Hey guys! Only three/four days and I'm updating again - it's the work! Working as a translator makes my writing go up a lot! Maybe. Not sure. Nightmares are still here, if they could kindly scram from my nights I'd be very grateful, and here's the chapter.

Yang Xiao Long wasn't happy. Far from it, actually. The only thing she could even remotely call happiness was the fact she was not back in imprisonment, and was glad of it. Other than that, she did not see how she could feel any kind of contentment in her current position.

First of all, she still hadn't found Ruby, and that was the main cause of her discontent. She had sacrificed everything to find her, and she still wasn't any closer to her sister. Part of her wanted to be angry at Ruby for taking the risk of fighting Torchwick and being so incautious, but eventually it didn't matter any more. As soon as she found her, actually, Ruby would be grounded for the rest of her life. And if Yang couldn't become a Huntress, fine! She'd remain at home and make sure Ruby didn't get in trouble again. Better lock her in her room than risk losing her again. She knew her thoughts weren't completely rational, they hadn't been ever since she'd failed to get Ruby back at Junior's, but the important part weren't the details, it was saving her sister.

A great part of her anger was also directed at her 'partner', Weiss Schnee, the most arrogant bitch on the face of the planet. Always so high and haughty, she was the polar opposite of Yang. Where she was passionate, she was cold. Where she trusted her instincts, she was logical and calculating. Where she used her strength, she used precision. And where she cared for her sister, she only cared about herself and her reputation. Yang couldn't stand her. Even as they 'worked together' to save Ruby, she freely admitted she would've preferred Cardin over her. Sure, he was an asshole and all, but at least he wouldn't question every single command just for the sake of protesting – he wasn't that stupid.

She was also angry at Junior and the Arc sisters. While her actions might've crossed the line, she had still been in the right – she had still been trying to do the right thing and save her sister from a criminal. True, they didn't deserve what she did to them, but they had still plainly hindered her even though they knew she was searching for her sister. And besides, Junior was a mafia boss, and an info broker. He should face charges way worse than hers. Instead, he got off scot-free thanks to the club's insurance, while she was punished for trying to do her job as Huntress! And if that wasn't enough, Ozpin and even her uncle Qrow were against her. Qrow, the same man who didn't hesitate to threaten Junior and deal with criminals to get Ruby back. He'd committed the same crimes as her, yet he was being praised instead of punished.

All because he had a Hunter license, a mission directly from Ozpin, and a reputation to match the amount of alcohol he drank every day.

A fucking formality, and fame.

That was what she didn't have. Methods? She got them right. Skills? Not at Qrow's level of course, but she was far from a pushover. Contacts to get info? …while she wouldn't exactly count Junior as a contact, he did count as an informant. Ways to get somewhere? She had her bike. All she didn't have was a damn formality. Her name wasn't in the list of official Hunters, and as such she was being punished for overstepping the line instead of praised for her initiative.

And finally she was angry at that bitch of her biological mother. True, she hadn't dropped them back at Beacon, but after Qrow explained her Semblance to them, it was clear she wouldn't have been able even if she'd wanted to. She had tricked them, and had meant to trick them since the start. The only -small- positive side of her dishonesty was that they could search Orlén for hints – not that she believed they would find anything, of course. Still, it was more time for them out of imprisonment.

Who knows, maybe they'd even be able to escape Qrow and get back to finding Ruby.

She knew Qrow was a damn good Hunter, but even he wasn't infallible. Far from it, going by how his search for Ruby was going. He was also very busy at the moment, asking Oum knew who about Oum knew what, probably all very shady stuff if the pub they had found him in was anything to go by. If the two of them run off, they could probably disappear, and they'd have all the time in the world to get Ruby back. And then, Qrow and Ozpin and everyone would see she was right after all.

Was she really asking too much? She didn't think so.

"Yeah, you're right!" a chillingly familiar voice rang out from the hotel they were walking by. "He cares for the both of us!"

Yang froze, and Weiss almost bumped into her. It wasn't possible, yet she would never mistake that voice. There of all places, where Qrow himself was, and yet she had been the one to find her. It seemed almost like fate's hand had a part in it. And it was close, so very close, close enough that she could just turn and-

Ruby.

And an older version of her, in a white cloak.

Yang turned to stone.

