move me

He hadn’t exactly been marking his days in Heaven off on the calendar that hung in their kitchen, but he’d felt every single one of them passing. Until Augustus had appeared with his offer of escape plastered on smirking lips he hadn’t known that his days there could be numbered. It had to be different for Ruby though, right? Cory frowned as he zipped out of yet another Heaven, leaving behind the last soul he’d picked up. Maybe time worked differently there, but she’d been awake when he’d left her, she had to have realised that others were disappearing by now.

Getting back to the motel, he stripped out of his coat and headed for the shower, not wanting to carry any stench of death with him into that place. She’d been nervous about him enough the last time he’d been there, squirming away from as he’d sat beside her and tried to convince her not to go. Cory sniffed back a breath, scrubbing his hands over his face. How hadn’t he realised he could’ve just grabbed her arm and forced her to go with him then? It wasn’t like he hadn’t done it with her before.

The problem had seemed like a brick wall, too high, too wide to go around, too thick to bust through. Poor little Cory, too chickenshit to just go off of the instinct that had been kicking mule hard beneath the fear that always seemed to override everything else. She’d spent weeks there on her own, far longer than she should’ve had to, because it had taken him that long to dig up the simple answer that had been staring him in the face all along.

”Idiot,” he breathed as he flipped the shower off and stepped out. He dried himself rapidly, holding onto the hope that he could do it this time. The Reaper that had come to pick up the driver of the other car had been joking about their change in business thanks to the things scooping up half the souls for them had acted like it was no problem, but then he’d blipped out of there before he could get any more details than just scoop and run. Maybe he’d look like one another, but if this did work he could pull Ruby out of there whether she remembered him or not. All that had ever mattered was that she was safe – and she wasn’t there.

Dressed in a fresh shirt and jeans, Cory stood still in the middle of the motel room the same way he had the last time. Let out a long breath, close his eyes and picture Ruby the way she’d been in the station the last time. That delicate form folded up around itself in the hard plastic seat, the look on her face that said leave me the fuck alone as he’d done just that.

The travel still came with a holt in the pit of his stomach. It didn’t matter how many times he’d done it, just like a trip around on a rollercoaster, he always had that moment of anxiety as he stepped aboard and started moving. Opening his eyes, Cory turned a slow circle, scanning the rows of chairs around him. There were a handful of people here he recognised from the last time, a couple of them awake and moving, no Ruby though.

Grabbing at the arm of a sandy haired guy as he went to walk past him, a cigarette dangling from his lips, Cory pulled him around. ”I need to find somebody,” he said almost desperately, his voice a hoarse whisper. ”A woman … Ruby. About this tall, long black hair … keeps herself to herself …”

The man’s frown was deepening, but he was already gesturing off to one side of the station where a sign on the wall directed people to the platforms.

No!

Taking off at a run like there might actually have been a way for her to get out of there, Cory headed out onto the platform. Ruby wasn’t gone, she was standing there on that bare stretch of concrete. Head up, staring in his direction, her eyes latching onto him. He paused, not sure if she recognised him any more this time than the last, but then she was rushing towards him, his name on her lips.

Like he had that first time they’d met, he folded his arms around her as she pressed in close to him. Ruby clung to his lapels, her head pressing into his chest. His eyes swum with relief, his head dropping so he was almost whispering into her hair. ”I couldn’t leave you here,” he promised hoarsely. ”I’m so sorry it took me so long to get back. I was trying to work out what happened, how I could you out.” And there’d seemed to be a dead end at every turn, until now.

His nose brushed her hair, his mouth close to her ear. ”I think I’ve found a way to get you out of here. Hold on, alright?” Swallowing hard, he looked around to make sure nobody else was watching – he didn’t wanna create a scene or break someone else’s hope by making this obvious.

Finding nobody, he tugged Ruby a little closer and shut his eyes. That thread that he’d followed here still glowed all the way back to his motel room. He gripped it tight and pulled, not loosening his grip on her for a second. The same little jolt hit, the landing and then that sense of home that didn’t vanish as he opened his eyes and found Ruby still there in his arms. ”It worked. It worked, you’re home. Are you alright? They didn’t hurt you did they?” The same way he’d done when he’d gotten her out of the car, he started to run his hands over her arms, trailing a hand up to her cheek to nudge her hair back enough that he could see her face.

