Work Text:
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
Ruby Redfort had always been different from other people. She always attracted attention, was always in the spotlight, but she was different, and she knew it. Well, her work at Spectrum only confirmed it. Not every average teenager works in a secret agency, right? But her otherness never hurt her. Ruby liked being herself— a brilliant child.
Now Ruby doubted that was the only thing wrong with her. But when her ability to break codes and ciphers made her useful, it made her undeniably wrong.
But maybe it's still okay? Tomorrow Del will say she made a mistake and ask her to forget it, and Ruby will agree. She's not the type to hold a grudge (a grudge? but Del didn't hurt her, did she?). And it won't really change anything. The point is not that Del kissed her, but that Ruby liked it. She could have pushed her away, but she didn't even make the slightest attempt.
Del was nervous, not like herself, and her nervousness almost rubbed off on Ruby. What was the point of meeting at Del's house, without anyone seeing? Couldn't they have met at the Double Donut as usual and talked there? It would be much more convenient for Ruby than going to Del's. Besides, she didn't usually invite me over anyway.
"Ruby, I want to do something. You know, I don't know how you're gonna feel about it, but..."
Ruby felt even more nervous. What's going on here?
"Del, if you need my help with anything, just say the word. It's not like I've ever turned you down."
"No, Ruby, that's not what this is about."
And then she felt her lips on hers. Ruby didn't even realize what had happened. Del leaned in so hard that their teeth almost touched. Ruby froze. Her first kiss. With Del. Del had kissed her. Oh, fuck. This was what the mystery was all about.
Ruby wasn't thinking when she returned the kiss. She just felt a sudden urge to have Del closer to her. Almost at the same second, Del abruptly pulled away from her. Ruby could see in her frightened look that she was thinking the same thing. How did this even happen?
Ruby backed away and ran away without explaining her actions.
The light was shining in Ruby's face, but she kept driving until it was too close. She didn't even realize what was happening, her attention was on other things. Oh, no, no, no, no, no! The car was indeed too close, Ruby could already see the driver's frightened face. At the last moment, she managed to turn the bike's handlebars so as not to hit the car. In her mind, she thanked Hal for the bike. With her regular one, she would have been hit by a car somewhere.
A car stopped behind her. A man got out and seemed to be shouting at her. Ruby didn't really listen. She wondered if he knew what she had just done, would he be so afraid of running her over? Ruby went faster. This bike could go really fast when she needed to.
The only problem was that she didn't want to go home, but she wanted to listen to this man even less. But to meet her parents now, with Mrs. Digby? She didn't even want to see Clancy. What would he say to her? Her mind told her that it was Clancy, he would only support her. But there was always the chance that he wouldn't.
Ruby stopped in front of the back door of the house. She wanted to go in without being seen. Mrs. Digby would probably be asleep by now, and her parents were going to a party. She noticed Hitch's car at the last moment. There's a chance he just got back. Most likely he did. Judging by his schedule, it's about time for him to have a coffee.
So she would have to go the old-fashioned way. Ruby made her way to her room by climbing up the tree. Over the years, she had learned it so well that she could easily climb it with her eyes closed.
The room greeted her with silence. Ruby didn't bother to take off her clothes. Her plain t-shirt with the words "don't wake me" on it fit her better than ever. She really wasn't sure she wanted to wake up.
Sleep did not come to her. Ruby closed her eyes and saw Del in front of her. She couldn't get it out of her head. Damn it, Ruby, are you really thinking about how you kissed your friend? In sixteen years of her life, she hadn't had a single romantic thought, and the first one was about her friend? Not about anyone else, but about her?
What would her parents say to that? Ruby snuggles deeper into the blanket. Maybe she should try not to think about it. Though the image of her going to Clancy's to find temporary housing after being kicked out of her own didn't want to leave Ruby. What if she hadn't even been accepted by Clancy?
***
She has to meet Del at school. It's inevitable, she can't just run away from it. Unless Del runs away from her, and after Ruby's escape yesterday, she's not going to want to go near her.
Ruby hopped on her bike before anyone could speak to her. She even managed to avoid Mrs. Digby. She couldn't explain why she looked like she hadn't slept in days.
Ruby noticed a surprised Clancy when Ruby entered the classroom on time, not late as usual. Mrs. Drisco commented on her presence, but Ruby ignored it. She sat down next to Clancy.
"Are you okay?"
He really did see right through her. Not even five minutes had passed and Clancy already knew something was wrong.
