Dog Diner Afternoon (Spn/GG)
Author: Sidura
Rating: G
Fandom: Supernatural/Gilmore girls
Summary: A visit home by Dean Forester after an some time away, leads to a very unusual afternoon for the inhabitants of Stars Hollow, though maybe not so weird for the people who seemed to follow along after him.
"Who is this?" Lorelai asked Forester and the Winchester brothers.
"Seriously Lorelai, you really don't want to know," Forester said as he seemed to take up position between Ruby and the people he had known growing up.
Ruby tutted as she watched him. "Please, like you'd able to do anything, RD."
"My name isn't RD!" Forester replied bitterly, causing Ruby to smile.
"Leave the guy alone, Ruby," Winchester said.
"Don't you start acting like his big brother now just because I'm in the room," Ruby said to Winchester. "You know he may walk like a duck and talk like a duck, but Forester here, sure as hell ain't Sam mark two. If he was, then at least this mess would be easier to deal with, because then he'd be able to take care of himself and not need you two to bail him out of this."
"Ruby, back off. This isn't going to help," Sam said to which she nodded her response.
Sam sighed, "What are you doing here?"
"I would have said upstairs, but that was before your idiot brother here got involved, and then you were trying to calm that kid down," Ruby replied pointing in April's direction.
"Like you'd tell the truth about anything," Winchester said. "This situation isn't any of your business Ruby."
"Fine, are you going to get back to it then?" Ruby asked looking at her watch. "I'd say you have fifteen to twenty minutes, if you are lucky, before that Tactical team gets here from Hartford. Those windows aren't going finish boarding up themselves on their own."
"You ain't going to help?" Winchester said to which Ruby smirked. Sam put a hand on his brother's arm.
"Dean, leave it, will you?" Sam said. "We don't have time."
Winchester clenched his jaw for a second, before heading back out to the diner, "Tell it to behave then."
"Yeah Sam! Tell me to behave!" Ruby said mockingly as Winchester left the room. She turned to Sam. "Don't worry I'll play nice."
"That's what I'm worried about," Sam replied.
"Don't you trust me?" She smirked at him, causing him to shake his head while he let out a small laugh as he seemed to relax a little. "Sooner those windows are done the sooner we get out of here."
Sam turned to look over at Forester, "You need anything you just shout."
"I suppose an exorcism and a shovel would be out of the question?" Forester asked.
"Did he just try and make a funny? Because if he did, he probably now needs to lie down and take a little nap," Ruby asked Sam.
"Ruby!" Forester snapped.
She looked around her before walking over to one of the shelving units to pick up one of the jars of peanut butter that was sitting there. "Don't worry Sam; I'll babysit while you make sure your brother doesn't do anything stupid. Though, if there are any fries or a doughnut going that would be nice."
"As I said, you need anything just shout," Sam reiterated to Forester before heading out to join his brother.
Forester looked over his shoulder saying quietly. "Listen, whatever happens. Don't go near it, don't trust it and don't believe for one moment anything that it says."
"Dean? Who is she?" Rory asked.
"Yeah, who is she?" Jess asked confused.
"Jess, whatever crap that comes out of that thing's mouth don't rise to it, you hear me," Forester said firmly.
Emily peered at the girl who at that moment seemed to be making herself comfortable on a box situated on the other side of the room, "Whatever issues you and that young lady have, have nothing to do with us. But you should at least be a little bit more polite when you talk about her."
"She isn't a lady," Forester said through gritted teeth.
"Don't suppose anyone would have a spoon or do you want me just to eat this with my fingers?" Ruby asked as she held up the jar in her had. "I'd go out and grab one from the front but you know I'm not too sure if I'm really wanted out there,"
Forester didn't move as the others looked at each other. After a moment Kirk started fishing in his pocket, picking out a small spoon, "I have this, if you want."
"Well, aren't you the gentleman," Ruby said politely before cocking her head in Forester's direction. "Nice to see someone is prepared."
Forester said nothing apart from standing there is stony silence.
"Kirk, why do you have a toy spoon on you?" Luke asked.
Kirk stilled for a second, "Ehm, I didn't want to say until I was further along in the research and development phase. But what if you find yourself in a culinary situation and you are without an implement to ingest said item."
"They have already invented the spoon, Kirk," Lorelai said.
"Of course they have, my idea was simply to put a miniaturized version along with other dining implements within a design that you can carry easily in your pocket like a kind of dining version of a Swiss army knife."
"You mean a Swiss Army knife?" Luke asked.
"You mean like the forks and spoons you can get already with some types of army knives?" Jess said.
"They already have those?" Kirk asked to which the others nodded. "Well, this would be the silver service version. With Salad fork, soup spoon and all other cutlery needs which you may find yourself short of in a dining emergency or picnic situations."
"For dining emergency and picnic situations?" Rory asked.
"Yes, you never know when you could be caught short."
Luke looked at Kirk, "What, when you come across some big party you never knew about?"
"Polo matches, outdoor bar mitzvahs, unfortunately I am having some difficulty with the escargot tongs."
Luke ran a hand over his face. "Kirk, we are going to have to have a talk."
"Is this guy for real?" Ruby asked Forester.
"His name is Kirk and yeah, he's for real," Forester said coldly.
"Okay then," Ruby replied stretching out a hand to take the spoon from Kirk. Forester grabbed Kirk's arm taking the spoon out of his hand before throwing it in Ruby's direction, causing her to grin.
"Oh, snookhem's, you shouldn't get your panties in such a bunch - Kirk there, isn't exactly my type," Ruby said before glancing in the direction of the others, settling her eyes on Rory. "Though, I'm sure I can find something that's yours. Let you have a little farewell party if you get my meaning. Wouldn't mind becoming a brunette for a while and I can keep my mouth shut if you want to, but you'd have to ask real nice. Think of it as a peace offering, for all those buttons I've been pushing since we met. We don't have to tell anyone else, even that little blonde waitress that Shortbus handed to you on a plate. But, if you want to have an audience I'm sure we can work that out too."
"Excuse me?" Rory asked as she saw the look on the other woman's face.
