Here we go.

Cover Art: Aristeo Storm

Chapter 45

"So, this is our dorm. A magnificent abode!"

Peter spoke loudly, as always, and kept on filling the silence left behind by the other three members of the team. Qrow was more than happy to let him, afraid that if words came out his own mouth, they'd be filled with expletives and make the situation worse.

He'd fucked up.

Team STRQ...

Damn it all to hell!

The frustration was crushing. Qrow released a quick breath and umped his pack down by one of the beds, silently claiming it and kicking off his shoes. He didn't trust himself to look at the others, at his own teammates. He was too afraid they'd see the disappointment in his face and think it their faults.

Peter, Peach and Gretchen were tiptoeing around him and he hated it. Qrow had never thought he would be the cause of strife on a team, considering himself an easy-going kind of guy. He was also mature enough to recognise that he was the issue. He ought to have been mature enough to rise above it too.

But Team STRQ had been the one thing he'd been looking forward to more than anything else. His old team, his dead team, alive and kicking once more. All that time spent trying to figure out a solution to Mountain Glenn, to the White Fang, to Cinder and Salem, and he'd gone and fucked up the single thing he took for granted. Worse yet, he couldn't even blame his Semblance for it.

"I suppose we'll claim beds as we wish," Pete pushed on, nervously edging to take the furthest from Qrow and trap Peach and Gretchen in the middle. Peach was quick to take the one next to Peter and leave Gretchen hanging. "Oh, but we should make some team rules as well, shouldn't we? A mixed team. Ahem. It would not do for us to intrude upon the fair ladies changing."

No one said a thing. Qrow continued unpacking, using the act to keep his temper restrained, and Gretchen kept her eyes down and moved to the bed, sliding her bag under it as silently as she could. Peter stared at Peach, silently begging her to speak.

"R—Right," she stammered. "I guess it's as easy as agreeing to get changed in the bathroom."

"Capital idea! And we'll have to agree to lock the door when we use the shower!"

"I'm sure it'll be fine. You and Qrow seem like gentlemen."

"I am, of course, an astute gentleman at all times, but I am still a man and thus prone to accidents!" Peter coughed into his fist, his voice becoming much quieter. "So, it'd be best if you locked the door and spared me the chance to earn your righteous indignation."

"Sure..."

Silence reigned again. In the room next to theirs, some laughter could be heard as a team got to know one another. The contrast to the miserable quiet of their own dorm felt all too pointed. Qrow's scroll buzzed, making Gretchen flinch, and he answered it without thinking. It was Raven, with a text of where their room was, and asking him which his was.

Their rooms weren't even opposite to one another. They were practically on opposite ends of the corridors. Not a great distance. It was about a forty second walk from their door to Team SWRT's dorm, a straight line down the corridor with no branching paths. However, it felt like such a huge distance when he was meant to be with them.

"I'm coming to you." Raven's next text said. "Wait 4 me."

A knock on the door came less than a minute later. Qrow stood and did his best to pretend he didn't notice how Gretchen skirted out his way like she thought he might strike her. He opened the door wide so everyone could see Raven.

"Hey," she said. "I'm borrowing my brother."

"Um. Yes, of course." Peter shrugged helplessly. He was probably relieved. "We'll leave the door unlocked for him to come back."

Raven dragged him out and away from the room, down toward the closest common room. Qrow heard the conversation pick up in his new dorm before he'd fully left, proving he was the problem. Raven closed the common room door behind them and sat him down on one of the green seats, then sat cross-legged next to him.

"You look like shit."

"Ha. Thanks Ray."

"No bullshit," she said, punching his knee. "You look worse than when mom and dad died. Fuck's sake, Qrow, you were less fucked when we were thrown out the tribe to die in the show. Talk to me." Raven punched him again. " Please."

Qrow looked up, shocked by her pleading tone. Raven had never begged for anything in her life, not even the sword he'd made her. Even in the future, when all went to shit, she had never begged like this. "Are you worried about me?" he asked.

