Title: Catch Me When I Fall (3/?)

Fandom: Supernatural/BTVS/ATS (it's not a crossover per se but I will borrow the mythology from M.E. and mention some characters)

Rating: M – changed to be on the safe side!

Setting: Post Season 3 episode 11

Characters: Dean, Ruby & Sam

Pairings: Dean & Ruby

Spoilers: Mention of characters from Season 4 of SPN

Word Count: 3,954

A/N: Thank you for the r 'n' r, adding my story to alerts, etc. In my world Katie Cassidy's Ruby is the real Ruby and Genevieve Cortese's Ruby is a demon impersonating real Ruby, it's the only thing that makes sense!

Chapter 3

Ruby sat in the darkest corner of the seediest bar she could find, contemplatively nursing her vodka and coke. She had had a good couple of days, tracking down some demons closer to Lilith and dispatching them as fast as she could stick a blade in their meat-suits. It had been relatively easy with the first three but the last demon had put up a Hell of a fight. Olaf! He had always been a tough nut to crack, but she had done it! She had a couple of cracked ribs and her left arm had been dislocated but she had sent him into the ether or wherever the souls of the damned went when they became deader than they already were.

It was getting easier after Catriona. She took a sip of her drink, letting the coke bubbles fizz in her mouth before swallowing. The only demon in all of Hell that had had the power to turn her into a cowering mass of Jell-O was Catriona. It was standard psychology but it didn't lessen the demon-witch's hold on her. Or it hadn't until that day in Massachusetts. Now Ruby knew that when the time came for her to face any of the other frenemies she had made in the Pit again she would destroy them and she had Dean Winchester to thank for that. How ironic.

A pair of jean clad legs filled Ruby's vision and she looked up with a bright smile, she was in a good mood tonight, if the guy was attractive she would take him back to her motel. Her smile froze as she stared into Dean Winchester's piercing hazel green eyes.

"La Femme Ruby… why is that whenever I least want to bump into you, which is always… you appear?"

"In case you bumped your head and killed what little brain cells you do have, I was here first and you approached me Jackass."

Dean's lips stretched in a smile that did not reach his eyes. Slapping her boot clad feet off the chair she had propped them up on, he sat down, setting his beer on the table with a passive aggressive thud. Ruby's eyes hardened as she sat up straight in her chair.

"Of all the gin-joints and shady bars in the great State of Illinois you had to walk into mine Winchester."

Dean took a big sip of his beer then cradled the bottle close to his chest as he studied Ruby.

"Nice shiner, your boyfriend give it to you?"

Ruby's hand drifted up to her right eye and she tentatively fingered the bruise that she had not noticed was quietly blossoming while she sat in the bar. Olaf always did have a mean left hook, she thought with a shrug. A self-satisfied grin broke out on her face.

"Yeah he did actually."

Dean raked her form and noticed she was favoring her left arm, he also noticed that her chest was moving a little irregularly when she breathed. Eyes drifting back to her face he saw that her lip was split, and was that blood in her hairline?

"What did you do to him?"

Ruby downed the rest of her vodka coke and rolled her eyes, "I gave him an erotic massage… with my knife."

Dean leaned forward and grabbed her left arm, Ruby moaned in pain and he felt the looseness caused by her dislocated shoulder. Looking back into her eyes he frowned.

"Who was he?"

Ruby cursed the human body she was in as tears of pain welled up in her eyes. It was an involuntary reflex but it made her look weak and vulnerable. Something she had sworn to herself she would never let herself be after the showdown with Catriona a week and a half ago.

"Let go you sonofabitch!" She hissed through clenched teeth.

Dean pulled her closer, forcing her upper body to hang above the rickety table awkwardly.

He clenched his teeth too, "Not until you tell me what I want to know, sweetheart."

"Depends how much you really want to know, are you asking me about the demon I killed or the poor meat-suit he was wearing?"

"Start with the demon."