Forester took a step in front of Rory, "If you touch one hair on her head!"
"You'll do what?" Ruby asked as the others looked on confused.
"Go to hell Ruby!" Forester replied.
"Been there! Done that! And I didn't even get a T-shirt for my trouble," she said as she stuck the spoon in the peanut jar and proceeded to begin to work her way through it.
"Did you follow them here or me?" Forester asked as she watched her.
"Don't flatter yourself, was just 'passing' through," Ruby said.
Forester swallowed. "Just passing through?"
"Yeah, thought I'd have a little road trip and just happened on your nice little town. By the way, lovely petunia bed your parents have got going in the front of that nice house of theirs," Ruby smiled at him as his face paled. "Yeah, saw your little talk with…Rory this morning."
She looked over at the group, her eyes settling on one in particular, "It is Rory isn't it?"
"That is none of your business," Forester said taking a step towards her.
"Did he apologize to you, for this morning?" Ruby asked Rory causing the others to look at each other. "Just you looked a little upset when he dragged his little sister away from you. That was very rude of him, but in his defense I think it was my fault. Really shouldn't expect to curb crawl in a town like this without spooking some of the locals, should I?"
"What?" Rory said looking between Forester and the woman sat on the crate in front of her.
"Anything she says, and I mean anything, ignore it. You can't believe anything coming out of 'its' mouth," Forester said coldly.
"That is not exactly how you talk to about a lady," Ruby said lightly. "What do you think…Emily? Or Clara, what do you think about how your brother is talking to me. Jess, is that type of behavior the reason little Rory left him for you all those years ago."
Emily opened her mouth to say something, but Forester cut her off. "Cut the crap Ruby. Eat you stupid peanut butter and leave us alone."
"Good," Ruby said with a smile. "A little more fight in you than last time. There might be hope for you after all. Though if you are getting tied up in this properly then you should cover your trail better and you better learn it quick as Sam really doesn't have time to spend on teaching you."
"I already told you I am not replacing anybody!" Forester spat out. "I'm not doing anything you want. I'll help, but not in the way you want me to."
"So what are you planning? For you and Sam to become a gay porn director's wet dream? I don't think that was exactly Shortbus' idea when he decided that he wouldn't mind if you stuck around to hang on Sam coat tails," Ruby said. "But you'll learn once we get you out of this mess."
"I'm not going to hang on any coat tails! Things like you need to be dealt with and I'll do it, if they teach me. But not until this guy is dealt with," Forester said. "You guys may want to go, but I'm staying to deal with him."
Ruby sighed. "So says the bleeding idiot standing in the firing line in a small town diner. Tell me how do you plan to do that without help?"
"Shut up?" Forester said more agitatedly.
Ruby smiled, before nodding in the direction of Rory. "It's not like you got the brains to think your way out of a paper bag as it is, couldn't keep her could you. Was the sex really good enough to wreck your marriage over?"
"Hey!" Lorelai shouted, "Ruby or whoever you are, you leave my daughter out of this."
"Mom, it's okay!" Rory said.
"Ruby, can it!" Forester said.
"You are still worried about what people in this town think of you don't you?" Ruby asked Forester sarcastically, "Luke there, Jess and Emily aren't going to invite you over to dinner anytime soon. Not after you ditching sweet dumb Lindsay for little Rory - how many years has it been and the fact that you couldn't keep it in your pants for more than fifteen minutes after you told the minister 'I do', is still considered by the folks of this sweet little town as your defining moment, isn't it?"
"Well at least I got one, even if I'm not proud of it," Forester said coldly. "What is yours Ruby - whispering in Sam's ear trying to make him do what you want?"
"Oh bitchy, you think of that all by yourself?" Ruby replied. "Though, funny your defining moment isn't Rory's - moved on pretty quick after you didn't she."
Forester smiled. "That your new trick? Trying to use what happened between me and Rory as ammunition now. Don't I have enough flaws for you to zero in on?"
Ruby shrugged. "Yeah, you do and Rory, she must have noted all of them and realized you weren't worth the effort. How long after you walked do you think it took her to bag herself that walking trust fund that was there that night? Five, ten minutes? Do you think it was longer than it took her to hook up with good old Jess after that big scene you made, back in the day? Not that she hadn't checked out of your relationship before you actually did the walk on either occasion, had she? How did it feel when you realized that you had screwed your life over to basically become Rory Gilmore's booty call, especially as it wasn't like it wasn't a repeat performance of the last time. Yes Rory, no Rory, three bags full Rory."
"It didn't happen that way! Not in the way you're making it out," Rory interjected emphatically.
"Hey!" Jess said. "Whatever your beef is with him leave Rory out of it."
"Oh, Jess, Jess, Jess, don't get me started," Ruby said mockingly. "We could sit here for days and go through all the major dating disasters that make up the life and times of Rory Gilmore - Mr. One trick pony, always waiting in the wings for when she needed a quick pick me up, passive aggressive, one step away from teenage stalker, here; the Immature Trust Fund and then there was you. The rebel without a clue, with all those daddy issues you brought with you. But, could you have been anymore of a walking cliché back in the day? Bad attitude and that sweet sensitive side that was just waiting for right girl to bring out; even had a leather jacket didn't you?"
"Ruby, shut up!" Forester said.
"Stop me!" Ruby replied before turning back to Jess. She cocked her head for a moment "But weren't you the one she didn't sleep with? Not that she didn't offer it up to you on a plate, didn't she? What was with that? Didn't you want to become that anger bang, she was hoping for when she came to visit you in Philadelphia before she scuttled back to good old Logan?"
Rory looked over at Jess before turning back to Ruby, "How did you know about that?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ruby said before taking a mouthful of peanut butter.
"Ruby, don't do this," Forester said.
"I'm just taking your side in this, making them see your point of view. How you weren't the only one that wasn't whiter than white," Ruby said. She narrowed her gaze as she focused on him. "Say please."
"Please," Forester said quietly.
"No!" Ruby retorted before turning to start in again.
"Hey lady, leave Rory alone!" Luke said standing up.
