Author's Note

Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 92

Stalker

The pizzeria was in utter chaos. There was a birthday happening in both the Originals' and the Toys' rooms and there was also one in Pirate's Cove. The bots were all swamped with kids. Ruby had been called in to help with security because of the number of customers and everyone was running around like headless chickens. Hedy was trying to get some work done on Mangle despite the noise levels.

The kids were very interested to watch the 'robot doctor' and she was very popular suddenly.

Jeremy and Amelia were trying to find some peace in a booth while their kids joined the screaming crowd of children.

Even Ruby was a little frazzled by the amount of people and hadn't pulled any pranks. Puppet had noticed that she was paying extra attention as she walked through the rooms and had even beaten him to cutting off one adventurous kid's beeline for the door.

She'd given the kid a tongue lashing for that and the bot doubted the boy would go near the door without his parents again.

About lunchtime, at the height of all the activity, Puppet still noticed when a new person slipped in. She was probably about twenty and was wearing a hoodie with the hood over her head. Something about her made him uncomfortable though. She didn't have a kid with her and was scanning the room while staying out of the way of everyone. Her posture was tense with her hands jammed into her pockets.

He immediately didn't like her. People came in without children every so often, but usually, they were waiting for a group or there for nostalgia reasons. It was pretty easy to tell, though he still mentioned them to Goldy.

Just in case...

"Henry," Puppet said, startling the employee.

He didn't like Henry either, but he was used to the man now. Henry didn't like working there and had made it known he was only there because he had trouble finding work anywhere else.

"...What?" Henry asked with a small distrustful sneer at the bot who never spoke to him.

"You run the prize corner."

"What?!" He was just there to sweep!

Puppet waited until the woman was further into the restaurant and well past the prize corner before slipping out to follow her, leaving Henry to give gifts to a large group of kids, despite his terrible attitude while working with children. Mari had a bigger concern for the moment. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but he wasn't about to ignore it either.

The woman walked further into the pizzeria until she seemed to find what she was looking for. Instantly her wary expression turned into a sneer and her eyes darkened.

Following her gaze he realised that she was glaring at Ruby who was being used as a jungle gym by some hyper kids. The teen looked amused, a soft smile on her face as a young boy chattered away at high speed.

She was facing partially away from them so she didn't notice the woman. She might not have seen her even if she was facing them. The crowds were quite thick.

The woman just stood there, glaring at the teen with absolute hatred. She still hung back though. Because of the children?

Puppet stayed warily out of the woman's peripheral vision. She likely wouldn't notice him, but he was blatantly staring at her and didn't want to risk it.

He felt someone watching him and caught eyes with Jeremy, who was staring at him, wondering what the old bot was doing just standing against a wall.

Puppet looked away and continued to stare at the stranger, debating whether to approach her or wait until Ruby noticed.

He didn't have a choice as one kid Ruby was playing with spotted him. He resisted a flinch. He was a favourite of that child. Ruby's eyes followed as the girl left her and ran in his direction to cheerily say hello to him. She ran right past the woman. That was enough to make him nervous with the warning signals he had about her, but Ruby's expression when she saw the stranger made his circuits feel like ice, even as he put on a smile in his voice and greeted the child.

Ruby's eyes widened and she looked worried.

Her gaze darted to the children still around her and she took an almost unnoticeable step away from them.

The woman's glare never moved from the night guard who was telling the kids to go play.

Getting them away from her.

She always kept the woman in view even as she coaxed the whining children into finding something else to do.

The people around them hadn't noticed the strange confrontation, rushing about doing their own business.

Ruby's entire posture screamed wariness and concern even as she carefully blanked her expression.

The two just stared at each other for a moment, Ruby emotionless and the stranger with burning hatred in her eyes.

Then the woman shifted slightly and brought her hands out of her pockets. Only Ruby and Puppet noticed, the rest of the room too caught up in their day.

The night guard's eyes widened again at the glint of metal, the gun tucked into the woman's palm small but still so very dangerous. Ruby's gaze darted around the room again before her eyes narrowed in a glare and she subtly gestured towards the hallway that led to the guard office.

The teen was now tense and for a moment it looked like the woman would ignore her and do something dangerous. She finally nodded though and followed Ruby out of the room and away from the children, glare locked on the younger girl's back.

