For two days straight Jaune had been in and out of Cinder's dreams, patching up memories and creating a background for her. Oobleck was pleased with what looked to be a marked improvement in his control when it came to choosing whom to influence, but Jaune was less convinced. He was so stressed about Cinder and the risks of her discovering the truth that he went to bed every night with her on his mind. It felt less like control and more like panic.

The bright side was that it kept him out of Team RWBY's dreams. The team weren't avoiding him, not precisely, but he was definitely feeling the cold shoulder from half of them. Ruby refused to talk to him and no longer showed for their evening meetings, and Blake had stopped going to the library at the same times he did. Of all the people to offer him comfort over it, he didn't expect it to be Weiss.

"They're not angry," she told him, after breakfast. "Ruby is avoiding everyone right now, Yang especially. You're just being swept up in that. As for Blake, I think she's more embarrassed than angry. There's no telling what you've seen in her head, or so she thinks."

"And you, Weiss?"

"It's obvious what you saw in mine. The sudden shift from asking me out to apologising and stopping. It makes me wonder if I should apologise for whatever cruel things my subconscious must have said."

"Something I needed to hear. If anything, I'm glad I got your honest opinion."

"Hmm." Weiss looked at him askance. He wasn't sure if he imagined the quirk of her lips. "I suppose there's a simplicity to that. Our subconscious minds say what we wish we could in real life. Is that what it's like in a dream?"

"Not really. I don't read thoughts or see into your mind. I'm in your dream, so it's more like being caught in a movie. I can figure stuff out, but it's more like dream analysis."

"Isn't that famously unscientific?"

"Yes. "Jaune had heard it enough times from Doctor Oobleck. There were a lot of hacks who put too much focus on what a person dreamt and what it meant. Especially when dreams could be influenced by everything from trauma to how much sugar a person had consumed that day. " But when a person's dream is literally them telling me to stop being an idiot and accept when you say no, I think even someone as dumb as me can figure it out."

"I'll still apologise. I never returned your feelings, didn't even really like you, but I didn't want to cause you – or anyone – any pain like that."

"It's fine, Weiss. There comes a point where if someone ignores your kind hints, you need to be cruel."

"If you say so. Speaking of cruel, is siccing Yang onto Ruby cruelty?"

"I didn't send anyone after anyone," he said, raising his hands in front of him.

"But you knew Ruby had a problem. From her dream, I assume."

"Yes. But I won't tell you what that's about." He saw her eyes narrow. "I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't share the deepest secrets of a person with another. I've broken that when it comes to criminals and dangerous people, but I'm not going to tell you what I saw in Ruby and Yang's dreams unless they let me. Same as how I wouldn't tell them anything I saw in yours."

"Hmph. I suppose I'll have to accept that."

"Thank you. And thank you for giving me a chance and not acting on what Winter told you about me."

Weiss did smile, then, and placed a hand on her hip, tilting her head to the side. "I was tempted at first," she admitted. "To confront you or tell my team. But then I remembered how I accused Blake over her White Fang links and how badly that went. I promised my team I'd judge them on their actions in the future, not what I was told to think by others. I decided to apply that here, and realised your actions – while too knowledgeable not to have used your Semblance – weren't hurting anyone. And you didn't try and take advantage of them. I was watching to see if you would."

"Laying a trap for me?"

Weiss shrugged. "I'm pleased you didn't make me spring it. It's a trap I would have been disappointed to catch something in."

/-/

It wasn't uncommon for Jaune to be called to speak with the headmistress and Oswald, and so he wasn't too concerned when that happened. The fact Qrow was there was worrying, but at least the man was back on his feet. He had scrapes and cuts across his face and a hint of bandages under his collar and across his chest. The battle with Salem had clearly been a difficult one.

"Mr Arc." Oswald, Ozpin, said. "Tell us, have you had any unusual dreams of late?"

"None, sir. I've been in Cinder's every single night making up memories for her. Why? Has something changed that you think is because of me?"

"Not as such. We were hoping you'd have some insight but it seems not. It's good you're keeping an eye on Miss Fall— Miss Arc, I mean." The correction had Jaune cringing. Given Cinder was his age, it made it sound more like she was his wife than his child. "Has she shown any suspicious behaviour? Any attempts to leave Beacon or interact with the outside world?"

"No, sir."

