Part Eight

"Hey, Jaune, look."

"What am I supposed to be looking at, Cardin?"

"Oscar Pine. Isn't that his dad?"

"Yeah, he's always picked up by his dad. Why?"

"Look at him, he's a gimp!"

"... What's a gimp?"

"He's lame!"

"You haven't even talked to him, how could you know he's la-"

"Never mind, shut up Jaune. Here, let's have some fun."

"I don't get it, what do you want me to do with a skateboard?"

"You like knocking him over in gym, don't you? Knock him over again."

"Cardin, his dad's right there! Are you trying to get me in trouble?"

"Geez, no wonder you have to cheat to pass, you really are an idiot! I'm saying you can run him over and run away. It'll be funny as hell to watch that old man try to chase you."

"Cardin, this is a little much, I don't think-"

"You're not here to think Jaune. Unless you want me to tell the teachers what a cheater you are?"

"... But I don't know how to skateboard, you never let me on you-"

"Here. Just get on."

"But how do I steer? How do I turn? How do I sto-oooooooop! I can't stop! Look out!"


Qrow was miserable since the parole hearing. Scratch that, he had been miserable since he got home from the parole hearing. Hearing Oz admit to calling Raven, to letting Yang speak to her, he was so mad Tai had to throw him out, and his walk had taken him all the way to the front steps of a bar before he realized how much danger he was in. He'd called Clover in a panic, had to have his sponsor drop what he was doing for two days to help him get his head back on straight. Two months until his coin. It had to matter, it had to matter, don't waste all that work, you can get through this Qrow, you got through worse, it's okay, you can handle this.

He was still a mess, though. It was March, the worst month of the year because Su-he couldn't even finish the thought. He was still picking up the girls and he would watch Oz pull into the school parking lot and take his spot in the handicapped space. Qrow parked several rows away, but his eyes still trailed the green sedan as it pulled up, and he just pressed his head into the ring of the steering wheel. He couldn't even sit on his car hood anymore to absorb the engine's warmth, it was too associated with Oz and talking to him for those brief ten minutes before the bell rang.

All he could think about was the day Oz came to the apartment, and Qrow had used him as a dry run to explain Raven. He'd explained why Yang was in the dark, why they wanted to keep her in the dark - hell, Oz knew how bad a person like Raven was, that level of empathy couldn't be faked - Qrow knew the art of the con and how to avoid the things you couldn't fake - Oz understood, but still he called Raven and put Yang on the phone. Even if he didn't understand - he still went against the wishes of a parent, and that was huge.

Just thinking about it had pissed him off again, and he glared across the parking lot at the green sedan, at Oz standing against the passenger door of his car like he was still holding a freaking conversation with him. Where did he get off… Qrow growled and pressed his forehead into the ring of the steering wheel again. He needed a drink.

He needed Clover. This was a bad day. He just wanted to be numb, he was tired of hurting over this, and no amount of soda or playing on his phone or staring off into space could turn it off and the timing of it all sucked balls. The bell rang and he didn't even look up, instead sighed all the way down.

He was afraid, deep down. Yang was Raven's daughter, and Raven was… was… she was Raven, caustic and defensive and gun shy of honest emotion - and abusive, yes, he could use that word now, weird as it was - broken in a way she didn't even see. He didn't want that for Yang, didn't want her to create a shell around herself and attack anyone who threatened to break the shell. He didn't want her exposed to the damage that could do. He didn't want her to turn into Raven. But now she's talked to her and-

"Hey, Uncle Qrow," Ruby said gently, knocking on the window of his car.

Cool Uncle time. Qrow leaned over and unlocked the passenger door for the girls to get in. He put his head back on the wheel. He didn't have the energy.

"Could… could you come out here?" Ruby asked. Qrow looked up at her through the window, frowned, but pulled his red scarf tighter and got out of the car. Ruby was worrying her hands, swinging side to side slightly, and Yang was at her shoulder, hair up in a ponytail. As one they wrapped their arms around his middle and pressed their faces into his chest. What…?

"What are you doing?" he asked, even as he reflexively put his hands around his two girls.

Ruby muffled something into his coat, but Yang looked up and gave him a look. Her eyes were just like Raven's. "We love you," she said simply, and the words and tone were nothing like his sister. "We know it's hard for you sometimes. But we love you, and we want you to be okay. We know March is hard.

"We don't want you to start drinking again."

Raven… never cared if he was okay, and hearing that on someone with her eyes… Qrow realized belatedly that Yang was nothing like Ray even after talking to her, and she was never going to turn into her anyway. He shuddered to realize it, realize all that fear and emotion had been wasted over something that would never happen, and something in him melted to see it was over nothing. He hugged them tighter, even engaged his core and lifted them up a little.

