A/N: Someone said I should do other characters and I liked that idea. So here is a little Redcricket. Have a request? Send me a PM or write a review and I'll make it happen. Anything cracky is welcomed.

"This is your chance," Ashley whispered to Ruby. Ruby licked her lips nervously and chanced a glance over at Archie Hopper sitting two tables away with Marco and August Booth.

"I can't," she hissed back.

"You can and you will," Ashley told her, a gleam in her eyes, "Because I put your name in."

"Ruby Lucas?" Nova's nervous voice cut through Ashley and Ruby's conversation. Ruby looked up at the brown-haired nun and prepared to object but before she could several cheers echoed around her. She turned her head and saw Archie smiling at her as he said, "Go Ruby!" She knew he was being supportive, but something in her caused her to rise to her feet and walk on the stage.

She knew what people expected of her, something sexy and sultry, that'd she dance around and sashay her hips. She leaned over to Nova and whispered, "Do you have Dark Side, by Kelly Clarkson?"

Nova flipped through her computer quickly while Ruby tugged on her shirt slightly. She wasn't self-conscious, not really, but she was singing this to the doctor, even if he didn't know it, and wanted him to hear her words instead of fixate on her body.

"Yep!" Nova handed her a microphone as the music started.

"Go Ruby!" Ashley shouted, a wolfish grin on her face. Ruby smiled and swept her eyes over the bar quickly. For some reason Mr. Gold caught her eye, standing there with a glass of amber liquid, his eyes far away.

Words scrolled on the screen and Ruby opened her mouth and began to sing, "There's a place that I know, it's not pretty there and few have ever gone. If I show it to you now will it make you run away? Or will you stay?"

She couldn't look at Archie so she kept her gaze on Mr. Gold for the moment. He wasn't paying any attention to her anyway, his eyes glassy and she wondered if her words struck a chord with him.

She wasn't used to hearing her voice echo around her and it felt strange. No one seemed to be running for the hills so she continued, her voice gaining more confidence. "Everybody's got a dark side. Do you love me? Can you love mine? Nobody's a picture perfect, but we're worth it. You know that we're worth it. Will you love me? Even with my dark side?"

She looked down at Ashley who promptly shot her a thumbs up. She couldn't help but smile as she chanced a glance at Archie. She expected to see him talking with his friends or laughing. Instead she found his light colored eyes intensely focused on her, his face serious. The smile slid off her face but she didn't look away and she didn't stop singing.

"Don't run away, don't run away. Just promise me you will stay. Promise me you will stay."

All her cards were on the table now. Their eyes were locked and he knew. She was singing this to him and he knew it. His face was unreadable and for the first time in her life she was scared of a man. She was afraid he didn't want her, that he would reject her.

Still, she kept singing, refusing to look away. "Everybody's got a dark side. Do you love me? Can you love mine? Nobody's a picture perfect, but we're worth it, you know that we're worth it. Will you love me? Even with my dark side? Don't run away, don't run away. Don't run away. Promise you'll stay."

The music ended and Ruby took a deep breath, looking down at her heeled feet. People were clapping and cheering which was a good sign. She grabbed her glass from her table and downed it quickly. "I need another drink."

She stood at the bar and exhaled loudly, preparing to ask the bartender for a refill when a voice at her elbow spoke up. "You sing beautifully."

She looked up to see Archie looking at her earnestly.

"Thank you," she smiled.

"Really, with passion and a lot of feeling."

She smiled. "Archie, can I buy you a drink?"

He smiled back. "Only if the round after that is on me."