61

"So, what do we know?" 

Professor Ozpin sipped at his mug of hot chocolate as he asked his question, taking in the forms of Glynda and Qrow as they stood before him- Qrow having just come back from a weekend trip to Vale with his children and their Teams… and Penny.

"Well, seems like there's a lotta Fang activity out n' around the residential areas, close to the industrial district. 'S where all the poor people are, so I'm not surprised," Qrow started, scratching his chest lightly and swaying on his feet to play up his drunkard act despite the fact that Ozpin and Glynda knew he stayed sober most of the time these days- and even then, he only ever drank small amounts when searching for information in bars and taverns while on missions. "Lotta talk about someone gettin' real injured, and avenging a great insult to the leader's honor. Considerin' my lil rosebud's confessed to bitin' the arm offa that Adam Taurus guy and that Belladonna kid's statements… seems like the leader of this chapter of the White Fang's been disarmed for now. Figuratively and literally."

He chortled at his own joke, then yelped as Glynda smacked him upside the head with her riding crop.

"Please, could you at least attempt to be professional?" she sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose as Qrow just continued to snicker for a good few seconds. "We only have so much time for this meeting. Both of us have classes soon."

"Right, right… well, there's also a lotta talk about a secondary location that's not the usual bunch of safehouses and hidey holes that the Fang usually get up to. Something about going southeast, a big plan involving all the Dust they've been stealing lately… Plus a lot of jailbreaks from the police stations since a bunch of 'em got caught up in the docks incident- which, hey, how the fuck did four students, two of which are my nieces , get caught up in an incident like that, huh?" Qrow's expression changed in an instant, sharpening as he glared at Ozpin and Glynda in turn and wishing to any gods that would listen that Ozpin had included more people in their little conspiracy than he already had- even Port woulda been fine, and Port was… loud and insufferable at times. Because of his tendency to tell long, rambling stories. He also wished that he could set stuff on fire by glaring at it, but that was still an ability locked to the kids in their family so… Ozpin's hair would survive another day. "How could you let them get into that shit- Ruby could have died! She got her head fucking blown off! You're lucky she didn't die or I would have fucking killed you myself, old man! "

"And yet, she did not. And yet, she remains as she is- whole and hale and hearty, without my interference," Ozpin stated quietly, taking a sip from his mug as he returned Qrow's glare with his own, level, utterly unflappable gaze. "As you yourself told me to do. You told me not to interfere with Miss Rose's life or siblings, and I have not . Even though I might wish that your daughter take up the mantle that Amber must pass on eventually, I have not betrayed your trust in this regard. I am not all knowing, Qrow. I had no knowledge of the attack occurring at the docks until it happened, and the only reason why you are investigating the White Fang now is because I do not wish to put your nieces and daughter in more danger than I already inadvertently have."

He paused, then sighed and shook his head. "I am not a monster, Qrow. I am a man who has made mistakes, a man who wants to do better, and a man that knows desperately just how much stronger our enemy's forces grow the longer they go unchecked. So please- continue with your report. You can yell at me when my office hours are free."

Qrow glared harder- but as usual… nothing much happened. The gears above them churned quietly, massive constructions of metal clacking with surprisingly less noise than one would think, meshing smoothly as Qrow's expression fell into a tired sigh. 

"Fine. But the moment you put my girls in more danger than they already get themselves into… is the day I beat you half to death for daring to keep all your information so close to your fucking chest," he snarled, ignoring Glynda's affronted interjection and continuing on with his report. "Whatever. Shit's getting weird out there too. Apparently that Taurus guy got his ass saved by two blonde bitches that are apparently in charge of this whole operation- them and two others, and an entire other team of four. Mostly human is the weird part… Torchwick's been sprung too, and he's back with them coordinating more robberies. I couldn't get close enough to give you anything more than some basics, but it looks like they're setting up shop in Mountain Glenn."

"We'll have to send multiple teams there to clear out grimm instead of just singles- if at all," Glynda muttered, looking down at her data pad and grimacing as she started to rearrange the numbers. "Miss Rose did say something about grimm congregating near Mountain Glenn some weeks ago during our three day annihilation trip, but to think that it was because of the White Fang moving- to think it was her moving…"

"Don't bother sending any teams at all," Qrow snorted, shaking his head. "Fuck, with this kind of thing, call in as many favors as you can- get actual graduated teams to go in, clear out the grimm at the very edge, investigate that shit if possible. The good ones, like me. Don't fucking let anyone else near a group of terrorists with gods know how much Dust- if they blow it all up, it could take out the entire south side of Vale."