"Yeah. What could have happened yesterday?"
Clancy gave her a meaningful look. Like you could have literally been running from some serial killer last night and he wouldn't have been surprised.
"It's okay, Clancy."
She never learned to lie to him. Ruby knew that Clancy didn't believe anything she said, and if they weren't in class, he would have made her confess. But Ruby pretended to listen intently to Mrs. Driscoe. Which, of course, she wasn't, and Clancy knew it.
As soon as the bell rang, Ruby left the classroom. She acted as she always did, trying to pretend that nothing had changed. Del was nowhere to be seen, which made Ruby feel a stab of disappointment. She tried to be happy about it, but she couldn't. She wanted to see Del.
When Clancy started to question her, an excited Elliot ran up to them. He said something so fast that Ruby couldn't understand him. Not that she really wanted to, but it was better than explaining to Clancy what had happened. Ruby couldn't lie to him for another minute.
"Elliot, take a breath and start over."
He took her advice.
"You've heard of Mike?" Elliot saw the confusion in Clancy's eyes. "That guy you have in math class with him. He's tall, blond hair... okay, Clancy, never mind, that's not the point. Anyway, did you hear what happened to him? Everyone say he's in the hospital."
Ruby still didn't understand why this had caused Elliot to be in such a state. Well, the guy was in the hospital, so what? Ruby didn't know Mike very well, but he wasn't exactly a superhero. So why should she be surprised that he was in the hospital?
Elliot leaned a little closer and lowered his voice.
"I heard someone beat him up when he was kissing a guy."
Ruby froze. The world swam before her eyes for a minute. Clancy looked at her suspiciously. Elliot continued to mumble when he noticed that Ruby wasn't responding.
"Are you okay? Did you know him?"
Ruby was quick to answer.
"No. I didn't."
Clancy looked at her again with suspicion. Ruby couldn't help but feel the urge to run away under that look. Lying to Clancy, not telling him something, was like voluntarily eating salt with spoons.
Ruby's watch went off just in time to save her own from this awful, unpleasant conversation.
"I'm waiting for you in the car at the school. Don't be late."
She hadn't been this excited to hear from Hitch in a long time. Wasting no time, she quickly said goodbye and ran for the exit. She felt nauseous. She wasn't the type to be afraid often, but now Ruby felt like everyone was looking at her. She didn't know how to feel about herself. Did she like Del? She felt differently about Del than she did about the others. She'd never thought about Clancy, Elliot, or any of the other guys the way she thought about Del.
With anxious thoughts, Ruby got into the car. Hitch was waiting for her with a box of strawberry donut.
"Here. You can stay in the Spectrum for a long time, in case you forget to eat."
Ruby obediently took the donut. It was never too much. She didn't ask any questions. After three years at the Spectrum, Ruby got used to these trips. If there was something important, Hitch would have told her. Besides, she had other things on her mind. Her gaze turned involuntarily to Hitch. What if she told him? Hitch was the only person besides Clancy who had always been there for her. Would he turn his back on her if she turned out to be different? Ruby shuddered at the thought.
"Kid, are you okay,? You don't look too good."
"Thank you for the compliment, it was very polite."
"I'm seriously. No one wants you to faint at the Spectrum."
"I'm fine."
How many times has she said that? And that's just today. We need to get her cleaned up, we can't let her parents and Mrs. Digby notice the changes.
At the HQ, Ruby was finally able to take her attention away from Del. Blacker was unavailable today, so Ruby was left alone with her new case. In her second year at Spectrum, she was even given her own small office where she could feel free.
She immersed herself in the business. There had been a series of murders in Twinford, and she needed to understand how the criminals were communicating with each other. The suspects were not connected to each other except that each of them regularly visited two flower shops in Twinford. What kind of flowers do they buy? Or are the flowers always the same, but in different combinations in bouquets, and this is the solution?
Ruby sat there for several hours until she realized that something was missing. They didn't have records of some of the bouquets, and the picture didn't add up. That's when Froghorn stopped by. To Ruby's surprise, he brought her coffee.
"You've been sitting here for five hours. Go home, it can wait."
Ruby looked at him with suspicion. They had long since stopped fighting like they used to, but they hadn't become friends either. Caring for each other wasn't part of the rules.
"What is it, Froghorn? Do you want to take over this case?"
He rolled his eyes in response to the mispronounced last name again. Ruby just wanted to tease him. Why not?
