Day after breach

Jaune sighed as he took photos of the damage, sending them to the insurance company to deal with the damages, as well as apply for some fund relief from the Vale council.

"Hey boss," greeted Arvo as he walked into the ruined building.

"Arvo, I told you the clinic is closed until further notice. Take this time to take a little vacation or something," sighed Jaune.

"I know, but I got nothing else planned since everywhere else is kinda closed. Everyone's taking the day off to recuperate, but I can't stand just staying at home like this," shrugged Arvo, "Not to mention I feel guilty having you fend off the Grimm and those damn White Fang assholes."

"Nothing to worry about, I had my armor and weapon while the rest of you were unarmed," replied Jaune, "I got out safely. One of my friends who knows how to fight found me in time."

"Good to hear. Now, can I at least help you out a little?" asked Arvo as he stepped over some rubble, "I can at least help you take inventory of what was damaged, since I did inventory recently. You don't need to pay me for that."

"No, since you're here, I might as well pay you for your hours for today," sighed Jaune, "I can't give you your full hours though. I have no idea when I'll be open again."

"Hopefully not long," joked Arvo, "After an invasion like this, all those soldiers, Huntress, and Huntsmen have to be hankering for your massages."

Jaune chuckled as he took some more photos.

"Where you staying at anyways, boss?" asked Arvo as he took out his Scroll, opening up a document with a record of their stock that he made a habit of sending himself a copy every time, "This place can't exactly be structurally safe for you to live on the second floor now."

"The landowner is lending me a small apartment to live in for the while," replied Jaune, remembering how Melanie and Miltia quickly took him to a nice apartment once they found out about the damages, "Luckily, I don't have much stuff I needed to carry with me."

"I can see you're prepared for an attack anytime," noted Arvo as he saw Jaune still wearing the bracelets and anklets, as well as Crocea Mors.

"Was warned that some remaining White Fang might target me," said Jaune, "Though I don't think I have to be worried too much about it now."

Neo had sent him a message stating that he would be safe, and though he wasn't sure how, he trusted her. Not to mention Junior's men had been stationed around to protect him.

"Are Clementine and Elen alright?" asked Jaune, "I could only send you guys a text that I was alright."

"They're fine. Clementine is spending time with her family while Elen decided to relax at home today," replied Arvo.

"Did you spend time with Elen?" asked Jaune curiously, "I can smell the same soap she uses on you."

"Oh yea, she didn't have anyone living with her, and I didn't want her to be alone, so I accompanied her home. By that time, it was too late to get back to my place with the military curfew being enacted, so I stayed over," said Arvo calmly.

Inside, he was sweating heavily. Sure, he did go to Elen's house to make sure she was alright after dropping off Clementine off. Sure there was a military curfew. But they kept each other 'company' a little more personal. It had started with a few simple drinks and talking to each other. Soon the drinks became a little more alcoholic as they sat closer together until they were face to face. None of them knew who snapped first, but before they knew it, the two were making out with each other, their tongues roaming each other's mouths while their hands began to wander about.

Both Elen and Arvo managed to stop themselves when they found themselves slowly divesting each other of their clothes. The two blushed as they managed to separate themselves from each other.

"I'll umm…. clean this mess up. You can use the bathroom to tidy up first if you want," coughed Arvo as he quickly began to clean up.

"I'll use the shower first and get you some clean towers for you to use," meeped Elen as she quickly left.

After everything that was said and done, Arvo ended up being dragged into bed with Elen to just cuddle only. As for the status between them…. it wasn't finalized yet, but something was there.

"Ouch," commented Azul as he swung by the next day to see the damages done to the clinic, "You applied for some fund relief from the government?"

"Yea, sent in the application yesterday," nodded Jaune as he began sweeping some bricks away, "They said they already sent an agent to survey the damage, so I can begin cleaning the bigger stuff."

"So, what are you going to do? Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, our contract ended. Mii Amo has no responsibilities in helping pay for this," sighed Azul, looking over the building, "You'll be closed for a good chunk of time."

"Not sure, maybe I'll have another place I can open up," shrugged Jaune, "For now, I have to take responsibility for filling out the paperwork for this place."

"Listen, kid, if this thing doesn't work out, you can always work at my place, Spa Envy," suggested Azul, "We'd love to have you on part of the staff, and with your skills, you'd fit right in."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll see this through, but I'll definitely think about it," nodded Jaune as he pushed the last debris out from the main office.

