Oops, almost forgot to update this chapter. Not much to say at the moment...aside from mother nature not wanting winter to end for some reason. Well, enjoy this next chapter, and I'll talk to you guys later.

"Feeling better?"

"The stinging's gone, at least," Scarlet answered, stretching her legs out. The truck that the group was in rumbled along slowly, Sierra leaning back on the bed railing as she let out a sigh as she relaxed. Lima proceeded to begin massaging Scarlet's legs, the woman emitting a mewl as the pressure slowly released.

"Mmm…you're good, wolfie," Scarlet mewled, leaning back and relaxing. Lima couldn't help but smile as she continued her massage session. Ruby, who had opted to take a nap, slept soundly as the sound of a Beacon airship flying over filled the air. Sierra glanced up and watched as said ship zoomed by, causing her to smile as she could swear she saw Sakura waving at them.

"So what do you think that was?"

Scarlet glanced back at Sierra, raising an eyebrow in surprise as the latter continued, "That group that attacked us. What do you think that was about?"

"Might be because of little red riding hood, over there," Scarlet replied, motioning to the sleeping Ruby. Sierra turned to the sleeping red head, then turned back to Scarlet, confused. Scarlet simply chuckled and leaned back as she continued, "Silver eyes are a rare trait, after all."

"What're you talking about?"

"Qrow would give you a better explanation," Scarlet said, yawning as Lima finally finished her massage. The woman then raised her legs and put them on the truck's bed railing, sighing as she relaxed and slowly dozed off. Sierra, still confused, looked at Lima, who crawled over Scarlet to sit by her former leader. Said faunus's ears wagged happily, causing Sierra to smile and pet her hair, Lima closing her eyes, enjoying the silverette's touch.

"Hey, Lima."

The wolf faunus opened her eyes, her ear wagging having stopped.

"Listen…," Sierra stated, "I…have a real big reason to believe that Delta's alive."

Lima's eyes widened, her ears wagging again.

"On one of my more recent missions, I overheard some…people talking about him," Sierra continued, "Or, at least I think they were. There wasn't anyone else I could've linked their descriptions to."

"At the village," Lima then stated, "the chief talked of a swordsman."

"Huh?"

"An amethyst-eyed swordsman," Lima continued, "A huntsman as well."

Both women kept their eyes on one another, then heard the driver shout something, prompting them to look at the front of the truck. Lima immediately went to the front of the bed, followed by Sierra as they looked at Vale, growing in the distance. They then turned to each other, smiling as Sierra said, "What do you say we all go on a trip?"

Hotel sighed, dropping his bag at the door. After a long day of yet another odd job, he plopped onto the couch, unaware of baby Flare crawling from the hall, noticing her father resting. She then crawled over to the man and stood up with help from the couch, reaching over and touching her dad's ear. Hotel groaned and turned his head, seeing his daughter looking at him with her usual baby's enthusiasm, before she dropped down onto her butt and crawled off back to the hall. He smiled, then felt something sit on his back, causing him to gawk a little as Yang said, "It's not nice to come back and not say anything, you know."

"Sorry," Hotel replied, closing his eyes as he continued, "shitty ass jobs are exhausting."

Yang chuckled to herself as she began pressing the palms of her hands against Hotel's back, causing the man to groan slightly as the pressure in his back slowly began to disappear.

"Sorry if I'm not as good as Lima."

"Nah, you're alright."

Hotel was right about to relax fully before a knock on the door caught both his and Yang's attention. Before he could get up, however, he heard Sierra's voice say, "Hey there, cutie!"

Flare let out a small sound, catching both parents off guard as Lima gingerly walked in through the still open front door, Sierra already inside and holding Flare.

The baby stared at the silverette, then gave a frightened look and turned to Yang, who immediately laughed and hopped off of Hotel, taking the child. Sierra rolled her eyes as she said, "And I thought you liked me already."

Lima then walked over and reached out to Flare, the child gladly going to the wolf as Yang said, "She's only seen you once, so it's only natural."

Hotel groaned and sat upright, covering his face with his hands, then rested his elbows on his knees as he said, "Welcome back."

Lima walked back to the couch opposite of him and sat down, Flare reaching up to grab her ears as Yang sat next to him, then Sierra next to Lima.

"So what's up? It's not often Lima comes with someone," Yang said, clearly surprised to see three out of the four former Team SHLD members all together. Sierra shrugged and leaned back into the couch's backrest, relaxing as Lima said, "Important discussion."

