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Chapter Text

It was finally over. 

Well, not over over, they still had to actually evacuate Mantle and destroy the Grimm leviathan and retrieve the Staff and move the whole city away and find help before Salem reformed and came after them and figure out what on Remnant they were supposed to do about an unkillable ancient evil and-

Ruby shook her head, shaking off that train of thought before it could derail her. They had a lot still to do, that was true, but she reminded herself that it was okay to feel like they’d brought at least one chapter of this whole sorry mess to a satisfactory ending. They’d successfully dealt with Ironwood’s ultimatum on their own terms, stopping his bomb and keeping Penny and the Staff out of his hands, and they’d even managed to capture him without anyone getting seriously hurt.

She looked around the small group standing on the plaza in front of the academy, and managed a small smile. She was so proud of all of them. Jaune, Ren, Nora and Oscar, who had helped her in the fight, Penny who had managed to hold herself together this whole time despite the virus’s effects being worse closer to the Vault, Winter who had turned on her mentor when he had crossed a line and stuck by that decision, and even Emerald whose help had been so crucial to their ambush plan. And she was just as proud of Uncle Qrow and Weiss and Blake and Yang, who had stopped the General’s bomb with the help of Robyn and Marrow. Everything had gone off without a hitch. At least, so far.

Taking a deep breath, Ruby let her gaze fall on Ironwood himself. Winter stood guard over him, one of her gravity glyphs keeping him on his knees on the ground, her sword at his neck and his hands bound in front of him. He’d finally stopped struggling against the glyph, but he was still alert, watchful, looking for an opening. Nora and Ren were also keeping an eye on him, weapons drawn, but he was ignoring all three of them in favour of staring directly across the plaza at Penny. She was sitting on the steps with Jaune beside her, periodically boosting her Aura, all her energy focused on keeping the virus at bay.

Conscious that things would just get more difficult for Penny the longer they delayed, Ruby turned to Oscar, who was hovering nearby.

“Oscar, could you go and tell the Councilwoman that it’s safe to come out? It’s time to talk to Ironwood, and she should be there.” Oscar nodded, and jogged over to the airship. Ruby watched as he exchanged a few words with Emerald, who was leaning against it, still keeping her distance from the rest of them, and then disappeared inside.

It had been a relief, running into Councilwoman Camilla in one of the city’s underground emergency shelters. They hadn’t been expecting to find her, they’d just been escorting a group of civilians that had been cut off from their nearest subway station by a group of winged Beringels, but she’d found them in all the chaos when they’d finally made it underground. Neither Ruby, nor Weiss and Blake who had been with her, had had a long term plan beyond helping as many civilians as they could after Atlas’s shields fell, but Camilla had been able to give them one.

They’d huddled together in a corner of the shelter and, in hushed whispers, she’d told them about how the General had shot her fellow council member, Sleet, when he’d tried to disagree with him about enforcing martial law. That had provoked gasps all around, because it was yet another escalation in the general’s behaviour. Trying to arrest them had been understandable, but outright murder? Camilla had agreed that he needed to be stopped if he went any further. 

And so she’d told them about a contingency plan, one put in place decades earlier by a previous council who had had very little trust in the general at the time. It was possible for the council, with a unanimous decision, to declare the general incompetent and take direct control of the military themselves. Ruby’s hopes had dropped a little at that, knowing that Sleet was dead and the third seat on the council was back to being unoccupied after Jacques Schnee’s arrest, but Camilla had reassured her. Left as only two votes vs Ironwood’s own two, she and Sleet had exchanged their access codes with each other as a backup plan they’d hoped they’d never have to use. She had those codes now, and told the three of them that she was more than willing to use them to override Ironwood if it became necessary.

At the time, they’d reluctantly decided that it wasn’t, not yet. Ironwood had actually been doing a very capable job of coordinating the city’s defenses against the renewed invasion, and Camilla was no soldier. They agreed between the four of them that they’d only use the contingency plan if Ironwood resumed his efforts to abandon Mantle, and they’d parted company with Camilla after using Pietro’s overrides to unlock her Scroll so they could find her again if they needed her.

They had needed her. Just when it seemed like the destruction of the leviathan might finally turn the tide against Salem, Ironwood had issued that awful ultimatum and suddenly he was the biggest threat they were facing. It had hurt all of them, seeing how far he was willing to go in order to get his own way. Penny in particular had taken it hard, and it had been the final straw that had brought Winter around to their side. And all together, they’d made a plan.

So now here they were, two desperate but thankfully successful missions later, the bomb under their control and Ironwood as their prisoner. Whitley was waiting back at Schnee Manor to launch the SDC ships to evacuate Mantle, and all they needed to do to make that happen was ensure that the military wouldn’t fire on them. Which meant it was time for the general to no longer be in charge.

A few people, notably Uncle Qrow, had been all for taking Ironwood down and using the override codes as Plan A, but Ruby had argued against that. Despite everything he had done over the past few days, she still couldn’t bring herself to believe that Ironwood couldn’t be talked back around. She had to believe that he could come back, that he’d been acting out of fear and desperation and would see sense now that they had a concrete better option. She’d liked Ironwood, seen him as a fundamentally decent man who was sometimes misguided but usually had the best of intentions, and even now she still cared about him despite her anger towards him. He deserved another chance. Whether he took it or not was up to him, and it was the last one he’d get from her, but for the sake of her own conscience she had to give it to him. And now was the moment to make the offer.

Oscar and Camilla had emerged from the airship and were walking towards her, so Ruby waved to Penny and Jaune to join them as well. She waved at Emerald, too, but she shook her head, not wanting to get involved in this. That was fair enough, Ruby supposed. Seconds later, the five of them came together as a group, paused for a moment as a few of them visibly steeled themselves, and then approached the General.