"His name was Olaf, he's, well was older and more powerful than Catriona. Meat-suit was a camper, got his body snatched in the woods near the Devil's Gate you and your brother opened."

Dean's eyes flashed with guilt, instinctively he quashed the feeling with anger; he pulled Ruby a little closer.

"What was he doing here?"

He wasn't in Illinois for the Red Sox I can promise you that." Ruby ground out, the tears of pain started to leak down her face.

Dean released her arm and she fell back in her seat, angrily brushing away the moisture trickling out of her eyes with her right hand.

"Not a Red Sox fan, imagine that," Dean mused sarcastically.

Ruby's eyes flashed from black to blue-green to black again, the electricity in the bar flickering with each change. Dean glared at her in warning. Her eyes changed to blue-green and stayed that way.

"More of an ice hockey fan, he loved the Vancouver Canucks."

Dean smirked, "A demon into ice hockey…ironic."

Ruby stood up, keeping the table between them she started to walk backwards, "Really, you figured that out all by yourself?"

Eyes warily watching him she moved a little faster, "Oh look at the time! My coach's about to turn into a pumpkin… not a pleasure as always Hellboy."

Dean watched her melt into the crowded room then got up to follow her.

-----xxx----

Pushing the back door open, Ruby stumbled into the alley behind the bar, pressing her face against the grimy wall. Her arm was doing a good impression of reminding her how it felt to be on Alastair's shit list back in Hell. With a frustrated groan she walked up to the dumpster and positioned her shoulder against the metal disposal. Right palm flat against the grimy brick face, Ruby clenched her teeth together and pushed her shoulder into the dumpster as hard as she could. The dumpster rolled sideways and Ruby punched the wall with her good hand as fresh lacerations ripped through her left side.

"Fuck!"

A large hand clamped around her right arm and Dean Winchester swung her around to face him. Ruby sneered at the combination of sympathy and respect in his eyes.

"Don't just stare at me, help me or better yet, fuck off!"

Dean shook his head, typical!

Wordlessly, he steadied his left hand on her right shoulder, gripped her left arm and with a horrible sounding wrench, popped her shoulder back in place. Ruby roared in pain, the alley lights flickering on and off then exploding as the electricity in a two-block radius went out. Shouts of protest filtered out of the bar.

Looking up at the sky Dean quietly gave thanks that it was a full moon and then looked back at Ruby who was leaning against the wall, blue-green eyes shooting him daggers.

"You're welcome," he snapped.

Pushing herself off the wall she started to walk away, without thinking, Dean followed her. Ruby rolled her eyes and prayed for strength, she just needed to get back to her motel room without stumbling or falling. The power outage she had caused had drained her already depleted resources. With a grim set to her shoulders she ignored the hunter trailing her.

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Dean knew that Ruby could hear him behind her but seeing as she was not acknowledging his presence he decided to keep his distance. He wondered who this Olaf was and more importantly what he wanted. If Ruby had killed him did that mean that she was hunting down her own kind in order to help them? Or just settling an old score? It was so confusing! He yearned for the days when a demon was a demon, which meant evil, and humans were humans. Black was black and white was white. Now everything had been turned upside down, he was going to go to Hell, all good deeds and lives saved be damned and Sam was going to be left alone with a demon on his shoulder. Yellow Eyes' question came back to haunt him, "Are you sure that what you brought back is the same Sam?"

Ruby groped in her back pocket for the key to her motel room. Dean observed that she favored motels too, which answered the question of where she stayed when she wasn't busy interfering in their lives. He wondered if Sam knew that Ruby was in town.

Before the door could slam shut, Dean's foot wedged in the door and he stepped in the room. Ruby, still not turning around rolled her eyes as she shrugged her jacket off; dropping it on the double bed she looked at Dean over her right shoulder.

"I'm going to get cleaned up. Is it too much to hope for that you'll be gone when I come out?"