Cinder had become impatient and restless but she'd only wanted to walk around Beacon and spend time with her friends. It was a restlessness born of a need for her to reclaim what she saw as her missing memories, and to make up for lost time. She hadn't even mentioned leaving Beacon, and he suspected that even if she did want to, it'd only be to go back to their "home" in Mistral. Not to contact Salem or her former allies.

Small problem that there is no such home. I'll have to tell her it was sold when we came here.

"Cinder is mostly just bored because she doesn't have anything to do. She doesn't even have a scroll right now, so she couldn't contact anyone if she wanted to. My teammates are helping to keep her busy."

"That is good. That's very good."

Jaune noticed their tenseness. "Has something happened?"

"There was an attack on Atlas' flagship," Qrow said. "Kid needs to know," he added, when Glynda shot him a dirty look. "The other girl – Sustrai – was taken. Not sure if it's a rescue or Salem aiming to punish her, but we wanted to be sure Cinder wasn't involved."

Jaune groaned. It felt like barely any time had passed since they'd captured Emerald in the first place, and now she was out. What kind of security was Atlas running!? He knew that was unfair, even as he thought it. Atlas were a superpower, but Salem was an immortal witch who had magic and the Grimm at her beck and call. Vale wouldn't have done a better job, and the only way to really keep Emerald out of their hands would have been to kill her.

"Your frustrations are felt by everyone, Mr Arc – Atlas included."

Right. The victims. "How are they? Was it bad?"

"Sixty dead, a hundred wounded—"

"Holy crap!" Jaune yelled. He'd assumed it was a jailbreak, not a slaughter. "How!? They're in the air. Did Grimm fly up there?"

"The flagship experienced a technical fault and was forced to land," Ozpin explained. "We believe this the work of Arthur Watts in hindsight. Ironwood chose to land it outside the city so as not to cause us any damage. The first barrage came not from the Grimm but another Atlas airship which had its weapons hacked. It opened fire on Ironwood's flagship, expending all its rounds before the admiral disconnected the systems. A breach was blown in the side of the flagship which Grimm used to enter, causing chaos as Salem herself breached and retrieved Emerald Sustrai. "Most of the injured came from the friendly fire incident. The Grimm killed those they came across, which were mostly wounded and stunned soldiers unable to escape. James and Winter were forced to choose between engaging the enemy or defending the soldiers and chose the latter."

That was the best choice. Salem was immortal, or so Ozpin's story went, so Ironwood and Winter wouldn't have been able to defeat her so easily. Not to mention the overall loss of life that would have been caused if they tried. It was frustrating Emerald was out, but he couldn't blame them too much for it.

Too much.

"They should have taken her away from Vale the moment they had her," he said. "They could have loaded her on another airship and flown her away. They know Salem and Watts are here."

"It's easy to say that in hindsight. At the time, the information Emerald might reveal under interrogation was deemed too valuable. It would have taken days to fly her to Atlas, and that was time James felt we did not have. In war, decisions must be made quickly. And quick decisions are not always the best ones."

"And we're at war, aren't we?"

"After Salem orchestrated an attack this bold and this public?" Qrow laughed. "Yeah, kid. We are. Though it's not a big war. Not like the faunus rebellions was."

"There's an old saying that if you cut the head off a snake the body dies," Ozpin said. "It's not nearly as true as most people think in war, given a chain of command and contingencies any army would factor in. Here, however, it works perfectly. Were Salem to be dealt with – captured, forced to retreat or something similar – the Grimm would revert back to mindless beasts and be easily dealt with. This is a war where we really do only have to worry about one individual."

"But that individual is the most powerful on Remnant..."

"Salem is still only one person," Ozpin said. "Teamwork is something we espouse here in Beacon for good reason. Either way, we expect she'll be coming here. Not only for you but for Cinder. Emerald Sustrai may have been recovered specifically to revert Cinder back to her previous state."

"What he's getting at but too polite to say," Qrow said, "is that you may want to insert some memories in the girl's head that'll make her attack first, ask questions later." Qrow made a snipping motion around his ears. "Do a little tweaking if you know what I mean."

Ozpin frowned, obviously not liking the idea of asking him to mentally cripple and control someone. Jaune felt much the same way, even if this was Cinder. There were some powers that were just too dangerous to use so freely.

At least this was more like false memories than mind control.

"I'll do what I can," he promised. "Emerald tried to harm me, so I think Cinder will dislike her anyway."