Neither of them had any idea how much time had passed. Inside the vault there was perpetual daylight. Both men had lost consciousness once they got to safety and thus were utterly unaware of the passage of time.

He had begun to think exactly why Arthur was here. Not in an immediate sense, that was easy enough to answer, but in a larger sense. Did Salem leave him to die? James suspected that was to be the case. She and Cinder didn't even mention him.

"Arthur" he began, catching his attention. James asked him what he'd been mulling over for a while. "Why did Cinder betray you?"

Watts looked at James curiously. It was an oddity for them to speak. They weren't exactly on the same side. Besides hating Cinder Fall that is. "Why do you want to know?" he asked suspiciously.

"Humor me," James said back.

Arthur scoffed but acquiesced. "I'm not exactly sure myself. We never saw eye to eye and fought more often than not. My bet is that she wanted all the credit for the operation herself and spun something about my death. Even though Tyrian and I did most of the work. She's always been unworthy of it! You know it was me that hacked into your defenses at Beacon and-"

James cut him off coldly.

"She didn't even mention you."

"What?"

"To Salem. She didn't mention you once. She gave her both relics and they both left. Not. One. Word."

Arthur looked shaken. His good eye was wide open and focused on Ironwood. His teeth were grit and his face strained. "That's… that's impossible. She went and broke me free when I was imprisoned. She'll-"

"Do nothing. Why do you think you're here, Arthur?"

"Cinder-"

"And SALEM!" he shouted. "Your boss tossed you aside, Arthur. Accept it. She betrayed you too."

Watts remained silent for a moment and tried to rearrange his thoughts. He's lying. He has to be. As illogical and irrational as it was, he clung to the thought he'd be saved by her.

"Unlike you James, Salem appreciated my talents!" Arthur angrily shouted back. He winced in pain when he raised his voice, quieting back down after some of the wrappings on his face loosened. They were practically the only thing keeping the left side of his face together.

"Of course! Of course we go back there again! Your endless ego!" James retorted. His truce was the last thing on his mind. Arthur had this coming. "As if I had to appease it endlessly! You murdered countless people just because I chose Pietro over you for one project! Just one! After all the other times I backed your projects! It took just this one! You joined Salem! Look how that turned out for you!"

Arthur hissed venom back. "Don't act like you don't have blood on your hands either James! Shooting political opponents? Atomizing poor Jaques Schnee? Dropping a bomb on Mantle?"

The peace that had been established originally was long gone.

The inevitable tension and hatred between the two enemies had to come to head eventually. "I had no choice! RWBY forced my hand! If she and the rest of those traitors didn't- if you didn't do everything in your power against me, I wouldn't have to! I gave you everything! Nearly unlimited funding! Unrestricted research! What more could you have wanted?"

Arthur tried suppressing the pain shooting through him. The two broken men were reduced to squabbling, near dead squatters that were vying for some sort of justification, some sort of worthless crown to wear as king of the ashes of Atlas. How far the titan's of Atlas had fallen.

"The credit I deserved! How much I provided for this Kingdom!"

"What, did you want a statue for doing your job?"

"You know it was more than that James! It was so much more than that!"

"Then TELL ME! WHAT WAS IT?"

Exasperated, Arthur refused to answer, looking away from James. He again retreaded old waters. "You wanted us to make military weapons James! I created the greatest defense system known to man. You even used them up until the moment Atlas dropped! Without ever crediting me, the genius who made them! You stood on top of me like it was all you! And at the end of the day you gave your support to Pietro and his extravagant way of building a daughter! He should have just adopted one! Instead of the one who deserved it! Me!"

James felt spent. Arthur was going in circles again. The same conversation they'd had a thousand times in the past. He wouldn't budge. Neither of them wanted to continue this debate. So they went silent and fell back to their thoughts.

He was fed up with waiting here. Ironwood had regained enough strength to stand now. James figured it was about time he moved on from here and saw what was deeper in the endless expanse of the vault.

Slowly, he started shuffling away from the door. Arthur immediately shifted to a defensive stance on the ground. His eye darted to Due Process. Broken as it was, it could still be used to bludgeon.

James naturally picked up his weapon and Arthur cried out foul play. "We had a truce!"

The broken general looked to the broken doctor. James shook his head. He didn't have the strength to kill Watts right now.

It seemed like Arthur was finding betrayal left and right. "I thought… never mind" he said with a scowl. The bitter memory of Cinder lingered with him. James holstered his gun.

Watts spoke up again. "Where are you going?" James merely motioned outwards in response. Watts looked at him incredulously, scampering to stand up himself.

"What? Did you lose what little brain you had when you lost your other arm?"

James grit his teeth in anger. We have a truce. Ignore him.

"Not that it matters to me if you go and get killed. We're not exactly friends now are we?"

James snapped back at him. "Fine. You go ahead and die here, bitter and alone, thinking she'll rescue you. I'll take my chances elsewhere."

James began to move out when Arthur paced up to him, as sluggish and slow as the general was. He tried to get a word in but coughed up blood and fell to his knees.

"Shit…" Arthur breathed out. Salem… she'll come. She has to. She can't have betrayed me… she can't have abandoned me! I was… useful to her! I was her best!

"Wait! Dammit wait James!" he called out to him, but Ironwood was already getting further away from him.

Watts pulled himself up and willed himself forward. But moving forward meant admitting Jame was right. That Salem wasn't coming for him. I… I can't… I can't…

Arthur put his hands to hold his head. "She can't have… she…."

His eye bulged. "I can't… I can't die here. I have to kill Cinder…. I have to. If she wasn't coming then…."

Everything was for…nothing?

He took a step forward. Then another. Arthur began following towards James.

A/N: More to come. Short chapters are really working out for me.

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