Chapter 2

Ruby staggered under than man's weight. He hadn't looked like he'd weigh that much. She managed to clear the window ledge, but let him slump to the ground just inside, where he began bleeding all over the tile floor. Great.

She straightened and flicked on the light. The room looked better in the dark. In the dark, you didn't know that the green walls were peeling like an onion, or that the room itself was empty save for a huge leather sofa and brown armchair in the corner.

In the light, Ruby could see just how bad the man was hurt. He needed treatment and soon. Hurriedly, she jogged down a narrow hallway half clogged with moving boxes. There was no light here, save for a faint glow coming for under the bottom of a door. Ruby stopped, and pounded on the door angrily.

"Max, you'd better not have your headphones on!"

There was a grunt from inside and feet stamped to the door before it was unlocked and opened. The only term to describe the boy who stood in the doorway was already written on his shirt in capital letters; "NERD".

"What- uh, snor-kel…" he sounded drugged. "What dimension is this?"

Ruby slapped his face. "Hello, Max! Wake up! Welcome to the real world! This is your sister, Ruby Rodriguez!"

The nerd blinked, "Ruby? Earth, 2009. 'What' was the correct response."

"Come on, Max, I need your help!" Ruby insisted, "There's a guy practically bleeding to death in the living room!"

"What, Now? I'm about to lead the fellowship into the Caves of Destiny. We've been planning this for months. "

Ruby groaned so loud it was almost a roar, "Come on!" She grabbed her brother's thin arm, and dragged him out of his room. He left a trail of 'ow's all the way to the window.

"Ow," he breathed, this time in sympathy, looking down at he man's battered body. "What happened to him?"

"Curtis in his cronies. Now, help me get him onto the couch."

The nerd stood for a moment opening and closing is hands experimentally. Then he bent down and picked up the man's feet while Ruby took the top half. Shuffling awkwardly, he crossed to the couch, where he let go.

"Help me turn him over; his back is what's bleeding so bad."

Once they had him flipped over, Ruby pulled the man's jacket off. She grabbed the shirt beneath and ripped, opening it to the wound.

Max whistled, "Look's bad."

"I'm going to get something to stop the bleeding," Ruby muttered. "Stay," she added as an afterthought.

Max looked around the room. He hadn't remembered the walls being exactly that shade of green, or having a couch for that matter. He looked down at the man, and something clicked in his mind.

"Level twenty-nine," he announced, "Replace stitches in patient." His eyes clouded over for a moment. "Sponge, water, scissors, needle- long and bent, surgical string, gauze,"

"What?" Ruby called from the other room.

Max resurfaced, "We need to replace his stitches."

"How do you know this-?"

"Surgeon's Assistant, Level twenty-nine."

This was the only time having a brother like Max actually came in handy. "Go gather what you need," Ruby ordered him, while pressing a rag against the man's wound.

"Needle- curved, long.." Max chanted as he moved about the apartment.

Ruby looked up, "check Grandma's old sewing basket." Beneath her hands, the man moaned. "Hey, you," Ruby said, "take it easy." "Max!" She shouted, "See what kind of pain killer you can dig up."

Her brother shuffled back into the room a moment later, his arms loaded down with supplies. He handed Ruby a proscription pill bottle, Grandma's meds from after she broke her hip. Well, it would have to do.

Ruby popped one of the pills into the man's mouth, and then rubbed his throat until he swallowed. "That should take a few minutes to take effect."

Nodding, Max set the other things on the floor beside the couch. There wasn't much, a first aid box, a roll of gauze, rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, a roll of string, and a long curved needle.

"Did you get the bleeding to stop?"

Ruby nodded.

"Good," Max snapped on a pair of plastic gloves. "Clean the wound and we'll start."

After the wound was cleaned, Max threaded the evil looking needle. "O.K.," he said, "I've only done this on virtual patients who were under heavy sedation. All we gave him was some Tylenol with codeine. You might want to hold him down."

"If he's stayed out for all this-"

"I've never been sewn up myself," Max cut in, "but I bet you anything it hurts like hell." He waited until Ruby had a hand on either of the man's shoulders. He looked at her and she nodded. Max began sewing.

Ruby watched the first two stitches before her stomach started rolling, and she had to look away. Luckily for her the man only moaned a little, and was mostly out for the whole procedure.

Finally, after what seemed to Ruby as forever, she heard Max ripping off his gloves. "Well, that's the best I can do, you may have been better off calling an ambulance."

Ruby risked a look at the wound. Black lines crisscrossed over red inflamed skin. "Ugh," she exclaimed, "it looks like Frankenstein."

"Yeah," Max shrugged, "I just hope we stylized the wound well enough. Otherwise, it could get infected." He began rolling the soiled cotton balls and gauze into a ball.

"Thanks, Max," Ruby gave a small grin. She leaned against the wall and sighed. Now that all that was taken care of, her body was going out of survival mode, exhaustion ran in to take its place.

