Ruby - When Time is All We're After
Fandom: Supernatural
Title: When Time is All We’re After
Author: iluvroadrunner6
Rating: PG-13 // FRT
Characters: Ruby, Ellen Harvelle, mentions of Jo Harvelle and Lucifer.
lastficauthor Prompt: Tears and Laughter ~ Tall Tree 6ft. Man
Content Warning: Spoilers through 510: Abandon All Hope, character death.
Summary: She had to say, the Devil had good taste.
Author’s Note: I’m kind of in love with this Ruby voice. She’s a lot of fun when she’s like this. Deceptive Ruby icon is deceptive.
Disclaimer: I don’t own. I’m just borrowing and will put everything back where I found it.
She had to say, the Devil had good taste.
First of all, he brought her back, and not just in that tiny brunette that was bouncing around on Sam for almost a year. He brought her back as a blond, in that grade A quality meat Lilith yanked her from the night Dean died, and, really, she couldn’t have been more pleased. She had to question his judgment, given that this body had no emotional meaning for Sam whatsoever, and she was pretty sure that getting Sam to say yes was the end goal here, but she wasn’t going to complain. There wasn’t really anything to complain about. She liked to wear pretty things, and to a demon, a good piece of meat was like a fantastic new pair of shoes. There had always been something about the blond that made her feel-feisty.
Starting off, she was all for the Sam saying yes plan. Sam saying yes was a good thing. Sam said yes, and then it was the demon’s time. They owned the world, and everything on. God had given man the world to take care of, and man had failed. Now it was their turn. Plus, once Lucifer was done, she was promised Sam, and as far as she was concerned, that was not a bad deal. And she knew a bad deal when she saw one.
Or, at least, she used to think she did.
He had brought her back just before Carthrage, wanting her to see what he could really do for her, see why he needed her help and couldn’t get Sam on his own, and as far as she was concerned, that was peachy keen for her. She could do it. She had gotten under Sam’s skin before, she could do it again. It was just a matter of finding the right incentive. She told him six months. Considering that she had gotten Sam to sleep with her in two, getting him to say one little word really shouldn’t be that hard.
Then Lucifer started the ritual to raise Death, and Lucifer must have thought she was the dumbest bitch to ever crawl out of Hell, because she knew mass genocide when she saw it. Whether or not the hundreds of poor saps had volunteered to possess the whole town, even the women and children, was irrelevant. There wasn’t a pot of gold waiting for her at the end of the rainbow, and there definitely wasn’t Sam. There wasn’t anything but another quick and messy death, and frankly, she didn’t get recreated just to have some hot-shot angel screw it up for her. She needed to-make better choices.
But she needed a few bargaining chips first. She couldn’t go back to the Winchesters empty handed-that would just end badly. She needed to have something they wanted, and by the sound of the hounds on the other side of town, she had a feeling she knew exactly what that was.
So she waited.
She lurked outside the hardware store until Sam and Dean slipped out the back, then made her way in through the door to the center of the room. Jo was already dead in the corner-no way she could be saved, not in the kind of time Ruby had, but Ellen? Ellen she could fix. She glanced over, just as the older woman was going to open the door and let the hounds in.
“You really don’t want to do that.”
Ellen’s eyes turned on her, sharp and accusing, and Ruby could tell right then why Dean had been scared of her. Ellen Harvelle was an intimidating woman who could probably stare God himself down if she was given the opportunity. “And what makes you say that?” she said, her hand still resting on the chains keeping the doors closed. “Those boys’ll never make it to where they need to go if I don’t.”
“Yeah, but that kinda means you die,” Ruby replied, arms crossed in front of her chest. “In a war, you usually want the body count on your side to be lower than the other guy’s.”
“Do you have a better idea? Cuz I don’t know who the hell you are, and I also don’t need people tellin’ me things I don’t already know without somethin’ useful to go along with it.”
Ruby rolled her eyes, before responding. “I’m an old friend of the boys. And as for something you didn’t already know-I’m here to help.”
“Friend of Sam and Dean’s?” Ellen eyed her again. “What kind of friend?”
“The kind they don’t like to talk about at the dinner table,” Ruby replied quickly. “How much time do you want to waste debating this? Those boys are going to get real dead if we don’t through this real quick.”
Ellen stared at her, studying her for a minute, before the shotgun in her hand was coming up and angled her way. “You’re that Ruby bitch.”
“And there’s that word again. Bitch. Dean and I really need to have a talk about nicknames.” She rolled her eyes at the gun. “Oh, put that down. I’m on your side, idiot.”
“Insultin’ me really isn’t makin’ me feel any better, now unless you got something real to say, I’ll have to ask you to get the hell out and let me die in peace.”
“That was my point. You don’t have to die.”
“And how does that work exactly?” Ellen slowly lowered the shotgun, crossing her arms in front of her chest and matching Ruby’s stare.
