Author's Notes:

Sorry this chapter was a day late. Had a rough day yesterday. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 102
FNAF 4 Night 1 (Third Time's the Charm)

It had been a long night.

Hedy sighed tiredly as she parked in the pizzeria's parking lot. She'd been at the hospital a lot longer than she'd expected. It was almost the end of the shift already. The bots must be climbing the walls due to stress.

She rubbed her face as she tried to think of a way to explain what she knew. She couldn't really focus on all the information, too tired from lack of sleep and stress.

Coma.

Unresponsive.

No apparent reason.

Odd bruise on her shoulder.

Hedy buried her face in her hands and leaned on the steering wheel. What had happened to Ruby?

Taking a deep breath, she got out of the car and made her way to the front door. She wasn't surprised to see the visible half of the main room empty through the front window. The bots were probably hiding in their separate rooms, not wanting to talk about what happened.

The moment she entered the building she was hit with a wave of unease though. "Guys?" she called, expecting at least Foxy to come running to find out about Ruby.

But there was nothing.

Her frown deepened.

What now?

The front door to Puppet's Prize Corner was closed and locked to hide cheap toys from the prying eyes of potential robbers (as if) and she would have to loop all the way around the hallway to get to the other door to see if anyone was in there.

The layout of the building didn't always make sense...

She opened the door to leave the main area and saw Spring standing in a room across the hallway with his back to her.

She pushed herself across the hall and stopped a few turns into the room as her arms tried to freeze up on their own. "Spring? Where's everyone?"

An ear twitched at her voice and she immediately noticed that the one she had replaced recently was gone again. She instinctively moved closer at seeing him hurt.

There was a low chuckle that sent a shiver down her spine and she halted.

"Afraid Springaling isn't here at the moment Wiggy," he said and turned to look at her with red eyes.

Hedy gasped and moved to keep the table that was in the room between them as he took a step toward her. "Michael..."

"Surprised? You shouldn't be," Springtrap said. "Ruby's not the night guard anymore." He laughed.

Hedy got halfway to the door and as Springtrap smugly moved to cut her off, she harshly shoved the rolling table into his middle, pinning him against the wall as she pulled herself out the room.

She slammed the door behind her but the damn thing didn't have a lock.

She didn't have a moment to relax as Springtrap slammed into the door, breaking the doorframe.

"You could have just opened it, you loser," Hedy snapped, backing up down the hallway.

Springtrap seemed a bit caught off by her glib taunt, but recovered to give her a predatory smile.

"I'm going to enjoy this, Wiggy. No one to save you this time."

"Oh speaking of time..." Hedy looked at her watch.

Springtrap stared at her and sneered. "What makes you think..." he was abruptly cut off by the chimes as the clock struck six and Spring's body hit the ground like a bag of rocks.

Michael grunted as his ghostly body fell against the floor and he stared up at Hedy in shock.

Her eyes narrowed.

"The shift from twelve to six has nothing to do with Ruby," Hedy spat at him darkly.

Michael stared for a moment before smiling and disappearing.

Hedy didn't move until he was gone, far away to the other side of the building. She shakily sagged. What the fuck...

Spring didn't move but from what she'd heard of possession from the other bots- oh no, the others. But the ghosts wouldn't...would they? There wasn't a night guard without Ruby so-

A yell from a nearby room startled her.

"What the hell?!" the man's voice was unfamiliar and very much panicked.

"Foxy?!" that was Mangle, also clearly freaked out and in another direction. "Are you- come on, wake up."

"Ugh why does that happen?!" Felix's annoyed voice drifted down to her and Puppet snapped back, something he never did with the kids.

"Regardless of the night guard being here or how much energy you have from not possessing for a few months, you still can't possess past the night shift." he sounded worked up about something and his words confirmed Hedy's fears.

She was sure the building was funneling the sounds to her to give her an idea of what was happening. Normally she wouldn't hear them this clearly from rooms away.

Well except the clearly freaking out man. He was kinda loud.

