Sweet Homr Vale-abama

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works, if you recognise it from somewhere else, surprise it isn't mine.

Betad by OoalGown, Hermes, Priapus and TheDonFluffles

New Game Plus, Game of the Year Edition

Chapter 04: Sweet Home Vale-abama

— Qrow Branwen —

"You can't be serious," Qrow said, staring at Ozpin as he searched for any hint of deceit before he let out a quiet sigh.

"Fuck, you are serious."

"I am. I can't prove anything without tests, of course, but I believe this Shiro Eis to be your illegitimate son," Ozpin said, his tone understanding and patient as Qrow slumped back in his seat, immediately reaching down and grabbing his flask, taking a swig.

Fuck.

He wanted to say it was just a coincidence, but it all fit together too well. The looks, the age, but he'd been told his kid had died in childbirth-

Jacques, the bastard, had to have something to do with this. His revenge for the affair, getting rid of a potential problem and hurting him and Willow in the process. He was so willing to believe that his semblance had killed his kid, he never even questioned it.

His child's 'death' had fucked him up more than he was willing to admit, and Willow took it even worse.

The idea that his son had been dumped in some shitty orphanage by Jacques while he was drowning his sorrows hit him hard.

He'd be the first to admit he sucked at being responsible, but he'd sworn a long time ago that if he had a kid, he'd do whatever it took to be a good dad.

His own father was an abusive bastard—but then he was also a bandit chief—and their upbringing was why he and Raven were so fucked up. He promised himself he'd do better a long time ago, and then he failed.

Shiro had grown up without Qrow even knowing he existed, and maybe that was for the best, but the fact that someone else had taken that choice away from him made him want to grab Harbinger and stick it up Jacques's ass sideways.

"And what's Raven got to do with all this?" Qrow asked, making Ozpin sigh.

"That is what I want to know. As I said, Shiro is a courier and I believe he makes deliveries to Raven and the Branwen Tribe. Raven is many things, stupid isn't one of them. She was there during your liaisons with Willow, it's entirely possible she put the pieces together before we had any information at all," Ozpin sighed, making Qrow growl, his hands tightening around his flask.

What the fuck was Raven playing at? They didn't part on good terms but surely there was something still there, she saw how bad this kid's death fucked him up, surely she'd have told him if she thought his son was alive.

He'd been so convinced that he'd killed his son with his cursed semblance that he'd heavily distanced himself from the others, fearing for Yang's life since Raven was knocked up a bit later, it'd taken Summer and Taiyang to convince him not to leave Vale altogether, and it had been years after Raven's disappearing act until he could even bring himself to risk getting close to Yang and Ruby.

Specifically, he didn't try until after Summer's death, and only then because Tai needed him. He tried to keep his distance, but the brats pulled him in.

Two fucked up idiots trying to look after a pair of girls, it was a miracle they'd come out as well-adjusted as they were. Well, somewhat well-adjusted. If you really squinted. Tai and he had done their best.

"You think he's a part of the tribe?" Qrow asked, scowling at the thought of Raven using his probable son in her games.

The Branwen tribe was a fucked up place, if Raven had put Shiro through even half of what she and he went through, he'd kill her.

"I truly don't know, I do know that he grew up in Vale, not with the tribe. If he truly joined them or even met with them, it almost certainly wasn't until after he was already an adult," Ozpin said, making him let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, that's something at least. So, what's he like?" Qrow finally asked, making Ozpin smirk.

"Frustrating and arrogant, according to Glynda. It appears he's something of an engineer, he was testing a form of power armour when we found him," Ozpin said, making Qrow pause before he let out a laugh.

"Frustrating? Sounds like a good laugh," Qrow replied with a smirk, pissing off Goodwitch was a favourite hobby of his.

"She attempted to scold him in her usual style for being so reckless; he shut her down quite effectively. Then she tried to get him to come and meet with me, he simply ignored her and walked off," Ozpin said, taking a sip from his mug to hide his smile.

"She took both of those rather poorly, as you can imagine."

Oh, he liked Shiro already, anyone who got Goodwitch's panties in a bunch was alright in his books.

"There is one more thing… Shiro has his semblance, and it seems to allow him to take control of Grimm," Ozpin added, making him pause.

"Damn. That's a pretty heavy semblance," Qrow said, watching as Ozpin started a video taken by Rein's armour cam.

Laughing at how Shiro dealt with Glynda, he watched as his—probable—son casually blew the passive Nevermore to pieces, his mind racing even as he chuckled at Goodwitch's shock.

"I really don't like the idea of the Branwen tribe having the ability to control Grimm," Qrow said simply, he knew exactly how that would go.

"Quite, but if Raven does know about Shiro we should assume she has a link to him, if she doesn't know yet she will eventually," Ozpin said, making him scowl. "I'm hoping to recruit Shiro into Beacon before Raven, or worse, Salem can get their hands on him."

