Sorry for taking forever to update. my summer job got pretty hectic. :)
L.L.A.P
~Laces
Chpt.6
Ruari practically inhaled the food, which Jason found odd because he knew that she usually had trouble holding down a lot of food and typically ate smaller portions. That made him wonder how long it had been since Ruari actually had something to eat.
"So… Ruari. You have a price on your head?" Bruce questioned and the young woman looked up at him, surprised. The way the man had phrased it made it a statement more so than a question.
"Where did you hear that?"
"I have some resources, so I decided to look into your situation. You angered your cousin, Marco Whelan, by withholding some information. Now he's put a price on your head to bring you in alive to him. However, now some other gang families want to know why you're so important. Some want to kill you. Others want to get the information out of you for themselves." Bruce stated, while Ruari listened. "You certainly are in one big mess."
"You could say that again." Ruari sighed. "Look, you don't need to let me stay in your house. I'm dangerous to be around. They killed…" Ruari swallowed hardly, then continued, "they killed Sam. Some people want to kill me. You might get hurt too." Ruari informed slowly.
"You don't need to worry about us, Ms. Whelan. We'll protect you from this." Bruce stated in his calm but stern voice.
"But how? I just wanted some time to think, but I have absolutely no idea what to do to get myself out of this mess."
"Leave it to me. I will think of something and fix this." Bruce said as if it would be easy and Ruari's eyes widened.
"I just met you, you don't have to-" Bruce swiftly cut her off saying,
"I've never seen Jason act this way towards anyone. Jason cares about you, and a friend of Jason's is a friend of mine. I'll help you. In the meantime, I want you to stay here. My house is one of the safest places in Gotham." Ruari was shocked by how kind the man was being and how he acted like he could remedy her problem.
"If she is staying here, then so will I." Jason stated.
"I would prefer that, Jason. I was hoping that I would be able to talk to you more." Bruce stated and Jason looked at the ground. He forgot that the reason why he was going to Wayne Manor in the first place was so that they could bond more and mend some broken bridges. However, the moment Jason saw Ruari in distress, he forgot all about that.
"Mr. Wayne, I really don't want to inconvenience you-"
"Trust me, Ruari, you're not." Jason stated, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You should relax here. Let Bruce and I handle this thing. You can continue writing and-"
"Jay, I didn't come here for a place to get you to fix my problems, I came here to be safe for a moment so I can figure this out. I don't want you and your family getting hurt because of my problems. If you die-"
"We won't die." Jason stated firmly. "Look, you're in over your head and you can't get out of this alone. Please," Jason grasped Ruari's hand and gave it a small squeeze. "let us help you."
Ruari was quiet, looking down at her empty plate, then at Bruce's knuckles, looking for something to stare at while she thought. Her eyes widened for a moment as she stared, then looked up at Jason, and then at Bruce. The flash in her eyes died down as she took in a deep breath.
"Alright. Thank you." Ruari said with a long sigh. "Thank you very much."
Before Jason or Bruce could say anything, Dick bounded into the room.
"Good morning Ruari!" he smiled, hugging the young woman as tight as he could, trying to make up for all the hugs he couldn't give her the day before.
"Morning Officer." Ruari smiled at the man.
"So, did you guys discuss whether she's gonna stay or not?" Dick inquired, and Bruce nodded his head.
"Yes. She will be staying here until we fix this." The older man informed.
"Awesome." Dick grinned, and Ruari couldn't help but smile. These people… these people were amazing.
"I can go shopping for you and pick up some clothes." Jason informed, knowing that Ruari would most likely be spotted if she went. "I'll get you a laptop too so you can type."
"Y-you don't have to-"
"C'mon Ruari, you'll need some clothes and I know your size. Not to mention that when you don't write and you have ideas, your fingers start twitching." Jason smirked, pointing at her fingers that were, indeed, twitching.
"I'll pay you back." Ruari stated, not verbally acknowledging that Jason was right, but the man just chuckled.
"I won't let you." With that, he was out the door.
"You like to write?" Ruari looked up at Bruce and nodded.
"Yeah. It's kinda my living, actually." Ruari smiled a bit. "I've always been pretty good at making up fictional worlds." Before Bruce could continue to talk to her, Ruari stood to her feet. "Thank you for everything, but can I go to the room I was in this morning? I'm feeling a bit tired."
Bruce nodded.
"Of course. Whatever makes you comfortable, Ms. Whelan."
"Thank you." With that, Ruari stood from the table and walked back upstairs.
