Qrow blinked in mild confusion at who he saw standing at Ozpin's desk.
The Atlas specialist, Winter Schnee was here?
"Well, what do we have here?" Qrow greeted loudly as he sauntered in from the elevator with his hands in his pockets. "I thought it was just supposed to be me up here."
The individual he was confused about turned around, meeting his gaze. Winter narrowed her eyes before giving him a small nod in greeting. Ozpin let out a soft sigh as Qrow filled the space next to Winter.
"Good to see you too, Qrow." Ozpin tiredly replied.
"Oz, what's going on?" Qrow inquired as he met the Headmaster's troubled gaze. He didn't like what his gut was telling him when he caught the look in Oz's eyes.
"Well..." The Headmaster trailed off as he paused to take a sip of his coffee. He peered down at the liquid, his reflection staring back at him before lifting his head to meet the eager gazes of the two before him. "It's about your niece and your sister. The entirety of Team RWBY actually." His mop of white hair bobbed as he nodded to Qrow and Winter.
"What's happened to them?" Winter spoke, her eyebrows furrowed in worry.
"It appears that upon leaving for their trip with Professor Oobleck, they had encountered something - causing us to lose communication with them. With the White Fang doing who knows what at this moment in time, I'm afraid of what Team RWBY might have gotten caught in. I already informed Ironwood about this situation and with his approval I am sending you Winter along with Qrow to go and find them." Ozpin cleared his throat once he finished speaking, raising his gaze to notice their silent distraught expressions.
"You may depart for them when you are ready." Ozpin dismissed them as he gave them a nod, reaching for his cane to lean on.
" - and of all the people, it has to be you!" Winter slammed open the door, exiting the tower where Oz's office was, her voice carrying across the open space of the pathway. Qrow trailed out after her, a scowl across his face as he let out a scoff.
"Please, I'm not that much of an annoyance, am I?"
"Yes, you are!" Winter whirled around with a shout, gritting her teeth. "You are an insufferable, arrogant - !"
"Bafoon, yes I know. You already said it a million times." Qrow interrupted as he rolled his eyes. "But you know," He stopped walking and faced Winter, catching the change in her demeanor when she realized he was being serious.
"Ruby and Yang are my family. I deserve to go just as much as you do, Ice Queen. We need to find those kids and Oobleck, so suck it up and deal with it."
At his words, Winter took a breath and pressed her lips together. Seeming like she would retort, Qrow braced for it - however it never came. Instead, the Schnee let out a breath through pursed lips, her hands resting on her hips. With that breath it appeared as those her irritation from before dissipated.
"Well alright then. We'll leave whenever you're ready."
Winter leaped, blasted and killed Grimm after Grimm, yet they continued to appear as if nothing has happened. Letting out a breath as she landed from a dodge, she felt the rumble of concrete breaking beneath her feet and dived out of the way as yet more Grimm appeared from the crevices.
"They just keep coming..." Winter said under her breath as she prepped herself to attack once more. The various species of Grimm charged, Winter took a step back and suddenly she was slammed into, rolling to the ground. Shaking her head to push aside the pain, Winter caught Qrow pushing himself from the ground, head down, chest heaving and blood dripping.
"Qrow! Are you -"
Before she could continue, she caught the red hue of a beam from the corner of her eye. Without a second thought Winter was at Qrow's side already bringing up a gravity glyph just as the beam make impact. Taking the chance she had, Winter hauled Qrow further away from the Grimm.
"What are you doing, Ice Queen?" His normally rough voice was strained near her ear as Winter set him down to the ground.
"What's it look like? Ensuring you are not a liability. Now, can you still fight?" Winter asked as she stared the man down.
"You bet." His stark red eyes narrowed as they met Winter's. The cut along the side of his forehead oozed blood as Qrow stood up and wiped it away with his sleeve, Winter taking a step back.
After a moment of silence, Winter let out a soft sigh.
"We have to find them." Winter quietly said, her free hand clenching to a fist.
"Hey," a hand hesitantly touched her shoulder, making Winter glance up from the ground to meet Qrow's serious gaze. "We'll find them."
A brief nod from a silent Winter was all it took for Qrow's hand to pull away.
"First, let's get away from these guys." Qrow said as he sheathed his weapon behind him, already beginning to leave the Schnee to the dust.
"Do not even dare to think of ditching me, Qrow!" Winter said as she caught up to him, the roars of the countless Grimm faint behind her. A soft scoff came from the Branwen, making Winter frown for a moment.
Normally the two would quarrel per usual. Now was not the place and definitely not the time.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Qrow quipped back as he pulled out his scroll, checking for signal.
Hearing the beep of no connection, Winter glanced over when she heard him groan deeply. Qrow ran a hand down his face as he pocketed his scroll.
"Those kids..." he muttered to himself before turning to Winter, beckoning with his head to follow him. "C'mon, let's get moving. They're around here somewhere."
Hello! I'm fairly new to the RWBY fandom but I managed to catch up over my winter break so now I'm a fan for life! Qrow is such an interesting character and it's been a treat to see him become such a major character in the more recent volumes of RWBY.
This story just kind of popped out of nowhere, but the dynamic of Qrow and Winter has always been at the top of my mind since I first saw their fight. I kind of had an idea and went with it! Let me know what you think!
If I think of any other potential plot points with this I'll definitely update!
Thanks for giving this a read!