"I love you, too," he said. "You're right, it's been hard. But I'll get there, don't you worry."

Yang always took after Tai, anyway, he should never have even given it a second thought. God he felt so much lighter.

"Good," Ruby said as the three detached. "We were worried you'd do something bad after breaking up with Professor Ozpin."

Qrow blinked. "Breaking…? Jesus, first Tai, then Clover, now you two? What do you see that I don't, huh?"

And Ruby gave her most earnest answer: "You smile."

Qrow frowned. Really…? He looked over to the green sedan and the white bob of hair. He was talking to Oscar, nodding about something, and smiling in some kind of response. Oscar moved around the car to get in, Oz following with his eyes.

And then there was a blonde kid, black hoodie with red lining, flailing on a skateboard. His arms were pinwheeling, it was obvious he had no idea what to do - he was trying to stop, shifting his weight to kick back and drag to a stop, but he didn't or couldn't commit to it until - at the last second - he managed to lift the front of the skateboard.

And ram it into Oz.

Holy-!

"Professor!"

The green sedan could be visibly seen shaking as Oscar scrambled out of his seat and Qrow was already moving, Ruby shooting ahead and Yang trailing after him. Oscar was screaming blue murder, tumbling around the car and diving on top of the blonde, Oz was crumpled to the ground and Qrow put on more speed. Ruby was pulling at Oscar and the kid had his hands up in defense of Oscar's aggression. "Yang!" he shouted. "Get him out of here!"

"Jaune you son of a bitch! When are you gonna stop doing what Cardin wants?!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I couldn't stop; I was trying to stop; I've never ridden a skateboard before! Is he okay?"

"Oscar, come on, it's okay!"

"No it's not!"

Qrow tuned it out, hopping over the hood of the green sedan and sliding the last few feet before landing on the asphalt on the other side. Oz was on his hip, holding his bad leg and himself very, very still. "Hey," Qrow said, crouching down and leaning forward. "You okay?"

Oz didn't answer, stared at nothing, but his breathing was short and shallow, like he was doing everything in his power to hide the pain, not cry out. Qrow put a hand on the man's shoulder, and his eyes darted up to Qrow but did nothing else, his focus entirely on being quiet. Not getting anything from the professor, Qrow moved his eyes down as well as his hands. The hip seemed okay, but the bad leg was…

"Ruby," he said, looking up. "Get the nurse!"

"Okay! Oscar, come on!"

But the boy wriggled out of Ruby's grasp and plowed into Jaune and Yang. "You did that on purpose!"

"I didn't! I swear I didn't!"

"Oscar," Yang said, holding the two apart. "Calm down."

"No!"

"Oz," Qrow said, leaning in, "Oz, look at me."

The eyes snapped to him again, and this time they held. His face was tight, and he was so still, like the very thought of moving was agony. His eyes were almost gold in this light, and Qrow gave them all the intensity he could muster. "The nurse is coming," he said in slow, soft tones. "How bad is the break? You're gonna have to tell her."

Oz pursed his lips, shallow breaths through his nose, but he managed to rally. "I think it's the pins," he said, voice barely a whisper and there was so much pain in it Qrow couldn't understand how he was so quiet. He'd be cursing a blue streak a mile wide if the situations were reversed. "Where's Oscar?"

Qrow turned around. "Oscar," he called. "Your dad wants you." He looked up, was surprised to see four other adults, teachers, massed around them and pulling Yang, Oscar, and the skateboard kid apart. Two had walkie talkies and Oscar looked ready to commit murder, hazel eyes afire. Yang was trying to hold him back with one of the adults and the skateboard kid was backing up in terror, shouting "I'm sorry!"s left and right. Qrow growled, low in his throat, and got to his feet. Yang saw his approach and started to relax as he grabbed Oscar's arm. The boy tried to wrestle free but Qrow grabbed his other shoulder and leaned into the kid's face. "Oscar," he said again, "your dad wants you."

That burned through his ears, and it was like a switch flipped. His eyes doubling in size and his entire body freezing. Qrow let go, and he all but fell to his father's side. Yang immediately backed up, hands up in the air. One of the teachers looked to Qrow. "Which one of them is yours?" she asked.

"Yang," he said, jutting his chin. "Oscar over there's pretty obvious."

The woman nodded. "I'm the assistant principal. The nurse is on her way. We're going to need statements."

"Sure," Qrow said, nodding. "Saw it from our car. Skateboard Kid over there doesn't know how to ride a skateboard, ran into Professor Ozma," he jut his chin, "and his son was scared shi-witless. I came over with my nieces and told Ruby to get the nurse and Yang to keep the boys apart."

