When Ozpin first explained to Team STRQ when they were at Beacon about the Maidens, Silver Eyes, and Salem, Tai had thought life couldn't get any stranger. If he could go back in time to those days, Tai would slap himself upside the head. Repeatedly. Maybe he'd throw a punch at Raven if he could get away with all his limbs attached. Unlikely, but a man can dream.
Adopting Salem was not an idea Tai would have ever remotely considered, let alone thought possible. And yet, here he was, escorting the pale, young Grimm Queen to her "magic lessons" with the local seamstress every other day. Whatever it was that Summer did to Salem, it definitely knocked several screws loose, but if it meant no concerted Grimm attacks or shadow war sabotage, then who was he to complain? Except now he had to contend with his worst nightmares of Salem taking an interest in his daughters. Just not nearly in the way that he expected.
"Mrs. Angora, I request more red and silver yarn for my practice," Salem asked the moment she set foot into the store.
"More? Why, whatever for, dear?" Mrs. Angora likely knew the answer from the twinkle in her eyes.
Salem crossed her arms with childish authority. "Winter is coming. I wish to practice my craft and create as many garments as I can for Ruby."
"Well I'm running a little low on red yarn, but I have plenty of yellow…"
Salem shook her head. "No. I do not want Yang to think that I'm crafting anything for her. Not until she admits that I am a witch."
"Hmm... How about some green, then?"
Tai wasn't sure how this strange rivalry between his daughter and the Grimm Queen came about, but he was glad it hadn't escalated beyond simple teasing. So far. He still wasn't comfortable with Salem's attention on Ruby, but he had yet to see anything bad come out of all the bracelets, dolls, and other practice items Salem crafted for his little girl. He could only be grateful that yarn was cheap, or he'd have to put a stop to how much yarn Salem went through over the past month.
It was on one of these trips to Mrs. Angora that Salem bothered to acknowledge his presence. Usually she pretended like he didn't exist (unless it was to pay for the materials) and Tai was completely fine with that. Salem didn't strike him as a person that enjoyed small talk.
"You're afraid of me, aren't you?" she asked, not bothering to look at him. "You think I'm a danger to your little family."
"Yes," he replied. There was no need to mince words.
Salem scoffed. "I accept your flattery, but it will do you no good. Fortunately for you, I am a shadow of my former self thanks to Summer. I can hardly accomplish whatever sinister plots you believe I'm concocting against her." She tilted her head up to look at him, barely slowing her stroll.
Tai couldn't help but ask, "What makes you think I believe you? For all I know, you could just be saying that to make me lower my guard."
"Hmph. What you believe is no concern of mine, fool," Salem said, crossing her arms and sticking her nose up imperiously. "Only what is, and what I am is helpless. For now. If it makes you feel safer, then know this: Time is a far more insidious killer than I'll ever be. I don't have to lift a finger to kill Summer when she'll die all on her own."
The depth of assurance in Salem's voice was more than a little unsettling to Taiyang. It wasn't like a casual remark upon the weather, but a fact that the sun would rise every day and set every night. For a moment, Taiyang felt a sense of dissonance between the little girl on her way to knitting lessons and an immortal eldritch being who saw (and probably caused) whole civilizations to collapse. A single day out was but a second to her, so what was a single lifetime? It was a sobering thought, yet oddly relieving to Taiyang. It wasn't a hard guarantee for the future, but perhaps he shouldn't be so worried about her more sinister actions.
Taiyang walked out into the backyard and stopped.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Salem looked up from her dirt-stained hands and glared evenly at him. "Gardening."
Tai broke eye contact to glance down at the ripped up flowers in Salem's hands. He returned Salem's glare with a questioning one. "Gardening?"
To her credit, she didn't hide the evidence in her hands. "Picking flowers for Yang. She was mad because I taught Ruby flower magic and not her."
Tai did recall seeing Ruby with a daisy crown on her head on his way outside. Making one for Yang was awfully generous of her, and yet… "Why did you pick all the Indigo?"
"It was the only flower here that would match her eyes."
Taiyang gazed into the Grimm abyss.
The Grimm abyss gazed back.
"I'm glad you're finally getting along with Yang," Taiyang said, breaking the silence. "I know she can be a bit rough, but she gets that from her mom. But I did like that Indigo, so you're going to have to help me replant those later."
Salem stuck her tongue out at him. "A Queen does not scrabble in the dirt like a common gardener!" She darted past him and back into the house.
Taiyang bemusedly watched her run past, dirt-smudged and all, and he just shook his head when the door closed behind her. Between him and Summer, it was abundantly clear who Salem preferred to answer to, but it didn't mean he couldn't give it his best shot. He did marry Raven after all. At least Salem was warming up to someone else.