"Isn't he a little too old for that?" Qrow asked, making Ozpin smile.

"Exceptions can always be made for exceptional people," came Ozpin's simple reply.

— Yang Xiao Long —

As Shiro hit the ground again, she gave him a smirk and watched him pick himself back up and brush himself off, turning back to her.

"You know, when you asked me to meet with you I figured you were gonna try and get into my panties, but maybe this is how you get your kicks," Yang teased, flexing slightly.

"Do you enjoy getting beaten up by a younger girl? I won't judge~" Yang lilted as Shiro gave her a smirk.

She wasn't sure why he'd asked her to spar with him, but she didn't mind. Even if she was clearly better than him.

That wasn't even her being arrogant, Shiro's unarmed fighting reminded her of Ruby's, It was clumsy, telegraphed, and massively amateurish.

He'd told her not to go easy on him, and while she wasn't sure what he was getting out of her throwing him around, she had nothing better to do.

Well, that and she kinda needed him to be willing to help her out since he could find her mom for her.

"Nothing quite so crass, and I think you'll find I prefer to do the hurting," Shiro said with a smirk as he got back into his stance.

He was improving very quickly for a beginner but she had years of training, his natural talent wasn't enough to bridge the gap.

"Well, I'm sure you're at least enjoying the sight," Yang said with a flirty smile, catching his eyes flickering down to her barely-covered body.

Technically she was properly dressed. The skintight black gym shorts that didn't even reach her mid-thigh and yellow sports bra were absolutely appropriate to spar in, but that didn't change the fact that she was putting a lot on display, and she loved it.

They had met up in a park in Vale, finding a secluded spot in the trees to spar, but she'd seen the looks the occasional passerby threw her way.

She'd always been a tease, from the moment she started developing her magnificent tits and noticed the boys in her class staring.

She wasn't easy, not by a long shot—despite some rumours going around Patch (which she'd found and beaten the source of)—but she couldn't deny she found it thrilling when she noticed men walking awkwardly around her.

It made her feel sexy, (and admittedly excited her) to feel their eyes on her body, so if she occasionally wore outfits that revealed a little more than was polite, or found reason to bend over in front of people, what was the harm? They got a good view out of it, and it wasn't her fault that they got hard from perving on a teenage girl.

It made her feel powerful as well, especially when it was older men who were adjusting their trousers awkwardly. Back in Patch, she enjoyed turning on her teachers, bonus points for doing it while they were teaching so they had to hide a hardon during class.

But despite rumours, she was still a virgin and pretty inexperienced with guys at that.

The furthest she'd ever gone was on a bet at a party: they'd been playing strip poker and she'd already lost all her clothes but she also had a stupidly good hand, so she didn't want to waste it.

So she'd let herself get talked into betting her tits, agreeing that if anyone could beat her hand she'd let them fuck her tits, but they'd all bet things that would have been worth it.

Turned out one of the guys had a royal flush, which beat her four of a kind.

She could be a sore loser at times, but she kept her word. Even if letting him fuck her tits in the middle of the party was embarrassing as fuck.

He didn't last long, which he'd led to him being pretty brutally mocked since he was barely between her tits for a minute before he burst, and people knew her temper well enough not to bring it up afterwards.

She also lost another bet at the same party and ended up having to let a bunch of guys touch her, most of them jumped straight to groping her tits for their turn, but they spent some time playing with her ass as well.

Aside from that, her experience was just a few kisses, some copped feels through (and occasionally under) her clothes, but she'd never gone down on a guy, or let anyone fuck her.

She just really liked teasing people.

Still, she wasn't the only one who was looking damn good. Shiro had swapped his shirt and smart trousers out for an outfit not unlike hers, only with his bottoms covering his entire legs and a white tank top instead of a sports bra, which left his surprisingly muscular arms on display.

Shiro might not be a fist-fighter, but it definitely didn't mean he wasn't fit.

"So, what's the point in all this? I mean, I'm happy to throw you around all day, just wondering what you're getting out of it," Yang asked, making him smile slightly.

"I'm learning," Shiro replied simply, stepping forwards and jabbing at her as she easily sidestepped it.

Seeing an opening, she went to grab his overextended arm, ready to toss him to the ground again.

She'd done it so many times she was just going through the motions, which was probably why he managed to step behind her front leg without her noticing and sweep her to the hard ground.

Looking back up at his smug face, she shrugged with a grin and picked herself up, giving him a cocky smirk.

"That's one to you, a few dozen more and we'll be even," Yang teased, making Shiro chuckle.

"Then I better get started, shouldn't I?" Shiro asked, giving her a smirk as she decided to remind him which of them had spent the last two hours getting beaten up.

