Misfits

(Alternative Title: Mama Dragon)

Yang considered herself to be a decent mother.

She'd already been raising a baby before she hit 20, and had been raising 2 kids in her early to mid 20s. (While everyone else had been roaring in her 20s, she'd been dealing with roaring kids.) Sure, neither of those kids were actually hers, but they were her daughters, and she loved them. "Probably a little too much," as Blake had once said when she gave her two girls chocolate cake and ice cream for breakfast that one time.

She'd been decent so far. She'd taught her girls how to behave, how to be a good person, and why pouring milk before cereal was a sin.

So, to hear that not just 1, but both of her kids were sent to the principal's office due to a supposed assault?!

Yeah, no. Yang wasn't going to even-

… Okay. Okay. Calm. She was calm. As calm as a bird, or a tortoise, or whatever animal or thing was calm.

The light turned green, and Yang hit the gas. She debated on telling Blake about this recent development ("Hey, Blake! Apparently our daughters are hellraisers, just like me!") but fended off the thought. Blake was visiting her parents in Menagerie in a 7-day trip. She'd been missing her old home these past few weeks, no matter how much she'd tried to hide it, and Yang had thought it cruel to try and keep her here in Vale for any longer. Yang and the kids missed her, sure, but it wasn't like she was going to leave them forever.

It was okay. Completely okay. She could do this alone. She didn't need Blake - well, actually she always needed Blake, but that wasn't the point.

Yang felt like a teenager again as she strolled up into Beacon High School, partly expecting her old friends to jump in and give her a high-five, and partly expecting those same friends to give her pitiful looks and, later, when they thought she couldn't hear, whispers about what had happened.

Yang barged into the principal's office with a scowl, finding Ruby sniffling and hiding herself into Weiss' shoulder as Weiss maintained an aloof, if not feral position that said "back off or you'll get hurt" to everyone within a 5 mile radius.

And that was the first time she went to the principal's office as a parent, and boy was it not a good feeling.

Weiss' eyes met hers, and Yang was too pissed to figure out the thousands of emotions that flickered in her eyes. Ruby didn't seem to notice who'd arrived. She simply curled into Weiss more.

She needed to emphasize it more: This was not a good feeling.

"Ah, Missus Xiao-Long, what a-"

"Don't even, Ozpin."

And it was Belladonna now.

And calling her old principal by his first name? Also not a good feeling. But it was a different kind of "not good" feeling. One that were mild compared to the more prominent issue.

Ruby poked her head up, hearing Yang's voice, and Yang's face crumbled, seeing how red her eyes were. Ruby ducked her head down and hid in Weiss yet again. Weiss' stare faked calmness. It was an expression Yang saw in Blake too many times. Like mother like daughter.

"Please, I encourage you to sit down."

So, Yang did. She sat down, and made sure to press her hand on Ruby's thigh and rub comforting circles on it. Ruby was the type of kid who needed reassurance through physical gestures. Weiss, on the other hand, needed reassurance through actions and words.

Yang made sure to reassure her as well, and in the only way she knew how. She glared at Ozpin and asked, "Why, may I ask, are both of my children sitting here?"

"Missus Xiao-Long, your daughter Miss Schnee physically assaulted her fellow student during recess. She then proceeded to threaten more students during that same time. When one of the students tried to defend themselves, Miss Rose jumped in and pushed that very student."

Yang stared to see if Ozpin was lying. But that couldn't be true. Ozpin would never lie. She opened her mouth-

"They started it!" Ruby yelled, jolting away from Weiss to look back and forth between Yang and Ozpin before finally settling in on Yang, begging with her eyes.

Weiss looked affronted. "Ruby!"

"Please, Ma! You have to believe me!"

Yang didn't know what to say, so she looked at Ozpin, glaring harder. "Is this true?"

Ozpin wasn't looking at her. "Now, Miss Rose, surely whatever they said didn't warrant your sister's… misbehaviour. Nor yours."

"Actually," said Weiss, "their words weren't what warranted my behaviour. Their actions were."

What?!

"What do you mean by that?" Ozpin asked, disbelieving.

