Chapter 38

Robin took in the sights of Atlas as they walked through the streets, feeling like a sore thumb. This was definitely not a place that she belonged to. Malcolm had reassured her that she didn't need to dress up to meet his parents and that she didn't need to worry, he was certain that they would like her. Some of the things he'd filled her in on were: his little brother was called Merel, he was sixteen and looking to join Atlas Academy, then the Military. His Mother was called June and his Father was called Harken. His Mother was the strict one out of the pair, almost equally as busy as his Father and there was a high chance his Father would be called away on business. She nodded along, trying to keep their names in mind as they turned a corner and stopped outside of a gate. Robin peered through the bars and her mouth fell open. "I know your Dad's a General and everything, but seriously?"

"What?" Malcolm said as he pressed the intercom button on the wall.

"Welcome to the Adham estate, do you have an appointment?"

"Hey, Cyril, it's me, Malcolm."

The guys voice on the end changed to glee, "Malcolm! What a pleasure, please, come in, come in. Your parents will be excited to hear that you're here."

There was a buzz and the gates started to roll back. Robin gave the intercom a look before she raised a brow up at Malcolm's face. After a few moments he looked at her and his cheeks started to turn pink. "What?"

"You have a butler."

He narrowed his eyes at her and opened his mouth, "Cyril is not a butler. He's the family aide." Robin smirked and Malcolm rolled his eyes, "My Dad's a General and my Mom's on the council."

"Okay," she said, hands up with a grin.

"He forgets to do things without Cyril and she-"

"Are you sure that's not an old age problem?"

Malcolm walked side by side with her and hooked an arm around her shoulders, tugging her against his side with a sigh. "My Dad is not that old."

"Uh huh," Robin mumbled, hooking her fingers between his.

"Can you try to behave? Please?"

"A Branwen never behaves."

"Robin," he whined.

She chuckled and nudged her hip against his with a hum, "Relax. I'm not as bad as my Dad." Robin turned her attention to the large yards that they made their way through, one brow raised. "I can't believe your parents own all of this."

"Bit much?"

She tilted her head to one side and peered up at him, "Maybe?"

The front door was visible and they watched as it opened, revealing a tall man with messy, chopped green hair, dressed in an Atlesian uniform. Malcolm dropped his arm from Robin's shoulders and grinned as he gave a small wave, "Cyril."

"Malcolm," he offered with a grin before he turned his attention to Robin, "and you must be Miss Branwen."

Robin raised her brows and tightly smiled back, "Just Robin is fine."

"Of course, Robin, please come in." Cyril stepped to one side as they took the last few steps and entered the household. "How was your trip?"

"It was nice," Malcolm said. "Nothing eventful." He glanced around the empty parlour and gestured a vague hand, "Where erm, where is everyone?"

"Your Mother is in a meeting with the council."

Malcolm's smile faltered for a moment, "Of course."

Cyril's lips twitched into a grin, "But your Father and Merel are training."

"How is Merel doing?"

Cyril started walking and Malcolm and Robin followed behind him. Robin couldn't stop herself from looking around the place, amazed by how much space there was as she listened in to Cyril say, "He's definitely improved although there is still room for improvement. I'm sure your Father would love to see how you've improved yourself?"

Malcolm rolled his eyes with a small chuckle, "We're not here for that."

"And when does your Father listen to reasoning?"

"Now I wish we hadn't brought our weapons."

"He has spares."

"Don't remind me."

They passed through an open courtyard that overlooked a pond, home to several different fish. Passed that they ducked through an archway and another large building came into view. Cyril held the door open and Robin thanked him as she stepped inside and stopped next to Malcolm. They were in a single large room that was dominated by various terrains and buildings. There was the sound of various gunshots from within the space and Robin glanced towards Malcolm with curiosity. "I'll leave you two here," Cyril said as he stepped away. "Don't let him push you into anything."

"I won't," Malcolm said.

"I wasn't talking to you."

Robin raised her brows and turned to Cyril with curiosity. "Huh?" Cyril winked as the door shut behind him and Robin stared at the closed door as she leaned towards Malcolm, "What's he mean?"

Malcolm sighed as he eyed the terrain, "You'll find out." Robin glanced back to the main room and blinked as a bullet bounced off of an invisible shield in front of her. There were three more bullet ricochets before she finally caught a glimpse of a person with a blonde undercut. He swung a halberd about him as a series of gunshots fired off and when Robin followed the sounds she was met with the sight of an older man with short grey hair that was swept to one side. "Dad!"