She probably shouldn't have been surprised when he backstepped her right uppercut, ducked under her left hook, then stepped into the inside of her follow up right cross, slamming his arms into hers to stop her momentum. Then he grabbed her arm, twisted away from her and threw her over his shoulder, slamming her back to the ground.

Blinking in confusion, she attacked again as her eyes went wide, Shiro suddenly dodging her every attack.

"As I said, I'm learning," Shiro said easily, a smug look on his face as she watched him carefully.

His stance wasn't any better, still full of openings, but every time she went to take advantage of one of them, he'd suddenly react and avoid her attack.

"Learning what?" Yang asked, making him chuckle.

"About you, has anyone told you that you're a very aggressive girl," Shiro asked, making her growl slightly even as she gave him a smirk.

"Yes," Yang replied simply, rushing him to give him a taste of that aggressiveness.

He wasn't getting better, his attacks were still telegraphed, but he seemed to time every single one to take advantage of an opening she couldn't close fast enough, sloppy jabs that had no right to land hitting her easily.

As she went to punch him in his stupid smug face, he sidestepped around her, getting a perfect opening to counterattack.

And counterattack he did, as she let out a surprised yelp at the sudden stinging sensation on her ass, Shiro spanking it hard as he chuckled.

Turning to face him, she narrowed her eyes at him. She had no idea what was happening but it was pissing her off, enough that she decided to just charge him, making his eyes widen slightly at the sudden increase in ferocity. She didn't care that he took the opportunity to give her ass a little spank, but she didn't like how she was suddenly losing.

He still stumbled his way past a lot of her attacks, but her 'plan' was right, if she just kept punching she'd hit him eventually, catching him in the jaw with a wicked hook as he tried to dodge an uppercut.

As he went tumbling to the ground, her eyes widened as she immediately regretted the amount of force she'd put into that punch.

They'd not been trying to hurt each other and he wasn't a Huntsman or Huntress in training like most of her partners, she'd put way too much force behind that.

"Fuck, sorry Shiro," Yang said as she quickly went to help him up, seeing him rub his jaw with a small grin.

"It's fine. You've got one hell of a haymaker," Shiro said with an impressed smile, wincing slightly. "And I was probably asking for that one, but how could I refuse such a tempting target?"

"Nah, I fucked up. Dad always tells me I need to watch my strength. I've seriously hurt some of my sparring partners and they've all been training to be Huntsmen longer than you," Yang said, cursing her temper. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, but if you feel that bad maybe you should kiss it better," Shiro teased, making her scoff in amusement.

He couldn't beat her at her own games, no one could out-tease her.

Stepping forwards, she puckered her lips over-exaggeratedly and went to plant them on his chin where she'd hit him, her eyes widening in surprise as he turned his head to meet her, a smug look in his eyes as their lips connected.

She didn't back down, parting her lips and letting his tongue slip between them, tangling with her for a moment as it started to explore her mouth.

As quickly as he started it, he backed away with a grin on his face as she rolled her eyes.

"You're lucky I like you," Yang warned playfully, making him smirk. "I wouldn't let just anyone get away with that."

"Then I wonder how much more I'll be able to get away with because you're about to like me so much more," Shiro said, making her pause and give him a look.

"Oh?" Yang asked in curiosity, making his smirk grow wider.

"I've spoken to Raven, she agreed to meet with you," Shiro said calmly, her eyes shooting open as her heart started pounding.

"Are you fucking serious!?" Yang asked, making Shiro nod and go to his bag, pulling out a scroll.

Opening a text log, he picked a picture that was timestamped as being sent last night, a pair of hauntingly familiar red eyes staring at the camera.

"I am, I had to make a couple of promises and she's got some conditions but she's agreed to meet with you, which means you owe me big time," Shiro deadpanned.

"Damn right I do, seriously Shiro, you have no idea how much this means to me," Yang said seriously, making Shiro chuckle.

"Oh, I have some idea," Shiro replied easily. "Her conditions were that we both meet her at a time and place of her choosing and that you don't tell your father or uncle about this. If they find out, she'll know and won't show up," Shiro warned, making her hesitate before nodding

Neither of them had been willing to really help her try and find her mom, she could just tell them afterwards.

"Then I'll text you when she decides the time and place, but it'll be sometime this week apparently," Shiro said calmly, making her have to take some deep breaths to calm herself down.

Years of searching and Shiro had cut it down to 'within a week'. He was a gift from the fucking gods, thank fuck she ran into him at the club.

"Right, right… this week," Yang muttered, calling down before she turned to Shiro with a growing smile. Seeing him return it with his confident grin, she bit her lip and silently admitted to herself that she felt something for the smug older teen.

She hadn't known him for long, but meeting him in that club had been a godsend, and he'd done more to help her achieve her lifelong dream of finding her mom than anyone else, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't find him attractive,

They'd talked quite a bit over texts, and she knew he was dating one of the twins from the club, but she also knew they weren't exclusive. She'd never been the best at sharing… but maybe she could make an exception.