"Yeah, Lady, back off!" Lorelai yelled.
Ruby raised an eyebrow, "Why? True isn't it? The adultery thing - precious little Rory got into that big scary college, everything in her life started to change so reached out to the one guy who never asked anything in return from her. The one who didn't 'challenge' her in the way 'the bad boy did' or 'the crowned media prince'. Screw the fact that the guy was married and unhappy and still obviously totally in love with her. That he needed her to tell him to either spilt up from his wife or grow up and deal with his shit decision he made to get married. Why would Rory Gilmore care about details like that when she needed a guy to come running when she wanted him to."
"Leave her alone," Jess said getting to his feet to move toward her.
"Oh, he has some spunk, maybe I should play with him instead of you because he is at least defending her honor. Can't she do that for herself? Or is she going to go steal another boat because I upset her?" Ruby asked Forester.
"I can defend myself," Rory said cutting in before anyone else had a chance to speak. "I'm sorry about hurting Lindsay and how me and Dean didn't work out. But it happened and I can't change that."
"You happy now?" Jess asked Ruby as he took another step toward her.
"Jess, leave it," Forester said, moving over to pull at Jess's arm. "Ruby is mouthing off. Trust me, she isn't worth it."
"Forester here saving your ass, Jess? Isn't that a change?" Ruby said. "But that is okay. Everybody here knows that you are still carrying a torch for her as well; hoping that one day you and her will get it on."
"You got some nerve lady," Luke said getting to his feet.
"Not like anyone could have really tried to stop the adultery mess could they, Luke? Possibly head off little Rory and Forester here before they actually broke that seventh commandment. No-one knew about the torch that Forester here was carrying. Didn't see how the guy was unhappy with little Lindsay and try and give him any real advice. Try and stop him from screwing up his and Lindsey's lives before they actually got hitched," Ruby said in between spoonfuls of peanut butter. "Because now Lindsey is the little girl, who couldn't satisfy her man long enough to get the thank you cards out for the wedding gifts. Instead of what she should have been - the teenage bride who should have been left at the alter when the groom realized that he should make a mature decision and not get married to the rebound girl. Especially when he's invited the ex he's really got the hots for to the wedding; even if someone did talk Rory out of actually attending. Though I'm guessing that was because that person wasn't thinking about all the things that he wanted to do to little Lindsay's mom while he was banging his then 'wife'. What was her name…Nicole? But then she cheated on you, so your conscious is clear isn't it Luke."
"You got some nerve," Luke said coldly.
"Oh, I'm much more than that," Ruby joked.
"It wouldn't have mattered what anyone said to me back then," Forester said to Ruby, "It happened and me and Rory are in the past and so is Lindsay. We are getting on with our lives and I'm not having you drag them into this. This is between you and me, Ruby."
"No it isn't, you know what this is about," Ruby replied. "And you know what you have to do to stop it."
"Listen, Ruby, Candy, Sapphire or whatever you want to call yourself. Dean is right, what happened back then isn't anything to do with you. So leave my family out of whatever it is you are doing here," Lorelai said.
"I'm just calling it as I see it," Ruby said nonchalantly. "Though you and Luke seem to have gotten what you want now don't you. You all do. Apart from Jess there, but then again there is time for Rory to come to another book signing to see him."
Ruby smiled, "Gets to you, doesn't it Clara? Them getting what they want and your brother being the outsider, the one everybody blames? Though, as I said it was him that couldn't keep it in his pants. But it still gets to you doesn't it, that everyone sees him like that, including your Mom and Dad, especially as Rory never made any real effort to tell the guy to go and deal with the marriage part first before she gave it up to him.
"Leave my sister out of this!" Forester said. "And you leave Rory alone."
"Why? They won't," Ruby said. "You think that hunters don't play nice, wait till Lilith's little posse turn up. Because if you are here, it won't be just your head on the block it will be the whole of this nice little town and if you think I'm bad, what do you think they are going to do?"
Forester stood there silently for a moment.
"Any daydreams you had about a girl like Rory, the white picket fence and the 2.5 kids are long gone. Even if you could work your way out of this, I think we are all agreed that only an idiot would try for round four," Ruby stated. "And even if you were I'm not sure her new step daddy would like her to slum it with you, yet again, especially after this."
"Excuse me young lady what exactly is your problem?" Emily asked.
Ruby blinked, for a moment, surprised at the interruption, "Excuse me?"
"As my daughter told you what happened in the past and my grand daughter has put it behind her, so why don't you eat your…snack in silence and leave the rest of us to cope with the situation we find ourselves in," Emily said firmly. "Or why don't you leave and join your friends in the diner doing whatever they are doing because you and Mr. Forester here can discuss whatever business you have together later, when we are not present. We didn't ask you to stay with us here and no-one requires your opinion on any subject let alone about matters that don't concern the likes of you."
Ruby let out a laugh. "Okay, we have at least one person in the room has some claws! Looks like my day isn't going to be a complete bust after all."
"Dean?" Sam muttered to his brother, as they finished boarding up the windows. "You think leaving them alone is a good idea?"
Winchester shrugged, "You're the one who keeps telling me that we need her. Even if she has been acting like a class one bitch around him."
"She's only been doing that because…"
"Yes, I know why she has been acting like that," Winchester said as he finished moving the last of the tables. "Don't you trust her with him?"
Sam took a moment, thinking how best to respond to his brother's question.
"Even if he isn't sticking around, best he understands how demons work, even if it is just your pet," Winchester said with a sigh.
"She isn't my pet!" Sam said firmly.
Winchester peered at him, "That mean you'll finally let me put her down or are you going to get rid of her yourself?"
"Not now Dean," Sam said firmly just as they heard the commotion in the back.
As they got back to the storeroom, they found Ruby on the floor with Forester standing over her.
"Oh god, I hit her, I hit her! I actually hit her," Forester said, shocked at what he had just done. Rory took a step closer to Dean to comfort him but was pulled back by Jess who seemed to be a little winded.
Winchester sighed as his brother glared at him, "Right, we were wrong in leaving them with her."