"How can I not be? You look like your whole world has come crashing down." Raven leaned in, concern writ uncharacteristically across her face. He hated to see it. "Are you okay? You're not going to do anything stupid, are you?"

"Are you really suggesting I might commit suicide for not getting on your team?"

"I dunno. It sounds stupid to me but I've never seen you look this fucking lost. I don't know what you'll do."

Qrow felt a trickling amount of sympathy for her, enough to force a reluctant and sickly smile on his own face. He reached out and hooked an arm around her shoulder, and for the first time in what felt like forever, Raven didn't push him away.

"Sorry," he said, and meant it. "I'm just being a little bitch because things didn't go the way I planned them to. I'm sulking, Ray. That's all."

His sister relaxed under his arm. "Not like you to sulk."

"Nah, it is. I just put on a strong face most times. I'm not as cool as you think I am."

This Raven had only known him as an overly mature and competent boy and had never seen the emotional wreck of a man he'd become in the future. With any luck, she never would. Scowling, she punched his arm and said, "Who said I thought you were cool?"

Qrow chuckled. That was more like it.

"My bad, then. Must have been mishearing things. How is your team?"

"Annoying!" she groaned, slumping back on the seat. "Fuck me, Summer and Willow are being little bitches blaming one another and Taiyang just keeps looking at me and smiling." She threw a hand out in front of her as if to dash Taiyang's smile away. "Fucking hell. How am I meant to survive four years of this?"

"They'll stop arguing soon."

"I doubt it. Those two are pains in the ass. I blame you for it, by the way. Summer was awesome before you ruined her."

"How did I do that?"

Raven didn't bother answering. "And what's up with your team? I came over hoping it'd be a safe haven and it's like I walked onto a minefield."

"Ah. That'd be my fault."

"Yeah?" Raven shot him an irritated look. "Well fix it, then. I need somewhere to hide from Taiyang."

"It's not that easy."

"I bet it's exactly that easy and you're just being stupid about it."

She was probably right about that. Qrow could count the number of times she'd been right about friendship on one hand, but that only made those instances more galling when they happened. The problem with his team was one he could fix, and one that was his responsibility to fix, but he wasn't sure he could do it just yet.

Not right now when his emotions were so strained. This was a discussion he should have with them when he was rational enough to laugh off the awkwardness without it sounding brittle. When he could admit his frustrations without letting the anger bleed into his voice and make them think he hated them.

"We could switch places for the night," she suggested. "I'll sleep with your team and you sleep with mine."

"Kinky."

Raven snorted.

"But it's best not to. You need to get used to them and I... I need to sort this shit out. We'll stay close, right? As teams."

"The fuck you talking about?" she asked, looking at him as if he were a complete idiot. "You're my brother, dipshit. Not to mention Summer, Willow and Taiyang's friend. Do you seriously think the fact we're on different teams is going to change shit?"

Qrow had no answer.

"You're a fucking idiot." Raven sighed. "And I thought my brother was smart. Find me at breakfast, okay? You and your team are eating with us. And you're sitting next to me in class. I need human shields in place before Taiyang can steal a seat next to me." Raven got up and made to walk away, only to pause by the door. "But our dorm is open if you need it. Cramped fit, but it wouldn't be the first time you and I shared a bed, or a sleeping bag, or a tree trunk."

He was tempted.

Gods, but he was tempted. It wouldn't be Team STRQ but it would be close, and he could wrap himself up in that atmosphere for one night and pretend everything was okay.

"I'd better not," he said, hating himself as he did. "If I sleep away from my team on night one, I don't think we'll ever recover from it."

Raven shrugged. "Then fix this fast. I need my brother back to normal."

/-/

It would have been convenient to say he went back to his dorm, talked to his team and sorted everything out, but that wasn't the case. He'd returned to hear idle conversation trail off the moment he knocked on the door and stepped in, and decided to go to bed early so he could sleep off the anger.

He'd invited them to stay up and chat, saying he was a deep sleeper, but none of them had and they'd all turned in after him.

Come morning, Qrow felt marginally less angry about it all but could still feel the simmering temper, so he took first shower and kept it cold to punish himself, then dressed in the uniform, throwing away the tie and leaving his top button undone. The others were much less secure in doing so and looked picture perfect.

