A/N: A big thankyou to everyone who reviewed - you're keeping me motivated enough to post! And thankyou to everyone who's reading, but not reviewing too... Still wish i could turn off that hit counter though..

Ruby started awake, lifting her head from the crook of Leon's neck trying to figure out what woke her. She frowned, rubbing her eyes with her fingers as she rolled and looked down at the pile of clothes on the floor. The sound of an old telephone was coming from Leon's pants.

She quirked a brow and fumbled through the pockets of his jeans, in the process throwing his cigarettes across the room. She frowned at them. They smelled nasty anyway. She made a sound of victory when she found his phone and flipped it open, automatically answering without bothering to check the display.

"Helga's boom boom room." She mumbled into the phone, yawning. There was a tense silence, then a deep almost rumbling voice came down the line.

"Who the hell is this?" the man asked quietly, slightly stunned.

Ruby's brow creased. Well this was new. "I'm Ruby," She quickly looked at the display and put the phone back to her ear, "-and you're Vince."

Vince cleared his throat. "Yes, I am. Who the hell are you?" he asked, his tone a little abrupt.

She eased her way off the sofa, shouldering the phone while she draped a blanket over Leon. If anyone had shown up at the front door they would have gotten an eyeful during the night. She only just noticed she'd left the door open and the sofa was in plain sight from the doorway.

"I'm Ruby." She repeated.

There was a growl of irritation. "Yes – I've got that part. Who the fuck are you though!"

Ruby giggled as she heard a little girl in the background object loudly to the profanity, her little pixie like voice screaming to her Mama that 'Daddy sweared'.

"You just got told."

Vince grumbled. "Little snot dobs me in every time," he cleared his throat again, quietly apologising to the little girl, "-now, Ruby – mind telling me just who you are and why you have my brother's phone?"

She blinked, stopping in the middle of the room. Leon had a brother? He hadn't told her that, hadn't mentioned a word about it. Hurt niggled at her but she pushed it aside for now. She'd deal with that later.

"I'm Ruby - again, and I knew Leon when we were kids. We were in a home together."

The man on the other end made a sound of surprise. "You two were in the home together? Where he met Jesse?"

Ruby grinned, bouncing into the kitchen after pulling on her robe that had been hanging over the back of a chair. "You knew Jesse?" She asked, sounding excited, "He was such a sweetie."

"So… you know about-?"

"Yeah," she opened the fridge, grabbing out the apple juice. "I visit him every few days. Leon doesn't go as often though – it takes a lot out of him."

There was a heavy sigh. "He found him?" he sounded pleased, yet saddened at the same time. His voice took on a harder edge now. "I'm gunna kill the little fucker."

Ruby had the feeling that this Vince was going to hurt Leon when he next saw him.

"Hostile much?" She leaned against the counter, swigging from the juice carton. "Did you know that in Wisconsin butter substitutes aren't allowed to be served in state prisons? Why would you want to serve a substitute anyway? They all taste like crap."

There was a silence and Ruby looked at the display to see if he'd hung up. Nope, still there.

"Vince?"

"If you don't mind my asking – where did that come from?" he was quiet now, his voice honeyed and low. Ruby shivered. Seems the voice ran in the family.

"Well you said you were going to kill him and that made me think of prison, which then in turn made me remember hearing that law somewhere and I just thought I'd share with you."

There was some choked laughter and Ruby grinned. Vince was easier to amuse than Leon. Either that or he was just more open.

She could hear the smile in his voice. "Fair enough – anything else?"

"Well," Ruby pursed her lips in thought, "It's considered illegal to worry a squirrel in La Crosse.."

There was a soft chuckling and she heard him saying something to someone named 'firefly'. She cooed to herself at the tender tone he used. Curiosity got the better of her.

"Who's Firefly?"

He apologised for getting distracted. "She's my wife. Lights up my world."

"Aww – that is so adorable!"

There was that soft laughter again. "Thanks – now could I talk to Leon? I assume he's there if you've got his phone."

Ruby peeked out into the living room to where he lay sprawled on his stomach, arms spread out from one side of the mattress to the other.

"He's still sleeping." She told him, going back into the kitchen to start breakfast.

There was a crash, then some muted swearing. She could hear a woman laughing and Vince grumbling at her to shut up.

"He's actually sleeping?" He fell quiet, "Wait – I woke you up didn't I?"