"It didn't need to go that far!" Sam said walking over to Forester who was still standing in shock as Ruby nursed a split lip while she lay on the floor.
"Sam, you want to take him and see if the back way is clear yet?" Winchester said as he moved towards Ruby.
Sam nodded and started to lead a still shocked Forester out of the room.
"What happened?" Winchester asked the others.
Emily swallowed. "I think that was obvious."
"He took offence at what I said," Ruby said as she sat up.
"You hit Luke and kicked Jess in the stomach," Rory said as Jess seemed to be trying to straighten up as he gained his composure.
"I was defending myself," Ruby said. "Well kind of."
"You call that defending yourself? They had done nothing to you," Lorelai asked as she sat on the floor assessing Luke's eye.
"What did she say before that?" Winchester asked as he bent down to get a better look at the damage done to Luke.
"Nothing," Luke said coldly.
"She insinuated that Luke had inappropriate intentions towards my granddaughter over the years, due to some incident between him and Mr. Forester when Rory was a teenager," Emily explained. "Not to mention some other things. Then she had the audacity to ask what your friend would think if he walked in on Rory…with some football team."
"Grandma there started it," Ruby said with a smirk on her face. "So I…well you know me Shortbus, even if I did have to use the scatter gun effect."
Winchester grinned as he turned to look in Emily's direction, "Gave as good as you got! You have got to give me some pointers about that before I leave."
"It doesn't matter what was said," Lorelai said, "It was just words, we're fine. Rory is fine, we are fine."
"Sure you are," Winchester said. "What did Forester say? What did he actually say?"
"That if that was what I wanted then he would be happy for me, not that he thought I'd do anything like that," Rory replied.
"Good for him," Winchester said with a smile on his face causing the rest of the room to look at him. "But I'm betting that was when she came out swinging."
Rory nodded, to which Winchester turned to Luke. "Dude, you okay?"
"Oh, I'm having a ball," Luke said.
"She's a bitch. Though accusing a guy of something like that to get a rise out of someone else is kinda low, even for the likes of her."
"Don't sell me short," Ruby replied. "We both know I'm capable of doing a lot worse."
"You happy?" Winchester asked moved to stand over Ruby.
She narrowed her gaze, as she reached up to grab a packet of napkins from a shelf to wipe the blood from her lip, "I'm laughing on the inside."
"That's nice," Winchester said getting out of her way to let her get up. "Though, getting to point where you had to throw a punch Ruby - you losing your touch?"
"He seemed to need a more physical reminder of what I could actually do," Ruby said caustically. "Or maybe he has been investing in anger management classes since he moved away from here. Either way he'll leave, because the one person he'd probably listen too about going to the cops about all of this is hardly likely to try and talk to him round seeing, what he said about not caring about her NFL affiliations. Though you'd have to double check with Rory there to be sure; so smile, you've got what you want."
"It isn't what I want," Winchester said firmly. "And by the sounds of it you deserved what he did to you."
"Yeah, I did," Ruby said with a nod, causing the others in the room to look confused, "And you know it needed to be done. Because 'we' just manipulated that poor shmuck into taking part in a world where he's going to get use to getting his hands dirty and if you have forgotten we are on a tight time schedule."
"Like I could ever forget," Winchester spat out.
"Then get the hell out my face and don't whine about the way I get results," she replied.
"Results Ruby?" Winchester asked. "I don't remember asking you to do anything."
She glared at him, "I'm the one that is going to be stuck dealing with him after you croak and I'm not walking him through this. He has to deal now, because like it or not he needs to get over what the packaging looks like and grow a set of balls or he's going to be dead or worse get Sam killed."
"And he passed okay. You've been taking pot shots at him since you met him. You've been more of a snide bitch than you usually are to him and anyone who's in his earshot to get him to make a move," Winchester said.
"And you let me didn't you," she replied.
"Yeah, but I'm a cold hearted bastard like that," Winchester replied. "Forester just passed your stupid test, got past the outfit you're wearing. Even though he wanted to; he didn't move till you really started hurting people."
"Not to mention, making Sam feel a little sorrier for him? A little more willing to take him under his wing after Bobby is done with him or have you changed your mind about dumping the guy like a trusted up turkey to get taught the basics?" Ruby took look at the shocked group standing on the corner. "And as for him making a move before I really hurt people I wouldn't say that."
"Screw you!" Jess yelled.
"Got another member for your fan club Ruby?" Winchester snarked. "Well, they say a personality is what really counts."
"Hasn't stopped you checking out my ass, has it?" Ruby replied to Winchester.
"Don't flatter yourself; and last time I checked it isn't exactly your ass," Winchester said sarcastically, before he turned to her. "And don't think that you'll worm your way any closer to Sam by trying it on with him."
She let out a laugh. "Is that what this whole thing is really about? You're worried what me and Sam will get up to when you are gone? That why you think Sam needs a little play mate to keep him on the straight and narrow?"
Winchester clenched his jaw. "You're done Ruby. You've made your point with Forester and just for the record he's not going to take my place. Sam needs someone around that's all, someone to talk to, someone to watch his back and once he's got an idea of what to do Forester might be able to do that."
"Not to mention helping keep your brother in line when you're gone?" Ruby asked. "Stop him turning into what he needs to be, if there is any hope of winning. If you're planning on turning Dean Forester into the little brother that Sam never had so you can feel better about leaving then he's taking your place."
"You know when you talk about winning I never know which side you are talking about," Winchester replied.
"Like I keep bailing your ass out the fire for the fun of it," Ruby retorted.
"Bite me, no on second thoughts you probably would then I'd need to get a shot," Winchester snapped back. "Now I'm going to check on the two of them, you leave this lot alone."
"Your wish is my command," Ruby said mockingly as she did a little bow, to which he glared at her.
"You've done enough, Ruby. You've made these guys hate him even more than they probably did because we turned up and probably even made his own sister hate him a little," Winchester retorted to which they both turned round to see Clara.
"Are you trying to make me feel guilty?" she asked smiling causing his face to harden even more. She sighed. "Fine, I promise I won't lay a single finger on them."