She didn't know why she was doing this. She wanted to joke around with Dick and talk more to Bruce and the others to get to know them better, but she wasn't up for it. The only thing she truly felt like doing, was to lay down on the bed that Bruce had provided. That's it. Ruari didn't want to sleep, she just wanted to lie down.
"How long do you think it'll be until she can act like herself again?" Dick inquired and Bruce sighed heavily.
"I don't know."
Meanwhile, Ruari was on the way to the room. Unfortunately, she found herself lost in the hallways that looked the same.
"Dammit." She grumbled as she walked through the halls. "Everything looks the same. Dammit." She paused in the middle of the hall. "GODDAMMIT!" she pressed her back against a wall and sunk to the floor.
She didn't cry. In all honesty, Ruari was pretty sure she cried so much the day prior that it was impossible to cry more.
So she sat in a hall with her head in her hands and shivered a bit. That was all since she felt too drained to do much else.
"Are you alright?" Ruari looked up to see Tim. He was looking at her with concern, and Ruari felt laughter bubbling up from her stomach.
"No." she giggled. Tim cocked his head to the side and slowly approached Ruari, then sat next to her.
"Why are you laughing then?" he inquired, and Ruari shrugged.
"I haven't really laughed in a while." Ruari shrugged. "It feels nice to do it again, regardless if it's because I feel so off right now."
"Off?" Tim questioned. Ruari didn't know Tim entirely well aside from the fact that he was part of the Wayne family. However, she tended to talk when people were willing to listen.
"I dunno how to explain it really. Grief. Yeah, I guess it's grief. But I never expected it to feel this way. You'd think that I would be immune to it by now. I lost my parents. I lost my grandmother. How is it that I feel like I can't go on when I lose my fiancé?"
"Maybe because you opened yourself up to loving someone like that and so it just hurts more since you never loved someone like that before." Tim suggested, and Ruari nodded her head slowly.
"Yeah. I guess so. I just… it feels empty, y'know. Like I'm just not up for anything. Hell, even though I have a billion ideas in my head I don't feel up for writing. Writing is my freaking lively hood!" she carded a hand through her hair thick hair.
It was silent for a moment, with Tim looking at Ruari in worry and Ruari shivering every so often.
"What do you write?"
"Huh?"
"Your books." Tim reiterated, smiling a small smile at her. "What do you write? Are they published?" he inquired.
Ruari could see what he was doing. He was trying to distract her and to get her mind off of everything. However, despite the fact that she had figured that out, she wasn't about to stop him.
"Yeah, I'm published. The genre ranges for each book, but a lot of them are roughly based on some misadventures I had or something I heard Jason do. Others were something I wrote for fun that just became so much more." Ruari couldn't help but smile, thinking about her stories.
"Do I get to hear the titles?" Tim questioned and Ruari chuckled.
"It's a secret. There's a reason why I have a pen name." Tim put his hand over his heart and looked mock offended.
"You're so cruel. Can I at least have your pen name if nothing else?" Tim questioned and Ruari just rolled her eyes.
"You'll recognize it."
"Please. I haven't been able to read for pleasure that often, and even when I do, the chances that I read your stuff is pretty slim." Tim chuckled. Ruari bit her lower lip, thinking it over. She hadn't told many people about her pen name and for good reasoning too.
Her fans were loyal, but also tended to get angered by her cliff hangers and the fact that her books don't have a regular schedule as to when they came out.
However, what were the chances that Tim read what she wrote. And what she was most famous for was definitely something targeted for women and girls to read.
With a sigh Ruari stated,
"Olivia Franklin."
"What?"
"Olivia Franklin. That's my pen name. Olivia is one of my favorite names. And Franklin because of my favorite historical figure." Ruari explained and Tim just stared at her. Ruari stared back, questioningly, but then realized why he was staring. He was a reader.
"Shit. I knew I shouldn't have told you." Ruari sighed.
"Oh my god. Wait. When are you coming out with your next book? You are so evil with cliff hangers, you know that? You haven't even put out a release date for the next one. Is this why I can't ever find you at conventions and book signings."
Ruari chuckled, shaking her head.
"Depending on how long I live, the next book might come out next month." She grinned.
"Please promise me that you'll finish it soon when Jason brings you a laptop." Tim stated. "I need to find out what happens to Eren and whether or not she gets with Rein."
"Yeah. I'll finish it up as soon as…" Ruari stopped for a moment. Tim was trying to get her to write. She smiled a bit. "Yeah… I'll continue writing."