No one noticed them leave except Puppet who was reeling from what he'd seen.

"...uh...first you have to pay attention in school and..."

Puppet snapped out of it and moved towards Hedy's voice automatically, telling the little girl he was talking to to go find her parents. She heard the stress in his voice and ran off obediently, luckily.

Hedy was sitting with a group of kids near the main stage, only leaving where she was working on Mangle to get a drink of water. However, a posse of children followed her. She was clearly out of her element as Mangle looked on in amusement while the mechanic tried to explain how to grow up to be a robot doctor.

Bonnie was on the stage at the moment, getting ready for another song and just as amused as the fox.

"Hedy," he hissed, interrupting her and grabbing her shoulder.

Hedy cut off, confusing the kids and she, Mangle and Bonnie looked at him. He rarely ever touched her. And he sounded frightened.

"Mari...what..."

Mari only cared about the children's safety at the moment, not their entertainment. He gripped her shoulder and whispered in her ear.

"Get Goldy. There's a woman here with a gun. She followed Ruby to the hallway," he hissed.

He turned his head to see if she understood.

Hedy looked white as a sheet. "Tell Jeremy, right now Mari." She turned to the kids. "Hey kids, stay here with Mangle for a minute okay?"

"Where are you going?" a boy whined.

"Bathroom," Hedy lied.

Mangle's ears twitched back and there was a flash of horror behind her eyes before she hid it for the kids. She had heard Puppet and looked at Bonnie, who hadn't, flashing him a panicked look.

Puppet didn't watch where Hedy went and raced across the room to Jeremy, startling a few parents who hadn't seen the bot move that quickly.

What was he doing? He was panicking. He never panicked.

He couldn't help but remember Ruby's expression when she'd seen that woman though.

Ruby was never worried.

Concerned about others sure, but never worried.

She had recognised that woman and knew that she was a danger, moving away from the children so they weren't near her.

What was going on?

In the guard's office Ruby was facing her stalker, arms crossed and tense. The woman had the gun pointing straight at her, arm shaking a little.

The hatred and anger in her eyes was the same as ever.

"Sally." She kept her voice calm and even.

"Shut up!" The older girl tightened her grip on the gun. "Shut up Stone."

Amelia watched, tensing as the Puppet robot whispered something to Jeremy. Her husband stiffened.

"She what?" Jeremy hissed.

The bot nodded. "I saw it in her hand."

Jeremy got up quickly and spoke to her. "Amelia, get Marcus and Mercy. I need you to call the police for me. Tell them no sirens."

Amelia nodded calmly. "What's wrong?"

"That girl Clint and Alice told us about. She's here," he lowered his voice, "She has a gun."

Puppet looked stunned that Jeremy and Amelia knew who that woman was.

Amelia swallowed as Jeremy ran to the hallway.

Hedy was there, talking to "herself." She looked up at Puppet and Jeremy and they all started going down the hall, though Jeremy wanted Hedy to wait behind.

"They're in the office. Should I get Ruby out?" Goldy whispered frantically, making Jeremy jump at the disembodied voice.

He shook his head. "We don't know how stable that girl is. I need the situation to stay calm."

He was distinctly aware of his gun in the holster under his jacket, but he didn't reach for it. That would automatically escalate the problem.

"Goldy I need you to tell the others to quietly move the parties in Pirate's Cove and the Toys' room to the main area. Don't cause a panic." Perhaps it was overkill. But a clearly unstable person in a children's restaurant with a gun was not good, and he had absolutely no idea how serious that woman was or what her motivation was. The Toy's room was the closest to the office and moving everyone meant they were closer to the front doors if something went wrong. "Puppet I need you to make sure no customers or staff get close to the office. Hedy. Stay here."

As Jeremy got closer to the office, he could hear a stranger's voice rising in anger.

"You're a curse! You shouldn't be anywhere near kids after what you did to my brother!"

Ruby was uncharacteristically quiet.

Jeremy caught his breath when he saw the scene through the grimy window next to the guard room door.

Ruby had positioned herself so she could see people right outside the office, but she didn't react to Jeremy's presence or even glance his way.

