Jaune fell down into the snow, the steel teeth biting into his leg, the knife in his abdomen. Everything was numb, everything. He stared at them, at the hunter who stood between him and Penny.

He watched the snow kick up from the razor net and fall upon her deflecting Floating Array's blades and sending her down to the ground. The razor thin wire cutting her hair, cutting her in a checkered pattern. He heard her scream as Vasily raised his hunting knife to finish her.

Jaune reached into his pocket and retrieved the pistol he had taken from the dead driver and raised it to his back and squeezed the trigger. The hammer fell with an empty click, nothing. It was empty, or jammed or something he didn't understand but it wouldn't fire, it only clicked uselessly as Vasily drove his blade into her again and again and again. He threw the useless pistol at him, it soared harmlessly past the hunter's shoulder to land in the snow.

Vasily stopped and laughed at the futility of him. "Were you expecting that to do anything Mr. Arch?" He asked him.

Jaune didn't have any words, he could only look at Penny, still trapped in the razor net immobile like and sparking from her numerous wounds, she was dead.

No.

Penny had survived worse than that, she had survived being diced into a dozen pieces before, she wasn't human, she wasn't weak and frail like him, she could survive that, she was better than most people, she could be fixed.

He needed to save her. He reached for Crocea Mors, it was close by laying in the snow, he just needed a weapon to fight, his reach fell short. His numb fingers were only inches away from the familiar hilt, a few inches too far. He tried to stretch himself, just one finger and he knew he could bring it to his hand, that he could fight.

All the while Vasily laughed mockingly at him.

Jaune turned to watch him untangle the steel net and take Penny's limp body by her hair. The knife rose and fell cleaving into her neck, sparks showered out like a spray of blood. He felt nauseous, useless, helpless, all he could do was watch as he gleefully hacked away at her until her head finally separated from her body. Both sparked and Vasily held her head up by her copper red hair in triumph.

Jaune clawed at the steel urasi trap that had claimed his leg. His numb fingers trying to wrench the trap open, just trying to get a grip on the icy trap was a chore, he cut his fingers on the jagged teeth, he felt no pain. He heard Vasily's footsteps approach him and looked up as his fingers desperately tried to pull the trap open.

The assassin stood high over him grinning down as he clutched his knife in one hand and Penny's still sparking head in the other. His snow boot came up and smashed his face knocking him down into the snow.

"Pathetic," Vasily sneered at him stepping on his chest and leaning down.

The hunter sheathed his knife and took hold of the one he'd left lodged in Jaune's abdomen. "I'll be taking this back," he said pulling it free, hot blood flowed from the wound seeming out of him. He stepped away, turning his back on him, leaving him to bleed and freeze in the snow. Jaune clutched at the wound feeling the blood slip through his weak numb fingers.

He rolled on his side as if he could crawl after him.

His vision blurred, he felt what little strength he had being drained away from him, his leg was still in the ursai trap, he was weaponless, he was dying, he was useless. The severed head looked at him with cold dead eyes.

"Jaune?" it asked him, speaking his name, "Jaune!"

"JAUNE!" his eyes opened. Penny was staring down at him, her hair hung down like a curtain and a worried expression colored her face.

He sat up from her lap, sweat drenched his forehead, he took a long and deep calming breath. "I had a nightmare," he told her lamely, "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" she asked him, touching his face gently, the contact was soothing. Nothing felt like it had in the dream, everything here felt real.

He opened his mouth to answer her but found himself without anything to say. "I don't know," he admitted feeling extra silly now for trying to apologize for nothing.

They sat together in silence for a moment, Jaune wasn't sure if it was anxious or comforting but Penny shifted closer to him and put both her arms around him, it was honestly what he needed, maybe it wasn't the most macho thing for a huntsman to need but right now being held was what he needed.

"I dreamed I was fighting Vasily again," Jaune told her.

"You do not need to talk of it if you do not want to," Penny told him, squeezing him tighter in her arms.