Dean shrugged his own jacket off and sat down on the bed. Stretching his booted feet on the coverlet he picked up the remote and turned on the television. Ruby sighed as she stalked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Dean chuckled to himself, genuinely amused by her fit of pique.

He settled on a porn channel, turning the volume up when he heard the shower running.

----------xx-------xx--------

Ruby stepped out of the bathroom and let out the fragrant scent of Herbal Essences shampoo. The scented steam filtered into the motel room too as Ruby sat at the little table facing the bed. She looked oddly vulnerable without any makeup; the blue-black eye was the brightest thing on her face. A few faint bruises had also made an appearance and for the first time Dean noticed the demon had possessed a young woman no older than 21. His nose twitched in appreciation of the delicious smell wafting in from the bathroom as he studied her warily. She was wearing a thick white terry bathrobe; it had the New York Plaza's gold initials embroidered on the breast pocket. He raised an eyebrow in silent question.

"Hell's not big on perfume, or luxuriant scented bath soap or shampoo or showers for that matter." Ruby said in way of explanation.

Dean shrugged mentally, it made sense.

"So yeah, if I were you I would enjoy bathing and all the wonderful perfumes and toiletries on Earth as much as possible… and as for that, there are orgies and all kinds of perversions for you to fuck your heart out." Ruby added dryly as she gestured to the porn Dean was still watching.

He turned off the television with a disgusted look on his face; something told him the whole point of the orgies in Hell was not pleasure.

"You went through my stuff of course."

"Saw your medieval flask of the ass-tasting life saving potion, a tin jar of crap I couldn't open from God knows what century, empty leather pouches, rock salt which was a total surprise… but I didn't find your knife or any spell books." Dean said cheerfully.

Ruby smirked, pulling open her robe she patted her naked right thigh where the mystical blade was strapped securely.

"Don't need a spell book, I was there before half the stuff you guys use was even written down."

Dean forced his eyes back up to her face and brutally told himself he was not attracted to a demon. The body it was inhabiting was attractive that was all. He felt a stab of irritation for his own body's traitorous reaction to the sight of naked supple female flesh.

"How convenient for you."

"I think so, half the reason you boys have been so good at hunting is because some idiots broke with tradition and started writing shit down. Besides, and I don't mean to brag… I was a damn powerful witch in my day."

She went to the over-sized leather satchel bag she traveled with and unearthed a jar of Body Shop Strawberry Body Butter. Shrugging off the bathrobe, Ruby opened the jar and started to moisturise her skin. Dean's eyes widened in horrified shock as he took in her naked body. Other than the knife strapped to her thigh, she did not have anything on. Raising his eyes to her face Dean didn't know whether to be thankful or insulted that she was ignoring him, focusing on what she was doing.

Letting his eyes drift back over her body, Dean took in the paintball splatter pattern of blue-black and purple bruises on her ribs, the knife wound just under her collarbone as well as the ugly looking diagonal scar across her stomach. It looked a few weeks old. He stared at her neat dark brown triangle shaped bikini wax and looking back at her face, realized he would never figure her out.

Ruby pulled on a pair of black lace girl briefs then stepped into grey sweatpants. Snapping on a black sports bra, she unscrewed the top off a roll-on deodorant. Slicking it on her underarms she proceeded to spray what Dean guessed to be half a bottle of perfume on her skin. It smelt of roses, cloves and some other spice he could not name. He had to admit it smelt good and sexy.

Turning to face him, Ruby pulled out a small ancient looking tin jar of ointment and tossed it to him.

"Look lively pervert!"

Dean stared down at the jar then back at her as she padded over to him, dragging a chair with her.

"You might as well make yourself useful; rub that on my cracked ribs, front and back."

She grabbed one end of the top sheet on the bed and yanked it from under him, ripping the bedding into thick strips as she smiled coldly.

"Then you can wrap up my ribs nice and tight."

