If there were more arguments between the teachers, Qrow and Ironwood then Jaune wasn't privy to them. Life continued for him while the ones in charge adapted to the very real threat of a White Fang and Grimm attack on the school. It might have looked from the outside like nothing was being done, but he was sure there were contingencies being put in place.

Not that his assurances would calm Blake down any if she were to find out. Team RWBY would be hitting the town again to try and keep her out of trouble.

Staying quiet was painful, but it was for the best.

So, life continued.

He studied, he trained, he slept, he wandered about the nightmares of random people around Beacon, and he did his best to subtly help out without expending too much aura. A tweak here to make a monster fall into a pitfall, or a flicked metaphysical light switch there to turn an ominously dark room into a bright one.

There were some that he couldn't fix and that he didn't know how to address. Strangers blaming the dreamer for their deaths when he lacked the context of who they even were or how they'd died. There were far too many of them – not to mention nightmares of pets dying, or people walking into traffic. Deep-rooted stuff that Jaune was sure was part of some greater trauma among the student body, but which he was woefully underequipped to handle.

At least he hadn't run into any nightmares that really drew out the possibility of highly illegal actions. Oh, he'd found a few dreams of people doing drugs and one or two that seemed to involve big men pinning the dreamer down in a manner that hinted at them being the victim of crimes, but those were the few cases he was prepared to use his aura to utterly annihilate the monster in the dream, often disguising himself as a huntsman or even a police officer.

Going a full week without hopping into the dreams of any of his friends was a genuine relief, but it was also a week without visiting Trivia, or getting any closer to finding the person who killed Amber. Thankfully, there was no Adam Taurus either, so he must have been deeper out in the Emerald Forest.

But that didn't mean the White Fang hadn't been active.

While they'd been quiet in the forests, they'd been loud in the city – or Roman Torchwick had, but they all knew those dust robberies were for the White Fang thanks to Team RWBY's run-in with them before.

Over the course of seven days, Jaune and the rest of Team JNPR got a front row seat to the fracturing tempers among Team RWBY, driven primarily by Blake's returning obsession, but also by her team's inability to deal with it.

Arguments were commonplace.

"—doing nothing!" hissed Blake. "They're doing nothing!"

"You don't know that," snapped Weiss. "You're always the first to assume the world is standing still and letting the White Fang get away with what they want, but do you really think the Atlas military forces here aren't paying attention? Don't be so stupid."

"They're too busy defending and preparing Amity."

"Hm. I wonder why that is?" Weiss tapped her chin sarcastically. "Could it be because Amity and the Vytal Festival are almost certainly their targets? Could it be that the military are taking steps to protect the tens of thousands of people who will be up there?"

"And while they do that, Torchwick and the White Fang are gathering dust across Vale!"

"Blake, no," groaned Yang. "We can't go out and get into a fight with them again. Miss Goodwitch will nail us to the walls."

Jaune wished he could say it ended there but Team RWBY's fight go so vocal that one of the staff serving lunch shouted at them to take it elsewhere. The four of them actually chose to depart rather than quieten down, which was always a bad sign.

"Geez," said Nora. "Those four can really go at it."

"Tell me about it," said Pyrrha.

"Is it bad of me to say they should just sit down and force the matter to a close?" asked Jaune. His teammates looked his way. "Is that wrong of me to say? Like, if Nora and Pyrrha were having a fight like that over and over then I think I'd tell you both to sort your differences out."

"I think if Nora and I were ever that bad, then we might deserve it."

"Yeah," agreed Nora. "I get that it's complicated with their pasts and all, but there comes a point where you think they'd put it aside for the team's sake."

"If not out of understanding and empathy, then out of guilt for what Yang and Ruby have to go through," said Ren.

They all hummed. Jaune didn't doubt there was a lot of stuff under the lid about the White Fang. Being in Adam's dream and having him act like he had toward the Blake disguise gave plenty of ammo there, and Weiss likely had her own bad experiences, but it wasn't like Blake was defending them anymore. That was what sparked the first fight and Blake vanishing into Vale – but now both sides agreed that the White Fang were dangerous terrorists.

It really felt like that should have been the end of the fight.

"I'm sure it's more complicated than we know." Pyrrha, as always, chose to give them the benefit of the doubt. "I just feel bad for poor Ruby being expected to deal with it all. It can't be easy."

"Makes me feel blessed to have such a relaxed team."

"Awww. Jauney!"

"You are lucky," said Ren, with a tiny smile. "Imagine having Blake, Weiss and Cardin as your team."

"I think I'd quit Beacon."

