Think I listed the cover art wrong last week. My bad. I obviously copy and paste that and the bottom note each time, so I copied from the wrong source.

Also, this is a little shorter than usual as I just got back from London today. Had a work event there Friday and stayed over, but drinking with and talking with a potential buyer for the company, so no time to write.

God, I hate London. Only got back at 4pm today, hence so little time to write.

Cover Art: Aristeo Storm

Chapter 52

Stuck waiting for the "right moment" from the local spy agency, Qrow focused his attention back on Beacon and his team – both of his teams, past and present. Peter continued to weather the sporadic abuse from classmates every combat class and in the changing rooms, and occasionally in class when he would answer a question in an overly boisterous manner.

It was painfully obvious that was the problem. People didn't necessarily dislike him otherwise, but he always felt the need to shout and stand out. And as much as people claimed they liked to be different, they really didn't. Schoolchildren were a pretty uniform lot and conformism was readily apparent. You had to conform to what was popular and what wasn't, what was "in fashion" and what wasn't and, of course, anyone who stood out – be it because of their fashion, their group, their hobbies, or even because they were just different in some way – quickly became a pariah, ostracised from everyone else.

The reasons for it could be petty. Ruby had faced it for her love of weapons for a few months in Signal, and Yang got it in preschool before Signal for being too rough during play. Huntsman tutelage began at Signal level, so kids before were mixed with non-huntsman kids, which often led to divides.

Yang had been too active, too confident, too sure of herself, and the other kids had called her names – even called her a boy, because, when you were an eight-year-old girl, there was no greater insult. Then, later in Signal, Yang had been labelled a whore when she started to develop faster and larger than a lot of other girls. It was just about anything that could get you called out as "different" that led to bullying. The only thing that changed was that people matured enough to stop being so juvenile with it, and to accept that the person wearing black and chains wasn't a freak, they just liked different music and fashion.

By Beacon, people were mature enough not to bully someone because they were short or tall or developed or underdeveloped, or they had hobbies surrounding weapons or wargaming. Most of that was just written off as quirky and fun now.

But someone who was loud and obnoxious…?

Yeah, they were still fair game.

"It's not like I can say they're wrong either," Nessa said, one foot on her bed and her other knee held against her chest. Peter was at the CCT calling his parents, affording them a chance to talk. "Looking at him from the outside, he comes across a braggart."

Braggart? Seriously? Sometimes the old-fashioned (to him, anyway) language caught Qrow by surprise, until he reminded himself this was twenty or more years in the past. Cultural lingo had changed a lot.

"At least he isn't," Gretchen said. "I don't think I could put up with two arrogant teammates."

"Who else is arrogant?" asked Qrow. It took him a moment to notice their flat expressions. "Me!?" he cried, genuinely distressed. "In what way!?"

"Well, at least it's obvious that isn't intentional either," Nessa said.

"Seriously!" Qrow whined. "How am I arrogant? When? I thought I was pretty humble."

"You try." Gretchen patted his arm, like she was comforting a puppy. "But you get this look on your face in combat class like you're a teacher tutting and shaking his head at children waving sticks around."

"I don't think you even notice," Nessa added. "But you do it all the time. You just cross your arms—" Nessa mimicked it, locking her arms tight and tilting her head back, then rolling her eyes. "—and then you do this. And it's sooo obvious you're dismissing people's combat skills when you do."

"I… well, I… but…"

He was over forty! He was also a teacher! He couldn't help but analyse people's technique; it was what he'd been trained and paid to do for over ten years. And sure, he was a little dismissive of a lot of people in class, but he hadn't thought he was so obvious about it. Qrow groaned.

"Is that really how I look…?"

The girls looked uncomfortable. Gretchen answered. "We know you don't mean to. But… yeah, kinda."

"And you help us a lot in sparring, but you sometimes come off like you're giving a lecture," Nessa added. "But, hey, look at the bright side. You could make an amazing teacher one day. You have the attitude down already."

Wonderful. Just effing wonderful. Qrow flopped back on his bed with a groan, drawing giggles from the girls. He'd thought… well, he didn't know what he'd thought, but looking back it was obvious he hadn't been thinking much at all. He'd just sort of assumed he'd be the same this time around in Beacon as he would the last time, seeing himself as "not having changed much" since he was a teenager. Hindsight was a bitch. Of course he'd changed – that was what growing up did to you.

"Funny that no one has tried to bully me for it."

"Yeah, well…" Nessa waved a hand. "You're kind of… unbullyable. Physical bullying is out the window since you can kick their asses, emotional bullying isn't an option because you're an antisocial brick of a human being."

"Love you too."

"—and they'd have to be suicidal to try and get to you through your family. There are easier ways to commit suicide than trying to bully you through your sister."

"They're not going for you guys, are they?"

