Who's my personal favorite chapter in this whole stupid story. You are.

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(Weiss PoV)

Blake and I were on a stakeout. We were the most patient members of team RWBY so we made a certain amount of sense. We were watching over a dance club called The Den from a rooftop nearby. We'd gotten an anonymous tip about Cloud Strife and Neapolitan being in this location and Winter had put us on it.

She had us here while she watched over another location where they'd been spotted. It was long work, sitting out just watching a doorway on a bare grimy rooftop.

We found nothing for hours and hours.

Eventually it bore fruit and a woman with pink and brown hair and an exposed midriff came out of The Den. She was followed by a tall blonde with spiky hair.

He wore dark clothes and a half cape. But his weapon… It was unmistakable; bronze and white in a harness on his back…

"Blake…" I hissed.

She jumped from the roof after the two of them without a word.

"Stop right there!" Blake demanded uncharacteristically loud. Combat was like that. There was 'I'm the quiet type' and then there was 'I need to fight right now.'

Neapolitan vanished. One moment she was there, the next she was gone, she just shattered like a pane of glass into nothingness. That left the familiar stranger wearing diamond earrings and the tall sword with the long red handle.

I jumped down and landed on a glyph as I did. Then another, bouncing off them as I made my way to ground level.

The man turned and began to glow a faint deep blue. He drew a three-foot-and-change longsword. Blake jumped at him with her sword but he knocked her aside with blinding speed. Their weapons met with a resounding clang. His half cape fluttered and gave him an interesting silhouette as he moved and slammed Blake back with a single wide slash.

By his side jingled a blue and gold lamp on a chain.

She landed like a dancer on her feet with her weapon in one hand.

"Jaune!" Blake gasped from the ground.

Fact one: Cloud Strife was Jaune Arc.

Fact two: I wasn't sure Blake and I could take him.

He was glowing that blue with pale wisps of light surrounding him. It only meant one thing, he was Limit Broken.

"Blake!" I hauled her to her feet and looked down the street at Jaune. "Wait."

"What?"

"He has the relic of knowledge."

Blake's head whipped around to look at Jaune.

"He's..." Blake trailed.

"Jaune Arc is Cloud Strife," I muttered to her.

"Indeed," Jaune said. He was still holding his longsword with the long hilt. "Good to see you, Weiss." His tone was low and smoldering. Had he always sounded like that? Or had I missed his voice? "And Blake," he continued, "it's been a long time. When were you two reunited?"

"Just after you killed Ren and Nora," Blake growled.

"Ah…"

"That's all you have to say about it?! 'Ah?!'" Blake demanded with heat.

Blake made to move forward but I held her back.

"Weiss we can take him!" She looked back at me.

"Wait! His Limit Break is active. He'll tear you apart. It's a trick! He's not vulnerable!"

Blake looked over, her amber eyes taking in the blue glow reflectively. "So what do we do?"

"I was never able to beat him," I confessed. "But you used to be able to time it out. Wait for the power to evaporate."

Jaune was looking away, giving us a sense of privacy as we talked. He kicked a rock down the street and leaned the sword against his shoulder. He looked comfortable. He even looked handsome with the piercings and his hair done up like that.

Damn him. The absolute son of a bitch.

"So what? We just keep him talking?"

"It's worth a shot. After the power fades he'll have to recharge it." I looked past her and called out. "Jaune, or do you prefer Cloud?"

"Weiss, either is fine." He nodded.

"You have the relic of knowledge."

"I do." He pulled it off the chain at his side and held it out. "I used one of the questions, it still has two left."

"What did you ask the lamp?" I asked.

"I asked it about mother."

"You asked it about your mom?" Blake sounded incredulous.

"Ah, I should explain. I meant Salem." He stepped closer to us. He still burned with the ethereal fire of his semblance. I took a wary step back and he froze. "Are you afraid of me, Weiss?"

"You call Salem mother?" I asked. I ignored his awful question poignantly.

"Only when I slip up." He gave a sigh.

"Salem's your mom? She gave birth to you?" Blake asked.

"For a certain definition of birth. I was born in a lab. A test tube and some of her cells created me."

"So that's why you became her agent," Blake confirmed. She was trying to puzzle it together.

"I didn't know about that until recently. Until after she made me kill my friends." He said. He still looked relaxed with the straight edge of Crocea Mors against his shoulder. His expression turned into a hard line.

"She made you?" I asked.

"Salem has dominion over my mind, she seized control over me and made me kill Ren and Nora."

"So Ozpin was right. You were a sleeper agent," I murmured.