"He was making advances at me, even after I've told him many times that I'm not interested in buffoons." Weiss shrugged. "Only this time, he roped in Ruby as well, which I can't stand. I told him to back off, but it angered him more, and he grabbed me." Weiss was looking at Yang. "Even after I told him not to touch me, he didn't budge. I had to take immediate actions."

A beat.

Two beats.

Heavy beats, full of unspoken rage and offense.

The rage of a mother.

Yang turned to Ozpin. "Is this true?!"

Ozpin looked baffled, and pale. "Now, Miss Schnee, Mister Winchester has never said anything about-"

"WINCHESTER?!"

Yang stood up so abruptly her chair fell. Ozpin paled even more. "Miss Xiao-Long, I beg of you-"

"It's Belladonna!" Yang roared. She set her jaw tight. "I've heard enough. Weiss, get your sister and yourself out of this room." When Weiss didn't budge, Yang looked at her, and tried to soften her gaze as well as her words. "Now, sweetie."

Weiss looked shocked, for a good reason. Despite being hot-tempered, Yang made sure never to get angry in front of Ruby and Weiss. She knew how she could get when she was mad, and she didn't want them to see her that way and be afraid of her.

Weiss whisked Ruby away, who'd yet to crawl away from her hiding place in Weiss' shoulder. Weiss didn't seem to mind as she hurried to close the door.

Now, it was just the two of them.

Yang felt young again. Like she was a student and Ozpin was her principal.

"You've caused a disturbance-"

"Oh, I've caused a disturbance!?" Yang slammed her hands on the desk. Hard. Ozpin tried not to flinch. "The kid's name is Winchester, Oz! Winchester!" Yang met his gaze levelly. "We both know that kid's up to no good. And we both know the only reason why he's not expelled yet is because his family has donated shitload of money. Isn't that right?"

Ozpin didn't say anything, and that was enough of an answer.

Yang gave him a sneering smile. "I bet that if I were to ask any of the students' parents about Winchester, or the students themselves, they'd gladly tell me all about his behavioral problems. Enough to build a good case to do more than expel him."

Ozpin bowed his head.

"I'll let it go, just this once. But I swear to fuck, Oz, if that kid goes anywhere near my daughters again, I will not hold back. And we both know how I get when I don't hold back."

Yang didn't wait for his permission to leave. Yang didn't wait for him to say anything. There was no more words to be said. So Yang left.

…

The drive home was tense. Not that it surprised Ruby.

She tried not to jitter or tremble much, but it was hard. The day's event was still fresh on her mind. One moment, Cardin had been leering at Weiss, and telling her to just get it over with and go out with him already, and the next, he'd looked at Ruby and said dirty words about her and her wallflower act.

Ruby had known that Cardin had been bothering Weiss for a while. But to see it first hand how mean he was, it'd been nerve wracking. Ruby wasn't good at confrontations, so she'd stuttered with her words like the loser she was, and he and his gang had laughed.

The worst part that Weiss had failed to mention was his reaching out to Ruby, and Weiss using herself as a body shield to keep Ruby away from him. She'd felt protected, and ashamed for needing to be protected.

Then Cardin had started to turn angrier, and Weiss had as well, and one thing led to the next, and suddenly Weiss had been yelling at Cardin and his crew to never touch either of them again.

It had been terrifying to see Weiss like that. But at the same time, it'd been also kind of… cool?

It's not like everyone can say their big sister defended them from bullies by literally beating them.

"So," Mama said, her voice bringing Ruby back to reality and reminding her that they were in trouble. "Was it a good deck?"

Ruby and Weiss shared a look. "Pardon?" Weiss asked, voice meek and small either due to exhaustion or fear.

Mama's eyes stared at the road ahead, but a small smile played at her lips. Though, that might not be the case, considering Ruby was sitting on the backseat, unlike Weiss. "Wait, was it a deck or a kick? Oz never told me."

Ruby blinked. Was Mama being serious…?

"Um, both," Weiss said, unsure. "I decked him, then kicked him."

"Right in the dick?"

Ruby blushed. Weiss snorted.

"I wish! I aimed for it, but ended up kicking him in the leg. He fell, though, so that was a plus."

