A/N: I didn't think that I would get such a response when I asked for prompts for redcricket, but there they were the next day. This one is going to mash probably a few together. DJ Rocca had asked me to make one that makes Archie show off more of his backbone and maybe his thief side- and I couldn't agree more. So this one is for you, DJ Rocca… with more to come, I am sure.
"Backbone"
Archie stretched as he stepped out of his office building and looked forward to grabbing his regular cup of coffee and lunch at the diner across the street. He had seen so many patients through the morning, including both Mary Margaret and Regina, he really needed the break. By this time, Ruby already had his table ready and he was looking forward to seeing her smile again. He wrapped his tweed jacket around his chest a little tighter as a large gust of wind was blowing in from the water.
He entered the diner and looked at his booth- clean except for a single cup of coffee still steaming. He looked over at the counter at caught Ruby as she came out from the kitchen, a few plates held expertly in her hands. Her eyes snapped to his and she nodded toward his booth, telling him in a silent language that it was indeed his coffee that was on the table. He gave her a smile in return and took his seat as he waited patiently for her to join him as she often did.
He sipped on his coffee and brought only a file or two with him to look over while he waited. She was busy as the lunch rush had settled in, but she laughed and charmed every one of her patrons as they settled down into their seats for their meals. She seemed to ignore a rather loud gentleman toward the end of the bar seats as he would cat call and whistle at her as she passed. Archie threw a disgusted look toward the man before he turned his attention back to Ruby from over the top of his file. She stood just to the side of the register and was giving him that root beer kind of smile from behind the counter- the kind that was light, but had so much flavor hidden underneath.
She wiped off her hands with a dish towel and made her way over to his table and tapped at the outside of the file, "You're on your lunch, working is now prohibited. I thought that you would know this by how many times I bug you about it."
"It's always worth it to hear your voice telling me again," he said and put the files to the side as he looked up at her.
She smiled wide at the compliment and sighed as she shifted her hips to the side, "What will it be today? Turkey club? Soup of the day- cheddar and broccoli- or will you walk on the wild side and try the house special?"
"Surprise me," he chuckled at her teasing mood, "I trust your judgment."
"Oh, bad call, Jiminy," she giggled and shook her head with mock seriousness, "You're in for it."
"Should I take it back?"
"Too late now," she teased and threw him a wink.
He looked up at her wrist and dangling from it was a beautiful, yet delicate looking charm bracelet, "That's beautiful, Ruby. Where did you get it?"
"Granny gave it to me," she said with a smile, "It was from back home. Somehow it followed her and didn't end up in Gold's shop. Glad that it didn't."
"Me too, it looks beautiful on you."
"You're full of compliments tonight," she laughed it off before she turned from him, "I'll get our orders in and they'll be ready by the time for my break."
He laughed and turned to the bar where the man gave him a dark look and then looked out for when Ruby burst through the kitchen doors with more orders. Archie recognized the man vaguely. He was one of the hunters from Red's old village, one of the men that would try to hunt her when she was the wolf- before and after they knew it was her. Apparently habits die hard.
Ruby stepped out of the kitchen to clean up another table and slid the tip from the dirty table into her pocket before she put the dirty dishes into a large plastic tub. The man cleared his throat and picked himself from the bar to slide in next to her, leaning against the table she was cleaning. Archie tried to look nonchalant, but kept a close eye on the man as he didn't trust the hunter one bit around Ruby.
"I… uh, I remember you," he shook his finger in her face as she stood back just slightly from the distinct odor of alcohol on his breath.
"I remember that odor," Ruby waved her hand in front of her face and turned from the guy, "Too much mead, Patterson, and you will have to do into the drunk tank at the jail. You know we don't have much tolerance for drunkenness here."
"This coming from a woman who has eaten men, both literally and figuratively," he huffed out a laugh and then grabbed one of her wrists to pull her toward him, "But the full moon is a ways off and I have a way of charming many a beauties into bed."
"Not with that attitude and that breath," she pulled at her arm, but he only yanked it back toward him.
"Better not rub me the wrong way, wolf," he hissed into her ear, "Don't want to find arrows flying at you at the next full moon."
"Hey!" the man turned toward the voice and found Archie stomping toward him.
"What do you want, shrink?" the man bit out at him, still a strong grip on Ruby.
"I want you to let go of her," Archie nodded toward his hand on Ruby's wrist and the way the man was leaning over her. Archie frowned and tried to push himself between the man and Ruby, eventually cutting the man's access to her. His hand let go of her wrist and she slid fully behind Archie since she didn't want to even look at the man.
The man named Patterson leaned toward Archie with narrowed eyes, "What are you, the wolf's keeper?"
"I am a friend and a better human being from the look of it," Archie said with a frown and felt Ruby's hand press against his back in support and thanks.
"I really think you should want to get out of here," another voice said from behind the counter. Everyone turned toward that side and found Granny holding up her trusty crossbow, "Don't want to get hurt, do you?"
"No, I suppose I don't," he said as he eyed the crossbow and then began to back out of the diner. He looked at Archie and Ruby who now stood side by side as he nearly stumbled from the front swing door of the diner.
"Thank you, Archie," Ruby whispered from behind him.
Archie turned with a smile for her, "I wasn't going to let some hunter try to bully you. I know you can handle yourself, but I didn't like the way he was heading."
"You saved him from a black eye, that's for sure," she ran a hand through her hair and then stopped as she felt like something was missing. She looked at her wrist and found the charm bracelet was gone, "That bastard!"
"What's wrong?" Archie asked and then looked at the wrist, now with one less bracelet. He took a deep breath, ground his teeth in agitation and then walked toward the diner door, "I will be right back."
"Archie!" Ruby called after him, "Don't worry, it's not worth it. I will get it back another way."