"Why'd he just drop? What did I do? What just happened? Was that the end of shift?" the panicked babbling didn't seem to be directed at anyone. Now that she was focused it must be coming from the security office.

Ruby would be furious that someone was in her office...

Wait, why was someone in her office?

Hedy softly took a breath as she went around Spring, the stranger at the front of her mind. She needed to get any other possible danger out and work damage control.

She was almost to the office when a head poked out and a man not much older than her stared with a panicked expression. He clutched Ruby's tablet close. Hedy didn't even touch Ruby's tablet...she had her own.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?! Are you okay? I didn't know what to do. There was the rabbit and I couldn't get the intercom..." He glanced at the tablet and yelped. "Oh shit, they're s-still... we need to get out of here-"

Hedy rolled the last few feet and snatched the tablet away from the stranger. She noted Toby running toward the office down the other hall.

The man shouted and dived for the door button and just barely hit it.

"Ow!" Toby's muffled voice responded.

Hedy stiffened, turning on the guy, "Who the fuck are you?" she hissed as she pushed herself past him and reached to open the door.

He gasped and they were suddenly fighting for a second as he tried to keep her hand away from the button. "Wait don't!" He tried to hold her by the wrists.

She had no patience. She kicked him in the shin with the sharp jerk of a rarely used leg and pushed him, not very hard but just enough that he stumbled with his shoulder hitting the controls. Moments later there was the crackling of a taser and the man fell at her feet twitching and blacked out with a pained shout.

That wasn't entirely intentional…

The blacking out part.

Toby was on the other side on the ground, shaking his headache away from his place on the floor. He glanced up and squeaked. He looked around in terror.

"I know," Hedy said, lowering her voice. "I ran into Michael." At his worried look, she said, "The building kicked him out at six."

Toby's eyes drifted to the man. "We tried to get him out..."

Hedy blinked. "You weren't trying to kill him?" she asked slowly.

Toby shook his head.

"...good. I'm proud of you, Toby," Hedy whispered. Her voice was starting to shake. "C-can you drag him to the main room?"

"Yeah," Toby made a motion like he just swallowed and Hedy noticed a bit of paint splashed on him. "Puppet's stuck in his box in the prize room."

Mangle came rushing in, clearly having heard her.

"Hedy! Thank goodness!" She sounded near tears as she leaned on the doorway to avoid putting weight on one leg. "The kids they- the Originals- they won't wake up and Bonnie's hurt! So's Foxy. And Goldy's missing." She was very upset by what happened but her eyes still did scan the stranger to check that he was okay and she sagged in relief.

"Shh. Okay Mangle. First, we need to get everyone in one place," Hedy said. "I'll find Goldy. You help Toby carry this guy to the main room. We need to keep an eye on him. Then both of you get the other Toys and help move everyone else there so I can look them over. Spring's out in the east hallway." She frowned just slightly. "I'll get Puppet."

Mangle nodded in relief and she and Toby got to work.

In the prize room, Puppet's box was closed with his mangled music box still playing and keeping him stuck.

Checking the tablet showed Goldy lying in a heap in one of the storage rooms.

"Puppet," Hedy said softly, tapping on his box. "I need you out."

"Hedy?" the box cracked open and his white eyes widened as he looked at her. They narrowed. "You need to leave. It isn't safe." He wasn't talking about right now. He meant permanently.

"Puppet..." Hedy murmured, taking the lid of his box and lifting it higher. "Give me your music box."

After a minute, Puppet handed it over.

Hedy stared at the thing. Wordlessly, she pulled her pocket knife out and took off a piece of the paneling before cutting two of the wires and then taking the screwdriver tool to a few shakily turning gears. The horrible sound finally stopped. "I'm so sorry."

Puppet didn't say anything as he climbed out and took the device back, setting it inside his box.

"Are you okay?" Hedy asked.

"The children weren't concerned with me, as I couldn't get in their way. They did attack the Toys for being distracting. I don't know what Springtrap was doing all night. Are you okay?"

