Hello! Yes, this is another RWBY story. I've finished the first half of RWBY Vol. 8 and I have an inkling on where and how it's going to go. This fic is kind of my "If RWBY Vol 8 + 9 goes my way then this is what happens after" book. So here is an extended description/fan theory:

The Relics have been united. Salem has summoned the Brothers. It seems as though Team RWBY and friends have lost.

Then it all turns on its head: The Brothers see that the world has united against Salem's evil, and decide not to destroy Earth and its inhabitants. But they're not so generous that they restore magic to Humans and Faunus nor do they destroy the Grimm. But they do put Salem (and Ozpin) to rest once and for all, before leaving Remnant in peace.

And that's great. The world of Remnant is rebuilding, and Hunters and Huntresses are still needed to police the Grimm threat.

Team RWBY and friends move on with their lives. Team JNPR becomes Team ALPN, for Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Oscar Pine, and Nora Valkyrie. RWBY decides to settle down in Vale, taking missions across Remnant, while the world recovers from Salem's destruction. Qrow Branwen, however, doesn't know what to do. With the threat of Salem gone, there's not much to spy on, and no one to spy for. Ozpin's inner circle is no longer needed. Qrow is no longer needed. He decides that it may be time to retire when a lovely, and not very welcome, surprise shows up on his doorstep: A Social Service worker claiming that he has a daughter.

Fantastic. Just what he wanted.

(Not.)

So yeah. I'm a lot more excited for this fic than the Caffeine Cafe. That's on hold for now. I don't even have a plan for it. It's not very fun to write a story where the character is on the outside looking into the lives of RWBY and friends. This character will be much more involved and, in my opinion, much more personal.

Have fun reading.

Chapter One: Unexpected Visitor

One for sorrow,

Two for mirth

Three for a funeral,

Four for birth

Five for heaven

Six for hell

Seven for the devil, his own self.

— Michael Aislabie Denham's Proverbs and Popular Saying of the Seasons (London, 1846)

Qrow Branwen was living in denial. They all were, really. After so many long years waged in a war against darkness, after feeling as though the light had lost, goodness truly prevailed against pure evil.

Salem, was dead and put to rest, a small act of mercy. Her minions were facing their due trials for their crimes, but those like Emerald, Mercury, and Neo would receive some leniency for switching sides and joining the light for the battle. Hazel was dead, with Tyrian unfortunately missing, but that was a small price to pay.

Remnant, a bit rough around the edges, but rebuilding. Beacon was only a short month away from re opening, newly lead by Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch. Haven and Shade was also recovering from Salem's attack, but soon everything would be ready for the new school year.

Ozpin was gone. Salem was dead, so the Brothers thought it only right that they release Ozpin from his cursed immortal existence.

Right. The Brothers. The bastards were kind enough to send Salem on her way, and not destroy Remnant (thanks a bunch), but not so kind to destroy the Grimm. Which in hindsight, Qrow thought, was maybe a good thing. Sure, Grimm were pure evil, but at least it gave purpose to the hundreds of Huntsman and Huntresses around the world. Remnant's entire society revolved around hunting Grimm after all. It'd be a shame for so many to be without jobs, without meaning after devoting their lives to destroying a threat that no longer existed.

Which brought Qrow back to his current dilemma.

Ozpin was gone, no longer sharing the body of Oscar Pine. Fantastic. But where did that leave Qrow? There was no Salem, so no inner circle. No need to spy, since the Kingdoms had their own operatives and Qrow was never allied with any certain kingdom anyways. Now Qrow the Spy, the identity he's had for the last decade or two, was no longer needed. He was no longer needed. There were plenty of Huntsman in the world, after all.

What was he supposed to do now?

Taiyang had offered him a teaching job at Signal. Ugh. Boring. Not that the headmaster would let him teach there ever again. "Bad influence" was what that old crone had cited. "Setting a bad example for the children." Bah.

Retirement? No. Retirement was for old people. And Qrow wasn't old. He wasn't.

He needed something more exciting.

Something more than just killing Grimm. Anyone could do that. He needed something more.

A purpose.

Qrow sighed and took a sip of his water. Yes, water. He vowed on his nieces not to drink anymore. Who needed alcohol anyways? Not Qrow, nope. Alcohol dulled the senses. Made him sluggish. Made him stupid. Alcohol was just a substance that people could become dependent on. Alcohol was bad for his health.

Alcohol was awesome.

Qrow looked longingly towards his kitchen, now bare of any traces of alcoholic substances. Yang and Ruby helped dump it all out (they did it with clear glee, he did it with a mournful scowl on his face). Now he was fresh out, and he didn't have any cash on hand, all of it sitting in a virtual bank account. Getting money would require going to the bank, and he was a lazy guy. He didn't have a card, since cards were traceable and he'd never used one in his life.

