A/N: This is just a random little story I've come up with to help with the grief that the beautiful Rebecca Breeds will no longer grace my TV screen 5 nights a week. I originally planned to make it a one shot after reading a comment about how Ruby was like Heath in how they act before thinking of the consequences but I think I'm going to continue it with Ruby returning to the bay. Feel free to R&R!
'Ms Buckton you have a visitor.' Ruby looked up in surprise at the prison guard, 'If you'll come this way.' He said, waiting for her to stand up before heading through the jail to the visiting room, she'd only been there once.
'Heath?' The brunette gasped as she saw the tattooed man, his eyes were glued on her from the minute she entered the room. Ruby sat in the hard, plastic chair on the opposite side of the glass and picked up the phone.
'Hey Buckton.' Heath's voice was almost cheerful.
'Heath, what on earth are you doing here?' Brax had written to her thrice but everyone else hated her. No letters, no visits, nothing. She really didn't expect anything anyway. Morag had abandon her, it had taken enough convincing for her to even consider taking Ruby's case and Ruby wasn't about to beg her to stick around. Leah had left once she was locked up and her Aunt Michelle hadn't been in contact for months.
'I thought you must be getting kina lonely when I heard Saint Darryl hadn't bothered to visit you.' He shrugged.
'Thanks. How are he and Casey?' Heath sighed and looked down, causing the hope inside Ruby to sink.
'They had some trouble right after you left. Case shot Dad and we ended up on the run for a while, Natalie too. Her and Brax are together. Anyway everyone's fine now.' He explained, not wanting to go into too much detail.
'And how are you? How's Darcy, Rocco and Bianca?' Heath was surprised at how much Ruby remembered, the two of them had never been close and Ruby had left when Rocco was barely a month old.
'I'm fine, not causing too much trouble anymore. Darcy's moved in full time which she's ecstatic about, her Gran misses her though. Rocco's good, he can crawl now and Bianca and I are trying to sort things out, we have different ideas of how we want to spend our future which is why I've escaped to the city for a few days.' Ruby nodded and gave a small smile, happy to hear that Darcy and Rocco were healthy and had a good home.
'So is that why you've come to see me? It's too boring here without the surf?' She laughed awkwardly, trying to find the guts to bring up Dex.
'Yes that is the exact reason I came here. Plus I wanted to see if there were any hot prison chicks.' He pretended to look around her and Ruby giggled.
'If this stupid glass wasn't in the way I'd hit you.' She smiled and lowered her voice, 'Most of them are fat, old hags anyway.' Heath shook his head, amazed at how she could still have so much character.
Suddenly a silence came between the two. Heath had a feeling he knew what Ruby wanted to ask.
'H-how's Dex?' Ruby eventually got the words out, 'I mean Brax sent me a letter when he woke up from the coma but I haven't heard since.' She looked down, still embarrassed about her past.
'He's fine Rubes. He was in a wheelchair for a couple of months but it's all fixed and besides the fact that he missed out on a few weeks of sex with April he doesn't seem the slightest bit bothered by what happened.'
Ruby looked sceptical, 'How? I ruined his life, and everyone's he loves. I'm as bad as Jake Pirovic.' Ruby put her head on her free hand.
'Hey Rubes that's not true. You were going through a hard time and someone should've seen the signs that you weren't coping.' Heath attempted to comfort her.
'Brax saw! So did Leah! But I was so obsessed with Romeo that I pushed them away.' She shook her head in disgust.
'Please Ruby. You were sent to a psychiatric facility for the first four and a half months of your sentence, which was reduced once the professionals saw you and knew about everything you've been through.' Heath tried to reason.
'It was still no excuse, plenty of people have their mother die and manage to not go insane and attempt to murder.' Heath began to feel frustrated, he knew he was getting nowhere with this argument.
'Ruby please. You grew up thinking your grandparents were you parents, your grandmother died when you were 14, at the time you still thought she was your mother, you got sent off to boarding school, your grandfather had Alzheimer's and murdered your biological father then just as you were about to get a fresh start your mother was murdered. I think that pardons you for your actions.' Ruby pulled a face which showed her defeat.
'I'm just like him.' Heath looked confused, who was him? 'Grant.' Ruby clarified.
'You're nothing like him Rubes. There was no excuse for what he did to Charlie. Anyway you get out in two weeks, what are your plans?' Heath thought it would be best to change the subject as the guard seemed to be getting suspicious of his tone of voice.
'I'm trying not to think about it. Thankfully I still have the money from Charlie's life insurance.' Ruby shrugged, she really didn't know what she was going to do, 'The new uni year starts not long after I get out, I suppose I'll just pick a course and take it, if anyone excepts me.'
'Where are you going to go?' Heath asked, that had been his intention in the first question.
'I don't know. Maybe I'll track down my Aunt Michelle, great aunt technically.' Ruby tried not to act bothered by the fact that she could probably never return to the bay.
'Come back to the bay!' Heath insisted, as if reading her thoughts.
'Heath.' Ruby glared at him, 'You know that's a horrible idea.'
'Even if the Walkers don't understand practically everyone at the bay has forgiven you and if anyone does give you a hard time us Braxtons will sort them out. Please Rubes?' Ruby gave him a sceptical look.
'I don't know. I mean no one's bothered with me since I've been in here and bad luck seems to follow me wherever I go. I'd be better off steering clear of the bay.'
'Rubes whether you like it or not the people at Summer Bay are your family. Brax told me VJ has been asking about you, even now. He wrote letters because he knew someone had to know where you'd gone but Leah didn't want him to send them.' He tried to cheer her up but instantly knew he'd said the wrong thing.
'Exactly, Leah thinks I'm a bad influence. I don't know Heath, just come on the 12th and I'll sort out what I'm doing then. Shouldn't you be getting back to the Bay soon anyway?' She let go of the phone and turned to the security guard who opened the door and chaperoned her out.
Heath sighed, this girl was impossible, just like himself.