Dean returned her wintry smile and unscrewed the lid off the tin jar; the ointment reeked of peppermint and some other ingredient that reminded Dean of the potion she had shoved down his throat in Massachusetts.

He wrinkled his nose as he dipped his fingers in the jar, Ruby sat down and he leaned forward to smooth the ointment on her bruised flesh. When she turned around so he could rub it on her back, Dean frowned and leaned closer to study the brand on her right shoulder blade. It looked like some kind of Celtic symbol; surreptitiously he slipped out his cell phone with one hand and silently snapped a picture of it before sliding the phone back into his pocket.

Ruby tried to think of all the horrific things she had experienced in Hell, anything but the way it felt to be touched by a human being with expressive hazel green eyes you could drown in. It was not fair that Dean Winchester, the man who she felt she had the most to prove to; had seen her weak and vulnerable, twice. Or that he had pissed her off so much in that alley that she had lost control of her powers which meant she was going to have to heal the old-fashioned way for the next couple of days. Thank the Gods she had had the sense to jack the body of a Slayer otherwise she would have been out of commission for much longer than a few days. If luck was on their side the Winchesters would not attract any Hell Spawn With A Plan until then. Now what were the chances of that happening?

Dean wrapped the strips of linen around Ruby's ribs expertly. Field Medicine was something he had been practicing since he was eight. Father of the Decade he may not be but John Winchester had taught his Blunt Little Instrument well. He winced inwardly at the taunting voice from his Dream-Root trip that had coined that expression. Slamming the door on that soul-crushing memory Dean turned his attention back to the enigma in front of him. Their eyes met and held.

Ruby was the first to look away, she did not need this! There was a war to fight dammit.

"Olaf is the kind of demon you should worry about. He was on the other side, but nevertheless totally invested in this war. Good thing I found him before he found you and Sam."

Dean's eyes lit up with interest.

"Name sounds Scandinavian."

"He was. Very old school too… big fan of the holy trinity. You know; beating, raping and killing."

Dean picked the last strip and fashioned a sling for her left shoulder, it was a palette study of bruises too. He felt a stab of remorse at the way he had grabbed her arm in the bar.

"When we got drunk in that bar in Mass you didn't have any bruises."

"It's called magic, Shortbus."

"So why don't you just abracadabra yourself better now?"

Ruby gave him a chagrined smile as she took the tin jar of ointment from him and walked back to her duffel bag. Tossing it in there she pulled out a white sweatshirt and put it on the best she could with the sling. Pulling her wet hair out of the back she picked up a hairbrush and sat back down in the chair next to the bed. Dean looked at her expectantly.

"It's more of glamor than actual healing, the pain is still there and that kinda magic needs serious mojo. After Olaf I'm a little tapped out."

She ran the brush through her hair.

"Don't forget your little lights display in the alley." Dean said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah that too."

Dean leaned closer to her, "Thought you'd have learned better self-control… or maybe I just bring it out in you."

The brush faltered then stopped. Looking into his eyes she saw the confident knowledge that said he knew what he was talking about.

Ruby's eyes widened, "Looks like I underestimated you, Dean Winchester."

He grinned, "It's my good looks… throws people off."

She felt herself smile genuinely at the remark, "Whatever."

Dean planted his feet on the floor and stood up, "Have you seen Sam lately?"

The question was spoken casually but Ruby could read the tension in his muscles as he mentioned his brother.

"He told me about the Trickster if that's what you're asking."

Dean looked at her in surprise, Ruby shrugged, rising to her feet too.

"He wanted to know if my knife could kill him, so nice job Deano, your brother is getting tougher."

Dean scowled at her, "So can it?"

Ruby tossed the brush on the bed then padded over to the mini-fridge and pulled out the six-pack she had bought before her showdown with Olaf. She set it on the table and gestured to the chair by the bed.

"Bring that over, we can talk over a beer."

Dean complied, sitting down heavily; he accepted the bottle she handed him.

"I don't think it can kill the Trickster and besides I thought you two agreed not to tangle with him anymore."