Max on the other hand was just getting energized. He hadn't had this much excitement outside of his computer since he discovered War Craft. "Who is he?"

"I haven't the foggiest idea." Ruby sighed.

There was a rustle as Max shoved the dirty ball of gauze into a plastic bag. "Why'd you bring this guy here if you don't know who he is?"

Weakly, Ruby crossed over to the old brown armchair. She sank into it before replying. "He was hurt. If I'd left him on the street he'd be dead."

"Ah," Max nodded, "he's not one of your ex-boy friends, is he?"

The kick he received was lighter than her usual. It clearly said, "Shut up, or I'll REALY cream you later."

Could be an ex then.

Max tied the bag in a knot, and looked back at the guy passed out on the couch. He had all the qualifications of Ruby's boyfriends; scars, abnormal colored hair, and of course…

"Nice tattoo action." Max observed, prodding the design on the man's neck. "What's it supposed to be, a wolf?"

Despite her exhaustion, Ruby raised up to see. "It does look like a wolf, I didn't notice it before."

Max grinned, "Too busy looking into his eyes, hu?"

This time her boot hit home. "Shut up, Max."

Her bother drew back, laughing. "Well, I'm going back to my game now. I told Rolling Thunder that I'd just be a second." When he was safely out of shoe range, he added. "And don't worry, if I hear anything like kissing, or creaking mattresses, I'll just blame it on the neighbors."

Ruby started to get up, but her brother was already in his room. The door snapped shut like a clam shell. When would he ever grow up? It was like he'd gone to never land or something. Even though he was technically one year older than Ruby, she couldn't help but think of Max as a younger brother.

She was always the one who ended up taking care of him anyway. She was the one who'd gotten the job after Dad died. She was the one who heated up the TV dinners every night, and did the laundry. She was the adult.

And now with all the business with Curtis, her life had gotten that much complicated.

She watched the man sleep for a while. Max had been right, that was some tattoo. A grey wolf running, was that some sort of gang sign? She'd never heard of a 'wolf gang' anywhere in the city. Probably the guy just got a tattoo. Ruby wondered what kind of man he was. Well, he hung around alleys, and carried a knife, and hell, could he fight; a mercenary then or maybe a bodyguard. Or maybe he was just trying to survive on the streets like everyone else. He seemed to be succeeding anyway, until she'd showed up.

Ruby flicked off her boots, and curled up in the chair. She laid her head on the arm, and could just see the quarter moon outside. So much for her plans that night. Curtis had officially ruined her club night. Plus now, if he lived he'd come back after her, and he'd be angry.

Yawning, Ruby closed her eyes. At least she was alive and free, for the time being.

/

Slade woke himself up shivering. Cold air was blowing across his back and seemed to be collecting right over his wound. He was lying on top of something cold and smooth, it felt like his jacket. Slade clawed at it, trying to find an edge so he could pull it up over himself. His fingers followed the leather down to hard metal legs. Not his jacket then.

He opened his eyes to see a lumpy sofa back stretching above him. Over it, he could see an avocado green wall, so neglected that the paint was flaking off like dead skin. His jacket was one the couch back. With a satisfied grin, he pulled it down and spread it over his back. It was colder than the wind had been, but would warm up soon.

Where was he? Slade turned his head away from the couch back, so that he could see into the room. He could just see a window from the corner of his vision. It was morning now. The sky was blue outside, but the sun's rays seemed to miss the apartment completely. A naked light bulb that hung from the ceiling was on, and its gleam hurt his eyes.

The room was painfully bare. It contained only the sofa and a scratchy looking brown chair that had someone sleeping in it.

It was the girl from the alley. She was sprawled out, one arm up the chair's back the other hanging free, her head was on one of the arms, and her legs hung over the other. The newsboy hat was pressed down over her eyes. Slade smiled.

He tried to sit up and did. Strange. He tested moving his arms. They hurt, but no where near as much as they had the night before. Cautiously, he pressed a hand to his back. Pain rushed up so quickly it made him hiss. That was more like it. He inhaled and stood up, this thigh throbbed, but it was livable.

The girl stirred, her arms stretched out above her head, and she groaned. Then she flipped her legs to the front of the chair and sat up, rubbing her face. A huge yawn escaped her as she pressed the hat back away from her eyes. She saw Slade.

"What the hell are you doing?" She accused.

Slade stared at her, "Standing,"

The girl didn't seem to approve. "You pulled half the stitches out of you back last night, you know, and then my brother sewed you back up."

"Thanks for that." He bent over and picked up his jacket off the couch, wincing.

"Don't you think you're kind of rushing your recovery?" She asked as she stood up.

Slade shrugged, "I can walk." He looked down at himself, "by the way, what happened to my shirt?"

She pointed to the two shreds of bloody rag hanging over the couch arm.