He put his own arms around her hugging her, her head resting on his shoulder. "It's alright," he told her, "I was back where we faced him in that ghost town, when you were trapped in that razor net of his. I was trying to save you like before, but everything went wrong."

Another stretch of silence passed between them just holding each other. "Is this the first time you have had this nightmare?" Penny asked him finally.

"No," Jaune confessed to her, "I actually have had it many times before, it changes from time to time." It was hardly the strangest version of the nightmare he had encountered, sometimes it wasn't just Vasily there but Cinder or Tyrian, sometimes Pyrrha was even there. It never fully made sense, but even with the illogic of seeing people who were not even there did little to take away from the terror he felt in the dream.

"I am sorry," Penny told him, gripping him tighter even more.

He took a deep breath, "It's ok," he whispered to her.

In time they loosened their embrace and sat together. The television they had been watching together was off, he had fallen asleep while they had binged a couple of his favorite superhero movies together showing her some of his absolute favorite ones. "How long was I out?" he decided to ask.

"Several hours, it is currently past midnight," she explained to him.

Jaune sighed and checked his scroll seeing that it was almost three in the morning, he needed to be up in a few hours to help those kids get to school. "I should really get back to my dorm room," he said, "Nora probably already assumed too much when I didn't come back by midnight."

"Are you sure you can sleep alright?" Penny asked him.

Jaune shook his head, "I'm not sure if I'll be able to sleep at all," he admitted to her.

"Then please," she pleaded, "stay with me, we can go to my room, you do not have to be alone."

Jaune considered that, it sounded nice to him but at the same time he couldn't help but shake his doubts. "I don't know, I should still try to get sleep before I have to go out, and Nora already drew her own conclusions the last time we-."

"Forget Nora," Penny interrupted, "you already said she would likely think of these things already, if you think you can sleep I will let you, but I do not want you to feel alone."

It did sound nice, more than nice it sounded wonderful. Usually he awoke from these nightmares alone, Ren and Nora still sleeping close by but unable to offer any comfort to him at that moment. Sometimes he shared to them the details after they had awoken to their alarms but not often, the last thing he wanted them to do was worry about him. Waking up to Penny who was practically always awake and alert and willing to talk to him, being able to speak about it while it was still fresh in his mind and hugging her until the last bit of terror had drained was better than anything else he had tried, though texting Neon that one time had helped, not that he had bothered to share the details of that nightmare to her.

"Alright," he said, relenting to her, she was right after all. Nora was going to draw her own conclusions about why he was so late anyways so why did it matter? Besides tomorrow morning they'd go back to their daily grind hardly seeing one another throughout the day, their time together was precious and he had no desire to lay awake in his bunk listening to his teammates sleep.

They stood up together and left the room to walk down the empty hallways towards the elevator and to Penny's room hand in hand. They reached her door together and Penny opened it, it was dark inside and she didn't bother to turn on the lights as she led him inside taking his hands.

"I feel selfish," she told him, having him step inside. She stood partially in the dark with her green mechanical eyes actually glowing in the darkness.

"Why?" he asked her, brushing her knuckles with his thumbs. In the dim light he noticed the sorrowful look that colored her features, it looked slightly guilty, sad and even bashful. It was unusual for her features but her glowing green eyes are what focused his attention.

"Because right now I want to kiss you," she answered him, "and I do not think that is right, after you awoke from a nightmare."

Jaune smiled at her, "no… actually that sounds perfect," he told her, he brought his hand to her face pinching her chin and raising her head up to keep his gaze as he stepped closer to her. He chuckled a little, "you're really cute when you want a kiss," he told her, reaching back and swinging the door closed. It set them into darkness with the only light being the emerald glow of her eyes. He leaned down and brought her lips to hers happy to be embraced by the darkness.

Penny laid there in the dark listening to Jaune breathe. Her head rested on his chest which rose and fell with every breath of his. It was strange in a way how much pleasure could be had simply being with him as he slept. She supposed that if she was a normal girl she would be asleep with him, resting peacefully in his arms with nothing but pleasant dreams. But then again she would miss out on these long moments cherishing his sleeping form. She supposed she could go into her sleep mode next to him but she would experience no pleasure from that.

