A/N: At present I estimate there's about five chapters left to go. This is not just to please InSilva.
Hoping he was doing the right thing, he reached out and patted her gently on the shoulder. "There, there," he murmured comfortingly, and inside he grimaced at the cliche. "You're going to be alright now."
"We've got a place you'll be safe for the moment," Bobby added, stepping forwards. "It's not far. There's a doctor there. He can get you fixed up. You can get Lizzie some food and get to bed. That sound okay?"
She nodded, but she was still crying.
Saul glanced quickly at Bobby. Part of him wanted to demand that she tell them everything right now. The rest wanted to help her.
"Let's get back to the car," he suggested. "Ruby, can you walk?" She nodded, biting her lip, and took a wobbly step forwards. Saul had to grab her arm quickly to steady her. "Lean on me," he ordered her gently.
Bobby stepped forwards and scooped Lizzie up into his arms. "Come on, kiddo," he said gruffly. "Let's get you to bed."
She regarded him wisely for a moment and then snuggled down into his arms. "Who're you?" she asked sleepily.
"We're friends of your Mom's," Bobby said easily, starting to walk back towards the car. Saul followed, his arm carefully around Ruby's waist, supporting as much of her weight as he could. She was barely conscious, he thought. Whatever had happened, it was all just a little too much.
"Mommy's crying," Lizzie told Bobby worriedly. "And she's got an owie."
"I know," Bobby said seriously. "But we're going to a doctor and she's going to be just fine. So don't you worry."
Lizzie nodded. "Doctor's 'spensive."
There was a slight pause. "Not this doctor," Bobby said finally, reassuringly.
They reached the car and Saul got Ruby settled in the backseat.
She blinked up at him. "You don't need to call a doctor," she told him. "I'll be fine, honestly, if I can just get some rest. I don't want to owe you any more...I mean, you've already done more than anyone else ever has."
It was his fault she was hurt at all. But he understood about pride and not wanting to take charity. "The doctor's already there," he told her. "Walt's a friend of ours. He's there looking after Danny."
"Your son?" It almost hurt to see the hope in her eyes. She didn't even know the boys. "You got them back?"
He swallowed. "Danny. Patrick still has Rusty."
"Oh." She reached out and took his hand timidly, as though she was trying to comfort him, and when she spoke it was tremulous and hesitant. "I think...I think I might have the address."
He stared at her for a long moment and countless questions were flooding through his head, and more than that, far more than that, he was gripped with the need to find out exactly where and to charge off, regardless of consequences.
Except that wasn't an option right at the moment. He took a deep breath. However it felt, they needed to get Ruby and Lizzie to Walt first of all. And they needed a plan, they couldn't just run in blindly, no matter how tempting it was. That'd be a sure way to get Rusty killed. And, come to think of it, they really should check the address against the rest of the information they had. They couldn't afford any wild goose chases.
He smiled at her reassuringly. "When we get you to the safe house," he said.
She nodded and he shut the car door and walked round to where Bobby was standing, Lizzie still in his arms having apparently fallen asleep.
"You hear?" he asked Bobby in a low voice.
"Don't get your hopes up," Bobby warned, but his eyes were shining with desperate hope.
After all this time the thought that they might be on the brink of getting Rusty back...the hope was almost painful.
"You want to drive or hold the kid?" Bobby asked him abruptly.
Saul blinked at him. Hold the...
"We don't have a child seat and she's too small to sit safely with a seatbelt," Bobby explained, actually looking amused. "And Ruby's hurt so she shouldn't do it."
Oh. Well, Bobby looked perfectly comfortable with the child in his arms. "I will drive," he decided firmly.
Bobby still looked amused. "Thought so," he said.
They got into the car and Saul drove off. It wasn't often that he wondered what it would be like if the boys really were his. But seeing Bobby holding the kid, comfortable in a way he just never would be...it set him wondering again. Like in the motel before. Like, as painful as it was to admit it, when Patrick had been reminiscing about Benny.
