The crowd was silent.

Jaune Arc sat with his fingernails gripping the metal railing, staring down in horror as Pyrrha – his own partner – stood, shocked, in front of the beaten body of her Vytal tournament opponent. A body that was not moving, and which had been bent and broken.

Ruby's body.

All as one, the crowd began to boss and hiss and scream. The cameras zoomed in on the face of a young girl, only fifteen, as salty tears ran down her cheeks. The agony must have been indescribably. Jaune had always known Pyrrha was good – too good, compared to most at Beacon – but he'd never expected this. He'd never seen her lose control like this.

And, he realised...

He'd never seen the fight begin, or happen, nor had he seen himself come to this place.

"A dream," he mumbled, sinking back into a red, plastic seat as relief washed over him. "Of course this is a dream. What am I thinking?"

Panic had overtaken him for a moment, but logic brought back calm. He looked around, taking in the tens of thousands of faceless people hurling abuse at the arena down in the centre. They were in some kind of big stadium. Amity—? He'd seen pictures of the flying island in promotional material for the upcoming Vytal Festival.

Was Pyrrha dreaming about that?

"Shit. Pyrrha."

Jaune stood back up in time to see the other three members of Team RWBY rush their fallen leader. Blake and Weiss knelt by her while Yang got up in Pyrrha's face, shoving her back when she tried to come and check on Ruby.

"Haven't you done enough!?" Yang demanded, loud enough to somehow be heard over the booing. "You knew Ruby couldn't beat you. Why did you go all out like that!? I thought we were friends, Nikos!"

"W—We are!"

"Is this over Jaune? If you have a problem, you have it with me!"

"It's not about Jaune!" Pyrrha cried. Sobbed, even. "I... I made a mistake. I got swept up— I'm so sorry!"

"Sorry isn't going to help Ruby!" howled Weiss. "Medic! Medic, help! She's losing blood!"

"Boo!"

"Hiss!"

"A child! Only a child!"

The audience's volume rose and paramedics surged the arena like ants, crawling over Ruby and the mass of her team's body in an entirely unrealistic way. Pyrrha shook her head, took a step back, then fled, ducking her head as cans and litter rained down in her, thrown by a furious audience.

Cursing, Jaune vaulted the railing and gave chase.

He could have never kept up with Pyrrha in real life if she wanted to escape him, but this wasn't real life. Jaune stepped and covered ten metres at a time, and obstacles warped out his way. It wasn't all his action, either. For once, a dream seemed content to let him catch up. Almost like it accepted him as part of the dream. Maybe it did. He was Pyrrha's partner, so his presence in a dream of hers wasn't at all unusual. Like Ren appearing in one of Nora's.

Is Pyrrha worried about hurting Ruby in the festival...?

It wasn't something he'd considered, but then how many people could he hurt? He was still on the weaker end of students even if he was no longer the weakest. Pyrrha was the best by a long shot and could absolutely cause a lot of damage to everyone under her.

She wouldn't, of course. Pyrrha was so good at controlling her strength that Miss Goodwitch happily let her spar versus whole teams, but nightmares preyed on little fears and statistical improbabilities, so it was no great surprise it picked up on that. They did all use totally functional and deadly weapons in spars and competition, so it was entirely possible that a misplaced shot or lapse in concentration could land someone in the hospital.

That was a risk students accepted, though.

Even Ruby.

"Pyrrha! Pyrrha, calm down!" Jaune caught up with her and grabbed her by the elbow. She twisted, looking back in horror, then her eyes widened when she realised it was him and she threw herself into his arms.

"I didn't mean it!" she wailed. "And Ruby—"

"Ruby is fine," he lied. Or, well, told the truth. Ruby was fine, and probably in bed. He said "probably" because this was Team RWBY and they might have been out hunting the White Fang and giving Miss Goodwitch grey hairs for all he knew.

He wouldn't put it past them.

