Their home was a pile of ash when they returned. Decades of memories gone, not to mention the sentimental and conventional value that the items inside held.

The day they had left in a rush for the hospital, Taiyang had never turned the stove off. Summer's actions were attributed to 'bad luck'. She stood next to the four of them, looking at the remnants of her old home.

Taiyang hadn't fully believed it when he'd gotten the call on his Scroll. He'd hoped that it was a prank, joking all the way home that it had been. Nobody else laughed with him, especially not Qrow. The corvid man was the definition of a depressed drunk, and he had been pushing this definition to its limit as of late. He'd been scarcely sober for more than a few seconds ever since the report came back about Summer.

The day before he'd had a massive withdrawal, to ensure that his nieces and brother and law would be stable. The staggering headache throughout had not made him nicer, however, and he knew that Yang was far more wary of him than she'd been before. Ruby was too deaf and too high on pain medicine to make connections of any sort.

He kicked at a piece of debris, something that looked like nothing more than rubble to the eye, but was actually a burned piece of Taiyang's bed. He hadn't slept in it ever since the news about Summer came back, reasoning that he would wait for Summer to return before he did. He took refuge on the floor with an extra mattress, constantly keeping an eye on the door as he waited for his dead wife to come home. It was a stupid reason not to use his bed, and he truly did it because sleeping on it still had her smell, even after washing the sheets three times with bleach. It was too painful for the widower to sleep on.

"Well this fucking sucks." Qrow burped. He no longer had the burden of being sober, as he had made a point not to employ his sailor like tongue when around his nieces. The alcohol he had in hand came with the effect of dampening his mind, as well as his previously ironclad morales. Although 'ironclad' may be a strong word when referring to Qrow in any sense.

"Could be worse!" Taiyang said cheerily.

"How?" Qrow asked.

"Well... we're all okay, right?"

Qrow pointed to Ruby. Her ears were shot to the point where Taiyang had to nudge her in order to grab her attention, and her arm had been badly broken enough that it would be out of commission for a number of months.

After feeling the gentle touch of Taiyang on her shoulder, she looked up at him, and then to Qrow after he gestured towards him. She gave a weak smile and a small wave with her broken hand before frowning and using the other.

"It does f-fucking suck." Yang said, trying out the unusual word. If there was a time for swears, she had decided it was now. Yang also didn't look all that great, as she had slept terribly in the hospital and had only a few minutes rest in the car.

No one called her out on it. Although Ruby couldn't have anyway, given her temporary disconnection from the realm of sounds. She was stuck with a constant, high pitched whining. Much like the sound the truck occasionally made when it wasn't working correctly.

"Let's go." Qrow said, motioning as if he could somehow drive in his condition. He couldn't even walk straight, as he lacked the years of practice driving drunk that he would eventually have.

"Go where?" Taiyang asked.

"My place."

"Why would we go to— oh." Taiyang stopped.

Qrow rolled his eyes and heaved himself into the car before the ground threatened to betray his legs.

Over the course of the ten minute car ride, the realization slowly dawned on Taiyang that he had no home, no wife, and no job. His stipend as a reserved Hunter was more of a bonus than actual income, which meant that he would have to go out once again just as Summer had. He would have to go out on missions— possibly to Vacuo— and put his life on the line for ungrateful villages.

He glanced at his two daughters in the back seat. Even in what they knew would be a short ride, they had already fallen asleep, with Ruby's head resting on Yang's shoulder as they both breathed softly, innocently.

"You're not staying at my place for more than tonight."

That sentence nearly broke Taiyang's heart. "A-ah. Well umm... thank you for letting me stay the night. I appreciate it."

"Ozpin has it—"

Qrow vomited out the side of the car. His body had yet to acclimate to such large amounts of alcohol. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Ozpin has it handled. There's some extra space at Beacon you can use and you've got a job teaching. He said it over the phone like somehow it was an option. Old bastard." Qrow said with a weak smile that was not unlike Ruby's five minutes earlier.

"Thanks, Qrow. Really."

"No problem. Least I can do. Let me know if you need anything else. You can stay at my place for more than just tonight, but any more would be cruel to them." He said, nodding his head towards the back seat. "I hope you like sleeping on the floor."

"I'm used to it." Taiyang said, in full honesty.

Qrow murmured an inaudible agreement before downing the rest of his flask. It was still shiny and new, a joke gift from Summer that he'd kept pristine for what had to be more than ten years at this point. He rubbed the label with his thumb, feeling the etched metal underneath.