She didn't love him, she wasn't into the whole love at first sight romantic bullshit, but she definitely liked him as more than just a friend.

"What's she like?" Yang asked, undecided on what to do about Shiro.

"Honestly? Pretty weird. She's got this whole might makes right thing going on, plus she's pretty much a psychopath, but then she is the leader of a bandit tribe," Shiro pointed out, making her frown.

She wanted to defend her mother, but realistically what the fuck did she know? Did her dad and uncle not want to help her find Raven because they knew she wasn't a good person?

She didn't know, but it changed nothing. She still wanted to meet with her, to get answers if nothing else. She didn't know if her dad and Qrow would try and stop her from meeting her mom, but she wasn't going to give them the chance to try.

How would her mom even act? Did she even want to meet with her, or was she just doing it for whatever Shiro had promised her? She didn't know what she'd do if her mom just said she didn't care about her.

"So, don't expect a tearful reunion with lots of hugs? Got it," Yang said with a fake grin, trying to hide her worries. From the almost soft smile on Shiro's face, it wasn't as successful as she'd hoped.

"Probably not, still she isn't unpleasant to deal with. She has a reputation for being ruthless, but when I've dealt with her, she's been all business, and she didn't seem to be particularly against meeting with you. She's hard to read, but she sounded interested," Shiro said, making her smile at him gently.

"Then why did you have to make promises to get her to agree? What did you even promise?" Yang asked, making Shiro laugh.

"Because she's a leader, and it's her duty to get as much for her people as she can. I'd have looked down on her if she accepted for nothing. Don't worry, I didn't promise anything too costly," Shiro reassured her, decidedly not answering her question.

She didn't call him out on it, after all, she was probably better off not knowing, Shiro was a smuggler and Raven was a bandit chief.

"I- thank you, Shiro. Seriously, thank you," Yang said instead, making him give her a grin.

"It was my pleasure," Shiro said, his eyes flickering down to her barely contained breasts for just a moment as she gave him a sultry grin.

She was much more comfortable with their flirting than she was with actually dealing with the clusterfuck of emotions she was feeling. Hope, anxiety, doubt, happiness and then whatever the fuck she was feeling for Shiro.

"Oh, I don't know about that, I think it could be mutually pleasurable," Yang teased, stepping forwards and pushing her breasts against his chest.

"Remember what you said last time?" Shiro asked, making her pause as she narrowed her eyes in thought.

"Not particularly, I say a lot," Yang said, shrugging before her eyes widened, feeling Shiro's hand rest on her ass, squeezing her buttocks gently. "Oh right," Yang said after a moment, chuckling.

She wouldn't have minded if he tried to cop a feel or two.

She said it to tease him, but apparently he'd taken it to heart as he pulled her closer against him, her head subconsciously tilting up to allow him to kiss her.

As their lips met, she closed her eyes and once again admitted to herself that she definitely had feelings for Shiro, their kiss gentle even as she felt her heart speed up.

Holding herself against him, she opened her eyes as he broke the kiss, his hands moving back up to her waist she gave him a teasing smirk.

"Is that all, aren't you going to see how much I'll let you get away with?" Yang said flirtatiously. She wasn't a shy girl or one for slow relationships. She knew she liked him, she was fairly sure he liked her, why play around?

She wasn't going to put out and lose her virginity in the middle of a public park, but Shiro could get away with a lot, after all he'd done for her.

"Hm, it's tempting but I have things I need to do tonight, and the last bullhead back to patch is in an hour or so," Shiro said, making her eyes widen. "If we get started now, I'd not think either of us will be able to stop."

Wait, it was that late already? Fuck, her phone was in her bag and she probably had a dozen missed calls from her dad.

"…good point, even if that's the boring decision," Yang said, moving out of his grasp as she moved over to their bags, pulling her jacket back on and checking her phone.

…yup, eight missed calls. Ugh, her dad worried way too much sometimes.

"Don't be so impatient, there will be plenty of time for mutual pleasure later on, let's not spoil the fun by rushing to the finishing line," Shiro teased, making her smirk back at him.

He was a lot like her in some ways, maybe that was why she liked him so much? Wait, was she a narcissist?

Huh, that would explain a lot actually.

"We'd better, don't start what you can't finish," Yang said as she grabbed her bag. "I better get going, lemme know when mom decides on a time and place."

She hated the desperation in her voice when she talked about Raven, but she couldn't squash it.

"Yeah, I will. See you around, Yang," Shiro said with a lazy smile.

Giving him a rather rough goodbye kiss, she smirked and walked away with a sway to her hips, knowing he was watching her ass as she left.

If she was paying more attention, she'd have noticed the black bird with red eyes watching them from a branch, a strangely amused look on its face.

