A/N: This is a Qrow!Daughter fic. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1
Qrow stepped into 'Oasis', one of the few well maintained Inn's in Vacuo and one of his favourite pit stops if he were passing through. It was barely two in the afternoon and already the Inn's bar room seemed half full. The air was warm and alluring, a nice contrast to the sharp wind outside that was starting to pick up. He knew there was supposed to be a sandstorm passing through soon but he'd hoped he'd avoided it by a few days.
He stuffed his hands into his pockets and trudged towards the bar, one brow raised. The only reason he'd taken a little – which wasn't very little – detour from going home after his latest mission for Ozpin, was because Leona had called him and said that they needed to talk.
Leona was the owner of 'Oasis', a fiery blonde with bright green eyes who could make any huntsman quiver with one glare. And she knew just what Qrow liked. In the few times he'd passed through she'd batted her eyelashes and flirted with him, filling his drink up before it became empty with a purr. And every time he was a sucker for those soft lips of hers. Every. Time. The only reason she'd had his number in the first place was because she'd told him to let her know when he was passing by and she'd leave him a room free.
This last message had eluded to none of their previous encounters. Even when Qrow joked "Having dreams about me?" she'd ignored it, which caused the furrow in his brows. Sure, it had been a few years since they'd physically met, but he'd at least had one or two phone calls that kept him up late. Not that he was complaining.
And the best thing was that she never wanted anything serious. He'd brought that up on the second phone call:
"You know I'm a Huntsman right? Always on the move, coming and goin-"
"I know. I don't want anything. Just tonight. A woman has needs too you know."
"Am I the only one?"
There had been a pause. "Nah there's a guy called Felix. Pretty regular. Drops by once a month and he's pretty great."
"Who's better?"
"I am not answering that!"
"Why not? I won't tell."
A frustrated sigh. "You, are far too practised in the art of sex. You know that right?"
Qrow was brought back to the present by a hand on his arm. He looked down to see Leona smiling softly up at him. "It's good to see you, Qrow."
"You breaking up with me?" he smirked, instinct pulling out the jokes.
She rolled her eyes at him with a small smile of her own and started towards the bar. Qrow quickly fell in step behind her, scratching his brain to why she could possibly want to talk to him. Almost as soon as he took a seat at a barstool there was a serving of whiskey in front of him and he took it with a raised brow, a silent question to what he was doing here.
Leona let out a small sigh and clasped her hands on the bar top. Her eyes were focused on her hands as she started, "Well, I've been thinking that you deserve to know. Even if you don't want to be here or help or whatever, that's fine. I'm not asking you to do anything you don't want to. And I'm not demanding anything. I just, want you to know. And to tell me how you want to deal with this."
She flicked her eyes up to him and he furrowed his brows deeply. "Deal with what?" He started to lift the glass to his lips, rust eyes focused on her agitated state.
She tipped her head to one side, glanced over Qrow's shoulder and straightened up, looking back at him. "Your daughter."
He paused and stared at her. "My what?"
She rolled her eyes at him and stood up, palms flat on the bar. "Your daughter, Qrow. Your little girl. Genetic offspring. Mini me. Spawn. However you wanna call it, my daughter is your daughter."
He hadn't moved, just stared. And stared. His heart pumping wildly in his chest. Daughter? Kid? Child? Him? "When?" He finally set the glass back down.
"She's two and a half."
Now he narrowed his eyes carefully. "And she's definitely mine? Not Felix's?"
Leona sighed and stood up on her tip toes. "Robin!"
He almost choked on his drink, "You named her Robin?"
She shrugged, "It just seemed right."
Then there was the sound of little feet walking past him and Qrow ducked his head to follow a head full of black hair. Which didn't prove anything. A lot of people had black hair, didn't mean she was his. The girl disappeared behind the bar and Leona bent down to pick up a child. When she came back up Qrow's heart physically stopped for a second and he stared.
She looked exactly like Raven.
She was definitely his.
"Shit," he hissed.
"Qrow!"
"Sheet!" Robin's little voice chimed with a smile.
"No," Leona said, turning her attention to Robin, "That's a bad word." The smile fell from Robin's face and she pointed towards Qrow with a small 'But-' "I know he said the bad word but he's going to get in trouble. Do. Not. Say. That. Again. Understood."
"Yea," she mumbled quietly.
Leona glanced back at Qrow, "She's at that age where she repeats everything she hears. I can't tell you how many times I've had to threaten castration with the poker table." She looked back down towards Robin. "Are you behaving for the boys?"
Robin nodded her head enthusiastically, bright red eyes beaming with the smile that was back on her face. "Yeah. De- to- me -ow to -ay."
"Did they now?"
"I eel goo-."
"Okay. You tell them I'm watching them. No funny business."
"No foo-knee busie-ess."
