"Wow, this sure is bringing back some memories," Summer said in nostalgia as she looked at Beacon academy from the window of her transport.
She shifted in the civilian clothes that the hospital had given her as she wasn't used to wearing anything that wasn't a uniform or body armor in a long while. So Summer had to make do with the tight sky blue shirt that felt two sizes smaller than what she was comfortable with that hugged her chest. The cargo pants were the exact opposite and were two sizes bigger than what she would typically wear and had to use a belt she received from the hospitals lost and found.
Before Ozpin left after telling him of Summer's past adventures of the universe, he asked her to stay over at Beacon for the time being. She was about to decline the offer when the thought of being near her two daughters sound much more appealing. She suspected that he also wanted to keep an eye on her. With what she'd remembered of the guy and with her past experience of secret organizations, it wasn't surprising.
At least Ozpin's a step above The Illusive Man as he will actually say it straight in your face rather than hide behind a QEC.
He'd also offer her a job as one of the school's staff to help with the influx of students coming in for the Vytal Festival at the end of the next semester. Apparently, that was this year that she came back to her old home, not that Summer minded. From her memories of the festival, she and her team competed in the tournament. She also remembered that they had a great time.
Plus having a source of income while planetside will be useful. Summer didn't know if her old Huntress accounts were still open after a decade of non-activity or emptied out by her family. She will need to ask Tai later as he had access to the accounts.
Summer snapped her thoughts to the now, she was on an airship, making a landing at the school's docks. On the platform, she spotted groups of students milling about their day with a sizable group waiting at the edge of the docks.
There she saw the familiar yellow mess of hair of Yang and the red cloak of her Ruby with another pair of girls, one with black hair and the other white. All four of them in school uniforms. She could also spot Qrow and Glenda. She came by last night to retrieve the Headmaster and what memories Summer had of the women resurface. She was in a senior team when Summer and Qrow were in Beacon, now she was the deputy headmistress of Beacon and the combat instructor. The woman gets around. When Goodwitch saw Summer last night to retrieve Ozpin, the women smiled and gave her greetings saying it was good to have her back.
The airship had docked and opened its doors to the N7 Commando. Grabbing her bag that held the broken N7 armor and weapons, Summer stepped out to great the welcoming party.
"Mom!" The red blur that pulled her into a hug. "I'm so happy you are going to staying with us!"
The impacted from her youngest staggered the Spector as the speed she crossed was almost like a biotic charge. "Easy Rubies, Mom just got out of the hospital, she doesn't want to go back after her first day out." Yang teased her as she approached the duo before giving the women a more gentler hug. Then the two other girls that appeared to be Yang's age walked up with the three.
Summer couldn't help but softly laugh. "Don't worry Yang, I've taken on worse hits. Remind me to tell you about how another one of my teammates and I went toe to toe with the Shadow Broker."
"The Shadow Broker?" The four girls echoed.
"An infamous information broker that could tip over governments and start wars at the press of a button," Summer said offhandedly like it was nothing to be concerned about while shocking everyone around them.
"What'd you do?" Ruby said excitedly, much to the white-haired girl's visible annoyance.
Summer spotted the two newcomers that were most likely the rest of Ruby and Yang's team.
"I'll tell you girls later, how about you introduce me to who these two are?" Summer asked her daughters.
The white one seemed to look in approval at her like she'd seen on people in political power. "Hello, Misses Rose. My name is Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and Ruby's partner."
'Oh great, my daughter's partner is a blueblood type.' Summer thought to herself before another took hold. 'Still, with Ruby's hyperactive tendency of childlike innocence, I wonder who will corrupt the other in their time together?' "It is nice to meet you, Weiss. If you are Ruby's partner and me becoming one of the school staff, then you will more than likely see me around."
"I look forward to seeing what you have in store for classes, Professor," Weiss finished before stepping back and standing next to Ruby.
Summer then directed her attention to who she assumes to be Yang's partner. "And you must be Blake, Yang told me a bit about you. I'm happy she has a partner that's level headed enough to keep her from going too wild."
Blake gave a small smile at her while giving a little nod of her head. "It is nice to meet you, Missis Rose."
Summer just waved her hand, "Please, outside like this call me 'Summer,' adding the Miss part makes me sound older than I like to be." Summer waved her hand before turning to the two adults, or more actually one adult and one drunken man child. "Qrow, Glynda where's Ozpin and Tai? I thought the two of them would be here." She asked the two.
"The Headmaster is on call to a meeting with the Vale Council about a few crucial matters being discussed for the upcoming Vital Festival," Goodwitch answered.
"And Tai had to go back to Signal to convince the academy professors to give him more time off. Probably won't see him for a bit." Qrow finished.
Summer bit back a curse. She had wanted to have a chat with her old 'teammate' about their current relationship status. With her being declared dead for all these years on Remnant and to her family she left behind. Summer wanted to try and talk things out with the blond about where they were now. It had been so long for both of them to be apart from each other that Summer wasn't sure where they were in the process of togetherness. Having it delayed was like an annoying needle in the back.
"In the meantime," Goodwitch said being the attention back to her, "Ozpin has arranged for you to stay in on-campus in one of the apartments used for the staff, where you can use how you see fit." Note that Summer watched the deputy headmistress dart her eyes over to the team next to Summer. "Students are allowed in them with the permission of the owner of said apartment. But will be expected to uphold the rules and be back at their dorms at the amounted time," she finished with a glare at the four teens. Summer saw the first-year team wilt a bit at the glare from the professor and all agreed with there own individual replies. Glenda seemed satisfied before looking back at Summer and handed her a small rectangular object. "Apartment 121 is open to you, and this scroll will let you in as I've been told you lack one. If nothing else I have duties to attention so Qrow will show you the way." She informed before turning to walk away before stopping and looking back at Summer with a small smile. "Welcome back to Beacon Miss Rose." She finished before walking away.
