Whiskey was a strange thing. It was his vice that he could not be rid of. Yet, it was his answer to a great many problems, and his only way to silence the voices in his head. He took another sip, slouched over and slamming his glass onto the table. "You just going to sit there for the next eighteen years?"

"Not my kid." Another man, equally drunk and less put together said with a sigh.

"No shit, but your girls have taken a liking to the little rugrat. Might want to see what all the fuss is about."

"She's your niece, Qrow. You go see her. You're actually blood…you owe it to me, to this family, to step up here."

Qrow did the only thing he could do at that, he reached for the bottle and poured himself another drink. Not the most responsible decision he ever made, but by far not the worst. "Tai, I'm not going to take responsibility for this one. It wasn't my fault. Besides, I know only just as much as you do, nothing more. I'm not dancing this cha-cha again. It was bad enough the first go around with Yang and Ruby."

"No, it wasn't your fault, but it was your sister's promiscuity." Tai told him. "You should take responsibility here."

"Okay, okay, shit, don't you think that's just a little too far?" Qrow asked darkly. "Raven wasn't the most maternal human being on the face of this planet, but she didn't just spread her legs to just anyone, and you know that." Seeing his friend at a complete loss bothered him. "Tai…it wasn't anything you did. Raven was a loner. Always was, always would be."

"Then why find another man to screw? Why not just come home!?" Tai reached for the bottle himself too. What else was he supposed to do? He shook his head. It was all pointless now. "She wanted a family? Its right here. Right where it's always been. Why do you think I never moved?" He downed his glass. "I waited. Yang waited…and for what? To be forgotten about and disregarded entirely?" He shook his head. "It isn't my kid…it could have been, but it wasn't...excuse me if I don't know how to deal with that."

"You're right. The baby isn't yours. Raven moved on, maybe she did forget. Maybe she didn't give a rats ass about you or Yang…or maybe she was just too ashamed to come back home. She's dead, Tai, we're never going to know." He shrugged at his own harsh words. "Fact is, Raven did pop out another kid. And like it or not, it is Yang's baby sister…and for what it's worth, that bond means something to her."

"I know that."

"Then why the fuck are you still sitting here?"

Taiyang sighed, looking deeply at the amber liquid. Instead of answering, he emptied he glass one final time and closed his eyes. "Back at you, Qrow. Why are you?"

Late at night, the children's programming line-up ended in favor of infomercials. The long winded, repetitive programming ran until sunrise. It was what Yang entered in on, trying to wake up early. The clock showed that it was just barely five in the morning, and half of the household had clearly fallen asleep on the couch last night. Ace was laying across Ruby, using the woman as a human mattress. Little clawed fingers digging into the shirt just as always.

Yang was sure that Blake hadn't intended to fall asleep curled into Ruby, or that the lone human on the sofa was aware of where her hand wandered in her sleep. Still the shared purring of the two sleeping Faunus meant that something went right…even if that something was merely that none of them were currently lucid enough to know what was happening amongst them. Ignoring the plethora of smart-ass remarks she could have made about it, she went into the kitchen. Weiss was already hunched over the table, sipping on some well-deserved coffee.

"What the hell happened to you?" Yang asked grumpily, noticing her friend's rather unkempt appearance. Her long hair in a disarray of tangles.

"Mission day." Weiss said before drowning herself in another deep, and rather undignified gulp of the caffeinated substance. "Blake convinced Ruby to stay home, so naturally I got roped into clearing out the boarders around the city."

"Grunt work?" Yang asked, having poured her own steaming mug full.

Weiss wordlessly pushed the mission briefing across the table. It was more or less busy work for a huntress as skilled as herself, but, according to the speculations, the hordes weren't manageable by a team of students. "It's obvious why Ruby accepted it."

"Team of fourth years got their asses handed to them, huh?" Yang shook her head. "Don't make student like they used to."

"I consider that a good thing. It means that we live in relatively peaceful times."

"Yeah…you keep thinking that." Yang said, closing the folder and yawning. "So you must have gotten in late."

Weiss nodded, the implication clear. "Pyrrha and I were just discussing a long term mission assignment. It's time for the yearly recruitment along the walls. Several older hunters are slated for retirement and positions are opening. I hear that that team CFVY have all accepted the assignment."

"The wall assignments are for lazy hunters who don't give a rat's ass about the outlying forests and supply routes." Yang shot back, but Weiss had already thought long and hard about it.

"They're also an option for hunters with families." Weiss said pointedly, seeing vivid lilac eyes glare at her.

"Okay..." Yang said, putting down her mug. "I'm listening."

"The walls around Vale are the defense we count on the most. It's a mental comfort to the people, seeing the hunters stationed on the walls, gates, and outposts. It pays well too. Salary, not commission." Weiss explained looking down into her own coffee in thought. "Hunters with families like working the walls because it's so close by."

"Lots of bonuses, by the sounds of it." Yang said slowly. "Too good to be true, calling it right now."

Weiss lifted her eyes to Yang. "It's like an Atlas military base in some ways. We'd stay on site while on active duty…but our close proximity to Vale means we'd be able to check in on days off…anyway, Pyrrha was considering taking a post. They work in teams of two though, like Beacon all over again. Pyrrha would rather not be assigned a partner she doesn't know, if she can avoid it."

"Jaune's not going?"

"He is, but for room assignments, they bunk in groups of eight."

"Full alliances?" Yang scratched her head. "Why that many?"

"Each segment holds a full squadron of sixteen. I can only assume it's to save space." Weiss shrugged then. "Coco propositioned JNPR for the extra four slots, but Ren and Nora declined. They want to be out in service to the people. Given our finical situation, it would make sense for two of us to team up and bring in some real income around here." Weiss had already decided she was going to join...now, she just had to convince Yang. "Starting salary is twenty grand a year…just a little bit over Vale's minimum wage."

"Forty total, in household funds if two of us go…" Yang murmured, starting to see the upside in such a plan.

"We make about thirty among all four of us on a good year. I don't belittle all of the charity work that Ruby and Blake do…but breaking even finically isn't going to keep the lights on around here." Weiss said softly. "Working within the walls doesn't conflict with our interests remotely. Money is money…and it is, as you say, a relatively safe position for a hunter. We'd be around more consistently too, if we didn't have to take the higher paying field missions."

"One of the safest." Yang sighed. It was the same thing as an easy ride, or cushy desk job. Only a handful of hunters stationed along the walls died every year due to a Grimm infestation. The same could not be said for the hunters sent out into the field. Their tolls were much, much higher. So high in fact, that Yang didn't even dare to look at the numbers. "Alright…I'll think about it…"

AYangThang: Finally back from my week away from the internet. It feels good to actually have a little bit of personal time to do what I want again. Anyway, this is getting a double post tonight, so be on the lookout for chapter 11 within the next hour or so...those of you Blake/Weiss following "I Want a Cub" updates will resume for that on Sunday and will follow their normal pattern.