"You ran early, but I saw the doctors say that Ruby will be a-okay," he continued, rubbing her back. "And you know for a fact she'll bounce back from this. Probably be all kinds of embarrassed that she looked so wimpy on television."

A PA system buzzed to life.

"SHOCK NEWS JUST IN AS RUBY ROSE—"

Jaune expended a little aura and twisted.

"—Bzzzt— HAS MADE A FULL RECOVERY!"

Better.

"See?" he said, grinning. "She's totally fine."

Pyrrha was still sobbing. "B—But the crowd—"

"Are civilians, Pyr. They don't understand what it's like to be huntsmen. They see a small girl like Ruby being beaten up, not understanding that said small girl regularly beats up guys three times heavier than her. If they saw what she did to Cardin in combat class last week, they wouldn't be sounding so horrified."

Pyrrha laughed, cried, and hiccupped against his chest.

It was better than just crying.

"You'll be fine, Pyrrha. These things happen. You know I—"

"Pyrrha!"

Now what? Jaune looked back with a frown, only to pause in surprise as he saw a willowy woman with black hair in a charcoal grey suit approach at a jog. He didn't recognise her at all, but Pyrrha seemed to, pushing off his chest for a moment.

"M—Miss Slate, it was an accident—"

"It's a problem is what it is," said the woman, panting lightly, "but it's not an insurmountable one. Don't worry."

Pyrrha gasped. "Really?"

"Yes. We'll need to contact the girl's family and explain what happened. Have you apologise in person. You'll need to write a full and public apology as well."

"Okay. I'll get on that—"

"No, no, no. My office will write it. You'll sign it."

Pyrrha bit her lip. "But won't that come across fake? I really am sorry I hurt her."

"That's good, and no, it'll be fine. We need to cover all our bases legally as well as image-related, so it's better to leave the exact wording to the professionals. Also, who is this?" The woman, Miss Slate, eyed Jaune critically. "Some fan? You shouldn't stand so close. People might get the wrong idea."

"Ah. Miss Slate, he's my partner—"

"No. Absolutely not. That word is loaded with double-meanings." The woman held her arms out, forming an X-shape with them. "That word is taboo."

"But he is my partner in Beacon—"

"Then he's your teammate. That's the word you're using. Not partner. And you mustn't be seen touching in public. Honestly, what are they thinking putting you on a team with boys, anyway? Don't they realise what this will do to your image?" The woman's voice dwindled. "Pyrrha Nikos slutting it up in Beacon."

Pyrrha flinched. "But I'm not—"

"I know you're not. He probably knows you're not." The woman pointed at him. "But do you think the general public care to look into it? Don't you remember the last fiasco when you posed for a photo-op with that girl and she kissed your cheek? There were rumours about you coming out of the closet for months. We got hit from both sides on that one." The woman, who Jaune was fast realising must have been one of Pyrrha's agents, cupped her face with one hand. "First you were getting attacked by conservative types for promoting such values, then you got attacked by allies for your so-called queer baiting."

That happened? All because some fan kissed her on the cheek? How crazy were these people? Jaune had known Pyrrha had issues with her fame, but he hadn't delved into it. That wasn't a lack of care on his part, either. She so obviously wanted to be free of it that he felt like it would have hurt her more to bring it up. Pyrrha always seemed happiest when he and the others just treated her like she was one of them.

Because that was what she was.

"Excuse me," Jaune interrupted, "But I don't think Pyrrha wants to hear all this. You're upsetting her."

"Nobody wants to hear this. Do you think I want to be here?" The woman spoke over him. "Look, Pyrrha..." He went ignored again. "You need to remember that you hired us for a purpose, and that purpose is image. We're not your enemies. We work for you. You may dislike it, but we're just doing our jobs in telling you how to avoid scandal and drama." She nodded back toward the arena. "Like this one."

Jaune would have loved to wave a hand and make the woman explode into figments of light, and he would have if she were a Grimm or an aggressive fan. That, he could explain away, but he had a feeling that if he attacked and killed this woman, even if she wasn't real, then it would turn into a fresh kind of nightmare for Pyrrha. One where her partner was a cold-blooded killer.

