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There was some drunk people loudly laughing in a corner, and a girl just dumped her drink in some guy’s face. Besides that, it was a fairly uneventful night, and that’s how Ryan wanted it to remain. People went there to have fun and unwind, it was bad for business if trouble came knocking every night. Ryan had this terrible habit of inviting suspicious people to business meeting in his club, since it was his territory and would be easier to control, but if things went wrong, people could start being afraid of showing up, unacceptable.

Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, he turned his head to see a very elegant woman approach the bar. She was by herself and shot a brief look towards Ryan, but he had no reason to think there was anything strange about her beyond the fact it was the first time he saw her around. She ordered a drink, and with that, Ryan’s attention was diverted someplace else, as he kept drinking his vodka directly from the bottle.

That would be the day, when Ryan decided he didn’t want Ruby anymore and found another girl to put on her place. She made it sound like he just brought anyone he found on the street to his gang and started calling family. It was kinda true, but the annoying little sister tittle would always belong to Ruby. “I dunno about tall redheads, but since you’re leaving me, maybe I can find another right hand who is already part of the family.” He said casually, a mischievous smirk on his face. “Like Vienne, she’s been with us for a bit, I bet I could trust her and she could even appreciate the new space.” He opened his arms, gesturing around Ruby’s room. Ryan was kidding, of course, but it was fun to tease Ruby the same way she had a blast teasing him.

How many guns did Ruby have laying around in nooks and crannies? He shot her a curious look, but choose not to comment. For some reason he never thought Ruby would be the disorganized type, and yet here they were, the woman finding guns under the bed and who knows where else. She was also very protective of these friends of hers, for a minute Ryan thought she wouldn’t share their names, but she trusted him thankfully, and in the end, he didn’t really know anyone named Max or Jacob, but he knew he wouldn’t like either of them. “I see… Do they have last names as well?” he asked with a suspicious look. Two guys… for some reason he had imagined said friends to be girls, but now he realized it was just being hopeful. “You say that, but for all I know, the girl could be worse than the two guys.” Guys could be pigs, but girls could be, oh so much worse.

He put the chains carefully inside the box, one by one. It would be the most perfect box of chains in the entire world. Ruby’s explanation made Ryan chuckle, so many uses for these kind of things, from kinky stuff to killing stuff, sometimes even both. “Is that so? I’m sure you have plenty of fun with these.” He rattled the chain in his hand to make a point, and smirked as he asked the next question. “Do you have fun with your friends with these as well?” Maybe he would regret asking that, but it was a nice thought, Ruby smacking her male friends, showing everyone she was in charge and all that.

The hacker was so skittish, just Ryan speaking normally was enough to make him fumble with all the files in his hand. Granted that normal Ryan was unnecessarily loud, but still, the leader was a friendly person, especially with his family, there was no need to act so scared. Ryan would have to make sure Ruin would become more accustomed to his presence, it was unacceptable for a member of the family to feel scared near him. At least he accepted to enter the office with only a minor stutter. “You know, just Ryan is fine, especially in private.” He said to the man after he entered, all these formalities were so stupidly unnecessary, only served to make the boss-employee gap bigger.

Ruin seemed unsure of where to start his explanations, looking at the files briefly before gathering the courage to show them to Ryan. The leader stayed silent, letting the hacker begin his explanation in his own time. The files were placed on the desk, and Ryan sat down again to take a good look at what Ruin had found, listening attentively to what the man had to say. He hadn’t heard about any bombings, it was usually him who liked to explode things, and lately Enigma hadn’t targeted anything or anyone. The Bianchi, on the other hand, seemed to be taking a liking for explosions lately, if his suspicion about the PD bombing were to be believed.