"I had some lucky timing. For once, I'm glad I was late," Hedy said, her voice dipping lower in anger at the ghosts.

For once Puppet stayed quiet, guessing what she was thinking about. After a few minutes he spoke again.

"It caught us all off guard. We didn't expect the deals to be suspended. We should have." He sounded angry with himself. "They weren't bracing themselves for it so they might take longer to wake up this time. They are still bound to the night shift though. All of them."

So Michael couldn't permanently possess Spring. Probably because his body wasn't in him anymore.

"I wonder why those rules are tied to the night shift hours so tightly," Hedy thought out loud. She frowned and shook her head. "I need you to help get everyone in the main room so I can look them over. Especially Goldy before she wakes up and disappears." She showed him the tablet. "She's in the storage closet by the staff room."

The oldest bot just nodded, not protesting. He must be really troubled by the night if he was just letting her order him around.

According to the tablet the others had got everyone else to the main room in the meantime.

Hedy was livid as she looked over everyone, ignoring the strange man propped up in a chair off to the side, still unconscious. From shock or exhaustion, she hoped.

It wasn't as bad as she thought, but Bonnie's hand was crushed and one ear twisted weird and Foxy...

She couldn't imagine how Foxy got two fingers broken and his jaw damaged. It hung loosely while his right arm looked like he had been hit with a car. Just a little. But still. That just pissed her off. What was Felix thinking?!

The Toys watched her fume.

"Mangle," she said shortly.

Mangle winced. She should have guessed her injuries wouldn't have gotten past Hedy. "Um..."

Hedy glared at her as she reconnected Foxy's arm and reset his fingers, before moving to check Bonnie's hand.

Everyone else seemed okay physically, though Freddy's face was covered in glitter and he had a massive dent in his chest. Chica had paint gumming up her beak. Goldy was okay too, except for the splatter of paintballs on the back of her head.

Spring wasn't too bad either, thank goodness, but his ear was chopped off and there was oil coating his torn up arm.

"Did you guys do this?" Hedy asked, a little shocked as she gestured at the group.

The Toys shifted.

"Ruby left a lot of her stuff in Bonnie's closet," Toby admitted.

"Is Freddy going to be okay?" Chi fretted. "I hit him in the chest with Betty."

"He might be sore but he'll be fine," Hedy said.

Things weren't too bad, but she had a feeling the ghosts were just testing tonight. It would get worse.

They looked up at the sound of Freddy groaning.

The Toys looked torn between relief and panic. They really didn't know how to handle the entire situation and were still freaked from the night.

Freddy rubbed at his head and when he opened his eyes he just looked so resigned. He was always the most composed of the Originals but it also seemed like his first reaction to the possession was to detach from his own emotions. They figured out why when he sat up and automatically caught Chica in a hug as the chicken broke down sobbing, having woken seconds after him.

Bonnie was staring shell shocked at the ceiling, a blank look in his eyes that made them all uncomfortable. Foxy slammed his damaged hand into the table in frustration, ignoring the renewed pain and the dent he formed. Otherwise he was silent. Goldy faltered, torn between vanishing back to her poster immediately with silent dry cries and twisting to check on Spring who'd curled into a tight terrified ball of distress.

Their reactions were just so...quiet. The Toys had naturally seen them after possessions before but they hadn't cared enough to pay attention. Hedy had only properly met them after Ruby had sorted everything out. The group looked so broken in that moment and it hurt.

Hedy came alongside Goldy and gently touched her ear, silently telling her not to disappear despite how terrible she felt.

Her movement caught their attention and Foxy looked at her, shock and worry flashing behind his eyes.

"Hedy, how long have you been here?" Freddy asked evenly.

Hedy didn't answer and just stared at him. Her eyes drifted to a wall and she sneered. "Long enough to almost die, not long enough to decide what to do about it."

Hedy looked at Spring and slipped out of her chair to sit next to him on the floor. "Spring?" she reached out to touch his shoulder, but he jerked away.