"And I'll lay money it was Cardin Winchester that put Jaune up to it," Yang added, glaring daggers. "He's been making Jaune do stuff all year - turning him into a real jerk." Her eyes flicked to Skateboard Kid. "You used to be okay," she said. "But now you're running over people! What's wrong with you!"

Skateboard Kid was nearly in tears, his face bright red and his breath hitched. His hoodie was half off him from Oscar's tug-o-war, and he was shaking like a leaf. "I'm sorry!" he said. "I'm sorry! I was trying to stop, I swear!"

"Uncle Qrow! I got the nurse!"

Everyone made room as a woman with glasses strode in, getting on her knees despite wearing winter leggings next to Oscar. The assistant principal held her walkie talkie up to her ears for a moment, and Qrow realized the buses were still there, everyone staring out the window, some heads outright peeking out to watch the show. Phones were out, cameras obviously pointed to the display, and Qrow wasn't much for social media but he knew this was going to be a firestorm. Teenage vultures, Qrow thought. "How about we take this inside away from prying eyes?" he asked just as the AP said, "Okay, show's over, let's get everyone inside and sorted."

The nurse stood, moving straight to the AP. "We're going to need an ambulance," she said; it was soft but Qrow was close enough to hear it and his eyes widened. He turned back to Oz and Oscar, but the professor was still holding himself very still, and Oscar was kneeling at his head, hand on his father's shoulder and saying something in his ear.

He looked to his nieces. "Go to the office," he said. "Right now."

"But Professor Ozpin-"

"Now, girls," he said. "I'll be right behind you."

He turned and moved two steps back to Oz, kneeling down. "Oz," he said, "They're calling an ambulance. How bad is it?"

"It's bad," Oscar said for his father. "His leg never healed straight after the accident, even with the pins and he said he can feel one of the pins is loose."

Fuck what a detail to hear. He looked to Oscar. "Is he gonna be okay? Do you have a place to stay?"

"I'm not leaving him," Oscar said fiercely.

Qrow backed off, hands up. "Okay. Call me if you need anything."

"Why?"

Qrow blinked, staring at the boy. His eyes were narrow, almost accusatory. What…?

"We will," Oz hissed, overriding his son.

"Dad…"

"We will."

"Okay," Qrow said, nodding. He straightened and left the nurse to do her work. He pulled at his scarf and walked up to the school. It was his first time in the building - he was usually at work for the night functions, and he looked around to see where he was supposed to go. Ruby, predictably, was waiting for him and motioned. He followed her and went to the main office. Skateboard Kid was behind the receptionist desk, sobbing into a phone.

"M-mom, I need you to pick me up. I d-did something b-bad."

Ruby gave the kid a soft look before going past the main desk and around a corner to a narrow hall. At the end was a conference room, and Qrow was introduced to the principal before Ruby disappeared saying she had to give her own statement. For the next hour he was texting Tai and explaining what he saw, what he knew about Oscar and Oz, what he'd told his nieces, and so on and so forth. Building security came in to say they had it all on camera, and Qrow knew the others were doing the same. He had to call work to explain he was going to be late - again - and he knew he would be paying for it later. It was a miracle they hadn't fired him yet.

Tai arrived looking ready to fall apart, demanding to know if his girls were okay, what was this about a fight, who went to the hospital, and so on. Qrow gave him the cliff's notes version of the story, Ruby and Yang happy to fill in the details. He hugged them fiercely, and as they filed out they saw Skateboard Kid talking to someone who was clearly some kind of sister or mother in a different conference room with the AP. Skateboard Kid looked half dead, staring off at nothing.

Qrow could admit - if only to Clover - satisfaction that the kid was suffering. He deserved it.

It was four o'clock by the time everything was over, and Qrow was ready for the day to be past done so he could get to the drudgery of his work. They were in the parking lot when his pocket buzzed, and he pulled out his phone. He frowned at the number, not recognizing it.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Mr. Qrow?"

Qrow blinked. "Oscar?"

The rest of the family stopped, all eyes turning to Qrow, and he quickly put his phone on speaker.

"Oscar!"

"Oscar! Is your dad okay?"

"Uhm… Shut up, I'm getting there… I'm supposed to tell you to come get me. Dad has to stay overnight, and he doesn't trust me to-Dad-

"This is Professor Ozpin," Oz said, apparently having taken the phone. "Please, I know you are angry with me, but I don't have anyone else to watch him overnight. Visiting hours are almost over and I can't-"

"He'll be there!" Ruby and Yang said in unison.

"Guys, I'm already going to be late for shift-"

"It's fine!" Ruby said brightly. "Another hour won't be so bad. You can pick up Oscar and bring him to our place, then you can go to work."