Ironwood was sitting back on his heels, watching them coolly as they stopped well out of his arms’ reach and arrayed themselves in a semicircle facing him. Standing this close, and finally able to look at him without having to concentrate on a fight, Ruby was shocked by just how bad he looked. His face was even paler than usual, bloodless with exhaustion, and the dark circles beneath his eyes were bruise-dark. His jacket was ripped at the shoulder from a stray shot that had caught him after his Aura had broken, and there was a red welt across his cheek that wasn’t healing. The skeletal black prosthesis that had replaced his injured left arm contrasted starkly against his white uniform, and Ruby couldn’t help but remember how much Yang had struggled with the loss of her own arm. Had Ironwood even had a moment in the past few days to process the loss? And he had to be in a lot of pain, fighting with a prosthesis installed so recently. There was no way his stump had had any time to heal. It was no excuse, but… it was hard not to feel sympathy for him for that.

“So,” said Ironwood, interrupting her thoughts, voice as cool as his stare, “is this where you offer me an ultimatum of your own?” He’d been looking at Penny as they approached, but now all his attention was on Ruby. She shook her head.

“No. I’m not going to threaten you,” she said, and was pleased to hear that her own voice was entirely level. “I want to ask you for your help.” Ironwood raised an eyebrow.

“With what, exactly? I’m not really in a position to accomplish much right now.” He shifted a little against the glyph and his bonds. “You’ve accomplished that quite handily.” Ruby tried not to flinch at his tone. It was the unpleasant, slightly drawling one that he’d affected while threatening Emerald-as-Penny, and she didn’t like it at all. It didn’t sound like him.

“You don’t need to stay tied up,” she said. “Not if you agree to work with us rather than against us.”

“I think you started that, Ruby.”

“I didn’t want to! But you didn’t give us any choice.”

“No, Salem is the one who left us with no choices,” said Ironwood, his cool tone starting to get heated. “You just couldn’t see that! From the moment her agents got inside the Academy, we had no choice. I had no choice! Everything I have done, I had to do!”

“Including murder?” shot back Ruby, getting heated herself.

“Well, apparently that doesn’t stick,” said Ironwood, glancing over at Oscar to Ruby’s confusion. She looked at him herself, and he shook his head, mouthing ‘later'. “Oh, he didn’t tell you?” continued Ironwood, a hint of a bitter laugh in his voice. “Of course he didn’t, he doesn’t tell anyone anything, not even the people he demands trust from.” Ruby was reeling slightly. Ironwood had tried to kill Oscar?

“This isn’t about us right now, James,” said Oscar. “This is bigger-”

“Stop calling me that!” growled Ironwood. He was glaring daggers at Oscar, and Ruby could tell things were on the verge of spiralling out of control again. 

“Alright! Alright, we’re getting off topic!” she said, stepping forward and waving her arms a little. “What we’ve all done doesn’t matter right now, it’s what we do next. Sir, you need to listen to me. We really do need your help.” With what looked to be an effort, Ironwood wrenched his gaze away from Oscar and turned back to look at her. The anger was still there behind it, but he was able to pull his expression back to an approximation of cool indifference.

“The Councilwoman isn’t enough?” he asked, acknowledging Camilla’s presence for the first time. “What a surprise.” Ruby glanced over at her, and even though she barely knew the woman it wasn’t hard to read the anger and disappointment and disgust that were all warring on her face. Camilla shook her head slightly.

“What happened to you, James?” she asked, quietly. Ironwood's face twitched, and then twisted into what was almost a snarl, all of his anger coming crashing back in the space of a moment. He straightened up, heedless of Winter’s sword as it almost caught him in the shoulder, and even on his knees he was as tall as she was. 

“What happened to me?” His voice was suddenly low, dangerous. Camilla flinched and took half a step backwards. “Let me tell you what happened to me, Councilwoman. I have sacrificed everything for this kingdom. For Remnant itself. I have given my life, half my body, my literal heart, and two nights ago I gave my remaining arm and none of it has made any difference!” Suddenly, he was shouting. “Salem has kept coming and we have kept losing! Every time I think I've won, every time I win, I lose!” 

Breath heaving, eyes wide and face tight with anger and despair, his stare finally moved from Camilla again and darted around the rest of the group that surrounded him. Not all of them could meet his eyes, and when his gaze briefly bored into Ruby’s it was all she could do not to flinch at the intensity of it. “I've been fighting this war for longer than any of you have been alive, I kept secrets for a man who didn't trust me with his-” His stare locked on to Oscar. “- and do you know what I got in return? No trust, no gratitude, nothing but criticism and judgement and blame for everything that went wrong! At least I had a plan! At least I tried! I have done nothing but try…” His voice broke and suddenly became quiet again as he bowed his head. “And it's never enough…” 

“But it can be," said Ruby, stepping forward. "If you just-”

“If I what, Ruby?” His head snapped up again, and he sounded desperate. “Try and save everyone? If I risk the people I know I can save on a slim chance that I can save more? If I let Atlas die along with Mantle just to satisfy my principles? That's what you don't understand. Sometimes there is no good choice. But you still have to make one. I have to live with every decision that I have made, but I'm willing to do it. I will sacrifice whatever it takes to beat her.” His voice was ragged with emotion, so different from the cold stoicism he’d affected earlier and also in his office the last time they had been face to face, what felt like a week ago but had only been the other night.

“But you don’t have to,” she said, willing him to listen. “You don’t have to hurt anyone else! There’s a better way!”

“No, there isn’t,” said Ironwood, shaking his head. “Don’t you think I wish there was? But there isn’t.” He gritted his teeth and a muscle clenched in his neck. “Mantle has to die so that Atlas can live, so that Remnant can live.”

“You’re not listening to me!” Ruby wanted to shake him, but didn’t dare get too close. Even restrained like he was, Ironwood was too dangerous and resourceful a fighter to risk it. 

“Please, sir,” said Penny’s voice, and Ruby looked around. She was leaning on Jaune, who had a hand on her shoulder to boost her Aura, but she still looked terrible. The virus was really taking a toll on her this close to the Vault. “We have found a way to save Mantle as well.”