Qrow got up from his frayed easy chair and trudged his way into the kitchen, not to look for alcohol, but to find something to eat. His cupboards only had Pumpkin Pete's cereal and a half a loaf of stale bread. The fridge had half a gallon of skim milk, likely from Ruby, and three eggs in a carton. No meat. No cheese. No sweets or anything that he'd find remotely healthy. There wasn't anything of nutritious value, either.

He sighed and got a clean bowl out from a drawer and poured himelf a heaping mound of Pumpkin Pete's Cereal. He wasn't sure why there was a half-eaten box in his kitchen, especially when he knew for a fact that he hated cereal and hated pumpkin even more.

Just as he was pouring the milk, the door bell rang.

Qrow grimaced and slammed the carton down, sending little white droplets flying across the counter. "Jeez, who the hell wants to see me this early in the morning?" It was one in the afternoon.

The doorbell rang again, ever insistent.

"Coming! I'm coming, for Oum's sake!" Qrow began to march to door, his boots smacking loudly against the cheap hard wood floor.

Another ring.

He wrenched the door open. "Whaddya want?!"

In all honesty, he was expecting a Mehova Witness or a vacuum cleaner salesman. Instead he saw a tall, gangly woman, probably only a few years older than him. She reminded him vaguely of Glynda Goodwitch, if Glynda was taller, greyer, and had a pointier nose. She wore a sharp suit jacket and a pencil skirt, along with high heels. Very lawyer-civilian-esque.

He noticed a very official looking briefcase frowned. "This isn't a court summons, right? 'Cuz General Schnee from Atlas cleared me of all charges. I'm a free man!"

The woman raised a thin eyebrow. "No, this isn't a court summons, Mr. Branwen."

"Just call me Qrow, please." Activate charming smile! "Mr. Branwen makes me sound old." He tried to ignore her pointed look at his black hair, weaved in premature grey, silver hair.

"Mr. Branwen," the woman continued, unfazed by his handsome face, "my name is Cleo Patra, I'm a social worker here on behalf of Vale's Social Services."

Qrow's brows furrowed. "Fantastic. What does this 'social services' want with me? Cause I'm not a really social guy."

The woman, Cleo, gave him a very unamused look. "I'm here to talk to you about your daughter."

Daughter. What? Qrow froze for a moment, digesting those words, before he burst out laughing. "Daughter?" he sputtered through his chuckles. "I don't have a daughter."

Cleo took a deep, tired breath. Her eyes were exhausted and her shoulders slumped. She grimaced and said, "Mr. Branwen, I believe we need to have a long talk."

~ : : ~

"This is Quinn Frost. Her mother is —was— Arya Frost, a cousin of the Schnee Family and formerly one of Atlas's elites. Do you remember her?"

In front of Qrow was two pictures.

The first picture was a girl— a teenager. She was a several inches taller than Ruby, in fact, she was taller than Yang, too. Her hair was pitch black, shaved on the back and sides, the rest left as a barely tamed mop of curls on top of her head, a few locks left falling limply over the right half of her face. Her eyes were a subdued shade of vermillion, more like rust, dark and intense and serious. Like Raven. Pale skin. Thin face, thin in general, actually. She looked like a younger, female version of himself.

He forced his eyes away from the girl —Quinn— and looked upon the second photo.

He could only say that she was a very pale woman. Dark hair, nearly black, but not quite. Her eyes were a pale, cold blue. She looked like vaguely like what Jacque Schnee would look like if he was female, without the dyed white hair. He'd met Jacque only a few times in person (and wouldn't again for a long time seeing as he was dead). In Qrow's humble opinion, Schnee had been a grade A asshole. Unfortunately, he didn't think he'd ever seen this woman in his life.

"I don't— I don't get it." I barely recognize this woman.

Cleo's sigh sounded very exasperated, borderline frustrated. "Mr. Branwen," she said, in a tone that was on its last cusp of patience, "you slept with Arya Frost seventeen years ago. According to her daughter, it was a one night stand."

Qrow scowled. "Well, if it was a one night stand, I was probably drunk off my ass. I wouldn't remember her if I tried." He paused, before asking, "and how do you know she's mine, anyways?"

Cleo's eyes were raised heavenward in a plea to the Brothers for patience. "You do remember that all Huntsman and Huntress DNA are stored in a database?" Her voice was very unimpressed with his intelligence. "What with so many injuries and therefore blood transfusions, hospitals have that information readily available for emergencies. We drew a sample from Quinn and the results came back yesterday. She's yours, alright, through and through. She even has your red eyes."

His thoughts immediately went to his sister, before he attempted to smother it out. "They're rust colored, thank you very much."

