Author's Note

So updates are probably going to be slow, but haven't abandoned this fic at all. Still a lot planned.

Chapter 88

Shooting

Jeremy looked even more terrified at Ruby's eagerness and took a long swig of his now cold coffee, hoping to postpone the inevitable.

Eventually the teen's whining started to contain hints of threats in it which was a sign her patience was running out but she wasn't willing to do anything around the kids.

Didn't mean she wouldn't make him pay later if he didn't get a move on though.

Jeremy finally gathered his equipment and put most of it in Hedy's truck.

She would meet them at the ranch.

Jeremy and Ruby started off on their walk, Amelia and the kids waving goodbye from the doorway. It was hard to give directions to the place so he didn't quite trust Ruby to walk there by herself, though he wouldn't say that to her face.

"If you shoot me, even by accident..." Jeremy warned, but he had nothing to back up the threat. What would he do? Shoot her back? Yeah, right.

Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Yeah yeah, Hedy would kill me."

That was a little unexpected but at least she wouldn't be aiming at him.

"Sounds like Hedy is one of the few people who could get away with that, " Jeremy noted, a simple statement not a taunt, "Or that you actually respect."

He had seen a fair bit of his sister and the teen's relationship, but really only involving a very stressed and nearly deadly week.

Ruby huffed.

"She's alright." A pause. "And damn scary when she's actually mad." She muttered under her breath.

"What did she do?" Jeremy asked, both curious about what Hedy might have said or done to get Ruby in line and what could have happened for Hedy to lose her patience.

Ruby glanced at him, a strange unidentifiable emotion in her eyes.

"When Toby and Puppet go too far. I've heard her talking to them, keeping her anger barely controlled." She looked forward again. "She reminds me of my mom."

Jeremy started. "That's one hell of a compliment..."

Rose and Hedy never met but he could see some similarities. They both had the patience of a saint, but it was usually an act, sternly squashing a lake of vicious anger every once in a while.

Plus...Ruby exploded when she grew angry. When Rose was angry with you she would smile in a way that let you know she was plotting your murder. Your very painful, torturous murder.

So yes, there was definitely a similarity.

Ruby shuddered a little.

"I'm reckless not stupid. I don't know who the building would side with between us."

Jeremy looked a bit annoyed at the reminder of the weird building and its sentience.

"Well, if it means anything. I hope you don't find out," Jeremy said. They walked for a bit, Ruby studying their path and the landmarks, probably so she would know how to come this way again.

"Hedy is fine isn't she?" the man asked, "That fake ghost crap the building puts on her won't hurt her right?"

"She's fine." Ruby didn't sound concerned. "The building is protective. It wouldn't hurt her. Besides, it only affects her when she's in the building."

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"I'd have told her to leave if it was hurting her."

"She might not have listened," Jeremy said, frowning. "Hedy used to refuse to come anywhere near the pizzeria. She hated it. She even hated Scott mentioning it. Now though...she accidentally called it 'home' when I picked her up from the hospital."

Ruby hummed. "Yeah. She's pretty stubborn. It probably wouldn't have worked."

Jeremy huffed and nudged her, gesturing down a dirt road they'd have to take off the main road. "That way. We have had to follow this road for about thirty minutes." He was a bit surprised how far they got while just talking.

Ruby just nodded, used to walking long distances.

They talked about a few things, though mostly Jeremy was asking Ruby to slow down and she'd call him old.

They did eventually get to the ranch at the end of a long suspicious driveway, but Hedy's vehicle identified that they were at the right place.

Ruby was bouncing around in excitement now. Did the girl ever run out of energy? Besides when she was running from homicidal ghosts and robots of course.

Jeremy told her to wait with Hedy while he chatted with the landowner, a white-haired old man who seemed to have one foot in the grave with a wide grin on his face.

He seemed more than pleased to see Jeremy. He waved towards the field and nodded, gesturing back to the shed by the side of the house where he told Jeremy he still kept targets.

Meanwhile, Ruby watched as Hedy checked the guns, carefully making sure they were not loaded.

"Get that fold out table," she said, "That's what we'll put the equipment on."

Ruby skipped off to do that. She was way too excited about this.

"Well, I brought her," Jeremy said as he came to gather the weapons. "That fulfilled the deal didn't it? We can just leave." He snorted.

