Back onto our normal schedule until Christmas.

Cover Art: Mystery White Flame

Chapter 51

"So, have you been out partying?" asked Gretchen. "You know Raven will be angry if you've been drinking."

"And have I come back smelling of alcohol?"

"No. But you have been coming back late. Do you have a girlfriend?"

The last was asked quietly, so as not to let Willow overhear. His team had noticed his spate of late-night excursions and had naturally grown curious in the way that only teenagers could. Gossip was king in school.

Qrow hadn't been immune to it as a teacher either, especially when his students kept shipping him with other teachers. It was always rumours about which teacher was doing which teacher. It was kind of a relief to discover it was no different as a student. It had probably been the same the first time around as well, but he'd been too oblivious to notice.

"I'd like to think I wouldn't be coming back at all if I had a girlfriend."

"Unless you're not welcome in her dorm or she wants to keep it secret from her teammates." Gretchen's eyes widened. "Is it someone from an older year!? I heard from Raven about you and that older girl. Glynda—"

Qrow shoved a slice of toast into Gretchen's mouth before she could doom them all. That rumour had died down in Signal after Glynda Goodwitch graduated, and he didn't want to resurrect it here where she was still around to find out and kill him for it.

"That wasn't real," Summer told Gretchen, apparently having been listening into them rather than whatever the others were going on about. "Raven is just stirring shit because it makes her happy to. Glynda barely interacted with Qrow at all. It's just that he was broody and antisocial at the time, so people saw them talk once and assumed stupid things."

Qrow nodded his thanks. At least someone understood. Not that he wouldn't jump at the chance to spend a night with Glynda Goodwitch later in life – or heck, she'd be around twenty now. That had to be good enough to be rid of the deep feelings of "ick" he felt at younger people.

But Glynda had always been married to her career. He wasn't sure she'd ever had a partner, though he also hadn't exactly been close enough to find out. Being a part of Ozpin's inner circle and knowing about Salem tended to put a damper on relationships, though. It cracked Taiyang and Raven's straight down the middle. If it wasn't the feeling that bringing a child into this world would be cruel, it was the sheer amount of pressure and work on the plate to beat Salem getting in the way.

He'd already had to balance being an uncle, a teacher, and a secret operative of Ozpin's in a shadow war. There really hadn't been time to fit a girlfriend into that. He couldn't imagine it was any easier for Glynda balancing running Beacon, dealing with students, and whatever secret responsibilities Ozpin had for her.

"He's lost in his head again," Gretchen said.

"Sorry." Qrow poked her forehead. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"What were you doing?" asked Summer. "And what time did he get back?"

"Gone midnight," Gretchen said.

Absolutely no secrecy. Qrow despaired of them. Couldn't she have kept this to just the team as well? He wasn't so much worried about Summer interfering as he was Raven, because she'd never accept him doing things on his own.

"I was just training in the forest. Sorry to burst your bubble but I can't do exciting stuff all the time."

"Why not ask one of us if we wanted to train?"

"Because I wasn't training fighting. I'm trying to bolster my scouting and sneaking skills."

The girls looked confused, and not without good reason. Beacon was a combat school, emphasis on the combat, and while alternative methods were approved of, they weren't the primary focus. The whole idea of Beacon was to make you as strong as possible so you could survive. Anything else was your job. Ozpin had told him once it wasn't dissimilar to a civilian university, in that lectures and classes were to give you the basics, but that you were expected to study other things on your own.

Beacon was the same. The idea was that if they tried to teach everything, students would be weak and die to the Grimm. Focus on making students strong enough to survive, and they could practice in their future careers and, if sneaking went wrong, they'd at least be tough enough to make it out in one piece.

"It's just something I want to practice," he said, shrugging. "We get a lot of work in bearing one another's faces in that I don't need any more combat training outside class. But being able to track Grimm and evade them could be useful."

"Why…? Isn't it better if we kill them?"

Ah, kids. Qrow tried hard not to let a patronising smile express itself. He'd been of the same mind at their age, as had Yang and Ruby. Thinking themselves invincible and trying to solve everything with as much violence as possible.