"Yes, and that's why I came here," he said, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, "I was just trying to help, Redfort. But if you like it here, you're welcome to stay for the next six hours."
Ruby watched Froghorn leave. What is it, does she look so bad that even he is worried? Okay, that's an exaggeration. They hadn't even seen each other today, he couldn't possibly know what she looked like. Ruby couldn't go back to cracking the code. She reached for her coffee and weighed again how wise it would be to tell someone about what had happened to Del. About how she felt. What would happen if Spectrum found out? Would the trained agents not care, or would they shun her like normal people?
Did she even want to admit to anyone that she was this way? Or would it be better to keep everyone in the dark, push Del away, and shove that part of herself as far down as possible? Maybe one day she'll even fall in love with a boy. Or not love anyone, which would still be better than loving a girl.
And yet, she really was in love with Del Lasco. And there was nothing she could do about it. Nice going, Ruby Redfort. That is great.
And then, just as a single tear rolled down her cheek, Frohorn returned. Ruby only hoped that she had managed to wipe it away before he saw her. All she needed was for him to see her cry.
"Why do you need a watch if you're not going to respond? Hitch was calling you. He said it was time to come back."
Ruby threw away her half-finished cup of coffee. She didn't think she could drink anything right now. Her throat was tight. What was she going to do, go out like this to Hitch? Tell him that she'd been crying over the code because she couldn't figure it out? Yeah, he'd definitely be quick to believe her.
This time they came out through an aisle in a store.
"How are you doing with the code? Are you getting closer to solving it?"
"I don't have enough data. I'm almost there, but I'm missing the last pieces of the puzzle. The suspect's two visits to the store have no purchase records."
"Is this a problem?"
"Yes, if LB is counting on accurate results. I could figure it out, but that's not what I was hired to do."
"Well, get the data, kid. You're a full-fledged agent now, remember?"
She remembered. That's her reason for not coming home straight after school tomorrow. A reason not to see Mrs. Digby again. To be honest, her parents would hardly notice anything was wrong, but Mrs. Digby... after the incident on the roof, she's been very attentive to Ruby.
At home, Ruby slept better than she had the previous day. That didn't stop her from having nightmares about Del or her being in Mike's place.
***
The next day, Clancy was not at school. He was hiding from his French test again. Ruby was only better off because her secret remained a secret as long as they didn't see each other. The problem was that, unlike Clancy, Del was in today. Wherever Ruby was, she could feel the eyes on her back.
But she couldn't approach her. Ruby could only run. Would that be their rule? No. But everyone has to break the rules sometimes.
Ruby realized that Del was probably worried about her not telling her secret to anyone. Ruby would not do that, regardless of her own feelings. She couldn't let Del know because that would mean talking to her.
God, this day was going to be one of the worst days of her life. Del walked over to her and Elliot and, as usual, talked about something. It seemed that she and Wapona had gotten into another fight. Ruby couldn't force herself to concentrate. She could feel the glances Del was giving her, and it was a struggle to keep her eyes on her. Why was this so hard?
"Ruby, will you meet me at the Double Donut after school today?"
Ruby could hear the hope in Del's voice. She wanted to, she really wanted to let her know that she wanted to meet, but she couldn't. She felt as if she was being constrained when she was about to say yes. What would happen after that? What would be the consequences? So Ruby answered only partially truthfully.
"I'm sorry, Del, but I'm busy today. Maybe in a few days. I don't know when I'll be free."
It was partly true. She had to go to that flower shop and then to Spectrum, but she could certainly spare an hour. Del didn't need to know about it.
Ruby smiled awkwardly and ran to her office, as the bell rang at the perfect time.
She had almost run away from school. Trying to get lost in the crowd, Ruby walked only in the places that were most crowded, then hid behind cars and buildings. Del had no chance to follow her. If the Spectrum agent didn't want to be found, she wasn't.
She had to drive a long way to one of the flower shops. She hoped that there would either be cameras there or that the saleswoman would keep accurate records of sales. And she was lucky. Not only did she keep records, but she left them in a visible place while she went somewhere else.
Ruby didn't know how much time she had. She quickly found the date she was likely to need and copied the notes from those two days into her notebook. If she was right, there were names encoded in those flowers, and the suspect's last purchase was the name of the tenth victim. Ruby put everything back just as the woman returned.
Ruby smiled sweetly at her.
"Tell me, how much would a bouquet of those orchids cost?"
