"Stop fighting!" You shout but they don't stop.

You try to pull Gideon off then his elbow crashes into your nose. As you reach up to grab your nose, a strong hand stops you and your eyes open...

You blink a few times until Ruin's face becomes clearer then you look around. The hospital. There's an IV in your arm, your head is pounding, and your face hurts, your nose mostly. You try to touch it again, but Ruin stops you this time, too.

"Let go," you say weakly. There was no way you could break your hands loose from his grip. "Stop trying to touch your nose and I will." Ruin stares at you and you nod. He lets you go, but doesn't move away. He has bruises on his face and a bloody lip, but he probably doesn't even feel the pain. You don't feel bad for him though, you're angry.

"Are you and Gideon happy now that you've beaten the crap out of each other? Must feel great." Your head starts pounding more and you feel nauseous. Ruin notices you wincing and closing your eyes. "Don't work yourself up. Doctor says you're suffering from exhaustion or burnout. You've been feeling sick because you're so stressed out. How long have you been like this?" He looks genuinely worried and you're about to cave, but you're still angry.

"I can't believe you two..."

"You two?" Ruin scoffs and shakes his head. "Do you even remember what happened? Your little Captain attacked me first! Was I supposed to just stand there and let him hit me like some punching bag?" The volume of his voice is getting higher and there's a vein throbbing in his neck. Maybe you should have stayed quiet.

"Yeah, maybe I could have turned the other cheek, but that asshole probably would have hit that one, too. Donnie Walsh ain't gonna stand around and not fight back. I'm sorry, that's just who I am. I would like for you to stop putting all the blame on me..." His face is red and he's breathing heavily, but he's trying to calm down. "I'm a hothead but so is that Captain of yours. Or do you not see that because you're in love with him?"

Your head pops up causing the room to spin. You wait for everything to stop spinning before you speak. "I won't lie to you, there was a time when I was and I do still have feelings for him."

Ruin looks a little uncomfortable. "Do you guys have some history? Have you ever...?"

"We've never dated and no, I've never had sex with him if that's what you were going to ask." You smile when you see how relieved he is.

"Why does he act like that when it comes to you then?" he asks.

"He loves me." You shrug and looks down. Ruin looks away so you take this chance to touch your nose. There's a bandage across it and it's pretty damn sore. "Ow," you say quietly.

"Dammit, [y/n], I told you not to touch it!" He pulls your hand away quickly.

"I must really look like shit."

"You don't." He sits down on the bed.

"Don't lie. I know I'm all bruised up." You sigh.

"Yeah, but that'll go away and besides, you're still fuckin hot." Ruin laughs and you notice that he is still holding your hand. You look down at his hand. The only other time you've seen something like this up close was when Mitchell showed you his arm. Ruin's entire upper body seemed to be augmented, it was...different.

His hands are so big compared to yours. You'd thought his hands would be cold, but they were warm...and smooth.

Ruin moves closer, until his breath mingles with yours.

"Ah, [y/n], you're awake." The doctor walks in and Ruin stands quickly and moves away from the bed. "The last time we checked, your fever had went down, but you're still very weak." The doctor stands over you, poking and prodding, what doctors do best.

"Do you think I can get something for this headache, doc? And can this IV come out?" You ask.

"I can definitely get you some medicine for the headache, but the IV stays. You are still pretty dehydrated."

"Ugh, fine."

The doctor smiles and leaves. A nurse comes in with a syringe and injects it into the IV. When the nurse leaves, Ruin comes back over and sits. "That's gonna kick in pretty fast. Might knock you out." He holds your hand again, it feels good. "I'll leave so you can get some rest." He stands but still doesn't let go of your hand.

"Can you stay until I fall asleep? Please?" You sound desperate but you don't care, you didn't want to be alone right now.

"Of course I can." Ruin leans in and kisses you gently. You look at him. He's still so close. "Thank you," you say and kiss him again.

You don't remember much after that, the medicine must have kicked in, but you do remember the warm, metallic hand holding yours as you fell asleep.

-Ruin's POV-

Ruin held her hand until she fell asleep and then some. He couldn't make himself leave even after a few minutes of just watching her sleep.

