Things did calm down a lot after that, which gave Jaune time to do actual school things: Study. Hang out. Make out with his girlfriend (which she was very keen on).
It did however also let Jaune notice a few things he hadn't been paying a lot of attention to but now he questioned. To wit, as he looked around the cafeteria...
Jaune: "How did I not notice so many couples? And where did those kids come from?"
Weiss: "You dolt. How did you not notice that?"
Jaune: "Well, I mean, I did but I was a little preoccupied..."
Weiss: "Well... Um..." bright red
Yang: "What do you expect to happen with a bunch of fit young men and women in close quarters?" She smiles at a baby a few tables over being rocked by an upperclasswoman "According to my dad in his day? Half the class graduated late due to pregnancies and weddings."
Blake: "Yes. Life persists even in the face of adversity."
Ruby: "How have you NOT noticed all the cute little babies, Jaune?!"
Nora: "I KNOW RIGHT?!"
Pyrrha: "They are very adorable."
Jaune: pouts "I have noticed them, I just didn't put it all together until now."
Weiss: sighs "They're all so adorable...!" Coughs at everyone's looks "I mean... It is good that there are so many responsible adults taking good care of their children."
Ruby: "They are super adorable!" beams
Jaune's Brain: Well I suppose it makes sense. And I guess Monty couldn't render so many kids. Geez, is that why everyone's so pushy about romance? Thank goodness Yang is fine with taking it slow...
Yang nuzzles his neck.
Jaune's Brain: For the most part...!
Cardin approaches, looking a bit exhausted but smiling. Velvet is alongside him, and she's practically glowing. Their teams trail behind them.
Jaune: "Hey Cardin, hey Velvet. What's up?"
Cardin: "Er, well... Um... I'd like to ask you to be my best man, Jauney."
Jaune: "Best Man?"
Velvet: smiles "At our wedding!"
Jaune: "Wait what?! It's only been around six months and you're already-?!"
Velvet: beams and nuzzles Cardin "We're having babies! Triplets at least!"
Coco: "And Cardin here actually stepped up to the plate and proposed right on the spot! Didn't need to shoot him or anything."
Fox: "Yet."
Cardin: winces
Russel: "HEY! Cardin's a stand up guy you jerks! He'll do the right thing! Seriously though, why ask him to be Best Man?"
Cardin: sigh "He did give me the advice that let me ask her out, Russel."
Velvet: "Besides, you're already gonna be godfather!"
Russel: "True."
Cardin: "So uh, what do you say, Jauney?"
Jaune: "Well, sure! I'd be honored!"
Cardin: "Thanks!"
Jaune: "I uh... I hope your parents are as cool with this?"
Cardin and Velvet look at each other worriedly before looking back.
Cardin: "We... Had some issues..."
Velvet: "But we're working them out! Oh, I hope you'll all come?"
Ruby: "Of course! Weddings are awesome!"
Cardin and Velvet hand out some wedding invites (Cardin hands out some cigars) and their teams head off to spread the news. Jaune smiles a little.
Jaune: "I suppose life finds a way..." He looks over at Blake "Blake? You okay?"
Blake: sniffles "Once... I would have hated the idea of a human and a Faunus marrying. I thought it was nothing more than slavery... But they seem so happy."
Jaune: smiles "Yeah! I'm glad they do."
Blake: "And gives me hope for the future~." Warm look at Jaune
Jaune: "As... Friends. Totally friends."
Yang: "The best of friends." Grabs Jaune's arm and pulls him close
Blake: "For now."
Ruby: "Blaaaaake! Stop being all weird and seducer-y!"
Weiss: "Indeed! Have some self respect not to go after a taken man!"
Blake: "Says the woman who scribbles hearts with Jaune's name in them."
Weiss: "I DO NOT!"
Pyrrha: bright red "O-Oh my..."
Jaune: sighs "Thank God summer break is coming up... Nothing ever happens during that time... Except hot girlfriends in swimsuits."
Yang: "You're aware you're saying that out loud, right?"
Jaune: "Yup."
Yang: beams "Just making sure~."
As it turned out, a lot more time and things happened in the real version of Remnant than was depicted in the show. Which, to be fair, had a limited runtime and budget. This was the full world.
That said, the show served as a rough timeline for most of the major events and even if it had been a while, Jaune did remember most of them.
