Author's Note

This was supposed to be out on Friday. Sorry about the missing chapter, I managed to either pick up a bug while I was on holiday or I was out in the sun too long. Either way I've been practically useless the last few days.

Hope you enjoy the chapter, it's a bit shorter than usual but the next one should be back to normal length.

Chapter 86

Thoughts

It had been…a hectic time.

Ruby lay on her bed staring at the ceiling with an unusually thoughtful expression on her face. She hadn't had time to process recent events, not really. Things just kept happening and happening, piling one on top of the other.

She was exhausted.

However, she really needed to deal with everything pinging around in her brain.

Taking a deep breath she decided to focus on things one at a time. The first issue that jumped to mind wasn't surprising.

Michael almost killed Hedy.

She gritted her teeth and took a deep breath.

That was a traumatizing scene that wasn't going to leave her mind or nightmares for a long while. She may have not liked Hedy in the beginning, purely down to her territorial possessiveness of the bots admittedly, but the older girl had grown on her.

And it had been terrifying to see her lying there in a pool of her own blood. She still remembered the sheer panic that had hit her in that moment.

She screwed up. Her deal didn't protect everyone.

Another deep breath.

But Hedy was alive, and recovering. Back to keeping the Toys, (and her) in line. That was both amazing and terrifying.

What if something like that happened again? She almost died. The building treats her like she's dead already.

And on to point number two that she needed to try and comprehend.

The building treated Hedy like a ghost. Like she was dead. It was better than her actually being dead but still…a little too close for comfort.

The basics? She'd been scared. Scared of the blood, of losing someone else, of it being her fault.

But Hedy was alive, for the most part. She had some new scars, and Ruby had some new nightmares. But she was alive and Ruby was never making a deal that didn't include the ghosts ever again.

Those two issues more or less put into mental boxes she moved on. Next issue.

Her loss of control.

She winced. She hadn't lost it like that in a very very long time. She'd been cruel, vindictive and sadistic as she took down Michael. It hadn't been necessary but she hadn't been able to stop herself.

It felt good.

And that made her sick. She couldn't let that happen again. She could have irreparably damaged Spring. Despite Hedy trying to ease her guilt she knew it was bad.

It would have been easier if everyone just blamed her for that instead of looking so damn understanding. Not even Goldy was angry.

She didn't deserve any of them.

Ruby nipped that self-deprecating thought in the bud immediately. She really didn't want to fall into a depressive mental spiral. Again. It wouldn't help anyone.

So she just had to make sure she never lost it like that again. Especially around the bots. She'd also make sure Hedy got the parts she needed.

And maybe head back to the therapist.

Decently satisfied with getting a handle on that issue, and promising to think more in depth on it later, she switched to the next bit.
Sally was back. It wasn't too surprising in all honesty, but it was worrisome. She'd have to keep an eye on that but it really was nothing compared to everything else that had happened so she didn't dwell on it long.

More emotionally draining was the bombshell that Jeremy knew her parents, more specifically her dad. She swallowed, blinking rapidly. That was just fate being a downright bitch. But on top of that his wife seemed to think she should step into a maternal role or something. A faint sneer crossed her face. She hated it when adults tried to decide that they were absolutely vital in the 'poor traumatized orphan's' life.

Okay, maybe she was overreacting a little but considering everything that had happened she believed that it was understandable. Plus, you had to earn the position of 'responsible adult that can tell her what to do'.

Gosh when had Hedy got that position? She couldn't remember when, but at some point she'd actually started listening to the older girl.

Her teachers would be so jealous.

At least the last shift was actually fun again. It had felt so good to just enjoy herself for a while. And it had felt especially good to let out a little harmless frustration on Amelia, as petty as that was.

Apparently the building needed to let out some frustration too considering Jeremy's condition. That had been hilarious. Her lips quirked in a smile. She loved that building, she should do something nice for it, like force the manager to do a repaint or something. Something to think of.

The smile faded after a moment and she sighed.

Right, so after this little moment of thought she was feeling a bit better. Less…overwhelmed. She was definitely going to have nightmares for a while, so she'd need to up the coffee somehow without causing the bots concern. They knew extra sugar and caffeine highs meant she was bothered by something. That would be tough. She also needed to swallow her stubbornness for a bit and just go to her therapist. Before she broke down or seriously hurt someone who couldn't just be put back together again. She needed to keep an eye out for her little Sally problem and NOT involve the pizzeria in anyway. And she needed to get Amelia to back off while not offending Hedy and her overprotective brother.

Speaking of overprotective brother…

A smirk lit up her face, a familiar sight that never ended well.

She was so looking forward to the shooting range.