"My—" Qrow almost said my team straight away but sucked it back in. "—sister asked if we wanted to eat with them this morning. Said our teams should be friends."

"That sounds great to me," said Peter, leaping on the chance to ease the tensions. "Lead on."

Technically speaking, Qrow was meant to be as lost as to where the cafeteria was as them, this being new to them all, but he navigated their easily and gave an excuse about remembering the route from their field trip from Signal. The team ate it up. There were signs around to direct new students in the right direction anyway, and it didn't take much longer for Team SWRT to show up. Qrow waved them over to the table his team had secured.

Raven instantly sat next to him and yanked Summer down to sit on her other side and pen her in. Taiyang took the seat opposite where he could smile and stare into Raven's eyes, making her curse under her breath. Instantly, within seconds, Qrow felt at home. The four members of Team STRQ together again.

Which wasn't the case.

"We've got some space issues in our dorm because someone seems to think we can fit a million lien's worth of beauty products and crap in the dorm," Summer growled. "But what can you expect of someone born with a silver spoon in their mouth?"

Willow rolled her eyes. "I've told you I'm perfectly happy to make sacrifices in the name of space. We could move half my supplies into storage and then move you out into the corridor, and then we'd have more room."

"You're such a bitch."

"And you're awfully rude." Willow smiled cattishly. "But I'm doing my best to deal with it. A shame someone older than me can't have the same maturity. How is your team getting along, Qrow?"

It was his team's time to look conflicted. "We're learning," he grunted. "Not had time to really get used to it, but we're not fighting. Small victory there. Right, guys?"

"Yes!" said Peter.

"Hm." Peach hummed.

Gretchen pushed her breakfast around her plate with a fork, her other elbow propped on the table with her cheek resting on her fist. The scratching sound grated in his ears, and for more than one reason.

Raven kicked her foot against his and shot him a look. And getting that kind of look from her was bad enough, but she jerked her head toward Gretchen as if to say now was the perfect time to put it to rest. He shook his head back, earning a scowl and several stamps on his foot beneath the table.

The sounding of the five minute bell saved him having to act on it, even if he knew it wouldn't save him forever going by Raven's irritated expression. He did appreciate her doing her best to help but he needed to blow some steam. They had combat class later, every day in fact, and he was hopeful that would let him relax enough to face his team and sort things out.

Until then, they had theoretical lessons, introductory classes talking about what they would learn, how school would work and what was expected of them. Nothing was ever really taught on the first day other than directions and how to find your way around Beacon. It was the same in Signal each year for the new kids. There was little point trying to teach on day one when half your class might get lost on the way to class.

The morning passed by in a blur of awkward silences, arguments between Summer and Willow, and Raven dodging Taiyang's flirtations. Or even just basic conversation, since she seemed to take so much as a glance her way from as him trying to flirt with her. His team talked a little as well, but among themselves and sometimes to Taiyang, Summer and Willow. They didn't talk to Raven because she didn't care to talk to them, and they didn't talk to him for obvious reasons.

Lunch passed by in the same silence, tenser than before.

But at least they had combat classes after it.

/-/

Given it was the first class, Ozpin let them pick their opponents and Qrow chose Taiyang – needing the mindless, male catharsis of bashing their heads together to work out his frustrations. Taiyang was only too happy to provide it.

The two of them clashed in the arena, loud smacks of fist on body and arms locking. Qrow went in fists blazing, which was a bad idea against someone who knew hand-to-hand better than he did, but Qrow didn't want to win. He certainly didn't want the cold, calculating victory of using his sword on an unarmed person.

Besides, the pain helped.

Maybe it was masochistic to want to have your anger pounded out of you, but every blow had him punching back harder, and extreme exercise was always good for working away a temper. Qrow let himself roar, despite how juvenile that sounded, just because he needed to. His fist struck Taiyang's cheek and the blonde bastard stumbled backwards. Qrow lunged in, only to catch the faint smirk at the last second.

