Title: But You Can Save Me From Madness, Part Two
Pairing: Regina/Ruby
Rating: R
Length: 5, 800
Summary: Ruby needs an escape and Regina's house has been empty for a long time.
The pain is more intense than she can imagine from a wound that is only superficial, but the arrow had obviously been tipped with something. The skin around the area was turning black and it seems to be spreading. Red couldn't do anything, could barely move with her leg hurting her so badly.
It had been her own fault, really, for waking up in the middle of the Queen's land. The last night of wolfstime always had her running further than she meant to, knowing it would be her last run for a month. She had woken up in the Enchanted Forest, the Dark Palace looming over her in the distance. Immediately she was running, only to head straight into a group of the Queen's dark army heading back towards the palace. She had managed to escape from them, even though one had gotten in a lucky shot, lodging an arrow in her thigh.
"I heard there was a pretty trespasser," a voice comes from behind her and Red did her best to stand to face it, leaning heavily against the tree behind her, "Oh, don't get up, dear. I didn't mean to intrude. Unlike yourself."
She's dressed in an opulent navy gown, looking as if she always took strolls through the forest in such attire. Snow hadn't done her beauty justice and it left Red feeling a little in awe. For some reason she expected the Evil Queen to look a little more… evil.
"You're Snow's little wolf friend, aren't you?" Red does her best to glare, but it turns into a wince. "I should do away with you right now. Wouldn't want to have you getting in my way later, would I?"
"Then just do it," Red hisses.
The Queen smirks in response and steps closer to her, pinning her back against the tree with a wave of her hand when Red tries to lunge at her. The look of superiority grows as she steps in front of the younger girl, her free hand reaching down to yank up her dress. Red's breath catches in her throat as she feels the Queen's fingers dance along the bare skin on her leg.
"Better tell Snow you looked a little less intrigued," she whispers in Red's ear as her hand brushes over the blackening wound, first sparking another wave of pain until it immediately vanishes. The Queen steps away from her and Red is released from her hold, falling to the ground. She bundles up the skirt of her dress to look where the arrow had hit her to find the skin now smooth and free from any sort of blemish.
"Thank you," she breathes, looking up at the brown-eyed woman in wonder.
"You have manners. That's surprising. I never expect it when someone's from a village." Her back is turned to Red, fingers tracing the lines of the bark on a hundred year-old tree. "Now, what to do with you…"
"Why help me just to kill me?" Red asks, keeping her eyes trained on the woman in front of her. She was so small, how she held so much power was beyond Red.
"That does seem a little silly, doesn't it?" The Queen turns to her, her eyes bright in the sunshine. "Well, then you might as well run along."
"Really?" Red can't help the incredulous look on her face, which seems to earn a smile from Snow's former stepmother. "This isn't a trick just to give you some sport to chase is it?"
The Queen laughs, seemingly genuinely. She meets Red's eyes with sincerity. "My fight isn't with you. And a pretty face like yours shouldn't go to waste on something as trivial as some minor revenge against Snow. If I really wanted to get to her, it would be that little boyfriend of hers I'd go after."
Red is quiet for a long time as she tries to decide whether or not to believe this story, and she stops in the realization that the Queen was right – her death would only be a small hiccup in this war between her and Snow. Sure, it might spark some more anger from Snow, but it wouldn't flatten her like it would if something happened to Charming. Charming who she just met and barely knew. The Queen seems to know what was on her mind.
"Sorry if I offended you, but true love is hard to beat. Feel free to return to her and see if it isn't true, but you look like a smart girl. You know it is. You should also know that this kindness will likely not be repeated the next time I see you." Red nods, unable to meet her gaze, and the Queen begins walking toward the palace, disappearing amongst the trees. "See you on the battle lines."
"Well, this surely won't arouse any suspicion." Ruby gasps as she wakes up, the bright clouds blinding her momentarily until she makes out Regina's form looming over her. "Don't tell me I need to install a doggie door. This is mahogany."
