Broken to a point

Jaune was sudden aware that he was asleep.

When the hell had that happened?

He quickly took stock of what he could feel on his body, a habit he unfortunately picked up in his many long missions in Grimm infested forests with his team.

Right, his former team.

Gods just the thought of them made his heart twist and his stomach clench with guilt. He hadn't wanted them to get in the middle of his mission, he wanted them all as far away as possible, but it had seemed like the only way at the time. It was a small price to pay for freedom- that's what he had thought anyway.

He had almost killed them. The mere thought of his past actions made guilt drip down his back like acid. He could've done it, easily even, had he not gotten himself back under control just in time.

Ren, Nora and Pyrrha were his family. Now, he would never see them again.

He quickly pushed those thoughts down before they could drown him. What was important now was figuring out where he was and not lamenting on his past mistakes. He couldn't fix them, he could only move forward past them.

Jaune could feel a cold metal floor beneath his face, it could've been the floor of the armored truck but he felt no vibrations that would tell him he's still moving. However, he couldn't feel the aura dampeners he had been fitted with after his capture, which meant he definitely wasn't in the truck anymore.

Where the hell was he that they would give him access to his Aura and semblance? What fresh hell did Atlas just throw him into? Or, did they really underestimate him that much? Unlikely, he had just killed a councilwomen- they would be taking every precaution with him.

Then again, they had put him in an armored car with only two guards. Both of which were sitting in the front, leaving him alone in the back. Maybe after everything they still underestimated what a man could do with proper access to his soul.

It was also cold, freezing cold. Wherever he was either had no access to heating or they just wanted to freeze him out.

'No point in theorizing' Jaune thought 'time to just find out'

He slowly opened his eyes, careful not to move too much to alert anyone else in the room. He was momentary blinded by the extremely bright lights in the ceiling above him, causing him to need to blink away the dark spots.

'Definitely not in the truck still' Jaune slowly sat up, taking in his surroundings carefully.

He was in a cell, that much was clear. He was currently sitting on a cold metal floor, surrounded by even colder metal walls and a cold metal ceiling. The lights that had blinded him before was a bright light in the center of the ceiling, the only thing that broke up the metal.

'Jesus, where the hell am I?'

Jaune took note of what he had on him. The clothes he wore in the court room were gone, replaced by black jumpsuit with a strange symbol on it. His shoes were gone too, that explained why he was so freakin cold. Jaune twisted his neck to inspect his back- that's when he felt it.

It was a small silver ring, barely thicker than a his own finger, that sat roughly on his neck. Its cold weight created an unpleasant feeling deep within him, a mix of rage and confusion.

He had never liked the concept of a collar, especially those made for humans, and now he was wearing one.

'Fuck that' Jaune thought, hands quickly working their way under the collar. All it would take was a quick tug, maybe some help from his still accessible aura, and he would get this thing off him. Then he could figure out where he was, and how he was gonna get out of here.