Chapter 2: -.-.-Chapter 2-.-.-

The bullhead was half way back to Vale when Qrow felt Wyn begin to come around, his grip lessening as he woke up and began to look around him, his eyes widening as he took in the interior of the bullhead cargo area. When his gaze finally came to the two body bags on the floor his bottom lip began to quiver as tears pooled in his eyes.

"Mom, dad," Wyn whimpered softly, his whole body beginning to shake in Qrow's arms.

Qrow looked down at him and suppressed a sigh, he went to speak but immediately his words caught in his throat before he could bring himself to say them.

Wyn, tearing his gaze from the body bags, looked up at him, his golden eyes, red from crying. They held a look that Qrow had seen so many times before, though never before on one so young. The look of someone who had lost everything that was important to them, their world shattered completely and totally.

He realized then and there that nothing he could say, that no amount of condolences or I'm sorrys, would ever be enough to help the kid. This would be something that would stick with him for the rest of his life.

Wyn looked away from Qrow a few seconds later before he began to fidget and crawl his way off of his lap before he went to the floor next to the body bags, his back to Qrow.

Qrow stood up and was about to approach the young boy, but stopped when he saw his shoulders start to shake, realizing the boy was crying silently, mourning his parents. He let out a sigh before walking further into the bullhead to give him what little privacy he could.

Glancing out one of the windows of the bullhead, he could see Vale's walls in the distance, they'd be back soon enough. With another sigh he glanced back at the kid and shook his head.

'Talk about shitty luck, a couple just trying to start a new life for their kid, only for both parents to be killed and leave the kid orphaned before they even get there. And it's only going to get worse for the kid now.' Qrow thought to himself with a frown.

He knew that while Vale had nowhere near Atlas' level of mistreatment or discrimination towards Faunus, it was still present, and as an orphan the kid would have it rougher than most.

Being an orphan the kid, with no one and no family to look out for him, Wyn, would end up in the orphanage system. A system that the councils of each kingdom deemed it essential to have, given the number of huntsmen and huntresses that die each year that left kids behind, though it was extremely outdated and understaffed from what Qrow had heard.

In that system, Wyn was sure to get the short end of the stick no matter which orphanage he placed the kid in, between his faunus heritage and the fact neither of his parents being native to Vale or huntsmen. It was almost guaranteed that no human couple would adopt a Faunus child, and It was extremely rare for Faunus couples to adopt at all. Between their race's high fertility rates and their less than average salaries, they just couldn't afford to feed another kid when they would barely have enough to make sure their own were fed and cared for.

It would be almost guaranteed that Wyn would likely remain in the orphanage until he was of age to either get a job or get drafted into Vales Military forces, that was something that just didn't sit right with Qrow.

He needed to do better for him, Wyn was his responsibility the second he pulled him from that wreck.

'I could…' Qrow began to think to himself before shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts as soon as they popped up. It was just stupid to continue that line of thinking.

But as Vale grew closer he could think on how else to help the kid. It was just so above his head, he was a huntsman, he wasn't smart enough to figure out this kind of mess… but he knew someone who was.

Moving further to the front of the cargo area Qrow fished out his scroll from his back pocket and hit the first preprogrammed speed dial on his list, and it only took a second for the call to connect as the silver haired, specialized form of Professor Ozpin appeared on the screen.

"Qrow?" Ozpin said over the line frowning, "It's unlike you to call, usually you just wait until you get to my office to make any reports from your missions, did something happen?"

Qrow sighed, "It's like this Oz…" Qrow said as he spent the next couple of minutes going over what had happened and what he had seen. The whole while Ozpin looked more and more downhearted, hearing about things like this never got any easier no matter how many times he heard it.

"Such pointless deaths, I'll be sure to send a message to James to inform him of this, and recommend that any future transports like this have triple the usual escorts. Though it is good news at least to hear that you managed to save one, every life matters in the end," Ozpin stated, seeming to perk up a little at the end.

"Yeah about the kid Oz," Qrow began to say.

Ozpin nodded as he guessed what Qrow was going to ask, "I can see to it that someone is there at the station to take him off your…" he began only for Qrow to cut him off.

"That's not what I was about to ask Oz," Qrow said making the bespectacled headmaster blink in confusion, "Listen, we both know that if we send him to an orphanage the kid is going to be stuck there getting the short end of the stick until he's of drafting age, faunus kid, non-huntsmen parents, not a Vale native. There's got to be something else we can do for him other than to send him there."

Ozpin frowned over the line and nodded, it was true, the council seldom had reason to look into the operations of the orphanage system, he would know as he was a member. And they seldom looked into things while they were still functioning, mostly because there were many other things that required their attention.

He'd have to make sure to bring it to the focus of the council at their next monthly meeting. But for now they would have to think of something else for the boy, while sending him to the orphanage was still an option in Ozpin's mind, he was just as equally as reluctant as Qrow to condemn the young child to such a childhood after losing his parents.

However as he looked at Qrow through the screen, he could see a look in his eyes, a burning desire to help the child, something he hadn't seen much of in the past few months, not since Summer disappeared.

