It was already dark as Ruby and her sister ghosted towards their front door. It was a school night, and their father was a professor; he would certainly have a word or two for them if he caught them coming in this late. And, if Taiyang Xiao Long were to be disappointed in his daughters for staying out so late on a school night, surely he would take issue with his brother in law who had been chaperone for the evening. Qrow was plodding along behind the young girls, not quite brisk enough to prevent him from jabbing at stray pebbles with a kick of his shoes. He was not worried about what their father would say, his mind wandered instead to his plans for the week ahead. He would need to cover a lot of ground in a very short amount of time; Ozpin had not given him a very generous schedule. Luckily for him that would not be too much of a problem, even though he had spent the night out with his nieces rather than preparing for his trip.

The girls tiptoed up the steps and paused by the threshold to collect their breath. Yang took hold of the knob and with as much care as she could muster creaked the door open to allow Ruby to slip through. The younger sister peered skeptically into the front of the house, looking to see if the messy blond tangle of hair that typified her father was peeking out from any nook or cranny within sight. When no such features made themselves apparent, Ruby felt a smile creep across her face. "C'mon, Yang," she whispered, "the coast is clear!"

Yang hissed through her teeth. "Be quiet, you spaz!" She opened the door all the way and the two siblings slunk into the house. "Uncle Qrow," Yang whispered over her shoulder, "quick!" Qrow smirked, taking a few longer strides to close the gap before sliding into the house and shutting the door quietly behind him. Yang pumped her fist in victory. "We did it! No Dad lectures tonight!"

Ruby bounced up and down excitedly. "Oh my gosh, that was so exciting! I've never had to sneak back home before!"

"Don't count your chickens yet, ladies," Qrow said. The young teenagers looked up at him with wide eyes, in horror that their uncle had not tried to keep his voice down. The old Hunter pointed swiftly towards the back of the house. "Some of them haven't hatched yet."

The two girls turned slowly towards the area of Qrow's attention, and their hearts sank when they saw a distinct glow radiating from a threshold next to the staircase. The kitchen lights were on, and they would have to pass the kitchen to get up to their bedrooms. Ruby swallowed nervously. "Maybe that Dad lecture is still in the cards," she muttered to Yang, whose shoulders slumped in defeat.

Qrow snickered. "I don't mean to disappoint you girls, but there's also no way he didn't hear you come in. Just speaking as an adult; we hear everything." Another wave of disappointment washed over the teenagers. Qrow gave them a little push. "Go on, own up to it. It won't be so bad if you just get it over with."

Ruby and Yang slogged forward under Qrow's arms, marching to their deaths down the quiet hallway. They passed under framed photos of childhood memories; Ruby's first birthday, Yang's first day of school. Qrow gazed at them fondly as he passed, memories of those early days comforting him in his thoughts. Sometimes it was hard for him to be around the girls, even though he loved them more than anything. They brought back pieces of his past he always somehow managed to forget for just enough time to get on the wagon, until times like now when he could feel the siren song of his flask beckoning him off once again. He would wait for now, at least until the girls were upstairs. He did not need them to get the idea that drinking is a good way to cope. Even he wished he did not believe that, but it was hard for him to argue with himself when the results were so consistent.

As the three approached the kitchen threshold, Ruby and Yang cowered away from the glow of the overhead light. Before them was a figure slouched over in a chair, face down on the table with arms wrapped around the back of its head. The shoulders rose and fell slowly, under an obviously immense amount of self-control. Ruby's hand grabbed at Yang's sleeve involuntarily, but the older girl was so tense the contact caused her to startle. Ruby gasped in shock, and at the sound of her voice the figure at the table stirred. "Finally home, girls?"