Spring whimpered at her voice and forced himself to look up. He stared eye to eye with her as his spiraled in terror. "O-oh no...H-hedy. You..you can't...you need to..." he couldn't continue and covered his face, recoiling away, too afraid to touch her. "Stay away from me!" he cried out in distress.

Hedy's face dropped. "Spring...you didn't do anything wrong."

The rabbit just shook his head frantically. "They don't remember but I do!"

The Originals looked pained but didn't have any way to comfort him. They were all just as distressed.

"He's not going to stop going after you," Spring whispered, terrified.

Foxy had subtly scanned the room to check on the other bots when he froze on the human stranger.

The words that left his mouth really shouldn't have been possible with his programming. The others all looked up to find out what had him sounding so horrified and abruptly panicked.

"Not again. Not again," Bonnie whimpered, grabbing at his ears and completely freaking out.

Chica's sobs started up again while Freddy's expression went blank. Goldy looked torn between wanting to check on the man and trying to get as far from him as possible.

From where they were, they couldn't tell if they'd hurt him or not. The way Foxy automatically checked himself for blood really hit the Toys.

They'd mocked them about this in the past. The younger group felt ill.

Hedy quickly got back in her chair. "He's fine. He's fine," she said. "I just...knocked him out."

She took a bottle of water and unscrewed the cap, pausing for a moment before splashing the man in the face. Harshly. Some went up his nose.

He sat up straight and yelped. He sputtered and coughed as he flailed, water shooting out his nose. He frantically wiped the water away, blinking rapidly and spitting.

His eyes took in the bots for less than a second before he shouted and fell out of the chair in his haste to get up. It toppled beside him. He froze, eyes glancing at his watch on instinct. Then he stared at Hedy and looked utterly confused and ...a little insulted.

Before they could do anything, he pulled part of his shirt up and looked at the burn from the taser.

"The hell...Did you tase me?!" he stared at Hedy, wincing. "Why'd you tase me!?"

"You were in my way," Hedy snapped at him, noting how he stared at the bots in confusion and concern but didn't try to run. "Who are you?" she demanded, secretly relieved he didn't seem to have lasting damage.

"M-mike," he swallowed. "Mike Schimdt...uh...night guard..." He almost squeaked at how the woman's eyes narrowed at him. What did he say?! He answered her question!

The Toys were blatantly staring at him. The Originals refused to look at him while Spring was curled up still. Goldy however was looking at him with a slight frown.

Puppet's eyes narrowed as he put the pieces together before rubbing his mask in agitation. "The Manager," he stated. "The night guard wasn't here to scare him into submission."

Understanding dawned on a few faces while Foxy snarled, making Mike yelp and fall back at the sound. What were they talking about? He was the night guard...right?

"Wait," Goldy spoke up, drawing their attention as she stared intensely at Mike.

He was looking more than a little freaked out by the clearly empty suit.

"You've been here before. You were a night guard before. One of the ones that got away."

The rest of the Originals' heads snapped up to stare at him before recognition lit up in their eyes.

Mike was freaked they were actually talking, never mind talking to him. He nodded quickly. "I-I was here about a year ago," he stammered, unsure what else to do but answer. "Right before the remodeling. T-the..." he frowned a bit, "The manager s-said he needed me to come back...Was kind of hoping never to hear from him again."

Foxy snarled again and punched the nearby wall, nearly giving Mike a heart attack and making Hedy glare at the damage to his hand she just fixed.

"He just jumped to replace her!" he seethed while Bonnie fell still again.

"Is Ruby...is she..." he looked desperately at Hedy, the others doing the same.

"No," Hedy said sharply, seething at the manager. "She's okay. She just...hasn't woken up yet."

The Originals sagged in relief at the news that Ruby was still alive.

They missed Mike staring at Hedy oddly. He looked down and mouthed "Ruby?" to himself. Glancing up, "W-who are you?" He caught his breath as her eyes shifted to him. Was he scared of her or were his nerves just shot and anxious?

"Hedy. I'm the mechanic," she said as he blinked at her, seeming surprised for some reason. Probably that she was the mechanic. "And you're fired."