The grey haired man paused to glance over to them and he waved a pistol in the air, "Just a minute Malcolm. We're almost finished."

The other person, who Robin assumed was Merel, transformed his halberd into a rifle and fired off a series of quick shots. Harken tilted one of his wrists up, one of his dual pistols transforming into a shield and he stepped forward, firing off more shots at Merel with his other pistol.

"Guys," Malcolm sighed, "come on. Really?"

Robin elbowed him, "Shhh, they're almost finished."

Merel marched towards Harken, firing shot after shot before he reached to his belt, changed the magazine in his rifle and grinned as he fired two shots of electricity. Harken grinned as he dropped the shield, letting it transform back into one of his pistols, jumped to one side and changed the magazine in his other pistol in the same motion. He fired off five quick shots of fire, lifted his other hand and turned his outstretched palm into a fist, aimed directly at Merel. The streams of fire changed their trajectory to arc around Merel's swinging halberd before they slammed into him from all sides, throwing Merel back and across the field. Harken chuckled after a few silent seconds and lowered his pistol before he scooped his second pistol, "How many times, Merel?"

The boy in question groaned as he sat up, a blue aura flickering around him as he held his head with a hand. "Yeah, I know. Too slow, again."

"Too slow?" Robin whispered.

Malcolm hummed as he leaned towards her, "He can kinda phase himself so that attacks go through him."

"Neat."

"His reactions are still slow."

"I noticed."

"Hey!" Merel said as he pointed his halberd in their direction.

"It's a fact," Malcolm said, hands up with a grin.

Harken chuckled as he joined them, holstering his pistols with a hum. "Now, now, there's still plenty of time for improvement. Especially if he wants to join Atlas military."

Merel rolled his eyes and traipsed over to join the other three. "You know what, I'd love to see you do better against Dad."

"Merel, Malcolm, please, calm yourselves. If anything I'm more interested in Miss Branwen." Robin's brows shot up and she turned her attention to the General. Harken was in front of her and his smile seemed innocent and passive enough, but his eyes betrayed a certain mirth that had her concerned by his tone and Cyril's comments about not being intimidated came to mind. "May we?" Harken said, gesturing one arm behind him at the battleground.

"Dad, no," Malcolm said.

"Dad, yes," Merel countered.

"Merel."

"Malcolm."

Robin diverted her attention back to Harken and couldn't help the small smile that touched her lips. Growing up with Yang and Ruby had made all three of them competitive when it came down to combat. Add Tai and Qrow into the mix who were always egging each other on and teasing the three girls meant that it was that little bit harder for Robin to decline Harken's challenge. However, Malcolm had wanted her to behave and she gave in to that small voice with upheld hands. "Maybe another time, Mr Adham."

"Nonsense," he said and he eyed his eldest son with a small furrow of his brows. "I simply wish to see your skills as a Huntress."

"Dad," Malcolm interrupted, "we're not here for that."

"Rain check?" Robin offered with a shrug.

Harken stared at her for a few seconds before he grinned, one hand extended, "That's a deal." Robin grinned back and shook his hand, ignoring the sigh that Malcolm let out. "I like you, Miss Branwen."

"Just, Robin is fine."

Harken hummed and released her hand to slap a hand onto Malcolm's shoulder. "Let's go see if your Mother's finished her meeting." He steered the older boy towards the door, holding it open as he glanced over his shoulder at Robin and Merel. "Tell me how are your studies going?"

Robin couldn't stop the slight quirk to the corner of her lips as she followed behind Malcolm and his Dad. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she thought. When she'd first heard that his Dad was a General in the Atlesian Army, she thought he'd be some kind of hard arse, judgemental, criticising pain in the ass, but he seemed almost fun. She listened vaguely as she followed behind them as Harken asked a hundred questions about their missions, their team mates, exams, their plans after Beacon, about the Vytal festival coming up this year and how they would try to attend it in person to watch them. Every now and then Harken turned a look over his shoulder to include her and ask her a question every now and then, "Your family are all Huntsmen and Huntresses correct?" "You must be excited for your final year." "Malcolm isn't causing you trouble is he?" "Has he told you about the time he threw up on one of the council members?" With each question she could feel the press of eyes to her skin and every slight turn of her head let her know that Merel had been caught staring at her. She was doing her best to bite back her tongue, but she'd had the same stares before and knew that it related to the scar on her face.