— Shiro Eis —

I'm careful to not look towards where Raven is watching us as I leave, heading home. My abilities told me she was watching us this entire time but I'm not sure how exactly she turned into a fucking bird.

I'm almost sure it's her, regular animals don't trigger my sixth sense and who else would be spying on me and Yang?

Critical analysis is as useful as I'd hoped, though I've realised it takes me a long time to fully analyse. It's best used by analysing my target before the fight even starts because in a serious fight it'd be too slow to truly help.

I couldn't steal a single use of Yang's semblance because it's mostly passive, she absorbs energy from the attacks she takes and then uses it to strengthen herself. Sure, she can store it up to unleash in one large attack but it's always active and as such, I can't duplicate it yet.

It's a limitation on my ability, but that's fine. There are plenty of semblances that are activated.

Reaching my apartment, I give a nod to Blake as I head back to my workshop. Blake's getting impatient, but I've managed to soothe her ruffled feathers so she won't run off and attack the gang by herself, not yet anyway.

My secret admirer isn't here today, I'm still not sure how to deal with her. I've identified her as Neopolitan, Roman Torchwick's partner in crime, but she doesn't seem to be doing anything. She just lurks around and watches me, she hasn't even taken anything. I do know she's dangerous, however, and she's definitely spying on me for Roman, but she's unintentionally helping me. I've found Roman's hideout, and curiously the White Fang as well.

So what is Roman doing that would require the White Fang's help, and also have him want to spy on me. I should just be a smuggler to him, we've never interacted before. I'm almost ready to confront her, I haven't picked up any bloodlust from her and if she was going to attack me she'd have done it already. I'd rather know what Roman wants than let his pet follow me around for the indefinite future.

I'm still in the intelligence gathering portion of my plans, I don't want any unpleasant surprises when we raid their hideout.

I've had drones watching them almost constantly, even spent some time improving the battery capacity and optimising the energy consumption of my drones so they can stay out longer.

Speaking of drones…

My class quest for Scholar was just to analyse a set amount of people, and it never specified that they had to be anyone special.

My drones recorded plenty of footage of civilians as they explored and mapped out Vale, and the less talented people are the quicker I can analyse them.

It means I could complete my quest without even leaving the comfort of my workshop, simply going over the footage and analysing as many random nobodies as I needed.

Scholar Perk

[Natural Prodigy]

You learn at rates that make even your fellow geniuses seem slow and stupid, mastering skills in record time.

[Sagely Teachings]

You have a natural talent for teaching others, allowing you to pass on your knowledge to your students at an accelerated rate.

I've already picked my next class, and with my new love for robotics, I decided to go for something to complement it.

The Scientist class seems to have a lot of cross-over with Engineer, but it's less focused on mechanical creations.

Scientist

[Artificial Intelligence Speciality]

You have gained the knowledge of how to program artificial intelligences. All AI are created with an in-built loyalty to you as their creator.

[Nanotech Speciality]

You have gained the knowledge of how to create nanotechnology, try not to lose your creations.

[Robotics Speciality]

You have learnt how to design and manufacture various robotic creations, from simple combat droids to advanced androids.

So, I just got Atlas's attention if they find out about this. This would be much better if the world wasn't still recovering from the Omnic crisis, but should I stop using my skills because Atlas fucked up?

Of course not.

I've already made a new AI assistant to help manage and direct my drones, and it also goes over all the footage recorded and highlights things it believes are worth my attention.

It saves me the time I'd have spent fast-forwarding through hours of uneventful footage, and it's even learnt how to sort the recordings to help me find what I want faster.

What it does is simple: it analyses people inside the footage and then makes profiles on them, such as Yang, Ruby and their father. It even made a profile for 'Zwei', their dog.

It then adds tags to each recording, so I can see who is in each one, so if I want to see all the footage I have of Ruby I can search for any video that includes her. I can also search by what location it was recorded, being able to be as specific as saying 'Ruby's bedroom' or 'Living room'.

It tags them based on what happens in the video, ranging from 'conversation' to 'pornographic'.

It's marked several conversations between Taiyang and Qrow as potentially noteworthy, but while it's given me some insight into their lives it's not gotten me anything overly useful just yet. I did hear Qrow mention that he was doing a job for Oz, presumably Professor Ozpin, and a conversation about a recent failed attack on a girl called Amber. The term maiden came up as the reason for the attack, but I don't have the context for it yet.

My AI even makes me a transcript of any conversation my drones pick up, doing far more work than I expected. It can't do anything I don't assign it to do, but it goes above and beyond on whatever I tell it to do.

It's going to be instrumental as I get more and more drones (and get the workshop I need to start making nano-cameras).

Information is power, and I intend to be very powerful.