"Mom! Mom! Can I have cookies?" a six-year-old Yang asked as she attached herself to the woman's leg. Her mother smiled and ruffled her hair, silver eyes shining under the dark red bangs.

"Of course you can. Make sure Ruby doesn't eat them all, I'm counting on you."

"Thanks Mom, you're the best!"

Little Yang run off behind the woman to grab the plate overloaded with chocolate chip cookies, still slightly steaming, fresh from the oven. Summer laughed and helped her daughter carry the cumbersome object. "Calm down, my little sun dragon. Pay attention or you'll trip."

"Yang? Yang! What are you looking at?" She was broken out of her reverie as Weiss annoyingly waved a hand in front of her. For a second, she thought about grabbing that hand and snapping her fingers, but then she thought better of it. Besides, there was no time to waste, so even Weiss's action was welcome.

She took a deep breath. That had to be an illusion or trick of some kind. Her eyes widened. Of course! Ruby's letter had mentioned going after her mother! And there sat a woman who looked exactly like their late mother. Yang's hands clenched into fists and she growled.

Ruby had been tricked by false hopes. She believed that impostor to be her mother.

Her hair exploded in flames.

/-/

Qrow Branwen wasn't having a good day. Not only he was still relatively sober -which always made his mood go down quite a bit- but his hothead of a niece and her bitchy Ice Queen Jr partner were making things twice as hard for him! He knew the right thing to do would be to bring them back to Ozpin and then go on with his search, but deep down, he hoped he wouldn't need to.

After all, if he found Ruby soon enough, he could return in triumph, and maybe lessen the punishment for Yang – and the Schnee brat too, at least as thanks for Winter's help during the mission. True, the Ice Queen Sr wasn't with him this time, but she had paid eighty thousands Lien to get Junior to spill the beans about Torchwick. Beans that had turned out to be old and rotten, but that had still been useful in a way. Going by what Junior had told him, Ruby had yet to be harmed, so there was a big chance for her to be still unharmed.

And if he brought her back safe and sound, who knew, maybe Yang would only need to pay for some damage, do some community service, and undergo some years of Anger Management therapy, without having to give up her dream to become a Huntress.

'Ugh… what I don't do for my nieces…' he groaned. Those two were going to be the death of him one day.

"RRRAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!"

…Probably sooner rather than later.

/-/

Adam Taurus hated himself for it, but he jumped in the blonde's way, blade halfway drawn, and parried the heavy punch she was trying to deliver to Summer. He wasn't doing that because of loyalty or friendship, far from it, but he figured that he didn't need to start a three-way battle in a hotel like that. If he could keep the two humans from thinking of him as an enemy, then he could win this battle. He just needed to engage and finish it quickly.

He pushed the blonde off and sheathed Wilt again. Using Moonslice would just cause even more of a ruckus, and he truly didn't want to have the whole police department of Orlén on his ass because of that. Better to let them drag the blonde away and leave him alone with the Schnee.

His hatred called for her blood, but he reigned himself in… for the moment.

"Fuck off!" screamed the girl in front of him. He took a split second to study her. Her hair seemed aflame, and her red eyes were proof of his theory of a berserker-style warrior. Her muscle mass was considerable, and her gauntlets could shoot, if he felt the hit right – and he usually did. Some buckshot type of shotgun, which would greatly increase the force of her punches if they were to connect.

He wasn't planning on letting them.

"Yang?!" He heard the younger human, Ross or whatever, shout out the girl's name. The only kindness he'd show her would be not to kill her sister – if she stayed out of his way, of course. He figured he could 'repay' her for freeing him from the labs with the others. It wasn't like it costed him much: if she left the fight, he'd let her and focus on the Schnee either way.

"Ruby, stay away from them!" the blonde, Yang, roared again, but this time her voice sounded more normal, less animalistic. "I'm coming to save you!"

"That is your sister?" Adam's grip on Wilt became crushingly tight as the accursed Schnee brat spoke up, her voice imbued with the lordliness and arrogance so common in her family. His left eye began to burn in phantom pain, and more than ever he felt his hatred growing, threatening to overflow and make him lose control…

"Yang, no! They are helping me! He's a friend!"

