Funtimes and a Murder date [Ruby]

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Max closed his eyes, taking in all the pressure of the moment, on the edge of letting it all out in anger. Ruby's presence was comforting to him, but she didn't make him feel safe. That was a feeling no one ever managed to truly give to him. He had to count on himself for that. But it didn't matter, he was the shell to the cat now and didn't want it to be the other way around. "I know. I promise he'll be fine." and if he's not I'm here to make sure you are. He wished he could deal in better ways with emotion, able to be like her and be strong in any situation. Because despite the tears running on her delicate cheeks, she was still a woman with the strength of a thousand, one that bowed to no other than herself. Max accepted that from the day she stood up to Shaun. She stood until broken, and even then she was able to piece everything back together like before. All he could think about was to find the words to comfort her, find something to do that could make her feel better. But there was just no right answers, just the wrong ones, the ones you don't use because they'll destroy everything in sight, starting with the people he cared about.


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"I give you my word Jacob is not dying, not ever on my watch." and now he was making a promise he was afraid he won't ever be able to keep, even if Jacob didn't die tonight. Their way of living was dangerous for all three of them, but who didn't love to live a life with an edge to it? They are the dancing living crap of the earth, they don't care about what may or may not happen, and perhaps that is something Max shouldn't forget. He chose this, he chose a path to follow to make the best out of the two. He never imagined it would go this far. Befriending them was supposed to be an alibi, something to be able to catch them like some animals you feed before bringing them to the slaughter. Turns out the civilized remembered how being an animal was like, and how much family meant among them. They were his everything, his life, his wonderland, his escape plan for the life he had to live. Alice was there, somewhere in this mess, somehow her memory being the life source of all of this. She would have told Max that the mad people are the ones who need help, not the sane ones. That the mad are the ones you should care about and that will make your life worth living.


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His trail of thoughts were stopped and perhaps partly erased when Ruby started to move, backing away from him. He thought at first that she was getting upset before he noticed that a doctor was coming in their direction. Son of a bitch, Jacob was fine. That's was the first thing Max thought about when the news were spoken. He shot a look at Ruby before getting up urgently. "Can we see him?" he asked a hint of worry in his tone. The doctor shook his head with a sorry look. "Not at the moment no. There should be a nurse taking care of him, I'll let you know when he's ready to receive visitors." The doctor might as well say no, Max knew Ruby won't take that for an answer. He blurted out a quick thank you before turning to Ruby. Leaving the warmth of her body to be confronted to what seemed to be a freezing hallway was a strange reminder of how nice it was to have someone at your side during emotionally driven moments. He took her by the shoulders, as if to make sure she won't start bursting out through the doors to get to Jacob's room. "Hear that? Jacob's fine and he doesn't have any permanent damage. He'll be up in no time. We can wait for that nurse here okay?" hearing himself talk this was was so strange, it sounded awful. He felt like some adult talking to a kid, and he truly wanted to apologies for that but found no strength to do so. He just wanted to get out a few reassuring words and be done with it. He was so bad with words it was unbearable sometimes. "Sèche tes larmes, il sera content de te voir. Il va ce reposer et toi aussi...." (dry your tears, he'll be happy to see you. He's going to rest and so will you) Somehow his french words felt so much better to his ears, but it was ridiculous to use them, Ruby wouldn't understand. Hopefully she'll understand his urge to try to make her feel better. If she would let him, Max would take her face between his hands and wipe away her tears with his thumbs, forcing out a smile when his jaw muscles refused to move properly.


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Soon enough a nurse came to them, to tell them that Jacob could get visitors. "He was asking for you a lot." she said, looking at Ruby with a reassuring smile. Jacob probably didn't even know Max was there and since he and Ruby were on the same mission, it was normal to ask for her to be on his side, to make sure she was alright. On a good team, strong bonds could be made, and these two probably built a solid one tonight. Max would hurry to the indicated room number after giving a thank you to the nurse and making sure Ruby was following. As he got in front of it, he would walk in, either by opening quietly the door himself or by letting Ruby do it. Jacob was inside, seemingly awake and fine. However Max would not get close, he'd stay at the door and leave some room for Ruby to get the the mercenary. He felt a weight lift from his chest as he leaned against the closed door, all pressure he felt earlier was gone. The anger was still there however, boiling deep within and craving to know about the person responsible for this. He will wait there, at the door, calmly regaining composure to give himself some life back. Blood must have been slowly leaving his face, leaving him as pale as a clean cloth, he didn't want to appear like some cadavre to a man who just escaped becoming one.

