Responses would be great, because I'm writing the sequel as we speak. Who do you want to see more of? Who do you want to see less of? Who do you just want to see at all?
Only one more chapter after this, and then you have to give me time to finish the sequel.
Part Seven
To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved. - George MacDonald
Ruby sat with Granny on one of the few nights were neither of them were working. Granny had cooked Ruby her favourite foods. In another life she was sure Granny would have been a cook, or owned a restaurant. Something like that. Ruby sipped her wine. She didn't often indulge, but Granny's was one of the most secure places on earth.
"What did you do when Anita decided to join her mercenary gang?"
Granny hummed softly.
"That's the problem with us Lucas women. We know one very important fact. Just because you do bad things, it does not mean you're a bad person. We know a good person from a bad one and we'll give a lot of chances. I can't tell you how many times I let Anita get away with things I should have arrested her for."
"Why did you let her go so much? Why did you put your pride and your reputation aside for her?"
"Despite all of her faults, and she had a fair few, she was my daughter." Granny said softly. "And I loved her."
/-/-/-/
Regina had gone dark. There had not been a single mention of the Evil Queen's actions in months. Her organisation certainly continued to function, just without her. It just didn't function to the high level of standard that Regina had insisted upon. People were starting to make mistakes. She was absent in all drug deals despite the fact that she had definitely taken over the Wonderland Crew upon Cora's death. And that was when deals were being made. Other organisations were buying less and any deals that went through were easier to get news about. Apparently the complete secrecy between buyer and seller that Regina had enforced was a thing of the past. As a result the Agency monitored and interrupted more deals. It reeked of carelessness. More than anything else, the carelessness proved that Regina was not running the arms and drugs trade like she used to.
Even Belle's tracking system hadn't been able to pick Regina up. As soon as Ruby had told Granny about Regina having access to their computer system the whole system was scrubbed clean. Any potential holes were patched up and tagged to be monitored. Unfortunately, while performing the clean-up Belle had been preoccupied. She hadn't been monitoring her tracking system. One of Regina's people completely ripped the system apart. Belle was a brilliant inventor, and a great programmer but she was not a hacker. When a full on attack against one of her systems took place there was next to nothing she could do to stop it. In the end she had diverted the clean-up team to try and push the intruder out. But the damage was done. The tracking system was gone and would take months to recover.
With Regina gone to ground, Ruby moved onto other missions until someone found a lead. Finding a lead was easier said than done because Jiminy was still refusing to dig up anything on Regina. Ruby still busted weapons and drug transfers run by Regina's lieutenants, but she was taking on a range of jobs. Most of them were completely unrelated to Regina.
One job in particular had Ruby in the middle of King Midas' largest casino to watch over a new informant the Agency had picked up. Keith, formerly known as the Sheriff of Nottingham, had information on Rumpelstiltskin. He had been working for Rumpelstiltskin until recently. Keith owed more to the man than he could ever repay in one lifetime. He could slowly try to repay his debt for the rest of his life, or he could turn on Rumpelstiltskin. The only problem with turning on Rumpelstiltskin though was that you were instantly a target. Rumpelstiltskin did not take well to betrayal. He had earned a rather violent reputation by removing the tongues of those who spilled his secrets. Ruby's job was to keep Keith alive, which should have been easy enough to do. Pick him up and take him to the nearest safe house to find out what Keith knew before faking his death and setting him up with a new life. Only Keith was less than happy to leave Midas' casino where he was winning quite a lot of money. If she could, Ruby would just drag him out of there. But Rumpelstiltskin already had a man inside who would use the commotion to kill Keith before any secrets could be spilled.
Ruby wasn't dressed up for a night at the casino, but her work clothes were formal enough for her to be let in. She stuck out, though not as much as the tourists wandering through the tables. Most people would peg her as some sort of detective or private investigator with a gambling problem. It was a story cliché enough that people wanted to believe it. Once Ruby realised that Keith was going to be a problem she made up a plan. A quick transfer of money from the Agency and Ruby was playing poker at a table as just another gambler. The table was relatively full and no one would bother her there. The buy in was a quarter of a million. Not the largest table in the casino, but probably the largest on the main floor. It also offered the best vantage point to watch Keith as played the casino's main attraction; the largest roulette table in the city.
