He'd been an accessory to a longer meeting between Ironwood and Ozpin – Oswald, but Jaune had given up on calling him that in his own head - in which they debated how to reach out to Trivia to try and get this "proof" Roman needed, and whether it would be worth the time involved. Jaune wanted to say it would be, but he didn't have all the details behind the scenes, and he also had no way of reaching out to Trivia at all.

Plus, as Ironwood pointed out, they didn't know how honest Roman was being, or whether sending them on this wild goose chase wouldn't cost them in other ways. At the very least, they both agreed this was better than nothing, and that Jaune had done what they'd asked of him. Ironwood was tempted to keep trying to put Roman to sleep to see if he couldn't catch him not lucid dreaming, but Jaune pointed out that didn't necessarily mean he'd get any useful information out of him.

Nightmares didn't always make a lot of sense and it was just as likely he'd be forced to relive a traumatic moment in Roman's past. Much more likely, in fact, than him stumbling into a meeting between Roman and Cinder in which they just happened to be discussing their evil plans.

In the end, Ozpin flew him back to Beacon and let him go, with but a brief mention to keep an eye – or a dream – out for Miss Vanille. Ozpin wasn't yet sure how they'd reach out to her, but he said something would be done to try and signal to the criminal on the run that they wanted to talk to her under some form of truce.

Seeing a TV news story later that day about a "cute missing dog" called Neo being found and being cared for at Beacon, and that its owner – a Miss Vanille – should come to pick it up, was not exactly what he'd imagined. He could just imagine Trivia watching the report with a confused look on her face.

In all fairness, he didn't have any better ideas.

Come the end of another hard day, Trivia had yet to respond – but Jaune felt she'd do so in the dead of night anyway, and it'd take her time to see the report and make her way to Beacon if she was going to.

It was important that be in his room, deep asleep, so she'd know where she could find him.

/-/

Jaune blinked to orient himself as he opened his eyes within a small but cosy apartment. There was always a moment of shock between falling asleep and "waking up" in someone's dream to a whole new scenario. It took his brain a few seconds on average to get used to it, let alone his eyes.

This place was new. It was much smaller than Velvet's childhood home or Trivia and Cardin's much larger manorial style houses. He was in what looked to be a woman's bedroom, but it was very spartan, with little more than a bed and some clothes about the place. The greatest sign of personality was that the wall which the bed was against was covered with printed photographs. Hundreds of them just tacked to the wall like a collage of memories.

Almost all of them were indistinct and blurry but for one, in which woman of around twenty had a boy maybe five years younger sat in her lap. Her arms were coming down over his shoulders to rest on his chest while her chin was propped atop his head. They were both smiling at the camera.

"I don't want you to go!"

His head jerked to the door. There was someone outside – two someones assuming the first was addressing another person. He could guess it was the boy and the girl from the photo. Brother and sister most likely – their expressions had the same vibes he and Saphron did, and he knew those stereotypical poses for family pictures well. He had to do seven at a time after all, and they couldn't hash out the same poses for each.

"You know I have to," the sister said. "I'll be graduating soon and then we won't be able to rely on my scholarship for support. Working directly for someone as important as Ozpin is a huge opportunity."

Ozpin...?

They were in Vale, then, and the girl must be a student at Beacon. It made sense given his body was in Beacon. This must be a student dreaming about their brother – someone in their last year by the sounds of it. Working for Ozpin, though? Were they going to become a teacher? That would have had to be before Ozpin "retired" and Oswald took over.

"I don't trust him, sis!"

"Haaa. You don't trust anyone with me. You didn't even trust my teammates when you met them."

"They didn't look strong enough to protect you."

"Brat." The girl laughed. "None of us were strong in our first year but we're better now."

"Can't you take them with you? Why do you have to go on your own?"

"Because this is a private mission for Ozpin – and it's a test of my ability. My team have their own plans for what they'll do after graduation, but I didn't want to go travelling the world with them if it means leaving my cute little brother behind."

"..." The boy sniffed. "Sis..."

"Geez. Are you crying already? Girls are going to think you're a cry-baby, you know."

"Snf. M'not a cry-baby..."

"Sure you're not." The door in front of Jaune opened before he could react, and Jaune found himself face to face with a beautiful woman with tan skin and dark hair. Her dark green eyes blinked at him, confused, before her subconscious made up an excuse for his presence. "Oh, you must be the babysitter I hired."