If she was capable of sleeping she was sure it wouldn't be able to, even after spending an hour kissing Jaune until he was ready to try sleeping again she couldn't shake her guilt.

She had lied to him.

Not directly, not in any ways that could make her hiccup and expose her. He had asked her why she felt guilty and she had told him the truth, but only part of it. A lie of omission, one type of lie she was able to perform without a hiccup, a lie where she merely didn't need to tell the truth.

The truth that Vasily was still alive.

Part of her actually wanted her to wake him and tell Jaune the truth. But at the same time the idea of spoiling their date with this news repulsed her. It was bad enough that Vasily hurt Jaune in his dreams, the truth would only worry him. But he still deserved the truth nonetheless. But what Jaune deserved was irrelevant to the General, he had made himself very clear that Vasily's status was currently classified and it was not deemed necessary for Jaune to know.

She supposed telling Jaune that the reason behind her selfish feelings were classified would not have gone over well. Ironwood's order certainly made it easy for her to dodge this uncomfortable topic, and that only helped her feel more guilty. She did not want to worry him, it was bad enough that a allegedly dead Vasily stole Jaune's sleep, a living one making him worry was worse. But still she knew she was hiding behind Atlas's rules and regulations and she couldn't help but feel guilty as she laid oon his chest listening to the even beat of his heart.

Another part of her felt anxious laying with him. As much fun as it had been to kiss in the dark until he was breathless she couldn't help but to desire more. She held back to the urge to wake him with a kiss and show him what she wanted.

The idea was certainly tantalizing. She was eager to explore him, to explore this aspect of herself that she had only recently discovered. The reading material Blake had leant her filled her mind with all kinds of ideas, all kinds of things she wished she could try with him, she wanted to experience that pleasure she had only read about in Ninja's of Love or other such titles.

He had called her cute for wanting to kiss him. Would he think she was just cute if she had told him what she truly desired to do with him? If she told him how she had wanted to touch him, to have him touch her, what would he think of her then?

Alas he needed his rest and if denying him the truth even under orders was selfish then denying him his sleep for her own desires certainly was. Every minute that passed by was a reminder that before long he would need to wake up and they would both return to their daily duties without each other, she knew she couldn't last long without more time with him, she'd have to request another night off with Ironwood. Thankfully so many long hours working overtime had given her so many hours of time off that it should be possible. Perhaps this time she would submit her request to the general in an email instead of face to face.

It seemed however that no amount of time would be long enough for them, she wished she could freeze time to be with him. She had thought that everything would be easier now that Jaune had accepted her feelings and they were dating but it seemed her various troubles were only beginning right now.

Were normal relationships like this? She was certain no one normal had to worry about assassins coming for her. If Vasily was still determined to kill her why hadn't he attacked her yet? What did he do to get the Ace Operatives to come after him?

There were too many questions that she was sure Ironwood wouldn't answer.

She tried banishing the thoughts clearing them from her positronic brain to instead focus on Jaune's breathing, his heartbeat, and numerous other organic sounds that she could hear laying on his chest. It was nice how his mere presence calmed her, how it gave her peace. Even with all her worries just knowing that he was there for her was enough for her. They would get through this, these hectic times would end, she would find Vasily and they would move forward together.

The hours passed by too fast, and too soon it was time for him to wake for the both of them to begin their down. He hadn't set an alarm on his scroll, he instead had asked her to wake him knowing that she would stay next to him as he slept.

She rose and leaned down brushing her lips with his, "good morning Jaune."

Sorry this chapter is a little short there was going to be more but it wound up being more than I originally thought so it'll be in the next chapter. Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I have over five hundred followers now on this story now, I never though so many would be this interested so thank you all for following. As usual please review and share your thoughts and opinions. Thank you MidKnightMoonglow99, Firefly25, MajorBrony95 and DrknssRules1 for all your help.