One week later

Everyone at Beacon had been busy dealing with the aftermath of the Breach, and only just had time to leave the campus.

Aureville had returned with his team just in time to hear about Jaune's clinic and immediately left, rushing over there. Pyrrha and her team quickly followed in worry, too. After much debate, Glynda also left to go check.

Glynda bit her cheek as she sat in the Bullhead with Aureville and the others, feeling a little guilty. She could literally repair damaged buildings in seconds, but there was a limit. If more than 24 hours had passed since the damage, she could no longer do so. While Glynda would've loved to repair Jaune's building the instant that she was given notice, she would've done so. However, all her attention had been focused on sealing the Breach before patrolling all vital structures in the city, repairing any major damages to ensure the city could run as normal. By the time she was done, it had long passed that time limit. Not to mention repairing everything took a huge toll on her Aura reserves, leaving her with barely any left to make it safely back to Beacon.

"Do you think Jaune is alright?" asked Pyrrha nervously.

"I'm sure he's alright," hummed Aureville, "He's an Arc, and if there's one thing we're known for, it's our stubbornness and will to live."

"Team RWBY has already informed us that he was alright when they last saw him," stated Ren.

"Yea, and if anything else happens, we'll SMASH THEIR LEGS!" cheered Nora.

Glynda tried to lecture Nora, only for Aureville to intervene.

"Smashing legs isn't enough. You have to also smash face in to drive that message in, as you did with the Grimm on our mission."

"Aureville!" hissed Glynda as the others laughed.

After landing, they quickly made their way toward the clinic. Turning the corner, they saw just in time to see a rather rare sight.

"No, don't redirect me again, I've been redirected three times!" shouted Jaune into his Scroll.

"I'm sorry sir, I can't help you with that attitude," said the operator with a cool tone that showed disinterest.

"I've been patient and have already called a few times, and I keep getting the loop around! Where is the application I sent for relief!? When can I get someone to start repairs!? I can't keep closed forever!" shouted Jaune.

"I don't see any application sir, are you sure you did it correctly?" asked the operator with a lazy tone.

"Yes, I'm sure, I have an e-mail with a verification of it! Check your records, it's Jaune Arc!"

"Jaune…. Jaune….. Arc… nope don't see it, you probably didn't do it," replied the operator with an obviously lazy tone.

"Did you even try to look, or did you just stare at the screen? Can I speak to someone else?"

"Nope, if you don't want to be redirected, then I can't help you. Bye."

Jaune stared at his Scroll as he heard a click. The operator had hung up on him. Jaune almost threw his Scroll onto the floor in rage before taking a deep breath. Then he noticed that he had gotten an e-mail from his insurance company, quickly opening it up. He had been on the Scroll for about 3 hours now, talking and being redirected with no help at all, and was starting to lose it.

"Let's see…. We have reviewed your claim and have made a final decision to …. REJECT IT!? Why!?... Coverage only covers for etc etc….. C'mon, a car crashed into my shop, that should cover it in the first place! Grimm hit the area, and then, if the bullet markings and the scrapped pieces of the Atlesian Knights here are right, they also caused damages here!... Not covered from major damages by foreign government! That's a stupid low and they know it!" roared Jaune as he collapsed onto the floor, "I'll appeal this for sure… but that's going to take Lien that I don't have….. Urghh, why the hell is this happening!?"

They watched Jaune slowly crumple up, putting his hands to his eyes.

"Jaune. Are you alright?" asked Aureville, suddenly appearing next to him at speeds that would shock even Ruby.

"Grandpa? When did you get here?" asked Jaune as he quickly rubbed his eyes.

"Just now, tell me what happened," said Aureville gently, all while waiving Glynda and the others away, telling them to stand by for now.

"It's just…. it's this stupid invasion which caused a damn car to go into the building, followed by Grimm, and then the Atlesian Knights ended shooting up the place," sighed Jaune, "I applied for fund relief from the Vale council and sent my claims in to my insurance, hoping that they would cover for the damages. Both just denied just now. I've had other people telling me that they got their fund relief fast and were allowed to proceed with reconstruction, yet I'm not even close to being allowed. If I try to go ahead with reconstruction, then it invalidates my claims from the fund relief. I don't have enough Lien saved up to pay for it. As for the insurance, I feel like I'm going to need a lawyer, but I don't have enough for that. I feel like I'm at my wit's end!"

