Author: Rayne Storm
Spoilers: Yes, up until Mommy Dearest (6X19).
Warnings: Language.
Author's Note: Ever since I heard Lenore was returning, I wanted to write a Ruby/Lenore friendship fic, and tried to start it several times. With her death last night… I kind of got inspired to start. I'm not sure if I like it yet, but it is something at least.
A brunette female walked along the crushed up cars in the lot, humming random notes to herself, drawing a hand along the surfaces of the deserted vehicles as she moved. She tapped them and nodded her head to a beat, and then stilled completely when she reached the end of the cars, and stood at the entrance to a house. She smiled a little to herself and walked up to the door, pushing it open and entering. It looked the same to her—though she'd only been there once or twice—and she easily found the door down to the basement. She took the stairs two at a time and sauntered over to a pile of ashes near the far wall. "Hunters never clean up after themselves," she muttered, "Suppose it works for me." She hunched down and pulled a small velvet bag from her pocket, sprinkling its contents over top all of the remains. "Showtime." She chanted quietly to herself, eyes blazing and fingers wiggling a little. After a moment or two, the ashes started to glow a little. They rose swiftly, taking form of a woman. The woman was startled and disoriented, looking around and toward the brunette with confusion.
"What's going on?" she narrowed her eyes at the stranger. "Where are Sam and Dean?"
"Mm, yeah, see they're off to go hunt the Mother of All or whatever. I decided, being the nice person that I am, to work my magic and you know, un-implode you. I thought it was would be swell to have a vampire around. I've heard good things about you, Lenore," she said casually, with a smug expression.
"I don't know who you are," Lenore said slowly. "I've never seen you before in my life."
"I had to lay low for a while, really convince the Winchesters I was dead and gone. Of course death didn't stop you, did it? You just starting guzzling blood and, well, I guess you have that in common with Sammy," she smiled, "So you ready to go?"
"I can't," Lenore shook her head, wincing, "She knows where I am."
"Right, sorry about that," grinned the brunette, "Lemme just, er, um, fix that." She considered her words for a moment and then moved over to Lenore, placing a hand on either side of her head, concentrating and closing her eyes. She whispered something quietly. After a moment, everything was silent in the vampire's mind, even the thirst. "Better?"
Lenore's eyes widened and she nodded slowly. "Who are you?"
"My name is Ruby. Now I should probably just teleport us since it's sunny outside, and I don't really want you to roast. That'd kind of suck, and I'd basically have to do the same spell over again to correct it. Now come on. Grab my hand. Don't worry, I'm not a lesbo… most days." Lenore held on to Ruby's hand and they disappeared in a flash.
When they landed, they were in a dark room, lit by candles. Ruby dropped Lenore's hand and turned to an open doorway, walking through it. She gestured for Lenore to follow. Ruby walked down a hallway that had torches lining it on either side so people could see. At the end of the hallway, they made a turn and came into a big room. It looked sort of like a living room or entertainment room, with large plush couches and designer rugs. However, it also had different artifacts—paintings, weapons, sculpture—placed decoratively around the room. A man stepped out from somewhere else, sipping a bottle of brandy.
"Hey slut," Ruby said, walking over to him and grabbing the bottle.
"Cunt," he muttered fondly and pecked her on the mouth. "Who's your friend?"
She took a swig of it and then gestured dramatically toward the vampire, "This is Lenore. Your little brother got too excited and killed her, so I fixed that problem."
"He is going a bit power mad. Well come in, come in, darling, make yourself at home," he said, "I'm Balthazar. Dear God, you look dreadful. Shall we find her some new clothes perhaps? And a bath."
"You do that. I'm going to find her some blood," Ruby said, disappearing from the direction Balthazar had entered. He walked over to Lenore and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her down another hallway—the main room was also lit by candles so the entrances and exits weren't really noticeable right away. Lenore let him lead her, looking around with interest. More then anything, she was so relieved that she could finally relax and was free of all of the voices in her head.
"So Sam and Dean got you killed, mm?" he said in a tone that seemed like he was making pleasant small talk.
"I asked to die. I didn't know something like this was possible," Lenore said.
"Many people don't know about witches. They're thought to be mostly extinct, but our Ruby is a very talented sorceress," he said, "I found her after she faked her death, and the two of us became friends. She comes in handy when I need her, and I don't tell anyone where she is or what she's doing."
"What is she doing?" Lenore frowned.
"What she wants, I suppose," he led her into a nicely furnished bedroom, "But don't we all?"
"I don't," she muttered, "Otherwise I'd have probably ripped her throat out and bathed in her blood. Pleasant, huh?"
"Actually it sounds quite fun; I'm a bit of a sadist. Really I'm a bit of everything, dear, there's too much good food to not have a little taste of everything offered. Now, off with those dirty clothes. The bathroom is in here."
"So you two live here alone?" Lenore asked, shrugging off her jacket. Balthazar started the water in the bathtub and then went back out into the bedroom, opening a dresser drawer.
"For now, though I expect that's why you're here. I'm not much company anymore I'm afraid—busy with the Angel business—and I think perhaps she is lonely. Especially because I'm working with her boyfriend and she isn't."
"Ruby is dating one of the Winchesters?"
"Not anymore. Though I wouldn't have used the word dating. Mostly fucking and providing emotional support, and blood," he said, coming back with a pile of folded clothing. "Here we are. I assume you can handle rest yourself? I never mind washing a beautiful woman, if she-"
"I've got it," Lenore said, "Thank you." He nodded and left. Lenore sighed and undressed, tossing her dirty clothes in a heap and slipping into the warm water. It was the first silence she'd had all year.