I do not own RWBY

Walking back into the house, she immediately knew her team was asleep; mainly because it was almost midnight. No one would be awake this late except for her dad who was sitting at the table waiting on her the same way Tai did after she snuck out only to return at four in the morning with a slight hangover. forcing her shoulders to relax, she thought about simply walking past him and up the stairs before sighing in exhaustion. Walking over to the table, she sat down across from him watching with vague amusement as he swirled the alcohol in his glass with annoyance in his eyes.

"So, your team is being a bunch of brats," he said causing her to wince. The amusement faded from her eyes as she frowned; she'd failed as a team leader. On her watch, Blake had gotten hurt and Jaune was caused mental trauma. Why couldn't she do anything right? Would it have been better if she'd never gone to Beacon in the first place? She would have been able to move a lot easier without worrying about classes. The worst part of this situation however was that she missed her team from before the breach. She wanted things to go back to normal.

"I don't know what to do," she admitted softly causing him to frown down at his glass. Shifting in her seat she crossed her elbows on the table as she resisted the urge to begin pacing instead she said, "I tried so hard to be a good leader but now no one's speaking, and I'm scared I'll say the wrong thing and lose them forever. Worse I have no idea how to fix everything and Cardin is no help. Maybe it would have been better if I never went to Beacon at all."

Twitching the man shoved down the initial urge to disagree with her in favor of taking a long, very long, drink from his glass. Ruby was so much like her mother that it hurt; Summer had the same issues with being a leader. Only Summer didn't have the teenage version of a lost puppy following her around; or was Cardin more like a ruthless ferret thrashing around in the dirt, he could never decide. Anyway, he doubted his daughter would appreciate him comparing her greatest ally with random animals.

Oh god, he could still remember the two months they spent dating. He'd felt like murdering the boy with a rusted spoon which he could recall caused Ruby to break into laughter. As usual, she'd seemed more amused by his actions than anything else. His daughter was strange, he could admit that, she didn't seem to care all that much about morals; given she was related to Raven it wasn't that shocking she would have a warped idea of right and wrong. Even he had an unpopular idea of morality. When he looked at Ruby it was easy to see his sister in her too. Especially when she was fighting; that bloodlust of hers was all Raven.

Given that she hadn't felt anything when she killed that White Fang agent it should have worried him how like his sister she was. It didn't. Well, he was sure there was some small part of him that worried for the future, however, that was overshadowed by the fact he now knew she wouldn't allow herself to be killed due to some sense of honor or justice. The battlefield was no place for petty ideals that could get someone killed; he'd seen more than enough of his colleges fall to their ideals rather than an enemy blade. In truth, he was happy that his daughter had that warped sense of morality that the Branwens were so famous for.

"No teams perfect," he said finally. Sitting his glass down on the table, he closed his eyes for a moment remembering the craziness that was team STRQ. He missed the old days of just being insane with his team; he especially missed Summer. Tightening his grip on the glass in his hand he said, "my team had plenty of troubles too mainly due to our own pride. Summer was always trying to take on the world while Raven didn't care about anything outside our team, so she came off as antisocial and cruel. Oh, but get within five feet after threatening her teammates and she would put you in the ground faster than you could blink. Tai was an idiot playboy who had a major crush on my sister for years it was actually horrifying to watch him try to flirt with her. I just wanted to be useful for once and Summer needed me. She made me feel wanted for the first time in my life. I would have done anything for her."

His voice broke at the admission causing her to flinch. Watching him down the rest of his glass and pour another she could understand the feeling of despair that clung to him all too well. She missed her mom, not the woman who abandoned her either if she had to pick Summer was the only mother she ever had. The vague memories of freshly baked cookies and bedtime stories were more than enough to elevate the woman above the heartless bitch that was willing to sell her own daughter. Shoving the rush of anger back into the box in her mind it escaped from she stood slowly causing his eyes to lock onto her.

Offering a small smile that did nothing to hide the sadness in her eyes, she said, "I think we need some hot chocolate."

The amused huff of laughter that she got in return was all the approval she needed. Grinning she moved over to the cabinets to find the boxes. She refused to think about her team; although Jaune would love hot chocolate. This time was to be spent bonding with her father not thinking about her teammates who didn't even want to be around each other much less her. If only Cardin was here to tell her what they were thinking then she wouldn't have to guess or try to figure it out herself. Not that he could read their minds, he was an empath, not a telepath.

Was it wrong she actually shuddered at the thought of reading the minds of the Beacon population? They were horny teenagers after all and she was pretty sure that most of Pyrrha's thoughts were on how to get Jaune to love her. Not that the beautiful redhead needed to put in much work. With her looks Pyrrha could have anyone in Beacon that she wanted; if Ruby hadn't been so invested in Arkos she might've tried to seduce the older girl. Well, at least she still had Roman to pine after, which led her back to the fact Neo was hot. Like hot enough to make her swear off men if only for a few seconds.