TAG: Ruby Blackwood , Max Madden NOTES:

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t's what friends are for. Ruby took away his words, letting him look at her with an agreeing nod. It didn't take him very long to get into a very calm state. Perhaps he was too calm, conditioning his energy in thoughts here and there, very fleeting ones, ones that didn't matter so much, or bits of information incomplete because they got lost in mist. His mind was like a butterfly, fluttering in a cold winter night, fog circling it until slowly, its wings froze, just like time. If he didn't have a watch then perhaps he would have lost track of that thing everyone calls time, that thing that mattered so much an hour earlier, but now no one worried about it any longer. And yes, those two were his friends, and every time a part of his mind was reminding him why they were this way in the first place, the rest of the cop's mind would get angry to fight off perhaps what was the reasonable part of his mind. But they hurt no one with their way of being. No one outside of themselves. In fact, Max liked to believe less people got hurt because of this relationship, simply because he was keeping Ruby and Jacob busy, that all three of them were keeping each other out of harm's way. Like today. Jacob was indeed at the hospital and almost died poisoned, but he was alive, because Ruby and he were there for him. He felt honored in some way to be able to have and keep such a strong relationship. It's not something many people can claim to have. You could say they found each other in a hopeless place.
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After bringing a chair to Ruby, she quickly got up again to answer her ringing phone. He wondered who could possibly be calling her right now. A contact cleaning after the mess, from what he understood out of her few words before she left, a hand brushing along Max's arm. It was a reassuring gesture, also telling Max not to move perhaps, to stay there and take care of Jacob while she was gone. Ruby was still afraid that the man wasn't out of harm's hands, and it was understandable. And that little gesture, the invisible one, was what made Max understand why he couldn't be angry at them about that supposed kiss. He had no idea of what happened, and it shouldn't matter. What will happen will happen, he wasn't the one that was going to crush their lungs in hopes of an answer to a question that might not need one. He looked at Jacob, waiting for Ruby to come back before, like he planned, he would go take care of Lucius.
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Jacob spoke. His voice sounded so tired yet full of life. The effects of escaping death probably. He was always there for humor, and succeeded in it so much better than Max. The cop smiled, shaking his head and crossing his arms, taking a deep breath with a kind look oriented to Jacob's direction. His eyes trailed along the tubes, stopping on the IV bag, then to the heart monitor. Everything seemed in order, nothing that was alarming. Except for the fact that Jacob was yet again in a hospital bed. Max would have preferred sending him ten times himself to the hospital than to get to experience his friend almost dying once again. "Yes we do save each other's lives a lot lately. But you know what? I prefer that than to have to mourn you or Ruby as many times as we saved each other." he cocked his head to the side, simply glad that what he was saying was a fact and not just a wish. That so far, he didn't have to mourn anyone close to him. In fact, the only person he ever had to mourn, was the Max that died in the New York streets about 15 years ago. Silence reigned for the few minutes Ruby was on the phone, however just before she came back, something grew in Jacob's eyes, something Max never noticed in him before. He started a sentence, but didn't finish it. He got cut off by Ruby coming back inside. Max's head went to her, but before she was back in her seat, his eyes looked at Jacob, his cold blue eyes filled with an understanding. A silent understanding of what Jacob might have been wanting to say. It seemed to be important, and with one look, it was like he was showing that he will remember that. The most insignificant of things, sometimes stick forever. Honesty does too.
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He didn't want to be cruel to Jacob by bringing him coke, but he knew the whiny tone of the man betrayed that he understood his words. He brought it because he knew the man loved that drink, but he also knew it could be a bad thing for his health right now. And thus he'll have to drink it while the nurses weren't watching, and possibly tomorrow. Max had no idea when he'll be going home himself, and didn't think any of the medical staff would actually bring Jacob coke even if he begged for it. So he had to to it in advance, just in case he couldn't bring anything the next time he visited. He gave a chuckle to the man, but found no words to answer. "Yes, Max like you call him is also known as Lucius. He was in the car keeping your legs warm when you were...on your way here." Max explained Lucius' reaction to the situation, thinking it might bring some smiles to the two. At the same time he crouched to lean against the wall behind him. It felt nice to rest his head there.
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But apparently, him sitting on the floor wasn't acceptable. His action was met immediately with the two's protesting against it. Ruby was already off her chair, and Max rolled his eyes, leaning even more into the wall, crossing his arms around his knees with a slight smirk. It was just the floor, and it was more comfortable to him that a simply hospital chair. Ruby should just join him down here and rest as well, he wouldn't mind serving as some pillow for an hour or two, until the hospital staff found them of course. He got up however, to kindly push Ruby back into the chair. She was the one who needed it the most anyway. Her kind gesture was noted however, just like all the other ones she had been giving ever since his arrival. Max considered Jacob's suggestion of sitting next to him. He didn't see much of an inconvenient to it, and who knew if they would let him get away with sitting on the floor like a 'dog'. He walked around the bed so he could sit next to Jacob, leaning his back against the bed's head, that way he would be able to see both of them. He let one of his hands find Jacob's once again, so he could feel the man's pulse under his fingers. It was reassuring to a level Max didn't expect, those small veins in Jacob's wrist, regularly pulsating against the cop's thin finger skin. He was to be strong, to be there for these two. But was it the contact, the pulse, the fact that he could feel the man's warmth, the warmth of the living next to him, was it all those elements that made Max's throat swell up as well as the growing pressure within? He gulped down slowly, breathing steadily to keep this ridiculous reaction in him. "When are you two going to let me sit on the floor? Am I not allowed?" he asked, bringing his mind to a concrete subject.

TAG: Ruby Blackwood , Max Madden NOTES: