Shortly after Ruby and her group arrived in Atlas, Ironwood had ordered everyone to be sequestered at a hotel for their protection. After receiving Qrow's letter a few days ago, Ironwood was preparing for a potential attack on their kingdom much like what happened to Beacon and Haven. With everyone tired from their long day dealing with Cordovin and the Grimm in Argus, they decided to rest easy for the night and would meet with Ironwood first thing in the morning to discuss their next course of action.
Qrow was booked to a room by himself, lying in bed and flipping through channels on TV. With everything either being local news or sitcoms, Qrow shut the TV off and instead stared at the ceiling, reflecting on his journey getting here. It all seemed simple to follow until he learned the truth about Ozpin and Salem, and now he was questioning in the back of his mind why he was continuing to go along with the plan when Ozpin didn't have one.
Just having to think of him was enough for Qrow to grab his flask and swirl the liquid around to estimate how much he had left.
"I'm not going anywhere tonight. Maybe I should just finish it before bedtime."
Qrow placed his finger tips on the valve but reconsidered whether it was a good idea, especially when his drinking issues was really starting to strain his relationship with Ruby.
"No, I can't. Ruby won't forgive me if I'm late to wake up again."
As Qrow put the flask back on the nightstand, he heard a loud knocking on his door. Having just gotten to the hotel, he didn't know who could possibly want to see him right now. Qrow got out of bed and opened the door, seeing Maria standing before him.
"Something wrong?" asked Qrow.
"I'm going to the hotel bar and I don't feel like drinking alone," said Maria.
"Then find someone to talk to. Good night."
Qrow tried to shut the door on Maria, only for Maria to use her cane to block the door from being shut.
"Apparently I wasn't clear enough," said Maria. "I want you to come with me."
"Did you forget we have to wake up early to have a meeting with Ironwood?" asked Qrow.
"And since when have you cared about getting up early? Besides, I thought you enjoyed drinking!"
"You are aware of my issues, right?"
"Then I guess you'll have to be my designated driver! Now hurry up! I want to get there before it gets crowded!"
Maria had already turned and walked off before Qrow can argue with her. Qrow was about to shut the door and go back to bed when he gave the idea of joining Maria a second thought. He knew he wasn't going to fall asleep any time soon and being at the bar would give him an excuse to avoid his flask. It also didn't help that in the short amount of time Qrow spent with Maria, he knew how Maria's mouth can land herself in hot water. Qrow grabbed his hotel key and ran off to catch up with Maria.
#
Being a high-class hotel, the bar and lobby was full of visiting aristocrats and members of the Atlas military assigned to watch over the hotel while Qrow and the others were staying the night. Maria and Qrow pulled up their stools and sat in the middle of the countertop.
"What's your poison, Qrow?" asked Maria.
"I'm trying to avoid poison for a while, thanks," said Qrow.
"Suit yourself. Bartender! Give me your top shelf vodka and leave the bottle!"
"Just water for me."
The bartender left a premium bottle of vodka and a shot glass for Maria, while Qrow had a regular glass of filtered water.
"You sure you don't want a shot?" asked Maria, shaking her glass in front of Qrow to entice him into taking one.
"I'm sure!" muttered Qrow.
"If it's getting addicted you're worried about-"
"It's more than just that!" said Qrow, turning around to face Maria and absent-mindedly swinging his arm around and knocking over the vodka. The bottle fell off the counter and was bound on the path to shattering on the floor when Maria swiftly intervened and caught the bottle by the neck before it touched the floor.
"You'll be fine, Qrow," said Maria, placing the bottle gently back on the counter. "Just relax and unwind! We deserve it after the past couple of days we've had!"
Maria took a full shot of Vodka in one go, then slammed her glass on the counter and laughed, turning off some of the patrons who didn't appreciate her crude behavior. Had it been any other night out, Qrow would have found it amusing, but tonight Qrow was not in his usual happy drinking mood.
"Tomorrow's going to be a big day. I haven't been this excited in decades!"
"You're excited about it?" asked Qrow.
"Why not?" said Maria. "I'm getting to meet the General himself, and if our trip to Argus was any indication, we might be fighting some dangerous Grimm in the future! I just hope the General isn't some stuck-up you know what like Cordovin."