"No, it's not right and he needs to understand that," Archie shook his head and opened the door to chase Patterson down.
Ruby turned to Granny, both a bit surprised from the outburst from the usually quiet man they knew. Ruby took off her apron and handed over the plastic tub full of plates and dishes over to Granny. She sighed as she realized what it was. It wasn't just the fact that this guy pushed himself on her; he also did what Jiminy's parents had done so long ago to countless others. He stole and did it in one of the most underhanded of ways.
"I'll go make sure that Patterson doesn't get too overboard," she told Granny and raced out the door after Archie.
Archie jogged down the street to catch up to Patterson and tugged on the man's shoulder, "Excuse me."
"I thought that you had enough," the man shouted and swung him arm at Archie, connecting to his upper chest.
"Oof," Archie coughed and fell a few steps back before he rubbed his chest and then brushed himself off. He took a breath to calm himself and then walked back up to the man, "You have something that isn't yours."
"Oh?" the man dug into his pocket and pulled out Ruby's charm bracelet and what looked like the tips that she had just picked up. She must have missed those over her upset of the bracelet. He swung the items in front of him, "You mean these?"
"You shouldn't take things that aren't yours," Archie frowned and shook his head.
The man put all the items back into his pocket and then took another swing at Archie, who now saw the anticipation move ducked out of the way. He stepped back from the man and took his arm to twist it behind Patterson's back. The man yelled out and turned out of Archie's grasp. He took a few steps back from Archie and rubbed his arm, "I never saw you as a fighter."
"Just because I don't like to fight doesn't mean that I won't," Archie said back and put his hands up to calm the man before he went for another hit, "Give me Ruby's things and you can walk off."
"You saying you'll take me down?" Patterson wheezed out a laugh, "I would like to see you try, Hopper."
Archie sighed and shook his head, "I never act offensively, just defensively. I have more respect for myself and for the other person. Even if they don't give it to themselves."
"Yak, yak, yak, Doc," Patterson rolled his eyes and lunged at Archie again.
Archie stepped to the side and grabbed the man by his middle and swung him into the bushes at the side of the cement so he wouldn't hurt himself. The man fumbled in the weeds for a moment and took another fumble of a run at Archie, which again he side stepped and swung him into another plot of bushes. The man mumbled something to himself and then took a violent swing at Archie and connected with his chin. Archie squinted at the force behind the punch, but didn't have time to throw any back. His shoes couldn't grip some of the gravel on the ground and he fell back.
"Stop it!" Ruby barked as she ran toward the two of them.
Patterson frowned at the intrusion and thought it would be better to take off than to face two fighters. He spat down at Archie and then ran off and around the corner.
"Coward!" Ruby yelled after him and then knelt next to Archie, "Archie, are you okay?"
Archie stretched out his jaw for a moment and then nodded up at her, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Didn't hit me as hard as he thought, I just slipped over the gravel."
"You were holding our own," Ruby smiled and held out a hand to help him off the ground, "Where did you learn that from?"
"Believe it or not, my parents," he straightened his jacket and brushed off the dirt from the sleeves.
"Your parents knew how to kick ass?" she raised a brow.
"Being pickpockets, if you were caught, you had to know how to defend yourself long enough to get away," he reasoned and looked after the path that Patterson had taken, "Too bad it was him that got away."
"It's okay, I will get a police report done with Emma or David to get my bracelet back," Ruby sighed.
"You don't need to for that," Archie smiled at her and pulled out the bracelet and her tips from his pocket, "I got that right here and the tips he stole, but I would seriously think about writing a report about him manhandling you."
"Archie!" her eyes widened and she looked at the bracelet and the money, her pocket suddenly feeling a lot lighter. She flicked her eyes from the items to his still smiling face, "How'd you…?"
"Remember, he isn't the only one who used to be a pickpocket," he handed over the items and patted her hand over them, "Just for the record… I never got caught."
Ruby stared at the bracelet and money cupped in her hands and then laughed loudly at the pieces fitting together. She gripped her hand and then flung her arms around Archie's neck in a fierce hug. She buried her face into his neck and laughed in surprise and happiness.
"Thank you so much, Archie!" she beamed and leaned back to look up to his face. She pecked him on the cheek and then grabbed his hand to pull him toward the diner, "Time for a well deserved lunch for you."
"What… what about a dinner?" he asked suddenly from behind her.
Ruby turned her head toward him and tilted her head, "Dinner?"
"Yeah," he pulled at the front of his jacket with his free hand and cleared his throat, "Dinner, with me. Later tonight, if you're free?"
Ruby smirked and put the money back in her pocket and held out her bracelet toward him. He raised an eyebrow, but took the bracelet anyway. She held out her wrist and he understood. He put the bracelet on easily and then turned her hand over to kiss the back of it. She gasped a little in surprise, but smiled immediately afterward.
"I would love to," she nodded at him and pulled at his arm to straighten him up. She looped her arm through his and then leaned her head on his shoulder, "You need to pick me up around six. Don't be late."
"Wouldn't dream of it," he shook his head.
"Good," she nodded and then turned to point up at him, "And I like-"
"Italian, I know," he nodded and pushed down her hand pointed at his face, "I was thinking of that place off of Main. You love their marinara sauce and their fettuccini, don't you?"
Ruby smiled happily up at him, "Is there anything you don't know about me?"
He thought for a moment and shook his head, "Unless there is a question I never had the courage to ask you?"
"Believe me, you have enough backbone for the two of us," she giggled and pulled him along faster to the diner to figure out the rest of their plans for the evening.
END
A/N: Not exactly what I was going for, but it turned into this about half way through. Believe me, there will be more to come. Maybe not continuations of this, but definitely more Archie.