He'd gotten the timing down just right for Cinder's team to get into the CCTNet Tower. They had still run into Penny and Ruby, but had escaped. This meant Ruby learned that Penny was a gynoid, just like in the original timeline. Ruby had been fixing Penny when Jaune "accidentally" barged in.
Ruby: "Um... Uh... J-Jaune! This isn't what it looks like-!"
Jaune: smiles and closes the door behind him "Relax Ruby, Penny. I can keep a secret. It's what friends do."
Penny: "We... We are friends, Friend Jaune?"
Jaune: "I think so. Do you?"
Penny: "Of course!"
Ruby sighs in relief.
Jaune: "Don't you worry about a thing, Penny. We're friends and anything you don't want revealed? Won't be. I promise."
Penny: "Are... You certain you are fine with being friends with a... A robot?"
Jaune: "I've always wanted to be friends with a robot! Or rather, gynoid."
Ruby: "Really? Me too?!"
Jaune: "So you don't have to... Try so hard around us."
Penny: blinks "Am I not supposed to apply 100 percent of my efforts to all things to learn, grow, and become the best person I can be?"
Jaune: "Well... Not every aspect of life requires 100 percent effort and how you apply that effort is just as important as how much you use."
Penny: "Really? Sensational!"
Ruby helps Penny fix herself up. They wave goodbye as Penny heads back to meet with her team.
Ruby: beams "Thank you so much, Jaune. That... That means everything."
Jaune: "I meant every word."
Ruby: "So... Um... There is a dance before summer break."
Jaune: blinks "... Oh. Shit. Right. I forgot."
Ruby: "You forgot?" giggles "Yang's not gonna be happy about that!"
Jaune: "I just have a lot going on."
Ruby: "Yeah, about that: Why are you going off to meet with Professor Ozpin so much, anyway?"
Jaune: "I can't tell you. It's... Important."
Ruby: pouts "Yang's already got a lot of worries... Ya know... With your harem and all-"
Jaune: puts her in a headlock and noogies her "You're not helping with that either!"
Ruby: "ACK! EEP! O-OKAY OKAY! SORRY!"
She dashes away with her Semblance and pouts at him.
Jaune shakes his head.
Jaune: "Seriously Ruby. I would tell you if I could but... I can't. It's very important."
Ruby: sighs "All right... Just... It's not anything I did, right?"
Jaune: "No, of course not."
Ruby: "And... We're still going to Radian for Summer Break?"
Jaune: "Wha-" groans "How did you find out?!"
Ruby: "I hacked Yang's Scroll."
Jaune: "Seriously?!"
Ruby: "I do it all the time!"
Jaune: "That doesn't make it better! But... Yes. We're taking a trip to Radian. You, Nora and Ren can come along. And so can anyone else who wants to. But it was going to be a surprise."
Ruby: "I thought you wanted to take things slow with Yang?"
Jaune: "What?"
Ruby: "I mean, your whole family is in Radian, right? We're gonna meet your parents?"
Jaune: "... Okay... So it could look a little... Fast, but that's why we're all going. It'll be a fun trip with my friends and family. And besides... I can't just leave you all alone here for the break."
Ruby: "Yang's hoping you two can suck more face together."
Jaune: "Yeah, that's accounted for."
Ruby: beams "And the rest of your harem? Is there room for sucking face with me-?"
Headlock and noogie
Ruby: "OW OW OW OW OWWWW OKAY I'M SORRY!"
Jaune: "Seriously Ruby! I love ya, but until you're actually legal and unless Yang goes insane, we're NOT going that far, okay?"
Ruby: pouts a little "... Okay... But... If I was legal and I'd asked you out first...?"
Jaune: long sigh "... I would have said yes."
Ruby: beams
Jaune: "Now... I've got another appointment. I'll see you later, okay?"
Ruby: "Sure!" hugs him
Jaune leaves and heads to dorm A12. Pyrrha was waiting dutifully outside.
Jaune: "Sorry I'm late."
Pyrrha: "It's all right. I got to get out of a magazine shoot, after all." smiles.
Jaune smiles back. They both enter the room. The lights flick on as Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald all stare intently at them. Cinder for her part looks annoyed.
Jaune: "How did things go?"
Cinder: glare "According to plan... Except for the part where Rose and Atlas' pet gynoid intervened."
Jaune: shook his head "Random chance is as much a part of this job as anything else. On the plus side, you delivered the package?"