***
Ruby returned to Spectrum with information and a bouquet of flowers. She wasn't a real fan of any plants, but she didn't want to throw them away. Let them stand in her office for a while, they wouldn't do any harm.
She spread out a list of ten purchases made by the two suspects on her desk. How did they encrypt the names in the flowers? They weren't the names of the flowers, or the colors, or the scents. Ruby tried different combinations, but they didn't make sense. She thought maybe they weren't names? But as time went on, it made even less sense. Besides, the bouquets looked strange. The flowers in them looked strange and weren't the usual ones used in bouquets, and you couldn't even find them in a store.
Then she came up with an idea. Ruby was trying so hard to complicate things that she didn't try the easiest and most obvious option. The first victim's name was Emma, and her bouquet consisted of six flowers of three different types.
One freesia.
Two nemophilas.
Four frangipanies.
If you put every third letter in order of increasing number of plants, you get a surprising result... Ema. Was it that easy? Ruby tested it with the third victim. Her name was Evelyn.
One freesia.
Two lavenders.
Three freesias.
Four lilies.
Five alyssemes.
Six cinereas.
Ruby immediately rushed to decipher the last bouquet she bought. She has a chance to save the last victim. There are no names here, but all the victims have a few things in common. They have all lived in Twinford their whole lives and are women between the ages of 15 and 19, which makes it much easier to find them.
But the next bouquet was big, bigger than all the ones before. The victim's name had to have 8 letters, or there was a surname. A thought slipped through Ruby's mind, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
One godetia.
Two freesias.
Three lilies.
Four tulips.
Five frangipanies.
Six cosmos.
Seven arctotis
Eight peonies.
Del Lasco.
Del Lasco.
Ruby felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped on her. Del was going to be the next victim! Ruby's mind began to work even faster than usual. When? How do criminals communicate time? Where do they leave the bouquets? How come they had never been seen together? Was Del an unplanned victim? Is that why her name is full?
Just as Ruby was about to run to someone to give them the information, Blacker walked in on her. He put some photos of her with bouquets on her desk.
"We found the place where he leaves the bouquets. One of the suspects is in the coffee shop from ten in the morning until eleven, while the other leaves a bouquet in a trash can right next to the coffee shop. The former doesn't even have to go outside to see the bouquet," Blacker said, looking closer.
Ruby was already looking at the photo of the coffee shop, the dumpster, and the bouquet that was the harbinger of Del's death.
"I know who the next victim is, but I don't know when she's going to be killed. There is no hint of time on the flowers. Maybe they don't leave a trace with it, but arrange a time when they follow the victim together. I don't understand."
"Who is the victim?"
"Del Lasco," her name, spoken aloud, almost made Ruby flinch, "we go to school together, she's my friend. Put a guard on her. Someone could try to kill her today."
Blacker looked at the almost frightened Ruby with understanding. It's hard to keep your cool when someone from your personal life is involved.
Normally, Ruby would have explained to Blacker how she had cracked the code, but now was not the time. Besides, there was nothing surprising about the code. Everyone at Spectrum had seen better.
Nothing more depended on Ruby. Blacker passed the information on where it was needed, and from there it was passed on to the local police. Ruby knew that their sheriff could be trusted, and that Spectrum would most likely assign at least one agent to follow Del, but she couldn't just go home.
She knew it was against the rules. Ruby, like all agents, couldn't go out and track down the suspects without telling LB. But she couldn't just sit around and wait for the good news to come. So she slipped out of the house without being seen, and went to where Del would be. Ruby was not going to show herself to her. She followed her quietly.
When they were only one dark place away from Del's house, Ruby noticed a change in the situation. She saw two men who looked suspiciously like the ones Specter suspected, approaching closer to Del. Ruby looked around nervously - there were no police cars around, and it seemed that no Spectrum agents were around.
Ruby could not give up on Del. She moved even closer and watched as Del was gradually backed into a corner. Ruby knew this could happen. That's why she brought her gun with her. LB had made it clear to her that Ruby could only use a gun in situations where it was necessary, but wasn't this one? Ruby would not be able to explain what she was doing here, especially if she successfully beat up two men in front of Del, so her only option was to use the gun from her hiding place. If she waited for the police now, it might be too late.
Ruby was already ready to shoot. She could easily hit one of the two in the leg, and then neither of them would want to kill Del, giving her a chance to escape. And when Ruby was just about to pull the trigger, she saw the police rapidly approaching.
