Chapter 70

Tabitha's dark hand was forced into the miniature guillotine, constantly fidgeting between the two forces. She tried to fight it, but her strength had been sapped by exhaustion and drugs. Edward, on the other hand, was as strong as a racehorse. The hand fit in easily, strapped into place. A remote was shoved between its fingers, holding the answer between life and death.

"Ed, come on!" Butch pleaded. "Let's - let's talk about this, huh? Come on, Ed. You don't have to do this. I told you: I never heard of someone named 'Isabelle'."

It was only at the end that Edward acknowledged his prisoner at all. "ISABELL-A!" He yelled. "Why is that so difficult?!" Forcing himself to calm down, he spoke again in a softer voice. "Anyway, I'm not the one you should be pleading with. Your life is in her..." He stopped, then smirked. "...Hand."

Butch growled. Within his meaty chest, the sinews of his heart twisted painfully. This game...it was cruelty incarnate. Either a hand lost, or a life. The very prospect sent shivers down his spine. But Butch was determined not to show his terror. "What difference does it make? You're gonna kill me one way or the other, right?"

Tabitha turned to him.

Edward thought for a second, then replied, "Good point." Clapping his hands, he said, "New deal! If she loves you enough to sacrifice her hand in exchange for your life, twinsies, then I swear," he placed a hand over his heart, the other raised high, "on the memory of my beloved Isabella, I will set you both free." His fingers found the timer crowning the guillotine, setting it to forty seconds. As the furious ticking unfurled, he stepped back. Ready to watch the show.

Tabitha's fingers fumbled with the remote, her eyebrows knitted together. Butch, on the other hand, was squirming in fear's grip. He may have been still, but his expression was taut with tension. "Tabby," he spoke in the warmest voice Edward had ever heard him use, "baby, come on."

Tabitha did not reply; nor did she meet his eye.

Butch swallowed. "We can get out of here, we-"

"I like you, Butch. I really do." Tabitha stated in a thick voice, "but to be completely honest, I'm not exactly in a 'love' place right now."

Edward burst out laughing while Butch's face fell. "Sorry, big fella. I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I knew she was going to say that." He whispered theatrically behind a hand. Frustrated tears filled Butch's eyes as he glared up at his captor. "It's why I made the offer." Dropping his hand, he asked, "Any final words?" He held up his watch. "I would keep it brief."

Butch licked his lips, thinking, before deciding to say what was closest to his heart first. "Tabby. Baby."

Tabitha steeled herself, certain that he would try to persuade her yet again.

Instead, he said, "The last few weeks have been the best of my life."

Tabitha, caught off-guard, turned to look at her companion. A couple of stray tears ran down his face, but he was smiling comfortingly. "And it's okay you don't love me, 'cause I love you." With a tiny, dry laugh, he added, "And, for a guy like me, that's enough." Tabitha stared at him, her eyes huge, as Butch turned to Edward. "And you. You're damn right I killed her. I killed the woman you loved." Edward smirked at him. Butch continued. "You know what she said to me, right before I put a bullet in her brain?"

Edward's mask cracked. His brows met in the middle. His eyes clouded with confusion.

Butch grinned viciously at him. "She said she wished she woulda been with a real man."

"Hey, Butch." Tabitha suddenly piped up, her tone uncertain. Butch turned to her. Determined to see her before dying. "Yeah?"

Tabitha's expression had softened. She looked as though she were only really seeing him for the first time. "You're sweet."

The timer went, ding! The blade began to fall. The remote fell to the floor. Edward froze, ironically wishing he could do the same to this moment, while Butch yelled. There was a nauseating slicing noise, of metal cutting through meat. Tabitha shuddered. Her hand fell to the floor in a growing puddle of her own blood.

Tabitha, stunned, held up her limb. At the wrist was a squirt of blood, but no hand. Her head dropped as consciousness fled.

"UNTIE ME!" Butch yelled. "Please, untie me! She's gotta get to a hospital! Quick!"

Edward, whose jaw had dropped, regained some form of composure. "You, you said you put a bullet in her head. Isabella died in a car crash. The - the brake lines were cut."

"I DON'T CARE!" Butch screamed desperately. "I told you I never heard of her!"

"You..." Edward blinked hard. "You really didn't kill her?"

"No!" Butch was on the verge of tears. "Untie me! She's got to get to a hospital! Come on!"