Wait…

"What?"

"Go home. Don't come back. It's not safe for you."

"N-no you don't understand," Mike said, shakily standing up using the chair for support. "The manager is just going to hire someone else. I actually know what I'm doing..." He paused, flinching as he glanced at the Toys and Puppet. "...or I thought I did...And what about you? Why..." he looked at the bots. He knew the "game" stopped at six but he was utterly confused at how comfortable this lady was with them. Like it wasn't even them who just spent six hours trying to kill him and almost killed her. He saw that on the cameras.

Puppet crossed his arms while glaring suspiciously at Mike which really didn't help his anxiety. Mangle moved to stand by Hedy's chair now that the Originals seemed semi-okay, which made the poor man tense like he expected her to attack the mechanic. His eyes darted between the fox and Hedy in bewilderment.

None of the bots spoke up though. They didn't know how to deal with the guy now that he wasn't freaking out on them.

"Why does no one ever just listen to me?" Hedy said, rolling her eyes. "You're lucky you survived tonight."

"He was really fast with the doors," Mangle mumbled. "He kept up with the cameras...We were trying to get him out, but weren't fast enough." She winced at the reminder of her slightly damaged internals.

"...you...what...?" Mike said.

"And he kept my music box wound up all the while," Puppet hissed, glaring at the guy. "So I couldn't assist."

Hedy looked at Puppet. "You weren't trying to..." She didn't look surprised he hadn't gone after the guard. She didn't think him that stupid or illogical. She was only surprised that Puppet outright admitted it.

"No," Puppet said, vehemently, shaking his head. "I have bigger concerns." He looked at Mike again and seemed thoughtful. "He could help you though. Help us."

Mike's eyes widened. The mechanic wasn't planning on staying during the nights by herself, was she?

"What? No!" Hedy said immediately. "He's another reason for the kids to keep hurting them." She gestured at the Originals.

"Do...I get an explanation?" Mike asked timidly.

"No!" Hedy yelled at him, startling Mangle. She took a breath. "Look. I'm sorry. Just... wait till the end of the week and come back for your paycheck. I'll tell the manager I fired you so you can still get paid."

"You're not...you're not planning to come back are you?"

"That's none of your business...Mike," Hedy said.

"It...kind of is," Mike said.

"No, it isn't," Hedy said, while Mangle lowered her eyes.

"What makes you think that the manager will listen to you?" Puppet asked darkly, making everyone look at him. "Every single location, the management has done what they wanted and never faced any consequences. They have the police under their thumb. That girl was the first to ever actually get her own way." He grudgingly admitted. That was probably the first time Puppet complimented Ruby in any way.

"If we tried anything he just wouldn't show up at the building and still send night guards." Foxy agreed softly, the anger draining out of him. "The lass terrified him so well cause she actually showed up at his house. And then at a board meeting of his superiors. They listened to her. But not to anyone else."

"I have to try," Hedy said, softer. She wasn't Ruby. She knew that. But she had to try. "No more innocent people should get hurt."

Mike got really quiet.

"You don't actually want to kill me...do you?" he said, voice dripping in a hesitant bit of realization. "None of you?" He paused. "It's not some 'quirky' programming glitch?"

The Originals looked away from him, looking nothing like the monsters he faced at night or the entertainers he saw during the day.

"No." Goldy was the one who answered tiredly. "We never did."

"Get out of here. It's not going to be like before," Foxy added, drawing some confused looks but Puppet seemed to understand.

"They haven't possessed in months. They have energy to burn which means they're going to take control every night, not just night six," Puppet explained when he saw no one else was getting it.

"Even Ruby struggled on night six." Bonnie said softly.

Hedy saw Mike's confusion and didn't have the patience for it. "Ghosts. Schmidt. There are ghosts here. Five of them want to kill night guards. One wants to kill me. All possess the bots to do so. So please, just leave," she requested, much more subdued and not as aggressive to the stranger.