Friend? That damned thief was right after all, the girl was unbelievably naive. They had known each other for barely a day, and there she went calling him her friend? It'd be a nice day in the Schnee mines when he were to be friends with a human. However, whether she actually meant it or not, he could see it for what it really was, believed or not. She was trying to make the blonde stop fighting.

She probably knew he wouldn't have mercy.

She was right.

"I'll be right there, Ruby, hang on!"

"Yang-" Summer's voice seemed to have the opposite effect of Ruby's.

"Shut up you bitch! I'm gonna kill you, you impostor!" the girl screamed, stunning the two women behind him as she launched herself forwards again.

This time, she was met with a kick from a heeled boot that did not belong to him. He was torn between snorting or groaning. Of course Roman's little sidekick would get there so fast – what could a teleportation Semblance not do when it came to movement? Obviously Torchwick and the others had heard the shout, and the midget had been charged to check on them.

How sweet.

And that probably meant the Grimm boy was on his way back too – which meant avoiding a ruckus was impossible now, not when he would try to chomp off the two girls' heads. While he would welcome the sight of the Schnee brat's headless corpse falling into a pool of her own blood, he wasn't stupid enough to think a large Grimm monster would go unnoticed, especially if he were to start going on a rampage in the middle of the town.

So they either cleaned it up quickly, or all hell would break loose.

The bicoloured midget landed beside him, pink and white coloured hair flying in her face before she brushed it aside with an elegant hand. Long hair was so impractical, he'd always tried to tell Blake that. It could be grabbed, and even more importantly it was a huge distraction, sometimes going as far as limiting peripheral sight. He really couldn't understand why warriors such as them would ever keep their hair long – Blake would've looked good even with short hair, so why bother? It wasn't like she'd be ugly without long hair.

His musing was cut short by a quick elbow in the side of his ribcage, courtesy of his newly arrived ally. He shot her an angry glare, but didn't speak – he knew she had been right, after all, in getting his attention back in the fight.

"Yang, what are you doing!? It's Mom!" Ruby shouted, raising from her seat and standing in front of her mother as if trying to protect her. "Stop it!"

"Step aside Ruby, that's not Mom! Mom is dead, they are just tricking you!" the blonde roared, and Ruby flinched, going as white as a ghost at the remark.

Taurus barely noticed the change, too busy analysing the fight. With the midget beside him, they had a very high chance of winning before anyone else arrived, be it the Grimm boy or the police. He had no doubt they would win, it was only a matter of how long it would take.

Still, riling his opponent up to make her attack and tire out would be a good idea. He almost regretted not having the male assassin around, or that damn thief. Those two were good at annoying their opponents – and their allies alike, but that was beside the point. However, just for this time, he would take the initiative, and take their places. "Some daughter you must be," he snorted derisively, stance tense and waiting for an attack. "Not even recognizing her own mother – you must really love her a lot."

As predicted, that sent the blonde over the edge. She exploded in flames -pushing the Schnee standing with a fencing stance nearby off-balance- and used her gauntlets to shot off toward him. He ignored Ruby's cry of warning, or maybe plea, and drew his sword, intent on cleaving her a couple of times before sending her back. However, before he could, an annoyingly familiar bicoloured blur shot past him and kicked the blonde in the stomach, interrupting her momentum, before backflipping and landing a butterfly kick on her face, sending her flying back. He wanted to be angry at her, but he found out he couldn't: if she had chosen the blonde as her opponent, that meant he had the Schnee, and she'd just done him a favour.

He dashed forth, his right hand on his sword's hilt while the other held his sheathe, ready to turn it into a rifle in case he needed to.

Finally something good was coming out of that mess.

A huge sword cleaved that notion in two, as well as the air not five feet ahead of him. Adam halted immediately and brought his sword up to block the powerful follow-up, which was strong enough to make him skid back a little. Jumping backwards to put some distance between him and his new assailant, he scowled at his misfortune.

The greyish black hair, slight stubble on his chin, dull red eyes, grey shirt with black pants and red cape, and most of all the huge greatsword he held in his hands were a dead giveaway. Qrow fucking Branwen – someone he really didn't want to fight and, if the midget's shock was anything to go by, neither did his ally.

"Uncle Qrow! Stop! There's no need to fight!"

He really wished the girl could keep her mouth shut. Or at least talk as she fought, instead of hesitating just because she didn't want to hurt either party.