He let his eyes travel quickly through the file, Ruin had been pretty through in his research, but that was to be expected. For what he gathered, it wasn’t some a bomb with fire and explosions, but more like a trap full of blades that had a minor explosion as consequence. He listened in silence as Ruin explained everything, only humming curiously to himself as the man finished. “No, no, don’t worry, it’s not a waste of time, it’s always nice to know what the enemy is up to, even if it doesn’t directly affects Enigma for now.” He waved his hand in a ‘don’t worry’ gesture, trying to reassure the nervous man The amount of courage Ruin seem to need to just talk with Ryan, it made him want to scream it was fine, and not to worry, but he suspected that would be counterproductive.

One of the victims died instantly, the woman who survived was badly injured. If they had connections with the Bianchi, it would be very interesting to know what caused this sudden need to eliminate them, and why in such a dramatic fashion if a bullet to the head could be more efficient? A message, perhaps? “I don’t think it’s a threat to us, even if people start pointing fingers at us, there’s not much they can do..” He said after a few moments of looking through the file. “How is this woman now? Do you know if she’s still alive or if she has ties with any known group?” He asked, finally looking at Ruin again. This may not be a threat, but it certainly could be an opportunity. If she hated the Bianchi enough, who know what kind of secrets she would be willing to spill.

Some days, Ryan was brutally reminded that he had to run an actual criminal organization, he was overdramatic and ambitious, but he was not stupid, not everything could be solved by screaming curses, as much as he tried, some things needed more finesse to be deal with, some people needed a more diplomatic approach, and some dealings required mountains of paperwork. That last one was exactly what Ryan had just finished, after a few hours and aided by more alcohol than most would think was appropriate he had finished what work he had today, and now he was enjoying the brief free moment by lounging on his office, practically melting into his chair, feet up his desk in what looked like a not very comfortable position, but it surprisingly was.

It was mostly quiet, sometimes he heard movement from outside his office, people passing by and muffled voices, but so far, no one had come inside to disturb him, and Ryan wondered how long this false peace would last. There was always something happening that needed his immediate attention, a plan that needed to be set in motion, information the needed to reach his ears, problems that needed to be solved, Ryan this, Ryan that, it was often quite chaotic. It was true he had Ruby to help him around as his right hand, but there were still thing that could only to be resolved by him. It was nice to be able to sit back for a few minutes.

A few minutes passed, and Ryan grew bored of doing nothing, he removed his feet from the table and got up, deciding now should be a good moment to go around the warehouse and talk with a few of his people, see what they were up to or if anyone had decided to blow the place apart again, the usual stuff. Before he could open the door, however, there was soft knock, and curious as to who would have such a light tap, he opened the door quickly, since he was quite close to it already, and to his surprise Ruin was standing there. Ryan didn’t remember a single instance the man had approached him on his own volition since he was hired “Ruin!” He said in greeting, voice booming loudly, since more often than not he forgot his inside voice. “What brings you to my office?” He said with a friendly smile, making a gesture so the other man would enter. He eyed the files and papers the other was carrying and silently wished it wasn’t more paperwork, but something that would be actually interesting. Considering Ruin was his hacker, there was a very good chance that was exactly the case.

Aw geez, Ruby and her toys, Ryan should know he could never compete against those. It was sad really, he gave her a (ware)house to live, a job, a family to belong, and still she gave all her love to a cruddy old gun that apparently had abandoned her until recently. But he should be glad she didn’t find her bazooka instead, that level of destruction in her hands was something he didn’t wish to repeat, specially near his base, Enigma already managed to destroy it enough without such a powerful destructive weapon. “No no, keep loving your gun, leave the Bazooka hidden where it is, for my sanity’s sake.” Safety rules were there to protect everyone, why was it so hard for people to understand that?