"It's alright, you can cry," said Aureville gently as he hugged his grandson, "Just calm down. Everyone has a breaking point that can't be restrained, and you've reached yours. Just let it out."

Jaune cried into his grandfather's shoulder, ignoring everything else. Pyrrha felt her heart break, hearing Jaune cry, and wanted to run to comfort him. However, Aureville's orders were still standing, he didn't want anyone else close yet.

Nora and Ren were just as uncomfortable, wanting to go comfort Jaune. It was no surprise that Ren managed to restrain Nora from rushing in.

Glynda also wanted to help Jaune, but realized that it was an important family bonding moment. Having more restraint, she used her time to watch out for any other threats, though her heart hurt. Despite Jaune's maturity and success in his clinic, he was still just an adolescent, just breaking beyond the teenage years. He wasn't equipped to deal with such an unfair hand at this stage of life.

"Are you alright now?" asked Aureville as Jaune's cries slowed down.

"Yea, I needed that," admitted Jaune as he took deep breaths.

"Good, now let's see about those fund relief. Being a semi-retired Huntsmen, I might have some connections that can see what's going on," said Aureville.

"I doubt that!" laughed a voice.

Aureville and Jaune turned to see someone walking up to them, wearing a rather expensive suit.

"Wait, is that Cardin?" whispered Nora from their location, now hiding behind the building.

Strutting around as if he owned everything, Cardin Winchester, ex-student of Beacon due to being expelled, walked up to the ruined shop.

"Tsk, tsk, you're just outta luck, aren't you Jauney boy?" teased Cardin with a mocking tone, "To think you'd be so desperate for Lien that you'd run a car into the store for insurance money in the middle of a Grimm invasion? That's fraud, you know."

"What!?" shouted Jaune, "I don't even own a car! Why would I even do that!?"

"Not how I see it. The car was 'obviously' driven into the building, not thrown by some Grimm. I was the inspector," taunted Cardin.

"You?" questioned Jaune.

"My father is on the Vale Council, so he pulled some strings for me to work for him," bragged Cardin, "I work for the Vale government now. I told you that you haven't seen the last of me."

"Is that why my application is being delayed or trashed?" demanded Jaune.

"I won't tell," said Cardin whimsical while flipping the middle finger towards Jaune, "Bottom line, you're my bitch if you wanna try to live in Vale. I'll make sure of that."

Aureville stood up, taking a step forward to Cardin with his hand slowly drawing his blade out. Nobody got to talk to his grandson like this future cadaver did without consequences.

"Ahahah," sang Cardin, tsking his tongue while shaking his finger, "I'm an official Valian government employee. You can't hurt me, and are legally obligated to protect me."

Just as he said that, two more Huntsmen appeared next to Cardin, taking a few steps forward to confront Aureville, flexing their muscles as they did so.

While Aureville was confident handling the two idiots, he couldn't help but worry that one of them might go for Jaune. A cowardly move, but one he wouldn't pass the coward behind them.

"I should be thanking you, really," mocked Cardin, "I thought Huntsmen held all the power, but in reality, even they have to listen to the government. No wonder my dad became a Council member. They even tore away Ozpin's position as head of security for the Vytal Festival for General Ironwood, and are considering terminating his position at Beacon."

Cardin began to walk away, signaling the other two to follow.

"Remember Jauney boy, if you even want to live in Vale, you'll have to grovel to me. I might be willing to release those funds to you if you …. accede to some of my demands. You're close to that red haired bitch who thinks she's so invincible, impenetrable. I might need to use your room to wear down her defenses, so to speak, to show her what it means to 'serve' her superior. Be nice to break her in. Might even go for that ice bitch of a Vice Headmistress. And I'm sure those filthy Faunus will learn their rightful place amongst the rabble. And then there are those traitors. So much to do, and so much time and power to think about it!" laughed Cardin as he walked away.

"Don't let it get to you, he won't get away with this shit," said Aureville, "He overestimates his reach."

Jaune, however, didn't reply, but rather took a deep breath before turning around.

With a roar, Jaune punched the ground with all his strength, and unintentionally, all his Aura. Jaune punched a crater into the street that was as deep as knees and as wide as the street itself.