Ruby stayed until the end, until she was sure that Del was no longer in danger. Yes, of course it's good that they caught the serial killers and the women on the streets of Twinford can feel safe again, but most importantly, Del is safe.
Ruby got home surprisingly quickly. Her parents were out again, and Mrs. Digby was having TV bingo tonight. She poured herself a glass of banana milk and didn't drink it, just sat in the kitchen. She didn't even turn on the light, the light coming through the window from the street was enough for her.
She exhaled a shaky breath. Del really could have died. And then Ruby would never have been able to tell her that her feelings were mutual, and that Ruby didn't want to run away from her anymore. That she had made a mistake when she ran away.
Ruby was nervous. Admitting to herself that she loved a girl was not something she had ever expected to have to do. Ruby didn't care much for feelings in general, and here it was. She sighed in frustration. Why did she have to go through all this? If Del hadn't made the first move, Ruby would never have considered accepting that her feelings for Del were not exclusively friendly. She would have continued to ignore all hints that she felt anything.
Ruby leaned her forehead on the table and felt that she could no longer hold back her tears. She could accept herself as many times as she wanted, but who would accept her? She was already hiding the fact that she was an agent from the world, so now she had to hide an undeniable part of herself? How can she face her parents now?
Footsteps sounded behind her. Ruby did not move. She already knew who it was.
"Are you going to keep telling me that everything is fine, or are you going to tell me what happened?"
Ruby ignored him. She heard Hitch come closer and sit down next to her. She didn't know what to say to him. If she confessed, what would he do? Ruby hoped that Hitch wouldn't push her away, but she couldn't know for sure.
An unpleasant knot of nerves curled in her stomach. Ruby wanted to tell him, really wanted to tell him. If anyone should be the first to know, it was Hitch.
She heard him make some toast and set a plate in front of her. Ruby wasn't hungry, but she was grateful. At least he was trying. Then she finally raised her voice and looked at Hitch. He didn't comment on her teary eyes.
"Can I tell you a secret?"
Ruby knew how absurd it sounded. She asked anyway.
"Why do you ask? You know you can."
"This isn't about Spectrum."
Hitch got serious.
"You can tell me you're planning to destroy this world, and I won't tell anyone."
Ruby looked at him as if she really had something like that in mind. She didn't know how to say it out loud. Instead of words, a shaky exhale escaped her lips. Ruby felt like she was on the verge of starting to cry again, and that was not something she really wanted to do.
"I like Del," Ruby watched Hitch's emotions closely. She was ready to defend herself, but if he reacted negatively, it would break her. "She kissed me, and I...well...I guess I didn't mind."
Ruby searched his face for anger or disgust. He wouldn't tell anyone, would he? Even if he was against it, he wouldn't do it to her, would he? And Ruby continued to stare at his face. She didn't see anything she expected. She saw understanding. She seemed to want to believe that she saw acceptance.
Ruby waited another minute. She didn't understand why Hitch wasn't talking. Ruby felt the ball of nerves begin to grow. She couldn't feel her fingertips, her body felt like it didn't belong to her anymore. Terror gripped her. Well, now she was finished.
"Will you tell my parents?" Ruby hated the way her voice sounded. She had never sounded so broken. "Of course you will. What did I expect..."
Tears - angry or grieving, Ruby didn't know - were streaming down her face again. Why now? Ruby wanted to look stubborn, strong, confident as always! Why was she standing there crying in front of him?
Hitch stepped forward, and before Ruby could back away-he wouldn't hit her, would he? He was Hitch-she felt the hands on her shoulders tentatively hugging her. Ruby, like a petrified statue, allowed herself to be tilted forward and simply buried her face in Hitch's shoulder.
"I won't tell your parents anything," Ruby felt gentle, still uncertain strokes on her back, "Kid, I would never tell them about this without your wish."
Hugging wasn't something they were used to, and the last time Ruby remembered hugging Hitch was three years ago, after they'd defeated Casey Morgan. She had dreamed that she had been wrong, and that Hitch was the real villain after all.
Ruby didn't hug him back. She cried, no longer trying to hide it. It had only been two days since her meeting with Del, and she felt as if she had been in constant tension for a month. Ruby finally felt safe.
"I don't know what to do, Hitch," her voice broke, "I want to tell her that it's mutual, but that guy in the hospital and the guys who beat him up and...my parents...and.."