"I know. I know." Pyrrha stepped in with a groan. "I don't hate you, Miss Slate. I just hate the way things are—"

"Yes. Yes. You hate the fame and the pressure. Of course, you love the money and the competitions and the freedom." The woman rolled her eyes. "Believe me, I've heard it before. While I'm sure it is challenging, you benefit from this a lot more than you suffer."

Pyrrha winced.

No one liked to be called a spoilt child, nor to have someone imply you were entitled because you only wanted the good and none of the bad. Jaune had dreamed of being famous, too. What child didn't? But those dreams only focused on the good parts as well.

No one fantasised about needing a team of security to go outside or having to deal with obsessive fans sending you nudes, worrying messages, or pieces of their hair in the mail.

"Pyrrha will keep all that in mind," he said, seeking to end the conversation another way. "Forward the apology letter to her and she'll sign it, and you can email her about the in-person apology when it's been arranged."

"Hm. Very well." Miss Slate looked him up and down. "Perhaps you're not as useless as a teammate as you look." She stressed the word. "We'll get back to you on the matter, Pyrrha. Remember! Until everything is official, you are to give no comment. Whatever you do, don't say anything. Even if you think it's harmless or that it might help. You know how the media is! They'll twist it. Any and all commentary has to come through us!"

"Yes Miss Slate. I know. I'll leave it to you."

"Good." The woman smiled and walked off, drawing out her scroll and speaking into it.

Pyrrha sighed once she was gone.

"You okay?" asked Jaune.

"Mmm. Tired. I'm always tired after dealing with them, but I know they're right." She sighed a second time. "Getting angry at them for doing their jobs isn't fair."

"Maybe not but getting angry at her for insulting your intelligence is."

"Hmmm." Pyrrha smiled his way, finally looking a little happier. If only to hear him defend her. "They are smarter than me, though. At least when it comes to public relations. It's what they're trained for, the same as us as huntsman and huntress. We'd consider them idiots when it comes to dealing with Grimm, and they consider us the same when it comes to dealing with angry fans."

Even in a nightmare, and to someone she didn't like, Pyrrha was so unfalteringly polite.

And correct.

Jaune sighed. "You're right. As usual."

"Hmhmhm." Pyrrha's lips creased as she hummed out a quiet laugh. "I usually am. I thought you'd have learned that by now."

Before he could react, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

Jaune froze.

The kiss was short. Very short. Little more than a smooch, but at the same time so obviously meant as more that he felt instantly guilty. He'd sworn to never take advantage in a dream, but was that...? No. Pyrrha had caught him by surprise. Jaune swallowed as she pulled away.

"At least she didn't figure anything out about us," she said, with a faint giggle.

That was because there was no "them". They were not a thing.

He was dating Yang.

But in a dream...

Jaune swallowed the words that threatened to come out. He couldn't up and tell her this wasn't real or turn her down. This was a dream, hers, and he'd be turning it to a nightmare in an instant. He smiled instead, awkwardly, and said, "You know we shouldn't do that in public."

It felt like a good excuse to not do it again.

"I know. I know. I'm just tense." Her hand sought his and that, at least, he felt he could allow. Yang wouldn't be unhappy at him for comforting Pyrrha. "I'll have to make sure Ruby knows I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt her. I just... I got caught up in it. Ruby was so good, she deserved my best, and... well..."

"You lost control?"

"It happens sometimes. More often than I like. Did I ever tell you why I became a competition fighter?"

"I don't think so. You never like talking about your past and the fame, so me, Nora and Ren kind of decided not to bring it up."

"I appreciate that," she said, with a happy smile. "You're all so wonderful to me. But I don't mind talking about the good parts. It's just the bad that upset me." She sighed. "Or more like they annoy me. Miss Slate is right. There's been bad things, but they're not bad. Just aggravating. Bad is families who fall apart because of arguments. Bad is someone being left without work and struggling to make ends meet. Having to deal with obsessive fans isn't bad. It's just not good."