"We shouldn't be mean to them," said Pyrrha, smiling despite her words. "Team RWBY are going to need us more than ever, if only to give Ruby a place to sleep if the other three start getting argumentative."

She may have said it like a joke, but it wouldn't be the first time Ruby had bunked in their dorm.

And it was little surprise when, several hours later, in the evening, there came a knock on their door.

Ruby stood in the hallway in her pyjamas with a rolled-up sleeping bag under one arm and two pillows under the other.

"Hey, Jaune. Can I—?"

"Sure thing." He let her in, and his team waved at Ruby. "They still at it?"

"Yep. Yang just forced herself to go to sleep and she can sleep through a Grimm attack. I'm not that lucky." Ruby made to lay her bag down on the floor, but Jaune nudged her toward his bed instead. "Are you sure?"

"I can bunk with Ren."

"Or I could!" offered Nora.

"Jaune is less clingy." said Ren.

"Pyrrhaaaaa!" cried Nora. "Jaune is seducing Renny."

"Argh. Your team is so chill," Ruby whined, sitting on Jaune's bed. "Do you want to trade?"

"Not on your life, crater face."

"Not even for a week? We could call it a transfer. Work experience. Broadening horizons."

"Have you tried ordering them to get over their differences?" asked Nora, finding a way to sneak in Jaune's idea from earlier. He was a little worried it would make Ruby feel like he was second-guessing her, but Ruby just nodded. "You did? It didn't work?"

"I locked them in the room together."

"And?"

"Blake jumped out the window."

Nora snorted, while Jaune just sighed. Those two were so dramatic. How could you force peace between two people when they'd happily jump out a third-floor window to escape a conversation? He could just imagine Weiss taking that as a victory as well, and saying Blake ran away – which he supposed she had done.

"Doesn't Yang do anything to help?" he asked.

"She tries..."

"Even she can't force it?"

"Blake and Weiss? The two most stubborn girls in Beacon? There's no forcing them to do anything! I've tried bribery, blackmail, guilt-trips, threatening to tell the teachers." Ruby counted off her fingers, while every member of Team JNPR winced at each one. "I even tried making myself cry to see if they'd feel bad, but Blake accused Weiss of making me cry, and Weiss said it was Blake." Ruby threw her hands in the air. "I'm this close to just locking them in the bathroom and saying they're not allowed out until they're friends, lovers, or one of them is dead."

"Which is most likely?" asked Ren.

"Both of them dying," she answered, "which would at least make it easier to get some sleep! Ughhh." Ruby rolled onto her front and pulled his sheets over her body. "Thanks for letting me stay," she mumbled, embarrassed.

"It's fine." Pyrrha had a soft spot for her. "You're always welcome here."

Soon after, they turned in for the night, Jaune and Ren sleeping back-to-back on one bed.

/-/

An alarm was ringing.

It was a shrill and piercing thing that sounded all around him and down the long corridors, but which was broken off occasionally by the staccato of gunfire. Brief exchanges rattled out, then went silent, before they would begin anew. It was beneath him, on the floor below, but also outside the building he appeared to be in.

The sound of it had Jaune slamming his aura into place.

"A nightmare that's an active warzone? This is the worst dream to get stuck in."

It wasn't a battlefield either but a house of some sort. Jaune stepped across a carpeted floor toward the window and looked outside. It was night, so the ground was shadowed with only the silhouettes of trees in the distance. Every now and then a bright spark of orange would light up like a candle, flickering violently before being snuffed out by return candles. It was probably for the best he couldn't see the results of the gunfire.

"At least I can cross most of the people I know off this list. Nora and Ren definitely never went through something like this, and I'd know if Pyrrha had. Hmm. It might not be a memory, either. It could just be someone watching a war film and having a nightmare."

Jaune watched the battle continue for a few moments before leaving the window. It was getting too rhythmic, too regular, and he was sure an actual fight would have ended by now in favour of one side or the other. This war outside was obviously just background noise as far as the dreamer was concerned. They must have been in the house with him.

"It'd probably be safer for me to stay in here..."

Cowardly? Maybe, but he'd never actually considered just not getting involved in a dream before. It seemed like a good way to both stay out of trouble and not intrude on something. Kinda crazy I never considered this before. Maybe I'm nosier than I care to admit. Sighing, he moved to the large, double bed in the room and sat down on it, content to wait out the nightmare.

Which was when the door slammed open.

Jaune was on his feet, aura at the ready, but it was three children that entered the room. Well, two children and one teenager. The white hair on the triplets made it painfully obvious who they were, though Jaune had never met the boy. He didn't even know Weiss had a brother.