Hearing my scroll vibrate, I reach over and open it, smirking as I spot a message with an attachment from Yang.

Opening it up, I grin at the picture she's taken in the bathroom mirror as she covers her breasts with one arm.

Her lower body isn't in the frame, but even with her attempts at covering her breasts, she's still putting a lot on display as she sticks her tongue out at the camera.

'Worked up a sweat throwing you around, shame you aren't here to help me get cleaned up, maybe next time'

'I think we both know neither of us would get clean if we shared a shower, but it'd be fun getting dirty all the same'

Yang is pretty easy to read, she wears her heart on her sleeve and dealing with Raven was worth it to make Yang feel like she owes me.

Plus, I want to get better relationships with the Branwen tribe anyway, they're a fairly powerful piece on the board and at the very least I want to make sure they won't be a threat as I make my own faction.

If that means doing some pro bono work for Raven, so be it. I'm not hurting for lien right now anyway.

I'm going to expand my smuggling business now that I have my drones. I can make a cloaked transportation drone and automate a lot of the less important work.

Glancing back at my scroll, I chuckle to myself as I look at the new picture, Yang facing away from the camera as she smirks over her shoulder, her ass in full view.

'The shower is the best place to get dirty, we can get clean right afterwards'

'I prefer my hot tub personally, but I suppose if you're a peasant who doesn't have one…'

My hot tub was 100% worth the lien I spent on it.

Putting off my tinkering for now, I spend some time texting Yang, before she suddenly goes silent.

It doesn't take me long to find out why as I load up a live feed from Ruby's drone, chuckling as I watch the show.

"Who used my shampoo?!" Yang shouts as she barges into the living room in nothing but a towel wrapped around her wet and dripping body, making Taiyang and Ruby jump in surprise, having been watching some documentary on weapons.

"Nobody? We know not to touch your shampoo," Taiyang says quickly, looking away from his angry daughter. Yang's towel is barely holding on for dear life.

"Yeah, sis. We remember what happened last time," Ruby says as Yang glares between them. "I only use the generic store brand one, I haven't touched yours in its fancy purple bottle."

"Purple? No, my shampoo is in the blue bottle-" Yang starts as Ruby's eyes widen, both of them turning to her.

"…isn't the blue bottle Zwei's shampoo?" Ruby asks quietly as Taiyang forces down a laugh, Yang's eyes widening in shock.

"You used my very expensive shampoo on Zwei?!" Yang shouts as Taiyang goes to calm her down.

"Now, now. It was just an honest mistake, the bottles do look similar-" Taiyang starts, trailing off as Yang storms into the kitchen. "Yang-"

Not listening, Yang pulls a bag out of one of the cabinets and stares at Ruby as she pulls out a cookie and eats it in one bite, vengeance in her eyes.

"Hey, those are mine!" Ruby shouts, rushing into the kitchen and trying to grab the packet as Yang holds it in the air.

"Go eat dog biscuits instead, they're similar, right?" Yang shouts as Ruby jumps up and tries to grab the packet, failing due to Yang's size advantage.

Taiyang goes to try and calm them down as Yang scoffs down several more, running around the kitchen and making Ruby let out a war cry, diving at her sister in a desperate attempt to save some of her cookies.

All she manages to do is grab Yang's towel, sending it to the ground as Yang continues running, her breasts bouncing wildly as she attempts to avoid Ruby's wrath in her quest to eat every single cookie, but it doesn't take me long to realise I'm not the only one enjoying the show.

Taiyang froze mid-step as Yang lost her towel, his eyes moving to her exposed body, gulping as a small tent appeared on the front of his jeans.

But after a minute or so, he shakes his head, focusing again.

"Girls, please! Yang, I'll buy you some more shampoo tomorrow, grab your towel and go get dressed. Ruby, be more careful next time, also those aren't your cookies, they're for everyone," Taiyang shouts, making them stop wrestling (which Yang had been easily winning) and separate.

Grabbing her towel from the floor, she doesn't even bother putting it back on as she storms upstairs, Tai's eyes briefly following her before he groans and facepalms.

"Sorry, dad…" Ruby finally says, looking mournfully at the empty packet.

"It's fine, just be more careful. You know how she gets when it comes to her hair," Taiyang says with a sigh. "Honestly, you two are too much sometimes."

As they go back to what they were doing, I do the same with a chuckle. Interesting.

Moments later, my scroll vibrates again with a simple message.

'Sisters suck sometimes.'

Well, that's something I don't need to worry about.

Replying, I get back to work with a small smile.

— Next Day — Blake Belladonna —

She'd tried to be patient as Shiro had made preparations for their attack on the slavers, but as Shiro sat tinkering with one of his drones, an olive-skinned girl she didn't know sat next to him playing on her laptop, she had to admit she was running out of patience fast.