"I didn't mean to fall asleep," Ruby mumbles as she shakily stands from her lying position on Regina's stoop. She rubs her burning eyes, wondering what time it was as she blindly accepts the coffee Regina is pressing into her hands. "Do you think someone saw?"
Regina leads her through the doorway with a hand on her shoulder. "I hope for your sake, no. Don't want people thinking you're turning into the town drunk again."
"I was never the town drunk. I held my alcohol very well, thank you." The clock informs her that it's six in the morning and the sight of it makes her yawn.
"You should go to bed. That couldn't have been comfortable."
"You'd be surprised at how well I sleep when I'm the wolf." Another yawn but she hides it by taking a long drink of her coffee. "I usually take the last day to try to get back on a normal schedule."
"So you won't turn tonight?" Regina asks as she pulls out the frying pans, grabbing what she needed from the fridge.
"Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. It just doesn't feel as strong the last night. But usually I try to enjoy it." Ruby settles herself on the stool she had occupied the last time she was seated at the island. "I don't think I will tonight. I'd rather get to sleep at a decent time."
"How in the hell are you gonna stay awake?"
Ruby lifts her mug as she watches Regina chop up peppers. "With about five more of these not-so-evenly spaced out throughout the day. Need any help?"
"I don't. I like cooking. It relaxes me." She moves from peppers to cheese, grating two different kinds until there's a plateful. "What are you going to do today?"
"I don't know yet. Lunch with Belle, maybe. I've been meaning to see Ashley, but she's back in school now that she found a nanny." She shifts in her seat as she watches Regina pull out the bacon to fry a few strips for their omelets. Ruby hates these weird cravings. Wolf cravings. She should have eaten last night. "Anything to keep me busy."
"Do you and Mary Margaret still talk a lot?"
It seems like an innocent enough question. "Yes. A little less since she and Charming got their little house. They're homebodies now."
"That's nice for them. What's even nicer is that the same day they signed the papers, Charming stepped down from the Sherriff's Office."
"Those holsters?"
"I don't even know where he found them. I hope Emma burned the stupid things." The smell of cooking bacon is even worse. Ruby grips her mug a little more strongly than necessary. "You should see the Mayor's office. It's a mess. I'm starting to question whether or not David is literate."
Ruby snorts, relaxing finally with the subconscious guarantee of getting food eventually. "It must be painful to watch."
"You have no idea. He looks like a jackass behind that desk." She's moved on to whisking eggs with practiced speed. "Sorry if I'm offending you, I know you and he are… well, friends, at the least."
"We are. We weren't ever really close though. It's weird…" Ruby stops herself, sizing Regina up as the woman stands with her back to the werewolf. Ruby has never admitted it to herself, but she wants to say it. "While Mary Margaret and Emma were gone… we got close because he always needed help. For a moment I thought…"
She's caught Regina's attention and the older woman turns to her with an eyebrow raised. "You thought?"
Ruby laughs and looks down, shrugging when she meets Regina's eyes again. "I don't know. That something was going to happen. Nothing did, but I just wouldn't have been surprised if it had."
"And you would have…?"
"Stopped it immediately," Ruby replies honestly. "I really would have. It just seemed like they were gone forever." She stands and walks over to the coffee pot to top off her cup, giving Regina a sideways glance as she begins the process of slicing up the few strips of bacon. "I should probably apologize for that whole Archie witch hunt thing."
"Don't bother. My mother was pretty thorough."
"I'm so sorry. That you lost your mother."
"Twice," Regina adds, not unkindly.
"I know the feeling, actually." She turns to face Regina with her fresh mug. "And I was even the one to kill my mother to boot." Regina pauses for a moment before she pours the egg mixture onto the hot pan. "Guess we have more in common than you thought."
"Well, aren't we special little orphans?"
They finish breakfast and dress in their respective bedrooms before heading their own ways. Regina drives off towards City Hall, surely due for a day full of migraines, and Ruby heads towards the diner. She sits at the counter and slowly drains another coffee while Sarah is setting up with Granny. Granny wants to talk to her, surely she can smell Regina's perfume on Ruby's clothes, but she's keeping her mouth shut for now.