Jeremy's eyes were on the gun pointed at Ruby and they flicked around, taking in the situation. He rested his hand on his weapon, but didn't take it out of the holster.

Hedy was watching from down the hall and immediately felt a little sick to her stomach at Jeremy's tense body language in reaction to whatever he was seeing. She felt Goldy come back, silently freaking out.

Hedy looked up at the sound of metal hitting tile just in time for Foxy to nearly race past her. But Freddy darted into the hall and grabbed Foxy, forcibly holding him back and half shoving him against a wall beside Hedy while Mangle and Teddy were trying to block Bonnie.

Chica had abandoned her job as well and was standing with the group with a worried expression.

"You didn't have to give details," Hedy said to Goldy in a strained voice as she scooted away from Foxy and Freddy's little scuffle.

"I wasn't thinking!" Goldy squeaked in clear distress.

Jeremy glanced in their direction, saw who was there and made a sign for them to be quiet, glaring at Foxy without a hint of his usual hesitation when it came to the fox.

Freddy was trying to quietly talk some sense into the panicking fox while Bonnie slumped against the wall, looking terrified.

Meanwhile, Ruby was focused on Sally.

"You should have died instead of my brother," The girl spat and Jeremy saw Ruby flinch slightly.

She didn't argue or defend herself, just stood silently and stared at her.

"It's your fault." Sally still had the gun pointed straight at the teen.

Jeremy suddenly realised that the building hadn't taken the gun. But Ruby had been certain it didn't allow them in.

Taking a small breath to calm himself, he stepped into view of both of them, moving slowly to not startle the woman.

"Miss," he started.

The woman looked at him in shock, freezing as her face twisted from rage to fear in a single moment.

Jeremy spoke calmly, raising his hands placatingly. "You don't want to do that."

"Stay out of this!" Sally snapped, her hand shaking but still pointing the gun at Ruby. "This doesn't have anything to do with you. You don't know what she did!"

She glared hatefully at Ruby.

"She's had this coming."

"Okay, well you have to know how this looks," Jeremy reasoned, "You have a gun pointed at an employee in a building with children. How about we talk about this for a moment and you can explain. My name is Jeremy. What's yours?" He glanced at Ruby. There was no way he could get Ruby out of the way if the gun was fired.

Ruby still wasn't looking at him, eyes locked on the woman. But something was off. He'd expected to see the look in her eyes that she got when planning how to solve something, how to get out of a dangerous situation. He'd seen that intense focused look in her eyes a lot.

Now he didn't see that. He didn't see anything really.

He suddenly wasn't too sure if Ruby would do anything if the girl let her guard down and that was terrifying.

Why did it look like she'd given up already?

Ruby never gave up.

"Sally," The woman finally answered him, sounding a mix between angry, scared and wary.

"Okay, Sally, nice to meet you. You know this can't end well for you if you fire that. If you put that down, I can help you. I don't want you to get hurt. There's police on the way and if they see you with a gun, it might not go well." He stood with a relaxed stance, but his hand was near his gun, appearing like he was just standing with his thumb in his pocket. He was also ready to tackle her and shifted closer. It was hard to stay calm, but it was important she thought he was on her side, even if he really wanted to just arrest her. He was going to anyway, but he needed that gun not pointed at Ruby. Sally's shaking hand with a finger on the trigger was making him especially nervous. One wrong move...

Sally's eyes widened and she looked terrified. Her gaze darted to Ruby again and back to Jeremy.

For a moment he thought she would drop the gun, her resolve wavering, but then her eyes hardened.

"No! She can't be alive anymore!" Her voice was rising. "It's not fair! It's not fair that she's alive but Liam isn't!"

She straightened out her arm again and, glaring at Ruby, pulled the trigger.

The bang echoed in the small office and Jeremy realised with horror that Ruby wasn't dodging.

Sure she might not be faster than a bullet but she was prepared for Sally to shoot. She should be moving to the side, not just standing there with a disturbingly empty expression and tired eyes.

He'd known that Ruby had tried to kill herself before, but suddenly he found himself believing that she'd tried.

Before the bullet hit her however it vanished and reappeared several feet to the side, hitting the wall instead.

Ruby's widened eyes told him just how surprised she was at the building's intervention.