Interestingly enough, though, the man before him did heed her words, and took a defensive stance instead of attacking. "Yang!" he barked out without looking, and Adam had to give it to him: he knew when an opponent needed to be kept in sight all the time. "Calm down! That's an order!"

The blonde looked like she very much wanted to go on fighting, but at least she avoided attacking again – if anything to prevent the midget from handing her own ass to her.

"They tricked Ruby!" she shouted angrily.

"Yes, but charging head on isn't gonna solve anything!" the man barked back.

Adam was amused by the Schnee brat's reaction. She rolled her eyes, looking as if she wanted to be there even less than the terrified waiters hiding behind the counter. Not out of fear, but out of apparent disinterest. So like a Schnee, committing crimes and then trying to look like innocents and victims. At least he took full responsibility for everything he did, instead of hiding behind an empty sentence or two, and calling everyone liar and slanderer whenever he was accused of being a criminal.

The Schnees were far less sincere.

The only thing they weren't ready to deny was money. Everything else was unimportant as long as they got what they wanted. Money, power, property, reputation – the only four things a Schnee understood and wanted.

He glanced behind himself just in time to see Summer open her mouth to say something. He glared at her and put a finger to his lips, telling her to stay silent before running said finger across his mouth in the universal sign of 'be mute'. If they truly believed her to be an impostor, it was best if she only spoke when prompted – and didn't try to appeal to them.

"It's not a trick!" Adam wanted to slam his head into a wall. "She's real! I found Mom!"

"Shut up everyone!" roared the Faunus, deploying his rifle and firing at the ceiling. While the owners wouldn't be happy about it, he couldn't care less, and at least it did the job. Once he was the centre of everyone's attention, as much as he despised what he was doing, he began trying to settle the moment without needing to fight. While he usually enjoyed, even sought fights, taking the risk with so many unknowns, and with so much confusion among the four family members was not on his to-do list for the day.

He had just wanted to quietly leave the group and disappear. Heck, in a way he was even doing them a favour – they wouldn't need to help him for anything. Then, he had just wanted to fight and kill the Schnee brat, preferably without causing too much of a ruckus and without getting found by his 'allies'. Why had Fate decided to drop him in such a situation, he didn't know, but he'd play with the hand he'd been dealt. He'd done so his whole life, one more mess to get out of wasn't anything that concerned him.

"Is it bad I'm not surprised you'd do something like that?"

Taurus actually groaned at that. Of all damn times…

All the combatants turned to analyse the two newcomers, with Qrow looking the most taken aback. Which of course meant he had recognized them despite their disguises, and that really didn't bode well for them.

Adam just hoped the Grimm boy wouldn't show up just as quickly as they did.

/-/

Mercury Black lazily observed the scene in front of him.

Smashed wall to allow access even without using the door? Check. Terrified civilians hiding in the stupidest of places? Check. Two sides, facing off each other? Check. Big-tittied girl? Check, now he was only waiting for her to die in some stupid way. Professional fighter staring down his opponent? Triple check for Branwen, Taurus and Neo. Uncertain or reluctant fighters? Double check for Red and Red. Stupid fighter trying to attack mindlessly and being stopped every time, to everyone's amusement? Check, though without the amusement part.

Seriously, it was like they wanted him to make a comment.

Oh well, if that was what they wanted…

"Okay guys, where are the cameras? Gotta put on my best evil smirk," he stated as flatly as he could, regarding the whole lot of them with a raised eyebrow. "Because this is something straight out of an action movie. The low-budget ones."

"Hygin… or whatever your name is." And there went his humour. For a drunk, Qrow Branwen really didn't know how to have fun sometimes. "So you're working with them now."

"Well, you know, the pay's good, company could do better but I'm used to jackasses, and the workload's pretty light," shrugged the assassin, ignoring the actual question behind it entirely. "And what about you? Since when a Hunter such as yourself takes missions with brats?"

"Who are you call-"

"Case and point, thank you for your useless input, Schnee." The girl was fuming, but apparently she had enough brain not to attack immediately. Good, that meant the only one who would attack unprompted was the busty blonde – and damn if he hadn't noticed the size of her rack. Those things were as big as his head! Still, he had a fight to either solve, make worse, or have fun in, depending on how Qrow and the rest would take a good-natured 'fuck off'. "So, what are you doing here – aside from searching for Red and Little Red, of course?"