"Oh, he is, although it has been a while since I last talked to him. Times have really changed in just a year."
"Tell me about it!" said Maria, pouring herself another shot. "All I did the past year was travel one place to another trying to kill my boredom! Just a few days ago I assumed I was going to spend my time in Argus watching a movie and seeing that Pyrrha statue they put up. Instead I find myself on a train attacked by Grimm and caught up in the adventures of a group of kids trying to save the world, which I now have learned the true origins of!"
Maria quickly gulped down her second shot and laughed, enjoying the aftertaste of her throat feeling like it was on fire.
"How could you not be excited after all that?"
"Well for one thing," said Qrow, "we have no endgame planned against Salem. We have no idea who or where the Maidens are, as well as three of the relics. We're just going through the motions hoping to get lucky, which thanks to me being around, isn't going to happen!"
Qrow took a sip of his cold water to help calm himself down, but it did little to help as Maria could see his hand trembling from the rage he was trying to contain.
"You certainly know how to sour the mood," said Maria as she poured herself a new shot. "You must be a blast at parties."
"Sorry Miss Grimm Reaper," said Qrow, staring down at his glass of water, "but it's hard to be in better spirits considering the situation we're in. If it weren't for Ruby I'd have..."
"Quit? Fly off to some bar to drown your sorrows until your final days?"
"That about sums it up."
"That's pathetic," said Maria succinctly as she sipped her drink. Qrow turned around to face Maria after hearing what he thought she said.
"What did you say?" asked Qrow with a hint of bile in his voice.
"You heard me. Life gives you a couple of sour lemons and you decide your days are better spent staring at the bottom of a bottle?"
"No offense Maria, but I've been dealt more than just a 'couple' of sour lemons."
Qrow suddenly grabbed Maria by the dress around her neck, nearly pulling her off her stool as he stared into her LED eyes.
"And don't start talking like you've known me my entire life! You don't know a damn thing about my life story!"
"Well I'm not going anywhere!" said Maria, holding up the vodka bottle and swirling it around to estimate how much there was left. "By all means, read me the autobiography of Qrow Branwen."
Qrow didn't know whether to be impressed or pissed off that Maria showed no signs of fear from Qrow's death stare. Qrow let go of Maria before he did something he knew he was going to regret and went back to staring at his drink.
"I'll give you the brief summary," said Qrow. "I was raised by murderous bandits with my twin sister. We joined Beacon, she has a kid and abandons the family the day after her birth, and I continue to work with Ozpin in our secret mission to stop Salem and save Remnant. Then Beacon falls, and it turns out I'm the only one left in Ozpin's circle doing anything, and then a genie reveals that Ozpin was a lying sack of shit this whole time. The end."
"Brief indeed," said Maria. "There's a lot of gaps that needs to be filled in."
"Why do you care to know anyway?"
"Because as long as we're traveling together for a while, I might as well get to know you. So far, the only thing I know is you're the biggest whiner in our group, which really says something considering our group is nothing but teenagers!"
Maria chuckled about her comment on Qrow, but Qrow was anything but amused.
"Did anyone ever tell you you've got a big mouth?" replied Qrow.
"Several times!" said Maria, smiling widely at Qrow, showing she was fully aware and didn't care.
"I wonder if this is how I sound like to other people," muttered Qrow under his breath before taking a large sip of water to clear his throat.
"Let's start with that family of yours," said Maria. "You mentioned having a sister? What is she like?"
"She's a bitch who I consider dead to the family."
"That bad, huh? And you said she had a kid?"
"She's Yang's mother, though I use that term very loosely."
"What about your own parents?"
"My 'parents' were the bandit tribe who trained me to kill huntsmen."
"Wow," said Maria, taking a sip of her vodka. "No real parents and a deadbeat mother for a sibling? I'm starting to see why you hit the bottle."
"As much as my real parents sucked," said Qrow, "I did eventually find a father figure in my life."
"Well there you go!" said Maria, smiling at Qrow. "Where is this father figure of yours now?"
"Robbing the life of a poor farmer boy."