She's waiting for Belle, who usually shows up before she opens the library, but it's Mary Margaret who catches her attention first. She bustles into the diner, her umbrella already closed. When she spots Ruby her face brightens and she approaches to join her.
"Ruby! I feel like it's been ages since I've seen you." Suddenly, and seemingly without reason, all Ruby can do is remember the feel of Regina's hand on her leg, her voice whispering, "Better tell Snow you looked a little less intrigued," in her ear – the same image that had her waking from dreams for months after it happened. Mary Margaret watches her stutter for a moment before sparing her, "You know what? You should come for dinner tonight. Unless you have plans."
"Ruby's been making friends all over the place," Granny interjects as she passes them. "She might not have the time for her old acquaintances."
Ruby glowers at the back of her grandmother's head but she manages to catch herself after Mary Margaret stares at her for a moment. "Dinner. That sounds great. Yeah, totally."
"Good," Mary Margaret says with a relieved breath, reaching for the to-go cup of coffee Sarah held out to her. "I miss you. Emma and Henry are coming. I could invite Whale…"
"No. No blind dates, please. Or no… visible dates. No dates. Stop laughing at me."
"Alright, I'll see you tonight then." Mary Margaret smiles at her once more before heading out the door and walking towards the school. As soon as she's out of earshot Granny is filling her place.
"Spill it."
"Granny… really, there's not much to say."
"You used to be a much better liar, you know that?" Granny steps around the counter and pulls out the books, giving Ruby the receipts to sort out while she looks through the deposits. "You haven't slept at home in days and you smell like Regina Mills, now if there's something going on-"
"Nothing is going on."
"If," Granny stresses with a sharp look, "there is something going on, I want to know about it right now."
Ruby drops her gaze as she matches receipts to orders. "I'm going to stay with her. For awhile."
"Stay with her."
"In her guest room," Ruby replies exasperatedly. "Honestly, that's it. She's lonely as hell without Henry, she has no family left, and this town totally treats her like a pariah... And I…"
"You." Granny is nothing if not insistent.
"Feel bad for her. And I need my own space away from… this town. Not from you, I swear. It's the people. I just feel like an outsider these days." Receipts sorted, she passes them over to Granny, daring to meet her gaze. "She's not a terrible person."
"I know that. And you know me well enough to know that I am beyond hounding her for what's in the past. She's more than redeemed herself." Granny is still staring at her with that piercing look that makes Ruby feel like she's five again and in trouble for scaring the hens. "But why do you need to live with her? Don't you know what kind of trouble that will cause?"
"There's no reason for there to be any trouble," Ruby replies stubbornly, sitting up suddenly from her stool and collecting her jacket. "And if anyone has a problem with it, they can take it up with me."
She leaves before Granny can poke holes in her logic, pushing past the door and leaving her cup half full on the counter. Ruby quickly ducks down a street that will leave her clear of Belle's usual route. She suddenly doesn't feel like seeing any of her friends, afraid that she'd have to admit to herself that it'd be weird if she held back the latest information in her life. So the brunette strolls down the long streets of houses lined with old trees. It's midday before she stops her impromptu walk, finding herself standing in front of the hospital.
For whatever reason she walks into it, steering through the familiar halls until she finds a door labeled "Dr. Whale, MD". She knocks on the partially opened entryway to see him sitting at his desk, stripped of his lab coat and blazer, an untouched sandwich set out before him while he reviews the chart in his hands.
"Ruby." His smile is genuine if not surprised, and he stands to greet her. "What can I do for you?"
"Nothing, really." Ruby twists her hands and lets out a breath. "Is it noon yet?"
He laughs and motions for her to sit down in one of the plush chairs set up in front of his desk while he returns to his seat, opening the bottom drawer of his desk to pull out a mickey of whiskey and two tumblers. He fills one halfway and passes it over before setting himself up.