"You have my niece," was all the Hunter said, jerking his head toward Ruby.

Fuuuuuuuck. Okay, so that got even more personal. The blonde being her sister, he could handle – not understand how they could be so different yet sisters, but he could handle such a situation. But Qrow freaking Branwen being Little Red's uncle? That was bad. That was freaking bad. That was-

"Perfect!"

No, not perfect. He turned to glare at Torchwick for having interrupted his train of thought, but the sheer relief on his face confused him long enough for the thief to continue.

"I mean, you want Little Red back, that's perfect! That's exactly what we were gonna do, so you take her, take Red too, and go back home! You're happy, we're happy, we get rid of that ridiculously naive child and her almost as ridiculously naive mother, and everyone goes on with their separate, distant lives!" The criminal spread his arms as if to hug the whole world. "See? Problem's solved, we can all go. Because, fair warning, our last companion is probably on his way here, and he's gonna be pissed when he arrives. And if he gets pissed, I'm not the one picking up what's left of Blondie and Whitey over there."

"I am W-"

"An absolute moron who can't get when it's time to shut up, sit tight, and let the grown-ups talk," snarked Qrow, sending her a scathing glare that, at least, actually silenced her. Then the Hunter turned back to Torchwick, though still keeping Taurus in his sight – smart move, Mercury had to give him that, he wasn't stupid. "You're just going to give her up after going through all that trouble? After kidnapping her, dragging her away, and hiding all the while?"

"Okay, three things. One, we weren't even hiding, you were just slow at finding us. Second, from what I've been told, Little Red over there wasn't included in the plan initially, and got it in her head that she had to come with us. And three," Mercury held up three fingers. "Jaune's the one who convinced Roman to take her with us. End of the story."

"It's true, Uncle Qrow." Ugh, the silver-haired assassin wanted to scoff or tear his hair out in frustration. Why was that brat talking?! If she wasn't ready to fight, then she should've kept out of the conversation just as well! "We found Mom. They helped me. I know they're not good people but they didn't do anything wrong to me…"

"That's not Mom, Ruby, Mom is dead! That's-"

Torchwick apparently decided he wasn't in the mood for listening to children's arguments. "Cut it out, Blondie, you're assuming stuff you don't know. I didn't get smacked around by a giant Deathstalker for an impostor. That's the real deal – unless she's been faking her identity for a decade or so, since before Jaune Marked her with his Semblance."

"Marked?" Qrow inhaled sharply. "What does that mean?"

"It means Jaune's Aura protects her for as long as it can," Ruby explained quickly. "He saved her! She was being kept prisoner and-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, let's cut down some details, a story can't be spoiled like that!" Torchwick interrupted her, chuckling lightly. Mercury knew that chuckle, and it wasn't a mirthful one, but a warning. He snorted. If the thief could manage to get through Ruby's bone head and make her understand she needed to shut up, he'd bow to him.

No, he wouldn't, but that was beside the point.

"How can we be sure you aren't lying?" asked Qrow, and Mercury wanted to applaud him. Finally someone who asked the right question! "How do we know she's really Summer?"

Torchwick shrugged. "Ask her some questions."

Duh. He wanted to scoff. Seriously, if he doubted their sincerity, why ask them for confirmation?

The man took a deep breath -useless dramatics, in Mercury's humble opinion- before turning to look at the woman with the white cloak. "Okay, if you're really Summer, tell me something only Summer could know."

Though, now that Mercury thought of it, taking into consideration Summer's long time in imprisonment, maybe making her recall so long-gone times wasn't the best way to prove them right.

"During our first day in Beacon, Tai convinced you that the skirt was part of the Beacon uniform, and you strode into the classroom without a care in the world," reminisced the woman, easily enough, if he might add. Maybe it was a memory she had really cherished. "During our third year, you made a business out of selling Raven's underwear, but all those were just second-hand panties and bras you bought in a charity shop, and they never found out. And finally, the day Ruby was born, when my waters broke, you kept running around like a headless chicken alongside Tai, and Yang was laughing like crazy."