Taiyang buckled before Qrow could hit him, dropped to one knee and caught Qrow's arm against his side and under his elbow. Taiyang fell and rolled, yanking Qrow off his feet and slamming him painfully to the ground. Qrow drove a knee into Taiyang's back to force him off, scrambled to his feet, and almost caught a foot with his nose. His arms rose to take the hit, knocking him back two paces. Taiyang finished his spinning kick, slammed his foot down and used it to propel him forwards in a boxer's stance.

Right, left, low, high. There were no rules here so gut and kidney shots were just as fair as hitting Qrow's guard. Taiyang alternated between high and low, and ducked under a hasty punch to come up on Qrow's outside and jab him in the cheek. Taiyang was a quick bastard despite all the muscle, and he wouldn't stay fucking still!

In the end, it finished as all good fights between men did.

Stupidly.

Qrow roared and threw a punch and Taiyang threw his own back, their fists passing one another to strike the other's face at the exact same time.

In the crowd, Raven slapped a hand against her face.

"Qrow Branwen's aura has entered the red!" Ozpin announced. "This is Taiyang Xiao-Long's victory!"

And, just like that, their murderous expressions evaporated. Taiyang laughed and offered a hand, and Qrow gripped it and let himself be pulled up. Their chests met, hands smacking each other's backs. The crowd clapped politely, if a little confusedly. And Ozpin rolled his eyes at the stupid machismo of teenage boys.

"If you are quite done," he said. "Mr Xiao-Long, you fought well and I have no criticism other than to not trade aura so liberally with an opponent you should be able to beat without it. As for you, Mr Branwen, I would prefer to see you fight with your actual weapons next time. I would accuse you of not taking your opponent seriously, though it seems you expected to lose so I'll instead just suggest you not waste my time in future. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir." Qrow couldn't help but grin. Getting on Oz's nerves was fun, making him act like old Glynda. Plus, he didn't feel so stuffy now. Something abut two guys smashing heads together always worked it out his system. "But I wanted to try a little hand-to-hand is all. Can't rely on my weapon all the time."

"Hmmm." Ozpin did not sound convinced. "You may return to your teams."

Well, they hadn't impressed Ozpin but that could wait. Qrow fist-bumped Taiyang and hopped down off the stage, finally feeling like he might be in the right mood to actually try and build some bridges with his team. Thankfully, it looked like half his team were desperate to make that happen as well.

"Good match," Peach said, awkwardly.

"Splendid display of manliness!" Peter said, loudly. "My heart is still pounding!"

A few people glanced his way with obvious annoyance.

Qrow laughed. "Yeah, it wasn't my best, but I feel like I gave a good showing. Got to represent thew team, right?"

Peach's eyes widened and Peter's jaw dropped. The absolute shock said a lot about how much of a miserable prick he'd been – that they were surprised he'd even talk to them, let alone be friendly. They recovered quickly, or hid it well, Peach smiling back and Peter giving his signature three-part laugh. "HA! HA! HAAA! YES! A FINE SHOWING FOR THE GREATEST TEAM IN BEACON!"

The space around their team increased, as did the evil glares sent Peter's way. Qrow had a feeling the man – or the boy, at this point – was going to make his fair share of enemies just from his personality alone. That wasn't his main concern right now. Qrow tried to throw a grin Gretchen's way, but she turned her back on it, crossed her arms and stared the opposite way.

"Everyone looking forward to their fights?" he asked.

"I'm not allowed yet," said Peach. "They want me to not fight for another three days to be sure I recover properly. Pete will be."

"I certainly will, Ness—ow! P—Peach. I certainly will be."

Gretchen didn't respond.

So, Qrow decided to be a stubborn prick about it. "What about you, Gretchen?"

Her shoulder rose and fell silently.

Peter looked worried. Peach shot Qrow a look that told him this was his problem and he should fix it, preferably before their team got any worse. It wouldn't even be a problem if Team STRQ had—

Damn it. He had to stop thinking that way.

/-/

"Gretchen! Gretchen, come on!"