"You were mentioning why you started?"

"Oh, yes." Pyrrha giggled. "It was in Argus. The competition scene wasn't so big back then, or maybe I just didn't notice it so much. I was in Sanctum and I loved combat class. I think everyone did. It was so much more fun than maths, or history, or law."

Jaune balked. "You study law in pre-huntsman schools!?"

"Only law related to the job, silly." Pyrrha poked his nose with a happy laugh. "Things like what we can and can't do, and how we help process people into a city, like if we save a bunch of people and bring them back to Vale. They'd count as immigrants, but we can get them listed as refugees if we know how, so they teach us that. But it's also things like not sparring in public and how much force we can use on a civilian arrest. That kind of thing."

More useful law, then. Jaune nodded, and wondered if he shouldn't look it all up. As much as he was on the weaker end of class, he was also probably now in the top 1% of people in terms of Remnant's overall population. He could cause a lot of damage to people if he tried, much like how Team RWBY had with the docks and then their chase with Torchwick. He'd even heard Yang smashed up a club while drunk, though the rumours were unconfirmed on that one and he wasn't dumb enough to ask.

"Combat class was our way out of the boring lessons and I was the best at it," she said. "Things were fun, then. Everyone liked challenging me and I did lose every now and then. I was never invincible. I wasn't even that good. I just put 110% into it because I loved it so much."

"That does sound like you."

"Thank you. It was actually the mother of one of my friends that came up with the idea of signing us all up for some competitions. It was just the amateur scene and only regionals. Nothing too special. But we did well. All of us. For our age bracket, I mean. I think you could have had a fair shot against us back then."

"Good to know I could have beaten up... what, a thirteen-year-old?"

Pyrrha smiled. "Eleven."

"Greeeeeat. And twelve-year-old you would have kicked my ass."

He pointedly didn't ask what happened to her friends, because Pyrrha had confessed to the team that she didn't have any before them. Sadly, that didn't stop her bringing it up herself.

"The competitions saw us move on to bigger regionals, then nationals, then... well, it got more and more. Better and better. We were on top of the world, and then we were fighting in tournaments where talent scouts were looking for the next big thing."

"And they found you?"

"They found me and my best friend, Ashley. We were scouted. It was like a dream come true. More fights? More competition? It was already such an adrenaline rush. Every fight was so exciting that it felt like our hearts might explode, and now we were going to go pro. It was like a dream come true."

Her smile faded.

"And then the dream ended."

"What happ—?"

"Arghhhhhhhhhhh!"

A scream pierced the air, high and elongated, ending in a sharp crack as a young girl's voice broke, peaking in a choked sound, dropping, and then beginning again. A second scream just as piercing and horrific as the first.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

A bell was struck three times.

"MATCH OVER! MATCH OVER!"

The world shifted. Jaune found himself next to Pyrrha in an arena, and looked aside to see his partner was smaller. Thirteen or fourteen. Her hair was short and to the back of her neck, and her outfit was some odd spandex-style one with various bright company logos on it. She had a sword in one hand and a shield in the other.

And the sword was bloody.

Her face was shocked.

"MATCH OVER!" shouted an official in black and white, slamming himself between Pyrrha and another girl who lay on the floor clutching her leg.

Blood bubbled up between her fingers,

And the screams. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Ashley—?" whimpered Pyrrha. "I... I..."

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

He was no expert but from the fact the wound had cut into the girl's knee, Jaune was fairly sure she'd never compete again. She might walk, maybe, but it'd be with a limp. There were cameras going off everywhere and a hushed silence, broken only by the officials pushing Pyrrha away to make space and medical teams rushing onto the arena.

A commentator desperately tried to regain order by saying that Pyrrha Nikos was victorious due to loss of aura on her opponent's part. Explosions went off and confetti flew through the air, almost making a mockery of the scene.

"Ashley?" whispered Pyrrha. "I'm sorry, I... Why didn't you block? I... Oh my—"

"The doctors say I'll have to take physiotherapy..."