Dean shrugged, "Sam agreed, I just went along with it 'cause he was freaked. Besides, you can't blame a guy for asking... so what's this trickster's deal?"

Ruby twisted the cap off her beer and took a healthy swig, "What do you think it is?"

Dean shrugged in feigned nonchalance, "If I didn't know any better I'd think he was trying to toughen Sam up."

Ruby smiled cryptically, "That's one of his reasons anyway."

Dean twisted the cap off his beer and took a big swig; he fixed intense questioning green eyes on Ruby.

"It seems a lot of evil people are interested in toughening Sam up, why do I not think it's for the goodness of his eternal soul and more like, I don't know… trying to pick up where Yellow Eyes left off and get him to go Darth Vader?"

Ruby started to play with her bottle-cap, eyes probing Dean's with an unsettling intensity. Dean quashed the reflex that made him want to recoil, he felt like she was plumbing the very depths of his soul.

"I know what you're thinking but believe me; you don't want to go after this guy. Just in case you've forgotten… you're in a war and you don't have time to be pissing off powerful beings that can just stick you in a time loop somewhere."

Dean's eyes narrowed at her, "You know this guy?"

Dark brown lashes lowered hiding her eyes, "I have an idea who he really is."

Dean leaned forward, "And?"

Ruby glared at him, "And nothing. Leave him alone. You can't afford it. Just be grateful that his lesson in Life Without Dean managed to both toughen and caution your brother, without wracking up a body count."

Dean snorted in disgust and finished his beer quietly. It was so typical of her to withhold any actual meaningful information. Dean hated being a puppet on a string and that's exactly how he felt when Ruby chose to selectively share. Why was he even here anyway? Didn't he hate this bitch?

Ruby left him to his ruminations, drinking her own beer quietly too. They drank their second beers in silence too. When they both reached for their third beer at the same time, Dean finally looked at her.

Ruby sighed, "I can help you, you know."

Dean did not like the solicitous nature of her tone, "Help me what?"

Ruby crossed her arms across her chest, "Get ready for Hell… all you have to do is ask."

Dean shrank away from her, "Why don't you stick to haunting the gullible Winchester."

Ruby laughed mirthlessly, "Oh you mean the Winchester with a future to look forward to?"

Dean rolled his eyes and downed his beer, slamming the bottle down on the table, he stood up.

"Well thanks for the beer Barbie, I think I've had as much your crap as I can stand. I'd forgotten for a minute that you're one of Hell's minions, but thanks for reminding me."

Ruby sneered up at him, adeptly concealing her hurt and disappointment; she did not want him to leave just yet.

"Finally! Don't let the door hit your dumb ass on the way out Winchester," she quipped as she pushed herself out of her chair and went to turn down the covers on her bed.

Dean shook his head wryly and walked over to the door, when he turned around to look at her; Ruby was plumping the pillows with her good hand. Unwillingly, he felt his heart tug in sympathy for the pale, bruised and exhausted blonde. She looked up at him eyes unguarded until she realized the train of his thought. Her eyes flashed, turning black. His insides clenched, what was he thinking feeling sorry for her? He should be feeling sorry for the poor girl she was riding! With a heartfelt curse Dean wrenched the door open and left the motel.

Ruby threw herself down on the bed and muttered a curse in Gaelic. She had sensed the change in him after she had come out of the shower and she had responded. So much so that she had forgotten herself. It was all because of this stupid human body! And not just any body, a Slayer's body that went hormonally crazy after a fight. It was only natural that it would react to Dean's animal magnetism right?

Turning off the lights, Ruby stared up at the ceiling in the dark. It was the body and only the body she would not stoop so low as to find a man who hated her attractive. Wouldn't she?

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What did y'all think? I've never written SPN or supernatural oriented fic before so I am not quite sure if I've lost the plot or not. Or if I'm losing their voices, it is very important to me that it sound like them.