"Thank you."
"My pleasure. It's not often I get to spend my lunch breaks with company half-so interesting."
"By interesting you mean interested in having a drink, don't you?" Whale just raises his glass to her in response and Ruby laughs, taking a sip from her own. "I moved in with Regina. And for some reason, I feel like you're the only one I can tell that to without being worried about what you'll say. Why is that?"
"Monsters stick together," Whale replies drolly, laughing when she crumples a post-it and throws it at him. "So you moved in?"
"I did."
"On a whim?"
"Pretty much."
"Well," Whale remarks in a way that implies that there won't be a follow-up to his statement. Ruby nurses her drink long enough that he eventually has to fill the silence. "Good for you?"
"Thank you? I really don't know what I expect people to say. Especially considering I barely know what to say myself." Ruby narrows her eyes at him. "No warnings? No declarations from the side of the good?"
"Was I ever on that side?"
"Shut up." She smiles despite herself. "I'm having dinner with Mary Margaret and David and the whole crew tonight. I feel like I have to bring it up. Somehow."
"I'd pay to see that."
"You almost didn't have to, Mary Margaret was going to invite you to even out the numbers."
"And you cuckolded me? I'm saddened by this lack of kindness after I opened up my back-up booze for you. I could have scored."
Ruby snorts and taps her free hand against the arm of her chair. "You should come. I'll tell her I changed my mind. It'd be nice to know someone's in my corner."
Whale nods and gives Ruby a genuine smile. "And I will be happy to accompany you. But I'm gonna have to know what Regina's rules on house guests are upfront."
Ruby texts Mary Margaret to tell her the change of plans, and stresses that she's fine with her evening out the numbers with Whale. Though while she types out the sentence, she can't help but stand in wonder of her friend's judgment if she considers the doctor Ruby just got drunk with at lunch the most suitable bachelor in town. But she and Victor had gotten relatively close recently – he was always a reliable drinking partner, whether it was a night at The Rabbit Hole or across the counter at Granny's. His hitting on her had petered down to become an inside joke amongst each other.
She stomps up the stairs of her old house to rummage through her room for her little black dress to wear that evening, knowing it must have driven Granny insane. She took a sick little pleasure in that, well aware of how terrible it was to do so. She did her hair with the many combs and brushes she had left behind, carefully straightening each strand to kill time. Ruby takes inventory of what she still has in her room, making note of their importance and clearing out an old box to place them in if she decided she needs the item desperately.
By the time she pops down to the diner for a snack and packed her car with her lone box, she's already on her way to picking up Whale from the hospital. He tosses a bag and his jacket in her back seat, dealing with someone on the phone for the majority of their ride to the Charming residence.
"Sorry about that," he says as he checks the few messages he's received since his time on the call. When he takes note of the block he undoes his seatbelt in time for Ruby to slowly pull up behind Emma's yellow bug.
"It's no problem. Please feel free to bring up as much hospital drama as you want tonight." She rubs her arms as they step out of the car and walk briskly up to the door.
As soon as they finish knocking the door is opened and Mary Margaret greets them, hugging Ruby and taking Whale's coat from him. She apologizes quietly before leading them into the den where David and Emma are in a heated debate in front of Henry, who was sitting quietly on the couch.
"Goddammit, Emma," Ruby actually blinks at the harsh tone, taken aback by a David she almost didn't recognize, "there is no way we fought that hard to bring her down just to put her in power again."
"As the mayor of a small town," Emma says slowly as if she were talking to a child. "She's had her powers for a long time now and has done nothing with them."
"Because she's waiting for the right time."
"The right time to what?" Emma waves off Mary Margaret's hand when she approaches and steps closer towards her father. "Do you really think reinstating her as mayor is the final step in her devious plan? Like that would hold her back from doing anything."
"I'm with the sheriff on this one," Whale adds from the liquor cabinet he's helping himself to. "Just give the woman her job back. She was a damn good mayor."
"Why is he even here?" David asks Mary Margaret.