He could not have been more wrong.
While he tucked Ruby into bed, a banshee-like wail echoed throughout the house. Taiyang could barely hear Summer run to the source. A second later, he heard Yang's shrill shriek, "My. Hair. Is. Blue!"
The distant sound of a certain witch's cackling told Taiyang all he needed to know. He let out a deep sigh and tried to ignore Ruby's giggling while he went to give Salem gardening chores for the next few weeks.
It occurred to him that maybe violent retaliation was not the thing to look out for from Salem going forward.
The Grimm had started acting strange recently. Of course, this happened right as Qrow was about to take some vacation time to see his nieces. He was annoyed, but it's part of the Huntsman job so he took a small detour. A few days in and a dozen dead Grimm later, Ozpin gave him a call and told him to investigate old Lionheart's lack of communication. Sure, why not? Maybe Qrow could pick up a gift for the girls for being so late.
And then Leo was found dead in his office with a jellyfish Grimm still strangling the corpse. As well as a cozy little hidden room with damning evidence of Leo working with Salem. From there, things went to shit faster than a bunch of Goliaths with indigestion at a Vacuoan buffet.
It took almost two months to reign in damage control in Mistral. Two months of finding a replacement for Leo, clearing out Grimm from small towns, and more investigation of the strange Grimm patterns. It was just his luck that this would happen. He had half a mind to poke his head into his sister's tent to find out what she knew, but he didn't want to push his luck any further into the hole. Unless that's what his luck wanted him to think. Brothers damn his semblance sometimes. He ended up forgoing the family reunion so he could go home sooner to his much nicer family.
In the end, Qrow didn't know what to make of any of this. He hoped Ozpin would have some answers for him.
"I'm afraid I don't have any answers for you," Ozpin said.
Fuck.
"Come on, Oz," Qrow growled in frustration. "I've been running all over Mistral since we found out about Leo. How do you not have anything for me?"
"Because I hardly have answers for myself. Something has changed for her to sacrifice Leo and shift the Grimm across the board so haphazardly, but what it is eludes me as well." Ozpin stood up and paced around the room. "When you first informed me of Leo's death and betrayal, I had spent several sleepless nights wondering why he had done so. I also spent quite a few wondering what Salem could possibly gain from doing such a thing. She had to have access to the Vault and was waiting for the Spring maiden, but she gave it up so easily."
Knowing the vault was secure was probably the only good thing that came of this wild goose chase, in Qrow's opinion. Leo's betrayal was a bitter pill that might as well have been an extra large suppository. "Maybe it was to show how far she could reach? Throw you off your guard?"
"Perhaps, but now she knows I'll be on guard so she would have to have gained something from Leo to compensate for the loss."
"What about the Grimm? Maybe that has something to do with it?" It was a long shot but Qrow didn't want all that work to be for nothing.
Ozpin contemplated the idea for a moment. "It's possible. Without Leo to help organize the huntsmen and huntresses of Mistral, they'd be much slower to prevent these incursions. Yet that doesn't explain the behaviors in the other kingdoms either. Unless…" Ozpin's voice fell low as he muttered and paced about the room, barely even sipping at his coffee.
Qrow watched and waited for Ozpin to come up with an answer. One minute. Four minutes. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Qrow groaned and said, "Hey Oz, I'm gonna miss my flight home soon."
Mutter mutter mutter.
"I'm heading out the door."
Mutter mutter. Mutter.
"I'm telling Glynda to give you decaf coffee tomorrow."
That garnered a response, though only half hearted. "Yes. Of course. I'll contact you when I have something. Good night, Qrow." Ozpin didn't even look up from his cup nor break his stride.
Qrow was definitely going to switch out his coffee later. Glynda would probably help. Unless she was still mad at him for knocking all that fire dust over the stacks of ungraded homework. Wasn't his fault that the dust canister had a loose lid.
The trip home was surprisingly uneventful. No slips, trips, or falls. The airship didn't malfunction. He even got the cute flight attendant's number. After a month of inconvenient detours and chasing shadows, Qrow took pleasure in the thought that his semblance was taking a break. It'd be back but he knew to enjoy the reprieve while it lasted. Especially now that he could visit his nieces.
It was almost dinner time and he probably should have called ahead, but he liked seeing their surprised faces. Qrow opened the door. "Guess who?"
"Uncle Qrow!" His favorite nieces jumped up from the couch and crashed into him.
"Did ya miss me? Did ya miss me?" Ruby squealed as she dangled from his shoulder.