Tagged: RUBY HERRERA * Word Count: 999

Ruby not tearing away or tearing his face off was probably proof of just how scared she was here. Or, more likely, he was scared enough of losing her that he wasn’t seeing the signs that she was about to crack. Some seconds soon he’d feel the blade she’d threatened him with, a cold snick of steel against some delicate part of him. He’d have taken that over the fear he’d felt for now. Elias hadn’t exactly been optimistic about getting people out of here and not being able to spot Ruby when he’d first arrived had terrified him again. Her getting the train out of here would’ve been bad – if it had even been possible – what those things could’ve done to her was worse. She’d been through enough already, at some point the universe had to back off, didn’t it?

Cory blinked the burn out of his eyes, hanging on let if he let her go Ruby would be gone again. His lips touched the side of her head, the same sort of kiss he’d have given Dani in these circumstances – a reassuring kiss that promised everything was gonna be alright. For Ruby it was probably torture, but she croaked out her agreement all the same, gripping onto him hard like he’d ordered.

At some point he might end up coming back to see how many more people he could take out of there – Elias had scoffed at the idea of getting everybody out, but he could definitely do something – but for now Ruby was his only focus. He drew her in, held onto the thought of her, the feel of her body pressed into his and the clutch of her fingers, and left.

Had it honestly been that easy? It felt a little like he’d open his eyes and see one of those things right in front of the two of them, but as he opened his eyes it was just the two of them. Home.

As though he needed to reassure himself that this was real and Ruby was safe, he looked her over. Fingers trembling faintly, pale eyes latching onto her dark ones. Maybe she wouldn’t speak the words aloud, but he’d seen a world of emotion in their depths as they’d floated in the car that first time. Cory let out a ragged breath as she tore herself away finally. ”I’m sorry,” he muttered, dragging both his hands over his face.

They jerked down as she shoved at him, rocking him back a step. His mouth fell open, heavy brows furrowing over the words she’d thrown at him like they were another weapon. He didn’t have to know Spanish to catch the meaning of them. They were safe again and that meant she couldn’t bear to have his hands on hers. Cory raised them again, not chasing her as she stepped back. ”I’m sorry, I should’ve asked. I just needed to make sure…” Those things didn’t seem interested in touching her, but he’d pieced together enough about what had happened before that it was obvious that someone had. Each time he reached for her she pushed him away, proving that he was an idiot.

His fingers curled in towards his palms, his knuckles brushing at his lips like he could wipe away the next apology before it could spill out. ”I didn’t know what they were doing in there. Nobody here knew, they just said you were trapped in there by them.” Cory’s lips pursed, his brows back to that heavy line of concern. She was still twitchy, wrapping herself up in her own arms instead of letting him get close enough to do that.

”We’re in mine,” he muttered, glancing around like it was suddenly something to be embarrassed about. ”It’s my home. I don’t know if there’s still someone in yours.” Did whatever those things do to cause people to be forgotten entirely shatter the minute they were back? The curtain came down and everything was back to exactly how it had been before.

Lifting his chin in the direction of her room, not sure if she’d seen it as she tore her gaze away, Cory sank heavily down on the end of his bed. ”I didn’t know at first,” he admitted. His forearms propped on his knees, his hands gripping together between them. ”I hadn’t seen you around in days. I was worried something might’ve happened so I went to your room and there was some guy in there. He said there’d never been a woman there. I thought you might’ve run finally.” Anything to get away from this town and the people trying to help her. ”I figured maybe I could find you if I thought about you hard enough, like I could blip there.” It had worked, he just hadn’t known he could’ve immediately reversed it and bought Ruby out with him, albeit kicking and screaming. ”How did they get you there in the first place? What happened?” The bigger question should’ve been would it happen again once they realised their captive was gone?

Tagged: RUBY HERRERA * Word Count: 844