"Because," she replies with a rising tone, "he was invited to the nice dinner we were supposed to be having."
David sighs and rubs the back of his head, turning towards the fireplace at the end of the room. There's an awkward silence amongst the rest in the room (with Whale being the exception as he pours himself a tall glass). Ruby takes a seat next to Henry, running a hand across the sullen boys shoulders.
"I'm with Emma, too," she says finally, trying to seem nonchalant. It draws the attention from everyone in the room – David looking at her incredulously while Whale smirks from his position across from her. Mary Margaret and Emma share a glance and then they both look at their patriarch.
"That's five-to-one," Henry points out, straightening up a little. Ruby didn't realize her decision was either popular or meaningful. But she had risked her life for this family on more than one occasion; she supposes it counted for something.
"Let's… have dinner," David mumbles, walking out of the room quickly. Whale laughs and holds out his arm as Ruby stood, leading her to the dining room much to the bewilderment of the three people left by the fireplace.
Dinner goes by with idle chat, Ruby sticking with water as she watches Whale and David have a silent contest in polishing off highballs. Henry is full of information, enough to distract them all from the tense atmosphere well into dessert. Ruby picks at her cake until attention is called to her.
"Hey, Ruby, I noticed your Camaro was parked outside of Regina's place."
She kicks Whale hard under the table, but he takes it in stride by biting the inside of his cheek. Even that doesn't stop the Cheshire grin spreading over his lips.
"I, uh… yeah, she um… yes." She'd kick herself if she could do it without Mary Margaret seeing. "I had dinner there the other night."
"You had dinner with my mom?" Henry asks just a beat before Emma parrots, "You had dinner with Regina?"
"I did." She smiles somewhat nervously, taking a long drink of her water.
"That's nice," Mary Margaret tries vainly.
"Why would you have dinner with Regina?"
She isn't surprised by David's tone; she greets it with a more genuine smile than she could muster before. "Because she was having dinner and wanted company."
A long beat of awkward silence follows her statement, but Ruby holds David's gaze long enough to show him she was ready to answer any other questions he had. Before he gets the chance to, Mary Margaret interrupts the stifling quiet atmosphere.
"Well, I think that's great. That Regina's reaching out to people again. I think it shows a lot of character." It seems sincere, but Ruby can't help but wonder if she's doing it for Henry's benefit.
"Are you best friends with my mom?" Henry asks, blue eyes bright.
"I… I guess I'm friends with her…"
"So that's why you're telling me to make her mayor? Because you decided to befriend poor, little Regina?"
"David-"
Ruby cuts Mary Margaret off, furrowing her eyebrows as she looks at her former dear friend, "I agreed with Emma and everyone else in this room when I said you should reinstate her. The only reason you're unwilling to do it is because you can't imagine a world where you're not ruling over everyone."
Whale, who seems impervious to the tense atmosphere, looks across the table to Ruby. "Maybe we should go."
"You're right," she agrees immediately, pushing her chair back despite Mary Margaret's plea for them to remain seated. Ruby squeezes Henry's shoulder when she passes by and immediately heads out the door, far ahead of Whale who has to stop to fumble with his jacket.
"So," he asks from down the pathway, pulling her keys out of his pocket and tossing them to her, "what are they saying in there?"
Ruby laughs and deflates against the hood of her car. "Mary Margaret's yelling at David in the kitchen and Emma's trying to small talk Henry away from the subject of why David hates his mother so much."
Whale ambles up to her, a grin still on his face even though he's looking down at the pavement as he approaches. "I tried to help, you know."
"I do." When he gets close enough she punches him in the shoulder. "Asshole."
He rubs the spot but accepts the punishment, leaning against the passenger door. "Wanna come back to my place for a nightcap?"
"Pass," she replies as she pushes off the hood and heads towards the driver's side.
Regina's in her living room holding what Ruby can only describe as a chalice filled with a deep, burgundy liquid. She smiles at Ruby's entrance and motions for her to take a seat, putting aside the papers she was looking at.