All in all, Mercury decided, it was a pretty good story, whether it was true or not. It wasn't too detailed, but that was to be expected given how much time had passed, and how it had passed, but more importantly it wasn't too vague, still keeping a realistic feel to it.

Given by how the man began shaking, it was realistic enough.

"S-Summer?" Qrow croaked out, all of his previous confidence gone.

"Q-Qrow? Are you s-sure that's her?" the blonde girl stuttered. And again Mercury wanted to scoff. How many times did they have to go for the classic cliché? Why could no one accept someone they had thought dead for basically a decade hadn't actually died? That instead she'd been prisoner for years, and that the people they wanted to fight had actually been the ones who had saved her? Why couldn't people just accept their world being turned upside down and colour-inverted?

He'd taken worse in stride.

He'd seen the fucking Queen of the Grimm.

Until he saw one of the old Gods in that stupid legend about the Brothers, he could consider himself unimpressed forevermore… or well, until Grimm boy decided another little transformation was in order.

Wait a second…

Oh fuck. Fuck Fuck Fuck, with capital Fs.

What if Jaune actually transformed on a later date? He wasn't afraid to admit that thing scared the hell out of him. Power-wise, he rationally knew he could take it down – he was faster and, though not stronger than it, he was still pretty strong. He could wear it down and take it out.

The problem was that both times he'd seen it, he'd been way too terrified to do that.

So what would happen if he were to transform again, and they didn't have their little flashbanger of theirs with them? Ruby was the only one who could stop him – while also knocking herself out, but that was beside the point. The point was that they'd remain with a freaking monster without control way too near them for his liking – and anywhere within two miles was to be considered near, in his humble opinion.

He really hated to be the killjoy and break up such a touchingly awkward situation. After all, maybe if he were to give them a few more hours, Qrow or Blondie or either Red would finally move and start a normal family meeting instead of staring at each other wordlessly. And they were lucky the police nor Jaune had yet arrived! Had they been there, it would've been a hell of a lot harder to handle it.

Now, the only thing they needed to do was to take away Ruby after telling them they'd give her back, or dumping Blondie, basically the only thing keeping them on the same 'quest' instead of scattering each on their own. It was going to be a real piece of cake, wouldn't it?

Mercury fucking loved his life. When his life wasn't too busy hating and shitting all over him just for the fun of it, that is. And unfortunately, those rare moments of peace seemed to have all expired, because the only good side Mercury could see, was that he'd made a good internal laugh about the scene when he'd first arrived.

The rest had been prime-quality bullshit. And he was really tired of having to swim in bullshit. He'd much rather leave it to someone else, someone who wasn't risking everything at every word.

Alas, everyone else seemed to be either too busy with the little family not-moment, or too stupid to think about it, so as usual he had to be the one swimming in the shit and getting everyone out. While he was an expert in the former, he wasn't sure he was really the most qualified one to save everyone from the waterfall of shit that was about to go down.

Unfortunately, there was no other choice.

"Uhh… yeah, change of plan, you can keep Red, but Little Red kind of has to stick with us. So yeah, we're taking her with us."

Yes, he regretted it.

This was so fun to write, which is ironic considering what's going on. Jaune is still not here, for the moment, and the police isn't gonna arrive - I'll tell you since you wouldn't know otherwise: Qrow called the police while he was running there, to tell them he had it under control and all that bullshit. Since he's a professional and famous Hunter, they did as he told them. Why? Because Yang and Weiss are currently criminals, being caught by the police would get SO messy, and as I wrote he's hoping to get their punishment lessened a bit. In canon, Yang DID get away scot-free, probably because of Oz, Tai and Qrow.

Also, no one pointed it out, but it's true that they can't exactly give up Ruby like that. They don't know it's the eyes, so they aren't keeping Summer too. But that's gonna happen in the next chapter.

The more I write Mercury, the more I love writing him. Same goes for Torchwick and, though on a smaller scale, for Taurus. I like writing Qrow though it's hard to maintain a professional yet laid-back Hunter personality, so I have to focus a lot more. Oh, and Neo? She's the best. I love writing her dialogues. XD

Nothing else to say except I know you'll hate me for ANOTHER cliffhanger. What can I do? Cliffhangers keep the attention of the readers, and these chapters need to be linked together as they are very important - we'll get a filler or slice of life chapter soon enough, after this mess settles.

Until next time,

Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh