Pitiful Birdcalls
He was a broken man. Well, man might be pushing it. It felt more like at some point in his life he had just turned into a broken noun, left it at that, then let it grow until that definition became a part of everything in his life. On a good day, he was a glorified alcoholic thug, on a bad day he was an amoral assassin and strategist rolled into one sickening life. On the worst of days, he wasn't even that. People talked about how he needed to change his life, and every time he would take another swig like it was some drinking game. Because he had changed, for the better even. That's why he was always drunk. The alternative was worse.
Who was he kidding? It was his own damn fault. He chose the life. Picked up the weapon, trained with it, and became a great fighter in time. When the fighting came, what had he expected? The cool scars, travels around the world, hell even his own death. Just not the ache that ran through the scars and turned his body stiff each morning, long journeys away from little home he had, or the death of a teammate. That was something no one could have prepared him for. That was the nightmare he would always wake up to. Oum it sucked.
His feet crunched through the snow in long stride. The miles in the cold a just penance as any for him, but he couldn't let those thoughts slow him down this time. This time he needed to get inside soon or let his aura drain away completely trying to keep up the heat levels he needed. Which was definitely not his specialty when it came to aura manipulation. But the house was around this bend, and it took only a few more minutes until he was on the steps and knocking on the door. No one else lived around here for miles. Everyone inside knew that, meaning it took seconds for a shock of yellow to open the door and fix him with that concerned look that he had grown up alongside. The look that always knew when bad news was coming.
"Qrow, your covered in snow. Why didn't you fly…"
"Are the girls asleep?"
"It's late, I can't just wake them up…"
"No, that's good. We need to talk, then you can hit me. Alright?"
VAVAV
"Winter, sit down, please. I've read your report and just had one question. It should only take a minute."
She took the seat across from the General, and thanked the solid oak desk for creating more distance between them. If anything, sitting made her tenser than she had been before she entered. The action implied time, time in front of a superior officer implied change, and change could easily be as bad as it was good. At the current moment, she leaned towards bad. "Of course, Sir."
"Your last mission was expected to take 9 months, and by all accounts your team was impressed by your leadership. Yet it's been over 10 months since your initial infiltration since you've been back in Atlas. Can you explain why the mission took so much longer?"
"Yes sir. The cell we were targeting proved more secure than had been expected, delaying our early efforts during the infiltration period by several weeks. After the reconnaissance and capture of the cell, we had intended to ex-filtrate per the schedule. Then one of my subordinates brought concerns of a splinter cell that may have survived the mission to my attention. I put in the request to delay our departure for an additional month. My superior officer denied this request. Recognizing this, we began the exfiltration while I followed up with a secondary request to use my saved leave and finish the reconnaissance myself off the books. My superior accepted my request, in full knowledge and agreement with my reasoning. However, during these two weeks there were no signs of any additional enemies in the area and I returned here as soon as possible through the appropriate channels."
"It says here there was minimal contact between your team and an allied recon group in the area. Did this have any effect on your mission time frames?"
"No sir. My superior received an anonymous contact from Vale asking if we had operative in the area. After discussing the communiqué with me, he affirmed my general position and objectives. Both parties agreed that we should have no need to worry about our missions overlapping in a un-constructive manner and ended our communication. Later, we did put in a request for their help while searching for the potential splinter cell due to the departure of my team. They agreed, and promised to keep an eye on the area after my own departure, as their team was staying a little while longer. That is all."
What she didn't add was that it only happened that way because she had put a sign on the roof of their mission HQ. Reminding any potential passersby up there of the proper channels on a hunch, with all the usual threats. Less than an hour later she found her sign gone and a flirtatious note in its place. Not the most professional of methods, but at least he had listened for once. Otherwise this meeting would be going entirely different.
"I see. Thank you, Specialist. You are dismissed… unless you anything else you would like to add."
She had to tell herself the pause was just her imagination. There was nothing to worry about as she stood up and saluted the general with a face that was as always trained to remain poised and expressionless as possible. "No. Thank you, sir."