"How was your evening?"
"It was… eventful. Should I have called about not being here for dinner…?"
Regina shakes her head and sits back into the corner of the couch. "Of course not. If you're not here by seven, I'm sure I can put two and two together. Did you dine out?"
Ruby shakes her head and laughs. "Mary Margaret's. David's up in arms because everyone's telling him to step down and reinstate you. Guess you had a busy day at the office?"
"To say the least," Regina replies before taking another sip of her drink.
"Well, it bubbled over a little at dinner. I was only sorry that Henry was there to see it all."
Regina's hold on her drink tightens. "I take it they asked your opinion in the matter."
"They did. And I told them what I thought." Ruby leans back and crosses one leg over the other. "It ended up getting out that… I have been here… having dinner… and being your friend."
"Friend?"
"I couldn't quite work up the nerve to admit the roommate part. But Granny knows, so expect some glares. And leers, since I told Whale." Regina laughs and looks down at her drink, face softened by the dim lighting in the room. Ruby catches herself staring and forces herself to speak. "Henry seemed glad."
"He would be." There's a wistful tone in Regina's voice that's just heartbreaking enough that Ruby can't find the words to speak afterwards. Regina lets the silence linger for a minute before she looks up at Ruby again. "Would you like to come riding with me tomorrow?"
"Riding? God, it's been… well, almost three decades now," she laughs. "I'd like that. Sometimes horses get a bit… skittish around me."
Regina smiles. "Don't worry, I only brought the good ones over."
A week goes by in total, quiet contentment. Ruby gets to know Regina: the avid gardener, the horror flick lover, the enigmatic horseback rider. Granny doesn't say a thing about the situation to Ruby and greets Regina with a quiet indifference, so Ruby feels like she has that relatively under control. She still keeps quiet around Mary Margaret, who seems to go out of her way to make an excuse to come to the diner to see Ruby. Ruby assumes it's because Charming is still mad at her and Mary Margaret doesn't want to rock the boat by inviting her over.
Twelve days after their rocky dinner, David steps down as mayor. It's done quietly, slipped into the paper but without ceremony, and the following Monday Regina resumes her normal workday hours. When Ruby has a spare moment she helps Regina get the office back in order, going so far as to enlist Belle to help them, with all her clerical knowledge.
Belle is more ready to forgive Regina than most of those who suffered directly because of her. To her, the time spent locked away seemed like only a day, the only scary part being her departure before Gold broke the curse and then again when she lost her memory. She works with them well into the night, filing and sorting without complaint and keeping up the conversation in the room.
"I think that's kind of nice," Belle admits when Ruby spills to her about her living arrangement in the safety of the closed library. She's helping Belle restock the shelves with the checked returns. "She must have been so lonely living there by herself."
"She was. I'm glad you don't think it's weird. Only a few people know," she hints as she slides one of the books onto a shelf that Belle can't quite reach without assistance.
"My lips are sealed, I swear. To be honest, I'm kind of thankful that you had something to do with her being made mayor again. David didn't quite have a handle on how to order books from outside of the city."
Ruby laughs and leans back against the shelf. "Regina says he took over the stables. I think he's actually glad to have something a little more his speed, but I'm pretty sure he's still mad at me. Mary Margaret always has to call me from another room now."
"Does he give Regina any trouble at the stables?" Belle asks as she pushes the empty cart back behind the desk. "I see her there a lot."
"I didn't know you went riding." Ruby follows her to the counter and leans against it. "She hasn't mentioned anything, so I assume he leaves her well enough alone. She has her own horse there."
"Me too as of last Monday," Belle admits as she gathers up her jacket. "I haven't named her yet, but I've been out a few times now. I missed it."
"I did too. Regina's taken me out a few times."
"So you two are quite close now?"
"I guess so. It's weird, but we just kind of mesh well." Ruby steps out into the downpour, her jacket hiked up over her head as Belle locks the large front door. "Dinner?"
Belle nods and they rush across the street into the safety of Granny's.
