Qrow laid in bed with his wife, unwilling to let this moment end. He would have to leave again in the morning to begin the next step of their plan. They were taking the fight to Atlas. Oscar would be joining them on this round in his first diplomatic mission. Once again Qrow would be scouting the Schnee manor. He couldn't wait to face Jacques again. He wanted so desperately to tell Jacques what a wonderful life Winter was having. The former heiress was now the wife of an old scallywag, hunting for money and raising five children while sailing the seas and destroying pirate armadas. Qrow longed to tell Jacques of all the unladylike things that Winter had done in the past year, or at least most of them. He grinned with pride and pulled the blankets up, covering Winter's bare skin.

Of course, he couldn't even acknowledge that he knew Winter. He was to play the villain in this game. He had kidnapped Winter and sold her and Weiss as slaves to rich masters with questionable desires. He didn't even know their names, they were just Schnees. He had written up paperwork as proof of him selling the girls to slip to their mother. He hoped that it had the desired effect. Winter stirred beside him and he pulled her into his arms and kissed her neck.

"It can't be morning already…" Winter groaned.

"It's not." Qrow whispered. "I just wanted to enjoy the night a little longer."

"Are you sure you have to go?" Winter frowned and turned to curl up against his chest.

"I do. As much as I hate to leave you, I hate your father more." Qrow grinned and played with her loose hair mindlessly.

"Ugh, what does he have to do with this?" Winter groaned, opening her eyes slightly.

"Well, he is the last and biggest obstacle that we have to get passed in Atlas. Besides, I want to see my father-in-law again." Qrow smirked.

"Okay, just don't kill him. Whitley is far from ready to take over." Winter sighed and closed her eyes again. "And don't hurt my mother, she has no power over father any more. He broke her long ago."

"Well, maybe it's time she steps up and breaks him instead." Qrow grinned and stroked Winter's hair. Her breathing evened out and he knew she was asleep again. Qrow sighed and closed his eyes, waiting for dreams to come.

The ship set off early the next morning. Glynda joined Oscar and the others on board as they set sail for Atlas. General Ironwood would meet them at the port and escort them to the high council of Atlas. Qrow was to fly out with his message and deliver it to Schnee Manor when they were approaching and was to stay out of sight until they left. Tai went over the plan every day until Atlas was within view. Qrow transformed and Tai tied the message to his foot. With one final warning to stay hidden, Qrow was off.

He flew around the manor, taking note that Winter's old bedroom window was now barred up. Qrow finally found an opened window. From the empty wine bottles littering the floor, Qrow guessed that this must be where Willow Schnee resided. She had good taste, and this explained a lot of Winter's habits. The woman herself was slumped over on the chaise. Qrow look a moment to look around the room. There was a dagger beside her on the chair and were pictures littering the room. The had stabbed through every picture of Jacques and cut him completely out of pictures, shredding each cut out. She may be a little bitter about losing her daughters. Qrow felt slightly guilty but this was a good sign. He hoped that this would be a push in the right direction.

He pecked at Willow's head until she began to wake up. Qrow grinned internally, she woke as gracefully as her daughter, but he quickly quashed all thoughts of Winter. This was important and he could not get distracted. Although he did see a couple of pictures that he might snatch on the way out of Winter and Weiss growing up. The white haired woman sat up and looked at the bird, blinking a couple times. She poked him to make sure he was real and not a hallucination. Satisfied that he was real she sat back and let him perch on her hand. He lifted his leg to show her the message. She opened it an her bleary eyes slowly grew clearer and clearer, pure rage burning off the last of the alcohol. She abruptly stood and grabbed the dagger.

"Thank you for the message, little bird. I must go have a conversation with my husband now." Willow seethed and gripped the dagger tightly, storming off in the direction of Jacques' study.

Once the door shut, Qrow transformed into his human self. He finished off the bottle of pinot grigio that Willow had been working on, pouring the last of it into the new flask that Winter had given him for the Solstice. He hoped that this would be the end of her blackout drinking. Qrow also took some of the duplicate portraits of Winter and Weiss, sticking them in the pocket gently before transforming back and sneaking into Winter's old room to hideout for a while.