"Of sorts," he agreed. "Of a very certain sort."

"You're buying this?" Blake asked.

"He has the relic," I pointed out.

"It could be a trap."

"The relics are the end goals, Blake. Why would Salem set a trap with them?"

She didn't have a good response to that and growled.

"What happened at Haven, Jaune?" I asked.

"I cornered Leonardo and Salem's Grimm killed him. From there she spoke to me," he grimaced but continued. "She spoke to me and I had to obey her orders. She made me kill Ren and Nora and leave with the relic. Eventually I broke free of her spell." His expression schooled itself back into a thin line again. "I couldn't return with what I'd done so I went to hunt down my father, who she mentioned. A scientist by the name of Merlot."

"And that's where you've been?"

"Yes." He gave me a charming smile. I had to admit he looked good. The sick bastard. I raised my weapon anyway. He lifted his hands in surrender. "I don't want to fight you."

"His semblance isn't disappearing." Blake whispered to me.

"I know," I muttered back. "Will you come with us?" I asked my voice louder.

"If I can remain armed, sure," Jaune agreed. "I refuse to be separated from my weapons."

"No chance," Blake said.

"Hmm, what if I give you the relic." He proffered it out with one hand and sheathed his weapon over his shoulder with the other.

"We have to take the deal." I told Blake. "Nothing is more important than the relic."

I could tell she didn't like it. She still saw Jaune as being like Adam. But if what he told us was true then he was a victim. Salem could control his thoughts. That didn't make him any less dangerous, though. It meant this whole thing could be a trap. I just couldn't see how. Or what Salem would gain by giving up a relic.

"Weiss, get down!" Winter came striding over my head on a wave of glyphs and pierced right at Jaune's head with her scimitar.

She must have been listening to our mics the whole time.

Jaune leaned out of the way, grabbed Winter and kicked her twice in the chest in a sort of rolling motion with each leg. The strength of the blows made Winter's eyes widen and it left her in the air above Jaune. The last place you ever wanted to be.

Like lightning Jaune drew the white and bronze broadsword with one hand. He cast the blade upwards slashing her and kept her above him before he jumped and hit Winter in the gut with the long blade.

She tried to land but he hovered beneath her. He was ungodly fast. The only other people I'd met in his category for speed with his semblance active were Harriet and Ruby.

"Winter!" I called out.

He jumped and shattered a glyph my sister tried to stand on and he flicked her with his blade into the ground hard enough to tear the street up. He drifted slowly to the ground from there on a pocket of air.

"Winter don't! He's coming in peacefully!" I called out.

She whipped back to her feet and eyed Jaune. He offered her the long hilt of his nearly seven foot weapon. A calm and disarming smirk was on his face.

"He's not behaving peacefully."

"Neither are you," I pointed out. "Just take his weapon."

"He needs to be put in cuffs. He's a criminal."

"Why? He's got the relic of knowledge, he's not on their side."

Winter's eyes flicked down to his belt where the relic hung.

"Weiss… help me secure him."

"Winter!"

"That's an order!"

She rushed him before I could give her a warning. Jaune backed up hopping out of the way of her slashes before he brought his enormous weapon around. Then he started to meet Winter's slashes with equal speed despite the sheer size of his weapon and her small lithe ones.

Winter sliced high then she thrust middle and then she went for his head again. He blocked them all and at a range such that my sister never really got close to him.

He barked out a deep, part mad laugh.

He slashed forward at my sister forcing her to block the gigantic attack and then he kneed her in the face hard enough to smash her into a brick wall.

Blake rushed him before I could stop her. She tried to backflip over him and bring her ribbon down around him but he just flipped in place and slashed at her.

She disappeared with a clone, it exploded into fire which washed over him. He flinched back and flickered back a step. Blake kept up with him for a moment and vanished again in a clone when he cut at her. He read her and whipped around right in Blake's face and spent Limit on her in a rush.

Thud-thud. He hit her with two horizontal slashes. Dush-dush. He hit her with two diagonal cuts from opposite directions that left her spiraling in place. Thud-dush. He bit into her aura with a horizontal then a diagonal slash. Thud-thud. He swept vertically upwards then did a massive overhead strike downwards on her trapped form.

The expenditure turned almost violet by the end of the terrifying eight cut attack that intercepted her in mid-air.

Blake bounced off the ground and tried to rise but her aura crackled purple and she fell back to her knees. Just like that she was out of the fight.

Then Jaune just stood there flexing in the middle of the street.