Regina and Ruby have begun a nightly tradition of dropping everything at ten and enjoying a glass of wine in the living room, surrounded by pictures of Henry and the warmth of the fire. Tonight they're both sitting on the couch, a scrapbook of Henry's baby pictures between them.
"God, I remember when he first learned to walk," Ruby laughs, leaning back against the cushion. "He wouldn't sit still at the diner. He'd march back and forth and grab a french fry each time he passed you."
Regina smiles and closes the book; taking a sip of the white wine they chose that evening. "He was a cute kid," she agrees, folding her fingers over the edge of the album. "What about you? Do you ever want kids?"
"I thought I did for awhile," Ruby admits, draining her glass and setting it down on the coffee table before folding her knees under her on the couch. "But I don't think I do anymore. I'm not sure I'm… maternal."
Regina raises her eyebrows. "And here I thought all that wolf blood would make you a protective den mother."
Ruby smiles and looks down, biting her lip. She doesn't really have a reply and her cheeks are warmed from the wine and she's all too aware of Regina's closeness. But Regina's calm and collected, her heartbeat is even and she's sitting perfectly still. When Ruby looks back up Regina keeps up her gaze and opens her mouth to speak, only she doesn't end up saying anything.
Ruby wonders if she's thinking about their encounter, if Regina noticed how Red's breath had caught and pulse increased. Maybe Regina doesn't remember that part at all; maybe she only remembers the service provided. But there was something in the way Regina looks at her that makes Ruby certain she recalls whispering to her in the woods that day.
"I'm going to go to bed," Regina says suddenly, diverting her eyes. She slides the scrapbook and her glass onto the table and steps around it, moving towards the grand staircase. "Goodnight, Ruby."
"Goodnight, Regina," she echoes looking down at the spot where Regina had been.
For the first time in weeks she feels the need to roam, so she slips out of great mansion and into the dark Storybrooke streets. Her feet take her around the main square and into the back alley towards The Rabbit Hole. She enters her old retreat, relieved to see Whale already three sheets to the wind.
"Ruby! Gem… gem of my life. Next round's on me," he shouts to dozen or so patrons in the bar who clap in return. He's dressed in blue scrubs and his lab coat, a long black jacket hanging on the chair behind him. Ruby slides onto the stool next to his and smiles. "And what brings you out this evening?"
Ruby gives her order to the waitress who's making the rounds and steals what's left of Whale's glass before she answers. "Needed to get out. Celebrating?"
"Well, I was until some werewolf took my drink. True story," Whale whispers, leaning in. Ruby laughs and he signals the waitress on her way by to get him another one as well. "Successful… head fracture… patient, thank you very much."
"Maybe I should be buying the drinks," Ruby offers sliding the empty glass she held to the middle of the table.
"Nah. Just because we're in Storybrooke doesn't mean I don't make doctor money." His hair looks red under the neon light advertising some foreign beer in the corner. "How's life? Need any more dates to uncomfortable meals with close friends? Because my schedule's more flexible than you'd think."
Ruby smiles and decides right then her course of action for the evening. She nods towards the exit and Whale doesn't question the movement, just reaches to throw some bills down on the table, handing her his jacket as they step out into the night. The blue-eyed man is good about making conversation as they walk towards the row of old buildings that had been converted into apartments.
She's never been to Whale's place and she's kind of regretting it now. It's ultra modern, brushed-steel countertops and matching appliances, a small balcony that overlooked the city, a huge TV and a large collection of movies to match, and a stylish bedroom. Ruby kind of laughs the first time she kisses Whale, because he had literally been asking her out for almost thirty years.
"About time, huh?" He asks as he moves to turn down the bed.
"I can definitely say you put up a fight."
He laughs and reaches for the bottom of his shirt, tossing it to the side when he removes it, his badge clinking against the dresser it lands on. Ruby can hear his heart beating faster as she steps out of his jacket and walks over to him, kissing him soundly before pulling him overtop her on the bed.