Hedy shouted Ruby's name from down the hall in a mix of pain and fright as Jeremy forced Sally to the ground by grabbing her arms and holding them behind her. He moved fast, kicking Sally's gun out of reach when she dropped it in surprise. He forced her to the floor and kicked the back of her knees when she didn't immediately comply, whether in shock or defiance it didn't matter.

Sally seemed to catch up with what was happening and started to struggle, trying to twist away from Jeremy, but he twisted her arm tighter and pressed his knee on her back as he fished out zipties. He always carried zipties on him.

"Do. Not. Move," he hissed.

Hedy and the bots were suddenly in the doorway, all looking horrified and frantic. Hedy was oddly holding her side as if in pain. Her eyes checked Ruby over before they landed on the hole in the wall and she gripped her shirt where it hurt tighter. Whatever phantom pain she seemed to be feeling appeared more shocking than harmful if her concern for everyone else besides herself was any indication.

Foxy was frantically checking the teen over, more freaked out when Ruby didn't immediately give assurances that she was fine.

In fact she wasn't saying anything.

She just continued to watch Sally struggle in Jeremy's hold.

Finally she spoke. "I didn't want her arrested," she muttered.

Jeremy mostly ignored her for a moment, though it was clear he heard her. "Ma'am, you're under arrest for illegal discharge of a firearm in a public space with intent. You need to calm down or I will have to add resisting arrest to that." Jeremy spoke in a soft but firm and very professional manner.

Hedy was the only one who could see just how angry he was and she had to respect her brother for it. She was not nearly as calm.

"Well, too fucking bad, Ruby," Hedy hissed with a serious look in her eyes, upset enough to swear even with children in the building. She still held her side. She didn't dare raise her voice or risk it wavering.

Ruby locked gazes with Hedy for a moment before looking away, Foxy still fussing over her.

Sally went limp, finally giving up.

"She deserves it," she shouted again but didn't struggle anymore.

Only those who knew Ruby well saw the well-hidden flinch at those words. Foxy put himself firmly between the teen and her attacker.

"Don't say anything and get up," Jeremy ordered, half lifting the woman who seemed about Hedy's age, maybe a little younger.

Hedy blinked as she recognized Sally. She didn't know her, but she recognized the face in passing at the college. She glanced at Jeremy and gestured for him to wait.

"You're blaming a ten-year-old for an accident," Hedy said with an eerie tone, looking the stranger in the eye as Jeremy paused. "I am sorry you're in so much pain." The tone she used made that phrase seem particularly scathing, but it was painfully truthful. "But in the same breath, I condemn what you've done. You need to grow up and get professional help. Since Ruby won't say it, I will." Hedy stared with a deadly expression at a girl she'd barely spoken a dozen words to. "Come near her again and that pain and my sympathy will not save you."

Sally just glared at her stubbornly. Hedy and Sally didn't know each other except in passing. Who was Hedy to say anything to her?

"Hedy." Ruby sounded tired which just put Foxy on edge. He hadn't heard her sound like this since the anniversary of her parent's death. "Just leave it."

Hedy almost didn't seem to hear Ruby and continued to stare at Sally. Her gaze hardened before she cracked a small smile with an upward twitch of her lips.

That was enough to waver Sally's glare for a moment, a small sliver of fear seeping through.

Puppet, who had come at the sound of the gun, couldn't help but step back a little as he had a flashback of Hedy talking to him after he broke Mangle.

Jeremy noted the temperature in the room start to drop and glanced at the slightest crystallization of ice on the office windows.

"Come on," Jeremy said, leading Sally out of the room.

Ruby sighed and rubbed her face tiredly as they left.

Foxy watched her in concern. He didn't know what to do.

Ruby was in a strange state right now.

Mangle came beside Hedy, letting out a staticky croon as she touched the mechanic's hand, silently asking if Hedy had gotten hurt somehow.

Hedy rubbed the spot where she felt like a very sharp bruise was forming. "I don't think the building likes getting shot. Ruby, sit down." She gestured at the office chair.

The teen growled, her expression shifting to a more familiar stubborn look.

"No."

"Sit, so Foxy doesn't have a stroke thinking you're about to fall over from the unseen wound of a ricocheting bullet. Because, if you hadn't noticed, you were just shot at."