Mike stared for a minute, conflicted before he let go of the chair and stood up straighter. He backed up a few steps toward the front doors before turning around. He got to the end of the room before he paused. He looked back.

"What about you?" he asked. "You said one was after you."

Hedy blinked. "You should be running as far and as fast as you can. Not worrying about me. You don't even know me."

Mike continued to look at her, frowning, and for a minute Hedy thought she was going to have to ask Puppet or Mangle to physically chase him out. But he left.

Silence descended on the group left behind. Depression hung around the Originals while the Toys were looking at Hedy with apprehension.

"What do we do?" Teddy finally asked her.

They were so lost in the situation.

Hedy was very quiet. She sank back in her chair with a tense expression, staring at the space in front of her. Her hand reached up as she ran her hand through her hair, tugging on it as she thought.

"We run out the clock." She looked up, head tilted sideways as she pulled at her hair. "We get through each night, one at a time. They can't last forever. Eventually, they'll run out of energy and we'll be back to dealing with them once a week. We just have to keep it together until Ruby wakes up. Her deal comes back when she does and that will kick them out."

The Originals wouldn't meet her eyes.

"You don't know how ruthless they can be," Freddy told her. "You shouldn't be anywhere near here at night. An impulsive decision by them could cost you your life. You can't run like Ruby."

"And you've got to stay away from Michael," Goldy added softly, flinching when Spring whimpered.

Hedy looked at them for a long moment. "I can't leave you. If the manager sends another night guard-and you're right, he might-then I can't leave them either. The Toys can't keep running interference every night and expect not to get hurt." She leaned back again, suddenly looking very pissed. "And I'm hoping to cuss the kids out since I know they're not going to show themselves right now. Me staying around might throw them off."

"It won't stop them." Bonnie's voice was almost a whisper.

The depression was coming off the Originals in waves.

"How's Ruby?" Goldy asked anxiously.

Hedy sighed, grateful for a subject to distract them from her, even if it was Ruby and added another kind of stress. "She's okay. Her vitals keep going up and down, but the doctor's don't know why." She frowned and rubbed the back of her hand absently. "She had something like a...seizure while I was there, but it was only a few seconds and she hasn't dropped out again so..." Hedy shrugged worriedly. "I know that sounds scary but she's doing fine. She looks really strange just..." she trailed off, her voice wavering just slightly. "Laying there in pajamas. Her guardians don't know what happened either. I met that Ricky kid again too. He's sweet."

"He is." Goldy forced a smile. They all liked Ricky. They were trying not to focus on the frightening picture Hedy painted of Ruby. It was just so...wrong, for her to be like that.

Hedy cracked a weak smile. She shook herself as she remembered something.

"Bonnie," she said in a tone that left little room for argument but was still gentle. "Let me see your hand." She spoke softly, her mind clearly a bit elsewhere as gears began to turn. She was thinking out what she would do. She would get Bonnie's hand finished then had to leave to take care of things at her college before coming back. She also needed time to plan, somewhere that wasn't the pizzeria.

Bonnie obediently held it out in a way he never would have a couple of months ago and none of the Originals shifted in discomfort at her doing her job. Only Foxy really still felt uncomfortable and that was only when he was the focus. It was still weird that the fox had a natural fear of 'robot doctors'.

Dr. Cecil was surprised to see Hedy at the hospital, barely a few hours after she and her brother were told to leave (threatened to be escorted out really).

The doctor frowned as she caught sight of the young woman checking in at the desk and passed her clipboard off to a nurse before approaching. She looked around for Hedy's brother but for the moment it seemed like he wasn't lying about being forced to head back to his hometown for work.

Jeremy hadn't been pleased about leaving in the middle of this chaos, but he got his promises that others would keep him in the loop about Ruby's state.

Ruby's own guardians weren't as difficult about respecting visiting hours, though that was perhaps because of the many other children they had to leave to care for despite their anxiety. But still, this was nearing ridiculous, even with the alarming circumstances.

"Ms. Fitzgerald…"

Hedy jerked a little bit in fright and Cecil's frown deepened. That was odd. Hedy seemed far more anxious than a mere few hours before.