“She’s right,” said Ruby, jumping back in before Ironwood could try and argue the point. “All we need is your help. If you authorise the SDC ships to bring the rest of the evacuees up to Atlas-”

“Why would I do that?” asked Ironwood, exasperation and bitter incredulity in his voice. “I already told you, for all we know bringing so many citizens up to Atlas could be part of her plan, she could want us all in one place, or she could have planted more spies, or-”

“Because it’s the right thing to do!” said Jaune, interjecting for the first time. “Yes, it could be part of Salem’s plan, but are you really willing to abandon all of those lives because of a maybe?” Ironwood glared at him, but briefly there was a flicker of something behind his eyes, like he was losing some of his certainty.

“I know you have doubts,” said Ren, stepping forward. “I know that it’s tearing you up inside that you can’t protect everyone. I know that that’s all you’ve ever wanted to do.”

“You think you know me now?” said Ironwood. “You have no idea-”

“But I do.” It was Winter, a silent participant until now, her face rigidly stoic but her voice wobbling slightly as she held a sword to her own commander, a man Ruby knew she thought of as another father even if she'd never admitted it in as many words. “I know you, sir. And I’m not going to say this isn’t you, because… because we both know that would be a lie.” She took a steadying breath, and her voice regained a little of the volume that it had lost as she’d said that last part, which had clearly pained her to say. “But I do know that you can be better than this.” Ironwood didn’t turn to look at her, but he did go still, rigid like he’d been frozen by her words.

“You don’t have to become a monster to fight one,” said Oscar, quietly. “If you do that, Salem really does win.”

“I don’t have to take that from you,” Ironwood snarled, suddenly angry again. Ruby took a step to the side, instinctively coming between him and Oscar, but Oscar put a hand on her arm and stepped forward anyway.

“You need to stop talking to me like I’m Oz,” said Oscar, calm despite the venom in the general’s face and voice. “You’re not the only one that’s still angry at him.”

“If the coward would show himself, I wouldn’t have to,” growled Ironwood. There was a gentle whoosh, and a momentary glow in Oscar’s eyes.

“You’re right, James,” he said, in Ozpin’s tones. “I have been a coward.” Ironwood strained suddenly against the glyph, and Winter again had to move her sword slightly so that it didn’t draw blood against his neck as he pushed forward towards Oz.

“Damn right,” he snarled. “How could you abandon me like that? How could you abandon them?” He raised his bound hands to indicate Ruby and her friends. “And how dare you keep her true nature a secret.” His voice was low, dark and so far past anger that Ruby could only describe it as rage. But somehow it didn’t scare her as much as the blankness she’d heard in his voice before. Maybe because she knew some of the anger he was feeling.

“I have no excuse,” said Ozpin, sighing. “Except for the fact that I was scared, and I was ashamed. You deserved better from me.” He looked around at the group. “You all did. And for the hurt that my silence caused, I am truly sorry.” Ironwood stared at him, anger and disbelief warring on his face.

“Sorry?” he repeated. “That’s all you have to say for yourself?”

“What else could I say?”

“I don’t know, Oz!” shouted Ironwood. He held Ozpin’s gaze for a few long seconds, and then seemed to collapse in on himself, sitting back on his feet and hunching forward over his hands. “You used me,” he said, and he sounded lost and exhausted, like he had in the dining room of Schnee Manor, like all the anger had suddenly drained and left behind nothing but numbness and pain. “You made me a weapon in a war I didn’t fully understand. You pointed me at an enemy that I couldn’t beat and never explained why I kept failing. All you ever did was criticise my methods and never once did you have enough respect for me to tell me the true reason why.” He looked up again, and now the strain in his face was accompanied by the redness of unshed tears. “You made me this.”

“I did play my part,” said Ozpin, sadly. “I admit that, and I am truly sorry. But James, you must understand that it is your fear that has pushed you so far. You fear that you can never do enough, and that is why you cling to plans that you believe have a certainty of success, no matter how limited that success may be.”

“I have to do something,” said Ironwood. “I can’t just sit back and wait like you do, I have to-”

“You have to act,” said Ruby, spotting an opening and cutting in. “That’s what you told me back at Beacon, the day after the dance, when I failed to catch Cinder. You said taking action and doing the best you can is what being a Huntress is all about. Well, that’s what we’re doing now.” She stepped forward, and it was strange to be looking down at him for once rather than up. “And you can help. We want you to help.”

“And we can’t do it without your clearance,” said Jaune. “Well, I mean, we can, but it’ll be a lot harder.” Hearing that, Ironwood straightened slightly and looked over at Camilla.

“Are you planning to declare me incompetent, Councilwoman?” he asked, and his tone had cooled slightly. To Camilla’s credit, she stood her ground this time.

“I have more than enough grounds,” she said. “Murder of a council member, and now attempted mass murder of your own citizens? You’ve crossed too many lines, James. Not even martial law can save you from the consequences now.” Ironwood just gazed at her, levelly, and she broke eye contact first.

“It sounds like you plan to do things your way with or without me,” he said, turning back to Ruby. His angry outburst at Ozpin and his dull tone of despair were both gone, replaced once again with something level and not altogether pleasant.

“We’d rather do it with you,” said Ruby. And it was true. Even though he was making it harder and harder, she was still desperate to work with the general rather than against him.

“Why?” asked Ironwood. “You had no trouble going behind my back before.” Ruby flinched slightly at that. 

“I’m sorry I lied to you,” she said, hoping he could see and hear that she was entirely genuine. “I’m sorry I kept Oz’s secrets. I just… didn’t know what to do. So I made a choice, and that choice ended up hurting you, and I have to live with that. I have to live with all the people you hurt because of that, too. But I’m not going to let Mantle die because I made a mistake. There is a better way.” Ironwood stared at her.

“You… really believe that, don’t you?”

“Yes.” She stared right back, and his cool expression slowly became more complicated. 

“You really have a way of saving everyone? Of guarding against spies, of making sure moving an entire population doesn’t make things worse?”

“We don’t have all the answers,” admitted Ruby. “But we have a lot of them, and most importantly we have help. Robyn’s people are on the lookout for anyone amongst the Mantle evacuees who might be up to something, and Councilwoman Camilla has helped us figure out where to put everyone. We can do this, sir. We can save everyone.” 