I rushed him and he met me. He pressed down on me with his giant weapon. He held it diagonally downwards with the tip pointed at the ground and the great hilt up high, held in one hand. I could barely leverage Myrtenaster to keep him off of me. Compared to the broadsword Myrtenaster looked like a twig. Sparks flew as his weapon sang with energy.

"I won't hurt you," he whispered, his voice still smoldered. "Surrender to me."

I backed off a step and he let me. He pointed his weapon at me with one hand, the other hung loosely by his side.

My sister pulled herself free and her aura washed over her in a wave of white.

"Winter stop it! You can't beat him!"

She ignored me and thrust her saber into the ground. A Beowulf in all white and blue appeared and rushed Jaune. He hovered straight towards it and cut through it with two horizontal strikes. He was flying even without his Limit Breaker now?

Just how strong had he become?

My sister chased her summon with incredible speed but she couldn't close the gap on him. His blade swiped through the air as he met her strikes with confidence. It seemed to hum with barely constrained power.

He jumped and as he fell he forced the enormous weapon upwards by pushing up with one hand on the middle of the blade and the other on the too long handle. It caught my sister in the chest. Then he twirled through the air and did a vertical low to high strike which flung her back. He flickered forward and thrust his blade straight down like he was impaling her with a brutal spike.

He landed neatly and flexed in a position I knew meant he was charging his semblance.

He Cross Slashed her when she next tried to approach him. He just caught her with wide terrific swings of his sword. He twirled and the last blow flung her back with her aura swirling around her. Deep chunks had been taken out of it. There was a rush of air and his semblance was charged again. He was taking her apart. His semblance activated on the final attack. He was outputting enough damage that his comeback mechanic was just an 'I win' feature.

My sister tried to rise to her feet but he was on her in a blur that shoved her back to the ground. He leveraged his mighty weapon down on her and it was all she could do to maintain her kneeling position.

She popped the hidden blade out of her scimitar and tried to catch it with her left. Instead Jaune's hand blurred in between their guards, lightning fast, and caught the weapon. He stepped in and dragged her to her feet with the hidden stiletto forced against her neck.

Both of her hands came up to relieve the pressure against her throat as he held her above the ground. She kicked him in the chest hard but it was to no avail. He didn't even flinch at the blow. He wrestled her into the air, holding her by the blade against her throat and against his own titanic weapon.

"Jaune wait! You said you wanted to come in. Now's the time to prove it. Put her down," I begged him. I was all but certain I couldn't take him. He'd turned Blake aside easily and he'd hammered my sister without any trial.

He looked at me. Through swirls of light the same hue as his eyes. Then he tossed Winter to the side. Both of her weapons clattered to the asphalt.

Winter choked and tried to regain her breath.

Jaune stabbed his sword into the ground and held out his hands to be cuffed. "It's alright. I'll go in."

"Without your weapon?" Blake asked. She'd gotten back to her feet and she had her gun pointed at his head. Jaune didn't look intimidated by it in the slightest.

Jaune noticeably cringed at the thought of being weaponless but he said, "even so."

Winter slapped a pair of handcuffs on him and he visibly relaxed and let the blue aura around him fade. I wouldn't have been surprised if he could tear the handcuffs apart with an expenditure of his semblance. Winter ripped the relic of knowledge from his belt and secured it to her own side.

"Sorry Jaune," I said. I meant it, too.

"It'll be fine. I think I have friends on the inside."

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I was there when Jaune was searched. He was armed with dust crystals (red, yellow and purple), a pipe, a grinder, a scroll, and a little black book. They were all placed in a grey bin and put before the General who tried to stare Jaune down.

Jaune didn't look impressed.

The General looked through Jaune's things before he asked him any questions.

"I'm told you came in of your volition."

"That's right."

"Why now?"

"Maybe I need serious help? Maybe I'm losing my mind?"

"Can you tell me what happened at Haven Mr. Arc? Or do you prefer Strife?"

"You know me?" Jaune sounded surprised. "Either is fine. Mother, that is Salem, gave me orders through her Grimm, and I had to obey them. I killed Ren and Nora. She ordered me to bring her the relic but I soon broke her command over my mind."

"She can control your thoughts? Why?"

"I was created from her cells by Merlot, do you know of him?"

"I do," Ozpin murmured off to Ironwood's side. "He conducted experiments on the Grimm."

"That's right. After Haven I went and found the lab where he made me. That little black book is his notes on it. On me."

"And the relic of knowledge?" Ozpin asked.

"I kept it safe but didn't bring it to her."

"He was going to offer it to us," I cut in.

"Is this true, Ms. Belladonna?" Ozpin asked.