She didn't know who the girl was, but she was clearly comfortable here as she sat cross-legged next to Shiro in nothing but a tight white tank-top and a pair of purple panties, long tanned legs exposed.

Plus she apparently had a bunch of her stuff in the apartment, which made her almost think they were dating but then what about the bitchy Melanie?

Pacing around the room as she cleaned up, still dressed like a slutty maid since Shiro was still her employer even with their new alliance, she paused as Shiro chuckled, looking at her.

"Easy, Blake. We're almost ready," Shiro said, putting his tools down with a lazy smile, making her nervously glance at the other girl. "Don't worry, she already knows. Honestly, it's best to just assume Sombra knows everything, you'll usually be right," Shiro said, patting 'Sombra' on her bare leg as the other girl chuckled, not moving his hand from her leg.

"I try," Sombra replied calmly. "Also, you're right. These guys are way too connected for such a small-time gang. I almost had to try to get into their system. I've followed it back to Mistral, but whoever they are, they have some damn good cybersecurity. I've had an easier time getting into the Atlas military's system."

"Wait, you're having trouble?" Shiro asked, seemingly entirely too amused.

"Hey, I didn't say that," Sombra replied quickly, looking offended.

"Wait, she's helping us?" Blake asked, making Shiro shrug slightly.

"More or less, I wanted to see if I could follow the electronic trail back to their sponsors but it was a little above my skill level, so I called in some outside help," Shiro admitted, making Sombra laugh.

"And being such a good friend, I agreed to help pro bono. Aren't I just the best?" Sombra asked, Shiro chuckling as he squeezed her thigh before letting go.

There was definitely something between them, but she had no idea what.

"Pro bono? So you don't want this incredibly advanced recon drone then?" Shiro asked, making Sombra smirk at him.

"I thought that was a gift for being such a good friend to an unbearable ass like you," Sombra said, making her pause as she glanced at Shiro, wondering if he'd take offence.

He struck her as an arrogant person, and they rarely responded well to insults. To her surprise, Shiro simply snorted in amusement, giving her a look.

"You're one to talk, Olivia," Shiro said simply, making Sombra flinch almost imperceptibly, giving Shiro a dirty look.

"Don't call me that, and fine. Then it can be a gift for the view," Sombra said, gesturing at her body with an exaggerated flourish.

"Works for me. I'm gonna go and check-in with the fabricator drones," Shiro said, standing up as Sombra nodded without looking away from her laptop. "Blake, relax. I don't know how the White Fang does this kind of thing but preparation is half the battle, and we're going to be very prepared," Shiro said with a confident smirk.

She hated that she liked his smirk, but his confidence was more attractive than it had any right to be.

Leaving the room, she went back to dusting as she glanced at Sombra/Olivia. She hadn't even reacted to Shiro mentioning the White Fang, so she clearly already knew her past.

"Ask your questions, kitty. The staring is annoying," Sombra said, not even looking up from her laptop as Blake bristled at the cat comment, before forcing herself to relax. She and Shiro had been sniping at each other the entire time, she probably didn't mean anything by it.

"Sorry, Sombra? Or is it Oli-" Blake started, freezing as a pair of purple eyes snapped up to glare at her.

"Finish that sentence and I'll deepfake you into the most hardcore, racist porn I can find and send it to your parents, Sienna Khan, and ex," Sombra said calmly, making her nod quickly. "Only two people get to call me Olivia, and even they only do it to get under my skin, you never heard that name, got it kitty?"

"Yeah, message revived," Blake said, forcing down her anger again. She didn't want to piss off Shiro, and there was clearly something between them.

"Good girl, remember that and I won't have to ruin your life more than your shitty decisions already have," Sombra deadpanned, her attention returning to her laptop.

"How do you know Shiro?" Blake asked after a moment of silence, making Sombra glance at her again. "It almost feels like you two are dating, but he's with Melanie right?" She asked, making Sombra laugh.

"All the questions you could have asked and you went with that?" Sombra asked mockingly, before shaking her head. "No, we aren't dating. Been there, done that, popped that v-card, realised we didn't make a good couple a long time ago. We grew up together, that's all you're getting from me. Besides, he and Melanie aren't monogamous, or Shiro isn't at least." Sombra said with a chuckle.

That didn't really surprise her, Remnant had quite a few more women than men, so open relationships where the man had multiple lovers wasn't that unusual.

"Why do you think she doesn't care about Shiro having a sexy maid living with him? She knows Shiro wants to flip up that slutty little skirt and bend you over the table, she just doesn't care," Sombra said, making her scowl as she subconsciously pulled the short skirt of her uniform down, well aware that it didn't cover nearly enough.

She also knew Shiro was attracted to her, he didn't even hide his appreciative looks at her body while she worked and again he was her employer.