The blonde woman next to Ruby chuckled as Keith won yet another roulette spin. Ruby glanced at her but she wasn't the only one. A few people turned around to look at Keith too. A large man in both height and girth shook his head, causing his long shaggy hair to rustle. He didn't dress formally, but if the gold medallion and heavy gold rings on his fingers were any indication he was wealthy. He shared a knowing look with a few other people at the table, one being the blonde woman. Ruby stared at her for a few seconds before she finally recognised the woman as Abigail, Midas' only daughter.
"Some people don't know when to cut their losses."
One of the other players looked at Keith and then back to the giant of a man. "He seems to be doing pretty well. I'd say he's winning, not losing."
Abigail tittered daintily as she tossed a few chips into the ever growing pile. "Oh dear Gaston, you really don't understand the fundamental logic of gambling. The house always wins; one way or another. If you can't comprehend that then you may want to go back to the little leagues. Not that you have the same resources that you used to, but I'm sure you could make do. "
There was some history there, because Gaston looked angry and more than a little put out. Midas wasn't exactly known for being generous with money. He wasn't exactly greedy, just very careful with where his money went. Gaston didn't understand that Midas was as good a business man as he was a gambler, and it was never good business to lose money.
Abigail placed her cards on the table and stood up. Ruby glanced away from Keith to take in the rest of the casino. She knew instantly what had caused the shift in Abigail's attention. There was no way it was a coincidence. Regina smirked at Ruby as she approached before being pulled into a hug by Abigail.
Regina was dressed for a night out. She wore a long black sleeveless dress with enough of a skirt to hide a gun or a knife. Despite the 'no weapons' policy, Ruby didn't doubt that Regina was at least partially armed.
"You're here! Good. Now, you know Tiny, right?"
Regina nodded at the giant of a man. "Yes, we've met before. It's nice to see you again, Tiny."
Tiny smiled at Regina. "You too. The Princess has been complaining about you ignoring her for the last month."
"I've been busy." Regina glanced at Abigail quickly. "Abigail knows that. Anyway, I came here to play some poker. Shall we?"
Regina sat next to Ruby and the table played out the rest of the hand. No one seemed annoyed at Regina's inclusions except Gaston, but he wisely didn't comment on it. Tiny won and pulled the chips towards himself as the dealer collected all the cards up and shuffled them. Ruby still kept her eyes mostly on Keith, but she couldn't help the few glances at Regina.
Regina had, not so surprisingly, a good poker face and she played a good game of poker. Living a life of lies and multiple identities was good practice for it.
Keith tossed all of his chips towards the man running the roulette wheel. He placed a single table chip on a number and laughed loudly. Abigail glanced at him and snickered. The wheel spun and Keith lost. He stared at the table for a few seconds before starting to yell at the man raking his chips away. Ruby threw her cards down on the table.
"I'm afraid that's my cue to leave."
Ruby made her way across the room and grabbed Keith's elbow as he raised a fist threateningly.
"Well, would you look at that? You have no money left. I guess we'd better get going then." She hissed in his ear.
"Not until I get my money back!"
"From a casino? Good luck with that. Unfortunately it's not going to happen while I'm here. I will drag you out if I have to. But I doubt it will come to that, Midas has already called some of his security to escort you out by the looks of it."
Keith glared at the two large men in suits heading towards them.
"Fine. Let's go."
Ruby saw the movement out of the corner of her eye.
Regina cleared the table in a single leap. Ruby had just enough time to raise her hands before Regina's arm wrapped around her chest and she pulled all three of them to the ground. Ruby's arms were useless in the end as they were pressed between her chest and Regina's shoulder. It happened quickly, but Ruby did not miss the unmistakable wet thud of a bullet piercing through flesh. By the time Regina pushed herself off of Ruby blood was already flowing down her arm from her shoulder. Regina gritted her teeth and pulled Ruby up with her good arm.
