Knight raised his hand to signal silence. A few seconds later and he opens the door and in comes Team RWBY.

He exchanges a look with his own team before looking at Team RWBY. Deep in his heart he was worried. His fake transcripts just got outed after all. Unlike Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha who publicly stated their support or acceptance, he had no idea of how Team RWBY reacted.

His worries are soothed when Ruby gives him a supportive thumbs up with the rest giving him nods, shrugs, and a look of apathy. It seems they were more or less neutral leaning on the accepting side. Before he could convey his thanks however, the Rusted Knight speaks.

"So...I assume you have questions?" The Rusted Knight, Professor Arc, greets them after sitting down behind his desk.

The words were herald of the storm as members from two teams suddenly rush to ask their questions.

"Who are yo-"

"Why do you look li-"

"Dust, how do you kno-"

"What's up with the banana ha-"

"What were you doing with Ms. Go-"

SLAM!

The questions form unfinished as Professor Arc slams his hand on the table.

"Sorry, that was my bad. Should have known something like that will happen." Professor Arc says apologetically, scratching the back of his head embarrassedly at his actions.

All of them stay silent at that, even Jaune, nervously looking at the Rusted Knight who clears his throat.

"So...Introductions first. My name is Jaune Arc, yes we have the same name but it's just a coincidence, you may call me Professor Arc however." Professor Arc greets them, finishing with a nod towards the two frozen teams.

Jaune freezes at that but before anyone can respond, the Rusted Knight or Professor Arc continues.

There's a lot to unpack on that one and Jaune could already see his friends open and close their mouths at the information.

He only crosses his arms in thought as his friends remain silent. Seeing as no one else was able to articulately ask a question, he decides to ask one himself.

"Why did you call us here?"

It might have come off as a bit cold or defensive but sue him. The guy still tried to push him out of Beacon earlier even if they had the same name.

Professor Arc however, only casually nods at that to Jaune's irritation.

"Truth be told, I just wanted to see how you were doing. All of you actually." Professor Arc answers, looking at him before gazing at his friends.

"That's it?" He asks in disbelief.

He would be hard-pressed to believe that a member of the faculty would just call them to see how they were doing.

That might have been too much however because Pyrrha was elbowing him from his side. Before he could elbow his partner back, Professor Arc just pushes past the question with another question.

"How's the family?"

"What?" Jaune actually tilts back at the question.

"Tell me abou the Arcs, how are they? What are they doing?"

Everyone looks towards Jaune at that question, curious about his own answer. Before he could speak however, Professor Arc raises pen.

"You don't mind that I fill up these forms do you? Glynda's asking me to finish this by the time this talk is over."

Jaune could already see Weiss and Yang struggle to contain themselves from asking their questions but they manage it by looking at Jaune to hurry it up so they could get to know the Rusted Knight better.

Gulping at the sudden pressure, he gulps and returns Professor Arc's look.

"S-sure. As for my family, I have my parents and seven sisters-"

"""""Seven?!""""" Multiple voices cut him off and Jaune flinches at the volume.

Professor Arc doesn't even look surprised, turning only to look at his friends with a raised eyebrow as he pauses from filling up his form.

""""Sorry.""""

"Right, anything else?" Professor Arc nods before looking at Jaune again.

Jaune thinks about it for a second and seeing he wasn't here to share about his life story, he decides to do something else.

"Well, that's basically it. What about you Professor?"

Professor Arc raises an eyebrow at that before humming and continuing to fill up his forms.

Everyone else starts looking excitedly at that. To know more about the backstory of the fabled Rusted Knight, inspiration to heroes past and present, was something of a treasure to everyone.

Jaune would have been excited as well but he was looking for something else to even think avout that. His eyes narrow as he waits for the Rusted Knighy to answer.

"Well...I, too had parents and sisters." Jaune could only roll his eyes at that even as Team RWBY mutters between them. He didn't even give them that much information! It was literally almost the same thing he told them! Parents and sisters.

His own team on the other hand stays silent, sensing the mood of their leader.

"What else?" Pyrrha asks for him and Jaune could ki-

"I had a team once."

The words freeze everyone there. They knew this, deep down at least, but to have it just spoken out loud sucks out any levity in the conversation.

"I had a team that I saw as family before I fell to the Ever After." Professor Arc continues casually, not even looking up from his forms to which Jaune takes a peek at before his eyes flick back upwards.

It is Ruby who breaks the silence by quietly asking the question.

"What happened to them?" She asks with a whisper and everyone waits with bated breath for the Rusted Knight's answer.

Professor Arc pauses. Looking up at each one of them.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes."

The word comes out of Jaune's mouth as he keeps his eyes on the Rusted Knight's figure and away from the paperwork.

"My partner died first, the rest..."

Jaune could not hear the rest of the sentence. He was too busy trying not to look at the paperwork. The moment he looked down, he knew he was gonna break.

The name? Jaune Arc. Weird but okay. It's plausible there's been some Jaunes in his family line before him.

The signature however? His own down to the last stroke.

And so Jaune Arc keeps his stare on the top of Jaune Arc's head. Keeping his gaze at the white strip in an otherwise short blonde banana hair. Completely different from his own long blonde shaggy hair.


Soooo, I know you were looking forward to it but the conversation between Team JNPR, RWBY, and the Rusted Knight will be next chapter.

I wanted to use this chapter as an avenue for Rusted Knight Jaune to grow and form his connections! On one hand we have Glynda, a new friend/companion while on the other hand, we have the younger versions of his old friends. Both could be treated as windows. One to future friends, the other to past connections.

Let me know what you think!