Chapter Thirteen: The Things We Miss

"Shit," the word slipped from Ruby's mouth the same moment she thought it. She didn't yet have the wherewithal to consider how the old bat knew. All Ruby could think of was what this meant. This wasn't something personal. Ruby doubted either Sadun or his nephew had ever been to Mistral. In Sadun's world, this was a professional greeting card. The possibility that this was only a precursor to something even worse, shook her.

"Shit, is very right Miss Ruby," Sadun replied, thinly veiling his anger, "You will find whoever did this, and you will bring them to me. Do not dally."

Ruby, understanding the gravity of the situation, stood and made for the exit, her mind reeling. He continued to walk, escorted from the building by the same guards that brought her in. With no thought given to her destination, Ruby exited the building only making it a few steps before stumbling into someone. Snapping out of her fugue, Ruby looked up to see Haziq, concern plastered on his face.

"Hey, I know you usually work this stuff alone, but if we can be any help just.."

"My place, now," grabbing his arm and dragging him down the adjoining catwalk to the next building.

There were few people in Hatra that Ruby could actually say she liked. Haziq, surprisingly enough, was one of them. His easy going attitude, and his willingness to engage in verbal sparring when most wouldn't look her in the eye, reminded her of simpler times. Though she would certainly never tell him that. Perhaps if she had been less broken, she would have even been willing to get closer to the man. God only knew where that always led though.

'No, that's enough of that thinking. This isn't the time to feel sorry for yourself. You have a job to do."

Before long they arrived back at her apartment, Haziq waiting outside while she went in. Ruby grabbed her pistol and her knife, not even thinking of bringing them with to the heart. Stopping momentarily, Ruby's hand lingered over the creation that she had spent ten months slaving over. She ran her fingers over it's brilliant silver curves, 'No need for that. I'd draw too much attention anyways. The hell was I thinking, building it to begin with?'

Ruby walked out of the room shaking her head, she stopped seeing Haziq standing there, she glared at him for a moment.

"What? You can't already be pissed at me, I've barely said anything," he said feigning being distraught.

Ruby turned around and locked her door, for the first time in months.

"Oh….yeah I can see why you might be a little angry," he stated sheepishly, "So where to now?"

"Your place, we'll talk there" Ruby kept her answer curt.

"My place? Why can't we talk here?" Haziq raised an eyebrow, as he followed her.

"One, you have alcohol, and I need a drink," Ruby stated, causing Haziq to roar in laughter.

"The second being, even if he gives me free reign I know your boss wants to be kept informed. Since your apartment is bugged it will save me a trip across the city." Ruby continued her brisk walk down the halls, Haziq looking almost offended.

"Bugged? There's no way the boss would…" Haziq trailed off for a moment as they walked, "Huh, hadn't thought of that."

"Uh huh. You've known him long enough to realize the whole caring grandpa act is bullshit. He doesn't actually trust anyone," Ruby stated, "Clearly for good reason too."

Haziq raised an eyebrow at her comment, "You don't actually think.."

Ruby stopped and placed her hand on his mouth, "I do. We'll talk about it when we get to your place."

Ruby grabbed his arm and continued dragging him through the winding passages and stairwells that made up Hatra. Frustratingly, Haziq lived halfway across the city, so it was something of a hike. Ruby was rather used to it however with her morning runs, looking back she was surprised at how little the long march bothered Haziq. It was only now that Ruby realized how often he made the walk to her part of the city.

"Why are you the go between for me?" Ruby asked nonplussed, "Why not someone who lives closer?"

"Because I volunteered. The boss needed someone he could trust to deal with you, so he asked me and a few others," Haziq answered as they rounded a corner, "So I volunteered. Knew it would be fun."

Ruby raised an eyebrow at that, "Fun? You thought dealing with me would be fun?"

"No, I knew it would be. I was right too," Haziq seemed rather smug about it, "Besides, after that business on the seventh floor I was the only one who wasn't scared shitless of you."

"Oh yeah...the seventh floor. That certainly brings back memories," Ruby paused for a moment "Why weren't you scared of me?"

It seemed it was Haziq's turn for confusion, "Are you fucking with me?"

Ruby gave a quizzical look, not sure what he was getting at.

Haziq stopped completely now, "You really don't remember! I thought for the whole last year that you…"

"Remember what, Haziq?"

"The grenade! The fucking grenade!" Haziq shouted, stunned at the situation.

Ruby mentally blanked for a long second, thinking back to a year prior. The incident on the seventh floor had happened on her third day in Hatra. It had been a two day long manhunt for her, starting and ending on the seventh floor. It hadn't ended until Ruby had saved one of the Wardens from getting killed by one of his friends, "Holy shit! That was you!"

"Yes! Who do you think called the whole thing off? Who do you think convinced the boss to talk to you?" Haziq shouted incredulously.

"Oh...well I'd thank you, but since I saved your life I guess we can call it even," Ruby teased, a shit eating grin plastering her face.

Haziq barked out a laugh, "I suppose even works."