Emerald: "We did, but how do we know it wasn't a trap?!"
Jaune: "Hey. All you had to do was switch out one of the general system holodrives for another that I prepared with the virus. That holodrive has the exact same maintenance schedule, wear and tear as the original. Unless they were specifically looking for the few manufacturing differences between it and thousands of others, they will miss it. The little hack my friend did to the system will include documentation to explain any anomalies and I personally forged paperwork that I slipped into the maintenance archives. We're in the clear."
Emerald: glares "I don't trust him, Cinder. Not one bit-!"
Cinder: "Quiet Emerald."
Emerald: "Y-Yes ma'am."
Cinder: eyes narrow "... Rose and the gynoid happening upon me in the middle of the operation could be a bit of bad luck. But you can understand why we thought it was a trap. You said you were working on her."
Jaune: "Well I can't have her on a leash all the time, can I? She's underaged, it would attract too much attention. Plus her sister has abandonment issues. I'm playing no less deadly a game than you are, Cinder. There are going to be little set backs from time to time. The important thing is, you got the virus into the system, yes?"
Cinder: "... Yes. The first half."
Jaune: "Oh?"
Cinder: "It's a binary virus. Both sets of code are meant to look benign on their own, but when the activation code is issued, they link together and give us total control of Vale and Atlas' computers."
Jaune's Brain: Wow, that is ingenius and I have no idea how it would work. Wish I was a computer programmer in my past life. Still, Ozpin assured me that Penny's Dad and Atlas' cybersecurity guys can unravel the virus since they know what to look for from the holodrive I got them. So hopefully that will work..."
Jaune: "I see. Forgive me, I'm more of a people person than a technical guy."
Cinder: nods "I can see that. In any event the most opportune moment to deliver the second half of the code will be the Beacon Dance. I assume you can come up with a good cover?"
Jaune: "Lemme work on that."
Cinder: "Good... Mercury? Emerald? You're dismissed."
Mercury gives Jaune a savage but approving smile, while Emerald scowls at him. They both leave.
Cinder: "Your pet can go too."
Jaune: looks over at Pyrrha. He reaches up and pats her head
Jaune: "I'll be fine, go."
Pyrrha: smiles "Yes Master."
She exits, leaving Jaune and Cinder alone.
Cinder: "How did you get the security systems to drop for us?"
Jaune: "Hacker friend again. The security systems are run on a different server than the rest of the systems. I was able to use a drive she gave me to send it into maintenance mode from Ozpin's office terminal. He went to get some coffee and I ran it."
Cinder: nods approvingly "Smooth. Very, very smooth. The old wizard must be going senile."
Jaune: "I don't know. He's suspicious. That's why I've played it so carefully... But there is one incident in my past that is why he looks so closely at me."
Cinder: "Oh?"
Jaune: scoffs "Don't pretend you don't know. Any competent operator would have researched everything they could about me."
Cinder: "... You got me. I believe it has to do with your childhood illnesses?"
Jaune: nods "Officially my mother figured out how to beat it with conventional, if ingenious, medicine."
Cinder: "... And unofficially?"
Jaune: "Queen Salem offered my parents a deal: Save my life, and in exchange serve her."
Cinder: eyes widen "Quite the price they paid."
Jaune: "They did it gladly. And you can appreciate how delicious Salem found it. After all, the founding matriarch of our house, Joan D'Arc, defeated her servant the Witch Queen of Argus. She hasn't forgotten about that."
Cinder: "Indeed... But you'll forgive me if I don't entirely trust you."
Jaune: "I appreciate the honesty."
Cinder: "Still..." She walked up and rested a hand against his chest "Perhaps when this is all over... I might re-evaluate a few things?"
Jaune: "Such as?"
Cinder: "Our relationship, of course~."
Jaune: smiles "... I'm a professional, ma'am. After all... We're in the middle of a deadly operation. No matter how tempted we might be... We have to keep our eyes on the prize."
Cinder: sighs, draws her hand away "True. Pity. I wonder if either of us can ever truly relax with another person?"
Jaune: "That's the price we pay... But... You never know. Maybe one day, we'll find out."
Cinder: smiles "I suppose so. Goodnight, Mister Arc."
Jaune: "Goodnight, Miss Fall."
She leaves. Jaune heads out... And meets Pyrrha on the roof. Pyrrha channels her Semblance again.
Pyrrha: "We're clear... This is kind of exciting! Like a spy movie!"