"I'm fine. The building redirected the bullet," she snapped.

Not that they knew the building could do that. At all.

"Yeah, I noticed," Hedy said. Somehow the building took the bullet for Ruby and it actually hurt. That didn't make sense. If a bullet hurt it, wouldn't construction? Hedy hadn't felt anything when Fazbear's Fright was being built. Something told her it was the intent that made the difference. Sally intended to kill Ruby. Hedy's eyes narrowed as she continued. "Don't expect me to believe you knew that though."

The teen looked away, which was all the answer they needed.

"Lass..." Foxy's anxious expression made her sigh and she moved over to the chair to sit down.

"I'm fine," she repeated.

"Bull-"

"Hedy," Puppet warned sharply.

"Enter-applicable-cuss-here," Hedy corrected without missing a beat. "You literally almost died. That bullet got closer than any Night. And if the building practically banging on the inside of my skull is telling me anything, you let it. That is not fine." She effectively glossed over her weird ability to sense the building's feelings and even the fact that it had those.

Mangle winced.

Hedy was being a bit more direct than usual.

Foxy's gaze darted to Ruby who hunched her shoulders defensively.

"I'd have been fine. I know how to handle her," she muttered.

There was a slightly disturbed look in her eyes. She knew what had almost happened and why. And it was bothering her.

"That did not look like 'handling'," Hedy said with a kinder edge but still stern. "You let her knife you once and got stitches, then didn't sue her to discourage this."

"What?!" Foxy yelled.

"It wouldn't help anything," Ruby responded hotly. "It wouldn't do any good."

"Ruby, can you even hear yourself?" Hedy sighed.

"It wouldn't!" Ruby yelled. "I know what's going through her head! I've been there! Arresting her, charging her, it won't help. She's a victim too." She turned away. "I've been where she is, mentally. It's awful. It feels like the world is against you. She just never managed to get out of that head space."

There was desperation and pain in Ruby's voice and Hedy was hit by how young her insistence made her sound. Hedy shared a glance with the others, who up to that point had let her do the talking with Ruby. "Ruby, she needs help," Hedy said, "But that doesn't excuse attempting to murder you." Faintly she could hear a little bit of commotion in the front of the building, probably people worried about the police presence and questioning their children's safety. Either that or the manager thought something enough to close them down had happened and he was yelling at Jeremy in panic, not knowing who he was.

Ruby looked away.

"That kind of help never helped me," she muttered. Therapy had never helped. She'd just lashed out at the therapists until a new one was assigned.

Hedy sighed and turned, but she couldn't exactly disagree. "Either stay here or come with me. Jeremy's going to need your statement. And I think some of the staff might be freaking out. You guys should get back to your kids."

Teddy was more than willing to let Hedy take charge again and quickly left first, scooting past her as he cast back a worried look at Ruby.

The other bots were more reluctant but gradually left to check on the kids.

Ruby sighed and followed Hedy towards the front of the building.

They went outside where Jeremy was talking to an officer, showing him his badge, while another was talking to a few parents and staff who seemed very concerned.

Hedy noted Sally sitting in a cruiser.

Ruby grimaced and took a deep breath before greeting the officer.

"Hey Chad."

The officer looked up and grinned, waving at Ruby.

"Hey Ruby! What are you doing here?"

Officer Black was the one taking statements and frowned when he saw her.

Jeremy gestured at Ruby. "This is the employee."

Chad stiffened. "You work here?" He glanced down at his notebook, then Jeremy, then stared at Sally. He looked back. "You okay Ruby?"

"I'm fine." Ruby crossed her arms, looking uncomfortable. "She missed. And yes, I work here. Have for months."

He didn't seem to know how to react to that, staring at the teen.

"Ruby..." his voice was bordering on a whine. "You want to give us all heart attacks don't you?"

She just gave him a slight smirk.

Officer Black didn't look happy to hear that Ruby was working there either.

"I'm surprised you guys didn't know I'm working here. I was one of the witnesses to the stabbing here."

There was a question in her voice. Why didn't they ask her?

Chad looked surprised and horrified.

"You were? I thought there weren't any witnesses!" The man started fussing over the teen who grimaced but didn't push him away.