It was usually Taiyang chasing a girl through Beacon, but today was the exception. She'd up and bolted come the afternoon when they had their free time, and he'd given chase, only to end up led on a merry one through and around Beacon. She did her best to lose him in the corridors, and if he had been a first year like the rest then it would have worked.

But Qrow knew Beacon like the back of his hand, much to Gretchen's dismay. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't properly escape him. All she did was wear herself out, eventually slowing down as her legs started aching and as he cornered her in the gardens outside.

"Gretchen." Qrow slowed to a walk when she finally stopped. "You finished running away from me so we can talk?"

Her hands tightened to fists at her side. "That's rich coming from you," she hissed.

"Look, I know I haven't been the most chatty or friendly member of the team, but you know I was expecting to end up with my friends. Not getting that sucked and I won't pretend otherwise, but it's not like this is the end of the world and you're completely overreacting, you silly tomboy—"

The palm struck his face and knocked it to the side with a sharp crack.

It was less of a slap and more of an open-palmed punch, because when a huntress hit someone, they knew how to hit properly. Qrow poked his tongue against his teeth to test them. He hadn't even considered keeping his aura up, meaning she'd left a nasty red print on the side of his face.

"Ow…"

"Don't you dare make this my fault!" she snarled, facing him at last. There were tears in her eyes. "Don't try and gaslight me into thinking I'm the one who's been unreasonable here! I'm not the one who closed off! I'm not the one who refused to talk to anyone!"

"I didn't mean—"

"You fucking did mean!" she snapped. "You're here hoping we can just both pretend like we were in the wrong and agree to let it go, but I didn't do anything! You did! I was fine to be on any team! I knew you wanted your team, but I at least thought we were friends, Qrow!"

"We… We are…"

"Yeah?" Gretchen looked up at him sadly. "It sure hasn't felt like it."

"Gretchen…"

"I've handed in my transfer request." The girl turned away. "You can have a new teammate."

"Gretchen!" Qrow lunged out and snatched her wrist, and this time he had the sense to catch her other when it came swinging for his face. That didn't stop her knee going for his balls, but he jammed a hip in to deflect that. "Gretchen, stop!" he hissed. "I fucked up. I know, and I'm sorry, but you're not leaving the team!"

"It's my choice!"

"Yeah, well it's a shit one!" He wrestled her around so he had her back pinned to his chest. Gretchen was too small to slam her head back into his jaw, but she gave it a go anyway, trying to kick up off the ground to reach.

He picked her up off the floor entirely.

"Sorry short stuff, but that ain't gonna work."

"Put me down!"

"So you can walk away?"

"No, so I can knock you out!"

"Even less appealing." He held her as she raged, letting her work it out her system. "I fucked up, Gretchen. I know I did. I've been a selfish little prick and I've taken it out on you and the others. I'm sorry. I'll do better. I'll be better. I promise. And I'm not making excuses here, but Raven and I grew up in a bad place and we're used to having one another to rely on. Being cut off from her is different and it's gonna take some getting used to."

"Stop making excuses!"

"Not until you promise to cancel that transfer," he said. "I like you, Gretchen. I'll admit I didn't want to be on this team, but it isn't because of you. You have to know that. You know I'd be a sulky bitch with whoever I ended up with. It's not you, it's not being with the ones I wanted to team up with. I'm happier with you than I would be if it were someone I didn't know."

Gretchen's legs went limp. Qrow didn't put her down because it might have been a trap or she might just have given up on fighting him. It didn't mean she'd accepted what he said. He did loosen his hold on her just a little.

"If I had to pick anyone to be with that wasn't them, it would have been you," he told her. "I mean, who else do I even know? I'm an antisocial bastard at the best of times. It's you or some jock who'll probably be into my sister."

"What," she whispered, "so I'm the best of the worst options?"

"No. You're the worst of my best options." That didn't seem to cheer her up much. "I put everything on teaming up with them, with no thought to Beacon being anything else, but if I had to pick anyone else, it'd be you."

"Or Willow."