Mostly he remembered how lucky he was to have found them at all.
The drive only took about ten minutes. Thankfully there wasn't much traffic at this time of night. Still he kept the speed down. Being arrested right now would be completely disastrous.
The safehouse and they parked and he helped Ruby inside as Bobby walked behind them carrying Lizzie.
Walt met them in the doorway, looking as reassuring and reliable as always. The man never seemed to age. "Good to see you again," he said, looking at Saul and Bobby, relieved.
Danny appeared in the bedroom doorway behind him and Saul frowned. Danny's face was flushed and his eyes were a little glassy. He looked worse than when they left. And still Saul smiled the moment he saw him.
"And this must be the young lady you told me about," Walt continued, smiling warmly at Ruby. "I'm Walt, friendly neighbourhood doctor extraordinaire at your service. These reprobates asked me to take a look at you. Is that alright?"
She hung back hesitantly. "Lizzie - "
" - your daughter? Is she hurt?" Walt asked urgently.
"No, no." She shook her head. "But I don't want her to see."
"Perfectly understandable," Walt nodded. "Why don't Saul and Bobby look after her in the other room for a while? Would that be okay?"
She took a step closer to Saul "Yes..." she said after a second. "But can Saul come with me?"
He wasn't sure that was exactly appropriate. But she was looking at Walt and it wasn't exactly fear and it wasn't exactly mistrust...but it could easily turn into both. If Saul being there made her even a bit more comfortable then he could do that. He could always - would always - turn his head. "Okay," he agreed. "If that's what you want."
She smiled at him thankfully. "I can tell you about Mike at the same time," she added. "If that's alright, that is?"
"Mike?" Danny asked sharply, his eyes fixed on her face.
"We got an address to check out," Bobby told him. "I'm going to check it on the map. Ruby, what is it?"
"1156 Moll Street," Ruby said quickly.
"If we know the address, why aren't we there?" Danny demanded.
"Because we need to know as much as possible," Bobby said patiently. "You know that. We need to be sure and we need backup. I know how you feel, but we're going to take care of it, Danny."
Danny didn't look like he was prepared to accept that. But Walt was ushering Ruby into the other room and Saul followed quickly, leaving Bobby with Danny and Lizzie.
"Where are you hurt, my dear?" Walt asked when the door closed behind them, and he was already rummaging through his little black bag.
"Well, my face," she began hesitantly. "But you can see that. My chest and wrist hurt too."
"Okay, let's take a look," Walt said gently.
Saul averted his gaze as she took her top off. "You were going to tell me what happened?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said softly. "Mike came into the club tonight. He asked for me, like he always does. He seemed...upset about something. Angry, I guess. He was drinking a whole lot more'n usual. And when I was dancing for him he was rougher than usual. His hands were everywhere."
Her voice shook slightly and he bit his lip. "You shouldn't have to put up with that."
"I'm used to it, or I should be," she said, matter of factly. "Rex - the bouncer - is supposed to stop them touching us, but as long as they're paying good money, Harvey tells him to turn a blind eye. But Mike wouldn't stop, and I tried to give you a call when I got away from him for a moment, but there was no answer and I didn't want to risk leaving a message."
"I'm sorry," Saul said, grimacing. He should have given her Molly's number too. Should have made sure there was someone there to take the call. Only he hadn't really been expecting it. He hadn't thought that Mike would go to the club. And the anger and the upset...that was because of Dirk, he thought. Because Dirk was dead. And that made this even more Saul's fault.
"Can you lift your arms up for me a moment?" Walt interrupted, his tone patient and professional. "That's good, thank you. Now take a deep breath in...and out...that's it. Mmmm."
"Is everything okay?" Saul asked sharply.
"Yes," Walt answered, addressing Ruby, not Saul. "Looks like nothing's broken but you've got some impressive bruising. I wouldn't try running any marathons anytime soon."