"Yeah, if you want Ruby to be pissed at you," Hedy said. "Relax. She's not stupid. She'll listen to your safety stuff."

A pissed off Ruby was probably scarier than a Ruby with a gun.

But just by a little.

Plus...She looked so happy at the moment...

Jeremy set up a target and soon he was showing Ruby a pistol. He didn't want to set up the clay pigeons or shot gun yet.

"You've shot before?" he asked warily.

"Yup." Ruby answered happily. "A handgun. I made friends with a biker gang."

Hedy and Jeremy just stared at her.

"A what..." Hedy asked.

"Biker gang." Ruby repeated. "Hellfire. They're pretty cool. I hang out with them every month or so. Bikers are surprisingly protective you know? They taught me to shoot."

Jeremy stared. He knew about them. He'd actually arrested a couple of them over the years, mostly due to just bar fights though. Besides that, they really were just dudes (and a couple women) who travelled together. Still.

"...okay..." He shook himself. "Walk me through the steps of what you're supposed to do."

Ruby rattled off the steps with ease. The bikers had drilled it into her so she wouldn't end up hurting herself.

Jeremy nodded along. "Okay now show me." He set a handgun down and handed both girls some earplugs and safety glasses.

Ruby picked it up and repeated herself. "Always assumed a gun is loaded." She said again. "Keep my finger off the trigger until I'm ready to shoot. Never point at something I don't want to shoot. Check that the safety is on. Check the chamber for ammo." It was clear. "Pick up the magazine. Smack it in. Switch the safety off. Cock the gun. Aim. And..."

Bang!

It had more recoil than she thought.

She hit the target at least, but it was way off from the centre. Still not a bad shot if she hadn't done it in a while.

"Squeeze and follow through," she finished, beaming at him as she set down the gun, keeping it pointed at the target.

"Good," Jeremy admitted. "Pick it up again and do your stance."

Ruby did so, finger off the trigger and Jeremy straightened up her shoulder.

"Put your feet shoulder length apart and jump up and down."

Ruby gave him a weird look but did as told.

"See where your feet are?" he said. "This is your natural stance. Bend your knees a little more and lean forward a bit. Are you left eye or right eye dominant?"

"Left." She answered, shifting her stance a little and eyeing the target. The sparkle in her eye was a little disturbing considering a gun put it there.

"Okay, you're already shooting with the correct hand then," Jeremy said, noting she was left-handed too. "Try again. Keep your feet there. I'm assuming you already know how to aim with the sights. This time try taking two deep breaths, hold the third one in, fire, then let it out when you see where it hits."

Hedy smiled a bit.

Jeremy was acting so freaked about this earlier but now he was acting very comfortable, like a fish in the water. She wondered if he trained cadets at work.

Surprisingly Ruby was good about instructions. They'd half expected her to be a horror to teach.

Instead she listened to what he said and got a lot closer to the centre this time.

Hedy went off to the side and took Jeremy's other handgun, prepping it for herself. She obviously couldn't do all the stance stuff, but she knew how to shoot. The work was mostly in the arms for her.

"Keep going," Jeremy said to Ruby as Hedy started firing. "Just keep shooting and practice. Let me know when you empty the clip. You got eight rounds left."

He glanced at Hedy, silently asking her to keep an eye on Ruby, and went to get the pigeon launcher from the farmer's shed. It was machine that launched clay disks into the air that they shot with shotguns.

Ruby gradually got the hang of the weapon. She had naturally good aim so it wasn't long before she hit the centre pretty reliably.

Probably all the target practice she used the bots for.

Hedy couldn't help laughing at the thought.

Ruby glanced over at her curiously.

"What's funny?" She'd emptied the clip and was waiting for Jeremy.

"I'm just picturing how mad a few bots are going to be that your aim naturally gets better after this."

Ruby grinned wickedly.

"I'll blame your brother."

"Oh I'm sure Foxy will love that," Hedy snorted.

Her grin just widened. She liked messing with Jeremy too much.

Jeremy saw Ruby's smile as he came back and glared suspiciously. He put the pigeon launcher in place and showed Ruby how to refill the magazine clip with bullets after checking that she put the gun's safety back on.

"Can we paint them with clown faces? It would motivate me to shoot more accurately." They weren't sure if she was joking or not.