Leona laughed, "Yeah." She set Robin down again and the toddler waddled away. Qrow watched her with raised brows as she waddled back towards a large table that was surrounded by 6 gentleman, half of which looked like they could squash her with one look. She tugged at the closest arm, pointed a finger up when she had their attention and almost shouted, "No foo-knee busie-ess!"
The guy held his hands up and nodded his head, "Yes little lady. You coming back up?"
"Yeah!" He hefted her up and into an empty chair that was pulled tightly up towards the table.
"Well?" Leona's voice dragged him back to her.
He studied her face for a moment and the heavy beating of his heart. "Well she's definitely mine."
"No shit."
"Hey, that's a bad word.," he mocked, a smirk catching the corner of his lips as he pointed at her.
She swatted his finger away from her and folded her arms on the bar. "That's not what I meant."
Qrow's smile faded and he glanced back to the table. "Honestly? She's cute. I mean, she has my genes of course she's cute." He looked back to Leona and couldn't help the sigh and the nervous scratch to the back of his neck. "I don't know. I- I've never even thought about having kids."
She shrugged a shoulder and straightened up, "I'm not looking for an answer today, but the invitation is there. If you want to be a part of her life, that's fine. If you don't, I understand. She wasn't exactly planned."
Qrow watched Leona step over towards the booking desk as a small group hurried inside, seeking shelter from the wind that knocked on the doors. The storms in Vacuo were known to either last an hour or days. There was never any in between and Qrow tipped his head back as he finally polished off the whiskey Leona had poured him.
He settled the empty glass down with a sigh and glanced back to the 'poker table'. Robin was shifting in her seat from one knee to the next, arms pulled up onto the table top. She was pointing to somebody's cards as he held them out for her to see. She pointed to one in the middle and tried to tug it free but he drew them back and handed her the card that she'd wanted, keeping the rest of his cards intact. "Win?" Robin said as she placed the card on the table.
There were chuckles around the table and another guy leaned forward to say, "Not quite little missy, but you almost had us."
"Awww, I wa- win."
"We'll win," her card partner said and Qrow couldn't help the tiny flicker of a smile. He didn't even think they were playing poker any more and he glanced back over to Leona. She was giving him an out, a chance to say no. And she certainly didn't need his help in raising their daughter. It was weird to think that he had a kid, but he could choose; help, or stay away.
He fixed his gaze on the bar top, unsure of what he wanted to do. Back in Patch, Raven was due to give birth to Yang in a couple of months and Tai was a nervous wreck. Summer was always away on missions, just like him, trying to keep up their jobs and their sanity from their hormonal or over cautious team mates. There was a big difference between Uncle and Father. A big one. One he wasn't sure he was ready for.
Qrow glanced up to the barmaid and ordered another shot of whiskey. He sipped it this time, and another one appeared before he had chance to finish it. He polished it off and turned to his third drink. A kid. He had a kid. His own flesh and blood. He put a fist on the table and let his head rest on it, his mind thinking over all the reasons he should stay in Robin's life and all the reasons he shouldn't.
He was a Hunter. Every job had the potential to be his last. Not to mention his stupid semblance. As if on cue somebody knocked a glass off of a table with a shocked apology.
But then he would never get this opportunity again.
But he couldn't just up and leave Patch and make a life in Vacuo. What about Raven? Tai? Summer? They were his family too. Could he really leave them?
He sighed and lifted his head up to look back to the table that Robin sat at. She was babbling away in her own little word, half her words incomprehensible as she moved cards around the table in front of her. And he couldn't stop the tiny flicker of a smile to his face.
"I always did like your smile."
He turned to look back to Leona and raised a brow. "Falling for me again?"
She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Only in your dreams, Branwen."
He grinned back and slowly let out a slow breath. He grabbed the glass, his eyes fixed on the amber liquid inside and furrowed his brows. "Leona, I want to, honestly I do. It's just-"
"She'll understand."
He stared. "What?"
Leona smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Half of the people that pass through here either have stories about Grimm or are Hunters. She knows about them, what they do and the big scary world outside those doors. She understands, hell half of those guys at the poker table have only just gotten back after a month, two months being away." A small crease appeared in the centre of her forehead. "That is where you were going right? Hunter? Jobs? A team or family? Something something?"
"And what if I can only visit once a month? Or every four months? Or once a year?"
She shrugged, "Then you have my number."
He stared up at her, the frown never budging from his face. He could not imagine any child being content with speaking to their parent through a screen every other week. There was a shout of childish laughter and he glanced back to the poker table. Robin was holding a card over her head with a wide grin and another round of laughter escaping her lips. Then again, not many children would be so relaxed in seeing strangers come in and out of their second home on a day to day basis.
Finally he released another sigh and turned his head to look back at Leona. "Fine. But if I mess this up, it's your fault."