"...why was Ruby in the basement?"
"To kill the Grimm?" Taiyang offered.

"I can see why you were never chosen for recon missions now. How did she know a Grimm was down there, didn't she hate the basement? There was zero reason for her to be there. Something's off."

"I don't know." Taiyang sighed. "I was dealing with a kitchen fire, and then I heard the sound of a gun downstairs. When I came down I found Ruby like that and..."

"Call me a little cynical, but I'm impressed. I think I shit myself when I faced my first grimm, and Ruby didn't even look phased. Well, besides the whole 'gun right next to her ear' deal. Which brings me to my next question... why was there a Grimm in your basement?"

Such basic questions are the cornerstone of investigations. Stupid questions that those personally near an incident fail to ask, because the answer should be so obvious that they already know it. And yet...

"No clue. I don't think there's any windows down there. Grimm aren't exactly... you know... sneaky? Even if you left the door unlocked after you left—"

"I didn't." Qrow interrupted.

"...then why would it just wait downstairs?"

"It wouldn't." Qrow answered with a burp. "The answer is that someone put it there. Someone was trying to kill Ruby. Or you. Or Yang. But probably Ruby."

"Why?" Taiyang asked quietly, doing his best to remain calm.

"Hell if I know." Qrow said, peering into the shiny surface of the brand new flask. A flask with a white smudge on it, that no matter how much he rubbed the cuff of his shirt on, remained. He peered at it closer, and noticed that it moved with his hand. He did some basic trigonometry and looked at the corner of the car where the smudge should be, finding only empty space.

The hairs on his hands pricked as he looked back to the flask and found it perfectly shiny and perfect, as it should have been.

The leap of logic he made was both stupid and completely reasonable to a drunk man. He did not state this particularly stupid epiphany to Taiyang, who was mulling over why someone would want to kill at eight year old.

"...forget it. You're probably just forgetting about a window in the basement." Qrow said, trying to make Taiyang feel better as he mulled over the hypothetical of a loving mother killing her daughter.

"Yeah. You're right."

Taiyang pulled up to the apartment. It could only be described as nondescript, with nothing even amounting to a sign to give it character. Patch was not exactly a massive island, the fact they even had a hospital was mostly due to accidents Hunters had when training or fighting grimm. Although it also had decent facilities for the eldery, given Patch's reputation as a home for retired Hunters.

Qrow jostled his nieces awake, stumbling out of the car and towards the door of the apartment.

"Where are we?" Yang asked, dragging a sleepy Ruby out of the car.

"Uncle Qrow's apartment. We'll be staying with him tonight."

A small smile came to Yang's face, arriving hesitant, but growing more bold as time went on. "We get to have a sleepover on a weekday? Nice."

Yang had been excused from classes at Signal temporarily, given her situation, but the allure of doing things reserved for the weekend on a weekday was always there for children.

"Yeah." Taiyang said, locking the car.

"Hurry up!" Qrow yelled from the front porch of his locked apartment, slightly louder than he really should have.

Taiyang shook his head, grabbing the keys out of his pocket only to have them swiftly taken by his teammate.

"Gimme that." Qrow mumbled, fumbling with the lock and the key. His hands were wobbly as they tried to shove the key in all of the places around the keyhole, unable to do the fine motor skill required to enter his less than humble abode.

"Do you want—"

"No."

They continued waiting for Qrow to open the door. It took so long that Ruby had started to count the number of blades of grass in the sidewalk before the door finally opened.

"Fuck yeah!"

Taiyang was not a fan of the new Qrow.

Things were thrown all over the place, a trash can had been scattered on the ground like it had been knocked over by a dog, and the large window in the living room had been smashed and knocked over.

"Did you get robbed?" Taiyang asked, finding more and more damage everywhere he looked.

"Nope. Looks about the same as it did when I left." Qrow answered, tiptoeing over a beer can and failing to do so by such a margin that he nearly slipped and fell.

"Oh."

"Mi casa su casa." Qrow said, spreading his arms wide as he looked at his three guests. He'd heard the saying somewhere, although he didn't know where. Taiyang took it in stride by ignoring the odd phrase.

"Thanks for all your help, Qrow. Why don't you just take a nap for a little bit while we set up our things?" Taiyang offered. "Aaaand he's already asleep."