"We can set up the sleeping bag in Dad's room, and we'll make brunch for supper. He likes eggs and ham, right?"

Qrow blinked at the girls, having no idea where this even came from, but he turned back to his phone. "The bosses have spoken," he said, disgruntled.

"Thank you, sincerely. You have no idea."

Qrow hung up and glared as he put his phone away. "Thanks for deciding my next few hours," he said flatly.

Yang gave a toothy grin. "It wasn't like you weren't going to do it anyway," she said. "We just sped things along."

Tai, damn him, was grinning too. "Enjoy the date," he said with a wink before he sobered. "Don't worry," he added. "We'll take care of him. It'll be fine."


That was how Qrow was parking his clunker at the hospital parking lot twenty minutes away and talking to a receptionist to explain why he was there. He was escorted to the fourth floor and past two nursing stations before stopping at a door. He went in; the first bed was cordoned off with a hanging sheet, but the second bed was open with a light on. Qrow moved in slowly, peeking his head around to see Oz and Oscar. The boy was curled on the side of the hospital bed, utterly asleep, head tucked under Oz's chin. For once the dark glasses were off, and without his usual three-piece Qrow could only stare at the network of scars that littered Oz's bare arm and - what the fuck was that mess on his neck?

He finally blinked, catching himself just before Oz looked up and saw him. Without the glasses his face looked a lot softer, and he smiled.

Qrow stepped in quietly, eyes on the kid. "Busy day," he said softly, stopping at the edge of the bed. "How bad?"

Oz looked down, free hand stroking Oscar's hair. "One of the metal pins needs to be removed and replaced. The surgery to remove it will be tomorrow, then six weeks to heal the damage before they put in the new one. The fibula was always the weaker bone after the accident, and the skateboard somehow managed to hit the exact spot it was weakest and was rebroken. I'll be in a cast until summer."

Qrow winced. "How long will you be in here?"

"Just overnight," he answered, leaning his head back. The overhead light showed tightness in his face again, a sudden and intense furrowing of the brows before the pain passed and he relaxed again. "I go home after the surgery. My car is at the school, I'll have to call a ride…" His eyes widened and his head lifted back up, searching. "My things," he said. "Where are my things?"

Qrow looked around, saw a closet that he opened and found a bag of Oz's clothes. He pulled it out and gave it to Oz, who winced as he lifted his bad arm - Qrow never knew he had a bad arm, too, but those scars - and rummaged through the contents, pulling out his phone. He looked back up, placing the phone on his lap. "My cane…?"

Qrow looked back at the closet but saw nothing else. He shook his head.

Oz's head fell back to the pillow, and a pain that wasn't physical washed over him. "That was my grandfather's…" he said softly, still stroking Oscar's hair.

Qrow frowned, said, "It's probably still on the ground at the parking lot."

"With my wallet and keys," Oz said, sighing. "I suppose there's no help for it." His attention turned back to Qrow. "Thank you," he said softly. "You have no reason to do this, but you did anyway. Thank you."

Qrow shook his head. "I had every reason," he answered. "Look, you did something kinda shitty, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna hate you for life or something."

"Qrow," Oz said. "I deliberately went against your wishes. The reasoning doesn't matter, I broke the shared trust of parenthood, and that was something I swore to myself…" His eyes broke, even as the rest of him gave nothing away, and Qrow wondered just how much this guy was holding in. He let out a ragged breath and closed his eyes, and in that moment he looked exactly like he did when he confessed what he'd done to Qrow - he hadn't recognized it then, too shocked to realize what Oz had done, but now, in a different context, a different light, he recognized the emotion as something he wore a lot: guilt. Something plucked in Qrow's heart, and then tripled in size when Oz said, "I did something she would have done."

"Don't," Qrow said, shaking his head. "Don't put that on yourself."

"But-"

"Oz," Qrow said. "If I held you to that then you'd have to hold me to all the mess-ups in my life - and that includes everything before rehab. If you can still stomach me then I figure I can still stomach you."

… And he meant it. Something deep in him marveled at the truth of the words, like he realized it as he said it, and his shoulders relaxed.

Oz was staring at him, wide eyed, and he blinked several times before he could school his expression. He looked down, sweep of white hair hiding his eyes, and Qrow maybe wanted to tuck the hair away and see the eyes some more. The tiny, grateful, "... thank you…" melted something dark inside him, and he knew he had to wrap this up quick before he did something stupid.

He jutted his chin to the boy. "How do we wake him?" he asked.

Oz leaned in and kissed the top of his son's head, his hand finally moving from hair to shoulder, and gave a gentle shake. "Oscar, it's time."