Winter kept an eye out for news from Atlas almost daily. She would always check the press after walking the kids to school and she promised Ruby and Nora that she would let them know as soon as she found something about Qrow or Oscar. When news finally came from Atlas, Winter was stunned. She bought a paper and brought it home to read cover to cover. There was too much information and just the title alone made her head spin.

Schnee Dust Company: Under New Management

Winter was so busy reading that she barely noticed when the kids got home from school. Ruby saw her stunned face and instantly worried that something was wrong. Weiss ran over to her sister with Ruby in toe.

"Winter, what's wrong? Is Uncle Qrow okay?"

"Do you have news from Atlas?"

"Is it Oscar?" Nora asked, running behind the others.

"Mother has taken over the company." Winter muttered, her hand falling to her mouth and tears pricking her eyes. Weiss blinked.

"She… What?" Weiss looked dazed. Winter stood and read directly from the paper.

"'Willow Schnee, daughter of Nikolas Schnee and original heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, has seized her husband's stakes in the company including his seat on the Atlesian Council after some questionable decisions that the company's board agreed made him unfit to lead. It is rumored that she is also filing for divorce and full custody of her only remaining child, Whitley Schnee. Willow may also seek custody of her youngest daughter, Weiss, who is still a child. It is unlikely that custody will be granted as Weiss' whereabouts and status are unknown. She has also issued a statement saying that there will be big changes in the Schnee Dust Company in years to come. She has been seen meeting with the Atlesian council and the visiting Crowned Prince of Vale who will be speaking next week on ending the slave trade in Atlas permanently. Could it be that the Schnee Dust Company could be moving to a more sustainable labor force?" Winter sat down still in a daze. She wished that Qrow was there to snap her out of it.

Weiss was the first to cheer, followed by Ruby and the others. Atlas could end the slave trade! They would have back up fighting Salem! Oscar was becoming an active prince and changing the world for the better! Jacques Schnee had everything taken from him and Willow was taking back control of her life. The kids cheered and ran around. Winter remained seated.

Willow didn't know they were alive. Willow thought that they were slaves. Her mother had finally taken control of her life, but out of rage and desperation. Winter couldn't imagine the pain that she had put her mother through. She hoped that she was happy now. She hoped that Willow could have a better life without them than she would have with Jacques. Winter knew that this was for the best for everyone involved, but her heart broke for her mother and she felt a heavy guilt for her selfishness.

Ren made dinner for everyone since Winter was still catatonic on the chair. The children all followed the routine that they had set together and didn't bother Winter until it was time to mark the calendar. Winter's heart hung in her chest, there were still two weeks until they were due to return. Weiss picked out tonight's book and Winter read it to them. Winter found it sweet that this group of teenagers still wanted her to read to them after all this time. She had seen their grades, they were quite capable of reading to themselves but it was family bonding that filled her heart. She hugged each child extra tightly and wished them goodnight. She wished she could have held on tighter. She wished to could have curled up with Weiss and Ruby and hold her niece and sister close for comfort.

She laid in her bed alone, wrapped in one of Qrow's winter shirts. She missed him. She missed her mother. She even missed her father and Whitley. She missed Tai and Oscar and Glynda. She missed Atlas and she missed Mistral. She missed Weiss' baby fat and cuddles and innocent smiles. She laid back in the bed and slept until the missed the sunrise.

Tai was ecstatic. This whole plan couldn't have gone better. Luck was really on their side. Everyone in Atlas came to see the Crowned Prince of Vale for the first time. The regent council had kept him away from the world to spare him from his father's fate, but now he was here for the world to see. The council would open a poll in months to come but Willow had taken steps to free the SDC faunus slaves.

Tai had the honor of meeting Willow. He introduced himself as the man who took out Salem's armada in Southport. She was excited to meet him and paid him handsomely to help transport the faunus who wished to return to their homes. Tai wanted desperately to tell her that he had rescued her daughters, what wonderful women that they had become, even just to say that they were alive, but he remained silent. Blake welcomed each faunus and they had a massive celebration. Willow liquidated Jacques favorite summer chalet to pay reparations to each family and she apologized. Now that she knew the pain of having her child taken away and sold, she was heartbroken to know that she had stood by and let this happen for so long.