Shortly after their conversation had ended they arrived back at Haziq's apartment. It was much larger than Ruby's, which wasn't to say it was lavish by any means. The apartment had four rooms and was about 900sq feet. The furniture was simple, and the decorations few but certainly not tasteful.

It was not Ruby's first time there, but despite how many times she said something he had done little about his decorations, "I see you covered her tits," Ruby said gesturing to a poster of a naked model that had a calendar taped up to cover her nakedness.

"I was tired of listening to you cry about it," Haziq joked.

"You would be tired of other women crying about it too, if you could ever get them through your door," Ruby shot back.

Not so willing to be outdone Haziq continued their typical banter, "How dare you shame me for liking large women."

Ruby let out a chuckle at this, grabbing a bottle of scotch and a couple glasses from his cabinet, "It wouldn't be weird if all your large women didn't look like your large mother."

Haziq grabbed his chest feigning shock, "If my mother you say that she would cry!"

"As she would if she saw your apartment, but I think we've already established that she won't fit through your door," there was an awkward silence as Ruby set down the bottle and glasses on Haziq's table. Ruby looked up at Haziq before they both exploded in laughter.

Sitting down, Ruby poured the amber liquid in both glasses, before they both quickly downed it. Ruby poured more, a heavy silence falling on the room.

"So...betrayal, huh?" Haziq asked solemnly.

Ruby didn't know a lot about Sadun's nephew, Abdul, but she knew he rarely spent his evenings at home, "Sadun said it happened last night. Where? Eastern block?"

Haziq merely nodded in response.

"That's nearly 150sq miles of the most confusing ground in the city. It's nearly impossible to follow anyone through there, between the winding corridors and the crowds," Ruby stated, knowing that Haziq had likely come to the same conclusion. Stating it aloud was a whole other matter, "Based on the ammo used, this wasn't a random killing. That means Abdul was the target. It means our killer knew where he would be last night, likely knew exactly when he would be there."

"Maybe they just found somewhere he frequents, and waited," Haziq argued.

" place it happened, somewhere he go often?" Ruby asked, already knowing the answer before she received it.

"No, never heard of him going there before," Haziq answered sheepishly, "Ruby, no one has ever betrayed us like this before. Sure people have stolen from the boss before, or tried to plot against him….but this?"

"I'm not asking you to like it Haziq. There could only be a few people who know him well enough to have that information. I need their names," Ruby chose her words carefully, knowing that none of this was easy for Haziq.

There was a long tense silence between the two, Haziq kept opening his mouth as if to talk, but unable to find the words.

"Haziq, please."

"Three people," he murmured.

"Names, Haziq," Ruby stated tersely, pushing for answers.

"Ella, the girlfriend," Ruby nodded at this, already familiar with the girl, "Jinsa, one of his friends from the Wardens. If it involved Abdul and the eastern block, it involved Jinsa too," Haziq paused again, as if unsure what to say.

"The last name Haziq? Who knew?" Ruby questioned him, her voice soft.

Another long silence followed, "Me...I knew. After the last incident, I made him keep me informed, even hid a tracker on his scroll, just in case," Haziq was silent for another moment, "I'm the most likely suspect, Ruby, boss likes me, but his nephew will be the one to inherit the city. I stand to gain the most from his death."

Ruby stood up a grin on her face, "That narrows it down to two. Send their info to the office on the west side of the market, I have some stuff to pick up."

Haziq turned to look at Ruby, shocked at her lack of reaction, "Wait, Ruby! How do you know for sure that it wasn't me?"

Ruby stopped halfway to the door, turning back to look at Haziq, her eyes glowing with a cold fury, "I would hope, because you know that if you did anything that stupid, I would be the one coming after you," Ruby's words ice, and her voice steel as she left the apartment.

Haziq sat frozen in his chair, and for the first time in the year he'd known her, he was truly terrified of Ruby.

Ruby made her way into the market, hoping she hadn't scared Haziq too badly. She had to make it clear to him that regardless of how well they got along, that he wouldn't receive any special treatment from her in that regard. Not just for Haziq, but also Sadun who she didn't doubt was listening. Those depressing matters aside, her mood was looking up. She had a short list of leads, and she was on her way to visit her favorite person in Hatra.

Ruby entered into the market, the sights, sounds and smells washing over her as usual. It was still fairly early in the day, not yet noon, so the market wasn't terribly difficult. Combined with her familiarity with the market, this made her trek through fairly short. Soon Ruby approached a nondescript stall, close to the northwest corner.

"Hey Jen!" Ruby greeted the woman standing at the stall.

"Hi Ru.."

"Hi Ruby!" came the shrill voice of an adorable fox eared girl, jumping halfway over the countertop, and knocking a few things over. Ruby smiled down at the adorable girl.

"Ferrah! How many times do I have to tell you?" Jen scolded looking incredulously at her daughter.

"Sorry mom," Ferrah groaned as she began picking the items up.