"Don't think I'm going to be doing much other than running anytime soon," Ruby answered, sounding exhausted. "Anyway, she added with false brightness. "Mike paid for another lap dance and while I was doing that I noticed he had his wallet hanging out of his jeans pocket. I thought...I figured maybe he'd have his address on his driver's license or something. Something that you could use to get your kids back. So...I took it." She sounded guilty and desperate and surprised at her own daring.
Saul found it difficult to believe she'd actually done that. And he hadn't asked her to this, and all he could manage to say was a soft "Thank you."
"I'd never done anything like that before," she went on and Saul nodded, unsurprised. She didn't seem the type. "I managed to hide it on the back of the booth behind his head while I was dancing. Then...when we were done...I picked it up and ran off into the back room."
"That was well thought," he said and it was. Because there wasn't a whole lot of hiding places in what she was wearing so the fact that she'd actually managed to keep it hidden...he was impressed. "And you took the address from the license?" he asked, trying to keep from sounding disappointed. Even if it was up to date, Mike's address probably wouldn't do them much good.
"No," she said quickly. "There was a piece of paper stuffed in the side. It was all crumpled. I guess he'd just stuffed it back in there when he was finished with it. But it said Patrick Knight, and it had the address on it and a phone number. I...I'm afraid I didn't get the number. I'm sorry."
"You got the address," he said, warmly and sincerely. "That's so much more than I could ever hope for. Thank you, Ruby."
"Oh..." She sounded flustered. "Oh, it was nothing."
Only that wasn't true. "How did you get hurt?" he asked her gently.
She hesitated for a long moment. "I was planning on handing the wallet into Rex," she said at last. "Telling him I'd just found it on the floor. I figured Mike would think he'd just dropped it. I mean, I didn't touch the money or nothing. But I guess he noticed it was missing sooner than I thought he would. He came charging into the backroom, screaming at me, and Rex was right behind, yelling at him. Until they saw me with the wallet in my hand. Then they were both after me. Rex started shouting for Harvey, and I tried...I tried to run, but I couldn't get past them and Mike punched me in the face and I fell," she said in a dull voice.
Anger, guilt and pity. All at once. "Oh, Ruby," he said helplessly. "I'm so sorry."
"They took me out into the back alley," she went on, like she hadn't heard him. "The three of them. They wouldn't stop shouting. And they hit me...they hurt me so much. I was on the ground...I thought I was going to die, and there would be no one left to look after Lizzie. I was so scared. And then Rex pulled me up, and Harvey said he was going to show me what happened to thieving whores, and I just screamed at him. I told him I wasn't a whore. I'm not, Saul. And he laughed and shoved me back against the wall, pulled my skirt up, and, oh, god, he pulled out thisknife..."
He responded to the raw, wretched fear in her voice, turning round instinctively and laying a hand on her bare shoulder, and she threw herself into his arms and sobbed. God, she was just a kid. She didn't deserve to be treated like that. No one did.
"I managed to get away," she went on, her voice muffled and indistinct and she was talking faster and faster. "I don't even know how. I kicked him, and I scratched his face, and I screamed, and somehow I got away and I ran. I didn't even know I could run that fast."
She sniffled a little and rubbed her face with the back of her arm. Walt quietly held out a tissue and Saul took it with a thankful nod and passed it to her.
"Thank you," she said, briefly lifting her head and smiling up at him bravely. "I managed to get back home without being followed, but I knew they'd come looking, so I just hauled Lizzie out of bed and ran again. I...I didn't know what to do. I don't have anywhere to go. Mom doesn't want to know...she's never even seenLizzie, you know. And all my friends are in the club, and they're not gonna want to go against Harvey. He's...he's a bad man. A monster. He's not going to let me go. Oh, god he's never going to let me go."
"It's alright," he said, rubbing her arm. "You're safe now. I'm going to keep you safe, I promise."
He didn't expect her to believe him. After all, they'd met because he'd let Rusty and Danny get hurt. But to his surprise she smiled up at him, her eyes shining. "Thank you, Saul."