Sierra closed her eyes as Yang asked, "'Important discussion?'"

Lima nodded as Hotel sighed and leaned forward again, getting an idea of what they wanted to talk about.

Sierra opened her eyes slightly, keeping her gaze upward as she said, "I believe there's enough reason to believe that Delta's alive."

"Thought so," Hotel sighed, standing up to stretch as he asked, "When do we leave?"

"What?"

Sierra, caught off guard, looked up at Hotel, who was already moving to get ready. Yang stared on after him, then leaned her elbows onto her knees as Lima stared after him. Flare stared on after her father as well, slipping out of Lima's grasp and crawling after him as Yang stated, "…He's been really uptight since you first told him your suspicions."

Sierra turned back to Yang, who sighed and leaned back, crossing her arms behind her head as she turned to the hallway, watching Flare crawl into the main bedroom after the man as she continued, "He's been restless lately, even I haven't been able to calm him down."

"I can imagine so," Sierra replied, Lima nodding as the former continued, "He and Delta were essentially brothers before D went missing."

Hotel, meanwhile, packed a small satchel, then turned around to see Flare crawling toward him. Almost immediately, he felt his heart wrench out of place as his child crawled over and up onto his leg, staring at him with her big, Yang-like eyes. He couldn't help but furrow his brow, slowly reaching down to pick her up. Flare smiled, showing her gums, causing him to smile back as he pressed his forehead to hers, feeling her hands reach around his face.

"You don't have to come along, you know," Sierra stated, leaning on the doorframe.

Hotel looked up, seeing her and Yang, the latter standing in front of him as she wrapped her arms around him. He didn't need to hear any words to know that Yang was very distraught as Sierra stated, "I know you want to come along, but right now, your family needs you."

Hotel looked at Sierra, then down to Yang, who held him tighter, Flare turning to face her mother as Lima poked her head from around the frame and nodded. Sierra nodded as well as Yang remained silent.

"Don't put Yang in Taiyang's situation," Sierra stated, "Your family is…the most important thing."

Sierra then kicked herself off the frame and finished, "Or at least that's what Delta would say."

Hotel blinked, then remembered a mission he had taken back in the day with Delta.

"So what're you going to do after this?"

Delta looked up at Hotel, taking note of the man's averted gaze, the train they were on rumbling along on its tracks.

Turning back to the window, Delta replied, "Hmm…not sure. Probably gonna try to spend time with Ruby."

"Yeah?"

"Yep."

"You've been keeping yourself busy, haven't you?"

"Almost too busy," Delta sighed, leaning against the window frame. Hotel, curious, turned to his teammate as Delta continued, "It almost feels like I have no free time nowadays. Like, I don't even have time to spend on my own, let alone hang out with Ruby."

"Really now? Don't you think you should tone it down a bit?"

"Yeah…but I think proposing to her will fix things up between us," Delta replied, a little hopeful. Hotel simply rolled his eyes and smiled, then leaned onto the frame as well. The two then began small idle chat until Hotel brought up, "So do you consider us family?"

"Of course," Delta replied without hesitation, "Trust and loyalty is what makes family."

Hotel raised an eyebrow in curiosity as Delta continued, "Even if the day comes that we aren't a team anymore, I'd still be loyal to you guys."

"So then, if you were asked to leave your family for a mission, would you do it?"

"Only if someone I love was in danger," Delta replied without hesitation.

"And why would you do it only if you were forced to?"

"Hotel."

The man turned his attention to Delta.

"If you ever get kids, don't make your wife, or Yang for that matter, into a single parent."

Hotel raised an eyebrow in confusion as Delta continued, "No wound is ever deeper than a broken heart. No matter how sharp the claws, swords, or whatever are."

"And you would know, how?"

"Obviously, my relationship with Ruby is wearing thin," Delta replied, giving a sad smile, "I'm…honestly not sure how much longer it'll last."

Hotel blinked, coming back to reality at the touch of his daughter, having propped up into a standing position, using her father as support. He then turned to Yang, who was still looking at him. There was a moment of silence before Hotel looked up and asked, "…Are you sure?"

"Plenty," Sierra replied, shooting a thumbs up at him.

"…Alright then," Hotel sighed, then looked back down at Yang, who smiled back and said, "It's that or I'm going with you."

"Which isn't going to happen," Sierra replied sternly, "You two both have to raise Flare, now. So just relax. Lima and I have this down."