"It won't always be our best bet to kill Grimm. What if we rescued some people and needed to get them to safety? What if we had a defenceless baby with us? It'd be better to help them sneak by."

To their credit, they weren't stupid. They just hadn't considered it.

"I guess…" said Gretchen. "But we'll probably get classes on that. Won't we?"

"We get classes on combat, too. Doesn't stop us sparring most evenings."

Summer snorted. "That's because Raven loses her mind if we don't fight at least once a day. Still…" she poked at her food and glanced away. "I wouldn't mind practicing some scouting training as well. Maybe we could both go together next time?"

Gretchen snorted but, when Qrow looked her way, she had her face back down and was focusing on her food. He'd have normally been happy to help, but his work with his new "friends" wasn't something he wanted anyone involved in. On the other hand, being evasive was only going to make this worse.

"I guess we can give it a go…" His words brought a happy smile to Summer's face. "I'll pick a time for us to practice, but I'm still going to do some on my own as well. Can't test myself properly if I have help."

"Sure! And I agree, it should be the less people the better. Just the two of us."

"Yeah, no worries."

Summer was on cloud nine for the rest of breakfast, while Gretchen was on cloud rolling-her-eyes. When they left, Gretchen elbowed him in the side. "You're really oblivious, aren't you?"

It was Qrow's turn to roll his own. "Not always. I know she's worried Willow will invite herself along with us, and that she wants it to just be the two of us."

"Wait, wait, wait. You've finally figured it out!?"

"Course I have…"

He wasn't stupid. And he'd seen this happen before. It was back when Yang and Ruby were a little younger and Yang made a boy friend. Not a boyfriend, but a friend who was a guy. Ruby hadn't seen it that way and, as a young girl afraid of losing her sister, had immediately become possessive of her time with her, not wanting to share her. It took time for her to realise that not only was Yang not in a relationship, but that she wouldn't have abandoned Ruby even if she was.

It wasn't so strange to see Summer acting the same way. Maybe it was the fact they looked so similar that was making his brain connect the dots, but it was hard, sometimes, to look at Summer and not think of Ruby. To not see her as a mirror image of his beloved niece. Their mannerisms were so alike sometimes.

"I know why she's so competitive with Willow," he said, "but I also know it's not healthy, nor something to encourage."

"Yeah." Gretchen nodded. "Not if they're going to be partners for so long. What are you gonna do, then?"

"I figure I'll spend time equally with both of them. Alone with them as well as together as all three, so they both know they don't need to fight one another off." Qrow smirked, rather proud of his plan. "So, what do you think?"

Gretchen shot him a look that was equal parts surprise and awe. "I'm kind of impressed, honestly. I thought you were way too oblivious to notice how they felt. So, this will also show them you don't favour one over the other."

"Yep."

"No romance, then?"

Qrow grimaced. Gretchen was asking about Willow, obviously, and that was something he still couldn't allow. The girl was sixteen for crying out loud. "No romance. I'm not ready for something like that."

"Cool." Gretchen smirked. "You know, it's normally the girl having to say that to buy time when guys are being pushy."

"What can I say? I'm a hot piece of ass."

/-/

"—loser by ring out is Peter Port."

The usual jeers and applause followed Ozpin's announcement. Peter pushed himself up form where he'd landed outside the ring, and Qrow caught the quick flash of relief and shame on his face. Relief that it was finally over, shame at his loss. Peter simply couldn't wait for his fights to end, and that implied he went into them knowing he'd lose.

A bad combination.

"Mr Port, you must focus more on your surroundings and a little less on shouting things out." Ozpin was always firm and yet polite. He could be critical when needed, but never put a person down. He was much like Glynda in that sense. "And you, Mr Barley, while I approve of using your opponent's aggression against them, your taunts during the fight would have you bested by most opponents. You might want to keep that in mind lest I pair you with one of Mr Port's teammates."