The boy stirred slowly, looking up and seeing his father's face. They touched foreheads, briefly, before Oscar reluctantly got up. He had his father's shuffle, something that made Qrow double take, but he guided the boy out and nodded his goodbyes to Oz and his scars. Oscar didn't speak, just stared out the window as Qrow drove him to Tai's place. Once he was settled, Qrow got back in his car and thought long and hard before turning on the ignition.

Back at the school he used up the last of his phone's battery to act as a flashlight, and he found the cane and the keys.


Ruby and Weiss and Yang gathered at the front doors, Blake joining them, and waited for Oscar. She saw Jaune exit the building, eyes down on the ground and avoiding everyone in sight. He hadn't been in school for a week, and no one said why, but instead of taking a bus she watched him climb into a car. One of his sisters, then? "Do you think he's okay?" she asked Yang.

"Well, he's not with Cardin, so I figure he's doing way better," Yang said, eyes flat. "Hopefully he's learned something."

"I've never seen him so upset," Ruby said.

Weiss was busy smiling; she had been for both last periods. Finally she took a deep breath and pulled out her phone. "Hello, this is Weiss Schnee, I was wondering if you could let me know when Father was coming home? I baked something in home ec and I wanted him to try it. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Thank you very much!" She hung up and heaved another sigh, but she looked to the others. "I have two hours," she said. "But now I have to bake something."

"Too bad the Professor can't drive," Blake said. "He'd make the excuse easy."

"Uncle Qrow is doing a double shift, so we'll have to take the bus."

"Then why not come to my place?" Blake offered. "My boyfriend is away with his family, so I have time."

"Wow, a miracle!" Yang said.

Ruby nodded. "Do you think Oscar will want to come?"

"Hey guys."

"Oscar, want to come to Blake's house?"

He shook his head. "I just wanted to say I'm taking the bus and will be for a while. Dad's physical therapy gets out around now and he should just be getting home as the bus does. He'll be really sore and I want to help out."

"I understand," Blake said, nodding. "Next time."

"Sure, see you tomorrow!"

The four girls piled onto Blake's bus, taking seats in the front and hunkering down for the drive. It was too loud for Ruby to really talk, and Weiss was leaning back with her eyes closed. Another headache, maybe? She was still bothered by being considered a criminal by Weiss' father, but after Ruby had told Dad about Weiss' fears she was able to open up a little bit about what her father said. She explained about his moods and what a bad day was like. Across the aisle Yang was talking animatedly with Blake - she looked a lot better than she had been.

After fifteen minutes Blake got up, a sign for the others to do the same. The house was large, two stories - bigger than even Professor Ozpin's - and Ruby thought having two stories was a sign you were rich. Yang whistled and Weiss gave a curious look, as if she wondered what was so impressive.

Blake unlocked the back door and took her shoes off, the others following suit and led them into the kitchen. She frowned at the fridge, seeing a piece of paper pinned there with a magnet. "Oh," she said. "Mom and Dad are at a protest. It says they're going to be late and they'll call if they get arrested."

"... Arrested?" Weiss asked, suddenly tense.

Blake shifted her weight, taking a deep breath and turning to Weiss. "There's been talk of bringing in the police," she said. "They want the protests to be peaceful, but people are getting very angry. Mom and Dad are trying to keep them level headed, but they say in these kinds of protests it's only a matter of time. The minute this hit the news it was a waiting game," she said.

"Then… my father might get home early," she said, suddenly very worried.

"We don't know that," Ruby said quickly, wanting to assure her friend. "He could actually be late, or he could be normal. We don't know what Blake's parents are protesting, and-"

"Yes we do," Blake said, putting the note back and pulling her backpack off. "It's all they talk about when they get home."

"Do they… do they know about me?" Weiss asked, standing unnaturally straight.

"Yes," Blake said, putting her backpack on the kitchen table. "But don't worry, they told me not to judge you for your father's actions. And I didn't tell them what you told us. They'd like to meet you, but they know that right now it would be awkward."

"I… I see," Weiss said. "Thank you, for your consideration."

"Okay," Yang said, rubbing her hands together. "What are we baking to fool Weiss' dad?"

"We're not as well stocked as the professor," Blake said, "but we can probably make cookies. Well, if you don't mind substituting eggs with something."

"Really? Why?"

"We're pescatarians. The only meat we eat is fish. Meat processing accounts for a lot of methane released into the air and we decided it would be better for the environment if we all went vegan." Then she blushed. "But I didn't want to give up fish."

"Principled in everything, I see," Yang said brightly. "So what's a substitute for egg?"

"We use applesauce, usually."

"And it makes for a great 'lesson' for school," Ruby said brightly. "It's perfect."