He eventually let go of her hand and brushed her hair out of her face. Seeing her bruised and in pain bothered him more than anything. She didn't deserve this, she deserved so much better.

As he sat there and watched her sleep, Ilona came in quietly. Ruin didn't know how long she was there, but she cleared her throat and he turned quickly. "Oh, hey."

"Hello there," Ilona says walking over slowly. "How is she?"

"She's...okay. Doc gave her some pain meds and she's been out ever since." Ruin answers.

"What did the doctor say was wrong with her?" Ilona asks.

"Stress and exhaustion mostly. She pretty much burned out then..." Ruin stops. He keeps thinking about her stumbling back holding her nose, the stunned look on her face, the blood on her hands.

"Then what?" Ilona asks.

"Gideon and I...he punched me so I hit him back then he tackled me. [Y/N] was trying to pull him off and she got hurt. Gideon hit her...accidentally." Ruin made sure to add the 'accidentally' but it didn't make him feel any better. Ilona puts a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be okay. Gideon probably feels like shit."

"He should! Don't try to make me feel bad for that asshole." He stands and walks to the window.

Ilona grabs [y/n]'s hand. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad, but you know it was a mistake. Gideon would never hurt her."

"I really don't want to hear that right now." Ruin did not want to turn this into a conversation about Gideon. "She's my best friend, you know," Ilona says looking at her. "I just wish she wouldn't do such stupid things sometimes." She laughs but it's a sad laugh.

Ruin walks over to the bed and touches [y/n]'s cheek gently. She stirs in her sleep and presses her cheek to his hand, smiling lightly. "She likes you," Ilona says with a smile. "Unless she's dreaming of someone else."

"Nice way to ruin a moment." Ruin says and she laughs and shrugs. "Sorry." Ilona stays for a few minutes more then she leaves, but before that she says, "Go get some rest, she's not going anywhere. She'll be okay." Ruin only nods and looks back at her.

He's lost track of time and he hasn't eaten at all, but he can't leave her.

The sun is just starting to set when she wakes up. "Donnie, you're still here?" she says sleepily.

"Yeah I am."

"Watching me sleep? You creep." She laughs and he makes a face at her. Sitting up, she presses her head to his chest. He hesitates but wraps his arms around her.

Ruin can't remember the last time he's held someone, but he likes holding her. She gasps and looks up at him. "What?"

"I can hear your heart," she says excitedly.

"Well, I hope so." He laughs.

"I just thought...well, I don't know. I'm still learning about this, about you."

He holds her chin and lifts her head. "My god, you're adorable." She giggles and blushes and tries to turn away, but he holds her chin steady. "May I kiss you?" She nods almost as if she's in a trance.

Ruin kisses her gently but passionately. "I'm sorry," he says between kisses.

"For what?"

"For what happened today, for what happened to you."

"Okay," she says and starts kissing him again. She nibbles on his lip and he growls, sending a rumble through both of their bodies. He pulls away suddenly. "Fuck...[y/n]..."

"What's wrong? she asks innocently. "Did I do something wrong?" Ruin looks at her. "No. You did everything right. Too right." She looks at him, confused.

"If I don't stop kissing you I'm gonna end up taking you right here and I don't think you want that." Ruin stands awkwardly trying to adjust himself without being too obvious. He hears her laugh behind him. When he turns to look at her, she tries to hold back her laugh.

"Its not funny." He says. Her eyes trail down his body and they widen when she finds what she's looking for.

"Like what you see?" Ruin raises his eyebrows and she blushes furiously. "Um..is..." She can't even form a full sentence, but he decides to tease her. "It's all me. No enhancements, no augmentations. 100% flesh and blood."

Ruin smiles and [y/n] bites her lip. "Stop biting your lip or I'll give you a reason to."

"Oh," she says quietly.

They're staring at each other. Ruin can feel the heat between them...then a nurse walks in with a food tray. "Time for dinner, [y/n]."

"Oh, okay. Do you know when I'll be able to leave?" she asks the nurse, but she's looking at him the entire time."Tomorrow night possibly," the nurse says before leaving.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow night," Ruin says as he walks to the door.

"It's a date," she says. Just like last time.

He leaves with a huge smile on his face...among other things. He was going to make sure he gave her a night she would never forget.