Wait... what was she supposed to be doing right now? Hot chocolate that would need a minute or two for the water to stop boiling. That gave her plenty of time to think about her nonexistent sex life. She blamed puberty and awkward teenage hormones for her thoughts right now. Either way, it wasn't fair that she was fifteen again when she'd died a very sexually active woman; although her lover had betrayed her and left her to die which said a lot about her ability to pick men. Now she had a not so subtle crush on Roman too.

Gods when had she turned into such a stereotypical teenager? Was this the so-called bad boy phase that Tai had ranted about when Yang discovered dance clubs? Then again, she was vaguely sure that being a murdering psychopath was worse than her sister's habit of getting drunk every weekend not that Yang was doing that much anymore seeing as how she had an heiress to please. It said a lot when her sister had a better sex life than her. Finishing off the two cups of hot chocolate she pushed all thoughts of sex out of her mind because it was not a topic she wanted to cover with her dad.

Carrying the cups over to the table she handed his over as he raised an eyebrow at the mountain of marshmallows she'd created in her own cup. The scoff of amusement he let out was rewarded with a blush as she pouted. If he could put liquor in his hot chocolate, then she could very well steal all the mini marshmallows. Pushing them down into the cup until it was more of a gooey mess than a drink, she watched him mix his alcohol into his own cup.

Smiling Qrow leaned his back in his chair but the expression was more bitter than anything else. Studying the girl in front of him it was easy to remember her as a little girl following him around and begging him to teach her. Tapping his fingers against his cup he said, "it's amazing how much you've grown. I can still remember the time you tried to use my sword and fell in the river; in fact, I think I still have pictures. I never imagined you'd learn the truth."

"Technically I always knew," she corrected immediately and Qrow smirked. She was hoping to move away from the fact she'd been a foolish ten-year-old that thought she could use a great sword. Daggers were nice, very nice, and they didn't lead to awkward conversations about why it was a bad idea to let little girls around heavy weapons.

"Then you know why I made the choice I did," he said the smirk fading. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't regret his choice, but it was something that had to be done. he would rather suffer without claiming his daughter than allow her to be hurt by his enemies. Ruby was much too bright to be killed by the demons that hunted him down. Taking a sip of his drink he watched her face closely to see if she actually understood.

"You were trying to keep me safe," Ruby said simply. She could understand his reasoning and she didn't fault him for doing what he thought was right yet that didn't mean that having him leave her didn't hurt. Looking past that was easy for her, however, she knew all too easily the choices someone would have to make to protect those they loved.

"Ruby when your mother died, I was there," Qrow said looking away from his daughter. He never wanted to lose her the same way that he lost her mother. Summer had been his entire world and living without her had turned him into a drunk fool all too willing to take on suicide missions just to feel alive. It wasn't a life he would wish on anyone even Salem's followers. Tightening his grip on the cup he admitted, "and it was my fault. I couldn't be the cause of your death too not when you're all I have left of your mother. Summer and I made so many enemies, and all of them would have come after you just to even the score."

She didn't need Cardin here to know he was drowning in self-blame. How many times had she thought everything was her fault simply because she'd been unable to stop something from happening? There was no one alive that could truly know everything or stop all the horrible things from happening. Life was a wicked beautiful dream that didn't give a damn what they wanted. Bad things were going to happen and simply blaming themselves wouldn't make it go away.

"It wasn't your fault," she protested startling him. Meeting his eyes with a cold gaze she dared him to argue with her as she said, "whatever happened It wasn't your fault because you loved mom and you love me. You would never have killed her."

"Still if I was faster or stronger then she wouldn't have died and you would still have your mother here to see you grow up," he stated bluntly. His shoulders hunched as he stared down at the table with haunted eyes. Ruby decided to let it go because he wouldn't change his mind instead, she changed the subject.

"Were you ever going to tell me," Ruby asked softly. Qrow flinched and that was all the answer she needed to know he wasn't ever going to tell her. She would have been kept in the dark her whole life; it was hard to keep her anger in check at the idea. Frowning the reaper said, "did you not think I would be strong enough? Or was I just not good enough to be your daughter?"

Qrow's eyes snapped back to her as she realized what she'd said, why the holy hell did she ever think saying that was a good idea? It was obvious that he loved her so why was her first response to act on her own insecurities. Gods she was stupid. Slapping a hand over her mouth the girl looked down at the table with darkened eyes. Why was she such an insecure teenager? His chair scraped against the floor as he stood and stalked around the table to pull her into his arms.

