Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.
Tai had a mission.
After Rubys' message, he'd come to Atlas as quickly as he could. It seemed the Grim were occupying the Military, so getting in was easy. Asking around got him in touch with some "Happy Huntresses" his daughters had apparently befriended. It seemed Yang & Ruby had a good rep with the locals.
Tai hoped their good work hadn't gotten them killed.
He was currently following a young sheep faunus who supposedly knew where Yang and Ruby had been operating out of. He was led to a building that, were it not for the sheer number of people coming and going, would look like hundreds he'd past that day. The inside was cramped and noisy, but his guide seemed to know where to go. He overheard bits of conversation from those he was trying to move through, none of it good.
Just what he needed; he was already pretending he hadn't heard the word injured when they'd first entered. His eyes scanned the mass in front of him for blonde or red, but found nothing but muted colours and harsh lights, and it sounded like a bird had gotten in. He turned a corner, and his breath caught in his throat.
He saw his oldest daughter propped up on a bed, eyes closed, bandages around her midsection. His worst fears came to life in his mind…
…Then she opened her eyes, and smiled in the way only Yang could. Tai pushed past anyone between them and pulled her into the tightest hug he dared.
"Dad!"
"Yang, you're ok, I was so worried".
"This…wasn't how I wanted to see you again…"
"I saw Ruby's' message, I couldn't stay away".
Tai was surprised to see the guilty look on Yang's' face.
"Where's Ruby"?
"I heard she's coming back from Atlas…" Yang replied with a sigh, looking away.
"Yang, what happened".
"After…Salem arrived, Ruby wanted to warm everyone, I wanted to help Mantle. We split up". It sounded like his daughter thought she was admitting a crime. He squeezed her hand.
"It'll be ok, she'll be here soon, and you two can patch things up".
That got a small smile, which changed to a wide-eyed grin as she spotted something behind him.
"Blake"!
As Tai turned around, a dark-haired young woman rushed over and Yang leaned forward, arms outstretched. He saw how Yang embraced her, how long she held on despite the pain in her eyes, and how her hands lingered once they drew apart. He'd be seeing more of Blake if Yang got her way. His daughter apparently then remembered who else was present.
"Oh, Dad, this is Blake. Blake, meet my Dad". Yang was trying to play it cool, but Tai picked up on the little signs of how nervous his daughter was. He wished this was happening back at Patch.
Blake's eyes and cat ears, which Tai had only just noticed, dipped.
"Hello Sir…"
"Tai, please" he replied with the best smile he could muster. He'd definitely be seeing more of Blake; the jokes could come later.
Not wanting to intrude on the pair any further, Tai took in his surroundings. They were being observed by a couple of faunus on the other side of the room, at least one was relative of Blake by the looks of her. He spotted a young blonde guy being berated by… Tai guessed his sister by how similar they looked, something about keeping secrets…
Just then a burst of rose petals flew through the room, forming into perhaps the best known face in the world right now. But to Tai, his daughters were safe(ish), the rest of the world didn't matter.
He embraced his little girl with such gusto he lifted her off the ground.
"Dad, you're here!"
"Well I saw your message".
"I've got so much to tell you"…
Before said telling could begin however…
"Ruby!"
What approached his daughter looked a robot wearing torn up human costume; pale skin & red hair, although the green flames coming out of her eyes reminded Tai of…
This robot looked like a human, and had magic. Ok then.
"Penny"!
The embrace Ruby shared with this Penny told Tai that, whatever this thing was, to Ruby it her friend. That was good enough for him.
"Dad, this is Penny. Penny this is my Dad".
Penny snaped to attention.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Sir" said Penny with so much enthusiasm it caught Tai off guard.
"Tai, please".
In the meantime, Ruby had moved to speak to Yang, and as Penny joined them, Tai spotted a man in a wheelchair with legs following her. Only in Atlas he thinks. But he paused for a moment at the man's expression as he looked at Penny. Tai knew in his gut that whatever Penny was, to him, she was his child.
A pale girl with snow white hair made her way to the group, the faces of the two faunus turning to shock at the site of her. Before they could say anything though, the man in the wheelchair spoke up.
"Wiess, I'm glad to see your safe".
"Hey Weiss, and not hair out of place" Yang followed up.
"Very funny Yang" Weiss replied, moving past the (wheel?) chair to join the other kids.
He sat with the group as she they told each other of their recent activities, just processing everything he was hearing for now. At some point the other parents made their way over, and Tai heard another familiar voice.
He turned around and saw Qrow moving through the crowd, but something was off. His voice, his posture, it was all far too steady. Tai looked the man up and down and couldn't find his flask.
"Ruby, what happened to Qrow?"
"What do you mean, he looks ok?"
Tai paused.
"He looks… well, sober".
Ruby's face scrunched up for a few seconds, "Something happened on the way here, I haven't seen him touch alcohol since".
Tai's eyes widened, on top of everything else, hell had frozen over.
Tai noticed that a bird had decided to perch in the rafters above them. An idea hit him, but he squashed it. He didn't need to be thinking about her right now. The adults formed a protective shell around the children. They couldn't always protect them from the world, but for now, they'd try.
