Taiyang Xiao Long was on his knees, holding the letter he had received from Atlas. It had been signed by several government officials and even the president. Summer Rose's body would be returned to him on Patch within two weeks. Condolences were offered but Tai thought most of them were insincere. He couldn't help but resent every single word in the letter. He found himself fighting the primal urge to burn it. If he didn't think he would have to fight the Atlesian government for Summer's body, he would have destroyed it. Alas, Tai knew full well that he would need proof at some point. Proof was everything to Atlas. Their entire government was spinning on a toy top of it. Tai felt his hand tighten around the letter and begin to crush it. He knew he wasn't in the most rational state, but he had no interest in being rational. His wife was dead. His best friend had gone out for a few weeks to try and clear his head, leaving Tai alone to take care of his daughters and his godson. He had never been so angry in his life. They had promised the mission would be safe, that nothing would happen, and they were liars for it. Nothing was going to bring back Summer, and Tai was pissed at everyone involved except for James Ironwood, who he knew had tried to protect her. The rest of them could go to hell.

Dropping the letter, he stared at its words again, trying to understand their perspective.

URGENT

Department of Foregin Affairs and Military Action, Unified States of Atlas

March the 15th, 2010

Declassified

Tai hated the header. It was cold and nothing more. Nothing suggested that a life had been ripped away without so much as a chance to settle affairs. Their choice of date for sending him their "decision" infuriated him too. The date was too ironic; "beware the ides of March," they always had said.

Mister Taiyang Xiao Long,

It with deep regret that we inform you that your wife, Miss Summer Anna Rose, died in combat earlier this month. Following the autopsy conducted by the military, as she was functioning as an Atlesian government contractor at the time of her death, the cause of death was determined to be internal bleeding and severe burns sustained in an explosion near the site. As many lives were lost, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Military Action will begin an investigation into the events that transpired on March the 4th, 2010. This is a trying time, one that will not be taken lightly. Also, we will return the body of Miss Summer Rose to you for buriel.

Underneath the first page of the letter were the other two pages containing the personal notes from the head of the Atlesian DFAMA and Atlesian President Marabelle Brie. Tai almost hated their words more than the dry ones of the official notice. At least the notice wasn't trying to sympathetic.

Mister Xiao Long,

I apologise for the delay in returning the body of your wife to your home and to you. I hope she will find happiness in the next life.

On her person were her wedding ring and an odd necklace. Attached are both of them for you. Do with them what you will.

Condolences,

Arwyen Elizabeth Morell

Head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Military Action, Unified States of Atlas

Tai hated Arwyen Morell for the way she had dismissed his claims of the woman who had attacked him and, presumably, Emmett and Qrow. Even more so, he hated her for the blind eye she and eveyone else in Atlas had to the possibility that Angelica Schnee had been murdered. Truthfully, he had never quite beloved Qrow's grief-stricken assertion, but hated the woman for it. He was sickened, too, by the attraction he had always felt towards her. He wrote it off to her being delicate and pale with long dark hair and a small spattering of freckles on her nose and cheeks. He crumbled up her note and ignored Brie's. He knew President Brie had done an unusual thing, personally offering her condolences, but he hated it. It just didn't feel right.

Nothing felt right anymore, not for him, at any rate.

Qrow Branwen hated himself for being where he was now. Given that he was broke, however, he didn't have much of a choice and he had to beg his brother in law for money. Him and his wife. Qrow hated Emmett and Emmeline but he knew his own limits. He loathed every part of his being when he knocked on the door, and he struggled not to glower at Emmett when he opened the door with a cigar in hand. Clearly, he wasn't doing much better when it came to how he was coping with his sister's death. Qrow wanted punch him for it. Emmett may have lost a sister, but Qrow had lost a wife. That was always going to be a much harder void to fill. Emmeline frowned upon seeing him step into the living room. Qrow met her stare as evenly as he could despite having more than a few harsh words for her and about where she could put her opinions. Emmett quickly got their children to leave the room and go to sleep, but both he and Emmeline were silent for a long time. By the time he finished his cigar, they were all still waiting for someone to speak. Qrow sat down awkwardly across from them, noticing the way Emmett protectively held his wife. He had never held a high opinion of his brother in law, but he seemed so human and vulnerable.

Qrow could hardly believe it but, at a time when Emmett's life wasn't endangered, he was feeling sorry for him.

"I'm really fucked," He finally said, running a hand through his hair. "Even with the extra money I'll be getting from the Mountain Glenn mission, I'm barely going to be able to survive. Tai and I can't...without…"

He fought back the urge to cry and instead buried his face in his hands. The loss of both his wife and Summer cut him deeply, and he was horribly lost because of it. Never before had his mind been so damn conflicted, let alone so desperate. Everything he had planned on had disappeared in the blink of an eye. He wanted — no, he needed — someone to blame for it all. He was sure Summer had been killed by that woman he kept seeing. The problem was, half the time he wasn't sure she was real. If she were, after all, things would be incredibly grim for the future.

"Oh my God," Emmeline said, absolutely stunned. "Are you seriously asking us for money? Have you lost your mind?"