Winter Schnee, however, was more recognisable. She was maybe thirteen or fourteen in the dream, with Weiss looking nine or ten and the brother maybe a year or two younger than that. The strangest part was their clothes, which looked more like uniforms than someone kids would wear around the house. Winter and Weiss were both in ankle-length, pleated skirts in dark blue, with white blouses and blue straps coming up over their shoulders. The boy was in a suit of the same blue colour, but it was worn messily.

Upon seeing him, Winter immediately dragged her two siblings behind her. "Who are you!?" she snapped.

"Jaune!" said the little Weiss, pointing at him. "It's Jaune!"

"Jaune...?" Winter's brow furrowed, but she looked slightly less panicky. He was unarmed, in a room, and obviously not attacking them. Slowly, Winter let her siblings out from behind her. "You're a new member of staff, I take it? Security?"

"You could say that. Jaune Arc. SDC— Schnee Security, I guess."

"My sister recognises you. I'll take that as a good sign. Why are you here and not helping the others?"

"I—"

"No. Never mind. This isn't bad." Winter ushered the two children in and closed the door. "Guard the door, please. We can't make it to the panic rooms with those people inside the building."

"Winter," said Weiss. "Where's Miss Sandra?"

Sandra..." Winter's breath hitched. "Sandra tackled one of them. I heard..." Winter swallowed. "Miss Sandra is being very brave and protecting us, Weiss. We need to be brave now and not make any noise. Okay? We need to be really, really quiet."

"I'm scared," said the boy.

"Shh. Shhh. It's okay, Whitley." Winter pulled him close. "There's no need to be scared when I'm here. And we have the best security in Atlas." Her eyes met his, desperately angry. "Don't we, Mr Arc? You will be looking over us."

"I'll keep you safe," he promised, and moved to the door.

Was this Winter's dream or Weiss'? Either was bad, and he had a feeling he'd know come morning. If Winter hunted him down and pinned him to a wall, he could safely assume it had been hers. If not, then it was probably Weiss'.

His first instinct was to say Winter's because she was the one doing all the talking, but little Weiss had recognised and named him, which wouldn't have been something that happened in real life...

Good lord. This had happened in real life, hadn't it?

Jaune felt sick.

"Who is attacking?" he asked, manifesting Crocea Mors at his side. "I... uh. I lost communications. Didn't get the memo."

"Can't you hear!?" snapped Winter. "It's the White Fang, obviously. Those... Those terrorists are here attacking the manor and they already caught—" Winter bit her words off, but they were too little too late to hide from the children.

"Caught who?" asked Weiss. "W—Who did they catch?"

"No one, Weiss. No one."

"But you said—"

"Winter meant they caught us by surprise," he interrupted. "Caught us with our pants down. That's all. Right, Winter?"

"Yes." Winter was only too happy to take it. "Yes, that's what I meant. We didn't expect this at all and now it's keeping everyone busy."

Though she put on a strong air, Jaune could see the girl trembling. This must have been terrifying for her. He couldn't imagine what it must have felt like to be separated from your parents or any support, left with your younger siblings, while people roamed the house trying to hunt you down. The only comfort he could take was in the fact that they'd clearly survived it.

Though this explains a little bit of why Winter Schnee decided to join the military, he thought. She must have wanted to put a stop to the White Fang, so this never had to happen again. Man, it's no wonder Weiss panicked when Blake first revealed she was a part of it.

He'd assumed it was a natural dislike of terrorists the same as what any sensible person felt, or maybe a bit more because those terrorists were clearly anti-Schnee. He hadn't realised she'd actually experienced and survived an attack, or that she'd lost people she knew to it.

And he wasn't supposed to know.

Damn it. Yet more secrets I have no right to being dumped in my lap. How am I ever going to apologise to her for this? With any luck he wouldn't have to, and it'd be Winter's dream, though that would still mean knowing Weiss' secrets. Only that he got them second-hand. That doesn't make it any better, does it? Ugh...

"We should be safe if the three of you stay quiet," said Jaune. They'd survived this in the waking world, so presumably they'd managed to stay in this room until the White Fang were dealt with. "The security teams can handle this and I'm sure Atlas is sending soldiers right now to come reinforce. You're safe here—"

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The door shuck.

"I've found them!" shouted a voice on the other side. "I've found the Schnee brats!"

What? But they hadn't—

Nightmare!

Of course!

Jaune wanted to slap his face. Of course in real life they'd avoided detection, but this was a nightmare about what could have happened, so naturally the White Fang were going to find him, and whichever one of them was the dreamer was going to be made to watch as their siblings were killed in front of them, all so they could feel the crushing loss before they woke up in tears.