But Ironwood shook his head, and it was like he was shaking off the moment of uncertainty in favour of remaining angry. 

“Robyn again,” he growled, almost to himself. “It’s always Robyn…” Then he looked directly back at Ruby. “You can never save everyone,” he said, bitterly. “You think I haven’t tried?” His voice was getting heated again. “There’s always a catch! Always something you didn’t see coming, that you couldn’t have seen coming! Blind, childish optimism just gets people killed!”

“And somehow that’s worse than bombing a city?!” Nora spoke up for the first time, just as heated as Ironwood. “You’d rather hurt people on purpose than on accident? How does that make any sense?”

“You just-!” Ironwood tripped on his own words, glaring around at them all. “You don’t understand!” His eyes were wide, and his anger was turning into something less coherent and more desperate as he continued to shout. “None of you understand, you’re all just children-”

“You’re right,” said Ruby. “We don’t understand. And maybe we are just kids, but that doesn’t mean we’re wrong.” She heard her own voice going slightly hard in the face of Ironwood’s intractable anger and stubborn refusal to listen. She’d never met anyone else who was so resistant to changing their mind. But she was stubborn, too.

So she just stood there, staring him down. Willing him to listen. He stared right back, but now he was almost shaking. 

“You don’t understand…” he repeated, voice still rough but quieter now. “You can’t… We can’t win against her.” His tone was one of despair again.

“Maybe not,” admitted Ruby. “But we can try.” Taking a deep breath, she held out her hand. “Please, sir. One last try.” He stared up at her, eyes red and wide and angry, but mainly more lost than she could have thought possible. “Help us save who we can. Please don’t stand in our way.”

Maybe it was the repeat of his words from before, or maybe it was everything they had said up until then finally sinking in, but something left Ironwood in that moment. Whatever drive had been keeping him angry, had made him stick to his guns, had kept him trying to push back, even while captured and on his knees, it abandoned him. He crumpled in on himself, like a puppet with cut strings. Ruby took half a step back in concerned surprise. That hadn’t been the reaction she’d been hoping for.

“Sir?” she asked, worried.

“It… it wasn’t necessary,” he said, so quietly she wasn’t sure if she’d heard him right. He brought his bound hands up to his face, hiding his eyes and muffling his voice even further. “Everything I did, I… I thought I had to… But now you’ve found a way to… to save...” Ruby had never heard him sound so upset, not without also sounding angry. But his anger was all gone now. His shoulders shook with what looked like repressed sobs.

“General... Ironwood?” she asked, tentatively, stepping forward again very carefully and crouching down slowly in front of him. “Please, sir,” she tried again. “We need you.” But he wasn't listening. Something caught her eye, and she realised it was a tear falling to the ground, quickly followed by several more. The general really was crying. 

Ruby exchanged a desperate look with Winter, who shook her head sadly. He's too far gone, her return look said. We'll have to do this without him. Ruby bit her lip, upset and disappointed. She'd convinced herself that she’d be able to reach him, that together they’d be able to pull him back. But it seemed like all they'd done was break him further. The guilt she felt for that was almost a physical pain in her chest. It wasn’t what she’d wanted.

Trying not to stare at Ironwood as he sobbed almost silently into his hands, she looked down and away and only saw out of the corner of her eye that Winter was sheathing her sword. Ruby would have done the same. He clearly wasn’t a threat anymore. She took a deep breath, and tried to remind herself that that had been the main goal of all of this. Stopping Ironwood and his bomb, and making sure that neither of them were a threat to Mantle anymore. That had to count for something. 

And it also mattered that she’d given him the one last chance that she’d promised herself she would, even though he hadn’t taken it. In the end, she couldn’t control his actions, only her own. So as much as she hated it, as much as it felt like giving up, now was the time to accept that she’d done all she could. She’d tried, and that was what mattered. It was time to move on.

With effort, Ruby stood up and turned to face the others. “Come on,” she said, her voice resolute. “We've still got two cities to save.”

Chapter Text

As the airship descended towards the plaza in front of the Academy, Qrow felt like he could finally breathe again. They’d done it. Together with Yang, Blake, Weiss, Robyn and some surprising but welcome assistance from Marrow, he’d succeeded in stopping the AceOps from enacting James’s appalling plan. 

All three of the defeated AceOps were sitting in the hold of the airship, handcuffed and in Harriet’s case bound at the ankles as well. With the other two, it was mostly just the principle of the thing, but she was still genuinely dangerous, still fanatically determined to carry out the plan because she thought being a good soldier and following orders was what Clover would have wanted from her. Still raging over the fact that she’d been beaten by a bunch of kids, twice.

Qrow was more than a little proud of the kids for that. He’d finally heard some of the story of how they’d taken down all four AceOps the first time from Yang, and he was impressed. Team RWBY had come such a long way even in the few short weeks since they’d been granted their licences, but to have beaten the supposed top Huntsmen in Atlas? In any other circumstances that would have been something he’d have rubbed in James’s face for years.

James. Even just thinking about him made Qrow’s chest seize up with more anger than he knew how to deal with. A few nights ago, Qrow had been so proud to see him stand up in front of his entire kingdom and finally tell them the truth about Salem, uniting them in a way that Qrow could never have expected. And then it had all gone wrong. Arrest warrants, shooting his own people, and then finally that bomb threat… The man on that screen, making such an unthinkable threat in such a calm, level voice, had been a horrible combination of deeply familiar and completely alien. Qrow had known James for more than half his life, and he’d never been scared of him until that exact moment.

But Ruby had beaten him. She’d come up with her plan, she’d seen it through, and she’d won, and now James was no longer a threat. A big part of Qrow wished he’d gotten to be part of that fight, but he’d agreed with the decision to send him after the bomb instead. Ruby had been determined to take James alive, and Qrow wouldn’t have trusted himself to stick to that. He’d let Robyn talk him out of killing James before, but he wasn’t sure if he’d have let anyone stop him this time.