When the door to his office closed behind her it felt too loud in the silent hall of the military headquarters, but comforting. It let her breathe out the tension that she had hidden behind her professional bearing. Her scroll had buzzed not even five minutes after she entered, and she knew who it was. She told him to call with regular updates, and if anything, it was more a surprise that he listened the heart attack it had tried to give her. But the stakes were higher now, even if the only evidence was a single picture, hidden away on her scroll. One with its own personal firewall she had repurposed from an old mission escorting proprietary codes for the stealth division. The codes had never been broken, and they still did not feel like enough.
VAVAVAVAV
"Was that…?"
"Yeah. Don't need her charging over here and screwing things up." Qrow said as he put his scroll away.
"I think you both did that already."
"Well that's rich coming from you Tai."
"I know, trust me. It just feels like Raven all over, and I don't know if can do that again. You know I want to help, but this is a big change for all of us. And Qrow, you're not really the right guy…"
"Trust me, I know. The sad part is that we both agreed the alternatives were worse."
Taiyang just sat there, staring at his old friend with a face like he was either strategizing for a fight or trying to decide how Qrow had grown a second head. And it was one Qrow knew well. This was just a different feeling, to have it directed at him. All he could think of was to grab a drink, his usual answer truth be told. Only this time his friend's expression changed as his hand rested on the flask. "That's one thing that will have to change. If you want me to do this, I can't let you drink here."
Qrow sighed, pulling out his flask anyways so he could pass it across the table to Tai who grimaced as he walked over to the kitchen. The flask quickly hidden away and locked in what had once been the house's liquor cabinet. These days it remained pointedly empty, locked, and untouched. "Great role models we make. Summer would…"
"Tell us to keep trying. Just like she always did. She was the best of us." Qrow said, cutting Tai off as his friend's eyes lingered on the cabinet.
"Yeah… What about missions?"
"I've talked to Ozpin, told him I needed to work this out. There's not enough hunters in the field for me to completely leave, not at our level at least, but it'll only be short trips and mostly scouting. I can actually teach at Signal for once instead of just having a name on records."
"No, we took it off a little while ago. You haven't taught there in three years after all."
"Oh Oum, not a job interview."
"I'll finally get to see you without that dumb cape."
"Hell no. You had your chance mister 'sleep-with-the-entire-team'. If Signal wants me to teach combat, what's the point of having me stifled to the nines."
"Maybe I can just fire you now, save us all the headache."
"But then you wouldn't get to see this glorious body."
Both of them let the tension dissipate with their quiet laughter, fighting to keep the girls asleep upstairs despite themselves. It was an old joke, and perhaps this time that was a good thing. A reminder of when their friendship wasn't scarred by lies, death, or new lives. For a few minutes, they were just the guys from team STRQ, trading a few more jokes and stories about the past, until Qrow asked the one question that they both needed. "What about the girls?"
"We'll ask them in the morning. It's their home, I can't change it like this without letting them in. But I think they'll just be happy to spend more time with family. "
"You got lucky. Neither of them picked up any of the Branwen cynicism."
"Don't even say that man, I can't keep up with those two without them raising hell on purpose. Yang alone would have burned down the house by now."
"Which is why I still wonder why you ever dated my sister."
"Not tonight. It's late already, and Ruby wakes up at the crack of dawn on weekends. We can set you up in the guest room; the closet there should still have everything you need for tonight. I was going shopping tomorrow anyways; we'll pick up the rest then."
"This is why we're friends…"
"Oh no, you're on your own for the messy part. It's what you deserve for leaving on missions when Ruby was a baby."
"…Fair enough. But you'll need to double check, I'm a little rusty."
"I'll tell Yang to babysit you. She knows how to do it all of it anyways."
VAVAVAVAV
Winter's bearing remained strong throughout the day, even with only half the pain killers her body needed for this. She was known as the perfect officer within her brigade, she would make certain that nothing changed after that past mission. No matter how exhausted that made her when she finally returned to her barracks room. As she collapsed onto her bed all she could do was let the tension breathe out of her body, and regret in advance the lack of energy she had to undo her hair or change out of her uniform. It was a lost cause any way she looked at it. Only the buzz of her scroll could bring her to move; slowly, but she got it out eventually to read Qrow's text from earlier.