They passed through another door that led into a humble dining room and Robin raised one brow at Merel, lips pressed into a thin line. "Something on your mind?" she quietly asked, not wanting to draw too much attention.

His cheeks pinked and he darted his gaze away as he cleared his throat. "Sorry, I'm erm, I'm being rude." He finally met her gaze and had the decency to look sheepish, "He'd shown us a picture of his team and it's different, seeing you here in person."

"You mean this," she said, gesturing a finger to her face and at his small nod she let her lips morph into a small smile. "It's fine, everyone does it now and again. With the family I grew up with, it's not easy to be offended."

The door opened behind them and a tall woman with pristine blonde hair that was half pinned back into a series of curls. She wore a purple dress suit lined with black outlines and white brooches, a clear look of curiosity on her face as she took in the scene before her. After a few silent seconds her face morphed into a warm smile and she stepped forward to pull Malcolm away from Harken and wrap her arms around his shoulders. "It's good to see you, Malcolm."

"Hey, Mom," he said, wrapping his arms around her.

"How was the meeting?" Harken asked as he took his wives fingers and kissed the back of her hand.

"Long, repetitive and much needed. Ironwood certainly has some interesting ideas." Her eyes finally turned to land on Robin and she raised one brow curiously. "Malcolm, are you going to introduce us?"

Malcolm grinned as he settled his hand on the small of Robin's back and gestured between them, "Mom, this is Robin. Robin, this is my Mom."

Robin offered the best smile she could as she held out a hand out, "It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Adham."

"Miss Branwen," June said as she shook Robin's hand. "I see you've met my Husband and Merel." Her eyes turned to Harken with a slight narrow, "He didn't make an offer did he?"

"June," Harken said with a small chuckle in his words, "of course I did. The young girl rain checked me."

"Good," June said and she glanced back to Robin with the faintest of smiles to her lips. "Well I hope we can all get along. Please," she gestured to the table, "take a seat and tell me about yourself. Your family, why you became a Huntress, where you live, your goals for the future, what you hope to achieve."

Robin's shoulders sagged as they left the Adham estate. She never knew she could become so exhausted just by talking. June had been insistent with her questioning and by the time they parted ways she was sure they knew nearly everything there was to know about her: Ruby, Yang, her Dad, Uncle Tai, Patch, her choice in weapons, Vacuo, Signal Academy, her old friends from Signal. "Do I have to do that again?"

Malcolm gave an awkward laugh as he hooked their fingers together, "My Mom's intense, I know. I'm sorry, but at least she shouldn't have any questions again."

"Next time I'm accepting your Dad's offer."

"That's fine." He gave her hand a squeeze and guided them back to the docking stations so that they could get an airship back to Beacon. "I think she likes you if that makes you feel any better."

She curled her arm around his and let her head rest on his shoulder, "Not really."

"Okay," he whispered and he kissed the top of her head. "Well I'm sure Tawney and Yahto will be waiting for us when we get back, so you'll have a dozen more questions when we land."

She groaned and thumped her head against his shoulder, "Just kill me."

A/N: So I know I said I would introduce Malcolm's family and it was difficult writing this. It's probably not as long as I wanted it to be but I wanted to try to get their personalities the best I could without dragging it out. I hope you enjoyed and now that Christmas is over I should be back more often! Also I apologise if this seems different to what people remember the last chapter finishing on. I did alter the ending of the last chapter because I wasn't happy with it and felt like I was trying to add too much.

Diego Silver: Things always get worse... but this is a nicer chapter than normal for team Myrtle!

xenocanaan: Well let me file away Daisy for a rainy day...

Sabert00thsa: What happened to Robin in Vacuo will come to light I promise! Somebody's already made a guess that was very much along the right tracks however I will say nothing else for now! So never seen Sirius Jager (seen it recommended to me and always wondered) but I guess Robin's weapon is similar except it can completely dismantle into two weapons. Here is the introduction of Best Boy's parents, the team meeting will come during the Vytal tournament... which should be fun considering we all remember Qrow's famous entrance during this same time. (Anyone ever told you you're amazing?)

JimmyHall24: Qrow is without a doubt my favourite character and I will defend him with my life.

bjenk4: I have actually considered actual bird Robin and I have not finalised my decision on it (There is still plenty of time)

Guest: Oh my lord Qrow and Winter - you know she's going to have something to say about that.

Big Bad Beowulf: I'm glad to hear that you gave this story a second chance and it makes me smile to hear that you're enjoying it. Thank you so much!