The door behind Edward flew off its hinges. Barbara marched inside, her arm raised. Perched within her fingers was her gun. Ruby walked behind her, hands turned to knives. But when the scent of blood hit her nostrils, she dropped the weapons and hurried past her blonde guide. When Ruby saw the scene, all the color left her face. "Oh my God." She could barely get the words out. Shaking it off, she closed the distance between her and the prisoners. With one hand she sliced through Butch's manacles. The other freed Tabitha, wincing at the expanding lake of blood.

Barbara stood before Edward, her gun in his face. His face hosting a dozen different thoughts, he managed only to say, "I'd put that hand on some ice." Then, he left the room in a trance. Her target gone, Barbara shifted her attention to her comrades. Butch was on his feet, gingerly rubbing his wrists as he looked around for a wheelchair. Ruby, on the other hand, carefully collected Tabitha's severed hand. "Uh..."

"Put it on ice." Barbara said crisply. "You heard him."

"No." Ruby swallowed down the bile that wanted to push its way out. "I can fix it."

"You can?" Butch asked desperately.

Ruby nodded jerkily, not looking at anyone. Cautiously, she placed the dead hand on the wrist - where it had been only moments before. She raised her own hand over both limbs. Butch watched, horrified yet fascinated, as Ruby's fingers melted like tallow. The clay dribbled over the wound, forming a sticky ring. At last, when the circle was complete, Ruby formed another on top of it. Just to be safe. In the time that it took her to count to ten, the clay dried and broke away. Underneath, wrist and hand had been reunited. Ruby closed her eyes and let go of the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Oh, God." Butch said. "Oh, Jesus Christ. Ruby..." He ran up to her. Trapped her in a bone-crushing hug that lifted her feet from the ground. Then, he set her back down and covered her face with grateful kisses. Ruby, too stunned to truly react, let him express his thankfulness. Butch roughly pushed Ruby's curls out of her eyes. "I will never forget what you've done for us. Ever." He promised solemnly. "I swear. No matter what goes down between us and Penguin...we'll leave you out of it."

"I'm sorry." Ruby said at last. The words broke whatever control she'd had over her emotions. Falling to her knees, she began to weep uncontrollably. As Barbara, rolling her eyes, collected Tabitha, Butch knelt down and patted Ruby's shoulder. She sobbed in her hands. "I'm so sorry. This is my fault, too." She inhaled raggedly. "I...I should've known. But I didn't want it to be true. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

At first, Oswald was pleased that Ruby had left the house. Between work and dealings, she didn't go out nearly as often as he would have recommended. He supposed that this simply had to do with her upbringing. Ruby had spent most of her young life locked up, behind four walls. Thus, she would psychologically feel safer in such a familiar setting. The liberty to be able to leave, also, added a thrill to it.

But now, Ruby had been gone for five hours. She had never been out for such a long time; especially without answering his calls or texts. Had something happened?

Oswald was pacing back and forth, despite the pain that it caused him, when at last a noise reached his ears. It was the distant cracking of roof tiles as pressure was applied.

Which could only mean one thing: Ruby had returned home by flying, and had landed right in front of her bedroom window. Already relieved, Oswald crashed in the armchair, finally setting the bottle aside. Knowing that she was nearby killed the urge to drink. Deciding that she simply wanted to freshen up, the mayor listened to the noises upstairs. He read a Dickens novel between upward glances, wondering what she could be doing.

He did not have to wait long. Ruby shambled down the stairs about two hours afterward, freshly washed and changed. No surprise. What did surprise Oswald was the luggage. Ruby was carrying a suitcase; a backpack hung from her shoulders. Her box of jewels had been sealed shut with duct tape and was tied to her waist with a rope. When she looked at him, her expression was as cold and closed as a stone gate.

Oswald jumped to his feet. "What in heaven's name...?" His icy-blue eyes went from the bags to their owner. Asking.

Ruby set the bags down. Slowly approached him, as if treading towards a wild animal. "Is it true?"

Oswald frowned. "What?"

"Did you kill Isabella?" Ruby's voice was tight, as though an invisible fist were squeezing her throat. "And were you going to let Butch and Tabitha take the blame?"

"He betrayed me." Oswald pointed out. "And she killed my mother. I'd say they had it coming."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I ASKED!" Ruby blew up at him. Oswald stumbled backward, crashing back in his chair. Ruby stood there, breathing heavily. Her hands trembled at her sides, as if tempted to choke him. She stuffed them in her trousers' pockets. "Did you?" She asked in a quieter voice.

Oswald pressed his lips together. Feeling guilty, but only superficially so. After all, the people that they were discussing were beneath them. "Do you remember your promise?"

"Yes." Ruby answered coldly.