"Sure did!" She chirped, flicking on her stereo. She grinned when The Stroke by Billy Squire came on, flooding the room in sound. She turned it down a little and danced her way back to the fridge.

"So – he's still in bed?" he asked after a moment.

"No he's on the couch," she pulled some bacon from the fridge, shouldering the phone once more so she could grab out the eggs, "- he came over late and ended up crashing. He's been a little stressed."

Vince audibly exhaled. He sounded a little less tense now. "Well what's wrong with him? He's been avoiding my calls since he left here." There was no mistaking the annoyance in his voice.

Ruby frowned. She knew Leon had a lot on his mind but to avoid his family, something she assumed meant so much to him sounded out of character for him. Then again he was rather troubled lately.

"He's been in Miami for a month – he hasn't contacted you once?"

"No," Vince sighed, "I've been worried sick about him. He didn't even let us know if he arrived ok and here you are telling me he's fine, asleep on your couch and he's found Jesse."

Ruby grimaced. "I wouldn't say 'fine' – just mediocre."

Vince grunted slightly. "I'll shoot the little shit for worrying Firefly like this," Ruby didn't even know what the man looked like but he sounded like a big man. She could just picture him rubbing his forehead as he spoke. "And I'm going to kill him for hurting Rory's feelings." He snapped.

"Who's Rory?" She asked, brow furrowed.

"My daughter – Le's niece. She turned three yesterday and she was hoping he'd call."

Ruby winced. "Oh you tell the little angel happy birthday from me and I'll talk to Le. I know Cade was sick yesterday but that's no excuse for him to forget."

"Cade was what? Is he alright?"

"He's fine now, Vince – just an upset tummy. Someone gave him chocolate." The wince she heard told her he'd seen Cade in full swing while he was ill.

"Well I suppose if he didn't mean to forget – no. No, I'm still going to kill him! He made my little girl cry."

Turning on the stove, Ruby opened the bacon and got the frying pan out.

"Look, Vince – I'll talk to him when he gets up. I'm sure it was an accident. I'll even see if I can harass him into calling you."

"You tell him Aurora cried and that I'm going to beat his skull in with a fucking brick."

She giggled. "Will do, Captain. Any other orders for this humble servant of yours?"

Vince was quiet for a minute, "No – I don't think so. But could you smack him around the head for me?"

"I think I could manage that. Sounds like fun actually!"

His rumbling laughter made her smile. The man really had a friendlier demeanour than Leon. "Thanks Ruby. I'll let you go then. Sounds like you're busy."

"Alright, puddin! You take care now." She grinned. "Oh and Vince? If you ever go to Racine remember not to wake a fireman."

".. Why?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, flipping the bacon. "Because it's illegal. Bye." She hung up before he could get another word in, tossing the phone onto the counter.

She was just serving the bacon and eggs onto a plate and pouring a mug of coffee before she went to wake up Leon when he shuffled into the room. His hair was a mess and hanging in his eyes as he looked down, buttoning the fly of his jeans.

She put the coffee pot down and walked around the bench, then promptly clipped him upside the head.

He flinched, stepping back from her, baffled. "What the hell?" he rubbed at the spot where her hand had connected. It hadn't hurt, but it was instinct.

"What's the date Leon?"

He blinked at her, confused. "I don't know.. the tenth of September?" he shrugged at her and went to speak when suddenly he paled. "Oh shit."

Ruby gave him a wide eyed look. "Forget something?" She asked innocently.

Leon frowned. "How did you know that I forgot something?"

"Vince said to tell you that you made Aurora cry and that he's going to beat your head in with a brick. He also swore a lot."

His face darkened. "When did you speak to Vince?"

She pointed to the stove where there was more bacon cooking and sat at the table with her breakfast. "He called just before – I never knew you had a brother."

"I didn't think you'd care."

Ruby stopped eating and slowly turned to look at him. She dropped her fork and stood up, picking up her mug.

"I really don't know why the fuck I bother with you sometimes, Leon. All I'm trying to be is a friend and you're treating me like a leper. Make your own damn breakfast."

"Ruby!" Leon slumped against the fridge when she just walked past him and went into her room, slamming the door behind her. He thumped the fridge with the heel of his palm and ignored the pain that spiralled up his wrist. Stalking back into the living room he looked on the floor where his clothes had been and muttered a curse. He pat his pockets once more then lifted up his shirt. He couldn't see his cigarettes anywhere. "FUCK!"