Qrow was snoring facedown on the floor in a not quite empty pizza box.

"...can I eat the rest of it?" Yang asked, pointing to the thing Qrow was sleeping on.

"No. No you can't." Taiyang sighed. "Let's clean up."

"Awww. I wanted to play video games." Yang pouted.

"On what?"

"On the TV! Which is... broken..."

Taiyang pulled out three trash bags and handed two to his daughters unders orders to clean up. This was not the first time that Taiyang had been on cleanup duty. This was the third.

The first had been when Raven married Taiyang. Qrow had been the last guest at what could be loosely called a wedding and had been driven home by the newlyweds. Raven had offered to dump him somewhere random, but Taiyang took the time to bring him back to his decimated apartment. Raven had not been happy about cleaning up the trash that Qrow had accumulated. The corvid had not taken well to his sister being married off and growing up at a young age, although he'd learned to deal with it. That said, the sex Raven and Taiyang had afterwards could only be described as top notch.

The second was when Summer married Taiyang. That had been an order of magnitude worse than the previous encounter. It had required a thorough mopping, sweeping— and in one case a sword— to clean up. Qrow did eventually get over losing his crush to his teammate, but Taiyang knew that he'd never really forgive him. That said, the sex Summer and Taiyang had afterwards could only be described as top notch.

Taiyang was not the best with patterns, however he idly wondered if he'd have sex with someone after cleaning up Qrow's place this time, and if he did, how good it would be.

Such minor stupidities and impossibilities put a smile on the beaten man's face, something that infected his daughters as they cleaned up the apartment.

An hour later, the apartment was now inhabitable. Although the TV had been a casualty, as there was no reasonable way to fix it. Yang stared at the game console without a display as if she'd just seen her mother die.

She crumpled to her knees, clutching the game console as close as if it were her own child.

"Stupid Qrow."

There was a knock at the door, one that Taiyang and Yang reacted to, but Ruby did not for obvious reasons.

Confused and a little worried, Taiyang opened the door. He would have checked through the eyehole, but this was the third door that Qrow was on, and he had gone with a cheaper, solid variety.

"My condolences." Ozpin said, wearing black for once. He handed Taiyang a vase filled with lilies, and a small TV. "This is my poor excuse for an apology regarding my absence at the funeral. I had a... pressing matter."

"It's fine. And thank you?"

Yang grew wide eyed at the TV, inching slowly towards it as if it would prance away if she moved too quickly. Ozpin gave Taiyang a nod, and Yang snatched the TV away, ripping open the box on the sparkling clean living room floor. Or at least as clean as shag carpet can be.

"May I come in?"

"Of course." Taiyang answered, closing the door behind the old man.

Ozpin stared into a corner of the room for a moment before his eyes returned to Taiyang.

"I truly am sorry about Summer. Were the details ever relayed to you?"

"I just know that she died in Vacuo." Taiyang, his own eyes trying to focus on something else other than the old Hunter.

"You'll be proud to know that she died saving hundreds of civilian lives. I wish I could tell you more but..." Ozpin sighed.

"I understand."
"Good. As Qrow has doubtless told you, you are more than welcome to stay at Beacon as long as you'd like, although I cannot vouch for the smell. Never could solve that issue. And if you'd like, with the start of a new semester, we have a need for a combat teacher. Does either option sound enticing?" He asked, taking a seat on the couch next to Yang.

"It sounds great. I-I really can't overstate how thankful I am. The last few days have been... hard."

Ozpin nodded. "So I've heard." He said, his eyes once again flicking to the same corner.

"If you ever need anything, let me know." Taiyang said, putting all of his strength into a smile.

"I will take you up on that soon enough. Fear not, that will only be after things settle down."

Ozpin looked down at the controller proffered to him by Yang, noting that she had already set up the smaller TV with the console. He took the offered piece of plastic graciously, as Scrolls had not advanced to the point of replacing controllers in this day and age. Some might think Ozpin had never touched a game in his life, given his calm and respectable demeanor.

The truth was that he was a child at heart and had played this game since release. Ozpin was not the sort of headmaster that one would ever equate to hardworking. That would be Glynda's description, as she had been practically ousted from her position as a student at Beacon as soon as Ozpin learned that she was a wizard at paperwork. The fact that someone had used 'wizard' to describe Glynda never ceased to amuse him.