A girl's voice whispered around them.

"They say I might be able to walk normally again if it goes well."

The girl was trying to sound upbeat.

Failing.

"I—It should be back to normal. B... But they say I'll never compete again. H—Haven has retracted their scholarship. T—They say it'd be cruel to accept someone in my position." A broken sob. "B—But I'll show them I can bounce back. I... I..."

The girl's voice cracked.

"Why? Why did you follow through? You saw that I stumbled. You saw I was exhausted!"

Pyrrha, still shocked, still shaking, whispered an answer. "I... I don't know. I saw my chance for victory and... and I took it."

"Yeah? Well... you win, Pyrrha. You win."

The world exploded into white light.

/-/

Jaune woke and knew that Pyrrha was awake, too. She reared up on her bed with a gasp, then clamped a hand over her mouth before she could let out a noise. Yet again, she was too damn polite for her own good. He watched as she leapt to her feet and rushed to the bathroom, and grimaced as he heard the sound of her throwing up.

When she came back out, she froze on seeing him seated on his bed.

"Rough night?" he asked.

"I'm sorry." The automatic apology was so Pyrrha. "Did I wake you up?"

"Better you than Cinder," he quipped back, and Pyrrha smiled weakly. "Want to go for a walk? You look like you need it."

"As long as this walk doesn't end with you being shot with an arrow, yes. Give me a moment to put something on."

Jaune turned his back. They had gotten used to changing in front of one another to a small degree, but he didn't want her to worry that people thought she might be "slutting it up" or whatever it was the woman in the nightmare said. He could check to see if there were any such rumours out there, but he had a feeling it'd only make him angry.

And there wasn't much he could do to change things in the waking world.

"I'm ready," she said. "Shall we?"

Silently, they moved for the door.

Though Jaune could tell Ren was awake and watching them, checking on them. He held the door open for Pyrrha and nodded once to Ren's bed. The boy grumbled something and rolled over, letting them go.

Nora was out cold snoring.

He and Pyrrha walked outside into the cool air. It was five in the morning and they weren't the only ones up. Some weirdos actually chose to get up at that time for training or study, though it was mostly the upper years trying to cram coursework in or claim books at the library before their peers did. They made their way to a wooden bench and sat down, enjoying the slowly warming air.

"Bad dream?" he offered. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Just memories," she replied, tiredly. "Times from back when I was young and stupid. Back before the whole 'Invincible Girl' nonsense."

It felt strange to feign ignorance. "You know, I've been helping Blake with her issues..."

"I don't need a therapist, Jaune!" Pyrrha laughed as she said it, shoving him with one hand. "And if I did, I could probably afford the best on Remnant. Not that it wouldn't cause a huge drama if I started going. Geez."

"I'm just saying I'll listen. As your partner."

"My teammate—"

"Your partner," he stressed, staring into her eyes.

Pyrrha glanced away, smiling through a faint blush. "My partner, then. Fine. But people would get weird over that term."

"Let them get weird."

"Hmmm. I guess PR isn't as important now as it used to be. I already ended most of my contracts and sponsorships before I got into Beacon. Most of them ran out, but I had to pay exit clauses on some of them. Turns out I signed some really stupid ones as a child that were going to last thirty years."

"Wouldn't it have been the job of your agents to stop that?"

"It was before," she said. "My parents got in touch with an agent because of the bad deals we agreed to. We thought we could handle it ourselves before, but... yeah. Turns out having an agent is kind of a good idea."

"Annoying, though."

"Definitely. But they make problems go away." Pyrrha frowned as she said it. "Sometimes not in ways I was happy with... but they did what they were paid to do."

Jaune bit his lip. He didn't want to ask, but Pyrrha had said she was happy to talk about the good times. Maybe that was a hint that his avoidance of any topic regarding her past wasn't as much a kindness as he thought it was. Pyrrha always wanted to learn more about him, Ren and Nora, and he worried now that they might have come across callous or uninterested to have not asked the same.