The boy looked out over the crowd and quickly spotted Nessa, Gretchen and Qrow. Each of them stared back, and while he didn't look overly worried about the two girls, he gulped at Qrow's arch look.

"Sorry," the boy mumbled, more to Qrow than Peter or Ozpin. "Let the adrenaline get to me."

A likely excuse.

Port's fight was the last of the afternoon class, and they were dismissed to the changing rooms after. The whole public changing rooms nonsense was one thing Qrow had not missed about being in Beacon, and he couldn't say he liked being back. The whole self-conscious aspect had faded somewhat, him no longer being a teenager, but that didn't mean he liked having to share shower space like this was some kind of prison.

He wasn't the only one. Peter was wrapped up so tight in a towel as he shimmied to the lockers that he could barely move. His eyes were wide and fixed ahead, desperate not to make eye – or body – contact with anyone. Qrow had seen the guy naked (hard not to in the changing rooms) and knew Peter had a body most men would kill for. He was a little wiry but loaded with muscle. Easily in the top 1% of men everywhere.

It just went to show that a goof figure was no escape from inadequate thoughts. No matter how hard you worked, there was always someone better you'd compare yourself to if you were the type to do so.

As he went by, someone pointed and whispered to his friend. A towel was rolled, but Qrow was quicker, moving over as if to grab his shoes and catching the rolled-up towel strike on his hip.

The guys froze as Qrow turned to look at them. Predictably, the boy from the fight, Lukas Barley, was among them.

"Problem, Barley?"

"No, man. Just a bit of fun. Good fight you had today."

"If you say so."

Qrow turned away, dismissing them. His reputation for being painfully antisocial towards anyone other than his and his sister's teams covered for him, but it was his sheer prowess in class that kept anyone from making a stink about it. There was always a hierarchy among the guys, and strength won out. That was easier than what he'd heard from Ruby and Yang about how girls could be, with queen bees and gossip and rumours being the primary weapon over towels and shoulder-checks.

Good thing I'm not a girl, then. Though Raven seems to get by just fine punching anyone who talks to her the wrong way. I guess there aren't many problems a healthy dose of violence can't solve.

"You didn't have to," Peter whispered.

"Neither did you," Qrow responded. "Why are you so nervous? You don't have anything to hide under there that I've seen – and you're not the worst-looking guy here. Be that in looks or muscle."

Peter laughed awkwardly and pulled off some ridiculous manoeuvre where he pinched the towel to his sides and slid his boxers and pants on underneath it without exposing anything more than his shins. Qrow would have suspected issues down below, but then Peter did the same with his top, never exposing more than an inch of his chest as he slid a shirt down over his towel.

"It's just how I am," he said. "No big deal."

"It makes you stand out, Peter. That's why they're bullying you."

"This isn't bullying." Peter scoffed at Qrow's raised eyebrows. "It's not. Bullying is when someone goes out their way to hurt you – I've seen that. This is opportunism."

"Yeah, well, you're being opportuned upon a whole lot, then. You know how this works, Peter. Let yourself be seen as the runt and you'll always be the target."

"Then I'll get plenty of practice punching back until I'm stronger, won't I?"

"That's…"

Qrow couldn't find the right words to pull that apart. It was more that he knew Peter wouldn't punch back that was the issue. That, and how much a person's confidence could be driven down. He'd seen that too many times in Signal with promising students.

And here he'd thought coming back would mean he got to stop being a teacher. Didn't look like it.

"Don't take their shit," he said, as he had to many kids before this. Technically, most teachers were meant to dissuade violence, but Signal had been a combat school. The whole culture of huntsmen relied on using violence to solve problems – the primary one being the Grimm. They couldn't afford to instil a sense of pacifism in their kids. "You've got to hit back, even if you don't win. It's not about being the strongest. It's about showing them that there will be consequences for messing with you."

Peter looked at him weirdly. "Aren't I supposed to be the bigger person?"

"Yes. And beat their shit in."