"Nope." Gretchen smirked. "I bet they would if we were, like, fourteen, but bullying someone's team just because you don't like one person in it would be a quick way to look like a prick to everyone in class. In the year," she amended, since there was only one class per year in Beacon.

That was a thing, too. In a normal school, if you were a bullied loner, there were probably at least ten others who faced the same that you could make friends with. Not here in Beacon. There were forty kids in the whole damn year. If you stood out, chances were you'd be standing out on your lonesome.

The door clicked open. "Good evening, team!" Peter shouted. For once, he looked to not be entirely putting it on, beaming. "What did I miss?"

"We just explained how Qrow looks arrogant when he's doing his teacher pose and he's had a mental breakdown."

"Ah!" Peter chuckled. "I'm glad someone else said it instead of me."

"You all suck," Qrow groaned. "Good chat with your parents, then? You're in a good mood."

"Yes. They're going to be coming to Vale in a month or two and bringing my little sister with them."

"Oh? Didn't know you had a little sister."

"Oh yes. And I'm her favourite big brother. Her only big brother," he admitted, pulling out his scroll and flicking through photos. "But she adores me. Here, look."

Like a proud parent, he forced them to look at a selection of images of a girl who looked to be around ten clinging to Peter. One was of her in his lap, another of her riding him like he was a horse with a huge smile on her face. And then one probably taken by his parents of him on a sofa, with the little girl snuggled up to his side and fast asleep. Gretchen and Nessa loved the pictures, and Qrow wasn't entirely immune either. Not since he was a proud uncle himself or would be again one day.

"So cuuuute!" Nessa gasped. "What's her name?"

"Lilliana. Lili for short."

"Ahhhh. Do we get to meet her? Introduce us!"

"I will. I will. They want to meet you all as well." Peter laughed, and not his usual fake one either. "They'll be in Vale in a month or so. Well, actually, they're going to be staying in Mountain Glenn."

Qrow froze.

"They want to move to be closer to me, and with all the cheap property there, they're thinking about moving here permanently. That means I can visit whenever I want and don't have to settle for CCT calls."

"No wonder you're in such a good mood," Nessa said.

"Hm. It's been… well, it hasn't been that long but Lilliana has never had longer than a week without me before, and she's been inconsolable. I'm looking forward to seeing her again, and to introducing you all!"

Qrow let them talk, if only so he could hide his panic. This was fine, of course, because he was already planning on stopping the fall of Mountain Glenn – somehow, in some way. And if he couldn't… if he couldn't… well, he could fabricate an excuse to get Peter to take his family out of there. Some day event or something.

They wouldn't die no matter what happened, Qrow would make sure.

But it was enough to make him think of the Peter of the future and compare it to this one. He'd known Peter, but he hadn't known him fully. Not as much as he perhaps should have. The man had always just been a little out there, a little different, a little too difficult to be around.

I guess I'm not the only one who lost people. Well, no more. I'll help Peter as well.

The list kept on growing.

/-/

Summer was his saviour, as ever.

"Huh. I didn't think that was arrogant," she said, as they traipsed through the Emerald Forest. "I thought it was kind of cool."

Good side – she thought it cool. Bad side – she'd noticed it as well.

"So, I do it? It's real?"

"I mean, you do tend to get this faraway look and start critiquing technique, but you know a lot more about fighting than most of us do. I always saw it as you caring and helping us improve, and I know Raven takes every word you say seriously."

Good old Summer always had his back, but that didn't change the fact he was apparently a stuck-up twat in combat class. Worse, he was an elitist twat. Qrow sighed, shoulders slumping. Even back at seventeen, he was still a teacher. Go figure.

"So, how does this stealth and tracking training work?"

"I normally track Grimm on my own, but I figure we can play hide and seek."

"Play…?"

"Training, of course. And we hide and seek in a limited area. The point is to test how quickly we can pick up tracks and hide them, not to stay hidden all night. We'll do a ten-minute time limit for the seeker and then reset."

"That sounds more like it. How long do I get to hide?"

Looked like she was going first. "Does two minutes sound fair?"

"Sure, but how about as an extra challenge, the hider can also spring an ambush on the seeker. It's no good tracking down Grimm if you walk into a trap."

Qrow agreed, liking the idea. It'd be useful in not only Mountain Glenn but general life as well. Given Summer had died allegedly in an ambush (or so he'd always assumed) it would also help her out. I can go easy on her too. Let her win a few times so I don't look too suspicious.

Him and his big fat mouth

Two hours later, Qrow was sat on his ass with a frustrated look on his face.

"That's ten wins for me and two for you," Summer said. "Are you letting me win?"

Qrow scowled. "You have to be cheating!"

"I'll take that as a no," she said, a smirk growing on her face. "Wow, Qrow. I didn't think you'd be so bad at this."