Oscar was swarmed with people constantly and Glynda stood vigilantly by his side. She was furiously proud of him and protected him from every potential threat. Everyone was excited to meet him and every level of politician and dignitary wanted to meet him. Everyone was busy.

Everyone except for Qrow. He stayed hidden, watching and waiting until he could return home. He had fun stealing things from Winter's room and hiding it on the ship. He knew Tai would be mad that he was doing it, but he was just having some fun. These weeks were dragging on and on. Even when he was able to board the ship to transport the faunus home he still had to stay quiet. He wondered if this was Winter's whole life before him. It sucked. He enjoyed drinking as much as he could to stay calm but he missed his wife. He enjoyed the time he got with Yang but she was too busy. If Ruby were here should would be curled up with him and a plate of cookies. They would play games like before and he would let her win.

Finally they were done for the season. They were paid handsomely and sent on their way. Oscar would stay longer with Glynda to see the political aspects of their mission through, but Patch was in view and they were ready to be home. Qrow was antsy and through everything into his bag. The winter couldn't have come any sooner, though Qrow was not looking forward to be stuck inside a house for another three months. He flew ashore as soon as he saw the kids waiting at the docks. He transformed and hugged his niece first.

"Where's Oscar?" Ruby asked, hugging him quickly then looking over his shoulder.

Qrow's heart chipped and he let her know that Oscar was staying longer to do prince things. Ruby's face fell and Qrow's heart with it. He looked up and saw Winter running towards him and he met her halfway with a tight embrace. She looked like she had been crying but he said nothing. They all worked together to load up the cart and get back to the house. Qrow pulled Winter aside to talk to her.

"I need to talk to you." They both said at once. Winter nodded and let Qrow continue.

"I brought some of your old things from Atlas. I got some of these from your mother too. She just doesn't know that it was me" Qrow smiled and handed Winter a picture of her and Weiss. They must've been around 4 and 13 at the time. Winter looked at the picture and her eyes watered.

"There's more to say too but I'll let Tai tell the story. I mostly stayed in the shadows and kept an eye on things to make sure Willow didn't kill your dad. So what did you want to talk to me about, Ice Queen?" Qrow eyed Winter carefully and began to sob.

"Do you want children?" Winter blurted out before she could stop herself.

She put her arms around him to support herself. Qrow froze. That was unexpected. Winter never seemed like the type to get all teary over babies and honestly he had never thought about having his own kids. Tai's were enough of a handful to even consider his own. She was shaking and he put a nervous hand on her back.

"What's brought this on, Ice Queen?" Qrow asked, concern lacing his face.

"My family is falling apart. My parents are divorcing and I may never see them again anyway. My mother thinks I'm dead or worse and Weiss is planning on joining the Kingsgaurd Academy with Ruby next year. They'll both be moved to the capital once their turn 18 to guard Oscar with no doubt. She won't need me anymore. You're off for half the year and I'm going to be by myself. I want children but I have no idea if you do or not." Winter sat down.

"Okay." Qrow shrugged. Winter's scowled at him.

"Okay? That's all you have to say?" Winter sighed, stood up and walked away.

Qrow tried to grab her but she pulled away. He chased after her. She locked the bedroom door and the window. Obviously she wanted to be alone. Qrow sat down at the table and groaned. She was acting like he was some terrible captor again. Tai patted his back.

"That is absolutely not how you answer that question, Qrow." Tai sighed.

"Well how do I answer then, Tai? It's not exactly a yes or no question." Qrow huffed.

"Sure it is. Do you want to have kids with Winter?"

"Well, yeah but-" Tai cut him off with an eye roll.

"No buts, tell her. You can iron out the details together but you need to let her know that."

Winter laid in her room and looked at the small portrait of her and Weiss. She wrapped herself up in Qrow's shirt and curled up on the bed. She should just let him in. He had been knocking at the window and the door. The knocking on the door stopped and Winter turned to look at the door.

"Winter, you're not standing by the door right?" Qrow's muffled voice asked.