Even if she didn't need his help taking down some slavers, she needed the money and the safety working here provided more than she needed her pride; if he told her to bend over…

Well, as she said before, she'd learnt that ideals only got you so far. She'd hate it, and probably hate him for taking advantage of her desperation, but she couldn't say she'd refuse.

As Shiro returned, she avoided looking at him which seemed to amuse him.

"Sombra, play nice," Shiro said teasingly, seemingly immediately realising why she was being quiet.

"I'm always nice," Sombra scoffed, closing her laptop. "Eh, most of the time. I'm going to go take a shower, I've got pretty much everything from their systems, if you want me to get more you'll need to go get me access to the closed system in Mistral. Their sponsors aren't fucking around," Sombra admitted, tossing a small thumb drive to Shiro.

"Thanks, Sombra. I'll have to politely ask our targets who is sponsoring them, I want to know who we're about to piss off," Shiro chuckled. "But I'm guessing their bosses will cut their losses, I doubt these nobodies are the only group they're supporting."

"Probably not, gotta say it's fun to see you actually doing something for once, as long as it doesn't get in the way of the job I have lined up for us," Sombra adds as she walks towards the bathroom, making Shiro chuckle.

"I decided to make something of myself, and I'm not sure Remnant is ready for it," Shiro said with a cocky smile. "Come with me, Blake. Your outfit is done, and Sombra's intel was the last piece of the puzzle we needed. It's time to get to work."

Eyes widening, she felt a small smile grow on her face. Finally, those bastards were going to pay for what they were doing to her people.

Bonus Scene — Raven Branwen —

It was almost cute to see Shiro and Yang flirting, but a part of her couldn't wait to tell them that they were cousins. She had no idea how they'd take it but certain things had sped up her plans.

She'd worked out that Shiro was her nephew after she first met with him. He resembled a younger version of her brother just a little too much and it hadn't taken much to realise that her dead nephew wasn't as dead as Qrow believed.

Of course, the fool hadn't bothered to actually look into it, too busy drowning himself in alcohol.

Her brother was physically strong but mentally weak. Too eager to blame every little problem on his semblance so he could justify wallowing in his self-pity.

She'd planned to slowly try and recruit Shiro into the tribe, as he had Branwen blood after all, and his semblance would be very useful for the more subtle parts of banditry, even if he wasn't strong himself.

He could be made strong, he had the right blood, he just needed training and motivation, she could provide both.

When he messaged her about Yang, she'd been completely thrown off course, but being able to adapt to surprises was the mark of a leader, and she saw the opportunity in front of her.

Qrow and Taiyang would have Yang go to Beacon, becoming another pawn for Ozpin to sacrifice in his endless, futile war.

It wasn't fear that drove her to leave, but a refusal to die for an immortal manipulator, playing games with the lives of all huntsmen and huntresses, in his endless battle against his ex-wife.

Did she fear Salem? Of course, she wasn't stupid, but she would not let Ozpin make her into a pawn.

If she could help it, she wouldn't let Ozpin use Yang, and Shiro had unknowingly given her a chance to make Yang see things her way.

She doubted she'd be able to get Yang to leave Vale. She'd watched her closely and seen the bonds between her and Ruby. Summer's influence no doubt, but loyalty to her family was admirable. Qrow certainly didn't understand that.

She was never loyal to Taiyang, she simply saw him as someone strong enough to give her a worthy child. If she hadn't realised Ozpin's true nature she'd have stayed long enough to have several more, or until she found someone stronger than him.

Her leaving made Taiyang go from a powerful huntsman to a pathetic worm, then Summer moved in. She didn't blame the other woman, Summer saw an opportunity to take what she wanted and didn't hesitate to use Taiyang's depression to get it. It was admirable.

Then Summer died and Taiyang broke entirely, playing teacher and wasting his skill and strength.

If she could have taken Yang with her, she would have, but Taiyang and Qrow would have hunted her to the ends of the earth if she tried, so she decided to leave her behind.

But if she could convince Yang to see things her way, that was a different story entirely. Yang was almost an adult, she could make her own decisions.

Besides, Yang could still go to Beacon, it was a good place to grow strong, as Ozpin wanted his toy soldiers to be powerful. There was no reason Taiyang and Qrow needed to know about their reunion.

She just wanted a chance to see if Yang could be made to see the truth before she was placed under Ozpin's 'teachings'.

If Yang was entirely against it, too idealistic or naive, then she'd cut her losses and leave the girl to her fate. As she said, Yang was almost an adult, she could make her own decisions and she would have to face the consequences of them.

With Yang and Shiro meeting, it was only a matter of time before Qrow and Taiyang realised who Shiro truly was, and Ozpin tried to pull Shiro into his collection of pawns.

So she felt no shame in deciding to make the first move, Shiro seemed far more comfortable with the darker underbelly of the world anyway, Qrow might have done him a favour by not realising he was alive.