"It's not you laying a finger on them I'm worried about." Winchester said.
Rating: G
Fandom: Supernatural/Gilmore girls
Summary: A visit home by Dean Forester after an some time away, leads to a very unusual afternoon for the inhabitants of Stars Hollow, though maybe not so weird for the people who seemed to follow along after him.
"Who is this?" Lorelai asked Forester and the Winchester brothers.
"Seriously Lorelai, you really don't want to know," Forester said as he seemed to take up position between Ruby and the people he had known growing up.
Ruby tutted as she watched him. "Please, like you'd able to do anything, RD."
"My name isn't RD!" Forester replied bitterly, causing Ruby to smile.
"Leave the guy alone, Ruby," Winchester said.
"Don't you start acting like his big brother now just because I'm in the room," Ruby said to Winchester. "You know he may walk like a duck and talk like a duck, but Forester here, sure as hell ain't Sam mark two. If he was, then at least this mess would be easier to deal with, because then he'd be able to take care of himself and not need you two to bail him out of this."
"Ruby, back off. This isn't going to help," Sam said to which she nodded her response.
Sam sighed, "What are you doing here?"
"I would have said upstairs, but that was before your idiot brother here got involved, and then you were trying to calm that kid down," Ruby replied pointing in April's direction.
"Like you'd tell the truth about anything," Winchester said. "This situation isn't any of your business Ruby."
"Fine, are you going to get back to it then?" Ruby asked looking at her watch. "I'd say you have fifteen to twenty minutes, if you are lucky, before that Tactical team gets here from Hartford. Those windows aren't going finish boarding up themselves on their own."
"You ain't going to help?" Winchester said to which Ruby smirked. Sam put a hand on his brother's arm.
"Dean, leave it, will you?" Sam said. "We don't have time."
Winchester clenched his jaw for a second, before heading back out to the diner, "Tell it to behave then."
"Yeah Sam! Tell me to behave!" Ruby said mockingly as Winchester left the room. She turned to Sam. "Don't worry I'll play nice."
"That's what I'm worried about," Sam replied.
"Don't you trust me?" She smirked at him, causing him to shake his head while he let out a small laugh as he seemed to relax a little. "Sooner those windows are done the sooner we get out of here."
Sam turned to look over at Forester, "You need anything you just shout."
"I suppose an exorcism and a shovel would be out of the question?" Forester asked.
"Did he just try and make a funny? Because if he did, he probably now needs to lie down and take a little nap," Ruby asked Sam.
"Ruby!" Forester snapped.
She looked around her before walking over to one of the shelving units to pick up one of the jars of peanut butter that was sitting there. "Don't worry Sam; I'll babysit while you make sure your brother doesn't do anything stupid. Though, if there are any fries or a doughnut going that would be nice."
"As I said, you need anything just shout," Sam reiterated to Forester before heading out to join his brother.
Forester looked over his shoulder saying quietly. "Listen, whatever happens. Don't go near it, don't trust it and don't believe for one moment anything that it says."
"Dean? Who is she?" Rory asked.
"Yeah, who is she?" Jess asked confused.
"Jess, whatever crap that comes out of that thing's mouth don't rise to it, you hear me," Forester said firmly.
Emily peered at the girl who at that moment seemed to be making herself comfortable on a box situated on the other side of the room, "Whatever issues you and that young lady have, have nothing to do with us. But you should at least be a little bit more polite when you talk about her."
"She isn't a lady," Forester said through gritted teeth.
"Don't suppose anyone would have a spoon or do you want me just to eat this with my fingers?" Ruby asked as she held up the jar in her had. "I'd go out and grab one from the front but you know I'm not too sure if I'm really wanted out there,"
Forester didn't move as the others looked at each other. After a moment Kirk started fishing in his pocket, picking out a small spoon, "I have this, if you want."
"Well, aren't you the gentleman," Ruby said politely before cocking her head in Forester's direction. "Nice to see someone is prepared."
Forester said nothing apart from standing there is stony silence.
"Kirk, why do you have a toy spoon on you?" Luke asked.
Kirk stilled for a second, "Ehm, I didn't want to say until I was further along in the research and development phase. But what if you find yourself in a culinary situation and you are without an implement to ingest said item."
"They have already invented the spoon, Kirk," Lorelai said.
"Of course they have, my idea was simply to put a miniaturized version along with other dining implements within a design that you can carry easily in your pocket like a kind of dining version of a Swiss army knife."
"You mean a Swiss Army knife?" Luke asked.
"You mean like the forks and spoons you can get already with some types of army knives?" Jess said.
"They already have those?" Kirk asked to which the others nodded. "Well, this would be the silver service version. With Salad fork, soup spoon and all other cutlery needs which you may find yourself short of in a dining emergency or picnic situations."
"For dining emergency and picnic situations?" Rory asked.
"Yes, you never know when you could be caught short."
Luke looked at Kirk, "What, when you come across some big party you never knew about?"
"Polo matches, outdoor bar mitzvahs, unfortunately I am having some difficulty with the escargot tongs."
Luke ran a hand over his face. "Kirk, we are going to have to have a talk."
"Is this guy for real?" Ruby asked Forester.
"His name is Kirk and yeah, he's for real," Forester said coldly.
"Okay then," Ruby replied stretching out a hand to take the spoon from Kirk. Forester grabbed Kirk's arm taking the spoon out of his hand before throwing it in Ruby's direction, causing her to grin.
"Oh, snookhem's, you shouldn't get your panties in such a bunch - Kirk there, isn't exactly my type," Ruby said before glancing in the direction of the others, settling her eyes on Rory. "Though, I'm sure I can find something that's yours. Let you have a little farewell party if you get my meaning. Wouldn't mind becoming a brunette for a while and I can keep my mouth shut if you want to, but you'd have to ask real nice. Think of it as a peace offering, for all those buttons I've been pushing since we met. We don't have to tell anyone else, even that little blonde waitress that Shortbus handed to you on a plate. But, if you want to have an audience I'm sure we can work that out too."
"Excuse me?" Rory asked as she saw the look on the other woman's face.
