Qrow was deep into his third bottle of the evening, about halfway done, with two more left to finish before he hit his limit, and Taiyang was getting worried. It had been a few months now. Their friends, their family, they had been asking about him. But Tai had been doing his best to make excuses. He was busy, still asleep when they called, that sort of thing.

It was starting to become too hard to hide, though. Too many bottles coming in, and even with their generous payments as Patch's more elite Huntsmen, it was becoming a drain on their finances, especially since he was having to order the stuff from outside the village, after he'd run all three local pubs out. Even threatened one of the bartenders, and boy, had that been fun to explain to the local police.

Still, what else was he supposed to do? He was hurt, same as anyone. Finding out Summer had died for nothing, that the man they'd trusted, the one they'd put all their faith in, was no better than the one he claimed to be against? Taiyang should be just as bad as any of them, but he refused to fall into that pit, no matter what happened. The world…it needed someone to be stable for it, with Ozpin gone, Glynda needed him if no one else did.

He picked up the latest bottle, and brought it to the kitchen, lightly setting it with the others, and sighing deeply, as he reached into the sink, and pulled out a cup for himself. Milk, he'd be having that instead...not that he wouldn't later. He had to be strong, for Qrow and the world, but even he needed something to help keep his strength up in the night, when everything else seemed to pound down on him.

The sudden noise, of a hand striking wood, caught him so by surprise that Taiyang barely registered as his hand went to his hip, and when he found his weapon not at his side, he instead flared his aura, and rushed to the living room, passing Qrow who just lolled his head to the side, making Tai scoff, but give him little other mind, as he rolled to the side of the door, and then looked out.

Through the window he saw them, men in the same armor, wearing badges. Vale Security Force badges. That was…he had no idea what that was. The VSF had a dinky one man office in Patch, and the lady who worked it barely had a uniform, let alone the armor these two were wearing. Instantly on alert, he placed his hand against the door, and then gently began to open it.

"Officers, what can I do for you?" he asked, standing so it was quite clear he was not inviting them inside his home, his aura flared out just enough to give him an outline in purple, it showed he was ready for a fight, but the two VSF agents just ignored it, as one of them stepped back, and pulled a scroll from his pocket. Looking at Taiyang, then to his partner, he shook his head.

"Is Qrow Branwen in this residence? Our last information puts him here," said the superior officer, her head turning back towards him, and Taiyang tensed. Every muscle in his body went tight, as he considered his options. Qrow, being asked for by the Security Force? That was big time stuff. He couldn't think of why they'd want Qrow specifically, but it would not end well for anyone, if it were to turn into a violent scene.

"He is, but I'm afraid he's in no condition to come to the door right now. If you would leave the rooms you're staying in, in Patch's inn, we'll be happy to visit you there, say in an hour?" he offered, hoping they'd take it, but the woman shook her head.

"Mr. Branwen is wanted in connection with events that are of an immediate nature. I'm afraid we must insist he come with us right now," the officer informed him, and then stood there. She didn't draw her weapon, didn't make any other motions that might indicate she would be violent, but she didn't have to. Her own aura flared. She had unlocked aura, that meant if it came down to a fight, this would be long, and hard.

Then Qrow walked into the landing, stumbled really. He was drunk, and seemed to be crying, but then he sobered up. The moment he saw who was at the door. The instant he did, he tensed, and then Taiyang realized what was going to happen. If he'd figured it out a heartbeat sooner, he might have been able to do something about it, but instead, he watched as that idiot dove back into the house, and ran.

The officer did her duty, she drew her weapon, and Taiyang, on instinct, ripped the door open, and acted. He got a shock prod into the side for his trouble, as a dust round, a DUST round, sailed by his face, right towards Qrow. It missed, their house wasn't that big, and he was already rounding a corner, as the second officer held him back, and his superior charged after Qrow.

Luckily, Taiyang was good. Even if the VSF agent had been some kind of black ops elite or something, he was one of the top graduates of Beacon in his year. A kick to the stomach, proving he had aura, and then a few jabs in the right places on his body had the man groaning in pain on his porch, as he rushed after the two, past the part of his house that had been utterly wrecked by the explosion of the dust round, without him even noticing.

He made it out the back, and then into the woods, trying to keep the movements of the other two in sight, wishing he had some kind of speed Semblance now, but making do with what he did have to finally, at last, catch up to them, if only because Qrow had stopped. Luckily for him, he was stopped by force himself, Taiyang feeling a heavy body slam into his back, driving him to the ground.

All around him were people in VSF armor, the good stuff, and all of them had auras, and their weapons had that glow of dust rounds. A hundred or more of them, all pointing at Qrow, who seemed shocked for a moment, and then just started laughing. The woman, the same one from the front door, started to tell him to get on the ground, but Qrow decided to ignore that, and took a step forward.

Was it a dare to them? Had he wanted them to kill him? Or was there a plan he had in mind? If it was that last one, it didn't work, as there were enough bullets flying the moment his foot touched down that, even if they'd been normal rounds, they would have reduced him to so much gore. As it was, the mixture of various dusts slammed into his aura, and Taiyang had to turn away, as he saw Qrow start to be torn apart.

When he opened his eyes, it was over. Qrow...what had been Qrow, was laying there in the middle of the crater that had been a clearing. Neither was recognizable now, and Taiyang, numb to it all, barely felt the cuffs go onto his wrists, or heard the officers reading him his rights. He just kept staring at it, wondering how this had all gone so wrong, so fast, and what would happen next.