"It is. He didn't want to fight us. He wanted to be able to keep his weapon."

"Absolutely not." Ironwood leaned back. "By his own admission he's in league with the enemy."

"Really James? By my estimation he's a victim in all this. Any of Salem's other agents would have brought her the relic. Mr. Arc, how are you feeling?"

"I'm alright at the moment. I hear her voice sometimes. It's a whisper. And ever since that day I see shadows and I have the feeling of bugs crawling around my skin."

"You need therapy," Ozpin said.

"There isn't a shrink qualified. There's a goddess in my head. That's what the marijuana is for." Jaune nodded at the pipe and grinder. I picked it up and sniffed it. I detected the earthly odor of marijuana coming off of it. "In fact I could really use a hit right about now," he said.

"Really Jaune? Marijuana?" I asked.

"It helps with my mother's voice. Salem's voice. I meant Salem. I hear her in my dreams."

"Well Mr. Arc, having the relic speaks well for you. I also take it you were the one who killed Tyrian. We found his body. His wounds may have been consistent with your weapon."

"Thank you. And yes I did." There was a note of pride in his voice. "I killed the motherfucker."

"And your story with Merlot is very concerning. Well what do you think James? The final say of what happens to him is in your hands."

Ironwood was quiet for a long time, he didn't like it. Jaune was dangerous. He was a liability. Further still he was a criminal. I held my breath.

"I'm confiscating your weapon. I'm keeping you imprisoned until such a time that you can see a psychiatrist and we can start you on some medication. It's in your best interest that you not resist. You should comply completely. I'm putting you down for PTSD with major psychotic features."

"Will I be able to see my friends?"

Ironwood nodded. "I'd also like a blood sample for my own labs."

"For Salem's genes. I understand. I'll play ball." Jaune agreed. "Think we can get these handcuffs off and that book back? It's a touch personal. It's literally all I have of my origins."

Ironwood nodded again and gestured to Winter. She released him and Jaune rubbed his wrists. Jaune paced forward and snatched up his black book and shoved it in a deep pocket. Other than that he tried nothing and I lunged forward and embraced him. I could have kissed him at that moment.

"It'll be okay Jaune," I whispered.

"We'll see," he murmured.

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I came to Ruby with the news in our room. "Ruby, we found Jaune!" She deserved to hear it from me and I wanted to be the one to share it with her. Lest she hear it from another source and get the facts wrong. I may have been in a bit of a rush to reach our Atlas Academy room with Blake in tow.

"What? Where?"

"Blake and I were on stakeout and he turned up. They're putting him in a psychiatric hospital. He's… he's pretty messed up."

"So is he… was he a traitor?"

"Kind of. According to him Salem made him do it. She was able to control his mind. She made him kill Ren and Nora."

Ruby looked like she had no idea how to feel. "Will we be able to see him?"

"General Ironwood said so but I don't know what it'll look like." I wasn't sure what the protocols were in place to see someone who was sick like Jaune was. He was also a criminal. So there was that to consider.

"Weiss this is the best news!" She hugged me and I held her back. "My Jaune is safe!" She kissed my cheek and I smiled. I knew that his whereabouts had been eating her up inside.

"Come on, Weiss," Blake said. "He outright told us Salem could control his mind. You think she's not doing it right now? Even if we believe him, which I'm not sure we should, it's still a pretty bleak scenario."

"He had the relic. And they said they'd find him medication," I argued.

"For mind control?" Blake asked. "Weiss, please be reasonable. Don't get her hopes up. This isn't the kind of thing that gets better. This is permanent. Whatever's wrong with him is for keeps. And that's if we're taking him at his word."

"Medication?" Ruby wondered.

"He explained it like he had a bunch of psychotic phenomena from what Salem did to him. It sounded a lot like extreme PTSD." I explained to Ruby. "And why shouldn't I have hope for him. He made it this far without giving in."

Blake just shook her head.

"Wait, hold on, take it from the top," Yang said. "Salem has control over his mind? Why? How?"

"He says he was created in a petri dish from her cells, someone named Merlot made him in a laboratory," Blake said. "That's why he's doomed. And that's if we believe him."

"I thought you of all people would judge someone by how they act, not where they came from," I snapped at Blake.

She snarled at me. "He killed Ren and Nora, that's how he acted. Am I the only one who is forgetting that? He confessed to their murder. Right in front of the two of us."

"Alright, that's enough you two," Yang shouted. "If you can't be civil, shut up! Now, if you can, go on. How was he, though?"