“Here’s the deal, Mama Dukes,” she said as she moved closer. “This isn’t your time yet. This may be death central but that doesn’t mean that everyone’s goin’ down with this ship. So I can get you out, no strings, no trips downstairs. Just because I’m feeling nice.”
“And Jo?”
Ruby glanced over at the blond lying limp on the floor. “I think you and I both know that Jo’s not walkin’ out of this one on her own two feet.”
“What on Earth is that supposed-” Ellen’s eyes wandered over to the spot on her floor where her daughter was, and Ruby could tell right then that she knew. She knew without even having to get close what had happened. There was a brief moment, only for a second, where the grief flashed across her face in a heartbeat but was gone by the time she turned back to the demon. “Deal’s good for me, why isn’t it good enough for her?”
“Because this is her time. If I’m gonna screw that up for her, I’m gonna need to make this a whole other kind of deal-one with actual strings.”
“Of course,” Ellen snorted, but what was supposed to be angry came off more heartbroken than anything else. “Damn hellspawn. You have the power. Why can’t you ever just do somethin’ because you can?”
“Because we’re not angels, sweetie. We don’t do things out of the kindness of our hearts.” She smirked. “Though that’s a pretty big laugh, because neither do they.” She paused, taking a breath. “It’s the best I can do on short notice. So it’s your choice-strings or not?”
Ellen turned from where she was standing, making her way over to where her daughter was lying, crouching down and running a hand over the top of her head. Ruby remembered that feeling-that desperation to save someone that couldn’t be saved, not without taking an incredibly damning risk. Those choices tended to suck the most, and she would give Ellen whatever time she could.
“Can you get her out of this?” Ellen asked. “Out of the war, I mean? And away from those boys?”
“From what I’ve heard about your daughter, she’s too damn stubborn to have anyone keep her out of anything.” Ellen glared back at her, and Ruby swallowed. “But I can try.”
Ellen nodded. She leaned forward to kiss the top of Jo’s head, eyes closed and lingering there longer than would normally be necessary, but just enough. Then she pushed herself up and made her way back over to the demon.
“Alright. Let’s do this.”
“You sure?” Ruby said with an even look. “Once we do this, there’s no going back. It’s a one way ticket downstairs.”
“I get that,” she snapped. “Can we just get this over with already?”
“Okay,” Ruby sighed, moving closer. “Pucker up, hot lips.”
Surprisingly, Ellen Harvelle wasn’t all that bad a kisser.
Title: When Time is All We’re After
Author: iluvroadrunner6
Rating: PG-13 // FRT
Characters: Ruby, Ellen Harvelle, mentions of Jo Harvelle and Lucifer.
lastficauthor Prompt: Tears and Laughter ~ Tall Tree 6ft. Man
Content Warning: Spoilers through 510: Abandon All Hope, character death.
Summary: She had to say, the Devil had good taste.
Author’s Note: I’m kind of in love with this Ruby voice. She’s a lot of fun when she’s like this. Deceptive Ruby icon is deceptive.
Disclaimer: I don’t own. I’m just borrowing and will put everything back where I found it.
She had to say, the Devil had good taste.
First of all, he brought her back, and not just in that tiny brunette that was bouncing around on Sam for almost a year. He brought her back as a blond, in that grade A quality meat Lilith yanked her from the night Dean died, and, really, she couldn’t have been more pleased. She had to question his judgment, given that this body had no emotional meaning for Sam whatsoever, and she was pretty sure that getting Sam to say yes was the end goal here, but she wasn’t going to complain. There wasn’t really anything to complain about. She liked to wear pretty things, and to a demon, a good piece of meat was like a fantastic new pair of shoes. There had always been something about the blond that made her feel-feisty.
Starting off, she was all for the Sam saying yes plan. Sam saying yes was a good thing. Sam said yes, and then it was the demon’s time. They owned the world, and everything on. God had given man the world to take care of, and man had failed. Now it was their turn. Plus, once Lucifer was done, she was promised Sam, and as far as she was concerned, that was not a bad deal. And she knew a bad deal when she saw one.
Or, at least, she used to think she did.
He had brought her back just before Carthrage, wanting her to see what he could really do for her, see why he needed her help and couldn’t get Sam on his own, and as far as she was concerned, that was peachy keen for her. She could do it. She had gotten under Sam’s skin before, she could do it again. It was just a matter of finding the right incentive. She told him six months. Considering that she had gotten Sam to sleep with her in two, getting him to say one little word really shouldn’t be that hard.
Then Lucifer started the ritual to raise Death, and Lucifer must have thought she was the dumbest bitch to ever crawl out of Hell, because she knew mass genocide when she saw it. Whether or not the hundreds of poor saps had volunteered to possess the whole town, even the women and children, was irrelevant. There wasn’t a pot of gold waiting for her at the end of the rainbow, and there definitely wasn’t Sam. There wasn’t anything but another quick and messy death, and frankly, she didn’t get recreated just to have some hot-shot angel screw it up for her. She needed to-make better choices.