"What do you mean? Did something happen?"

Pyrrha sighed, but she answered, and he had a feeling she'd have just said she didn't want to talk about it if she didn't. If she really didn't want to, she knew he would gladly leave it be.

Maybe she wanted to get it off her chest.

"I had a lapse in control once. I used to get in the zone when I fought, forget all my worries and everything outside the fight. I was an athlete, and I was super competitive. We all were. Fighting was so much fun and we all wanted to win, so we hyped ourselves up..." She smiled awkwardly. "But we were also young and not as good as we are now. Sometimes – rarely, but sometimes – our aura control would lapse a little. We weren't allowed to use guns and live rounds back then for obvious reasons, but we still used bladed weapons. They were blunted a bit, but they could still cut."

"And I assume they did cut. And that someone's concentration lapsed."

"Yeah. She..." Pyrrha winced. "I knew her. Quite well." The evasiveness wasn't lost on him. "It wasn't even a big drama at the time. Accidents happened, especially in the younger brackets. My brand came out quite well for it because of how horrified I looked, and the fact that I asked my agents to cover all the medical costs."

"But you still feel guilty."

"Hmm."

Hesitantly, Jaune wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Pyrrha smiled and leaned her head on his, but thankfully didn't try for a repeat of the kiss from the dream. "You shouldn't let it haunt you. By the sounds of it, it was a silly accident. You made amends by covering the costs for it, and I'm sure this person knew the risks when they got into the sport."

"I know. I knew. It's just..." Pyrrha sighed. "The reason I brought it up isn't what happened. I did feel bad about that but I got over it. What bothers me the most is what I found out years later."

Jaune prayed to any god out there that "Ashley" hadn't committed suicide.

"What happened...?"

"My agents," she said, frowning. "They paid the medical fees like I asked them to, but they also paid the girl and her family to leave Argus. They made it a settlement and had them sign a contract to never litigate against me again. It... It included a requirement to not contact me and stay away from me at all times."

That was almost worse.

Almost.

"Why...?"

"I don't know. I think they thought they were helping, that they were covering my bases and protecting my brand. I'm not sure they even realised she and I were close, or that it'd hurt me. They just knew this girl had a way to ruin me if she wanted, and they decided the safest thing was to get her out the way."

Pyrrha laughed bitterly. "And they never told me. I mean, the paperwork was there and I could have found out, so it was less lies and more they didn't think I'd care to know, but I was hurt and confused and I didn't understand why that girl never responded when I tried to reach out to her. I thought she hated me but instead I found out she wasn't able to respond." Her head fell. "And she must have thought I hated her. That I'd told my agents to get rid of her and never let her talk to me again."

"That's awful!" he said, squeezing her shoulder. "They overstepped their responsibility. Did anyone get in trouble for it?"

"I mean, I changed to another agent so I guess a lot of people got in trouble. Their whole agency lost their biggest client so I imagine a lot of them got fired for it." Pyrrha sulked. "Which makes me feel even worse now. It'd only have been one person's mistake..."

"You can't hold yourself responsible for everything, Pyrrha. It's not your fault someone made a mistake and they lost a contract for it, and it's not your fault Ashley got hurt because her aura failed. And it's especially not your fault that your PR agents went behind your back and forced her family to sign some stupid contract. They should have talked to you – either the PR agency, her parents, or hell, even her! It wasn't like you were the only person involved."

Pyrrha was staring at him.

"You're not to blame, Pyrrha. You're a wonderful person, and I mean that beyond the PR and the brand and the things you've accomplished – because I'm a dumb idiot who isn't even aware of most of those things." He grinned. "So, when I say you're a great person, you know it's because of what you are. Not because of what your reputation is."

Still, she stared.

"What?" he asked, laughing awkwardly. "Was that too much? Sorry, I got a little impassioned but—"

"How?" she interrupted. "How did you know her name was Ashley...?"

You and your fat mouth, Jaune.