Yang picked a long range character, one known for the ability to control an area of the screen with absolute power. Conversely, Ozpin picked what was usually considered the weakest character in the game, a character with a tiny range and monstrous damage. Yang laughed, because whenever Qrow or Ruby played that character against her, she always won.

The game started slowly, Ozpin backing off as he watched Yang throw out wave after wave of chains, the characters main weapon.

"Do you know who I am?" Ozpin asked her.

"You're Professor Ozpin, right?"

"Yes. And you're Yang Xiao Long."

"Uh-huh."

"Say yes, don't say..." Taiyang trailed off, losing heart half way through his fatherly advice.

"Would you mind telling me what happened when you found your father and sister in the basement yesterday?"

Taiyang nearly choked on the water he was drinking. That was not something he planned to talk about with the girls for at least a month or so, or at least until they brought it up of their own accord.

"There was a lot of blood." Yang said in the same trancelike state that all children have while playing video games. "Dad was sleeping next to Ruby, and her arm was bent weird, like she had another elbow. There was a lot of blood on the floor. I don't know how much of it was Ruby's. There was some from her arm, but there was so much... I called Uncle Qrow and he came with help."

"Sounds like you did the right thing." Ozpin noted. "Why did you go downstairs?"

Yang shifted uncomfortably, and Ozpin knew that he narrowly missed a nerve. "Dunno. I thought I heard someone crying."

"Was Ruby or Taiyang crying when you went down?"

Yang thought for a moment, which gave Ozpin just enough time to sneak in and punch the ever living crap out of her in the game. The win screen flashed, returning them back to the character select.

"You cheated!"

"No. But did you see Ruby or Taiyang crying when you went down?"

"I... no?" Yang said, puzzled at the question. "Dad was just asleep, basically. Ruby looked kind of... stunned? Like in a game? Why would you ask that?"
"No reason. Another round?"
"Pfft, yeah." Yang said with the cockiness that only a ten year old can achieve when playing against a man who had played every title in the series for years.

"Hmm." Ozpin replied non-comitally.

"Why did you ask her that?" Taiyang whispered, a little angry.

"Patience, friend, patience. She'll forget we even talked about it soon. Aren't video games a wonderful invention?" Ozpin smiled, dodging between the chains as he barreled towards Yang with another punch that took half her character's health.

"Onto Ruby. Do not look at her." Ozpin said, talking casually to Taiyang. "What state did you find her in downstairs?"

Taiyang sighed, knowing he was about to go through the same process Yang just went through, except that he'd remembered all of it. "She'd killed a Grimm in the basement with one of Summer's weapons. And—"

"Which weapon?" Ozpin asked, a little too quickly.

"Uh... the scythe? Why?"

Ozpin once again glanced at the corner. "Because your wife once commented that scythes were one of the deadliest weapons ever invented. She was joking, of course, but... intriguing. Please do not misconstrue my curiosity as simply that, I ask these questions to better understand the situation, which may or may not be connected to the future favor I will ask of you. One last question... what color was the grimm?"

In any other case, this would be like asking what color the sky was, but that gave Taiyang pause. "White and red. Don't think I've ever seen one like that, actually. Why?"

"I'm sorry to say that one was purely out of curiosity." Ozpin lied, looking at the corner of the room, and coming to a somewhat similar conclusion to Qrow.

However Ozpin had the added benefit of seeing the reaper lean against the corner, her face bare to the world as she'd cast away her mask and persona, leaving nothing but dull and cold gray eyes. It had nearly given him a heart attack when he saw her. For he was so acquainted with death that he could practically arrange a playdate with it, if he so chose.

And Summer knew that he could see her. She cocked her head in the same way that a tiger does when it looks down on prey it knows it can kill. For the first time in centuries, Ozpin shivered from another's gaze.

Another win screen scrolled on the screen, proclaiming Ozpin's third victory. Yang hadn't touched him a single time.

"You motherfucker!"

"Language!" Taiyang said, his tone serious.

"How did you do that?!" Yang asked, furious. "I didn't hit you once!"

"When you've made as many mistakes as I have, you start to learn how to avoid them."

"That's stupid. You're stupid. Thanks for the TV."

"No problem. Use it well. I hope to have another pleasant match in the future." Ozpin said, rising from the couch with cane in hand. "I'll be heading off now to arrange your living space and position. Call me if you have any questions."

"Thanks, Ozpin. I really appreciate it."