"Yeah... sure..."

"I don't need a babysitter!" the boy behind her argued.

He was... not small. In fact, he was around Jaune's height at six feet and that was with him being quite obviously several years younger than him. Height didn't mean everything, but it did feel weird to be called a babysitter for someone as tall as you. His face was boyish, though. It was as if puberty had decided the only thing it was going to work on was growing bigger.

"I know you're capable of looking after yourself, but I legally have to have someone to look after you. You know that. It was hard enough convincing the adoption agency we should stay together. Let's not give them even more excuse to say I'm not prepared to be a proper parent and they should take you away." That ended the argument, the boy's eyes going wide before he nodded furiously. The girl turned to him again. "So, you're... what was it?"

"Jaune."

"Jaune! Right. Thanks for coming so early. It shouldn't be a long one. I just need you to look after my brother for the night and until around noon tomorrow. I've left money for pizza. It's a weekend tomorrow so Hazel should be fine to stay up late, but don't let him push you around. He's spirited."

"Gretchen!" whined the huge boy.

He was bigger than his sister now.

"I doubt he's going to cause trouble," said Jaune. "I heard you were out on a job for Ozpin...?"

"Ah. I can't really say." Gretchen smiled awkwardly. "It's all very hush-hush. Sorry. Anyway, I won't be long, and we'll go visit the park tomorrow like I promised, Hazel. Be good for Jaune. And make sure to brush your teeth for three whole minutes!"

"I know," the boy grumbled. "Please be safe. Don't take any risks."

"How can I when I have a cute little brother to come home to?"

"I'm bigger than you now."

The huntress snatched Hazel's ear quicker than he could react and yanked his head down so it was at the level of her chest. "Are you? You look shorter than me like this."

"That's – ahah – unfair! Sis!"

"Yeah, yeah." Gretchen leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Mwah. I'll be back before you know it. Love you."

"I love you too."

And then, surprisingly, Gretchen left and the world didn't fade away, meaning that it was Hazel who was dreaming, and that this must have been a few years ago. Presumably Hazel was now the student in Beacon and his older sister had graduated. That made more sense, what with Ozpin no longer officially being in Beacon in the first place.

"So..." Jaune looked the "boy" up and down. "I guess it's just the two of us. Anything you want to do?"

"..." Hazel was still staring at the door but sighed and turned back. "I guess we could play a boardgame. Sis had to work and study to afford this place, so we don't have much money. We don't even have a television."

"Ah. I guess that makes sense. She really cares about you, huh?"

Hazel smiled. "Yeah. She's the best in the whole world. When mom and dad died, they wanted to split us up, but she refused and said she'd look after me. They didn't think she'd be able to, but she works two jobs on the weekends and studies at Beacon as well."

"She sounds amazing."

"Hm! She is! And she's one of the best in her year at Beacon too. Everyone says she's the most hardworking person they've ever met!"

It sure sounded like it. He couldn't imagine the work that would have to go into supporting a child at his age. Ther food and lodge was provided by Beacon, but no children lived there, so this person had to rent a place in Vale – which couldn't be cheap. It was little wonder the place was little more than two bedrooms and a single living room combined with kitchen. It must have been the cheapest place in the whole city.

"Let's get this boardgame out and play, then," said Jaune. "You'll have to teach me it."

"Hm!"

/-/

They "played" for what felt like a long time even in a dream. It was unusual how much detail went into the specific moves and rules of the game, and it made him wonder if this memory wasn't even clearer for the dreamer than others. The detail in the game but also the apartment was so much crisper than in other dreams. Even the randomly selected cards in the game had full detail on them, rather than being hazy and forgotten by time.

Halfway through, Jaune left to "order" pizza, which basically meant just imagining a box in hand that he could bring back to Hazel. Maybe it'd become real, and the boy would wake up full tomorrow, but if so then it was a very small application of his Semblance. Better this than any of the many other things he could possibly do.

It was late both in the dream and probably in real life where his body was asleep in his room when a knock came on the door. Hazel glanced up along with Jaune, and his eyes narrowed as he saw the dark smoke creeping under the doorframe. It was horror movie material, which almost certainly meant this was something Hazel was afraid of.

When the boy jumped to his feet, Jaune grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down.