"Get back!" he snapped, drawing Crocea Mors. "Stay out of the line of fire and you'll be fine." He would too, but just in case he willed the door to be a whole lot stronger. The terrorists kept beating on the other side, but it didn't break open.

"I'm scared!" wailed Whitley. "Make them go away!"

"It's okay. It's okay. Be brave." Winter held onto them.

Weiss began to cry.

That was what did it. Jaune bit his tongue and gave up on defending. Why bother when he was in control here? Crocea Mors bit through the door and out the other side and he swiped it down, slicing the thick wood in two. Three masked figures stood on the other side wielding weapons, but he lunged forward with Ruby's speed and cut the actual guns in half.

What was impossible in real life was child's play here.

Shoulder checking the first and knocking her to the floor with a grunt, he twisted and cut into the body of the second, slicing them in half and sending them falling away. They didn't bleed, and instead exploded into black shadows not unlike the Grimm. Only much, much faster.

They're not real people so none of this matters!

The second raised his gun – which somehow continued to operate even when it was cut in half – and opened fire. The bullets pinged off Jaune's aura and only served to draw him into an attack that cut the faunus' arms off at the shoulders. The masked man didn't scream or cry out, but just fell back into shadows like the figment of someone's imagination he was.

The last one scrambled to try and get on their feet but Jaune snapped his leg out to trip them, then stepped onto their chest. The corridor was empty either way, no more threats to the Schnee siblings. He raised his sword up, point facing down toward the evil mask, and gripped the hilt with both hands.

"Please don't!" screamed the faunus, right as he stabbed down. "Jaune!"

The tip of his sword tickled the faunus' jaw, halted at the last second – and more by force of dream-manipulating will than muscle. He couldn't have stopped it otherwise. A tiny trickle of blood slid down the person's chin and over their neck. Slowly, hesitantly, he brought the tip of the sword up and used it to touch the edge of their mask and push it aside.

Blake's terrified and tearful eyes stared up at him.

"That's one of them!" shrieked Weiss, colliding with his back. The force of it almost knocked him forward and stabbed Blake through the neck. "She killed the people who were nice to me! Our staff, our security, they even took my uncle hostage and murdered him!"

"I—I didn't," stammered Blake. "It wasn't me— I'd never—"

"Please, Mr Jaune." Tiny arms wrapped around his and seemed to be trying to take his sword and push it down. "Please save us from her! She's a terrorist, a monster, an evil faunus animal! Please do the world a favour and kill her!"

"Please do," agreed Winter, stepping from the room. "I'd rather this monster die before she has a chance to harm my sister. All she's going to do is kill other people."

"I won't," wept Blake. "I swear—"

Winter's hands laid themselves atop his. "What use are promises from a terrorist?"

She pushed down.

Blake screamed.

Jaune's sword didn't move, as he refused to let it, but that didn't stop Blake shrieking and waking up from her nightmare, throwing Jaune out of her dream in the process.

/-/

Jaune's eyes snapped open.

He'd gotten good at not freaking out and lurching awake like he used to – practice, mostly. Lucky for Ren in this case. He rose quietly instead, sliding out the side of the bed and moving toward the door, almost expecting to hear noise.

It was no surprise when he heard a click as the door to Team RWBY's form opened, then a choked-off sob as someone stumbled out. Sighing, Jaune clicked open his own door and strode out in his onesie to find Blake stumbling away from the dorm with one hand on the wall and the other over her mouth. Tears sparkled in the dark as they ran down her face.

He'd seen it in games and comics that crying girls could look cute, but Blake looked anything but. Her face was red, especially around her eyes, and her hair was ragged and unkempt. Her eyes were tiny, and almost glowed in the dark, and she was trembling like she was caught in an arctic chill. She flinched on seeing him, and looked like she might bolt.

Jaune stepped in first to cut off her escape. "You too, huh? I couldn't sleep." He kept his lie casual, and his eyes off her face. "I was thinking of going for a walk to clear my head. Didn't expect to run into you—"

"Don't lie," she whispered. "You heard me."

"Hah. Well, I tried to play it casual. Thought you might prefer that."

He'd never been good with words and seeing people's traumas only highlighted how unequipped he was to deal with them. He didn't think Blake had actually been there or seen that terrorist attack however, if it even happened like that. Weiss had been a child, so Blake would have been too. It was more likely Weiss had brought it up as an insult, and Blake took it far more personally than she should have.

"Is this about Weiss? Look, I know you two are angry, but she wouldn't want to push you to this. Not to mention Ruby and Yang would dogpile her if she did—"

"Don't," she begged. "Don't... tell them..."