Cleo rolled her eyes. "Right. Anyways ... " Qrow noticed that her face tensed up. "Arya Frost died three days ago. It was an overdose."

Gods. "Shit. Shit." He pinched the bridge of his nose before peering at the social worker over his hand. "Is the kid okay?"

"Your daughter's name is Quinn, and she's as good as any sixteen year old would be after discovering her mother dead in the bathroom."

Qrow grimaced. "So ... not good."

Cleo's expression was grave. "Not at all," she confirmed with a weary shake of her head. "She hasn't grieved yet, and seems to be in a state of shock."

He stared down at the two pictures in his hands. One of a woman, who he barely remembered, the other, a girl with his face and his eyes and his nose. A thoughtful frown on pink lips, reminding him not just of himself, but Raven. He sighed. "So," he said, " what do you want me to do?"

He already knew the answer before it came out of her mouth. "Qrow, you have a decision to make." She pulled out some papers, what looked like brochures and pamphlets. He glimpsed the words: Raising Your Teenager through Triumphs and Troubles, Trauma in a Teenager: A Guide to Finding Peace, Adoption 101: New Parents Manual. She handed him the pamphlets, which he took with some trepidation.

"Choose to take care of Quinn for two years. Be the father she's never had. Or," her nose wrinkled in distaste, "give her to a different family to raise. But in doing so, you would have to give up all parental rights. You wouldn't be able to see her."

A little voice in the back of his head whispered, Well, you did say you wanted some excitement and meaning in your life. What's more exciting and meaningful than raising a teenager?

Qrow shuffled the pamphlets around and avoided eye contact. "Uh, can I have a few days to think about it?"

Cleo didn't seem surprised at his answer and nodded, before standing up. "Take as much time as you need. It was good meeting you." Qrow was pretty sure she was lying through her teeth, but didn't exactly care at the moment. Cleo reached into her briefcase and fished out a thick file of papers, as well as a little card. She handed both items to him before explaining.

"This is her file. Please ... read between the lines. Quinn is a ... special case. I don't want to paint her in a bad light, but you do need to know all the details before committing to anything." She nodded to the little card. "This is my number. Call when you've come to a decision."

Qrow nodded silently and walked her out the door. The Huntsman watched as she reached her car. Pulling the door open, the social worker paused before turning back with a pensive frown. "Please don't keep her waiting too long, Mr. Branwen." With that, she got into the vehicle and drove away, leaving exhaust fumes in her wake.

Qrow watched her go with a frown on her face.

Don't keep her waiting.

He reached for his Scroll, changed his mind, and walked to the garage.

~ : : ~

The Rose-Xiao Long household was a cozy, cabin-like home in the middle of the woods in Patch. It was two stories, had a nice lawn dotted with trees, and a long dirt driveway led up to the singular wooden door leading inside. Qrow parked his seldom used car there and got out. To his pleasant surprise, his nieces and their partners were already outside lounging in the grass. The four girls spotted him and his youngest niece shot up like a bullet and raced over. Nearly knocking him to the ground, she embraced him hard with her surprisingly muscular arms.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby cheered. "Oh my goodness! It's been forever! What are you doing here?" The rest of Team RWBY got up and gave him their respective greetings and hugs. Qrow grumbled at all the attention but was secretly pleased.

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "I saw you last week, kiddo. And I need to have a chat with Tai. Is he around?"

Yang shook her head, her long mane of golden hair bouncing with each movement. "Nope," she said, popping the "p". "Dad went into town to pick up some groceries. We're having burgers tonight. Wanna have dinner with us? I can message dad to pick up extra stuff."

Qrow opened his mouth to decline, then thought better of it. "Yeah, I'll stick around. What are you four doing here? I thought you kids were living in Vale."

"We are," Blake said, "but we wanted to pay Tai a visit. It's his birthday, after all."

Qrow stared. " ... It is?" Gods, how can I take care of a kid when I can't even remember my best friend and brother in law's birthday?

Weiss crossed her arms and shot him a look that was eerily reminiscent of Winter—the elder Ice Princess. "That is why you're here, right?" She didn't seem to think so.

"Uh ... "

Ruby rolled her eyes and slapped him playfully on the arm. "Oh Qrow," she sighed with a wry grin and shake of her head, "you never change."

Yang quirked an eyebrow. "So, why'd you come by if not to wish dad a happy birthday?"

Qrow grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck, a frequent nervous tick. "Well ... "

Team RWBY stared at him expectantly. He stared back, and suddenly made a decision. "I kinda don't want to repeat myself twice," he said, avoiding their gazes, "so why don't you tell me all about living in the city as full-fledged huntresses and I'll tell you when Tai gets here."