"While impressive, that doesn't really do anything," sighed Aureville as he hopped down to where Jaune was now, "C'mon, I'm sure we can find something we can do."

"We can't," cried Jaune, "With Cardin acting as my tyrant, there's no end to his harassment, no matter where I am in Vale. Even worse is he's doing it 'legally' now. And there's no way I'm bowing down to his demands, especially if involves extorting others. There's only one choice left now if I want to protect them. I have to leave Vale."

"Whoa, whoa, there's no need to be that extreme," said Aureville quickly, "As I said, you and Cardin far overestimate his own reach of power. There's no way that he can hold onto power like that without blowing up in his face."

"And how long would it take?" asked Jaune.

Aureville had no real answer, causing Jaune to sigh, "It's too dangerous. I know Glynda can easily take care of herself and send him splattering into the floor, but I don't want to risk the others. I'm….. just too tired now. Running from home to become a Huntsman, only to fail. Instead of going back, I ended up opening a clinic here and made some good friends. Got my Aura unlocked, learned more than I thought I could, and even managed to fight off some Grimm. But in the end, I'm not a Huntsman. I'm just Jaune Arc, a masseur wishing he could be one. But with my clinic in shambles and Cardin holding a noose around my business and my neck, there's nothing else I can do. I won't give in to his demands, but I can't stay here. I guess it's time I headed home. I can always try for Beacon next year….. if I even get the chance."

Aureville quickly hugged Jaune, "I promise you, you will. I've neglected your training for too long. I swear, I will teach you everything I know and spend all my time with you training."

"What about your job?" asked Jaune, "And not to mention I still need to pay off my loan to Junior."

"I'm semi-retired. It's time I became fully retired. As for Junior's loan, I'll take care of that. I have enough Lien to pay for it and enough favors to call in. I doubt it'll take me too long to take care of that. I'll treat it as my last mission," said Aureville, "Now, go back home and relax. You do have a place you're living at, right?"

"Yea, I have a small apartment that Junior loaned to me, free of charge thanks to Melanie and Miltia," nodded Jaune.

"Just go back home and take a load off. You've been through a lot," advised Aureville, "Trust me, the boy won't get far with those threats. Might have to lay low a little, but it'll all come back to kick his ass, I promise. I'll have to thank those two girls for finding you a place to live so fast."

Jaune nodded as he dragged himself back to his rental apartment. He had letters of terminations he had to write since his clinic wasn't going to come back anymore.

Aureville watched Jaune walk away like a zombie, turning the corner before taking a deep breath. With a roar, Aureville punched the ground, creating a giant crater just as large as Jaune's, if not bigger, but with Aura to spare.

"Brat, don't think because you're the son of a Councilman that you have free reign to do whatever you want. On my name and honor as an Arc, you'll pay for what you just did to my grandson!" swore Aureville, finally letting his temper go.

Seconds later, the craters the two Arcs had created began to magically repair themselves. Glynda walked forward, her crop weaving through the air as she filled the craters, restoring the street back to normal.

"Where are the kids?" asked Aureville.

"Poor Miss Nikos ran back home with tears in her eyes. Her teammates chased after her to comfort her most likely. You two really shouldn't have created more work for me like that," sighed Glynda.

"And let that brat think he's won?" hissed Aureville.

"Of course not, you should've punched his face," snarked Glynda back, "To think he managed to pass the preliminary tests for Beacon. Such blatant threats, especially to my students, is unforgivable. I will be notifying the Beacon staff. Ozpin will especially be interested, as it concerns one of the Council member's family."

"Good. I'll be busy cashing in some favors. Don't let him get away with this," nodded Aureville as they separated.

Unbeknownst to them all, one of Junior's men had recorded the whole scene, and was reporting it back to Junior and the twins. The trio had already planned on setting Jaune in another building in case the first one was too damaged and valued Jaune and his skills much more than Jaune thought.

"That asshole," growled Miltia, "He's dead meat!"

"He won't get away with this. Uncle, you have to let us use your information on that creep to expose him," demanded Melanie.

The two then noticed that their uncle, one whom they could bully without many consequences, was strangely silent.

"Uncle?" asked the twins hesitantly as Junior took a deep breath, taking a swig of some whisky he had broken out, before exhaling. Then, he grabbed his recently repaired weapon, a bazooka that doubled as a club, walking toward the middle of the large dance floor. His men, already having seen the signs, quickly had some emergency dummies set up with a poorly drawn face of Cardin slapped onto it.

