Disclaimer: RWBY is the property of Rooster Teeth. I do not own any of the characters or locations present, just the scenarios I have created.

Chapter 2: Facing Demons

"Qrow!" Tai exclaimed. He pulled Qrow into a massive hug, clearly overjoyed to see his best friend. "I'm so glad you're here! I have something fantastic I need to tell you." Tai said as he and Qrow walked into the living room of the house. "And what might that be?" Qrow inquired. He was dreading hearing the answer his question. "Please, sit down. I'll be back in a moment." Tai said before walking out of the room. Qrow obliged.

It had been a little over a week and half since he and Summer had last spoken. The conversation they had still burned in his mind. Qrow pulled out the picture of team STRQ. "Things used to be so much simpler" he thought. He could feel his heart grow heavy as he began to focus on Summer in the picture. "Why did I have to be so foolish? Why couldn't I say something sooner as to prevent this situation? But… I know this is for the best."

A burning sensation started in his eyes as they started to tear. His heart ached. This is not what he had hoped for when he had finally gotten something he had desired for so long. If only things had turned out differently. He puts the picture away trying to keep his emotions in check. It needed to be this way, there were no other options. Things will work out, she'll be taken care of here. He finds at least some comfort in that fact.

Tai came back with Summer the two of them hand in hand. Qrow forced a smile. "Sorry to keep you waiting Qrow." Tai said. "So, what's so important that I had to come all the way out here for you to tell me?" Qrow asked. Tai looked at from Qrow to Summer, she smiled and nodded at him. With an ecstatic look on his face Tai turned back to Qrow and said, "Summer and I are having a baby!" Qrow's heart dropped to his stomach, but he forced himself to smile again and say "That's…That's great to hear you guys. I'm…I'm really happy for you."

Part of Qrow had hoped that Summer wouldn't go through with the idea he had given her, but he was foolish to think for a second she wouldn't. This is what needs to happen. Qrow stood up and walked over to Tai and Summer. He placed his hands on each of their shoulders to bring them both into a hug trying to hide the pain that was washing over him.

*Almost a year later*

Qrow had returned from a mission a few days ago. The sun had just set and Qrow was at one of his more commonly visited bars in Vale, Crow Bar. As he ordered another shot his scroll went off. "Who could be calling me at this hour?" he muttered as he pulled out his scroll. The picture on his scroll was none other than that of Summer.

He stared at the scroll unable to bring himself to answer it. After it stopped ringing, a notification popped up. She had left a voicemail. Qrow looked up at the barkeep and motioned for another drink. After downing his new drink, he listened to the voicemail Summer had left. "Hey Qrow… I know things have been uh… rough between us lately and… and I know we haven't spoken much or at all since that night… And you may be going through a hard time… I'm sorry… I know you may not want to be around me right now, but there is something you need to see. Please… I'd really appreciate it if you could come over. So, uh… yeah… Hopefully I'll see ya soon. Bye."

With that Qrow put his scroll away, paid the bartender, and left the bar. What could Summer want to show him that was so important? Qrow hasn't spoken to or heard from Summer or Tai much since the day they revealed the pregnancy. Then it dawned on him. There was no question in his mind now, he had to go see Summer.

Qrow knocked on Tai and Summers front door. After a moment, the door opened and he was greeted by two blondes. The first was Tai. Standing behind him, at knee level was Qrow's niece, Yang. Qrow dropped to his knees, extended his arms towards Yang and smiled. "Hey there little Firecracker." At that, Yang's face lit up and she ran to hug her uncle. Qrow picked Yang up in a hug and proceeded to follow Tai inside.

Once they reached the living room Qrow put Yang back down. Summer was sitting on the couch holding something. "So, what is it you needed to show me?" Qrow said before taking a seat on the opposite side of the room as Summer. Summer stood up and approached Qrow. As she neared, Qrow realized it wasn't a something Summer wanted to show him, but a someone.

"Qrow, I'd like you to meet your niece, Ruby Rose." Summer said as she handed the baby Ruby to Qrow. He smiled, the first genuine smile he'd had in a very long time. He looked down at the little silver eyed girl. "Hey there Ruby." Qrow said, "It's a pleasure to meet you." He stood there staring at Ruby like she was the most precious thing in the world.

"Qrow! You're awake!" exclaimed Ruby as she got up and hurried over to his bed. Ruby had been waiting for a few hours now. She was worried the whole time despite the doctors saying Qrow was going to make a full and speedy recovery. But now he was awake and all the worry she had been dwelling on just washed away.

She hugged her uncle carefully so she didn't harm him. "I was so worried about you." She said as she pulled away. He laughed a little, which seemed to cause a little pain "I can tell." "How are you feeling?" Ruby asked. Qrow chuckled again and said, "Like I could use a drink." Ruby laughed a little, she was happy Qrow was feeling well enough to make jokes.

A moment later some doctors came in to check on Qrow so Ruby went back to where she was sitting. Things were starting to look up again. She decided to pull out the picture she found of Summer again. That brought her peace. She had been looking at the photo for much longer than she had thought for the doctors had already finished their tests and left. She didn't notice them.

Qrow looked over at Ruby and his eyes widened. With a heavy sigh, he said "So, I see you found that photo." thus breaking the silence and startling Ruby. She was flooded with questions about why Qrow had the photo, about her uncles' previous rambling and his hallucination about Summer. Ruby stood up still staring at the photo. "Uncle Qrow…" she said, her voice shaky. "I have some questions that I need you to answer… about my mom." Qrow instinctively reached for his flask but realized it wasn't there.

Qrow let out another heavy sigh. "Alright kid, come have a seat." Ruby moved to sit in a chair next to Qrow's bed. Ruby stared at the photo of Summer and started to say, "I don't mean to pry... it's just… you don't talk about her much even though you knew her better than most given you were her partner at Beacon... and I haven't asked about her before even though I really wanted too because Dad said it's hard for you..." There was a quiver in her voice as she spoke.

"I tried to ignore it, but everything seems to be falling apart! It's too much! Beacon is infested with Grimm, Vale's a mess! Yang is stuck in a hole right now, Blake has gone off the grid, Weiss was taken back to Atlas, Pyrrha's gone…" At the mention of Pyrrha Ruby faltered for a minute with tears swelling in her eyes. "And then… and then we nearly lost you too…" With that Ruby had tears freely falling down her face.

Qrow motioned for Ruby to come over to him. Once she did he wrapped his arms around her until she calmed down. It took a minute but Ruby collected herself and sat up. "I'm sorry but with your rambling… thinking I was my mom... and this photo of her... it's just too much to ignore Uncle Qrow... I love you but please help me understand... she's my mother and only you have the answers I need..." Qrow sighed before saying "I guess it's time you learned the truth about everything… the reason behind the drinking, the reason I don't speak of your mother much... the reason Tai and I aren't as close as we use to be... and how I wish with every fiber of my being... of my soul that Summer was still with us..." They both sat there in silence for a moment looking at the picture of Summer.

Authors note: I hope you all enjoyed chapter two. If you have any comments or questions, please leave a review or feel free to PM me. Thanks for reading and I hope too see you all in the next chapters! :D

I had quite a bit of help from a good friend Siegfried Salazar. Wouldn't have been able to do it without him. He is also accepting PM's about this fiction.