Ruby pouted and Weiss snorted at the obvious attempt to avoid answering. Blake and Yang exchange looks, but deign not to comment. He internally sighed with relief. He really, really, really didn't want to repeat himself twice. Or thrice. Or ... Frice? Was that a word? Whatever.

Team RWBY began to regale him about living in Vale, how it was weird not camping out in the woods or being in cold weather like their time in Atlas or in the scorching dunes of Vacuo. They told him how Team JNPR, now Team ALPN, was living only a block away from their apartment. Ruby and Yang tag-teamed on impressing Qrow with their tales of killing Grimm.

Qrow carefully searched the eyes of his nieces and their respective partners. Did they feel discontent about being on Grimm-duty, a relatively easy task for most Huntsman or Huntresses? Or were they relieved that life was back to normal, without the pressure and responsibility of saving Remnant? Qrow decided he would ask them later, preferably split apart and in private.

After several minutes of talking, a beat up brown Nord N-150, with rusted bumpers and dirty windows grumbled and groaned and coughed pathetically up the drive way. Qrow rolled his eyes. "You've had Marlene since graduation," he called to his brother-in-law as he got out of the truck. The door was crooked but that didn't phase Taiyang as he jumped out with ease, carrying two large bags full of grocery items.

Tai grinned. "Marlene still works!" he said cheerfully, as per usual.

"Marlene is barely alive by the rusted metal of her fender," Qrow countered, grinning, before Tai dropped his bags and they embraced like brothers. Tai pounded Qrow's back, rattling his teeth a bit.

"Good to see you!" Tai said, grinning and taking a step back. Yang and Blake hurried to pick up the groceries from the ground. To the Faunus' pleasant surprise, she saw a frozen package of fish tucked in the side of one of the bags. Her lips curled into a smile and she flashed a quick look of thankfulness to her partner, both professional and romantic. Yang blushed like a schoolgirl and managed to get out a cheeky wink.

Qrow saw this exchanged and glanced at Ruby and Weiss, who were rolling their eyes at their teammates. "I see you finally tied the knot after three years of playing hard to get," he commented, smirking as the two older girls nearly jumped out of their skin.

Weiss grimaced. "They've been insufferable," she complained, giving Blake and Yang a look. "I mean, yes, it was torture watching them dance around their feelings since forever, but now we have to deal with mushy eyes and their stupid giggling and—"

Yang grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. "Sounds like Weiss Cream is jeaalouuuss," she said in a sing song voice. "What, do you not have an amazingly hot, kind, badass boy-slash-girlfriend to get frisky with?"

Weiss gawked at the scandal, putting a dainty hand to her chest. "Shut up you brute—!"

Qrow, Taiyang, Ruby, and Blake watched the two bicker with amused grins. "When did this happen?" Qrow asked, smirking.

Ruby beamed at Blake. "After the last battle at Shade Academy," she said, bouncing a little. "Yang kissed Blake ... or did Blake kiss Yang? Or did you both go for it at exactly the same time?"

Blake rolled her eyes. "Does it matter?" she mumbled, turning her head away to hide her blush. "We kissed. We're together. End of story." She turned to look at Qrow with some mild suspicion. "And if you say you don't approve of two team mates dating, I'll sick Yang on you. We know she'd kick your ass, no questions asked."

Taiyang snickered. "Disapprove?" he echoed incredulously. "Look at me: I dated and married both my team mates (at two different times, of course), gave them kids, and one was Qrow's twin sister. If he disapproved, he would have killed me a long time ago."

They all saw how Qrow cringed at the mention of "kids".

Yang and Weiss, who had stopped their verbal battling, walked over to them. Yang's eyebrows crawled up up up her forehead, the corners of her lips twitching into a smirk. "Qrowwww," she sang, "what's that look for? You don't want kids when you grow up?"

Qrow, against his will, blushed in embarrassment. "Um," he said, "about that ... "

Weiss rolled her eyes at him. "Don't tell us you have a kid you just found out about," she drawled tonelessly. "That would be so like you ... "

He refused to look at them and clasped his hands together, yet another nervous tick. He rocked back and forth on his heels, looking up at the sky, praying to the Brothers for strength.

Weiss gasped loudly. Yang and Blake dropped their grocery bags, Ruby screamed, and Taiyang just stood there in the grass, gaping at him. "Brothers, I was just joking!" Weiss exclaimed, both hands going to her mouth.

Qrow sighed and bent down, picking up the fallen bags. He started towards the house, leaving RWBY and Tai to stare after his back in shock.

"You coming?" he called over his shoulder. "Cause we have a lot to talk about."

Hope you enjoyed that! By the way, Thea Connors and the Monsters of the Deep and East Wind should be updated soon. But school is busy and I have a twenty paged thesis paper I'm working on, so don't hold your breath.

Review if you like it so far!

Love,

June