'Perhaps this may be a chance to rekindle that lost spark before it is too late, as well as try to repair the other damage that Summer's death has caused,' Ozpin thought to himself as the corners of his mouth lifted, just the slightest, in the smallest of smiles.

"While I agree that sending him to one of the orphanages may not be the best for him as they currently are, if you are so set on keeping him from that kind of life, there is always another option," Ozpin commented, watching to see Qrow's response.

Immediately Qrow's eyes narrowed slightly, as he tried to think on just what Ozpin was getting at, 'Surely he couldn't mean…' he thought before deciding just to ask, "What do you mean Oz?"

Ozpin actually smirked, "You could adopt him," he said plainly, seeing no point in beating around the bush as it were.

The expression that came over Qrow's face when he heard that was one of disbelief at actually hearing him say it out right like he had, "Um, come again?" was his rather lackluster response, still trying to process what the Headmaster was suggesting.

"Adopt him yourself," Ozpin said back, his amusement clear in his tone, "doing so would achieve both of what you want for the boy, to keep him out of the system and give him someone to look after him."

"I.." Qrow said before shaking his head, "no, no that's a terrible idea, and besides I'd be a terrible role model for the kid, I mean look at me."

"An accomplished huntsman, if not one of the best to have ever passed through Beacon. A loving uncle, a fierce friend, and someone who recently has been having a hard time with things." Ozpin countered immediately, "I'd say all of those things would make you an excellent father figure."

"You forgot deadbeat drunk and all the other negative things," Qrow shot back as he shook his head, "Besides Oz, it wouldn't work, with my missions and my semblance, I could never care for a kid."

"You give yourself too little credit, I have seen many others fall far deeper than you in your grief, but yet despite all of that you are still a good man." Ozpin said gently over the line, "as for the other things, they are easily addressed. Tai could check in on him when you are out on missions, and your semblance only affects others in long term contact, which with you going on missions would alleviate most of. And besides, I believe this may be the chance to get back something you have been missing for longer than you'd like to admit…"

Qrow immediately cut him off as he snapped, "Don't say it." he said but with no real heat to it, as Ozpin continued on.

"Family." Ozpin said gently with a knowing smile, "while you may have Tai, as well as young Ruby and Yang. None of them would singularly depend on you like this boy would, it would be good for the both of them."

Qrow took a deep breath before letting it out in a long sigh, "You're going to keep pushing this aren't you…" he said seeing the look and smirk that Ozpin had that made him Rub his eyes and groan out, " if it's the only way then…"

"Excellent," Ozpin said immediately, cutting Qrow off before he could say any more, "then it's settled, don't worry about the paperwork I'll see to it on my end, I'm sure you will make an excellent guardian for the boy."

"But I, wait hold on…" Qrow went to comment only for Ozpin to hang up from his end, making him stare at the screen for several seconds before groaning out again, "Fuck…"

-.-.-Headmasters office- Beacon-.-.-

Ozpin let out a pleased sigh as he sat back in his chair behind his desk as he watched as a freshly brewed pot of his favorite blend floated over to refill his mug.

"Are you sure that was the wisest idea?" a female voice asked as Glynda Goodwitch stepped around his desk as the pot floated back to her, "Forcing a child on him like that? While I do not deny his skill as a huntsman, that will not necessarily translate into being good father material."

After taking a sip from his mug Ozpin shook his head, "perhaps not, but the pair will need one another, perhaps in their shared grief they can help one another to move past it for one another's sake."

Glynda nodded thoughtfully, "kindred souls and all that," she mused.

Ozpin nodded, "Exactly, and this way the boy will keep from being lost in the system as just another statistic. While Qrow will be given a reason to pull himself out of the bottle that he keeps slipping deeper and deeper into," He said before his smile faded as he added, "And maybe, perhaps this way I can help mend more than just two hearts."

As he said that last part he turned in his chair to gaze out at the city from his tower, frowning as he looked out at it all. While he feels bad about pushing this on Qrow like this, and practically deciding the matter for the two of them. He knew that they would both need this. Qrow needs family, someone that depends on him to pull him from his spiral, and the boy will need him.

It might be rough in the beginning but new starts always were, 'Besides, it's not like he will be alone, Tai will be able to help him, while he may have both Yang and Ruby to care for, that would make him just as qualified to help Qrow get a hang of things. This will help them all as a whole, to maybe fill the void that Summer left behind, and make up for my mistake in sending her by herself in the first place.' he thought to himself, hoping he was making the right call.

Glynda sighed, "I suppose all that is left now is to wait and see how the dice fall" she said as she levitated the pot of coffee back to its stand before making her way to the elevator, "I'll make the calls and get the paperwork for the adoption in order, like I know you were going to ask me to do anyway."

Ozpin smiled slightly at her words, recognizing the attempted distraction for what it was, "my thanks Glynda, wherever would I be without you."

"Buried under a mountain of paperwork, not knowing which way was up," Glinda called back in a deadpan tone as she entered the elevator and the doors closed, succeeding in giving her the last words of the conversation.

Ozpin could only chuckle slightly at her comment, it was true of course, as he shook his head fondly before he looked back out the window, wondering just what the future would hold in store now with this latest addition to things.