He probably had no idea which guy she was talking about, but Ruby didn't care. She wanted some advice, some reassurance that she would be safe, that at least someone would protect her.
"Do you want to go to her?" Ruby looked at him sharply. "I can take you there. And pick you up if you want. Or you can stay at her place. Do her parents know you?"
"Yes," Ruby nodded.
"Have you ever stayed over at her place, come over late at night?"
Ruby strained her memory. Yes, she think it happened. She had definitely spent the night at her place once. Ruby nodded again.
"So they won't be surprised to see you?"
Ruby couldn't say for sure, but she thought not.
"They wouldn't be surprised."
Hitch got up from his chair and looked back as he was on his way out.
"Are you coming?"
Ruby ran after him.
***
They drove in silence. Ruby occasionally glanced at Hitch. What was he thinking about now? Was he worried about her or not? Ruby didn't look away when he looked back at her. The car pulled up in front of Del's house.
"Listen, kid, if anything goes wrong, you tell me right away. Don't even think about anything else. Okay?"
"Yeah."
"I'll be here for the next ten minutes, and if anything goes wrong in that time, you can just come out and I'll be waiting for you."
Hitch had long since stopped warning her about something like this when they worked together. Ruby had been working for a few years now, and she'd done quite well. But now she was off the clock. Hitch spoke to her not as an employee, but as someone he cared about. Ruby gave him a serious nod. She had hoped she wouldn't need to, but she had memorized every word Hitch said.
Ruby knocked on the door of the house. She thought she could feel someone looking at her, but she knew it was only because she knew Hitch was there.
Del's mother had let her in without a problem. Now Ruby hoped that Del herself wouldn't kick her out. She knocked on her room door. Del opened it immediately. Ruby took a deep breath and walked into the room.
It was strange to be here again after what happened the day before yesterday. Ruby tried not to let her discomfort show under Del's scrutiny.
"So why are you here, Ruby?"
Ruby tried not to react to Del's sharp tone. She'd just survived an attempted murder, and Ruby hadn't been treated well.
"How are you? I saw what happened tonight, but I didn't have the heart to come over. I'm sorry."
Another half-truth. Del didn't need to know that Ruby almost shot one of her attackers.
"I'm fine. Is that it?"
Ruby could almost physically feel the tension coming from Del. She hoped it wasn't coming from her. I wonder if Del knew about this Mike guy.
"Not everything," Ruby wasn't used to apologizing, but it seemed like a good time to start. "I panicked."
"Is that why you avoided me all day?"
"I couldn't meet you after school, Del. I really couldn't."
Now it wasn't even a half-truth. If she had met Del instead of going to Spectrum, what if she had been late? What if she'd never been able to see Del again now? Ruby mentally made a note to add Rule 82 to her diary: never put Spectrum business on hold.
Ruby gave the room a quick, careful glance. The doors were locked, the curtains were closed, and there was no way to see through the windows. Ruby stepped forward a little, so that Del would understand exactly what she was about to do. Del took a step forward.
This time it was Ruby who was first. Instead of standing there scared or thinking about how scared she was last time, Ruby raised her hands and put them on Del's face. Del didn't stay in debt, she returned the favor. They both kissed, effectively for the second time. Neither of them was a master, but neither of them pulled back.
Ruby loved the feel of Del's lips. Ruby wished she could share her feelings with someone, not hide them behind a tightly closed window and a locked door. She dreamed of her feelings being accepted by the world as something normal. But she couldn't even dream about it. She hoped that Del, like her, understood what they were getting into.
Del smiled into the kiss. Ruby knew she understood.
***
Hitch didn't stay there for ten minutes. He watched the door of the house carefully for several hours. What if a frightened, upset, lost Ruby came out at any moment? He could imagine a dozen scenarios that could have happened. With him by her side, she would have been safe.
Ruby could have protected herself. But he saw her as a child, a child he had to protect. A child who had become almost like his own child in all this time. She was no longer thirteen years old, but he could not bear to know that she had gone through something terrible alone. Something that has nothing to do with Spectrum, but only with how cruel people are to those who don't deserve it.
That's why he stayed here. He knew that feeling of hopelessness when the whole world is against you. Could he have let Ruby go through that? No way.
Hitch would be here if something happened. But he hoped like hell that his presence wouldn't be needed. Ruby will be fine. She's smart, and she'll be able to hide everything. At least one evening wouldn't be a disaster. Hitch continued to watch anyway.
He left only at dawn. Ruby was fine.