"Get your informant and get out of here."
"Regina…"
"Do it! I'll be fine, but the longer you wait the more likely your only link to Rumpelstiltskin will die."
"He's not worth it."
"Unlike you, I have back up."
Abigail appeared at Regina's side, peering carefully at the bullet wound.
"Frankenstein's been called and father has cleared out one of the back rooms for you. Come on Gina, we need to get that looked after."
"Don't call me that. What happened to the shooter?" Regina gritted out.
"Tink's on it. Agent Red, you are of course welcome to come back, but I suggest you leave now. Things only get more confusing after this and I doubt our shooter is alone."
Ruby gazed down at Regina. "Will you…"
"I'll live." Snapped Regina. "Now go. I didn't get shot for you to lose your man."
Ruby nodded and ran to Keith. She grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him outside to her car.
/-/-/-/
Keith had given up as much information as he had, and then he had been secreted away. Ruby was glad to be rid of him. She found out two days later that the would-be assassin never made it out of the casino. He had been gunned down, but by whom was still unknown. It didn't take a genius to figure it out though. After hurting Regina it would have taken a miracle for someone to get away from Tinker Bell.
Keith's information hadn't been much, but it had been something, which was more than the Agency had before. It was through Keith that Ruby found out that Belle had once been Rumpelstiltskin's prisoner before she was his lover. He now thought her to be dead because Regina told him she threw herself off a building. Someone had certainly died that day to convince Rumpelstiltskin that it was the truth, but it wasn't Belle. She had spent the next three years as Regina's prisoner, but neither Keith nor Rumpelstiltskin seemed to know that. Ruby was more interested in the sort of relationship Rumpelstiltskin and Regina had that he believed her about the only woman he had ever loved. It spoke of trust, or at least mutual respect and perhaps regular contact.
Maybe she'd ask the next time she ran into Regina, if there weren't more dire matters to take care of.
/-/-/-/
Jiminy Cricket had information about a series of arsons spreading out of Germany and throughout the rest of Europe. His clearance level had been greatly reduced and during the major rehaul of the Agency's computer system, he had been completely removed. Granny ensured Ruby that the proper steps had been taken to reduce the risk of betrayal. Ruby was still loath to trust him since Regina's revelation that he worked both sides of the fence.
The first arson case had been at the Gingerbread House. They were all very meticulous and with never a witness in sight. If it weren't for a slip up at the latest site resulting in a single witness, it was likely the Agency would never have picked up on it. The witness was a blind German lady. Here passport proved that she had been travelling Europe in vaguely the same path as the fires. It was a little too coincidental. Especially when Ruby found herself face to face with the blind woman she had interviewed all those months ago. Unfortunately there had been nothing but circumstantial evidence to hold Miss Patti Ginger and she had been let go. But the Agency kept a close eye on her and the trail of fires left in her wake. It was Ruby's job to follow Miss Ginger and try to find something incriminating, but Miss Ginger was good. Not once did she buy supplies herself. Everything appeared and disappeared through an endless supply of lackeys.
Ruby hadn't expected to run into Regina though. She had entertained the possibility that Regina was connected to Miss Ginger. It seemed likely that Miss Ginger was Regina's contact from the Gingerbread House. But that didn't mean that Ruby expected to find Regina sitting at the same restaurant that Miss Ginger frequented in Southern France.
"Ah, Miss Lucas. I see Ginger has attracted your attention." Regina said as Ruby slipped into the chair opposite her. "Shame really, she's been rather annoyed at you for a while, and she's not the sort of person you want to anger."
Regina stirred sugar into her tea. She delicately placed the spoon in her mouth to lick the excess tea off of it before placing it gently on the saucer. She picked the tea cup up with the same hand, her other one semi-immobilised by the sling meant to keep her shoulder still. The gunshot wound was still healing.