Hedy snorted. "Bullshit," she muttered under her breath.

Jeremy frowned, staring at Chad. "Witness." He pointed at Ruby with an odd tone of voice. "Victim." He pointed at Hedy. "Now with this case they've switched." Who was in charge of Hedy's case, because there was one, apparently. Or was there? He still hadn't heard anything. It was like it didn't happen and of course, that pissed him off. He tried to look into it but there was no file for him to see and no officer for him to talk to. The person at the desk was just really confused when he asked

Chad frowned in thought.

"I'm not too sure. Hey! Black! Do you know who was in charge of the last case here?"

Officer Black shook his head. "Nope, we were busy with that robbery. I can find out though."

Jeremy stared at Black for a moment before looking back to Chad. "I'm from another precinct. Make sure you tell my chief about this so internal affairs don't get upset."

"I got your badge number," Chad nodded, glancing at Hedy. "Are you an employee here?"

"Head Technician," she said. "Hedwig Fitzgerald."

Chad glanced at Jeremy.

"My sister."

The officer blinked.

"How the heck did that not get in the files?" He wondered.

Ruby looked bothered by it all as well.

"You tell me," Jeremy said stiffly.

Chad frowned, clearly bothered, but he looked at Hedy. "Miss Fitzgerald. Can you tell me what happened here?"

"I was working and one of the animatronics noticed her come in without children and brought it to my attention and then Jeremy's. I was down the hall and watched Jeremy approach. He was trying to talk her down, but then I heard a gunshot. I didn't really see that much or hear them talk."

Ruby frowned at the mention of one of the bots. She wondered who had noticed Sally.

Chad nodded as he wrote that down, grateful Hedy was much more succinct than most other witness interviews. People tended to rattle on and on, not knowing what was useful information and what wasn't. It wasn't their fault, but it could be annoying sometimes.

"Have you seen her here before?"

"No. I recognize her from the university, but I don't know her."

"Was there anyone else around?"

"Unless you want to check the animatronics," Hedy said honestly.

Chad froze for a second. "Uh...do they have cameras or something?"

"You just talk to them."

Chad chuckled, a bit confused. "Um."

Hedy stared at him, knowing he didn't think the bots were alive or could be reliable witnesses.

"W-well if you could get us recordings, that would be great," he said, unsure.

"There's security footage."

"I'll get it for you." Ruby sighed. "I'm the night guard." She added when she saw his confused look.

Chad watched her head back inside and looked over at Jeremy. "She's trying to give us all a heart attack. The night guard?"

"You have no idea," Jeremy deadpanned.

That didn't comfort the officer at all and he looked at Jeremy in concern.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Jeremy sighed. "She's fine. I've been hanging out at night the last couple of weeks and she basically owns the place."

Officer Black's eyes narrowed when he heard that Jeremy stayed during the night shift.

Chad seemed a bit happier to hear that Jeremy hung around sometimes.

"I'm not surprised. She has a habit of taking over places. She took over a bar once."

"She...what?" Jeremy said, not sure how surprised he was or should be.

Hedy on the other hand just sighed. "How is that possible? Actually, maybe I don't want to know."

Jeremy blinked and shot Hedy a look. He shook his head and looked back at Chad and Alastair.

"Just uh...heads up in case. I kind of let it slip I knew Stone. She's still a bit pissed at me."

Chad winced.

"Oh dear." He sighed. "Thanks for the heads up."

"Yeah..."

Hedy chuckled at her brother's expression and glanced at the older officer who hadn't said much. She...didn't really like him. Maybe it was just because of the imposing air he had, but he made her a bit uncomfortable. She wasn't sure why. Cops tended to have an air around them of control and responsibility, just from the nature of their work. It could be intimidating if you didn't know them. Maybe it was just like that because the man hadn't said anything to relieve the feeling like Chad had just by chatting.

Officer Black noticed her looking at him and quickly returned to taking statements from people.

Ruby came back with the security footage. She'd already checked it and the building had caused it to fuzz out when the gun was fired so they didn't see the bullet disappearing.

Chad took it gratefully and glanced up as a woman holding a small child skirted around the small crowd speaking with Black to approach them.