They piled their packs on the kitchen table and lined up along the kitchen counters - there were miles of them in Blake's house - and started measuring sugar, vegan butter, flour, applesauce, vanilla, salt, baking soda, organic chocolate chips, and talking about their classes as they went, sharing their days. Once the cookies were in the oven they started moving their backpacks upstairs to Blake's room - it must have been fifty percent bigger than her and Yang's room - unpacking books and notebooks and getting ready for homework. Blake disappeared when they heard the timer and Weiss followed to "plate it appropriately."

Ruby realized they were alone, and she looked to her sister. "You seem better," she said softly.

Yang turned to look at her. "I don't know about better…" she said, trailing off.

"Well, you've been smiling more since last month, you seem happier."

"I guess so," Yang said, looking down. "It was a lot to take in, you know? Everything Mom did. I guess I didn't really believe she was in jail - even when we were kids. I had all these ideas built up in my head about what happened, about why she would be there. Everything Dad and Uncle Qrow said… I couldn't believe it, because it was my Mom, you know?"

Ruby nodded, looking down. "Do you believe it now?" she asked.

"... Yeah," Yang said, curling her knees up. "I think I do. Talking to her helped. So did Professor Ozpin." She looked up again. "It never even occurred to me that she never wrote letters until he mentioned it, and when I realized that… it was like everything fell into place. But it was still a lot, you know?"

Ruby nodded. "It… was a lot for me, too," she admitted. Yang bursting into their room to tell her what Raven did, yelling and cursing, Ruby still just trying to understand. The thought would strike her at weird times, when someone brought up their mom she would think about Raven instead of her own mom, would wonder what Yang was feeling, and she really, really, wondered what it was like for Dad and Uncle Qrow. She was hurt, for a while, her heart felt really tight, and she wasn't sure if that was normal or not.

"Hey," her sister said, and Ruby looked up. "I'm sorry."

… "For what?"

"For… dragging you along, I guess," Yang said. "It might have been right for me to know all the gory details, but I didn't even ask if you wanted to know. I just dumped it on you, and if it hurt you… I'm sorry."

Ruby smiled. "I just wanted to be there for you."

"I know… But I didn't think things through, and I know you got hurt sometimes, so: I'm sorry."

"Well, then I forgive you."

They smiled at each other and went back to their notebooks, getting themselves set up.

Each girl was in charge of one subject: Ruby, Math; Yang, Science; Weiss, English; Blake, Social Studies. They each did their homework and then helped the others with theirs, sometimes in pairs or sometimes as a group depending on the assignment. Blake's room was big enough that all four of them could spread out on the floor, textbooks and notebooks, on a circular rug. Weiss came up with a napkin wrapping around the purported cookies, and Blake had the rest on a plate. They weren't as good without the Professor's touch, but cookies were cookies, and Ruby had three before she even grabbed her pencil. Everyone settled into their work, and Ruby quietly enjoyed the sounds of concentration and hard work.

Blake got up briefly to pull out a bluetooth speaker and played on her phone before hitting play, and soft music filtered through the room. That lasted all of five seconds before she got a text and rolled her eyes, putting her textbook down and focusing on her phone.

"Boyfriend?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah," she said. "He's with his parents for the weekend, and he hates them. He needs a lot of support."

"Sounds clingy to me," Yang said. "He takes up way too much of your time."

"It's fine," she said, though she wasn't smiling. "He always makes it up to me. That reminds me, I wanted to show you." She got up and navigated the books and notebooks, going to a nightstand by her bed and opening up a drawer, pulling out a box and opening it. "Look," she said, pulling out a necklace and matching bracelet.

"Wow," Ruby said, seeing the glitter. The chain was gold on both of them, and hanging a matching pair of some kind of - Ruby didn't know the terminology. Black pearl maybe, but it was shiny like something brighter, like a diamond or something. It was set in some kind of white ring of something that expanded into soft leaves that were gold like the chain. "It's really pretty."

"It's also real," Weiss said, frowning heavily. "What was your boyfriend's name again?"

"Adam," Blake said, her face soft. "Adam Taurus."

Weiss was frowning, eyes far away. Ruby knew that look, and she leaned to one side to get a better look. "What is it?" she said.

"Nothing," Weiss said, leaning back and crossing her arms. "Just… I don't remember the family name Taurus as being to any of my father's parties. But then Father has very particular tastes so it's probably nothing. Do you know what his family does to come from that kind of money?"

"Something about trafficking valuable commodities," she said. "He hates his parents, so he gets mad whenever they're brought up."

"That's sad," Ruby said. "Do we need to bring him in the way we brought in Weiss?"

"No," Blake said, "He would say it was childish, and he hates kids."

"He hates his parents and he hates kids? How does he function?"

