A/N: I'm so sorry it's a late update! :( I sort of blanked.. but here it is :)

- Chapter Seven –

Animal

With Dopey and Happy gone, we were alone. When they were around, there would always be a hum of noise throughout the warehouse wherever they were. I would hear their laughter echo through the large, never-ending hallways, or hear them compare their guns or brag about how many banks they had robbed. Now that they were dead, there was an eerie silence. I could hear everything. The sound of your boots marching down the hallway, or hear your manic laughter from another room. Mostly though, we would sit together. The first time you entered my room, you brought a chair and sat on the opposite side of the room, like you were testing me. You had still been annoyed with me for punching you – I still don't regret that, by the way – but you said nothing. You let me read, which I'll always be thankful for. You'd give me whatever you could, especially when you vanished for a few hours. Anything not to be bored.

The second time you came into my bedroom, you sat closer to me. I felt like a wild animal in a zoo, one that you were trying to tame. Again, you said nothing. Just sat there, playing with a Joker card in your hands. I kind of missed the noise Happy and Dopey made. It was too quiet, you know? The only good thing was the heavy sound your boots made. I could tell where you were. Or rather, how close you were. I never put my guard down, even when you were far away.

Then, on the third day – at least, I think that was how many days passed. I had no way of telling – you sat beside me on that lumpy mattress, side by side, our shoulders pressed together. I held my breath, my entire body feeling as if it were electrocuted. My mind was racing. What do I do, what do I do… You rested your arms on your knees, your hands dangling, leaning your head against the wall. A newspaper lay beside you. I sat cross-legged, my hands clasped together nervously. You weren't wearing that long, heavy purple coat. Your sleeves were rolled to your elbows, but I bet you were hiding knives elsewhere. Always prepared for a fight.

"I brought you something," you said after a few moments of silence. You picked up the newspaper, placing it in my lap. My eyes widened in surprise. Right there, on the front page, was a picture of me and my sisters. Violet and Karla, standing on either side of me. It wasn't a bad picture. I was the only one smiling though. Karla, she wasn't even looking at the camera, she was focused on something else. At least Violet had an arm strung loosely around my shoulder. It was an old picture. I bet they couldn't find anything newer, seeing as I hadn't seen either of my sisters in years. "Do you miss them?"

I thought about it, before shrugging. "They're happier with their own lives."

"No, no, no. That isn't good enough Ruby. They left you and now they're pleading to have you back."

I looked at you, taken by surprise. "They are?"

You nodded, staring hard at the floor. Your jaw was tense, like you were grinding your teeth. "They didn't care until you were gone. No one ever does."

"You're wrong," I replied defiantly, determined not to be brainwashed by you. "They did care."

You snorted bitterly. "One lousy card at Christmas doesn't count."

"They didn't want to stay in Gotham. They wanted to get away from here and start a new life."

"A new life that didn't include you."

"I can look after myself. I don't need them to look after me."

"Really? You are doing a fan-tast-tic job, Ruby."

"You took me. I didn't plan this. I didn't ask for it."

Your eyes narrowed dangerously at me. "Don't play dumb with me. Your... sisters only want to know the big-shots. They're greedy. They want money, and they left Gotham to get it. Your oldest sister, she was quick to marry that lawyer, wasn't she? To forget you even existed. I would never forget. See that is the difference between us...and them," you growled, pointing at no one in particular. I knew you meant the rest of the world. "We...We don't need those things. Money means nothing."

"Then why did you steal from the bank?" I asked curtly.

You grinned, tapping your nose knowingly. "All in due time, Red. All in due time."

"They'll find me eventually," I said. I sounded like I was trying to convince myself more than I was trying to convince you. You shrugged, leaning against the wall again. "And they'll find you, too. They'll find both of us and put you away."

"Are you sure about that, Ruby? You say that they'll lock me up and throw away the key, but what about you?"

"Me?"

"Read the rest of that paper, you'll understand." I didn't like the smile on your face. You were enjoying this.

I scanned the newspaper. It said I was missing. They said I worked at the bank and my sudden disappearance was being treated as suspicious. That I was a possible suspect. "You were right."

You raised an eyebrow at me. "Oh? About what, Ruby Red?"

"They think I might have helped you." My eyes burned with tears. It was hard to hold them back. Even my voice was hoarse. "That I'm a criminal like you."

You grinned, though it didn't fully meet your eyes. "Didn't I tell you we were the same? If they lock me up, then they'll lock you up, too."

"We're not the same! Why can't you just let me go!" I hissed, throwing the newspaper away. I didn't want to believe you. You had this way of messing with my mind. One moment, I was terrified of you. The next I wanted to punch and scream and roar at you. I don't know how you did it. I felt like I was losing my mind. Would I end up like you?

"I think you have potential. You know that money we stole-…"

"You stole," I whispered.

You swallowed and took a deep breath. You ran your tongue along your lower lip, jerking your head to look at me. I've figured that you do that whenever you try to rein in your temper. If you haven't noticed, you have a very, very vicious temper. "The money we stole was owned by the Mafia."

I waited for you to make some kind of joke, tell me you were kidding. But you didn't. I had read terrible stories about them. How they tortured people, murdered people. They were everywhere in Gotham, and very powerful. Well, at least they had been extremely powerful at one point. Harvey Dent and Batman were doing a lot to change that. Stealing from them was a death sentence.

"What does that mean?" I asked. Being around you was like walking on eggshells.

"It means we'll have to visit them soon."

"Are you crazy?" I hissed. I realized quite quickly how stupid that sounded.

You smiled. "Not crazy. No, I'm not crazy at all. I'm smart Ruby. I know what I'm doing."

I began reading the newspaper again, seeing that Kathy was mentioned. '"Ruby seemed like such a nice girl. Yes, there was a female robber, but I never would've guessed it could have been her. We got on so well that I never thought she would do this," says Kathy Hubbard, 36, one of the hostages of the bank robbery.'

"Kathy would never say this," I frowned, my heart sinking. "She was my friend."

"You don't have friends in this world, Ruby. Everyone around you, they're not friends. They lie, and they cheat and they pretend to be your friend. Take away all these laws, all of the structure and the order, then you'll see what people are really like. You see, I know that none of the rules and none of the discipline matters at the end of the day. When it comes down to it, we're all just animals. We do what we can to survive. You know that better than anyone."

I threw the newspaper away, and we watched it skid across the floor. I didn't want to believe you. Kathy and I, we were friends. We went to lunch, chatted about our mundane problems. She couldn't think I would rob the very bank we worked at. Could she?

"This can't be real," I whispered beneath my breath. "The police, they can't just think I'd do that. I've never done anything like this in my life. My sisters do care about me. You're lying!"

You laughed loudly. "You keep telling yourself that Ruby. But you're smart, just like me. I know you are. You know just like I do that everyone lies."

I froze when you pressed your lips against the side of my temple. It was quick, not even two seconds long, but you stood up. You walked over to the newspaper, picking it up.

"There is someone you can trust, though," you said. "Me."

When you left, taking that newspaper with you, one thought crossed my mind. I really am going crazy.