"Ruby. Ms..." It took her a moment to remember Hedy's name. It was a German-sounding name, wasn't it? She didn't really know the young woman and hadn't seen her as a regular during business hours, but some of the waiters had told her how the mechanic and security guard were the ones to go to if she had an issue and the Manager was no help. "...Heidi," she flinched apologetically, immediately knowing that wasn't right. Chad wandered off to log the new evidence, finished with his questions.

Luckily Hedy didn't seem bothered. "Hedy."

"Sorry. Hedy. What happened? Is everything okay? I heard someone mention a shooting?" the customer asked as her husband came over as well. She seemed a bit frightened and was holding her fussing four-year-old son close.

The husband seemed particularly tense as well. The pizzeria always seemed like a safe place to bring his kid. It was disturbing that someone brought a gun inside.

"Ah…" Hedy glanced at her brother and Ruby, a little caught off guard that she was the one they were going to for answers. She wasn't exactly the most visual representation of the restaurant. Well, they did ask Ruby too. "It's been handled, Ma'am. Sir. No one got hurt…"

"Is that a question?" the husband asked shortly.

Hedy didn't blame him for his angry squint. "No, sir. No one was hurt," she said firmly.

"How did she even get in?" another parent demanded, having come over to listen. "What kind of security is that?!"

"She didn't exactly walk in and start shooting sir," Hedy said. "As far as I know, she concealed the weapon and cornered our Head of Security in her office.

The woman looked alarmed and turned to Ruby. Pretty much all the customers knew who Head of Security was.

"Are you alright Ruby?"
The teen shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah."
The man on the other hand, puffed up in anger and probably fear for his child. "You really do bring trouble everywhere you go don't you?" he spat.

Ruby bristled while his wife spun around, looking horrified.

"Excuse me John, did you just imply that it was a teenager's fault that someone tried to shoot her?" she demanded icily before Hedy could.

He deflated a bit. "Katie, she… you know the rumours of how much trouble she causes. And… Nathan loves coming here. Is it safe?"

Katie faltered for a moment while Ruby looked away, a disturbed expression flickering across her face before it disappeared behind her blank mask.

"I'm going to head back and help inside," she murmured to Hedy in a tone that was more subdued than normal.

She disappeared before the mechanic could argue.

Hedy had to take a breath before addressing the customers. "It's not going to happen again, sir. They were only interested in Ruby, but even so, frankly, I'm not going to stand for victim blaming. If you'll notice, no one was hurt, and the situation was handled. This was a good outcome." She glanced to the side as she noticed someone else coming their way.

It was the Manager, looking a little panicked and angry.

The man waited until the small family had left and the officers, Jeremy included, had moved off to talk into a couple radios near the police car.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he hissed.

Hedy blinked but she looked calm and spoke evenly. "Excuse me?"

"Talking to the police! And the customers! You could have opened us up to being sued!" He was fuming. And oddly brave without Ruby around.

Hedy's eyes narrowed as it clicked for her. "This had very little to do with the pizzeria, sir. It's not like we just dragged a dead night guard out of a bot's suit," she said stiffly.

He tensed and glanced around. "Don't go saying things like that Ms. Fitzgerald. It's not good for your job security."

"What?" She glared at him, somewhat surprised at the threat. "You wouldn't dare fire me." She glanced back at the restaurant where Ruby had gone back inside out of sight.

A flicker of fear crossed his face as he glanced at the pizzeria. Apparently Ruby held the man in check more than she realised. No wonder the bots hated him if he acted like this before she arrived.

"The situation was handled," she said tersely. "I'm pretty sure the pizzeria can't be sued. If anything, the 'security' we actually have worked. For once." She decided not to mention it was Jeremy that ended the scenario. She didn't want the manager suspicious about a police officer hanging around regularly. On the other hand, she figured Puppet wouldn't have appreciated the attention on him if she pointed him out.

He glared at her, jaw working as he clenched it in frustration. He clearly wanted to say more, but the reminder of why he didn't seemed to have shut him up for now.

He turned and stormed off again.

Hedy waited a few moments before huffing in irritation. She went back inside to check on Ruby, resolved that the teen didn't need to be pissed with the manager at the moment with everything that just happened.

Jeremy and anyone else who might have seen or heard the exchange was too busy to notice.

What a mess...