Ozpin nodded, stared at the spirit in the corner, and left.

He waited outside, and Summer slowly drifted through the wall.

"We can talk, but not here. What about... 283 steps that way?" He said, pointing his cane in a seemingly random direction in the forest.

Summer nodded, walking beside him as he took a leisurely stroll in the beautiful island of patch.

283 steps later he was alone with the spirit that had once been known as Summer.

"Why did you try to kill your daughter?" Ozpin asked.

Summer looked distant at the question, but responded nonetheless. "You wouldn't get it."

"I understand more than you might think. Try me."

"Ruby wants to become a Hunter."

Ozpin paused. "And?"

"I can't allow that."

Ozpin blinked. "What? You were a textbook Hunter yourself. You died saving the lives of hundreds. If I know you, you read bedtime stories to the young girl about heroes, priming them to become Hunters."

"Yes. And I regret it."

Bewilderment was Ozpin's main trait at that moment. "What? Why?"

"She's my daughter."

"Summer, I understand that you were never the best with words, but why, exactly?" Ozpin asked, rubbing his forehead.

"Being a hunter is pointless and will bring her only pain and misery. Pain and misery that she could have avoided. And I was the one that did that to her." If Summer's mask was still on her face, she would have cried. Instead her gaze pierced the man's eternal soul. "I wanted to crush her wish of being a Hunter so that she would live a long, happy life."

Ozpin took a moment, walking around the forest. Pacing back and forth.

"So your conclusion was to kill her?" Ozpin asked, glaring at her.

"My conclusion was to combine her irrational fear of the dark and the rational fear of grimm, but it didn't go to plan."

"...you didn't happen to cause the house fire, did you?" Ozpin asked with growing dread.

"I did."

"You were that desperate." Ozpin said, his anger replaced with pity.

Summer said nothing.

"And now what? Will you continue to try and crush Ruby's dream? One that you yourself implanted in her?"

"No." Summer answered swiftly.

"What? Why the... double reversal?" He said, pacing from side to side with his cane.

"It's too late. The Grimm in the basement was the last straw. You didn't look at her, did you?"

"Not as such." Ozpin said, looking away.

"Then you didn't see her eyes. She's deadset. If she lost her arm she'd find a way to replace it. Lose a leg and find a way to weaponize it. It's only a matter of time before she becomes what I did— but... I fear for her."

"You didn't fear for her regarding pain and misery?" Ozpin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ruby's different than I am. More human. More capacity for cruelty."

"An interesting view. And?"

"I say this as her mother and a Hunter. If she continues on her path... Grimm will never be an issue. It will be those around her, manipulating her. Just like you did me. And who's to say that you will this time? Perhaps this time, you'll be the one hunted. She's more dangerous than you could guess."

"I can guess very well."

Summer folded her arms. "The TV was a nice touch, but I know for a fact you can't see the future. Or else Grimm wouldn't be an issue."

"Fair enough. So what will you do now?"

"Teach her."

Ozpin looked Summer up and down. "I feel as if you don't understand your situation."

"I understand my situation perfectly." She replied icily. "I'm above repeating the words of others back to them, so remember this. If I claim that Ruby will be the most dangerous Hunter that you have ever seen, far more dangerous than me, then you had better listen and listen well. Fifteen. Fifteen is the age at which you are allowed to talk to her. If you so much as mention that Beacon is an option to her, then I'll make your life hell."

It was at this point Ozpin started taking her seriously. "And what? If I'm not allowed to manipulate her, then who's to say I won't die to her instead of you? As you kindly pointed out, by the way."

"No one says you'll live. You might. I don't care if you do. It's hard for me to feel pity for the man that killed me." Summer replied, her eyes flat.

"I never thought I would have to have this conversation with one of my Hunters who actually died." Ozpin sighed. "I didn't kill you. You chose to become a Huntress, vowed to protect the people of Remnant, and were dealt an unlucky hand when you had nothing but full houses before. For years, I might add. As you said, I wanted you to be alive. I never knew that you felt this way against me."

"I was blinded before. Now leave."

Shaking his head, Ozpin did as she requested. He took the next ferry back to Beacon, as bullheads were on the cusp of being invented. He arranged where the Xiao Longs would live, as well as the various paperwork that Glynda would usually have forced upon her.

And as the night sky darkened from blue to gray, and gray to black, he thought about if he truly had killed Summer Rose.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. I am always open to feedback or criticism.