Thankfully, he hadn’t had to face that choice. James was now well and truly beaten, and Ruby and the Councilwoman were working on using the council’s override codes to remove his authority over the military. Qrow had been all for doing that right away, but Ruby had insisted on giving James a chance to back down, to change his mind. He admired that in her, that insistence on thinking the best of people, he truly did, but in this case he should have made her see that she was wasting her time. James, change his mind? You’d have more luck convincing the moon to climb down out of the sky and take up tap dancing.

And he’d been right, it had turned out, but he couldn’t take any pleasure in it. He was just… angry. First Leo, then Oz, and now James. Although at least Oz was finally making some efforts towards making up for his weeks of silence and all the decades of lies before that. It had taken all of Qrow’s self-control not to punch him again when he’d finally spoken up at the Manor after James’s ultimatum, but at the same time he’d been glad to have someone else around who knew James and could help deal with him. Qrow didn’t think he could have dealt with any of this on his own.

Almost as if she knew what he was thinking, Yang came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder, smiling at him slightly before she leaned forward to peer out through the cockpit canopy at the small figures of the group on the plaza. They were close enough to make out individuals now, and Qrow watched as the various groups turned to look up as Marrow brought the airship in to land.

At first, he didn’t see James, but then he finally spotted a hunched figure in white sitting on the steps, guarded at a safe distance by Nora and Ren. Neither of them had their weapons drawn, but they were still tense and wary. Good. The only way Qrow would trust James not to try something was if he was unconscious, and even then he’d be on his guard.

Another small group also sat on the steps, although about as far away from James as it was possible to be. This one consisted of Penny and Jaune, who had barely left the robot girl’s side since they’d discovered his Semblance could help her keep the virus at bay, and Winter, who was pacing up and down in front of them and looking about as angry as Qrow felt. The other four - Ruby, the Councilwoman, Oscar and the girl Emerald who Qrow was still wary of - stood together a little distance away from where the airship had landed, temporarily distracted from their Scrolls by the arrival.

Yang had disappeared from behind Qrow as soon as they’d touched down, and she and her teammates were the first out of the side door as soon as Marrow hit the control to open it. Qrow followed them a bit more slowly, with an awkward Marrow in tow, who scuttled past his teammates with his eyes on the ground. Even though he’d done the right thing, he was still struggling with having turned on them. Qrow had a lot of sympathy for the kid, so he patted him on the shoulder as they stepped out of the airship together, and got an appreciative wag of his tail in return.

“You guys did such a good job!” said Ruby, enthusiastically, bouncing towards her teammates and pulling them into a group hug. She beckoned over Weiss’s shoulder at Qrow, who rolled his eyes indulgently and let himself be dragged into the hug as well.

“So did you, kiddo,” he said, ruffling her hair. He let himself enjoy the moment for a few more seconds, then took a deep breath. “How goes Phase 2?” he asked. Ruby’s smile faded, and Qrow could see that she was upset but keeping on going anyway.

“We’re getting there,” she said, giving her friends one last squeeze before stepping back again. “Even with Dr Polendina’s upgrades, it’s hard connecting to the military network remotely. I think we might have to go and find a terminal to force through the codes.”

“Have you tried using Specialist Schnee’s Scroll?” asked Marrow. They all turned to look at him, and he cringed slightly. “Sorry, it’s just, she’s got the highest military access level of anyone here.” Ruby nodded.

“We thought of that.” She raised the Scroll in her hands. “This is Winter’s, but it isn’t making much of a difference. We keep getting messages telling us we should be accessing the network via the command centre which, obviously, isn’t really an option. I don’t think we can sneak in there again, not without May’s help and with Penny in the state she is.”

“How’s she doing?” asked Yang.

“Not good,” said Ruby, shaking her head. “We need to get her to her dad’s lab as quickly as we can, and find her missing sword.” She sighed, frustratedly. “I was really counting on being able to ask the general about that one.”

“But he’s not cooperating,” said Qrow. Ruby shook her head again.

“I tried, Uncle Qrow, but he just… broke. He’s not fighting us anymore, but he just shut down. I… I never thought I’d see him cry like that.” 

“Oh.” Qrow blinked in surprise. “When you said he wasn’t cooperating, I thought you meant he was just being stubborn. Sounds like he might have actually realised how big a mess he’s made.” Good, he thought.

“I feel really bad about it,” said Ruby. “I gave him every chance, I really wanted him to help, but…”

“Don’t feel bad, kiddo,” said Qrow, shaking his head. “It wasn’t you that broke him. This fight’s been breaking James over and over again for years. This isn’t our fault, same way Leo wasn’t. Salem made this mess, and then they both made their choices.” Ruby looked like she wanted to believe him but couldn’t quite. He wasn’t sure if he entirely believed himself.

“Do we really want him helping us right now?” asked Blake. “After everything he’s done? I wouldn’t trust him.” Yang nodded in agreement.

“Me neither,” said Weiss, “but I think we need him.” She was frowning thoughtfully. “Or at least his Scroll. What Marrow said about Winter being the person here with the highest access level wasn’t entirely true.”

“That’s right!” said Ruby, suddenly hopeful again. 

“That would be ironic,” said Blake. “Using the General’s own Scroll to declare him incompetent.”

“Fitting,” agreed Weiss. “I think it’s worth a try.” She looked around the plaza, and her gaze settled on Ironwood, sitting on the steps with his face buried in his knees. Her expression fell a little. “But… that means someone’s going to have to go and talk to him. I really doubt we can use his Scroll without his biometrics to unlock it.” Ruby sighed.

“Yeah,” she said. “I just… don’t know what to say to him. I thought I said all the right things before, but he just wouldn’t listen.”

“I can get through to him,” said Qrow, feeling a slightly vicious smile creep onto his face. “I’ve been wanting to have a go at him for days.” This was exactly what he’d been waiting for - a chance to have it out with James but with the excuse that it might actually be productive. Ruby grimaced a little.

“Uncle Qrow…” she said.

“Relax, kid, I’m not going to do anything I’ll regret. I know we need him, but I also need to do this, alright?” After a long moment, Ruby nodded.