It didn't take a detective to know who Qrow was referring to, turning Maria's smile into a frown. She didn't know much about Ozpin outside of what Jinn showed her, so Maria didn't know whether to defend Ozpin or not.
"But then again," said Qrow, "I'm not surprised. Just another case of my semblance doing what it does best."
"You keep bringing up that semblance of yours," said Maria. "'Misfortune' as you call it? If it was as bad as you keep claiming, why are you still here?"
"Because somebody has to be there for Ruby."
Ruby Rose. Maria had just met Ruby, yet Maria felt as if she learned so much about Ruby in such a short amount of time. Her abilities, her personality, her weapon...even the way Ruby looked up to Qrow reminded Maria of the bond she had with her father during her training.
"That girl really loves you, Qrow," said Maria. "If I didn't know any better, I would have assumed you were her father. You're not actually her-?"
"No!" interrupted Qrow. "God no! She's my friend's second daughter after he moved on from my sister."
"I see. How come you don't have kids of your own anyway?"
"Isn't it obvious?" replied Qrow. "Even if I was clean as a whistle, my Misfortune would bound to cause something horrible to happen."
"Sounds like you're just paranoid and scared of your own faults."
"What about you? How come you never decided to raise little huntresses of your own?"
"My father and I were constantly hunted down for our special gifts. Eventually I ended up like this. The last thing I ever wanted to do was raise a kid to end up with the same fate. If you don't mind me asking...did you happen to know Ruby's mother?"
"Know her? She was like family to me!"
"Did she have silver eyes? Where is she right now?"
Qrow closed his eyes and gripped his glass tight, as the mention of Summer Rose was enough to trigger parts of his life he did not want to relive. Maria took Qrow's silence as proof of what happens when are you born with silver eyes.
"I rest my case."
Qrow banged his fist on the table, upset about Maria using Summer's death to prove her own point.
"Was it something I said?"
"With all due respect Maria," said Qrow with gritted teeth, "don't EVER bring her up like that again!"
"I'm sorry for your loss, but it's true, isn't it? These silver eyes are both a gift and a curse, are they not?"
"You know what I think?" said Qrow, turning his attention to Maria. "I think you're just paranoid and scared of your own faults!"
"I never said I wasn't." Maria took another shot and sighed. "Remember when I told you I regret never doing more for future generations of huntsmen?"
"That includes having kids?"
Maria nodded. "I could have raised the hero who single handedly saved the world. Or I could have been a teacher and pass on my knowledge to students like Ruby. But instead of doing anything to help this generation of huntsmen, I hid away from the world like a scared little bitch, spending my remaining days traveling the world like a lost soul with no end goal in mind."
Qrow was surprised to see Maria rag on herself almost as bad she ragged on Qrow. Qrow was wondering whether to apologize or say something to cheer her up, when Maria suddenly looked up at Qrow and smiled.
"I'm glad I ended up traveling with you and the kids. This adventure we've been on has brought back some good memories of my youth. Fighting the Grimm, facing dangerous enemies..." Maria chuckled and raised her glass to Qrow. "Thanks for making this old girl feel young again!"
"Um...you're welcome, I guess," said Qrow, tapping glasses with Maria.
"Though I guess the one I should be thanking is Ruby! That girl...so young, so optimistic, and so brave...she's like the ray of hope amongst the darkness. Even with the task of defeating Salem looking impossible, you look at her and think 'maybe we do have a chance! Maybe we will figure something out'!"
"She certainly has that effect on her friends," said Qrow. "It's not surprising why Oz thought so highly of her."
"Ruby is like the grandchild I never had!"
"Yeah. She's the daughter I wish I could have."
"Then I guess that makes you my son!" Maria raised her glass to the sky. "Cheers to our messed-up family!"
"Cheers," said Qrow, taking a sip of his drink along with Maria. "But seriously...would you really want me as a son knowing what you know?"
"Why not? I mean sure you're obnoxious, hard-headed, and a real pain in the ass at times..."
Maria picked up her cane and pointed the bottom end of it at Qrow's chest.
"But you have good qualities where it really matters."
"And my semblance wouldn't bother you?" replied Qrow. As if on cue, one of the martini glasses placed above them suddenly broke its stem and was heading towards Maria. Maria raised her hand up and caught the glass in her hand, then safely placed it on the countertop.