"What did I do to her? Wait, Ginger's her real name?"
"Yes, it is. Before you no one ever thought a blind woman could be a rather prolific arsonist so she didn't bother with an alias."
"That's why she's annoyed at me?" Ruby glanced over her shoulder at Miss Ginger. It wasn't the best view, but Regina had been at the table first.
"No. You interrupted our lunch meeting at the Ginger Bread House."
"So she was who you were meeting?"
"Yes and no. I was there to talk to her, but there was never any meeting. Anyway, unfortunately Ginger took your interruption as a reason to not join me in my latest business endeavour. Something she has come to regret, because it turned out quite profitable. Now she wants in and I have already filled the position I was offering her. An old friend freed her schedule for me and is having too much fun to quit now. As I'm sure you've figured out, Ginger is quite skilled with fires, and aside from you, who suspects the blind woman?"
A waiter walked past the table and subtly slipped a folded piece of paper under Regina's unused soup bowl. Regina read the note quickly and scrawled out a reply which was picked up by a different waiter just minutes later.
"If she's blind how does she read your notes?"
"She doesn't. They're taken into the back room where they are read to her over a secure communications link and then burned. It's very efficient and this isn't the only place she's set up like this. Hansel and Gretel used to be in her pocket. They should have known better than to let your Agency into her affairs. I suggest you deal with Ginger before she deals with you."
"Hansel and Gretel?"
Regina sipped from her tea cup and nodded. "You'd know them as Nicolas and Ava. I believe she blackmailed them with juvenile records. Petty theft and the like. I'm afraid our time together has come to an end, Miss Lucas. I really must be going."
Granny would chew her out for it, but Ruby didn't have the heart to arrest the woman who was healing from a gunshot wound taken to save her. Besides, no one had to know that Regina was even there.
/-/-/-/
Things quickly started to add up. Supplies moved to and from an apartment and all of Miss Ginger's lackeys visited it several times a week. Miss Ginger was the owner of the top three floors. Shortly after finding that out the Agency bought the next two down. They had well placed handy fire escapes that would provide excellent entry points to the top three levels. Miss Ginger was making a move and an overheard phone call meant that Ruby knew the day that Miss Ginger would survey her stock. All they needed to do was to catch her there. The supplies had all been tracked; every single item in the warehouse could be linked to Miss Ginger. Proving she was an arsonist would be harder, but was still doable. Especially with the excellent lawyers the Agency hired.
Ruby had a team ready to go at any given moment from the second she knew Miss Ginger would be making a visit to the apartment building. They had been briefed and most days were spent going over contingency plans.
Late into the evening Miss Ginger left her tiny hotel room for the apartment building. Ruby was on her phone seconds later, getting her people into the building before Miss Ginger got there. They would be in position on the fire escape, ready to rush in at a moment's notice. Ruby was set up in the back room of the 7-11 across the street. It had been the easiest and least assuming place. Agents could easily enter through the back dressed as delivery men and no one would question a thing. The Agency compensated the owner enough to ensure that he wouldn't say a word. But the Agency was not an organisation built on trust and his phone and home had been bugged for extra security.
Settled into the back of the shop by herself, Ruby gazed over the different video feeds on the laptop in front of her. They showed the positions of her people and who was entering and exiting the complex. Miss ginger had entered only moments ago.
Ruby knew the moment she was no longer alone in the room. The shop out the front had quieted down very quickly, unnaturally so.
"If I'd known you would do something stupid like this I never would have suggested that you deal with her. Falling for her trap will end in someone's death, and it won't be hers. You and your Agency are not untouchable and I fear you will learn that the hard way."
Ruby carefully closed her laptop and turned around. Standing behind her in the middle of the room was Regina, and further back, leaning against the door frame was Tinker Bell. Ruby just stared.
"What are you doing here, Regina? What am I meant to make of this?"