“Okay. And we do need him,” she said. “Not just for his Scroll. We need everyone in this fight if we’re going to win it. It’s not over yet, and we might need a general.” She grimaced. “Even if we have to remove him from command first.”

“He deserves it,” said Qrow. “Don’t forget that. No general who threatens to bomb his own citizens gets to remain in command.”

“Too right,” said Yang. She looked at Qrow. “You want backup when you talk to him? I wouldn’t mind a crack at the guy either.” Qrow shook his head.

“Nah, I want to do this alone. James and I have a lot of unfinished business.” Yang nodded, although she looked disappointed. Qrow wondered if, when this was all over, it wouldn’t be worth letting everyone who wanted to take a free shot at James. It might make them all feel a bit better. Although, that list of ‘everyone’ probably included most of the kingdom at this point.

“Okay,” said Ruby. “You talk to him. We’ll keep trying here. And remember, we need to clear the skies as quickly as possible so Robyn can bring the evacuation ships up here, and then we need to focus on helping Penny and getting the Staff. There’s a lot still to do, and we can’t waste time.”

“You got it,” said Qrow. He turned to glare in James’s direction. “I won’t be long.”

Leaving the kids behind to regroup with Camilla, Qrow strode across the plaza towards Ren and Nora. They came over to meet him.

“Hey, Qrow,” said Nora. “Are you going to try and talk to Ironwood?” He nodded. “Need some extra muscle?” She patted her hammer, but Qrow shook his head.

“It’s better if I talk to him alone, without anyone who helped beat him up. Good job on that, by the way.” She grinned, and Ren inclined his head.

“It was an unfortunate necessity,” he said. Then he turned to look at Ironwood, squinting a little. “He’s very upset. I thought he’d be more angry.” He turned back to Qrow. “You’re very angry.” Qrow nodded, a little nonplussed. Was this some sort of development of the kid’s Semblance? He hadn’t previously been in the habit of making those sorts of observations.

“Yeah, I am,” said Qrow. “And I can take Ironwood if I have to, so you two get over there and join the others. Please,” he added, realising that he’d used a tone there that was basically ordering. He was angry, but that didn’t mean he could be short with the kids. But they didn’t take it personally, just nodded and left him there, standing about a dozen metres from the hunched over figure on the steps.

Qrow took a deep breath, letting it out shakily and forcing his hand away from his weapon. He wanted to fight James, but provoking him into a fight would be not just counterproductive but a very bad idea. Despite what he’d said to the kids, he’d never once actually beaten James in a hand to hand fight. But that didn’t matter, because he had a job to do. And, as annoying as that was, it didn’t involve kicking James’s ass.

Well, not much. 

Things were happening around him, but James couldn't bring himself to care. He heard words but didn't register meanings, was aware of movement but couldn't connect it with an intent. 

He'd been moved from the middle of the plaza, hands lifting him to his feet and his legs acting on autopilot as he'd been guided somewhere else. He vaguely thought he might be sitting on the steps now, but it was irrelevant. His world had shrunk to the space between his bowed forehead and his knees. Tears dripped steadily onto the fabric of his pants, the gentle pat… pat sound magnified in his ears even while all else was muffled. 

He felt empty, hollowed out inside. He wasn't even angry anymore. You needed to care to get angry. He didn't care anymore. All he felt was numb. 

He had been wrong. All that certainty, all that commitment he'd given to what he had been sure was the only course of action, and he had been wrong. But what did he expect? Nothing he’d ever done in this war had been right, Ozpin had always made that eminently clear. And when it wasn’t Ozpin, it was the Atlas Council, or the very people he was trying to protect who never, ever understood… And now it was Ruby, telling him he’d been wrong all along.

Of course it was. He should never have expected it to be different, should have seen that moment in his office when it all went wrong coming from the very start. No one was ever on his side. No one ever had his back. He always ended up alone.

Someone was standing in front of him. Vaguely, he registered that there had been voices, and footsteps. And now there was a shadow. James didn’t really care who it was. They’d leave him eventually.

A rustle of clothes as they shifted position. A pointed clearing of a throat. Qrow, some part of James’s brain supplied. Somehow, it was Qrow standing in front of him.

“You just gonna hide in there forever?” asked Qrow’s voice. It was harsh, angry. He wanted a fight. He was a bit too late for that. “Hey, I’m talking to you!” A foot collided with James’s left boot, the impact causing James’s forehead to bump gently against his knees. On a sort of autopilot, he looked up, without really caring about what he was looking at.

Qrow was glaring down at him, scuffed and battleworn and utterly furious. James registered those details as facts only, without any particular emotional reaction. His gaze drifted until it met Qrow’s, blank blue eyes stared into by angry red. Qrow flinched.

James looked appalling. There was no other way to describe it. Qrow had never seen him look worse, and that included when he’d been hooked up to more medical equipment than Qrow had ever seen in one place before or since and struggling to process just how much of his body he had lost. At least then he’d still been fighting to live. But right now there was nothing in his face but empty despair. The bruises and welts, the signs of utter exhaustion, the redness and the tear tracks, those Qrow could have processed. But for as long as he’d known James the man had been powered by a tightly wound internal spring of stubborn determination. Seeing that gone was shocking enough to momentarily jolt him out of his anger.

“Shit, James…” he said, quietly, lost for any other words. Then his anger came back again. Why the hell was he feeling sorry for this guy? He deserved this, all of it. And more. In the rush of emotions, Qrow forgot completely that he’d come over here with specific goals. All he wanted to do was make sure that James knew exactly how mad he was at him.

Taking a step forward, Qrow seized James by the front of his jacket and hauled him to his feet. Not without difficulty, despite the strength his rage lent him, because James was halfway to being dead weight on top of the additional weight of his metal prosthetics and the fact that he was quite a bit bigger than Qrow himself. 