He laughed. It was a shocked and genuine sound from Peter, unlike his normal faked three-part, booming laugh. "Oh my lord!" he said, wiping his eye. "I can't… I don't think that's what they meant by being the bigger person, Qrow. But thanks. I needed that."

"What you need is to snap and punch someone."

Peter grinned. "Are you offering?"

"Someone who deserves it, preferably."

"And they don't deserve it."

"Debatable."

"It's just a bit of banter," Peter said, in a way so many young men before him had that Qrow had honestly lost count. "And it's not like I don't invite it with how I am. Let it go. I'll be fine. I'm getting better in our spars, aren't I? Even Raven says so."

Technically, Raven called him a little bitch who needed to "man the fuck up and fight in class like he did with them" but he supposed she had, technically, implied he was better in private than he put on.

Was it just stage-fright that was the issue? Some kind of performance anxiety?

Qrow finished changing and left with Peter, serving as a silent warning to everyone else not to cause him any trouble. He couldn't be with Peter all the time – and it wouldn't help him improve if he was – but he'd be damned if he let the changing rooms become his teammate's personal hell.

What else could he do? Beating up those who bullied him wouldn't help – it'd just make them bitter, and that'd escalate from mockery to thrashing Peter whenever Qrow wasn't around.

It pissed him off to feel as helpless as a student as he had as a teacher, because those few times he tried to intervene by pulling aside and punishing bullies had ended much the same way. The bullies assumed the victim had snitched, and the victim received bullying twice as bad as they had before.

The issue wasn't as simple to fix as everyone seemed to assume, nor were teachers as blind or disinterested in solving it as assholes on the outside thought. They never seemed to realise that if the problem was so easily solved, it would have been solved decades ago.

People had tried. Teachers, parents, hell, even psychologists had looked into it. The problem was that bullying, in some studies seemed to be an almost genetic inclination. Or an evolutionary trait. Animals fought for dominance to improve their odds at finding a mate and secure their place in the social hierarchy, and humans were just smarter, more advanced animals.

Kids in school certainly acted like wild animals.

/-/

"You want my advice?" Taiyang looked surprised, but not unwilling to help. "I mean, I'll do whatever I can, but why me? Do you think I'm the kind of guy who gets bullied a lot or something?"

"It has to be more than me," said Qrow. "You know Ray and I were raised outside schools. Our experience being students is limited, and all of that has been with us being strong enough to kick the ass of anyone who crossed us."

Taiyang snorted. "Yeah, I can't imagine Raven putting up with anyone bullying her. Or even noticing, to be honest."

"Trust me, she doesn't." Qrow smirked back. "But even if you haven't been bullied much yourself, I figure you've seen instances of it where we haven't."

"True. Okay, fine. I'll help. Tell me what you know."

He'd known Taiyang would be on board. This was the man who raised Yang and Ruby, and not all of their do-gooder tendencies had come from Summer. Taiyang had also been the most popular teacher in Signal. The one students went to with their problems, and thus the best to know about this. Maybe not now he was a kid again, but it had to be more experience from the victim's point of view than Qrow had. All he knew was from the teacher's angle, and no student – not one – told the teacher the full story. It was some kind of freaking law as far as he could tell.

Still, he told Taiyang all he knew and all he'd considered. His best friend listened, leaning forward from where they were perched in the common room. He nodded occasionally, and only spoke once Qrow had finished.

"Okay, so you're bang on that you shouldn't go after the bullies. I had a friend back home I tried that with. He was getting hassled, so I threatened the bullies. They beat him up, so I beat them up, and it went on and on." Taiyang bit back a grimace. "Ended with my friend in hospital, then his bullies in hospital, then my parents being summoned to talk to the headmaster and me being threatened with expulsion."

"Really…? Damn, man, I never knew!"

"Not something I'm proud of, you know?" Taiyang shrugged helplessly. "Worst thing is, it got so violent my friend's parents decided to withdraw him from the course and move. I only made it worse in the end."

It was a good job he'd not gone with that idea, then. The tendency to solve things by punching was so alluring an idea that even Nessa and Gretchen had suggested it. Well, they'd suggested their team have words with some of the bullies, but threats were the same thing. They were an escalation with the threat of violence.