Slade sighed, "Figures," He slipped on the jacket and as soon as he had it zipped up, he put his hand into his pocket, his fingers curled around the dagger's handle in relief. He started towards the door, the girl dodged in front of him.

"Do you really think you can make it out there? You were half dead last night."

"I'm a fast healer." He brushed past the girl and crossed to the door before she could block him again. The dead bolt jammed when he pressed it, it took a couple of blows to knock it out. The doorknob jerked and caught instead of turning. Slade pressed up against the door as he turned the knob, it stood firm. He tried again, and then turned to the girl.

"Are you holding me hostage, or something?"

She shook her head quickly, and he could see the red imprint of the chair fabric on her cheek. "No, it's been stuck for about a year now," she told him sheepishly, "we just use the fire escape." He started towards it, and she trailed after him. "If you'll just stop and listen for a second, I wanted to tell you that I'll be leaving for work in a little bit and I could give you a ride."

Glancing over his shoulder, he asked. "You have a car?"

"A motorcycle, but it's better than walking."

She had a point, he had to admit, and already he could feel the pain in his back. "Alright, fine,"

The girl relaxed then. "I'll go get ready, it should only take a second, and then I can give you a lift as far as the bike shop."

He nodded, "thank you."

Relieved, she nodded as well, "I'll only be a minute," she jogged down the hallway, throwing glances over her shoulder every few steps to make sure he hadn't left until she disappeared into one of the doors.

Slade sighed, and slid down into the brown chair. Well, things didn't seem to be turning out the way he'd planned. Last night he'd had a short priority list: find his attacker, and then when that hadn't worked, go find somewhere to sleep and then hunt up his attacker the next day. Then that girl had been chased by those goons, and of course he'd had to save her. It may have helped her out, but he hadn't benefited any. It had just sat him back a few days on the healing up thing. He shook his head; this wasn't working out at all.

A flicker of movement caught his eye, and he looked up to see the girl wrapped in a towel, slipping into another room. "Just a second, I promise." She told him. The door shut, and then the apartment filled with the sound of a rain storm.

Slade pushed himself up, and began to wander around the apartment. It was very small, and very empty. He found a miniscule kitchen that was more like a broom closet with a refrigerator. Inside the fridge itself, there was nothing by a carton of milk and some old lettuce, but the freezer was stocked full of TV dinners. A small microwave that looked like it has survived quite a few fires sat on top.

There was a picture on the fridge door underneath a magnet shaped like a beer bottle. Slade picked it off and studied it. The girl and a tall thin boy wearing huge glasses were sitting on the floor in front of the armchair, an elderly woman sat in the chair, face lost in all her wrinkles. Behind the chair stood a balding man with a gut, he had the biggest smile of all those present, even though most of it was covered by his mustache. Slade flipped the picture over. "Me, Max, Grandma, and Dad", it read. Slade stuck it back beneath the magnet and turned back into the living room.

There wasn't much there that he hadn't already seen, so he crossed over to the window and looked out. Apartment houses, much like the one he was in, cut off his view of most else. The road below was mostly empty. A few cars were parked along the sidewalk, and most of them were burned out shells. There were no people.

Click! Thud! He turned to see the bathroom door fly open. Steam billowed out in a thick cloud, the girl stepped out after it, towel still clutched around her. She met his gaze with an apologetic smile, and darted into the other room again, leaving wet footprints on the floor.

Slade sighed and drummed his fingers on the windowpane. It was steamed up from the shower, and his fingers left clear circles.

"O.K, we can go now!" The girl exclaimed rushing into the room. Her hair was still wet, and dripped down the front of her blazer. Beneath it she wore a pair of old overalls, and a tank top. Hurriedly she stuffed her hat into a backpack, which she slung onto her shoulder. She zipped up her dark blue windbreaker. "Come on!" The window groaned and moaned, but yielded to her shoves. Quickly, she slipped out, and started down the metal stairs.

Slade looked after her for a moment, and then climbed out the window. Bending over hurt his back, but once he stood back up again, he was fine. The fire escape shuddered with the girl's footfalls and the medal rang. Slade loped down behind her.

Once Slade made it to the ground the girl was already unchaining her motorcycle. It was of the large bulky variety, and solid black.

"Nice ride."

The girl looked up and grinned, "Thanks, it's sort of a company car." She stood and tossed him a helmet. "I'm headed for the bike shop up on Lincoln, but first I thought I'd get a donut."

"Fine,"

She lifted her helmet to her face and then stopped, "You know, I never introduced myself, I'm Ruby." Her hand shot out.

He shook it, "Slade."

Ruby slipped her helmet on the rest of the way. "Right, well, let's get going." She climbed on to the bike, and kicked out the brake. A shiver ran up her spine when Slade joined her. There was something about him, she thought as she turned the bike onto the road, something strange and dangerous. She liked it.

"