"Ruby you are the best thing to ever happen to me," he told her tightening his grip for a second. Eyes widening, she shoved down the instinctive urge to cry instead she reached up to grip his shirt. She loved him just like she loved summer. He was her father in all the ways that counted she would never allow anyone to hurt him. His enemies could come for her, but they would only succeed in getting themselves killed. Closing her eyes, she knew that if anyone tried to harm him, she would get a lot more blood on her hands; she would enjoy it too. His hand patted her hair gently and she relaxed as he ordered, "don't think for an instant that you're not good enough."

(Tyrian)

There was a child tugging on his hand. He was a murderer and while he knew she had no idea of that fact; it was still unsettling that she wanted him to play tag with her. Eliza had finally warmed up enough to him to actually talk to him. It would be so easy to plunge his tail through her chest then sit back to watch her bleed out, but he couldn't move. Her open innocent eyes stared up at him silently begging him to keep her company. Slumping in defeat he allowed the child to drag him out into the yard without much fuss. The heat of Cora's eyes was digging into his back as he followed her daughter.

Eliza beamed at him a wide happy smile on her face as the child proudly proclaimed that he was it before rushing away. Scoffing in mild amusement, he tensed for a brief moment his eyes tracking the girl only to stiffen when she vanished. Blinking in shock he glanced over at Cora when she giggled before narrowing his gaze. The girl could turn invisible...how interesting. His tail twitched behind him as he scanned the yard for any disturbances. It was cruel of her not to tell him about her semblance before they started playing. He was starting to like this child.

Dirt was brushing into the air just a bit and he grinned. The wicked expression was all the warning Cora had before he was kicking off the ground. Shrieking the girl clung to his arm as he picked her up off the ground easily. The shocked expression on her face caused him to roar in laughter as she squirmed in his grip. Pouting she huffed as he considered setting her back down on the ground. Letting his grin fade into a smirk he changed his grip until he was able to toss her into the air. A panicked scream left her lips for only an instant before his hands were catching her gently.

Fingers twitching, Cora couldn't stop the sad smile from forming on her lips as Eliza's screams turned into wild laughter. She'd never seen her daughter so happy; it hurt to know that the paradise she'd created for her little girl was the one thing keeping her from being truly alive. Was she the reason her daughter was so unhappy? Stumbling back into the house she sat down at the table with uncertainty on her face. Did she make the right choice all those years ago? Before Tyrian arrived, Eliza hadn't seen another human much less had a normal childhood.

She'd just wanted her daughter to grow up without being hurt by the world, was that so wrong? The guilt ate her alive because the only world her daughter knew was the one, she'd created to keep her safe. Eliza was safe here, but she wasn't truly living, neither of them was. Her life had stopped the day the man she loved called her a freak before she could even think of telling him that she was pregnant with his child. Gripping her pendant tightly she frowned. Ozpin had tried to guilt her into fighting his war, and she had no doubt Tyrian would threaten her into working for Salem. He was stronger than her, she'd known that since the moment he recovered enough to walk. She had no choice but to either kill him or side with Salem. The man might smell like blood, but he'd made Eliza smile and laugh for the first time in years.

Glancing up as he entered the house, she could see the amusement in his eyes. His tail was wrapped around his waist and she could hear Eliza running around outside. It would have been easy for him to hurt her little girl. All it would have taken was one movement and he could have killed Eliza easily, she knew that. Just like she knew that he was a monster. She was starting to think a monster wasn't as bad as the self-proclaimed leader of humanity. For one he hadn't tried to threaten her daughter to get her compliance.

"If I come with you can you promise my daughter will be safe," she asked.

The question caught him off guard causing his eyes to widen. Her brown eyes were still guarded but just like the first time he'd seen them, he was reminded of warm chocolate. Part of him had no idea what he could say to the woman. His mistress was ruthless, and he had no doubt she would sacrifice a little girl to defeat Ozpin. For once the thought didn't bring him comfort. Eliza was a child and Cora was sitting here willing to work with them. Nothing would happen to either of them, he wouldn't allow it.

"I'd bet my life on it."

Hi everyone, I hope you're having a great day. My chem teacher is annoying as hell given that he still hasn't posted Module two yet. Anyway enough about my sucky college courses, what did you guys think of the chapter?

I loved writing Qrow and Ruby's talk and Ruby's wandering thoughts were amusing. Either way, I'm completely invested in building a relationship between Tyrian and Cora. Although given my thought processes it might not end well for either of them.

so the next chapter is the end of the Patch Island chapters while after that starts the Vytal Festival.

stay safe and have a good day

-Shyla

ps. anyone have any title ideas for a Fullmetal Alchemist and Harry Potter crossover; I'm fourteen chapters in and have no idea what I'm going to title it.