"Or Willow," he admitted, "but I actually wanted her to be your partner. When I found Peter and Peach, the first thought in my head was that they'd be awesome teammates for you. I was thinking about you in initiation, you know? I didn't want you to end up on some shitty team with a bunch of asshats."

"What's that supposed to change?"

"It means I care about you." The uncharacteristic words shut her up. Qrow pushed his advantage. "I know I don't come across the most emotional guy, or even a good friend, but I care about those close to me and you're one of them, like it or not. I'm not about to lose you. Not to Grimm and certainly not to the consequences of my own actions."

"…"

"Give me a chance, Gretchen. Please. I fucked up but people fuck up. It happens. It'll probably happen with me again in the future but—"

"What kind of reassurance is that?"

"A bad one," he admitted. "But an honest one. I'm not exactly a normal and adjusted person."

"Because you grew up as an orphan…?"

The fact she was asking gave him hope. She wouldn't care to know if she just wanted away from him. Desperate to prove himself, he decided to do better. "How about I tell you something barely anyone else knows? Raven and I were orphans, true, but we've always been cagey about where we came from. It's because we came from a bandit tribe."

"Really…?" Gretchen sounded surprised. And interested. "But you were kids, right?"

"We still grew up with their mentality poisoning us. Rule of the strong, where the strong take from the weak. It was drilled into our heads that only strength matters and things like friendship and family are means to an end. When our parents died, we lost their strength and were considered weak. We were thrown out the camp in the winter to either survive on our own and prove ourselves strong or die in the snow and spare the tribe the burden of looking after us."

"W—What…? That's sick!"

"And we survived. Not a lot of others did. I'd pick their frozen clothes off their dead bodies and defrost them for Raven and me to wrap up in. Didn't have to eat any, thankfully, but it was close. I considered it more than once."

"What the fuck, Qrow. How is this part of your apology?"

"It's me being honest with you." He squeezed her once and set her down, and she didn't run. Instead, she turned to face him. "It's me trying to explain why I'm so useless, both for now and so you maybe understand if I do anything dumb like this in the future. I was angry, angry at myself for not getting on the team I wanted, and I was worried I'd take that anger out on you or the others if I talked to you."

"Not that I'd hurt you physically," he said. "I'm not that deranged. But I'd have been passive-aggressive or just flat-out rude. That's why I wanted Taiyang to knock me around the ring. Beat it out of me so I could think straight."

Gretchen shot him a tired grimace. "That's not healthy."

"I also have an alcohol problem."

"You're seventeen! How do you have an alcohol problem!?"

"I started at fourteen. Raven and Ozpin caught me and barred me from booze."

"How… How fucked up are you? Really?"

A whole lot more than she could know. He was an old man after all, and he'd been through far too much.

"I'm healing. I'm getting better. I just lapse every now and then and make people who don't deserve it have to deal with my shit." Qrow held out a hand. "You, in this case. I'm sorry, Gretchen. Forgive me…?"

Scowling, she crossed her arms. "You stalk me, trauma dump me, and demand an apology. Is that what I'm hearing?"

"Yes."

"Fuck's sake," she swore, closing her eyes. "You really are shitty at this."

"Yes."

"I'll give you a chance," she said, tentatively offering her hand. "But I'm not being the one to fix you. I'm an orphan myself and have to look after Hazel, and I don't even know where to start with you. Don't you dare make this some weird start of something emotional that ends up with us swearing to fix one another."

Qrow snorted. "But what about our torrid romance?"

"None of that either! Geez! Those other girls would eat me for breakfast!" Gretchen offered a tiny smile. "But you have to try harder," she whispered. "Don't do this again. I've dreamed of Beacon for so long and my first night was spent trying not to cry because I knew my partner didn't want me."

"I didn't—"

"Don't lie. You didn't want me. You wanted Raven or Taiyang or Summer. There's no point pretending otherwise." She took a deep breath. "I'll get overt it and maybe we'll make something of it, but don't insult me by saying I got it wrong. We both know you didn't want to be my partner."

He hadn't. And she was right; they both knew it.

"I'll do better," he promised. "I'll be better."

Next Chapter: 31st August

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