"I'm here to help you." Regina said softly.
"Bullshit. You have no reason to."
"I have every reason to." Regina snapped back. "And it's not the first time. I've saved your life before, Agent Red."
"But never just because it was me! You've always had another reason, something you get out of it. Something!"
She wasn't angry. That was the way their world worked. It was a game of give and take, win and lose, good and bad. Except no one was really good and Ruby had met very few people she considered bad. Regina was not one of them.
"It's always been because of you, even from the beginning. You were just another agent, one I didn't need to hurt, didn't want to hurt. I never meant for Quinn to die. But you're right. There were other things, bonuses I guess, there always are. You presented me with an opportunity to finally get back at those two idiots, but I did my best to make sure you weren't hurt in the crossfire."
"How do I know that I can trust you? You're the Evil Queen for god's sake! Whether you go by that name anymore or not, it doesn't stop you from being at the top of the Agency's most wanted list. I have spent my life trying to bring you down."
"I don't know what to say, Agent Red. But a lot of people could die today. I trusted you once, now please, trust me."
"When?"
"I didn't spare Snow White and Prince Charming because I forgave them, Agent Red. You were right; I would have become my mother. Who could have possibly loved me then?"
Ruby clenched her teeth together and just looked at Regina. Her hair wasn't perfect, and she wasn't wearing her normal heels. Regina had obviously run hard from wherever she was to get to Ruby. She meant it, she wasn't lying. There was no arrogance, no pride to hide what Regina was saying. And if Regina of all people could put aside her pride to offer Ruby help, then the least Ruby could do was accept it.
"Get everyone out of the building." Ruby said firmly into the com system. "The undercover agents as well. I don't care how, as long as no one else goes inside."
It was a long half hour wait before Ruby could confirm that everyone had been accounted for.
"What happens now, Regina? They're safe, but Ginger is still in there."
"I know. But I have a plan."
Regina stepped forward and rested her palm on Ruby's cheek. Her fingers curled behind Ruby's ear. She placed a gentle kiss on Ruby's lips. Their breath mingled as they stood still, their foreheads pressed together.
"I'm sorry, Ruby."
Regina took a step back, her finger hooking around Ruby's ear piece and ripping it away from her. She dropped it to the ground near Tinker Bell and the other woman crushed it beneath her heel.
"Regina! Whatever you're planning is a bad idea." Ruby said quickly, trying to stop Regina before she left the room.
"Probably, dear. But Ginger is not known for giving up or forgetting those who slight her. She will hunt you until someone dies. I intend to make sure it's her." Regina turned away. "Tink, you have your orders."
Ruby made to follow Regina as she left the room but Tinker Bell grabbed her and cuffed them together, one cuff around each of their wrists. Ruby yanked her wrist, earning a displeased grunt from Tinker Bell.
"You can't think this is a good idea."
"It's not my job to think. It's my job to kill people and follow orders. So sit down and shut up. I'm as happy about this as you are. But my orders are to keep you alive, if I have to beat you unconscious to do that I will."
"And if she dies?"
"She won't." Tinker Bell said firmly.
"But if she does, all you will have done is sat on your ass and watched. I don't know if Regina needs help, but on the off chance that she does, I want to be there."
"Why do you care about her? A year and a half ago you were trying to kill her for the death of your partner."
"She's not the Evil Queen anymore."
"That doesn't mean she's a good person."
"No. But that doesn't mean I want her to die. Don't let her pride be the death of her."
"It's not her pride I'm worried about. It's not her pride that has her risking her life for you. Again." Tinker Bell swore harshly and started to pace, dragging Ruby along with her.
"Fine. Fine. We'll do this your way. We'll make sure she doesn't die."
Ruby didn't get a chance to respond before Tinker Bell was pulling her out of the room and through the 7-11.
They were halfway across the street to the apartment building when the top five floors exploded in a fiery blast. Body parts and glass to fell down onto the street from where the windows had blown out.
If it wasn't pride, then what was it?