James didn’t even react to the manhandling, just stared blankly ahead as tears continued to slide one by one down his blotchy face and disappear into his beard. “What the fuck were you thinking?” Qrow snarled, shaking him, desperate for some sort of response. “Huh? ‘Cause this is a whole new level of bullshit, even from you!” Still no response. “Say something!”

“What, Qrow?” said James, so quiet it wasn’t much more than a whisper. His gaze was still unfocussed and blank. “What could I even say? It’s pointless…”

“No it isn’t!” Qrow loosened his grip slightly, forcing James to take more of his own weight or topple over. “‘Cause hell, James, if you don’t snap out of this pity party and do something to fix all of your shit then maybe I will kill you after all!” With a snarl of disgust, he shoved James away from him and paced a few angry steps in a circle. He half expected to hear a thud as James fell to the ground, but he didn’t. When he turned back to face him, James was still standing, albeit unsteadily, his bound hands hanging loosely in front of him.

“Then why don’t you?” he said, and finally there was something in his voice other than blankness. It was a note of challenge, like he was daring Qrow to do exactly that.

“Because it won’t fucking solve anything!” Qrow threw his hands up in the air, and stalked back over to James in order to get in his face. “Okay?! Your death won’t fix shit right now, and you damn well know it. A coupla hours ago? Maybe it would have, but Robyn talked me out of it and she was probably right to.” That got a reaction, the smallest crease of a frown. “Yeah, Robyn. Surprised me too, she’s got as much reason to hate you as anyone.

“But she saw what I couldn’t, not then. That you make stupid fucking decisions about people when you’re scared, but you’re a damn good soldier and this kingdom still needs that if it’s gonna survive.” 

(There had also been a lot about how Clover wouldn’t have wanted murder done in his name and how Qrow was a better man than that, but he was still working through that in his own mind and it was way too private to share right now. And, more importantly, not relevant to getting James to cut this shit out.)

James looked like he might be about to argue, but Qrow cut across him. “Yeah, still. I know that and you know that - pisses me off, but you’re the general for a reason.”

“What use is a general when no one follows his orders?” Qrow’s anger flared in his chest, burning out from the sucking hole that Clover’s death had ripped in his heart. 

“Fuck you,” he snarled. “You know what one of the last things Clover said to me was?” James flinched at the name. “That he trusted you. With his life. He trusted you and your orders so much that it got him killed.” Qrow glanced behind him and then pointed forcefully in the direction of the Schnee sisters. “Winter followed your orders right up until you went too far. Harriet followed them even further than that, and I almost had to kill her to make her stop!”

He took some deep breaths, trying to steady his pounding heart. “The only reason people stopped following you is because you went too damn far. And yeah, sure, Ruby’s threshold for ‘too far’ is a lot lower and that’s why she just kicked your ass, but you don’t get to use that to feel sorry for yourself. And you sure as hell don’t get to use it as an excuse to give up.”

He stared James right in the eyes, which were still reddened and puffy but no longer quite as watery. Something was starting to drag itself back together out of the depths of his blank despair, although whether it was just anger or something more productive Qrow didn’t know. At least anger would be something, anything would be better than seeing James so… empty.

“Clover’s death was your fault,” said James, very quietly, and Qrow flinched backwards. Of course it was, but James didn’t get to say that. Anger flared again, fuelled by blame and self-hatred and suddenly the need to let it all out and hurt someone was back and it was overwhelming and -

Qrow punched him.

James’s head snapped around from the blow and he stumbled, reeling and off-balance, his bound hands meaning he was unable to steady himself. One of his feet caught against the bottom of the stairs, and he toppled over sideways, landing awkwardly on the steps with a loud thud and a huff of expelled breath.

“Gah!” exclaimed Qrow, shaking out his fist as it throbbed with pain. It was one of the few parts of James that wasn’t literally made of metal, but the man still had a steel jaw. Raising his hand so he could blow on his knuckles, Qrow was surprised to see that there was blood on them, but it only took a second to realise that it wasn’t his. His Aura was active and at a more than sufficient level to protect him from a simple punch.

James still lay where he had landed, awkwardly sprawled on his side across several steps, gasping like he was winded. When he turned his head to look up at Qrow, who was looming over him, Qrow could see that his cheek was split open. Either his Aura hadn’t had enough time to recover after the fight with the kids or, more likely, the idiot had deliberately not re-engaged it.

The blow had attracted the attention of Ruby and the others, and a few of them had started towards them, but Qrow waved them off. He was dealing with this himself.

“You don’t get to say that,” he growled. “His blood’s on your hands, too. It was your call that turned us all against each other, and don’t even think about blaming Ruby either. This is all on you.”

“I know,” said James, softly, wheezing. “I know it is.” Blood ran down his cheek and into his beard, just as his tears from earlier had. He made no attempt to wipe his face or staunch the flow, and there wasn’t a single flicker of Aura glow. 

Despite all of Qrow’s anger, it was a pitiful sight. But he shook that feeling off. Good. He wanted James to hurt for all the things that he’d done.

But they also needed him. That was why he'd come over here, and he took a deep, angry breath as he forced himself to remember that. The day wasn’t won yet, and James was no good to anyone lying in a bloody heap and wallowing in regret and misery. Someone had to snap him out of it, and Qrow was probably the only one of them who knew him well enough to do it. So he forced his anger to become something productive.

“Then what are you gonna do about it?” he challenged him, glaring. James held his angry gaze, and after a long moment tears welled up in his eyes again.

“What can I do?” he asked, his voice cracking with desperation. There it was, a true emotion breaking through the blankness at last. James was finally back, back from that empty, hollow place, and despite his anger Qrow felt a flood of relief. He knew that place, knew that void, because he’d spent most of his life trying to fill that emptiness with alcohol. And, since he’d stopped drinking, with anger. Neither of them had ever worked.

He bent over and hauled James up into a sitting position, and then knelt down on the ground in front of him and took him by the shoulders. “You help,” he said, giving him a none-too-gentle shake for emphasis. “You pick your people and you stick by them and you help and maybe one day the good shit you’ve done starts to outweigh the bad shit again. Which it’ll never do if you just give up now!