"I can manage it," said Maria. Qrow rubbed the back of his neck and was turning slightly red in the face.
"To be honest? Growing up, there were so many times I wish I was raised by the Grimm Reaper. I wanted to be like you so badly."
"I'm flattered," said Maria, "but you should thank whatever Gods out there you weren't. Being famous isn't glamorous when you have assassins targeting you daily."
"But aside from the day that ended your career, I'm sure you must have fought them off easily, right?"
"And what makes you think that?" asked Maria, raising what passed off as an eyebrow on her goggles at Qrow.
"I mean from all the rumors and stories I heard growing up, you were a total badass."
Qrow was thinking of all the tales he heard about the Grimm Reaper, which looking back on now, might have been made up.
"But then again, I'm starting to think some of them were just exaggerated BS."
"Like what?" asked Maria.
"Like be honest," said Qrow. "Even with those silver eyes of yours, did you really kill an Alpha Beowolf with your bare hands?"
"Of course not!"
"See? Even legends have their limits."
Maria waited for Qrow to take a big sip of his drink before following up on her response.
"I only needed one hand to do that!" said Maria, nearly causing Qrow to spit out his water.
"Okay, now you're just messing with me!" replied Qrow.
"I'm serious! I got bored and decided to see if I could do it. Took me longer than usual and I took some nasty hits, but you punch anything hard enough in the throat and it goes down regardless of size and strength."
"All right, but what about the one where you were swarmed by a thousand baby death stalkers?"
"Just a thousand?"
Maria spent what must have been an hour telling Qrow about her exploits as the Grimm Reaper. Qrow felt like a kid who finally got to meet his hero as he tried to ask Maria everything he could. Eventually the conversation turned to Qrow sharing stories of his own youth, including an embarrassing incident at Beacon caused by his backstabbing teammate.
"You seriously fell for it?" asked Maria, trying to contain her laughter.
"How was I supposed to know the difference between a kilt and a skirt?" said Qrow.
"Never got out much as a child, did you?"
"I was raised by bandits! What do you think?"
"But at least nobody got a good look down there...did they?"
"Well..."
Maria exploded with laughter at Qrow's expense. As embarrassed as Qrow felt, he couldn't help but laugh as well. Qrow couldn't remember the last time he felt this happy without having to down at least an entire bottle's worth of alcohol first.
The two kept talking forever until they looked around and realized much of the crowd was suddenly gone. Qrow looked up at the clock on the wall and saw both hands were about to point to twelve.
"It's almost midnight," said Qrow, getting up from his seat. "We should probably get back before Ironwood sends his men to search for us."
"I guess we should," said Maria, pulling out several lien cards and placing them on the counter. As she was about to get out of her seat, Maria's goggles suddenly went dark. Maria tapped them several times, but they didn't respond. "Would you mind giving me a hand? My goggles are on the fritz again."
"Anything for the Grimm Reaper," said Qrow, lifting Maria onto his shoulders and heading back to their rooms. "Need me to escort you inside?"
"I should manage just fine. Do you think the General can give my goggles a free upgrade?"
"I'm sure he can do something for you. He still owes me a favor."
"Say what you will about Atlas, but at least their technology is top notch."
Qrow walked down the hallway until they reached their rooms located across from each other. Maria could tell by Qrow stopping they had reached their destination.
"Thanks for the lift," said Maria. "Sleep easy, Qrow."
"I will," said Qrow. "And one more thing."
"What is it?"
"Thanks for tonight. I really appreciated it."
As Qrow lifted Maria back down, Maria kissed Qrow on the cheek, catching Qrow by surprise.
"You're welcome, son," said Maria before entering her room. Qrow went back to his room and went straight to bed. He stared at the ceiling and smiled at the compliment Maria had given him.
"The legendary Grimm Reaper just called me son. This just might be the greatest night of my life."
A/N: I really get a strong mother/son vibe from Maria and Qrow ever since that Volume 6 finale. I hope we get something like this in Volume 7.
And if you're wondering, 'Throw the Bull' is slang similar to 'Shoot the Breeze' or to talk casually.