Forester took a step in front of Rory, "If you touch one hair on her head!"
"You'll do what?" Ruby asked as the others looked on confused.
"Go to hell Ruby!" Forester replied.
"Been there! Done that! And I didn't even get a T-shirt for my trouble," she said as she stuck the spoon in the peanut jar and proceeded to begin to work her way through it.
"Did you follow them here or me?" Forester asked as she watched her.
"Don't flatter yourself, was just 'passing' through," Ruby said.
Forester swallowed. "Just passing through?"
"Yeah, thought I'd have a little road trip and just happened on your nice little town. By the way, lovely petunia bed your parents have got going in the front of that nice house of theirs," Ruby smiled at him as his face paled. "Yeah, saw your little talk with…Rory this morning."
She looked over at the group, her eyes settling on one in particular, "It is Rory isn't it?"
"That is none of your business," Forester said taking a step towards her.
"Did he apologize to you, for this morning?" Ruby asked Rory causing the others to look at each other. "Just you looked a little upset when he dragged his little sister away from you. That was very rude of him, but in his defense I think it was my fault. Really shouldn't expect to curb crawl in a town like this without spooking some of the locals, should I?"
"What?" Rory said looking between Forester and the woman sat on the crate in front of her.
"Anything she says, and I mean anything, ignore it. You can't believe anything coming out of 'its' mouth," Forester said coldly.
"That is not exactly how you talk to about a lady," Ruby said lightly. "What do you think…Emily? Or Clara, what do you think about how your brother is talking to me. Jess, is that type of behavior the reason little Rory left him for you all those years ago."
Emily opened her mouth to say something, but Forester cut her off. "Cut the crap Ruby. Eat you stupid peanut butter and leave us alone."
"Good," Ruby said with a smile. "A little more fight in you than last time. There might be hope for you after all. Though if you are getting tied up in this properly then you should cover your trail better and you better learn it quick as Sam really doesn't have time to spend on teaching you."
"I already told you I am not replacing anybody!" Forester spat out. "I'm not doing anything you want. I'll help, but not in the way you want me to."
"So what are you planning? For you and Sam to become a gay porn director's wet dream? I don't think that was exactly Shortbus' idea when he decided that he wouldn't mind if you stuck around to hang on Sam coat tails," Ruby said. "But you'll learn once we get you out of this mess."
"I'm not going to hang on any coat tails! Things like you need to be dealt with and I'll do it, if they teach me. But not until this guy is dealt with," Forester said. "You guys may want to go, but I'm staying to deal with him."
Ruby sighed. "So says the bleeding idiot standing in the firing line in a small town diner. Tell me how do you plan to do that without help?"
"Shut up?" Forester said more agitatedly.
Ruby smiled, before nodding in the direction of Rory. "It's not like you got the brains to think your way out of a paper bag as it is, couldn't keep her could you. Was the sex really good enough to wreck your marriage over?"
"Hey!" Lorelai shouted, "Ruby or whoever you are, you leave my daughter out of this."
"Mom, it's okay!" Rory said.
"Ruby, can it!" Forester said.
"You are still worried about what people in this town think of you don't you?" Ruby asked Forester sarcastically, "Luke there, Jess and Emily aren't going to invite you over to dinner anytime soon. Not after you ditching sweet dumb Lindsay for little Rory - how many years has it been and the fact that you couldn't keep it in your pants for more than fifteen minutes after you told the minister 'I do', is still considered by the folks of this sweet little town as your defining moment, isn't it?"
"Well at least I got one, even if I'm not proud of it," Forester said coldly. "What is yours Ruby - whispering in Sam's ear trying to make him do what you want?"
"Oh bitchy, you think of that all by yourself?" Ruby replied. "Though, funny your defining moment isn't Rory's - moved on pretty quick after you didn't she."
Forester smiled. "That your new trick? Trying to use what happened between me and Rory as ammunition now. Don't I have enough flaws for you to zero in on?"
Ruby shrugged. "Yeah, you do and Rory, she must have noted all of them and realized you weren't worth the effort. How long after you walked do you think it took her to bag herself that walking trust fund that was there that night? Five, ten minutes? Do you think it was longer than it took her to hook up with good old Jess after that big scene you made, back in the day? Not that she hadn't checked out of your relationship before you actually did the walk on either occasion, had she? How did it feel when you realized that you had screwed your life over to basically become Rory Gilmore's booty call, especially as it wasn't like it wasn't a repeat performance of the last time. Yes Rory, no Rory, three bags full Rory."
"It didn't happen that way! Not in the way you're making it out," Rory interjected emphatically.
"Hey!" Jess said. "Whatever your beef is with him leave Rory out of it."
"Oh, Jess, Jess, Jess, don't get me started," Ruby said mockingly. "We could sit here for days and go through all the major dating disasters that make up the life and times of Rory Gilmore - Mr. One trick pony, always waiting in the wings for when she needed a quick pick me up, passive aggressive, one step away from teenage stalker, here; the Immature Trust Fund and then there was you. The rebel without a clue, with all those daddy issues you brought with you. But, could you have been anymore of a walking cliché back in the day? Bad attitude and that sweet sensitive side that was just waiting for right girl to bring out; even had a leather jacket didn't you?"
"Ruby, shut up!" Forester said.
"Stop me!" Ruby replied before turning back to Jess. She cocked her head for a moment "But weren't you the one she didn't sleep with? Not that she didn't offer it up to you on a plate, didn't she? What was with that? Didn't you want to become that anger bang, she was hoping for when she came to visit you in Philadelphia before she scuttled back to good old Logan?"
Rory looked over at Jess before turning back to Ruby, "How did you know about that?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ruby said before taking a mouthful of peanut butter.
"Ruby, don't do this," Forester said.
"I'm just taking your side in this, making them see your point of view. How you weren't the only one that wasn't whiter than white," Ruby said. She narrowed her gaze as she focused on him. "Say please."
"Please," Forester said quietly.
"No!" Ruby retorted before turning to start in again.
"Hey lady, leave Rory alone!" Luke said standing up.
"Yeah, Lady, back off!" Lorelai yelled.