"No, I-" Winter's eyes wide and she ran to open the door before he could break it down. Qrow was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. He wasn't really going to bust down his own door, that would be stupid.

"You ass." She turned and slammed the door behind her.

The slamming sound never came but a low moan came from Qrow. He opened the door with his now throbbing foot and shut it behind him. Winter sat on the bed and faced away from him. This stupid argument sent them 12 steps back in their relationship and she was acting like a child. He wasn't sure what to say.

"Hey." He winced. Was that really all he could think of.

"Hello." Winter didn't look at him.

"I love you." Qrow took a step towards the bed.

"I know." Winter paused. She looked at him for just a moment then turned away. "I love you too."

She scooted over and made room for him to sit beside her, but she still wouldn't look at him. He sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist. She still wouldn't look at him, but she leaned against him. He was quiet for a moment then wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head.

"Yes, I want to have kids... with you." Qrow said quietly.

"Right now?" Winter asked with a small smile.

"Well, I mean, nine months or so from now but we can get started right now if you want." His lecherous side was showing, but he had been away for 6 weeks.

"How about seven months?" Winter asked nervously. Qrow looked at her with a frown.

"I would assume you would want to carry to full term…"

"I do." Winter looked up at him, wiping her tears with his sleeve.

"Winter, are you..?"

Winter didn't say anything, just nodded. Qrow froze again. His heart stopped then burst, blood flooded his veins. He didn't realise that he had transformed until he found himself doing loop-de-loops in the airs. He whizzed around the room, not really knowing what else to do. Winter's laugh echoed in his mind and he dropped onto the bed as a human and kissed her with vigor. When he pulled back she was stunned, much like the first time he kissed her.

"Are you happy about this or..?" Winter quirked an eyebrow.

Qrow just kissed her again and wrapped his arms around her. He laid her down on the bed gently and looked down at her he nodded and looked down at her. Other than her teary eyes and puffy face, she hardly looked any different.

"Are you sure you're pregnant? How do you know? When did this happen?" Qrow suddenly found his voice and asked all of the questions he could think of. "It's mine, right?" His eyes widened. He had been out at sea for a while.

"No, it's Glynda's. Of course it's yours you boob!" Winter smacked his arm. He laid beside her and snuggled her close. "The abhorrent amount of crying was easily the worst part, but I didn't become truly suspicious until I threw up after every hunt or after walking the kids to school. That was unbelievably rough. I went to the doctor the other day to verify. I feel helpless and I hate it." Winter sighed and wiped her eyes again.

"I mean, you were right earlier. You're family is falling apart and you had no one here to help you." Qrow shrugged. "Sorry, probably not helping. But at least now I know why you've been such a hellion." Winter kicked him under the covers.

"So I guess my job is already done then, huh?" Qrow frowned playfully. He reach under Winter's shirt and ran a hand over her lower abdomen. "We should do downstairs for dinner." He kissed her neck gently and showed no signs of actually moving.

"Well, it is always better safe than sorry right?" Winter closed her eyes and pressed her back against him.

This was yet another side effect of the pregnancy. She spun around on top of him and planted a kiss on his mouth. He moved his hands to her hips and pulled her in closer. Winter began unbuttoning his shirt, slowly. He caught her mouth with his and hardly let her come up for air.

"I missed you a lot." Winter purred, slightly breathless.

"Good." Qrow growled and nipped at her neck. Before he could do anything else, there was a knock at the door and it took everything in him not to throw his dagger through the door into whoever was on the other side.

"Winter, dinner. Also I think Qrow is off moping somewhere, can you help me find him?" Tai called from the other side of the door.

There was a metallic thunk and Tai heard a muffled "Fuck off Tai!" He was used to that coming from Qrow but he was not expected Winter to address him with such venom, even it they were in the middle of something. Qrow looked down at his wife with a new gleam in his eyes.

"Did you just shout at Tai to 'Fuck off'?" He looked at her in awe. Winter had a predatory look on her face.

"If you don't shut the hell up then you will be the next thing I throw the knife at. Now take off your clothes and get down here." She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him down to her. Tai was right, he loves a woman that can kick his ass.