Jen let out a long sigh, "Finish picking these things up, and then you can ask Ruby to walk around the market with you," Ferrah perked up suddenly, her mother interrupting her premature cheer, "If, she isn't busy."

"Yes mom," came the defeated little voice.

Ruby leaned down closer to the girl, "Don't worry, I'm never too busy to go on a stroll with you little lady."

The smile returned to Ferrah's face and she rapidly began returning the items to their place on the counter.

"So are you ever going to show me what you did with all that crap you bought?" Jen questioned Ruby.

Ruby's latest project was something of a secret, but it's hard to keep something like that a secret from the person who provides all your materials. In fact Ferrah was the only person besides Ruby who had even seen the schematics for the thing.

Ruby had actually met Jen through Ferrah. The woman and her daughter had only been in Hatra a couple weeks longer than Ruby. It was on Ruby's first trip to the market that she met Ferrah, who at the time was just as hopelessly lost as her.

Ruby gave a sheepish grin, "I ended up scrapping the thing. Just didn't work out."

Jen gave Ruby a sidelong glance, "Liar."

In the midst of trying to formulate a response, Ruby was abruptly interrupted, "All done!"

Shouted Ferrah, from her place at the counter, "Mom, can Ruby please get me ice cream?"

Jen rolled her eyes, "You'll have to ask her, dear."

"Ruby please!" Ferrah quickly turned to Ruby, her eyes large.

Ruby chuckled, "Yea, I think I can make ice cream happen."

"Yes!" Ferrah shouted,running over and grabbing Ruby's hand as they took off into the twisting market.

Within a couple short minutes, they were walking along, Ferrah with an ice cream cone in her hand, and Ruby's hand in her other.

"Did something bad happen Ruby?" Ferrah asked innocently as they walked.

Ruby looked down at Ferrah, surprised at the question, "Why do you ask Ferrah?"

Ferrah continued to walk along, eating her ice cream. The girl seemingly oblivious to the gravity of the question, "All the Warrens have been kinda weird today. Normally they are all really nice, but today they're weird."

Ruby took a moment to think about how to answer the question, the little girl was too clever to believe an outright lie, "One of their friends got hurt yesterday. It's nothing you need to worry about."

"Did someone hurt him?" Ferrah questioned, continuing to innocently eat her ice cream.

"And you are asking that becau…"

"Because you came from the north today. You usually come from the south. If someone hurt him then you find the bad guy right? Mom says that you help people," the girl started skipping as she finished her ice cream.

Ruby sighed, not expecting an interrogation from the young girl, "Yea… something like that. I'm gonna find the person who did it real soon."

"That's good," they walked along a few minutes in silence, "Ruby, are you a huntress?"

That one certainly gave her pause. The young girl was always curious, but today's line of questioning was particularly difficult. Ruby thought for a long moment before answering, "No, at least not technically."

"Why not? Helping people is what huntressess do right? I want to be a huntress one day," the girl casually stated, as she bent down to tie her shoes.

"I did too. I spent a loooooong time trying to be one. Eventually though, I realized that I wasn't so sure that I really did want to be a huntress," Ruby stated, not expecting such a deep conversation from the little girl.

"Then what did you want to be?" Ferrah asked.

Ruby let the silence linger between them for a moment before deciding on an answer, "I guess… I just want to be a good person."

Ferrah looked up at Ruby, with an intense gaze, "Are you then? A good person?"

"I try to be, unfortunately it can be really hard sometimes," Ruby said, feeling sadly reminiscent.

"Well if it's ever too hard you can ask me for help! I'm really good at being good!" the young faunus stated proudly, pushing her chest out.

Ruby laughed, looking down at the adorable girl, "Oh really, should I ask your mom about that one?"

The young girl missed a step nearly falling, "I try really hard to be good," the girl said sheepishly.

Ruby laughed again as they rounded a corner, on the way back to Jen's stall.

"What's that weird smell?" Ferrah asked Ruby, scrunching her nose.

Ruby stopped not noticing any weird smells, at least aside from the usual. As she stood there she began to notice that something about the smell did seem slightly off.

"It smells like amoana! My mom uses it to clean some of the stuff in the shop," Ferrah stated suddenly.

Ammonia seemed about right, possibly urine. Though such a thing would normally catch someone a beating from the Wardens, Ruby wouldn't be surprised if that was the source of the smell.

"Ruby look at that!" the girl shouted as she dragged Ruby over to a nearby stall. Ferrah was staring down at the bracelets and charms on the man's stall.

Ruby looked down at the cheap jewelry, amused at how quickly the girl's attention was diverted. Looking down with her, Ruby spotted a little bracelet with a rose charm on it. Ruby grinned and looked up at the shopkeeper, "How much is this one?"

A short while later Ruby left the market after a quick visit to the local Warden office, with a lis of addresses, and Ferrah with a new bracelet.

AN: So for whatever reason the site decided to delete my author note, so I'm fixing it now. So yeah I'm alive. I know better than to make promises, but I am going to try and get this arc finished soooooonish? If yall could leave a review I would really appreciate it. It makes me feel good about myself and shit.