Winter looked up when she heard hurried footsteps behind her and tensed a bit though she relaxed once she realised it was just James. SHe started to smile, but it faded when she saw the subtle downturn of his mouth and put a hand on his arm. “Is everything all right, sir?” It wasn’t like him to be so rattled. She could easily see that Qrow was combative, but he didn’t seem that bad after how attentive he’d been to her.

  James ran a hand through his hair before offering Winter his arm. She wrapped hers around it, feeling much steadier now that he was here. “Let’s just leave it at Qrow and I are grudging allies at the best of times. I hope he wasn’t too disagreeable toward you. He didn’t seem as plastered as he normally is.”

  “As far as I can tell, he didn’t drink a drop tonight. He was going to since he had several glasses of champagne, but he passed on them. I could also see a few places where he had flasks, but he never once went for them. He was…combative at first, but quite amicable and understanding the whole night. I will admit his ability to read people is…unnerving, though.” Qrow obviously wasn’t wise to the ways of Atlassian high society. Then again, considering his upbringing, she wasn’t too surprised.

  James sighed and put a hand over his eyes. “…I will never understand that man. He is so inconsistent it’s infuriating.” He let out a hard breath before looking at Winter “…Well, I’m glad to hear he was kind to you. HE’ll be in Atlas on a while on a mission for Ozpin, so, if you’d like, I could have him escort you to the next few events.” Winter’s throat stuck at the reminder. James would be gone for the next two months and she’d be at a few events Gelé would also be in attendance…and she’d be expected to be in public unlike the one they were just now leaving.

  She shifted her weight a bit, her grip tightening on his arm. He placed his free hand on her head and smiled down at her. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, Winter; I promise. I wish I could off you better protection than just Qrow but…”

  She just nodded as she looked down. They couldn’t trust just any of the men in the Atlassian upper class or military outside of him, and to have a female escort… It would only turn everyone against her further. She was in such a difficult position.

  “I’m frankly still terrified of him, but I would be of any man.” She hated to admit her weakness, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. Damn gelé and his treatment of her…

  She let oua breath, though, as she looked up at James. “I suppose he’d be a better escort than others.” The risk of somebody else trying to take advantage of her when she was in such a vulnerable emotional state following one these damnable dances was just far too high.

  “I’ll speak to him when I meet with him in a few days.” James sighed again and Winter just gave his arm a light squeeze. She couldn’t blame him because Qrow did seem inconsistent at best but… At least he did seem honest in his approach to how he’d handled her.

  They reached the car and he opened the door. She slid in and lean against hima fter he got in. What a long night… She was glad it was over. “Get some sleep once you get to your apartment, Winter. You could use it.” She just nodded as she released the tension from her body as his arm wrapped around her. He had been more of a father to her than Gelé ever had…

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Ω

  Qrow sighed as he headed into Atlas Academy. What in the hell did Jimmy want? He wasn’t going anywhere for a while since Ozpin had told him to keep his ass put to see if there was any sign of the Winter Maiden, so it didn’t make any sense to call him in like this.

  He raised an eyebrow when he saw Winter filing paperwork at a desk in front of the general’s office. Yeah, James had said she was his aide but even so…

  She looked up and gave a faint tilt of her head. “Good afternoon, Mister Branwen. General Ironwood is waiting.” His hand twitched as he went to reach for his flask, but he stopped short once he saw Winter’s eyes train on it.

  …Damn it, he was such a bleeding heart.

  He just sighed as he headed into the office, slamming the door behind him. He leaned up against the wall, arms folded and one leg over the other. “All right, Jimmy; what’s this about? You better have a damn good reason for calling me out here because I have better shit I could be doing.” Namely getting plastered off his ass. He’d normally be drunk but with Winter…

  “Yes, Qrow; I’ll make it as short so you can…pursue your favorite activity.” He just shook his head. “Since you want it straight I’ll get to it. I’m going to be leaving for a few months and I need you to descort Winter to a few events. I”m going to gather intelligence via maneuvers with some of the Special Ops. Mister Gelé will be there and—”

  “You want me to what?!” He trained his gaze on Ironwood who stiffened, one hand going for his gun. “What in the hell has gotten into that thick skull of yours?! I’m a walking disaster!” Seriously, what the hell?! He knew Ironwood was an idiot, but this was a whole new level of insanity even for him!

  Ironwood just stood and ushered Qrow away from the door and he let out a heavy sigh before walking over toward the window. “Winter’s probably buried in her work, but I still don’t want to run the risk of her hearing. I’ll just get straight to the point again, Qrow. Women in the Atlassian upper class are basically just treated as property—collateral to be used in business and political transactions.”

  Qrow’s blood turned to ice at the revelation and he stared, frozen to the spot. What in the actual fuck?! How could anybody treat another person like that?! And the Branwen tribe was accused of being ass backwards due to how primitive they were…

  He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, giving a small nod. “No wonder Summer hated this place so much…” With how empathetic she had been… Yeah, he couldn’t blame her. “All right, Jimmy; I’ll protect her. Not for you but for her.” There was no way he’d ever do it for the blowhard; he had a stick way too far up his own ass for anybody’s good.

  Ironwood ran a hand through his hair before he sent Qrow a message. “There’s the schedule of events. I’ll trust her to your hands, Qrow.”

  Qrow just shrugged before he started back toward the door, waving a hand. “Whatever.” He wasn’t looking forward to this, but he wasn’t about to leave a young woman at the hands of her abuser. After what Fallon had done to him and Raven, he wasn’t about to leave Winter to suffer at a stuff event where some sort of harm might come to her.

  …Damn it, he was such a bleeding heart.

  Summer had been right.

  As she almost always had been without fail.