When she was out of hearing range, Yang was the first to speak, sounding awed and slightly scared. "Did professor Goodwitch just smile? I didn't think it was possible," Yang said while looking like she saw an exotic animal.
Qrow laughed at that while Summer rolled her eyes, but kept a smile. "Well let's go see my new digs. I wanna see what I have to work with."
"Yea let's go!" Ruby cheered much to the visible disband in Weiss's posterior that was recognized by the Commander.
Summer smile grew just a little as Weiss reminded her of Raven back in their first year of Beacon. If Ruby was anything like herself back then than Weiss wouldn't stand definite for long.
With Qrow directing the group to the staff apartments, Summer was getting more and more of memories flowing through her from her time at Beacon. Plus she was walking the grounds with her daughter's teammates. Right now, the only thing that would make this better if she could receive an update on her ship. Getting an update would really bring her mood up and not knowing was annoying her to no end.
She pushed aside the annoyance for now and focused on the present. Her daughters and their partners were having a silent conversation behind her and Qrow. From the few words, she gathered they were about her and what topics her class will be about. Which was an honest question for sure as Summer had to think of a lesson plan? Summer was a Huntress, an N7 class infiltrator, Alliance officer, and a Council Spector. She had done many things from just the last few years from her chasing rouge specters across the galaxy to taking down Reaper capital ships with rifle sized laser pointers and Thresher Maws. Never had she thought she would stoop down to a teaching teenagers how to fight monsters, where would she start?
The only thing that came close was that apprenticeship she did for Vaga on getting accepted into the N7 program. But even then she didn't do much of anything else other than write performance reviews and evaluate him on where he needs to improve. Doing something similar to a bunch of teenagers? What could go wrong?
They had now entered the building hat held the apartments for the school staff stayed. A three-story apartment-like complex that was on the edge of the campus. Finding Summers new digs were easy to find as it was on the first level down the hall from the front lobby.
Using her new scroll on the electronic lock, the door opened to reveal her new home for the foreseeable future, a big one-room apartment. If Summer had to compare her new place to something familiar, be about the same size as her old room on the Normandy. From the doorway to her right held a small kitchen with a countertop, a fridge, an oven/stove combo, and a microwave. To her left had a door that was left open, revealing a tub with a shower in it with a single sink and toilet. Ahead of them held the living area. A window showing the world beyond, the room's bed-sitting underneath it. Near it sat a brown wardrobe and dresser for storing all her things. A black leather couch next to it facing a TV on the opposite end of the room. Finishing it all off was a work desk next o the TV.
It was a lovely apartment for one person.
"I didn't staff rooms at Beacon were this fancy," Yang commented as she went over and plopped herself on the leather sofa Qrow joining her in a moment. Ruby went and explored the kitchen with her partner Weiss, and lastly, Blake went over and just stood near her partner by the couch. Summer meanwhile was just taking it all in and smiled as she watched Ruby and Yang interact with their partners.
Ruby was running her mouth at what they could make in the kitchen with Weiss looking unamused with a raised eyebrow. But Summer could tell that the white-haired girl was paying attention to the little leader as she went over the possible meals they could make.
Yang was talking with her Uncle and Blake about some shows and events they could do here. Blake just nodded along with her partner. While Qrow just sat there with a flask in hand and smile from his spot on next to Yang.
The overall atmosphere of the room gave Summer something that made her feel more at ease, a feeling of home.
She felt it on the first Normandy with her assembled crew chasing Saren to Ilos. She felt it again when on the second Normandy before entering the Omega 4 relay. Then she felt it when she gathered them all at the party she hosted at her apartment on the Citadel with that big group picture. Now she was getting a bit of that again with her daughters' team and one from her old team.
Getting this feeling gave her both a happy sense of comfort and now a painful concern worry as it because, after each of those times, something big happened. Sovereign's attack on the Citadel, the final offensive against the Collectors, and the Allied fleets of the galaxy closing in to retake Earth.
Feeling this repeating feeling beforehand, Summer kept her concerns to herself and didn't show them outward. She felt something behind the scenes that made her feel like back when Cerberus was funding her efforts on the missing colonists. Meaning something sinister was happening at her old home that was putting her family, and she would be damned to the stomach of Kalross if she wasn't going to let that happened on her watch.
Summer breathed in deep, taking in the sent of her new place, before letting it out with a sigh. That was for tomorrows problem to deal with, right now it was family time.
"Alright, kiddies gather around," Summer announced getting everyone's attention as she went over and sat crisscross on the ground. She waited a moment before Ruby and Weiss exited the kitchen to be with them. "I think now is the right time for me to start again what happened to me, I assumed you two told your partners about me, girls?" Summer looked between her two daughters.
"They have," Blake replied.
"Forgive me, ma'am, if I'm hesitant to believe most of what you say," Weiss told her. "Hearing that my partners' mother was displaced out in space for a decade only to show up out of the blue tends to make it hard for me to believe."
Summer nodded to the teens reasoning. After all, many didn't believe her about the Reapers until they appeared in the galaxy, took Earth, and nearly taken Palivan. "I understand that, Miss Schnee. I was initially going to tell all this to my family but with my daughters bring you and Blake here I might as well fill you in on current events."
Summer than surprised the two new girls by activating her Omni tool. She typed in a few commands on the interface, and a hologram of the galaxy filled the room. Lines and sections of the Milky Way showed the borders of the Citadel races, Systems Alliance, and the Turnamis Systems.
For the next few hours, Summer started telling the four girls and one drunk about the universe. Pictures, videos, and the adventures of Commander Summer Shepard were shown to them.