"He's very kind," Blake said, "and he works very hard. He says when he's old enough he's going to take the business in a new direction."

"At least he has good taste," Weiss said, going back to her seat. "Let's get our homework done before I have to leave for Father."

"You're not really going to give him the cookies, are you?" Ruby asked.

"I have to have proof of what I said in case the secretary mentioned it to Father," Weiss said.

"You could say you ate them."

Weiss shook her head. "That wouldn't end well. And besides, if I'm giving him gifts he might relax and let me stay with friends again."

"But your friends are us," Yang said. "The half criminals and the activist."

Weiss didn't have an answer, looking down and hunching forward.

"It's okay, Weiss," Ruby said, reaching out and touching a shoulder. "We'll figure something out."

She smiled, and they got to work.

It was quite a while later when they heard a door open downstairs.

"Blake! We're back! Honey, are you home?"

Ruby watched her friend start to get up. "We're upstairs!" she said, hopping over Ruby to get to the door. "We're doing homework! How'd it go? You're not arrested, so…"

"Blake! There you are, give Mom a hug! Oh, it's good to be home, they were threatening to use tear gas on us and your father had to do a lot of fast talking."

"Tear gas?"

Ruby shared a look with Yang and Weiss, and they all nodded, as one moving to the door to better listen.

"Schnee was threatening it, the bastard. If he bothered to meet with us so we could talk to him this would all be over so much sooner, but he's so focused on money, profits - I don't think he cares a wit about human lives at all!" said a booming voice. "His safety regulations are so far below standard he should be embarrassed - if he thinks things are bad when one employee dies in an accident, imagine when one of his buildings catches fire and the country learns he hasn't passed fire inspections in years!"

"Honey, that's still just rumor, once we get him to agree to an inspection-Oh! We have guests!"

Blake came upstairs as two heads crested the stairwell. Her father was a giant hairy beast of a man, jeans and a jean jacket with a bandana tied around his neck that looked like it could pass for a mask, it was tented so high on his neck. Her mother was closer to Blake's height - clearly where she got her hair, and had large earrings dangling almost to her shoulders, in dark slacks and shades she was pulling up to her thick mass of hair.

"They look like modern hippies," Yang observed.

"Yang!"

"Sorry!'

The father laughed, pulling off his jacket to reveal a thick, muscled body. "We've been called much worse," he said brightly, "so don't worry. Blake, introduce us, these must be the friends you always talk so highly of. What can we get you? We have apple juice, tea, milk, water."

"We made cookies," Blake said, finally stopping at her door. She threw a nervous glance at her friends and forced a smile. "Mom, Dad, these are my friends: Yang Xiao Long and her sister Ruby Rose, and this is-"

"Weiss Schnee," Weiss said, Ruby freezing to see her friend admit that right after the stuff Blake's father said. She curtseyed formally, bowing her head, and then stood straight. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Blake was absolutely frozen, back stiff as a board, and Ruby couldn't decide who to look at - Weiss, Blake, or her parents - and she was afraid her head would bend the wrong way for all her movement. Blake's parents both blinked, but to Ruby's surprise that was their only reaction, her mom smiling and doing a perfect curtsey in response while her dad put out a hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Schnee," he said gently. "I'm very sorry you heard me speak ill of your father. That must have been difficult."

Ruby was ready to step in front of Weiss in defense, but now she wasn't sure what to do - she wasn't expecting Mr. Belladonna to be so nice.

Weiss, however, already seemed to have everything in hand. She took Mr. Belladonna's hand and shook it firmly, nodding her head. "My father… he hasn't practiced the same restraint," she said carefully.

Mr. Belladonna laughed. "I imagine not," he said softly. "But we won't talk politics with you, you're our guest. How long will you be staying?"

Weiss looked at her watch. "Technically I have another half hour before I have to leave," she said, frowning. "But if there was a protest…" She looked up. "I think I should go home now," she said.

"Wait," Ruby said, "Are you sure? He might not be home early, you can stay a little long-"

"I can't risk it," Weiss said softly, but she was smiling. "Thanks, though, for saying that. I'll get my things."

She disappeared into Blake's room, and Blake gave her parents a firm look. "Can we talk?" she asked in a low voice. "Downstairs?"

Ruby and Yang glanced at each other as the Belladonna family went downstairs. They moved back to Blake's room to help Weiss; Ruby grabbed her coat and held it up for Weiss to slip into, Yang zipping up the backpack and shucking it to her shoulder as Weiss buttoned up and pulled out her scarf. "I'm sorry about this," she said softly.

"No, it's okay, you can't help your dad being a jerk," Ruby said quickly. "And you're nothing like him, so it's not a problem."