"D-dad, we..." Yang sputtered. Taiyang turned in his chair to peer over his shoulder at his children. His eyes were bloodshot and cloudy, cheeks puffy and red. He stared back at them with a blank face, sniffing occasionally. His hair was disheveled more than usual, and he was dressed down into his nightclothes, something the girls had not seen him wear outside of his bedroom since Yang had turned thirteen just last year. Moment after moment ticked by as the little blonde girl searched to find words, disturbed by the sorry state she had returned to find her father in. "Dad…"

Taiyang stood up from his seat and stalked towards his daughters. "You both should run up to sleep," he said slowly, lips creaking into a weak smile. "If you don't, you'll have a tough time waking up for school in the morning."

Both sisters exchanged worried glances. "Daddy, are you mad at us?" Ruby shuffled closer to her sister while she waited for her father to respond to her question.

Taiyang's tired smirk did not waiver. He stretched an arm out and tousled the little girl's dark crimson hair. "I'll come tuck you in in a minute, Ruby," he said, "go on up. I need to talk to your uncle Qrow for a little while."

A beat passed as the dissonant response sunk into the children's minds, but once it did Yang took hold of Ruby's hand and led her younger sister out of the kitchen and up the stairs to their bedrooms. Taiyang listened for the patter of feet stop and the latches of bedrooms to close before he blasted an enormous sigh from between his lips, the face he had worn in front of his children melting away in an instant. "Awful damn late, Qrow," he groaned, "what in the world were you doing?"

The dark-haired man ran his fingers through his hair. "We were just having some fun, Tai," he shrugged, "down at the arcade, y'know? It's not like I was making them smash mailboxes or—"

"I'm not mad about having them out late," Taiyang interrupted, "you don't need to justify it. I just asked what took so long."

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "Huh." He plodded over to the sink, gazing in to see a tumbler glass resting on top of a still-dirty dinner plate. Qrow's eyebrow fell. He picked up the glass and examined it, putting it up to his nose and taking a quick sniff. He had seen a few glasses like this in his life, and even the odor was enough to make him cough. Qrow turned to Taiyang slowly and wiggled the glass in the air. "Someone was thirsty, eh?"

Taiyang rubbed his nose. "It's from this morning. Ruby had milk in it."

Qrow clicked his tongue. "Taiyang, Taiyang. Do you think you can fool me, of all people? You look like death." He returned to the glass to the sink. "You don't drink like this, Tai. What's going on?"

Taiyang bit on his lower lip, slowly shaking his head. "You don't have to worry about it, Qrow," he finally muttered.

Qrow held out his arms. "Tai, please. Just tell me." He was used to his brother-in-law being distant with him since Raven disappeared, but that did not mean Qrow was not frustrated by it. Since they had first met at Beacon all those years ago, Taiyang had been a beaming icon of positivity. He and Qrow had been good friends, but now the old brawler was a different man. To his children, Taiyang was still all smiles and laughter. But at times they could not see, or when they went to sleep, Qrow knew a different sort of man. A solemn one, more reserved and simple. Every conversation was like pulling teeth, and tonight was shaping up to be no different.

Taiyang took a deep breath, making his way back to the chair and collapsing into it heavily. "I just…" He smirked again, but it did not stick like before. Qrow crossed his arms and leaned against the counter as he waited for his brother-in-law to finish his sentence. Taiyang rubbed his nose again, sniffling pathetically. He shook his head, and sputtered out a mirthless chuckle. "I miss her, Qrow."

It took Qrow every ounce of willpower to prevent his face from coiling into a scowl. Instead, he exhaled long and loud. "Me too, pal. Me too."

Taiyang placed his hand in his hair, massaging his scalp as though he was in a daze. "She just...She just never came back. I don't understand. I can't—"

"It's not for us to understand, Tai, and that's okay. That risk is part of the job, and Summer knew that from the moment she started at Beacon." Qrow closed his eyes for a moment. That was all he had left for himself anymore, the knowledge that Summer had known there was always the chance that she'd never come home. Everything else he had needed to let go of, and even then there was still enough that lingered. It was those lingering feelings that he filled his flask with every day.