Ruby raised an eyebrow, "Why? True isn't it? The adultery thing - precious little Rory got into that big scary college, everything in her life started to change so reached out to the one guy who never asked anything in return from her. The one who didn't 'challenge' her in the way 'the bad boy did' or 'the crowned media prince'. Screw the fact that the guy was married and unhappy and still obviously totally in love with her. That he needed her to tell him to either spilt up from his wife or grow up and deal with his shit decision he made to get married. Why would Rory Gilmore care about details like that when she needed a guy to come running when she wanted him to."
"Leave her alone," Jess said getting to his feet to move toward her.
"Oh, he has some spunk, maybe I should play with him instead of you because he is at least defending her honor. Can't she do that for herself? Or is she going to go steal another boat because I upset her?" Ruby asked Forester.
"I can defend myself," Rory said cutting in before anyone else had a chance to speak. "I'm sorry about hurting Lindsay and how me and Dean didn't work out. But it happened and I can't change that."
"You happy now?" Jess asked Ruby as he took another step toward her.
"Jess, leave it," Forester said, moving over to pull at Jess's arm. "Ruby is mouthing off. Trust me, she isn't worth it."
"Forester here saving your ass, Jess? Isn't that a change?" Ruby said. "But that is okay. Everybody here knows that you are still carrying a torch for her as well; hoping that one day you and her will get it on."
"You got some nerve lady," Luke said getting to his feet.
"Not like anyone could have really tried to stop the adultery mess could they, Luke? Possibly head off little Rory and Forester here before they actually broke that seventh commandment. No-one knew about the torch that Forester here was carrying. Didn't see how the guy was unhappy with little Lindsay and try and give him any real advice. Try and stop him from screwing up his and Lindsey's lives before they actually got hitched," Ruby said in between spoonfuls of peanut butter. "Because now Lindsey is the little girl, who couldn't satisfy her man long enough to get the thank you cards out for the wedding gifts. Instead of what she should have been - the teenage bride who should have been left at the alter when the groom realized that he should make a mature decision and not get married to the rebound girl. Especially when he's invited the ex he's really got the hots for to the wedding; even if someone did talk Rory out of actually attending. Though I'm guessing that was because that person wasn't thinking about all the things that he wanted to do to little Lindsay's mom while he was banging his then 'wife'. What was her name…Nicole? But then she cheated on you, so your conscious is clear isn't it Luke."
"You got some nerve," Luke said coldly.
"Oh, I'm much more than that," Ruby joked.
"It wouldn't have mattered what anyone said to me back then," Forester said to Ruby, "It happened and me and Rory are in the past and so is Lindsay. We are getting on with our lives and I'm not having you drag them into this. This is between you and me, Ruby."
"No it isn't, you know what this is about," Ruby replied. "And you know what you have to do to stop it."
"Listen, Ruby, Candy, Sapphire or whatever you want to call yourself. Dean is right, what happened back then isn't anything to do with you. So leave my family out of whatever it is you are doing here," Lorelai said.
"I'm just calling it as I see it," Ruby said nonchalantly. "Though you and Luke seem to have gotten what you want now don't you. You all do. Apart from Jess there, but then again there is time for Rory to come to another book signing to see him."
Ruby smiled, "Gets to you, doesn't it Clara? Them getting what they want and your brother being the outsider, the one everybody blames? Though, as I said it was him that couldn't keep it in his pants. But it still gets to you doesn't it, that everyone sees him like that, including your Mom and Dad, especially as Rory never made any real effort to tell the guy to go and deal with the marriage part first before she gave it up to him.
"Leave my sister out of this!" Forester said. "And you leave Rory alone."
"Why? They won't," Ruby said. "You think that hunters don't play nice, wait till Lilith's little posse turn up. Because if you are here, it won't be just your head on the block it will be the whole of this nice little town and if you think I'm bad, what do you think they are going to do?"
Forester stood there silently for a moment.
"Any daydreams you had about a girl like Rory, the white picket fence and the 2.5 kids are long gone. Even if you could work your way out of this, I think we are all agreed that only an idiot would try for round four," Ruby stated. "And even if you were I'm not sure her new step daddy would like her to slum it with you, yet again, especially after this."
"Excuse me young lady what exactly is your problem?" Emily asked.
Ruby blinked, for a moment, surprised at the interruption, "Excuse me?"
"As my daughter told you what happened in the past and my grand daughter has put it behind her, so why don't you eat your…snack in silence and leave the rest of us to cope with the situation we find ourselves in," Emily said firmly. "Or why don't you leave and join your friends in the diner doing whatever they are doing because you and Mr. Forester here can discuss whatever business you have together later, when we are not present. We didn't ask you to stay with us here and no-one requires your opinion on any subject let alone about matters that don't concern the likes of you."
Ruby let out a laugh. "Okay, we have at least one person in the room has some claws! Looks like my day isn't going to be a complete bust after all."
"Dean?" Sam muttered to his brother, as they finished boarding up the windows. "You think leaving them alone is a good idea?"
Winchester shrugged, "You're the one who keeps telling me that we need her. Even if she has been acting like a class one bitch around him."
"She's only been doing that because…"
"Yes, I know why she has been acting like that," Winchester said as he finished moving the last of the tables. "Don't you trust her with him?"
Sam took a moment, thinking how best to respond to his brother's question.
"Even if he isn't sticking around, best he understands how demons work, even if it is just your pet," Winchester said with a sigh.
"She isn't my pet!" Sam said firmly.
Winchester peered at him, "That mean you'll finally let me put her down or are you going to get rid of her yourself?"
"Not now Dean," Sam said firmly just as they heard the commotion in the back.
As they got back to the storeroom, they found Ruby on the floor with Forester standing over her.
"Oh god, I hit her, I hit her! I actually hit her," Forester said, shocked at what he had just done. Rory took a step closer to Dean to comfort him but was pulled back by Jess who seemed to be a little winded.
Winchester sighed as his brother glared at him, "Right, we were wrong in leaving them with her."
"It didn't need to go that far!" Sam said walking over to Forester who was still standing in shock as Ruby nursed a split lip while she lay on the floor.
