"James! James wake up you bastard!" A voice croaked out, mixing with the ringing in James' ears. He opened his eyes to darkness, groaning softly.

"What happened to the lights?" James groaned out, he felt sore, with a burning pain on his face. What happened? The last thing he remembers was the sound of- oh gods. Salem has been here. He could only begin to imagine what she had done to his city, to his people.

"James, James what happened! What happened to your eyes!" The voice, which was now recognizable as Qrow Branwen's, shouted out. His eyes? Nothing was wrong with his eyes. ...Was there? James shakily stood, using the wall to find this balance. He stumbled forward, using the wall to guide him. He could hear the blaring of the alarms, but where, where was the light? He felt his entire body tense as an arm wrapped itself around him.

"L..let go. I'm fine, I just have to find the lights," James croaked out, his voice rough and hoarse.

"Jimmy, I hate to tell you, but the lights are already on," Qrow spoke softly, almost comfortingly.

"What- That's impossible Qrow."

"Since when have I lied to you James," Qrow's voice grew softer. He was right, James had no reason not to believe Qrow. Even back when Qrow was a drunken bastard, he still never told a lie. Keep secrets, sure. But never once did that crimson eyed man tell a lie to James. James' heart sank as memories flowed back to him. Salem, she... she blinded him. James' legs began to give out as his emotions finally caught up to him.

"No..."

That was the only word could muster out as tears began to flow down his face. Qrow barely caught him before he sunk to the ground. A pained sob filled the room, everything James had worked for, everything he sacrificed, everyone he sacrificed. All of it, just for it to be ended like this. All of it ended by his own incompetence as a leader. Suddenly, the darkness he was surrounded by became much colder, much angrier. He failed. He failed everyone.

"James," Qrow softly called out from somewhere in the darkness, "we need to get out of here. Salem threw Atlas into the of a mountain. Ruby and the others should behere soon, we can start evacuating people to Mistrel, to Vacuo!" He sounded frantic, afraid, but he wasn't wrong. But, how could James help? He was blind, and even worse, unadjusted. For the second time in his life, James was truly helpless. Qrow sighed softly and hoisted him up, managing to hold most of James' weight.

"Listen here Jimmy, I might not like you right now, but I'm not leaving you behind. So if you can pony up a bit and withstand some verbal and possibly physical hits from the kids, that'd be amazing, cause I have someone else I promised to help too!" Qrow's voice started to get angry, and justifiably so. After all, James had issued a warrant for his and his nieces arrest. James took back most his weight and sighed, following Qrow and hoping he wouldn't let James run face first into a wall, not that he didn't deserve it. Qrow led him out of the building, indicated by the biting cold, and onto what he can only assume to be a landing pad.

"General!" A voice James recognized all too well cried out, the voice of Winter Schnee. His second in command and his adoptive daughter. James could hear her footsteps get closer and closer until he felt her arms around him. He timidly moved his arms, softly setting one hand on her head. Her hair was down, and he could feel warm tears soaking into his clothing. Whatever Winter had been through, it was enough to shake her. Bad. He felt her head look up and her breath hitch, "General... What happened to you?"

"I... Salem..." James tried desperately to think of the words he could say that wouldn't devestate the poor girl anymore. Suddenly she yelped and stepped away from James, a moment before a fist collided with the General's jaw.

"Have you ever thought about anyone besides yourself?" A trembling voice asked, "He... Clover is damn near dead right now! Because he trusted you." James stood there for a moment, silent. That voice belonged to Marrow Amin, the youngest Ace Operative. James' heart sunk to the bottom of his chest. So much hurt, and all because of him.

"Everyone stop! Give the man sometime to get his bearings! Marrow, go back into the building with Weiss, there's a soldier in there, missing a leg, but alive. Bring him back and cool off." Qrow started barking out orders, getting the ace ops and the new huntsmen their roles to assist in the evacuation of Atlas as fast as possible. Not that it wouldn't take a long time, since they were working with the scraps of the military and no communication with any other kingdom. Qrow continued giving his orders until only two names remained uncalled. Winter and Ruby. Ruby... James had truly been cruel to her, and he knew he should apologize, but what would an apology do now? He felt another set of arms wrap themselves around him and lead him, eventually helping him sit down.

"General Ironwood... your eyes," Ruby said softly, gently brushing her fingers by the wounds. Her words were soft, genuine. After all he just put her through, she still cared. She had more empathy than anyone James had ever known, well, almost anyone.

"Ms. Rose I... I owe you an apology," James tilted his head upward, an imitation of his now lost sight.

"Don't, you need rest first. Please. It'll be better once we know our losses."

"I can't... I can't rest yet, Ms. Rose. I have to help,"

"You can help by resting," Qrow's voice chirped in, soft and concerned. James gave in with a sigh. They were right after all, he couldn't do much to help in his current state. James leaned back against a cool concrete wall, and sighed once again. He soon felt a warm and slender body lean against him, and recognizes it as Winter. James hums softly with a small amount of contentment as he slowly and cautiously wraps an arm around her, both of them drifting off into a dreamless and well-needed sleep.