"Now, are you talking Puppet's face or a generic clown face..." Hedy snorted and Ruby snickered in reply.

When they had shot for a while, effectively decimating the paper targets, Jeremy set up clean targets and let Ruby shoot another clip.

Downrange with no one touching the guns Jeremy carefully tore off the targets and brought them back.

"You got better," Jeremy said, handing Ruby's target to her. She could show it off if she wanted. "Your grouping could be a lot better, which just means you have to practice your form until it's consistent, but see how it's all around the centre but most to the right?" He pointed to the spattering of shots, all ten having hit the target. "You've got a good aim but you're impatient. You pull the trigger too fast and that pushes the barrel to the right a little as you shoot."

Ruby nodded. "Grouping?"

"Yeah, accuracy and precision are two different things," Jeremy said. To him, shooting was much more than "point, shoot, don't hurt yourself" like the biker gang. "Look at Hedy's. See how she has this one big hole and a bunch of smaller ones where most of her shots hit around the same place over and over again? She's more precise, even if she's above the middle and didn't hit the centre."

"What does that mean?" Ruby asked, actually interested. It was a little bizarre to have the teen listening so well. He was half waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Hedy?"

Hedy sighed, annoyed with herself. "I'm reacting to the recoil before it happens and jerk the barrel up instead of holding it still." She looked at Jeremy, "But if I tried to hold it more still, my shots go below."

"Cause you overcompensate. Practice," Jeremy said, shrugging. "Basically, she's thinking too far ahead instead of just taking a breath and focusing on her form at the moment."

Ruby snorted. "This sounds like psychology." She grinned, still bouncing a bit. She was definitely having fun.

"Maybe. It's mostly just practice," Jeremy said, glancing at his target before tossing it in the trashbag he brought. He looked a bit hesitant but was much more comfortable with Ruby's respect for safety now. "Want to shoot handguns more or get the shotguns?"

The wide smile and almost manic look in Ruby's eyes gave her answer away.

"Alright! Alright!" he said as she squealed. He handed Hedy a shotgun and ignored her fussing with it as he pushed the launcher into place and got the box of clay pigeons. "This is how you load. Ruby. You paying attention?

"Yeah. I'm watching," she assured.

"That arm is going to swing around and throw the disc like a frisbee so don't be standing where it's going to hit you like you are."

Ruby bounced out of the way, to the other side of him.

"You pull this arm back until you hear the click. Watch your fingers. Okay, you just set the disc in here, right? Make sure it's pointed in the right direction. When the shooter yells 'pull', you pull this string." He did so and the clay target was flung across the field, curving through the air before disappearing.

"Hedy?"

"Just a sec," Hedy said. She moved to a better position and loaded a shell, cocking the gun.

"Maybe you should use the twenty gauge instead of 12..." Jeremy said, placing another target.

"I got it," Hedy insisted, tucking the butt of the gun into her armpit.

"Your stitches."

"I'm fine, Jeremy."

Jeremy sighed and handed Ruby the pull string.

"Pull," Hedy ordered and Ruby yanked the string, a bit harder than she meant. The launcher rocked a bit but the target flew.

Hedy watched it for a second and right when Ruby thought she was going to let it go she fired. It was definitely louder than the handgun.

She missed and Jeremy laughed at her.

"Shut up. Put another one."

Ruby picked a pigeon out of the box and put it on the launcher. "Ready."

"Pull."

This time the target exploded into a satisfying cloud of dust and pieces in the air.

"Okay that was cool. My turn!"

Jeremy sighed and got the other shotgun.

"What's the difference?" Ruby asked.

"This is a twenty gauge. Hedy is holding the twelve gauge."

"Is the twenty gauged more powerful?"

"Nope, the twelve is."

"Weird."

"It's a bunch of history stuff about splitting up a pound of lead," Jeremy waved her off.

Ruby pulled a face. "Skip the history, let's get to the part where I blow up a clay pigeon."

She made grabby hands at the gun which was both disturbing and endearing.

Hedy rolled her eyes and this time it was her who showed Ruby how to shoot the shotgun, swinging the barrel up to click it in place.

Jeremy just watched carefully.

It was interesting how much Hedy knew about firearms.

"Do the Toys know how good you are with guns?" Ruby asked. "Cause I think they should be a lot more nervous when you're holding a paintball gun than they are."