"Way I see it, the only true way to end it is if the victim is the one to do so," said Taiyang. "And that sucks, I know, but it's how it is. If a teacher steps in, the victim is a pussy and a grass. If a friend steps in, the victim is a coward who can't fight his own battles. Both are just more reasons for the bullies to feel angry."

"And yet saying we should leave Peter to deal with this himself sounds disgusting."

"Yeah." Taiyang grimaced. "And I didn't say leave him. I just mean he has to be the one to act. You can push him to it and help him out. I mean, that's what you're already doing, but do more. Or help him get strong enough that he feels he can hit back."

"He already is strong enough. I've sparred with him. He's good."

"How good?"

"Middle of the pack. Not excellent, but in the top half of the class I'd say."

Enough to not be the butt of jokes. Peter didn't need to be the strongest, nor even strong. It was as Qrow had told him earlier – he just needed to be vicious enough that the bullies knew messing with him would hurt. Sometimes, it was enough to be a porcupine and convince predators the meal wasn't worth the effort of dealing with your spines.

"His skill and conditioning definitely aren't the issue. It's more mental." Qrow tapped his head. "Peter hides himself in the changing rooms and panics on every attack. He holds back – and I don't think it's because he's afraid of hurting people. He knows aura will protect them. This is something else."

"What?"

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be asking for your help. Would I?"

"Ha. Right. Right." Taiyang leaned back. "Not sure what I can do, though. I've never been good at big stuff like this. I could help him get stronger, but if you say he's good enough already then that isn't the issue. Brutal as it sounds…" Taiyang hesitated.

"What? Say it."

"Maybe… and this sounds awful, but maybe the best thing you can do is let things come to a head."

"Abandon him? The team will never accept that."

"Not abandon. Just…" Taiyang ran a hand through his hair, clearly uncomfortable even saying it. "Things are going to come to a breaking point eventually. Either he'll snap and punch back, or he'll cave. Obviously, the former is better. Back him up and help him as best you can, but if he's refusing your help then all you can do is hope he breaks in a good way."

To break in a good way. Taiyang was right – Qrow hated it. His every instinct as a teacher screamed at him to intervene, to act, to guide and teach. It wasn't in him to sit back and watch a child – for that was what Peter was – walk slowly towards his breaking point. Sure, he might come out stronger for it if all went well, but that still felt so much like abandonment. Worse, it was a dereliction of the duty he had as the guy's teammate.

It was an easy answer.

"Thanks," Qrow said. "I'll sort something out."

Taiyang smiled. "You're not taking my advice. Are you?"

"Can't. Sorry."

"Don't apologise for it. I admire you for refusing. I'm sorry I couldn't help more."

"You did the best you could, Tai. Thanks for listening. I – we – will sort something out. Our team."

"Fair enough. Just remember you can't fight the battle for him. They'll only bully him worse if he's sending his teammates to represent him. He needs to stand up on his own. I mean, guy is aiming to become a huntsman. He has to learn to face the music eventually."

"He will."

"You sound certain."

"I am."

He knew the Peter Port of the future, after all. He'd seen what the man would become. But, as he was beginning to understand, it was not what they would become, but what they could become.

The Summer, Taiyang and Raven of this life would not necessarily become as they had in the future. They were reflections in a mirror, but imperfect. The changing circumstances he wrought would shape them in new ways. For those whose future implied tragedy, that was a good thing, but it worked both ways. Just as Summer, Tai and Raven could have a better future… Peter could have a worse one.

I'd best get the team involved. Doing this on my own… It's all our eggs in one basket. I can sneak into a research facility and fight on my own, but this social stuff has never been my strength. It'd be stupid to believe so now.

Maybe help could from a more unlikely source as well.

/-/

"I need a favour."

"Yeah?" Roman Torchwick crossed his arms. They were in the changing room after their spar under Ozpin's guidance, and the orange-haired teen was in a good mood. He'd done well today, really pushing Qrow., "I'll hear you out but keep in mind our whole deal is staying secret. I don't need anyone knowing I fight a first year."