"If you want to be disparaging, then go right ahead," Qrow gruffly told her, not looking up. "But I...I need to do something. Either file for bankruptcy, or give up my son, or leave him alone for long periods of time, or…"

"Why don't you get a job?" Emmeline tartly suggested. "If you can't take missions, then find another way to make money. You aren't stupid, after all."

Qrow snorted. "Like I haven't considered that. I think you've forgotten that, unlike your husband, I ain't qualified to teach a damn thing and neither is Tai."

"Well," Emmeline irritably replied. "Playing 'shut up and give me the money' isn't going to work either."

Qrow finally looked up and met her harrowing gaze. He knew her family was powerful and had ungodly amounts of money, but he wasn't afraid of her and never had been. Emmeline was a stone-cold bitch, to say the very least, and nothing more.

"You think I want to have to do this?" His hands shook in his lap. "I've lost everything and I don't know how to keep going. Without Angel —"

"You're going to have to figure something out whether or not we decide to help you this time around," Emmett snapped. "You're not the only one whose lost a lot. My father and sister died weeks apart. My mother has been exposed as a criminal, and it turns out Willow and I were raised on a throne of lies. If you think —"

"Do you have any idea how this feels —" Qrow stared angrily.

"Yes," Emmeline said, squeezing Emmett's hand and staring Qrow down. "And, unlike you, we're trying to move on. There isn't a damn thing left to do other than that...not if we want to —"

"You have it all," Qrow shook his head. "I have nothing."

Emmeline and Emmett shared a long look but then, much to Qrow's shock, she merely sighed in resignation.

"We'll help you this time around," Emmeline said coldly. "But don't you dare forget just how much you owe us for this...I sure as hell won't."

Chad Leviner could hardly believe what he was seeing. A little girl. Her burly guardian. The way he slapped her like she was nothing. His hand tightened around his gun under his cloak. He hated people like that. The burly man disappeared into the store, leaving the little girl outside. Leviner frowned upon noticing her grey ears. She was a Faunus. It seemed like he wasn't. His free hand balled into a fist. He wanted to shoot that damn man for apparently exploiting a child. His heart pounding in his chest, he slowly approached the little girl. She stared at him, confused and clearly afraid. Chad was in full uniform and knew he could look menacing. Still, he had been held in Vale for a few weeks and wanted to do something right while he was there. They hadn't been able to much for the people while they had been in Mountain Glenn. He would have to call his wife and warn her beforehand (if he was going to bring a child home) but he would be allowed to save her. She was in tatters and seemed malnourished. Once she could reach out to touch him, she felt his face, staring at him strangely. Then, without warning, she hugged him. He could have sworn she mumbled the word "friend." Chad was sure he could have imagined it, but he was just as sure that it could have been real. She was hugging him the way someone who had never been hugged would. It was —

"Get your ass away from my girl!"

The burly started shouting the second he stepped out of the shop and pulled out a gun. He shot Leviner in the arm, and he pushed the little girl behind him to protect her. Quickly, he pulled out his own gun and started to fire on the man. Out of nowhere, a woman got in his way. In hindsight, she would seem more like a teenager but there was no doubt about her appearance. She was all but engulfed in flames. In an instant, she caused an explosion and, when the smoke cleared, she and the burly man were gone. A tirade of scared civilians and police began to swarm on the scene. The second he saw they had disappeared, however, Leviner dropped his gun and moved to protect the young girl with his entire body. He didn't know what else to do. He had seen too many people die in combat. Young people, the new recruits, once even an aging general that sacrificed his life to save his crew. Chad wanted to be that man. He saw her as an innocent and an abused. She was clutching his coattails, shaking. Soon enough, the commanding officer of the Valerian Capital Embassy Base and Standing Foreign Relations arrived.

"Lieutenant," He eyed Leviner sharply, shocked by his behavior. "Explain yourself and the cause of this destruction."

Leviner saluted his commanding officer and evened out his composure. "I did not cause this destruction," He replied. "I was protecting this child ahead of the arrest of her guardian. He appears to have abused her but he disappeared. It seems a contact must have orchestrated chaos for him to escape in if authorities closed in."

Leviner knew his story was half a lie but it couldn't be disproved anymore than it could be proven. The little girl was still holding onto him, a fact his commanding officer took note of.

"What of the girl?"

Leviner picked up the little girl and held her as protectively as he would hold his biological children. "She stays with me," He said, then swallowing hard. "Sir," He corrected. "She has been through much trauma. I won't abandon her."

His commanding officer narrowed their eyes and frowned at the girl. "What's your name?" He demanded, noticing that she was a faunus. In his head, he swore. He found the faunus to be more trouble than they were worth.

"Chloe…" She mumbled.

"Do you have a last name?"

The little girl shook. "Chloe...To...Torin."

"Keep the girl," The haggled old general said, shoving a file into Leviner's hand. "You can deal with the legal issues back in Atlas."

"Thank you, sir," Leviner breathed. Once his commanding officer was gone, he set Chloe down. She took his hand. "I'm going to take care of you," He told her. "I promise."