Jaune: sighs "Yeah..."
Pyrrha: "Jaune?"
Jaune: irritated "Just... Ugh. I hate this spy shit. It's much more fun to watch it than be a part of it."
Pyrrha: "... Jaune? I um... I hope you don't mind but... I was listening in. So was Emerald. Nobody else though."
Jaune: "So... What did you want to talk about?"
Pyrrha: "... Your childhood. What you said... Was it true?"
Jaune: "Nah. I mean... Yeah, I was very sickly and spent a LOT of my childhood in the hospital or my room. But my mom was the one who saved me. Not Salem."
Pyrrha: "I see... I'm sorry."
Jaune: "No! No, it's good. I mean you shouldn't be too paranoid when you're dealing with this stuff but... It's good that you're keeping me honest."
Pyrrha: "One... Other thing."
Jaune: "Sure?"
Pyrrha: "Something that's been bothering me since we met, Jaune. You've acted so strange. Like you're... Older than us. It doesn't match up with what you've told us. You immediately knew so much more about me when we fought in the Initiation than had revealed... And you knew what my Semblance could do. Nobody knows that except for my trainer, my mother, and me. You've had incredible knowledge about people you've never even met before, not just me."
Jaune's Brain: Oh boy...
Jaune: "So... What do you think is going on?"
Pyrrha: "Well... I entertained a few possibilities. I-I do actually like to read scifi, have since I was a little girl... I thought about it. And I guess... I just have to ask..." She stared at him "Are you from the future?"
Jaune's Brain: Ah, right, I forgot she's not just a pretty face with a good sword arm...
Jaune: "... Sort of. I..." sighs "I'm not at liberty to tell you the whole thing. You can probably guess why... But I do have knowledge about the future."
Pyrrha: "... Was it bad?"
Jaune: "Is there another reason people might try to send information back in time to change things? Yeah... It was bad. Very bad."
Pyrrha: "... And what happened to me?"
Jaune: takes a very deep breath "... You died trying to save me... Save us all."
Pyrrha: "... Did Cinder do it?"
Jaune: "... Yeah."
Silence falls. Pyrrha sucked in another breath.
Pyrrha: "Did... Did I ever tell you how I felt?"
Jaune: "..." sighs "Just before you died."
Pyrrha: staring out into the night "... I see..."
Jaune: hugs her "Pyrrha. It's not going to happen this time. I promise."
Pyrrha: "... Is that why you... You've been so open with me? In most things. And well... So caring?"
Jaune: "... Partially. I do genuinely love Yang... You? I care for you too but..." sighs "I guess part of me blamed myself for... For your death."
Pyrrha: "What?!"
Jaune: "If I'd gone with you, Pyr, I-I could have at least been a distraction-I could have done something, anything-!"
Pyrrha: "Jaune! If I did go to fight and I did leave you behind... It wouldn't have been because I was sure I was going to die. It would have been so I wouldn't have worried about you. It wasn't your fault!"
Jaune's Brain: I can't believe that... I just can't...
Jaune: "Yeah well... You promise me if things get bad, you won't send me away."
Pyrrha: "Jaune, I-"
He grabs her shoulders and stares into her eyes.
Jaune: "PROMISE! I will NOT lose you or anyone else ever again. You're not sacrificing yourselves for me. Never. Again. Understand?"
Pyrrha slowly nods.
Pyrrha: "I... I promise."
Jaune: nods "..." sighs "I'm... I'm sorry."
Pyrrha: "... You keep telling me I say that too much. For things that aren't my fault."
Jaune: "Yeah, well... I never claimed to not be a hypocrite."
Pyrrha: "... Can you tell me anything else about the future?"
Jaune: "Only that we need to stop Cinder. So much is... Is different, Pyrrha. If I tell you too much, everything might change. I just... I just ask that you trust me."
Pyrrha: smiles with tears in her eyes "I do... I always will."
Jaune: "Thank you..." sighs "And... Well... Again. Same thing, okay? If I break up with Yang... Give me two weeks and... And we'll try."
Pyrrha: "... The future was incredibly hard on you, wasn't it?"
Jaune: "On all of us... But... Yeah."
Pyrrha hugs him tightly.
Pyrrha: "... We'll find our happy ending. I promise."
Jaune: "..." hugs her back "Yeah... Yeah. We will."
- - -
Well that got fucking serious all of a sudden!