But she needed a few bargaining chips first. She couldn’t go back to the Winchesters empty handed-that would just end badly. She needed to have something they wanted, and by the sound of the hounds on the other side of town, she had a feeling she knew exactly what that was.
So she waited.
She lurked outside the hardware store until Sam and Dean slipped out the back, then made her way in through the door to the center of the room. Jo was already dead in the corner-no way she could be saved, not in the kind of time Ruby had, but Ellen? Ellen she could fix. She glanced over, just as the older woman was going to open the door and let the hounds in.
“You really don’t want to do that.”
Ellen’s eyes turned on her, sharp and accusing, and Ruby could tell right then why Dean had been scared of her. Ellen Harvelle was an intimidating woman who could probably stare God himself down if she was given the opportunity. “And what makes you say that?” she said, her hand still resting on the chains keeping the doors closed. “Those boys’ll never make it to where they need to go if I don’t.”
“Yeah, but that kinda means you die,” Ruby replied, arms crossed in front of her chest. “In a war, you usually want the body count on your side to be lower than the other guy’s.”
“Do you have a better idea? Cuz I don’t know who the hell you are, and I also don’t need people tellin’ me things I don’t already know without somethin’ useful to go along with it.”
Ruby rolled her eyes, before responding. “I’m an old friend of the boys. And as for something you didn’t already know-I’m here to help.”
“Friend of Sam and Dean’s?” Ellen eyed her again. “What kind of friend?”
“The kind they don’t like to talk about at the dinner table,” Ruby replied quickly. “How much time do you want to waste debating this? Those boys are going to get real dead if we don’t through this real quick.”
Ellen stared at her, studying her for a minute, before the shotgun in her hand was coming up and angled her way. “You’re that Ruby bitch.”
“And there’s that word again. Bitch. Dean and I really need to have a talk about nicknames.” She rolled her eyes at the gun. “Oh, put that down. I’m on your side, idiot.”
“Insultin’ me really isn’t makin’ me feel any better, now unless you got something real to say, I’ll have to ask you to get the hell out and let me die in peace.”
“That was my point. You don’t have to die.”
“And how does that work exactly?” Ellen slowly lowered the shotgun, crossing her arms in front of her chest and matching Ruby’s stare.
“Here’s the deal, Mama Dukes,” she said as she moved closer. “This isn’t your time yet. This may be death central but that doesn’t mean that everyone’s goin’ down with this ship. So I can get you out, no strings, no trips downstairs. Just because I’m feeling nice.”
“And Jo?”
Ruby glanced over at the blond lying limp on the floor. “I think you and I both know that Jo’s not walkin’ out of this one on her own two feet.”
“What on Earth is that supposed-” Ellen’s eyes wandered over to the spot on her floor where her daughter was, and Ruby could tell right then that she knew. She knew without even having to get close what had happened. There was a brief moment, only for a second, where the grief flashed across her face in a heartbeat but was gone by the time she turned back to the demon. “Deal’s good for me, why isn’t it good enough for her?”
“Because this is her time. If I’m gonna screw that up for her, I’m gonna need to make this a whole other kind of deal-one with actual strings.”
“Of course,” Ellen snorted, but what was supposed to be angry came off more heartbroken than anything else. “Damn hellspawn. You have the power. Why can’t you ever just do somethin’ because you can?”
“Because we’re not angels, sweetie. We don’t do things out of the kindness of our hearts.” She smirked. “Though that’s a pretty big laugh, because neither do they.” She paused, taking a breath. “It’s the best I can do on short notice. So it’s your choice-strings or not?”
Ellen turned from where she was standing, making her way over to where her daughter was lying, crouching down and running a hand over the top of her head. Ruby remembered that feeling-that desperation to save someone that couldn’t be saved, not without taking an incredibly damning risk. Those choices tended to suck the most, and she would give Ellen whatever time she could.
“Can you get her out of this?” Ellen asked. “Out of the war, I mean? And away from those boys?”
“From what I’ve heard about your daughter, she’s too damn stubborn to have anyone keep her out of anything.” Ellen glared back at her, and Ruby swallowed. “But I can try.”
Ellen nodded. She leaned forward to kiss the top of Jo’s head, eyes closed and lingering there longer than would normally be necessary, but just enough. Then she pushed herself up and made her way back over to the demon.
“Alright. Let’s do this.”
“You sure?” Ruby said with an even look. “Once we do this, there’s no going back. It’s a one way ticket downstairs.”
“I get that,” she snapped. “Can we just get this over with already?”
“Okay,” Ruby sighed, moving closer. “Pucker up, hot lips.”
Surprisingly, Ellen Harvelle wasn’t all that bad a kisser.