Hedy sagged for a moment and cracked a weak and sheepish smile at the doctor.

"Ms. Fitzgerald," Cecil repeated. She paused. "Hedy, did you even leave?"

"Yes," Hedy insisted with a sharp nod and a placating wave of her hand after she handed the sign-in sheet back to the receptionist. Even the simple movement looked tired and Dr. Cecil caught the sight of bandaids and medical tape wrapped around many of the girl's fingers.

Hedy had mentioned during a check-up following her surgery that she often cut her fingers or burned herself by accident if she was distracted while working.

Cecil had little to say at the time besides warnings about carelessness when dealing with electricity, but she was sure these small bandages were incredibly new. Surely she didn't attempt to work while this exhausted?

"You couldn't possibly have gone home to sleep like I told you to," Cecil said, trying not to think about the reality of Hedy having driven there with that jumpy look in her eye.

"I know. I won't stay long. I just...I need to talk to…"

There was a silence before Cecil sighed and waved Hedy past.

The doctor watched Ruby's coworker push herself toward the elevators, heading to the teen's room for the second time that morning.

She still had no idea what was wrong with Ruby.

Hedy tried her best to ignore the burning stares as she retraced her way to Ruby's room.

She saw some confusion. Some worry. Pity perhaps.

Everyone knew Ruby. And it didn't take too long for them to know Hedy too.

She stubbornly stared straight ahead until she got to Ruby's room. She didn't care if the smudges of paint and oil on her sleeves intrigued anyone.

She closed the door to the room behind her and squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe she was hoping Ruby would be sitting up and looking at her like she was crazy when she opened them.

The room was silent except for the steady beeping of the heart monitor.

Even Alice had left for a while apparently.
When Hedy opened her eyes nothing had changed since she left. Ruby was still lying motionless on the bed, hooked up to an IV and several monitors.

Hedy felt a little numb as she quietly forced herself to move to Ruby's side. She cautiously leaned her arms on the bed and stared at Ruby's face, searching for some sign that the teen knew she was there.

Nothing. And she knew the teenager was a light sleeper. She'd accidentally attacked them many times when they moved a little too close after she dozed off.

"You need to wake up," Hedy whispered after a few minutes of just resting her elbows on the bed. "I need you to wake up. We all do. The deals are broken. Suspended. Whatever. They don't work without you there."

Hedy groaned and buried her face in her hands for a moment. "This isn't happening…" she murmured to herself before addressing the teen again. "Ruby...Ruby I know those deals you made had to be fair but…" Hedy made a frustrated noise. "I knew something like this could happen. Not this of course. I don't even know what this is. I just mean...something. We can't hope for the best all the time. Sooner or later you wouldn't be able to come to shift. Maybe you'd have responsibilities elsewhere. I don't know. Point is, those stupid…" Hedy resisted the urge to let out a long stream of curses and took a breath as she closed her eyes.

"Why do you have to be…!" She struggled for the word for a moment as her voice cracked. "You!? Why do you have to be you!? Why did you have to make everything hinge on you? This isn't..." Hedy wiped her eyes and tried to control her breath. She couldn't be angry at Ruby. She just couldn't.

Ruby didn't answer. There wasn't even any sign that she heard Hedy's rambling.

The teen was abnormally pale and completely still on the bed.

Hedy resisted the urge to break down at studying the disturbing scene a moment longer than she should. She couldn't help but reach out and push Ruby's hair out of her face and tuck it behind an ear, hoping that she'd get some reaction. Her fingertips brushed Ruby's skin.

Instead of a reaction, for a split second, she was hit with a flash of sharp fear and her hand felt like it was on fire. She snatched it back and stared at her palm, the phantom agony slowly fading away as she tasted blood in her mouth from biting back a pained shout.

What was that?

Hedy stared in alarm as she searched Ruby's face for a clue as to what just happened, desperately trying to rub the pain away in her hand.

If it was possible, she grew even more worried.