"Nice." Mama nodded to herself, then cocked her head to look at Ruby. "What about you, Rubes? Did you get a good hit?"

"Um-"

"Oh, she got the best hit!" Weiss beamed, and Ruby blushed, this time out of self-consciousness. She bit her lip to keep her smile from growing, glad that Weiss seemed to be enjoying herself. "She punched Cardin in the nose! I'd be surprised if his nose isn't broken!"

"Wait, his name's Cardin?!"

"Yeah?"

"Holy shit, that bastard!" Mama laughed in disbelief. "Can't believe he literally named his kid after his own name!"

Weiss looked back to meet Ruby's eyes. They both shared the same question. Weiss was the one to ask, "You know Cardin's dad?"

"Know him?! Snowflake, we have history. And not like the kind your mom and I have." Mama's phone buzzed, and she muttered a small cuss. "Hey, Rubes, could you answer that, please?"

Ruby grabbed the phone from the cupholder, stared at the screen and found out it was Mom calling. She answered the call, but before she got the chance to say anything…

"Yang, what the flip?! Velvs told me Weiss decked someone and Ruby broke someone's nose?! And you all got called into the principal's office?! Why didn't you tell me?! This is why I keep telling you not to teach our daughters how to fight! I mean, it's a good idea and all, but we both know how Weiss gets when she's angry! You should've taught other kids how to defend themselves against our daughter instead!"

Ruby and Mama were trying their best to hold in their laughter, but at that last part, they couldn't help but break into laughter. Weiss, meanwhile, looked positively scandalised.

"Um, excuse me?"

"To be fair," Ruby said, in-between giggles. "If anyone needs disciplining, it's me. I broke his nose."

"... Ruby, would you please be a dear and hand over Mama's phone back to her?"

"I can't. She's driving."

"I'm pretty sure the road's empty, so it should be safe. Give it back to her. I need to have a few words with her."

Mama looked afraid, for good reasons. No one could survive the wrath of Mom. Ruby chuckled. "No can do. There's, um, traffic. Like, real hard, big, scary traffic."

There was a sigh from the other end of the line. "Fine. Now, would you please explain to me why you apparently broke someone's nose, Ruby?"

"It wasn't just anyone's nose, Blakey," said Yang as she neared their house. "Get this; it was Winchester's nose. Cardin Winchester. The Cardin Winchester."

"... Our daughter broke a grown man's nose?"

"He named his kid with his own name! How shitty could he be!?"

"... Ruby, Weiss, I applaud you for what you did. Your mother and I are very proud of you."

Turns out, Mama and Mom had had a beef with Cardin's dad, whose name was also Cardin, and a similar event had happened years ago, in which Mama had started a fight with Old Man Cardin after he'd tried to hit on Blake.

"Your mother was very territorial," Mom said. "Even before we started dating, she chased away every guy that came close to me." A small pause. "Now that I think about it, it should've been obvious how much you liked me, even then."

"Yeah, I didn't even realise it too." Mama chuckled. A small blush rose in her cheeks, yet she looked content. "Looking back at it now, it was pretty obvious. I'm surprised no one ever suspected a thing."

"Yang, I'm pretty sure everyone knew except for us. We were that oblivious."

"Wait, so Old Man Cardin was also a meanie?" Ruby asked.

"I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," said Weiss with a huff.

Mama snorted. "You could say that again."

I've never liked Ozpin and his "I know everything and I am wise and you should listen to me" shtick, so this was a nice outlet for me to diss on him through Yang.

At first, I wanted one of the villains to be the one who tried to mess with our kiddos. Maybe Mercury, or Cinder. But I thought Cardin would be the best fit since he isn't a villain, but he is a douche, and that's what makes it worse. He doesn't have any ulterior motive, he just feels entitled.

I think, for now, this many chapters is enough. I'd better post it soon, after I edit it. Coincidentally, I just finished posting all of Q&M, and have an empty slot.

Don't know if I'll write more, or if I'll end things here. Either way's good. You guys seemed to enjoy it. Tell me what you want to see—in case I do plan on writing more. Would you like to see Yang and Blake as teenagers, juggling school/work and raising a kid? What about Ruby and Weiss themselves?