Tellingly, none of them decided to mention the elephant in the room- that being what to do with one Ruby Rose, who killed grimm like a scythe through wheat and was largely incapable of dying at all, and who could spend a few days eating the grimm in Mountain Glenn with little to no risk to herself if she went solo.

Qrow wouldn't have it- not if he wasn't supervising the entire time, not under Ozpin's orders. Ozpin wasn't desperate enough to break Qrow's trust in him yet, and Glynda…

Well. Truthfully, Glynda knew precious little about what Ruby could do beyond what Ruby had told her professor, and honestly both men were content to let that lie- the fewer people who knew about Qrow's half-grimm eldritch niece, the better. The less risk she'd be in, for as long as Salem couldn't reach out to her.

They'd tell her eventually. Or she'd find out because Ruby was genuinely awful at keeping secrets- all of campus knew about her "Semblance" by now because of how she showed it off all of the time. It was almost like Qrow and Tai's last decade of telling her not to show off too much had all disappeared the moment she actually had non-family friends that she could trust and rely on to have her back.

Good on her, really.

Either way, Qrow refused to let Ruby go to Mountain Glenn unless she made the choice first without any coercion. Ozpin would have liked Ruby to go, but wasn't willing to say anything. Glynda… didn't really know what to say beyond knowing that Ruby was far more important than either man let on.

She wasn't stupid.

"Your logic is sound. I suppose we'll have to cancel missions to go deeper in- if the grimm population there is getting denser then there's no telling if any of the already licensed Huntsman teams will be able to even make so much as a dent before they get torn to shreds," Glynda muttered, grimacing as she started locking down missions on the board in that area. 

"Quite. Now, as for our next topic-" Ozpin started, showing a picture of Cinder from the projector on his desk before Qrow immediately slammed his fist into the glass surface with so much force that it was a miracle it didn't instantly shatter- or even crack. "... I see you have an objection."

"I am not letting you bring Cinder into this! She's supposed to have a good life dammit! A life she chooses!" Qrow held himself back from roaring out his objection, visibly growing feathers on his cheeks as he lost control of his temper and the force of his Aura made his cape flutter and darken the room as everything started to shake slightly with the strength of his soul. "I refuse to let her join in on this suicidal crusade when it already killed so many girls, all in the name of being used as weapons against that bitch Salem! It's already killed every fucking Maiden and put them out of our reach! Amber is dying, Fria's on a fucking timer, Raven stole Spring from us either because she's raising her or killed the kid, and Summer's been missing for the last hundred fucking years- I am not sacrificing my fucking daughter on your altar of secrets!"

"Qrow- I- It would be entirely her choice-" Ozpin started, only for Qrow to whirl around and storm to the windows lining the walls, throwing one open and flinging himself out without another word- feathers growing as he fluttered away in the form of his namesake. "... Well. That could have gone better."

"I don't think Cinder is the right choice, Professor," Glynda deadpanned, rolling her eyes as she shut the window with a flick of her riding crop, adjusting her glasses as she did so. "Perhaps someone else?"

"Only if they present us with no choice, Glynda. It has to be a choice," Ozpin sighed, steepling his fingers and staring into the middle distance. "I've… made too many choices for other people. I should let our next best candidate choose on her own. Even if it means we need to keep looking again and again."

Glynda sighed, shaking her head. "Well… alright then. I suppose we have some time before we need to notify Miss Nikos- will we ever inform Miss Branwen?"

"No- no. If she finds out somehow, either from Qrow or Miss Nikos, then… by all means, let her choose for herself. But otherwise… let her live the life she deserves."

"Very well then."

Notes:

I don't get why people villainize Ozpin so much and then try to glorify Ironwood when one of them was a benign headmaster who had some secrets but ultimately let people decide things on their own, and the other went full on martial law fascism and tried to sacrifice an entire citystate so that the elites of the floating rich people city above would survive for slightly longer (despite the entire plan being fucking stupid from the start).