"Then, yes. I had Gabe cut her brake lines." Oswald felt calm. Impatient to get this conversation over with.

Ruby began to walk towards him again. With more confidence. She didn't stop until she was hovering over him. He was well within her power, and they both knew it. The first deputy mayor's expression was set in stone. "Tabitha's at the hospital right now, receiving emergency blood transfusions, because of your decision. And Butch has declared war on you."

"Don't you mean 'us'?" Oswald asked, if only to remind her of their allegiance.

"No." Ruby replied tersely. "Ed chopped off Tabitha's hand. I fixed it. So, I'm off the hook. You and Ed, on the other hand..." She chuckled, shaking her head.

"Well, it's a good thing we have you." Oswald spoke, trying to smile despite the anxiety eating at his insides. "You can fight them off. Kill them, if you wish."

"For what?" Ruby asked. "For retaliating against a wrong inflicted on them? For defending their own? No, thank you." She straightened. It was only there, in the candlelight, that Oswald saw that her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. He tried to take her hand. She slapped it away.

"I really wanted to think that you were better than this. I wanted to believe that you could get over this rivalry and just let Ed be happy, because I know he'd have done the same for you. But no." Even though her voice was angry, her eyes were tearing up again. "You just couldn't stand the fact that Edward fell in love with someone else. So, you got rid of her." Narrowing her eyes, she pointed at herself. "Hell, what if Ed and I start dating? The age gap isn't so great, and I believe we could have some interesting conversations. What will you do then, Oz? Are you going to have me killed, too?" She wasn't yelling, but her words struck deeper than any sword.

"Ruby." Oswald rose, forcing her to step back. He stared at her, aghast. "How can you even think that? I would never hurt you. Ever."

"You already have." Ruby informed him bitterly. "You shut me out for weeks - weeks - when you learned about my powers. When that video infected the Web, I needed your advice, your support. All you could do, until the very last second, was make me feel even worse than I already did. Which, believe me, is really saying something. You kissed me when you were drunk, not giving a dried fig about how I'd feel about the matter. And..." Her voice caught in her throat. The words shivered there, begging to be let out. You broke my heart. But she couldn't say them. Even in this state, her secret was too densely chained to be freed.

Ruby shook her head. "A promise is a promise. Edward won't know it was you. Not from me, anyway. But I'm not staying here a moment longer." She spun around, but Oswald grabbed her hand. "No, wait! Please!"

Ruby glared back at him as he spoke. Desperate to reach her with his words. "I...you're right! I've hurt you very grievously in the past, and I will never quite forgive myself for those mistakes. But I paid for those mistakes. And, regarding this...I didn't want to involve you. I wanted to spare you this entire, hideous affair."

"Well, you failed at that!" Ruby snapped. "I had to pick up Tabitha's chopped-off hand and stick it back onto the wrist. It was...it was beyond horrifying! I don't think there's a word in the English language that can describe how that felt. I had to see what Ed is capable of. Right there, in my face! There was no escaping that!" She shook her head, determined not to cry. "Oz...I think I've done enough to warrant your trust. I've protected you, stood by you, killed for you...and you weren't even manly enough to tell me the truth. You lied to me." She shook her head. "I promised I'd keep your secret, and I will. But I can't live with someone who can't be honest, not even with himself." Wrenching her hand free, Ruby collected her bags again. Oswald watched, horrified, as she did so.

"I'll be staying at Wayne Manor for a while. If you want to talk, I'll listen. But until then, I can't look at you. Nor at Ed. Say goodbye to him for me, will you?" Without meeting his eye, Ruby spun on her heel and walked towards the door.

No. This couldn't be happening. Oswald couldn't accept it. His very soul rejected it. Grabbing his cane, he ran after her. She walked through the front door, where a taxi waited.

No. No, no, no.

"Ruby!" Oswald nearly slipped. Was saved only by one of the pillars, which he held onto with a vice-like grip. "Ruby, please! You can't leave, this is your home! And I...I really care about you. Please don't leave!"

Ruby stopped. She slowly turned back to him. Oswald stopped. He saw the tears glistening on Ruby's eyelashes like dew on grass. Saw the heartbreak in her indigo irises. Yet he saw the fury there, too.

"I care about you, too." Ruby said honestly. "I care about you more than you'll ever know. But I can't be here for a while." She shook her head. "You make me too sad." With that, she climbed into the yellow-and-black vehicle. The engine purred. Black smoke wafted in the air. With a screech, it backed out of the driveway and onto the road.

Oswald watched the car grow smaller and smaller. His vision blurred.