The morning had not gone as Weiss had planned. Truthfully, she didn't have a complicated one with contingencies, but she had assumed she wouldn't need them. After all, with a skilled veteran hunter such as Qrow with them, she was almost positive he would have had one at his disposal.

Looking back, she had been sorely incorrect.

Instead, a series of unfortunately bad decisions were made, and Ruby had been the one to concoct them. Weiss once again mentally blasphemed her battle partner in every way possible. Even now, she couldn't believe it. "Leave it to Ruby to jump headlong into trouble...and leave it to me to go along with it." She huffed with aggravation just oozing out of her. "What was I thinking?"

Ruby had been her team leader for years. She had remained her friend longer still. If Weiss knew anything by this point, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that Ruby was always trustworthy. That's why Weiss had placed such blind faith into her partner. It didn't stop the white haired woman from feeling guilty, though. Soon enough though, her end of the task was proving near impossible, and the idea of keeping a young toddler around for an entire week seemed completely out of the question.

Weiss bit her lip, unsure of what to do with the crying young Faunus sitting in front of her. She paced back and forth, looking over to Ruby's uncle as the man yawned highly unperturbed. If anything, he seemed thoughtful reclining there on the sofa. His eyes were like a hawk, looking at the small monkey tail as if seeing it for the first time. He studied it before glancing away unconcerned another bored yawn his only offering for the depths of his thoughts.

"Well, aren't you going to do something?!" Weiss barked.

"Nothing to do." Qrow mumbled with his lips perched to a very expensive bottle of whiskey.

"There must be something." Weiss demanded hotly. "Anything at all to make him stop crying."

"I could always give him a little sip." Qrow joked waggling the bottle.

"YOU WOULDN'T DARE!"

At this, the man rolled his eyes, setting the bottle in his hand off to the side. "Relax kid, god, can't you ease up a little?"

"Qrow, you're an incredibly skilled hunter that Ozpin praises to great length. However in this moment, all I can see is a man who isn't even worth a fraction of that praise." She shook her head. "You're an absolute pig of a man, and my sister is right about that. Ruby entrusted this child into our care, and you continue to sit there and do the one thing that got us into this mess in the first place!"

"First of all, Chill. Second of all, quit bitching. Third, think this through." He sat upright, stretching as his back popped in several places, earning a somewhat satisfied grunt. "Look, it's like this, if you take a little kid away from its father, that kid is going to get a little pissy. Don't matter who it is, kids his age don't understand these things. You can't reason with him."

Weiss frowned at this, seeing his logic, but also biting back another curse. "Well, then what do you expect me to do?"

"Let him cry it out."

Something about that advice made an unwholesome knife twist in her gut. "I…You… No! Absolutely not."

"Then pick him up and bounce him on your knee or something." Qrow shrugged. "He's not that little, you're not gunna break him if you play a little."

"Bounce him on my…" Weiss glowered. "You're completely ridiculous!"

"Great, yeah, blow a gasket. That works too." Qrow sighed, as he flicked his gaze to hers. "You're worse than the little squirt." Before he could issue a lengthy complaint about being suck in the absolute last place he wanted to be, Yang and Blake charged in clad in SDC security uniforms. He smirked down his annoyance. So long as Yang was here, his work was done, and he took a lengthy draw of the finely aged drink in front of him. "Ah, can't beat it." He murmured, enjoying his top shelf bottle for all it was worth.

Yang had the screaming little one in her arms upon seeking the boy, and Blake wasn't far behind, checking him for injuries before Yang shooed her off.

Weiss was only partially paying attention, her face tucked into a dainty hand while her elbow rested in the palm of the other. She paced again, worrying about Ruby. She would only send sporadic text messages. None of them were long or detailed, just simple responses. "Of all the stupid, idiotic, self-appointed missions Ruby's felt the need to take on over the years. I knew I shouldn't have allowed her to go along with me when I went to check on Sun."

"Weiss?" Blake said halting the woman mid-stride.

"No, it's nothing." Weiss said with a firm shake of her head. "I have work to do. I don't have time for this."

"Then let's leave Yang here with Zhu, and I'll go back to that office with you." Blake suggested, only earning a dry, almost offended look for the offer.

"Leave…Yang and Qrow…here with Zhu?"

"I don't understand what you're giving me that look for." Blake sighed then, her hands resting pointedly on the shorter woman's shoulders to ground her there. "Ruby survived, didn't she? She turned out happy, and well rounded. If anything, they're the best babysitters we have right now."

On an intellectual level, Weiss knew the cat Faunus in front of her was correct, and that gentle smile was meant to comfort her, but Weiss felt none of that. She felt only worry, and a strange cold feeling. Something she couldn't put her finger on, as she licked her dry lips. "You're right. Of course you are. I'm just being foolish, as always. Still, there's paperwork at the office to be attended."

"Then let's go, Weiss." Blake urged gently. "He'll be in good hands, and you know that."

Ruby's heart ached with pity, while Sun's just ached. For reasons he still couldn't give a voice to, he refused to talk to Ruby. He didn't even take notice that she was there. Sun felt lower than he had ever felt in his entire life, and he had made his fair share of mistakes. This was different, so far beyond reasonable measure that he had forgotten the finer details.

Then he remembered why he felt so sluggish, so fuzzy, so hurt.

"Got to fix it." He said, still completely out of sorts, as he pushed himself off of the floor.

"Sun, where are you going?"

He blinked owlishly at her. "Need a drink." Sun said, deciding to nurse his massive hangover with more drinking.

"There's water, soda, juice, and milk." Ruby told him gently. "What do you want?"

"Not that kind of drink." He pushed passed her, on a hunt for the kitchen. "A real drink."

He had to find one, needed to. It was all he knew how to do anymore...