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Ruby kept asking herself how did the man manage to look so..warm, so sweet and kindhearted. Less than three months ago, he would have done anything to make her fear him. The trip to the shark tank proved how mean he could get, so evil his plans could turn. He managed to make fear appear in the woman's mind though. A whole different kind of fear. Fear of never seeing him again. Red realised, that if she died that night, drowning, her only regret would be that she wasnt able to see Max, nor Jacob anymore. Death, in her vision was spending your eternity with nothing to look at, black in front of your eyes for the eternity. A blur, occasionally waving like the water's surface. She'd be staring at the last images recognised on her retina, forever. Would there be flashbacks of what she had done through life? She only wanted to see moments captured since installing herself in Chicago. Maybe some pictures from when she was little, and fragile.
There was only so much the man in front of her managed to change. He didnt even realise it, all his actions, good or bad, they shaped Ruby differently, pushed her down another path. Crawling now between the world she was raised to survive into, and the world Madden wanted her and Jacob both to live in. What if she just wasnt fit for this world though?

Max Madden reached for her hand, his palm's warmness like patching an old wound, keeping her safe. He feared cats? Ruby wondered if that applied to all felines, or just the home pets. She couldnt understand why he feared them though, they were contained creatures, loyal and attentive. Sensible, in their own misterious way. But many couldnt understand her own fear, so why not open her eyes and heart alike and do her best at understanding someone? She looked at him curiously, in a thoughtful way, her head tilting to the side. She could feel the painkillers kick in too, at last. She couldnt feel her nose anymore.

Her empty hand slowly moved on top of the one Max used to grab her own, as he reasurringly rubbed his thumb against her skin, and she cupped his knuckles, looking down at that hand pile for a moment, before up at him again. Rejection was something she feared too, and she would hate herself to administrate it to Max. Her chest rose, from a deep breath, and Ruby's eyes looked up at the French's gaze. "Do you want to make a deal?" Her voice was heard again, and the hand on top petted his own once, her eyes darting again from him, to their hands, and back. "How about we help each other overcome our fears? I'm sick of living like this, and you have nothing to fear about cats. I promise." With a hopeful glimpse in her eyes, and what seemed like a determined sheating to her words, Ruby waited for an answer, her lips pressing themselves shut.

The rest of the ride was silent, not that there was much of it left anyway. Lucius seemed to have slowly regained his happy demeanor too, now that no one was yelling anymore and that no daggers were shot through their glares or thoughts. Ruby smiled at the puppy a few times, whenever he'd raise his head at her, and as the car stopped, she looked up, spotting the familiar surroundings.

As Max exited the car, Red picked Lucius up and placed him on the driver's seat, a moment later her door being opened by a gentleman Madden. She exited the car as well, waving at the dog once and closing the door. She's walk up on the sidewalk and turn to look at Max Madden again, trying to achieve eye contact. "Thank you, Max. For..everything." Meaning the help, responding to her sudden phone call and coming as fast as he could without needed explications, for being there in her weak moments..for being her friend, and ultimately for understanding, as much as he did. She wished to pull him in an embrace, to express her gratitude, and maybe some hidden sentiment, but she'd be more than ok if he'd refuse her. And after that, she would wait until he was in his car again, before entering the building and going up to her apartment. A long shower would be waiting, and a blanket & pillow pile will be made on her bed.

"Dont talk like that." He said, and her brows cocked in a similar frown, yet hers was fueled by confusion rather than blind anger. "Like what?" The woman threw her question back at him, starting to pick up the bravery in his voice. "Alright then. The talk is over." Ruby closed her mouth, her jaws clenching sightly at how Max seemed to just love rising his voice for no reason. She just thought that he would probably like to know if something, as minor as this, had happened. Ruby would have appreciated the gesture, if Max happened to have kissed someone, meaning it or not. She always thought that finding out from the direct source was better than hearing about it a week later and having jealousy blooming in her chest. Her voice rose as well when she talked, but it was contained, determined to get this shitty discussion and his childlish acting done.

Her blue eyes fixed on the window at her side, looking aimlessly as the night seemed to pass by too slow for Ruby's sanity. Then Max Madden continued his mini interrogation, and each time one of the two raised their voices, the puppy would look up at them, confused by the sudden change of waters. Max asked a question..to which Ruby couldnt really answer. She was unsure of the facts, but until that was proven, that she had jeopardized the mission, she would be fully convinced that the target was indeed trained to escape assassins. A detail both Jacob and herself thought that it should have been said in the contract. And sometimes, blaming the bad guy in all of this was better for your own mental sake too. "No, Max. Whoever gave Jacob this two-party mission was a son of a bitch. We considered the target to be some rich asshole, but he had training against any 'attempts'. He had the poison ready...I dont think this was some hate assignment..It does sound like a trap, but..I dont know.." She was too tired, too emotionally exhausted to stay and run through all the facts and decide if this was just another fail, or something deeply planned. Her elbow got placed against the car door again, and she held her forehead in her hand, closing her eyes for a second more to clear her mind. Only if Madden didnt start yelling again.

His silence was unsettling, like that saying "if you got nothing nice to say, dont say anything". Ruby feared that this poorly thought act of the criminals was going to shatter the cop's trust in them, shatter their friendship. Jacob was her bestfriend, Max was too, and she couldnt get herself to put one in front of the other. Yet there had always been something about Madden that made Red look at him like there could be something more than a friendship, between them. It was a foolish thought, that perhaps only bloomed in the mind of the ones who never loved before. And somehow, calling themselves "exclusive" added onto that. She sometimes felt like Max was just leading her on, but other times, she called herself stupid for thinking that.

She let out a silent sigh, not knowing what else to say. What else to tell him, to make him understand how that kiss was just a mistake. Ruby looked away from him hesitantly, for he seemingly avoided her eye contact. "I know what we talked, I'm not 100% sure if you meant it, or if it's just some game, but I know I dont want to break it because of a mistake." Ruby felt nervous, like this moment could determine so much more about tomorrow. "I wouldnt blame you if you wanted to." The woman added a few moments later, looking down at Lucius again.