"That's fine. It's advice I need."

"From me of all people?"

"My teammate is the weakest in class and getting picked on for it." He knew the tale was familiar when Roman's face darkened. "I figured you might know a little about how to get around that, since for all you're struggling, you don't come across the type to take shit from anyone."

It was no accident he couched his accusation with a compliment. Roman was always susceptible to them, and it helped soften the blow. The older teen pulled on his top and buttoned it up, before finally, after a long moment's thought, giving his answer.

"Yeah, I know what it's like. Must be a rite of passage for the runt to get shat on from those above. What of it?"

"We want to help him but he's refusing it—"

"Course he is. He knows, as well as I did, that accepting help is weakness."

"Is it, though?"

Roman shot him a flat look. "Yes. It is. Don't get me wrong, freshman, I know the value of cooperation and teamwork and all that shit, but there are challenges you face as a team and those you face as an individual. If the problem is one you've created – either by being weak or whatever – then having others mop it up just tells the world you're too weak to do it on your own."

"But to not accept any help—"

"I didn't say nothing about help. Bart— My partner," he grunted, averting his eyes. "He offered to help me practice and improve, and I took it. Of course I did. But that's different. Accepting help is fine, but only if you're planning to face the problem head on."

That wasn't quite as bad as Qrow imagined. "Is that what you did? Beat the bullies back?"

"Beat them? Ha. You think I'd be here sparring with you if I was on an even footing with them? Don't be daft. I tried that and got my shit pushed in, so I trained harder and tried again. Same result. Something you forget when you're in the moment like that is that your enemy isn't sitting still. My bullies weren't bad students, so while I was improving, so were they." Roman sighed and looked away. "Came to realise real quick that fighting them at their own game was stupid, so I decided to put them down another way."

"Meaning…?"

"Probably not something you or yours would be willing to do." Roman smirked back. "I skulked around and started looking for shit I could use to hurt them. Found out the biggest bastard among my bullies was sweet with a girl in Vale. So, I faked some evidence of him cheating on her and ended his relationship. Then up and told him to his face I did it."

Qrow grimaced. That was a little crueller than he'd imagined, and not something he thought Peter would ever agree to. It was also unfair to the poor girl who had been lied to. "I'm surprised you're still breathing."

"Heh. Me too. Thing is, that option was almost enough to get me killed. Turns out hurting someone who can hurt you worse is a bad shout, but I managed to talk fast and save myself. Convinced him I could reverse the damage, show the girl I lied, but he had to back the fuck away from me."

"And that worked?"

"Sure did. Course, that wasn't my plan. I originally just wanted to cause him as much pain as humanly possible. Make him hurt a fraction of how much I did. It was only my quick talking that convinced him otherwise, and last I checked the fucker and his girl were still together. He's avoided me ever since. A lot of people have. The whole thing was pretty damn public, and everyone realised while I might not be able to fight back physically, I can cause a lot of damage."

"I see…"

"I can't say it's the best result," Roman said, shrugging. "I'm pretty much a pariah in my year now, outside my team. No one will so much as talk to me, so your friend might want to go with something a little less explosive."

"Yes. Definitely. Any reasonable advice?"

"Don't push if he rejects your help. If he's already refusing, you're not going to change his mind by piling on the pressure. That'll just piss him off. Trust me, it pissed me the fuck off when Bart did it."

More of the same, then. Qrow despaired of these useless teenagers.

But at least he had a calm night out with Summer in the Emerald Forest planned, with some exercises for scouting and tracking in mind. It'd be a relief to hang out with someone who didn't want something of him for once.

Because being back in school surrounded by schoolchildren was killing him.

Funny. My memories of Beacon always painted it as so easy and relaxed. Did I get a weird team this time around, or was I just so much of an ignorant prick that I didn't notice other people's problems the first time…?

That, or nostalgia was one hell of a drug.

Next Chapter: 19th October

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