"Why?" asked Hazel. "It could be sis!"

"Knocking at her own door? She'd let herself in." Jaune pushed the boy down and stood. "Let me answer the door. I'm the one responsible for you."

And he could better face whatever terrible thing Hazel had dreamed up, knowing that it wasn't real and all. With a quick flare of his aura, just in case, Jaune approached the door, unlocked, and then opened it, prepared for a monster.

He was not prepared for Ozpin.

Old Ozpin, before Oswald, with his green suit as he'd often worn.

"May I come in?" he asked, and Jaune stepped back automatically, used to doing as his teacher asked. "Mr Rainart. I am Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy. I'm afraid I must be the bearer of bad news tonight. Your sister, Gretchen Rainart, has fallen in the line of duty. You have my condolences."

Jaune's stomach dropped but that was nothing compared to Hazel. The boy slumped to his knees, eyes and mouth wide, unable to process what he'd just heard. In his defence, the way Ozpin delivered it was awful.

Purely callous and disinterested.

But was it real?

Was this really how Ozpin had delivered the news, assuming this was a memory, or was this the nightmare making it worse? Having Ozpin look and sound like he really didn't care for a dead student. He'd seen Glynda agonise over this. He'd seen Port have students die on him. He knew it happened. This was a cruel reality Team JNPR had thus far been spared, but they were still first years. They were being coddled for now.

"LIAR!" Hazel screamed. "You're a liar!"

"Your sister perished to a Grimm attack outside Vale. I'm afraid her body was mutilated beyond recognition, so it was buried in the field as per protocol. Some of her belongings will be delivered to you in the coming days—"

"LIAR!" Hazel repeated. "It was a secret mission! You sent her out there!"

Ozpin paused. Frowned. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sis said she was doing a special task for you! Some kind of test!"

"This was a routine training exercise."

"Then why didn't her team go with her!"

"They were... occupied."

Ozpin was lying. Even Jaune could see that. It was more concealing information than anything, and some of that might have been for Hazel's mental health. He might not have wanted to heap too much on the boy, especially if his sister's end was particularly gruesome.

"I apologise for your loss," Ozpin repeated.

"Where did you send her? What did you have her do!?"

"As I said, Mr Rainart, it was a routine training mission."

"TELL ME!"

Ozpin turned. "I've told you all I can. I am sorry for delivering such bad news. Goodnight."

Hazel lunged but Ozpin closed the door, leaving the boy to crash into it and slide down onto hands and knees. Instantly, he began to scream, until fists banged on the nearby walls, callous voices telling him to "SHUT UP!" so others could sleep. That didn't stop him, but it changed his loud wails to quiet sniffles and sobs.

"Hey..." Jaune knelt next to him, not sure what to say or do. "Hazel..."

"She's gone! She said she'd come back but she's gone!" Hazel wept. "And it was his fault! Ozpin! He lied! He sent her without her team. She... She wouldn't have lied to me about this. He did send her to do something. Something too dangerous for her!"

He wanted to defend Ozpin and say that people died. Huntsmen and huntresses especially. And yet he'd seen how fallible a team could be in Port's nightmares. Why send one huntress on her own? No. Not even a huntress. One student. Obviously, Ozpin wouldn't have sent her to her death intentionally, so there had to be something that went wrong.

That wouldn't be any comfort to Hazel, though.

The world shifted. The room blended, turning from orderly and cosy to a disastrous mess of food packets and thrown furniture. Hazel had been raging, it seemed. He was also ragged and unclean, with the beginnings of facial hair on his chin and bags under his eyes. There was a police officer at the door that he was talking to.

"We've told you before that we can't investigate the headmaster of Beacon," the officer said, tiredly. "While we're sympathetic to your loss, accidents like this happen and your sister knew the risks when she signed up to Beacon."

"But he sent her alone and without backup," Hazel rasped. "He was negligent."

"The records show your sister went out on her own. There was no indication in the headmaster's statement that he sent Gretchen Rainart anywhere, let alone ordered her to go without her team."

"His statement..." Hazel laughed brokenly. "Of course he would say that. That's it, then? My word against his – and he's too important, right? He matters more than a useless orphan like me."

The officer fidgeted. "That's not true, son..."

But it was.

Even Jaune could tell he was lying.