Made it to Tai's house, will call once we're all done. You know how it is. Old friends livening it up.
All winter could think of was how he'd better be exaggerating, but weariness drove her to answer the man's call despite her tired ill-temper.
"Hey."
"Wow, you sound miserable."
"I'm exhausted. The General had me back on full duties since I reported in this morning. I only just got done checking night watch, and I'm not sure if I can set enough alarms to wake up tomorrow morning."
"You should have called in sick."
"Like that wouldn't have been suspicious."
"I told you it was a bad idea to go straight back to work. Talk to one of your squad. There was a bad bug going around the city while we were there, just get one of them to show the same symptoms and Ironhead won't be suspecting anything when you call out after them. Couple days at least, I'm sure the mighty regime can last that long."
"… You are a bad influence on me."
"Speak for yourself. Because of you, my flask is locked up. I'm actually going to have to get sober."
"I'm shocked, genuinely shocked. You never let anyone touch that thing."
"Only for the special ladies and myself."
"You're just gloating because mine ran out first."
"You got me. Should have switched to something harder, less mass for the alcohol content." Qrow's voice dying away as they both felt the weariness of the last month finally dragging them down. The mission, alongside everything else they had wrapped themselves up in over there had worn out what little energy the two had left. "He's sleeping now. I can't believe it but, he seems even more tired than you. Give me a sec and I'll send you another picture."
Winter bit back the happy yes she wanted to respond with. Forced herself to tell him one second so she could set up the purge program and firewall on her scroll so that it would be cached and immediately hidden. Tomorrow she could do the same for the rest of Qrow's electronic footprint. "Send it."
"Relax ice queen. I told you, it'll be fine." Qrow's voice was followed by the vibrations of her new message. One she opened eagerly, unable to keep her face neutral as she saw her son asleep in a red crib that must have been lent by Qrow's friend. What little hair there stood out as bright white, while his father's red eyes remained hidden in the baby's slumber. He was a still sleeper, one of the few reasons they made good time back to Patch, with little to show at his young age. That didn't mean she could stop herself from staring at the picture for as long as possible until her program burned it away and left only water in her eyes.
"Qrow?"
"Yeah?"
"If you fuck this up, there is nowhere on all of Remnant I would not go to pluck, tar, and slap those feathers back on."
"I won't. Now get some sleep. Grey will be okay, I promise."
Winter didn't need to be told twice, closing her scroll as she kicked off her boots and curled up in the cold bed she called home. One pillow clutched to her chest while her tired eyes stared at an empty corner of her room. The crib from picture would have fit perfectly, even if the bright red and layer of stickers would have stood out like a bonfire amongst her monochrome decorations.
Maybe this was why they weren't supposed to drink on missions. If she hadn't borrowed his flask, she wouldn't have talked to him, slept with him, born her son, or collapsed in her bed exhausted from work that before her pregnancy had been an easy day. On the other hand, she wouldn't be smiling at her darkened screen, rubbing her eyes into sheets to hide any signs of the cheerful tears, or planning her work schedule around a visit to Patch she would never have even considered before. Now the change seemed crucial. If only her happiness didn't come with that asshole.
VAVAVAVAV
Taiyang poked into the room, where Qrow was still making sure Grey was ready for the night. "Hey Qrow, forgot to ask about the splint."
"Ice queen broke my wrist during the delivery. It's been over a week, but I've been running my aura hot so I could travel with the little guy in this blizzard. Shouldn't take long now."
"Huh, well, good luck with that. And remember you still owe me a free hit."
VAVAVAVAV
Their son is Grey Branwen, for anonymity sake since anyone who knows the family would be unsurprised one parent isn't there. Do a little research and you'll find Qrow pulled a fast one on Winter, and named their son after the Whiskey Jack bird from the Corvidae family. She just like the simple symbology.
This was almost a multi-chapter fic, but the only reason that was going to happen was so that Ruby could yell Aunty Winter when they meet at the Vytal Festival and throw Weiss for a loop.