"But Qrow, it's not that simple." Taiyang laid his hands out on the table. "Summer was here, in my arms, and then she was just...gone. Nobody even told me; I had to learn on my own by waiting up, night after night, for years and years." He clenched his fists. "Do you know how much that hurts?"

Qrow's willpower faulted for a moment, and he grit his teeth. "I'm familiar with the concept." Not just with her, but his sister too. But Taiyang had not concerned himself with Raven in a long time. Not since Yang was born, at least. Qrow couldn't help but feel that he was the only one left who cared about Raven. But Taiyang was in no state for confrontation, not now. He composed himself again and continued the conversation. "Why tonight, Tai?"

"Tonight would have been an anniversary," Taiyang mumbled, letting slip a dry snicker. "You'd probably think I'm stupid for this, but it'd be the anniversary of when I asked her on our first date."

"For dinner in Vale," Qrow nodded, "I remember." That night was important to him too. Taiyang had asked Qrow to come care for Yang for the evening, and when he arrived Summer answered the door. It was his own fault for not keeping the flowers he had bought the day before with him at all times.

Taiyang slumped down in his seat, laying his face on the table and wrapping his arms around his head. "Fourteen years ago, Qrow. I only had her for three. The girls only had her for three." His shoulders rose and fell sharply. "It's not fair!"

Qrow took the opportunity to frown while Taiyang's face was buried in his arms, taking hold of his own forehead and squeezing firmly in frustration. "It's not, Tai. It never is." And most certainly not for him. His sister, then his best friend. If it wasn't for the children, Qrow would have left his old teammate long ago. Taiyang had taken everything from him and promptly lost it. Now neither of them had anything, and yet Qrow was asked to be the shoulder to lean on time and time again. If it wasn't for the children…

Taiyang sat up and Qrow quickly ran his fingers through his hair again, his face uncurling from its scowl and smoothing out to its resting state. "I'm sorry," the big blond man warbled, his bloodshot eyes wet with uncried tears.

"Don't be. It's not your fault." Qrow leaned forward off the counter and paced over to the cabinets above the ice box.

"I don't mean to keep you."

Qrow shrugged, reaching up to the handle and opening the small compartment. "I should probably head out, but it's no trouble." His lies left a bitter taste on his tongue. Inside the cabinet sat bottles that beckoned to wash it out for him. He reached up and grabbed one without reading the label. "I've got a new assignment so I'll be gone for a week or two. Tell the girls I'll try and bring them something when I get back. Some kind of toy or candy or whatever."

Taiyang moved behind him. "Qrow?" The slender man peered over his shoulder at his former teammate. The blond was sitting sideways on his chair, looking at Qrow anxiously. He sputtered. "Don't...don't you ever get scared? What if you don't come back?"

Qrow swallowed a growl. "As long as those girls are around, I'll be coming back. Despite what you may think, you can't get rid of all us Branwens." The air went dead. Qrow turned around to face Taiyang, whose jaw was hanging open in a mixture of shock and anger. "One for the road?" Qrow popped the top of the liquor bottle and tipped it up to his lips, downing a generous mouthful of the contents in no time at all. He smacked his lips, belly already warming as the drink trickled down into his system. Slamming the top back on, he stashed the bottle in the cupboard and flipped the door shut. With a snobbish pirouette, Qrow turned back to Taiyang and bent over in a mock bow. "Until next time, Tai."

Taiyang rose from his seat. "Qrow!" But the dark haired man was practically already out the door.

Qrow hustled through the streets with his heart pounding, every word he wished he had said flying around his head at insane speeds. "Oh I'll be back," he muttered to himself, "you bet your ass I'll be back. There's no way those two are going to grow up to be like you. I'll never let that happen." He clenched his fists in grief. "Not when they could be like their mothers." Not when they could end up being good. He closed his eyes and jumped forward, and in a flurry of movement he was airborne.

He would be back as soon as he could. He had to be.