“You think I’ve never been where you are right now? Maybe my messes were never quite as big, but I’ve fucked up every single good thing in my life at some point, and you know what I learned? You can either curl up and die, drown yourself in alcohol or self pity or whatever, or you can keep going.” He gave James another shake. “That’s all there is.

“So which is it, James? You’re the most stubborn bastard I have ever met and gods if I haven’t hated you for it, but you’ve never let anything keep you down before and I refuse to believe you’re gonna start now.”

It was a long, long moment that they stayed there, James sitting on the steps and Qrow kneeling in front of him, red eyes boring into blue, searching for something, anything of the man he’d known for 30 years and had never expected to see brought so low. Then James closed his eyes, screwing them shut and drawing in a long, deep breath. His shoulders shifted in Qrow’s grip, and there was a pulse of blue light as his Aura re-engaged. Light played across his face as his split cheek and the welts and bruises from his previous fights started to heal.

When he opened his eyes, there was light back in them as well.

“Okay,” he said, low but firm. He took another deep breath. “Okay. I’ll try.” Qrow was so relieved that he couldn’t help pulling James into a quick, fierce hug.

“It’s good to have you back,” he murmured into James’s neck. Then he let go and stood up. He stuck out his hand and hauled James to his feet by one of his still bound wrists. “Now, say you’re sorry.” James spluttered slightly in surprise.

“I…”

“Say it, or I’m punching you again.” It was only slightly a joke; he was still angry and probably would be for a long time. One punch wasn’t nearly enough to make up for all the ways he was hurting right now. But they had bigger problems right now than the ones he had with James, so he let it be a joke. James stared for a long second, and then laughed, ever so slightly. He didn’t smile, not with his eyes, but it was a start.

“That’s fair,” he said. Another deep breath. “I’m sorry, Qrow. Truly. For everything.” Something in Qrow’s chest finally unclenched, just a little. That was also a start. He nodded.

“And I’m sorry, too,” he said, knowing he had to say it to someone. “Clover was a good man. I… I shoulda done more…” But James shook his head.

“Don’t do that to yourself. Callows was the one who killed him, his blood is on his hands.” Something dark crept into James’s expression. “He’s going to die for that.” 

“No argument here,” said Qrow, and it felt good to be angry at the same person rather than each other just for a moment. Then he sighed, and pulled a face. “But right now, we’ve got bigger things to deal with. Bastard’s gonna have to wait.”

“Agreed,” said James. He still looked like shit, haggard and bloodied and careworn, but that stubborn spring that kept him going had finally been rewound. He looked down at his hands. “Can you…?” he asked, gesturing slightly to indicate the restraints. Qrow shook his head.

“I could, but I won’t. That’s Ruby’s call.”

“I understand.”

"And don't think that one punch and some yelling means we're good again. You put a foot outta line again and I'll do a lot worse.” He said it relatively lightly, almost conversational, like it was the banter they’d sometimes shared in the past. But he could see that James knew he meant every word.

“I don’t doubt it for a second,” said James, nodding. 

“And you and me are gonna have words when this is all over. You’re not gonna enjoy it. I’ll probably hit you again.”

“I know.”

“Good.” Qrow stared at James for a long moment. Then he decided he couldn’t help himself, he had to know. “Geez, Jim, what were you thinking? You really thought you could just lock up all your friends and take Salem on your own? In what world was that ever going to be a good idea?”

James took a deep breath and then sighed, rubbing at his face with the back of his right hand, smearing tears and blood all over his white glove and making an even bigger mess of his beard.

“I didn’t think I had any other choice,” he said. “Ruby just… she wouldn’t listen, none of them would. And… Salem was there, Qrow. She used some sort of Grimm to project an image of herself into my office. She spoke to me.” Qrow felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. 

“Shit…” he said.

“She told me I should just give up, that I should surrender the relics and she’d spare Atlas.”

“Well that was obviously a lie. Mercy isn’t exactly her thing.”

“Exactly.” James shook his head. “I just… I had to stand up to her. I had to push back, to commit to doing something. Even… even with everything Oscar had told me, I couldn’t just back down.”

“Shit,” said Qrow, with an unbidden surge of sympathy. “He told you? He told you how much Oz had been keeping from us?” James nodded, his lips pressed together and his eyes upset again.

“How could he do that?” His voice wobbled, catching slightly. “Lie to the people who trusted him the most?”

“I don’t know,” said Qrow. He shook his head. “I only found out a couple of days before we got here, same time as the kids. I got so mad I punched Oscar into a tree and spent a couple of days trying to drink myself to death.”

“I shot him,” said James, wincing slightly. Qrow snorted. It wasn’t funny, not at all, but in a dark way it kinda was.

“Of course you did. Always gotta one-up me.” He shook his head. “I’m not saying it makes any of this mess any less your fault, but I understand it a bit better now. Can’t have been fun finding all that out right in the middle of an invasion.”

“No, it wasn’t,” said James, shaking his head. He huffed a small not-really-a-laugh. “It really fucking wasn’t.” It was so surprising to hear James swear like that that Qrow burst out laughing.

“You can say that again,” he said, leaning on James’s shoulder as he laughed. Even James cracked a smile. Sometimes you had to laugh, or you’d cry.

When Qrow finally caught his breath again, he wiped a tear from one of his eyes and jerked his thumb in the direction of the group that contained Ruby, standing in the middle of the plaza. “Come on, let’s go talk to Ruby about taking your cuffs off. If you behave, I might even vouch for you getting your guns back.”

“Really?” said James, looking hopeful. Like any other Huntsman, he hated to be separated from his weapons.

“We’ll see,” said Qrow. “Like I said, it’s up to Ruby. Never expected I’d be saying this, but the kid’s in charge.” James nodded.

“She’s an impressive young woman,” he said. “I’ve always thought so, even… even when we don’t see eye to eye.” Qrow snorted. That was one way of putting it. “You should be very proud,” James continued, softly, and his tone was surprisingly genuine. Qrow nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I really am.” He beckoned for James to follow him, and set off across the plaza. Time to get back to work.