"Mmmm…. Nope!"
"You missed me!" She clung even tighter to him.
"Did you bring any presents?" Yang asked, wrapped around his other shoulder.
"I dunno, I think the Grimm ran off with yours," Qrow teased.
"Nuh-uh! You woulda gotten it back! Don't be a jerk!" Yang punched him lightly in the arm.
"Just for that, you get your present last." He got a stuck-out tongue in response. "Anything happen while I was gone? Looks like your Dad didn't burn down the house with his cooking."
"Mom gave us a new sister!" Ruby squealed into his ear.
Qrow blinked. He hadn't been gone that long, had he? "A baby sister?"
Ruby shook her head. "An older sister, like Yang! She's so cool!"
Ah, adopted then. Unsurprising, really. Summer was a bleeding heart and had practically adopted the team back in Beacon. Raven was vocally against it, as Summer had to "prove her strength" Branwen-style. But Summer eventually wore her down from outright duels over sharing the shower to grumbling acceptance of Summer's hugs. Qrow would call it adorable if his sister wouldn't gut him like a fish for it. "And where is this new sister of yours?" Qrow asked, eyeing the room.
"She's practicing magic upstairs!" Ruby said. "I'll go get her!" She dropped from the bewildered Qrow's shoulder and scampered for the stairs.
Qrow blinked again and peered down at Yang. "Magic?" His mind raced. 'Did Summer adopt a Maiden? Which Maiden is it? Why hadn't she told Ozpin?' He then mentally winced upon remembering Leo's secret betrayal. 'On second thought, we're lucky she didn't.'
Yang scoffed and rolled her eyes. "She's some weirdo Mom found on a trip. She calls herself a witch but thinks knitting potholders is magic." Yang mockingly waved her hands. "The only magic she does is make my shampoo disappear." Her eyes turned red as she growled.
Qrow chuckled, recalling that for all of his sister's distaste for the "soft city life," she hoarded shampoo almost as much as money. No one dared to call her out on it. "Sure, Firecracker. Is your mom around?"
"Kitchen." Yang let go of him and went back to watching the TV.
Qrow walked into the kitchen to find Summer and Tai fixing dinner. "What, no welcome home hugs for me?" he teased.
Summer shook her stirring spoon at him. "Only if you want burnt steaks for dinner again."
"One time!"
"Don't worry, I'll hug you for her," Tai said, immediately grappling Qrow into his signature bear hugs.
Qrow tried to wrench himself free but it was no use as he gasped out, "Hey! I need my spine! And my ribs!"
Tai let him go after a moment. "So what brings you by?"
Qrow raised an eyebrow. "What? Can't a guy come visit his family?" Was it just him or was Tai looking stressed out? Nah, probably a long day at Signal.
"You could call ahead, you know?" Summer said. "I don't know if we'll have enough food for dinner."
"What, is this new kid you adopted a glutton like Yang?" Qrow laughed, but he was the only one as Summer and Tai were sharing concerned looks. "What? Does she have some kinda weight issue?" He hoped not. It wouldn't be the first time his semblance made him crack a bad joke when the person was still in earshot. It cost him more detentions than he'd care to admit.
"No. It's just…" Summer turned back to the pot on the stove. "She's kind of a big deal and we weren't sure how to break the news to you."
Qrow's face scrunched in confusion. He looked to Tai for answers but the man was pointedly staying out of it by grabbing plates and cutlery. "What are you talking about? Wait…" Ruby's words bounced back in his mind. "Is she a Maiden? You found a Maiden?! Which one?"
Summer shrugged helplessly. "She's not exactly a Maiden…"
Qrow was about to ask what she meant by that when the door flew open.
"You!" a tiny, shrill voice shrieked.
Qrow turned around but all he saw was a dark blur before his universe exploded into agony. He collapsed bonelessly, nursing his newly obliterated groin, and cursing his Semblance. "Whyyyy?"
Sadly, he would never find out as a cast iron pan fell off the counter and knocked him out
"No one insults me like that and gets away with it! No one!" Salem cried out, shaking her tiny fist at Qrow's limp body while Tai wrestled her away.
"Salem!" Summer shouted. "You are grounded, young lady!"
Salem looked down upon his twitching body and just grinned smugly up at Summer.
"Worth it."
A/N: I swear I'm not dead! I would have had this out a while ago, but writer's block was particularly stubborn about the scenes with Tai. Had the general idea laid out, but things just wouldn't quite click for me. But anyways, we are finally bringing Qrow into the mix, and yes, being Qrow is suffering as usual, no matter how inconvenient or painful.
I'll try to be more quicker with the chapters if I can find the time.