"I won't."

He stood there, unsure what to do.

Unsure what to say.

"Should I... hug you...?"

There was a sound from her. A choked sob mixed with the briefest hint of laughter. Blake's shoulders shook even as she rubbed great big tears off her face. "You..." Blake stopped to catch her breath, and then continued, "You really are terrible when it comes to this, aren't you?"

"There are a lot of guarantees that come with having me as a friend, Blake. Competence isn't one of them."

"I can see that." Her smile was shaky, but at least her body no longer was. "Apparently, being cornered by a big, blue monster in a corridor is. I thought Yang would have forced you to get rid of that stupid outfit by now."

"Hey. This thing may not be fashionable but it's super comfy. So, about that hug...?"

"I might have let you if you'd just done it, but the moment is gone." Blake rolled her eyes. "But I guess you cheered me up by being an idiot instead, so it's not like you didn't help." There was a long silence. "Are... Are we friends, Jaune?"

That was a deep question.

"I like to think so," he said. "I consider you a friend. Whether you do me is up to you."

"I like to think we are, but you're really Ruby's friend... and now Yang's boyfriend. And you had a crush on Weiss. Me... I'm just the extra. I'm on their team, eat food with them and that's the only meaningful connection we have."

"We're library buddies," he said, a little hurt.

Blake glanced away with a tiny smile. "I guess we are that. I'm just saying that I haven't put much – or any – effort into you. I barely even acknowledged your existence before. I don't see why you'd come out here to check up on me. Unless it's just pity—"

"Honestly, if I heard just anyone crying outside my door, I'd probably not do anything." Yeah, it made him sound bad, but he couldn't help some random person and he was sure they'd hate him for interfering. It was the fact this was Blake that had him coming out. "Like you said, I knew it was you and I wasn't about to go back to bed knowing you're out here on your own like this. Take that as you will."

"I'll take it as you being too nosy for your own good."

"Yeah." Jaune smiled. "That's fair."

"I had a bad dream," she admitted. "There. That's it. A bad dream reducing me to this – and it wasn't even a dream about anything that ever happened to me. It was just a stupid nightmare."

"What was it about?"

Blake looked away. "I'd rather not say."

Awkward.

"Weeeeell..." Jaune struggled for the right words, then gave up and went with any words. "For what it's worth I imagine your nightmare was a load worse because of this big fight with Weiss. You've both been saying some pretty hurtful stuff, so I'm guessing something she said got lodged in your head and your imagination filled in the blanks."

Blake crossed her arms. "Pretty much. How did you know?"

"Educated guess. It's not like I haven't been in your shoes."

"Crying in a corridor while a big, blue monster tries to comfort me?"

"I thought you'd say you're not wearing shoes." Blake looked down, wriggled her toes, then realised the sleeping dress she was in, which despite all her teasing was a lot less insulating and acceptable than his onesie. "Say what you will, but at least I can go for a late-night walk like this. I'll just be mocked. You'll have guys trying to sneak a peek." He leaned in. "Or maybe you'll run into the worst kind of man imaginable."

Blake held her ground. "You?"

"Worse than even me, Blake."

"What's that?"

"A foot fetishist."

Blake snorted again and rolled her eyes. "I will knee you in the groin, Jaune, and we'll see how well your onesie protects you from that."

He leaned back. "Feeling any better?"

"Yes. Despite my feelings, you've managed to out-goof my bad mood. Congratulations on being so inescapably stupid that you've overwhelmed my tears." She nudged him playfully. "I'd say I can't see what Yang sees in you, but between her puns and your stupid jokes, you're a match made in hell. But if either of you invite me to a comedy bar, I'll shank you both."

"Don't blame me for her puns. I happen to consider Yang's sense of humour as one of the flaws I have to put up with."

Blake smirked. "You and me both." She let out a long, relaxing sigh. "I'd best get back. You're right about what I'm wearing not being ideal for walking around."

"I can wait for you to get changed if you like."

"It's fine." She offered him a warm smile, even if the evidence of her tears still marred her face and left her looking a mess. "But thanks for the offer. I think I've calmed down enough now to realise a stupid nightmare shouldn't keep me awake."

"Glad I could help. If I helped...?"

Blake rolled her eyes and, without warning, gave him a hug.

A tiny hug, lasting a fraction of a second, little more than her arms sliding under his armpits and around his back and their shoulders touching for a moment, but then she pulled back, smiling sarcastically.

"You helped. Goodnight Jaune. And remember—"

"This never happened."

Blake's eyes, still red and swollen, crinkled into a smile. "That's my library buddy."