"Sam, you want to take him and see if the back way is clear yet?" Winchester said as he moved towards Ruby.
Sam nodded and started to lead a still shocked Forester out of the room.
"What happened?" Winchester asked the others.
Emily swallowed. "I think that was obvious."
"He took offence at what I said," Ruby said as she sat up.
"You hit Luke and kicked Jess in the stomach," Rory said as Jess seemed to be trying to straighten up as he gained his composure.
"I was defending myself," Ruby said. "Well kind of."
"You call that defending yourself? They had done nothing to you," Lorelai asked as she sat on the floor assessing Luke's eye.
"What did she say before that?" Winchester asked as he bent down to get a better look at the damage done to Luke.
"Nothing," Luke said coldly.
"She insinuated that Luke had inappropriate intentions towards my granddaughter over the years, due to some incident between him and Mr. Forester when Rory was a teenager," Emily explained. "Not to mention some other things. Then she had the audacity to ask what your friend would think if he walked in on Rory…with some football team."
"Grandma there started it," Ruby said with a smirk on her face. "So I…well you know me Shortbus, even if I did have to use the scatter gun effect."
Winchester grinned as he turned to look in Emily's direction, "Gave as good as you got! You have got to give me some pointers about that before I leave."
"It doesn't matter what was said," Lorelai said, "It was just words, we're fine. Rory is fine, we are fine."
"Sure you are," Winchester said. "What did Forester say? What did he actually say?"
"That if that was what I wanted then he would be happy for me, not that he thought I'd do anything like that," Rory replied.
"Good for him," Winchester said with a smile on his face causing the rest of the room to look at him. "But I'm betting that was when she came out swinging."
Rory nodded, to which Winchester turned to Luke. "Dude, you okay?"
"Oh, I'm having a ball," Luke said.
"She's a bitch. Though accusing a guy of something like that to get a rise out of someone else is kinda low, even for the likes of her."
"Don't sell me short," Ruby replied. "We both know I'm capable of doing a lot worse."
"You happy?" Winchester asked moved to stand over Ruby.
She narrowed her gaze, as she reached up to grab a packet of napkins from a shelf to wipe the blood from her lip, "I'm laughing on the inside."
"That's nice," Winchester said getting out of her way to let her get up. "Though, getting to point where you had to throw a punch Ruby - you losing your touch?"
"He seemed to need a more physical reminder of what I could actually do," Ruby said caustically. "Or maybe he has been investing in anger management classes since he moved away from here. Either way he'll leave, because the one person he'd probably listen too about going to the cops about all of this is hardly likely to try and talk to him round seeing, what he said about not caring about her NFL affiliations. Though you'd have to double check with Rory there to be sure; so smile, you've got what you want."
"It isn't what I want," Winchester said firmly. "And by the sounds of it you deserved what he did to you."
"Yeah, I did," Ruby said with a nod, causing the others in the room to look confused, "And you know it needed to be done. Because 'we' just manipulated that poor shmuck into taking part in a world where he's going to get use to getting his hands dirty and if you have forgotten we are on a tight time schedule."
"Like I could ever forget," Winchester spat out.
"Then get the hell out my face and don't whine about the way I get results," she replied.
"Results Ruby?" Winchester asked. "I don't remember asking you to do anything."
She glared at him, "I'm the one that is going to be stuck dealing with him after you croak and I'm not walking him through this. He has to deal now, because like it or not he needs to get over what the packaging looks like and grow a set of balls or he's going to be dead or worse get Sam killed."
"And he passed okay. You've been taking pot shots at him since you met him. You've been more of a snide bitch than you usually are to him and anyone who's in his earshot to get him to make a move," Winchester said.
"And you let me didn't you," she replied.
"Yeah, but I'm a cold hearted bastard like that," Winchester replied. "Forester just passed your stupid test, got past the outfit you're wearing. Even though he wanted to; he didn't move till you really started hurting people."
"Not to mention, making Sam feel a little sorrier for him? A little more willing to take him under his wing after Bobby is done with him or have you changed your mind about dumping the guy like a trusted up turkey to get taught the basics?" Ruby took look at the shocked group standing on the corner. "And as for him making a move before I really hurt people I wouldn't say that."
"Screw you!" Jess yelled.
"Got another member for your fan club Ruby?" Winchester snarked. "Well, they say a personality is what really counts."
"Hasn't stopped you checking out my ass, has it?" Ruby replied to Winchester.
"Don't flatter yourself; and last time I checked it isn't exactly your ass," Winchester said sarcastically, before he turned to her. "And don't think that you'll worm your way any closer to Sam by trying it on with him."
She let out a laugh. "Is that what this whole thing is really about? You're worried what me and Sam will get up to when you are gone? That why you think Sam needs a little play mate to keep him on the straight and narrow?"
Winchester clenched his jaw. "You're done Ruby. You've made your point with Forester and just for the record he's not going to take my place. Sam needs someone around that's all, someone to talk to, someone to watch his back and once he's got an idea of what to do Forester might be able to do that."
"Not to mention helping keep your brother in line when you're gone?" Ruby asked. "Stop him turning into what he needs to be, if there is any hope of winning. If you're planning on turning Dean Forester into the little brother that Sam never had so you can feel better about leaving then he's taking your place."
"You know when you talk about winning I never know which side you are talking about," Winchester replied.
"Like I keep bailing your ass out the fire for the fun of it," Ruby retorted.
"Bite me, no on second thoughts you probably would then I'd need to get a shot," Winchester snapped back. "Now I'm going to check on the two of them, you leave this lot alone."
"Your wish is my command," Ruby said mockingly as she did a little bow, to which he glared at her.
"You've done enough, Ruby. You've made these guys hate him even more than they probably did because we turned up and probably even made his own sister hate him a little," Winchester retorted to which they both turned round to see Clara.
"Are you trying to make me feel guilty?" she asked smiling causing his face to harden even more. She sighed. "Fine, I promise I won't lay a single finger on them."
"It's not you laying a finger on them I'm worried about." Winchester said.