While Ryan tried to process the shock of the news, Ruby went around her business, straightening the boxes, separating them and organizing for pick up. It sounded so surreal, his Ruby going away like that, no previous notice, no nothing, one day she was just suddenly gone. If Ryan hadn’t caught her on the act, he probably wouldn’t notice until it was too late. Days would go by and she wouldn’t show up, leaving Ryan worried and wondering, what a terrible thing to do. Even as she tried to reassure him, he could only see it as Ruby leaving him alone to deal with all those assholes who lived on the warehouse (he still loved all of them, but still, it was Ruby, his right hand.) “But… but, what will I do if I have to talk to you urgently in the middle of the night? What if someone attacks you in this new place and I’m not there to help you? So many things can go wrong, Ruby! There’s no need to leave.” He started pacing around the room, being careful to not trip one any of the boxes, but Ruby seemed determined to leave, she could be stubborn if she wanted, and now that not only the idea had settled on her mind, but she apparently also had a place already, it was very unlikely Ryan would be able to make her change her mind.

How could he have missed such a big change? She was basically out of the door with her army of boxes and he had no memory of Ruby telling him anything, it was ridiculous to think he would ignore such an important announcement. “You did not tell me!” he all but screamed, a distressed expression on his face “You can have your independence here! And… and… well, the guests can go someplace else.” He didn’t even know she would have people to invite on her house that weren’t Enigma, when did that happen? “Who are these guests anyway? Last time I checked you were too paranoid to let anyone near where you slept.” Ruby had friends outside of Enigma? That was yet another surprise, Ryan would like to meet whoever those are, to see if they were good enough for Ruby.

A sigh escaped his lips when she softly told him she wouldn’t abandon him, calling him a brother and everything, how could he stay mad at her if she acted like that? It wasn’t fair. If he was being completely honest, he could understand that sometimes the warehouse could be crowded and loud, God knows Ryan himself sometimes wished he could just go away from everyone, but that would cause the hideout to explode, probably. “I know, but I don’t want you to leave” he said, his voice still whiny, but not as loud and outraged anymore. He accepted the hug, squeezing her tight, without trying to hurt though, just like a bear hug. “You didn’t even asked for my help to pack or prepare anything.” Doing everything on her own, how did she expect to move all those boxes by herself?

Aww, itty bitty Ruby missed her baby guns, how adorable. “Will you ever love me as much as your weapons?” He responded dramatically, like a parent whose child decided the other one was their favorite. They had this easy friendship Ryan appreciated deeply. She was young, beautiful and extremely capable, and yet she accepted working with him, helping him take this city for himself. There was respect there, even if to anyone looking it wouldn’t seen so, he didn’t like to take things as an strict hierarchy or with rules from every little thing to the point his people would be afraid to even glance at him, as long they did what was asked, and in front of enemies they showed some respect to him, he could let a lot slide, from name calling to angry screaming. Enigma was built to be a family and Ruby was like the little sister he never had, and like any good big brother, Ryan was ready to tease her at any moment, and he could be certain she would tease right back.

The warehouse would be boring if it wasn’t for the woman’s sarcastic humor, though right now he wished she would stop beating around the bush and just tell what all these boxes were about. “Right, and you gave them a space in your room? I do hope they’ll be gone eventually.” He crossed his arms, shooting an incredulous look at her. He could almost see himself tripping over everything once he came back to the base drunk.

He looked at Ruby in disbelief as she explained the boxes, an expression of pure shock coming to his face. He was speechless for about two minutes, freezing as he tried to process that Ruby was moving, she was leaving him alone, how could she do that? “…You’re… leaving?” Was what he managed to say, he gaped at her bit more, before finally removing his words. “What do you mean by that?? Since when?” His voice was getting louder at each syllable. And then she explained how it shouldn’t be a surprise, but it didn’t make any more sense to him, he had no memory of Ruby telling anything about moving. “I’m not old, you didn’t tell me anything!” It was possible he was too drunk to remember, or that he was so swamped by paperwork that he didn’t pay attention, possibly both. “How can you betray me like that, Ruby? I trusted you, now you’ll abandon me.” There was a whiny tone to his voice, and deep down he knew he was being overdramatic, but he couldn’t understand what was wrong with the base, and why Ruby wanted to leave him like that.