"He seemed sane enough." I shrugged. "He was level headed the entire time we were taking him into custody. He even surrendered himself."

"'Sane enough,' would you listen to how you sound?"

"Blake!" Yang shouted.

"Yang, Jaune is not okay. And he's much more powerful than any of you really let on. He basically one-shot my aura to zero and he was talking about hearing her voice all the time. He kept calling Salem 'mother.' He's a time bomb."

"But Jaune's family isn't like that. He talked about it a little," Ruby muttered. "Does he still have sisters or was that not real?" It was a good question. Jaune had a history of what he said at Beacon and to Ruby. What if it was accurate? Could all of that have been fake pressure from Salem?

"None of us know. He didn't talk about it," Blake answered.

"If he does then what does that mean?" Ruby asked. She shifted uncomfortably. "More Salem clones? Is that even the right word?"

"Jaune can't be a clone of her. He's a guy," Yang said.

I nodded. "Something else is going on. He had a little black book filled with Merlot's notes on his creation. Maybe Jaune knows more."

"And he was with Neapolitan. Cloud Strife is working with her. She nearly killed Yang!"

"He was what?" Yang asked. "Why?"

"We didn't get the chance to have an in depth chat with him. But he had the relic. He turned himself in to get help."

"All of this is good news," Ruby agreed. "Well not all of it, but a bit."

"You two would say that!" Blake accused. "You can't see what he is because the two of you are in love with him!" I glared at her. I would never bring up how her and Yang felt like it was an insult. I didn't deny it, though, it wouldn't do me any good. Instead I listened to her make her point. "I can't believe this! He's like a monster. He threw me and Weiss's older sister around like it was nothing. Did you not see him fling her? Did you watch him choking her out? Did you see him floating there? He could have destroyed her. He's unbelievably powerful and from what you guys tell me his power is about getting stronger. And no one knows what will set him off," Blake finished.

"So what should we do, Blake? Kill him?" I asked. I dropped the hammer on her. It seemed to be the end goal of what she was suggesting. I'd taken her insult on the nose and come out the other side clean. So what if I liked him? It didn't change the facts about it. Jaune was hurting.

Silence reigned. Blake looked away from me, her ears down.

"What if he is innocent? What if he is a victim? What then?" I demanded. I needed to know what she was intending. I was sure it was also on the General and Ozpin's mind.

"No one wants to kill Jaune, right?" Ruby asked. She sounded nervous.

"I swear the General thought about it. He wasn't really sure what to do. Ozpin wasn't either," I answered fast. Ruby needed to know the details. She deserved to know. Of everyone she was closest to Jaune.

"We can't let them do that," Ruby said, she sounded determined.

"What if it's the right call?" Yang asked. "What if Salem is in control."

"Then he wouldn't have brought us the relic. He would have brought it to her." I responded. "He also took responsibility for Tyrian."

"I suppose…" Yang trailed. She looked deep in thought. I wondered if I'd be able to convince her onto our side.

"Yang?" Ruby wondered.

"What? I have no idea what to think, but Blake is right. The two of you aren't exactly unbiased. None of you have gone toe to toe with him like I have, except maybe Weiss a little but he was winning those fairly confidently. He hits harder than our uncle does. Maybe he was hitting harder than I did, back then. Maybe I won by a nose hair and it was because just maybe he let it happen. And he was only getting stronger. According to him he killed Tyrian who was a menace and did you see him fight Cinder? He could have won that fight and she's a fucking maiden."

She was even two maidens now. As far as Cinder was concerned things weren't looking good.

"Salem and Ozpin have magic, that's where the maidens came from. Do you think he's got magic, too?" Ruby asked. "Do you think maybe that's why he's so strong?"

"Maybe. Probably." Yang answered. "He's really, really dangerous. And Blake's right we have no idea what will set him off."

"Thank you," Blake said.

"But," Yang drew out. "We can't kill an innocent man. He had the relic that means he can at least resist Salem, right? It's not a free win for her?"

"He didn't say how he broke her spell. Just that he did." I returned. "He's being evaluated by a psychiatrist as we speak."

"He's mad. Did you listen to his symptoms? Salem is driving him mad," Blake said. "He's not even safe in his dreams."

Blake had a point. Salem was driving him crazy. It sounded very unpleasant, what all he was going through. But he'd made it this far so I still had hope for him yet. He was able to resist her. He was strong enough to overcome whatever Salem was doing to him, then. I had to believe that. I wanted to believe that. Was it so wrong to believe that?

"Then we'll just have to keep him safe in his real life, right?" Ruby asked. No one truly had an answer for her.

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-WG