"My little secret," Hedy said with a smirk. "I rather like being underestimated sometimes. Makes it more fun when it's the right moment to shock people."

Ruby looked thoughtful. "Yeah being underestimated makes the reveal a hell of a lot of fun," she admitted.

"And I've had no reason to scare anyone by outright claiming I'm a better shot than you."

Ruby looked offended. "Excuse me, I'm a master at paintball. Sure you're probably better with the guns but I'll beat you at paintball any day."

"A paintball gun is still a gun," Hedy said.

Jeremy groaned, sensing a competition taking form. "Can you both please not put anyone through the insanity we just survived for a while at least? No more paintball fights for at least a... I don't know." He threw his hands up a little. "The clothes we were wearing last night are completely ruined and I still have bruises."

"Then learn to dodge," Ruby deadpanned. "Let's call it training so you don't die in a shootout with a gang."

She paused.

"Not that I'm saying there are any gangs nearby. Or that I know them."

"You already said you kne..." Jeremy groaned and face-palmed. "You can't actually dodge bullets!"

"That's not what the Matrix says!" Ruby sing-songed. "I want a cool trench coat."

Jeremy immediately had intense anxiety at the irrationality of that. Part of him feared Ruby actually trying to dodge bullets and he felt his heartrate spike.

Hedy didn't look as concerned and finished explaining to Ruby how to hold the shotgun. She gestured for Jeremy to set up another clay target.

The teen was honestly giddy as she held the weapon. Thankfully she still followed Hedy's instructions.

After Hedy checked that everything was safe and in order, she covered her ears (having taken out her ear protection for a moment) and nodded.

"Pull," Ruby said and Jeremy released the pigeon.

Ruby followed it for a moment like Hedy had shown before squeezing the trigger.

Jeremy and Hedy could see she got close, but the shot just barely clipped the target and the rest got away.

The teen made an annoyed noise as she shook her arm out. She'd underestimated the recoil again.

"You really have to tuck into the soft part of your shoulder, more into the armpit than on the shoulder itself," Hedy said.

"And you have to keep following the target the whole time," Jeremy said. "You don't try to guess ahead of where it's going to be and then stop to shoot. You have to follow it and follow though after pulling the trigger. You don't have to be as precise with a shotgun."

Ruby acknowledged the advice with a hum. "Okay. Less precision, more power," she rubbed her arm again before getting the shotgun ready again.

Hedy quickly took the moment to stuff the earplugs back in her ears while Jeremy got another target.

"Whenever you're ready," he said.

Ruby took a moment to make sure she was steady before calling out 'pull'.

This time she kept her sharp gaze on the target as it flew, following it with the gun. She pulled the trigger and smiled when the target exploded.

"Okay, that's pretty satisfying."

Jeremy snorted, still fairly wary about her excitement.

But at least Ruby did as she was told and kept the gun pointed downrange.

He'd kinda expected her to play around with the guns, like he'd seen her play around with very real swords before. She never pointed them anywhere but the target or the ground though and certainly didn't come close to pointing them at either Jeremy or Hedy. If he didn't know her better, he'd think she was actually being responsible.

Hedy handed Ruby another shell and got her own gun ready. "I bet I can get two at once."

Jeremy sighed. Here comes the competition. He dutifully put two of the frisbee shaped targets on the launcher, stacking them.

Ruby's eyes lit up at the challenge.

It was going to be a long day. For Jeremy at least.

They shot long into the afternoon until all the rounds Jeremy had bought were spent and they were all tired and overheated from the sun.

The farmer had been kind enough to bring a pitcher of water outside for them.

In the end, it wasn't a clear cut decision of who was the better shot between Ruby and Hedy. Hedy had more practice, but Ruby had the advantage of a full range of motion. And they both had great hand-eye coordination.

Jeremy just sort of stayed in the background while two of the scariest girls he knew bickered over who could shoot a gun better.

Eventually, it was time to go and the two helped him pack up everything and put it back in Hedy's truck.

"That was fun," Hedy said with a yawn.

Jeremy handed Ruby her best shot paper target from earlier, silently wondering if she would frame it.

"Hmm," Ruby hummed in agreement. "We should have another paintball night."

Jeremy just groaned. He didn't want another of those nights for a good long while.