Neither had he. Finding Summer had been simple at first, when he'd been taking it easy on her, but then he'd walked into an ambush and lost. No worries, he'd told himself. Just getting into the zone. He'd hidden as best he could – and she found him in under three minutes. After that, it was a repeat of the last, with Qrow deciding to take off the kid gloves halfway through, and then proceeding to claw back only two victories out of the remaining six.

"What am I doing wrong?"

"Well, you don't really hide your tracks for one," she pointed out. "You find good hiding spots but you leave footprints leading straight to it! Finding you is super easy." Oof. "As for when you're seeking, you focus so much on my tracks that you fail to notice any ambush. "The only time you won was when I botched the ambush and you overpowered me."

Those things had never been issues before. There were never any tracks to hide if he flew down and landed in a tree, and the only people who tried to ambush him were hawks and falcons. Bastards to be sure, but he still had aura as a bird, so he'd gotten used to transforming mid-air to scare them away, then back before he hit the ground. Grimm and people he was spying on didn't make it a habit to kill birds.

"You mind if we do this again another night?"

"Yeah!" Summer bounced excitedly, so much like Ruby in that moment that he wanted to ruffle her hair. She really did remind him so much of his niece. "I'd love to! Do you want to do it tomorrow night as well? I'm free!"

"That eager to kick my butt?"

"Eheh. Yep." Ruby – Summer, he reminded himself. Summer, not Ruby – rocked on her heels. "So…? Can we?"

"Sure. Sure." It was too much. Qrow reached out and placed a hand on her head. "You're too cute for your own good sometimes, you know."

Summer's silver eyes widened.

/-/

"He called me cute!"

"Don't care."

"He called me cute, Ray!" Summer grasped her friend by the shoulders and violently shook her. "Cute!"

"Ah-ah-ah- Staaahp!" Raven's head bounced back and forth. "Fine, I'll pretend to care. Can we stop now? Geez."

They were in the common room, primarily because Summer dragged them out there so they could talk Qrow without Willow overhearing. Raven would have preferred if she'd been left to hone her dust blades, since caring for those was important. But, of course, half her team was Qrowsexual, so she had to deal. That made three-quarters of her team was Branwensexual, much to her annoyance.

Not that they didn't have good taste, but still. It was annoying.

"Okay, great, he thinks you're cute. Go make babies."

"Raven! Be serious! This is a big deal." Summer tried to sound annoyed but had that sappy, bullshit look on her face. Raven didn't think she could have been unhappy if she tried. Ugh. Sickening. "This is a big deal. Qrow said I was cute – that means he's noticing me!"

"He's always noticed you, dumbass. You've been our friend for years."

"I mean that he's noticing I'm a woman!"

"He's always—"

"Shut up and stop being dumb. He's noticing my looks. He said I'm cute. That means he likes what he sees!"

"Hmhm…"

"—and that means… are you listening?"

"Yes," Raven growled. "Reluctantly."

"Right, so, he thinks I look cute and that's good. Has he ever called anyone else cute?"

"Don't think so."

"Great! Better than great!" Summer paused. "Has he ever called Willow cute?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Aren't you two done feuding?"

"Um. Kind of? I think we came to a silent agreement to dislike one another but not drag the team into it. That counts, right?"

"Probably not." It was better than how it'd been before. "But I'll take it. And no, I don't think he's called her cute. Not that I've cared to ask, though. You know this shit isn't my kind of thing. Hard enough dealing with Taiyang—"

"He's a nice guy."

"Easy for you to say when he doesn't dog your every step! He stalks me every day!"

"Ray, he is our teammate. We share a dorm, a cafeteria, classrooms and even a bathroom. He can't not dog your every step." Summer, still on cloud nine, said, "And he calls you cute as well. Don't you see? Taiyang is head over heels for you and calls you cute, and now Qrow has called me cute. It's a sign!"

"My brother and Taiyang are different people, Summer. You can't take shit one says for granted the other means the same thing."

"But they're both guys and they're best friends."

"But Qrow hasn't been interested in dating before," Raven pointed out.

"Yeah, he's a late bloomer."

Raven cocked an eyebrow. "At seventeen? That's late."

"You're no different, are you? Except for that blonde guy you saw on the field trip to Beac-ow!" Summer rubbed her arm where Raven pinched her. "Rude. I'm just saying that maybe Qrow was never interested before; that doesn't mean he won't be interested later. And he called me cute, and we went on a date—"

"You trained in the forest."

"It was a late-night walk under the moonlight in the woods. That's romantic."

"It was hide and seek in a Grimm-infested forest at seven in the evening, before the sun had even set."

"Stop ruining this for me!"

Yeah, this one is crappy. Sorry about that. Got home 4pm today from London and just slapped anything down.

Next Chapter: 26th October

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