"I know," she said, taking her bag from Yang. "It's just…"

"Don't worry," Yang said.

The three moved downstairs, and tried really hard not to listen to Blake and her parents.

"You embarrassed me in front of my friends."

"Blake, we were perfectly cordial, I don't understand why you're so upset."

"You have no idea what she's going through and your just dropped her dad into the conversation-"

"Honey, your father apologized for it, what more do you-"

"This is why I don't bring friends over, because all you want to do is talk politics and never think about who it hurts!"

"Blake, I just said we weren't going to talk polit-"

"I'm leaving."

"Stop right there young lady!"

"You're not my boss, I'm thirteen and I can do what I want!"

Blake stormed past Ruby and Weiss, shouldering Yang in the process and running upstairs. Ruby looked at the others, unsure what to do. Ruby made a face, but went to the kitchen where the fight was. "Uhm," she said, "It was really nice to meet you…?"

Blake's parents smiled, and Ruby and the others left, but walked very slowly down the driveway. As expected, there was a door slam that made them turn around, and Blake stomped over to them, phone out and typing furiously. "I'm coming over," she said. "I can't stand them right now." She looked up. "I'm really sorry," she said. "They shouldn't have brought up your father like that."

"Blake, it really is fine."

"No, it's not. It's just like Adam says," she countered. "Adults only want to make things hard for their kids. Your father does, my parents do. Even Mr. Qrow and Mr. Xiao Long kept things from Yang even though they shouldn't have. The only one who's nice is Professor Oz, but I'm sure if we asked Oscar we'd find out there was something he did. It's not fair, it's not right."

"Well… you can have dinner with us, I guess," Ruby said. "Dad's making pizza when he gets home from work. He made the dough last night."

"Fine. Whatever," Blake said, staring at her phone.

Yang took the lead to the bus stop, pulling Blake with her and putting space between her and Weiss. Ruby held back, walking side by side with Weiss.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah..." Weiss said slowly. "I just… I feel like this year I'm learning that what my father does outside the house is actually worse than what he does inside."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Ruby said, tracing her chin with a finger. "I mean, he doesn't really know people outside. I remember when I was first promoted to Yang's grade - they were so much older and I didn't know they didn't like someone younger than them being smarter than them. I hurt a lot of feelings and I didn't know it. But it hurt the most when I hurt Yang with some of the stuff I said. If your dad hurts people outside, then he might not know it - but him hurting you, well, I think that's way worse."

"I… I never thought about it like that," Weiss said. "I think that makes it worse."

"Oh! No, I wasn't trying to make it worse! I just meant that-you see I was trying to say-oh, I'm really bad at this…!"

Weiss laughed softly, and Ruby was still flustered but she thought maybe that was better than her moping.


Author's Notes: ... and we finally start to spin Blake's plate. We don't get her POV for quite a while, because if we did we'd give the game away. BUT we can see a little of what's going on. It takes us an embarrassingly long amount of time to figure out how to make Ghira and Kali work in our story, so it will be a while before they start to become regulars, but for now they're stressors for both Blake and Weiss' stories, however unintentionally.

But honestly, as much as we love the girls, this chapter is about Oz and Qrow. When Qrow is in a mood he is in a MOOD, he had a lot to work through and March is a hard month for him and his family which drags everything down and makes it worse. He has a right to be mad at what Oz did, but like he says he's not going to damn Oz for life - which in turn is something that's never happened to Oz, since he's ALWAYS been damned for things he did wrong.

We also see the first hints that Qrow really does have it kinda bad for Oz, but he shoves it away before he explores it too much.

And for anyone keeping score of the Year-of-Hell that Turned Oz's Hair White, we have a second item on the list after Being Married to Salem (sub-categories to follow), there was an Accident. We also get to nod to an idea we've had for a while. It's fanon (we think it's fanon...?) that Oscar has all those wrappings around his neck in the show to hide scars. Well, we thought, if he's an incarnation of Oz, then doesn't that mean that Oz and his ludicrously thick turtleneck also hides scars...? And then we took that idea and made it a plot point. Also a character trait for Oz: he holds in an unhealthy amount of pain - he broke his leg and didn't even so much a squeak. Unfortunately that's a trait from the two of us, we learned pretty fast growing up to not make a big deal out of cuts and scrapes, not to make a fuss over, er, some of the things that were said to us; so it made sense to us that Oz, having been married to Salem, would have a similar trait.

We also get to play with the idea that Oz, not being reincarnated in this fic, instead has the sense of age by having a lot of heirlooms, such as a cane that's probably 80 years old and so on. More on that later.

Also metal pins. Just... we shudder to think...

Next chapter: We finally switch to OzQrow fluff, and have a Memorial Day cookout.