"I'd advise you let it go," said the officer. "Focus on yourself and recovering. Whether or not you believe he's lying, there's nothing anyone can do about it. The headmaster of Beacon has a strong record and is a celebrated man. You'd need better evidence than your sister telling you something. I'm sorry we couldn't do more for you."

Hazel closed the door on the man's face and walked away.

A loud knock drew him back before he could even find a seat.

The next man at the door was large and looked uncomfortable to be there.

"Hey, so... Rainart." The pudgy man swallowed. "I'm just... look, there's no easy way for me to say this. You're a week behind on the rent."

Hazel's voice was a raw scratch. "My sister just died..."

"I know, and I sympathise. That's why we've given you this long to come to terms with it."

"A week...?" Hazel laughed bitterly. "Is that how much the death of the last person I had in this world is worth? One week? You're too kind."

"Look, I don't want to be doing this any more than you want to be hearing it but I'm just the manager here. I don't make the rules. The one that owns this place sees us all as numbers, and you're behind on yours." The man held out a red and white letter. "You have one week to pay this and next month's rent in advance. If you can't, you'll be evicted."

Hazel stared dumbly at the letter. "But I don't have anywhere to go."

"This isn't my first choice either, kid. I'd gladly let you stay if I had the choice but... I don't own this place. I just run it. The orders come from above." The man reached for the door, closing it from the outside so he could escape the awkward situation. "I'm sorry."

The door closed again.

Hazel retreated to Gretchen's room in silence and laid down on her bed. He took the photo off the wall of himself and her and clutched it to his chest.

Jaune wished he could be somewhere else as well when the young man began to cry.

A quiet knock came at the door that Hazel was too lost in grief to hear, but which Jaune did. It was followed by a rustling sound as an envelope was slid under the door. Curious, Jaune picked it up and opened it. The breach of privacy might have been uncalled for, but this had to be important if Hazel remembered it.

Inside were several documents, including a letter.

Mr. Rainart,

You are not the only one who feels that Ozpin has overstepped himself.

Please find included information gleaned from the headmaster's computer prior to the police arriving to question him. It might interest you – but not surprise – to know they did not check his computer or ask to see records. They took his statement as fact and departed, closing the case at that very second. The included documents may prove illuminating.

Sincerely,

Your friend.

Jaune put it aside and read the first document. It was a print-out of a screenshot, upon which seemed to be Ozpin's own internal emails. There were several with titles pertaining to lessons and plans, but the one that had been opened was titled, "KIA" and was listed to Qrow of all people. The message had come from Qrow, and above it was Ozpin's response.

To: Ozpin

From: Qrow Branwen

Subject: KIA

Bad news, Oz. I met with your new potential agent as per orders, but it seems the Grimm got to her first. At least ten by the looks of it. Good news is she was able to get the evidence as ordered and I was able to reclaim the drive. I'll bring that to you myself.

Not sure if this was an accident or a planned attack but it looks like she was overwhelmed. Seemed like a promising candidate, too.

Regards

Qrow.

And above that, Ozpin's response.

To: Qrow Branwen

From: Ozpin

Subject: RE: Kia

Unfortunate news indeed regarding Miss Rainart. I had high hopes for her – she was an outstanding huntress and hard worker. At least she was able to retrieve the information before she was attacked, and she was able to keep it safe.

Given the sensitivity, I need you to bury her body – or burn it. I shall have it be known Miss Rainart died on a training exercise. We cannot afford for our enemies to suspect our movements. A report of Grimm activity in the area will be created and logged to justify her presence. Please see to it that the Grimm in the area are culled.

Thank you for checking up on her on my behalf. It seems we'll have to look to the next batch of students to find someone to join our ranks. I know this must bring back memories of Summer, but I can only apologise. Our enemy is too great to not recruit promising young huntresses like her.

Sincerely,

Ozpin

Headmaster of Beacon.

It ended there, with the automated signature from Beacon attached to the bottom of every email. There were a few other documents indicating the route Gretchen had taken, where she had died, and how it didn't match up with the official report Ozpin had given. The one that he now knew Ozpin had falsified.

He felt the dream begin to fade as Hazel fell asleep within the dream.

But he wondered, even as he blinked himself awake back in his dorm, what had become of the young man, and why he was dreaming of him now.

Because there was no way Hazel Rainart would have joined Beacon after that.