Junior stood still for a second, as if taking everything in, before roaring in rage and slamming his club into the dummy. Blows began to rain as Junior swung his club at the dummy, destroying it after a few smacks.

"That land is my property! The boy is under my protection, the protection of Junior! To think a fucking grunt who thinks his little daddy gives him the power to try to fuck over Jaune would dare to do this, and deny the boy, and by extension, me the proper Lien for reconstruction! I'm the underground crime lord of Vale, and I deserve that respect. The boy wants to compete in terms of influence and money, then I'll compete, and crush him!"

Junior immediately began organizing all the information he had on the Winchester family, ready to crush them.

While Junior was doing that, Melanie and Miltia glanced at each other before nodding in agreement as one, and sent a video to Neopolitan.

Neapolitan was humming as she enjoyed her ice cream, watching the White Fang grumble as they organized their base under the watchful eye of White Fang lieutenant. She blinked when her Scroll began to vibrate, quickly pulling it up to see what was going on. After watching the video and reading the message, her face immediately darkened. Doing what she thought she would never do, she threw out the rest of her ice cream, grabbing her parasol as she stormed out of the base.

"Hey, you can't just-" began a White Fang member, only to receive a stab to the leg from Neo.

The White Fang lieutenant quickly intercepted her, but cautiously kept a good distance away from her.

"Now, what's going on? Why are you-" began the lieutenant, only for Neo to shatter into pieces, reappearing out of the base.

The lieutenant had been ready to give chase when he noticed a message from his Scroll. Looking to see it was from Neo, he decided to check it out.

His face was blank before a punched a tree next to him.

"We're raiding the Winchester business," ordered the Lieutenant, causing a few White Fang members to look in confusion.

"What about the Atlesian-" began one member, only for the Lieutenant to interrupt him.

"We'll still go for those, but we'll be adding another target. This one is more personal," stated the Lieutenant.

Pyrrha had finally stopped crying into her pillow as she slowly looked up to the sky. She finally realized what she was feeling about Jaune. She had a crush on him, one that was growing bigger inside her. And now, he was leaving Vale to protect her. Or more specifically, so he wouldn't be a weak link to Pyrrha.

After taking a few deep breaths, she realized that Cardin, for all his bluster, wouldn't be able to do what he had threatened. Though he may be a government employee that enjoyed its protection, he didn't have the power to order her to 'serve' him. Nor would he ever be able to. Pyrrha would crush him into a tiny ball before ever obeying his orders. And if he threatened Jaune's life…. Well there was more than one way to skin a cat.

"Pyrrha?" asked Ren as he peaked his head into the room, "Are you alright? Nora told team RWBY what happened, and they're on a warpath. Weiss has promised funds and the SDC lawyers to open up his appeals if needed. Nora and Yang are eager to smash Cardin, while Ruby and Blake are opting for a more silent but deadly approach. I personally prefer the latter. Don't want to leave too much of a mess."

"I'm a little better now," admitted Pyrrha as she got off her bed, "Now I can see clearly. If Cardin wants a war, he'll get one!"

Pyrrha had never used her influence and popularity as the 'Invincible Girl', but she was more than willing to use it to spear Cardin down now.

While Cardin was able to delay and deny Jaune's claims, he had far overestimated the powers given to him. It would've taken only a week for somebody to notice the discrepancy and a few days to expose Cardin's deed within. Of course, Cardin's involvement in blatant corruption would've been swept under the rug with his father's influence, and a slap to the wrist as punishment. Cardin would've been free to do it once more, though he would have a closer eye on him, something he was fine with since his dad surely wouldn't do anything to him.

Jaune Arc alone was not a threat to Cardin and his position. Jaune Arc's connections, however, were more than enough to topple it over and smash it down into the ground into tiny tiny pieces. A single one of them was more than enough to do that job. And now all of them were now pointed at Cardin for his blatant words.

May Remnant pray for this man's ass.

Dun Dun Dunnn! Cardin's back to harass Jaune once more! Never learned his lesson it seems. Unfortunately, his power stunt just opened the barrels of war! And all of them are pointed at him with no intent of holding back.

While this is happening, Jaune is clueless about everything, and is even ready to head back home. Is this the end of the story, or is there more to come?

Cue evil cackling!