Ruby is the only NERD who knows where Duncan went. That's because he had invited her to come - if she wanted to - if it wasn't too much trouble - if she wasn't mad at Heathcliff. Of course she refused. As the team captain, her responsibility extended only to the team; if it had been Choppers forcefully admitted to the asylum, she would have come, with all the force and fake documents necessary to get him out.
But Simon isn't Choppers, and she could care less. Or at least, that's what she tells Duncan right before he leaves.
Afterwards she is alone at the bus stop. It's Saturday, a free day, with no school and no spy work and lots and lots of having to deal with allergies. Usually she spends her weekends in the library reading classics. Today she had intended on doing the same, but the back of her throat is itchy and that means she needs to figure out something. (She's allergic to ambiguous emotions.)
She sits at the bus stop and thinks about Heathcliff.
Less than six weeks ago she saw him robbing a bank, and she was happy about it.
No, Ruby rationalizes. She was happy at seeing him alive, not seeing him rob banks. She hadn't expected him to come back after she pushed him. She truly thought he had died. The concept hadn't bothered her as much as it would a normal kid - she was a trained spy, after all, and she had seem more than one traitor die in the three years she had been a NERD. But that scared her too, because Choppers was part of her team and she had virtually stabbed him in the back. Not like there was anything else she could do. He was the one about to kill Jones and the Hyena.
And less than a week after coming back, he tried to kill another teammate. Her sympathy meter is almost at zero by now. She really doesn't want to see him.
But at the same time, she can't not know how he's doing. Ruby's just not sure how she'll find out. She's not going to visit him in the asylum; that would just be paperwork and and an awkward conversation. She's too proud to wait for Duncan to come back and ask him. And if she doesn't ask Duncan will never bring it up.
The logical part of her says that it can't be that bad in the mental ward. After all, Ms. Holiday suggested it as an alternative to prison. And since Heathcliff is a kid, the hospital staff would make sure to treat him reasonably well; books to read, people to talk to, things to do.
Ruby sneezes. She's allergic to wishful thinking. She knows that the staff would probably never think of those things, and Heathcliff is way too proud to enjoy any of them anyway. She sighs. Life was so much easier with Choppers on the team, back when the old director was still in charge and Jackson Jones was just another stupid bully. Back then she had almost unlimited freedom to lead the team as she wanted to and Heathcliff was second-in-command and everyone trusted each other and she had full faith in her teammates. Now...
Ruby abruptly stands up and heads for home, wondering if Heathcliff can even get letters in the mental asylum.