WHO: Ruby and Puck (eventually Sam). WHAT: Ruby is a bitch. But a helpful bitch! :D WHEN: December 22nd. WHERE: Dark, dangerous, generic ally number three. RATING: ....eventually R? STATUS: Finished.
RUBY: Ruby probably shouldn't have been so amused. Besides, the kid needed to know about demons and the world he'd found himself in. So she was helping. Because she was helpful like that. But mostly she had to admit it was just really really funny. Poor kid. He wouldn't know what hit him. The other, rather entertaining aspect of all this was Sam and his jealousy. He really did hate the idea of anyone even entertaining the thought that she might be interested in them even if it was a seventeen year old boy that was doing the leering. Also she'd terrify him before anything got too far. Maybe it'd teach him some respect too.
Though she doubted it.
All the same. This would happen and then Sam would find her, and that would just be all kinds of fun. Maybe she shouldn't have riled him up as much as she did but he was always so fun when he let that darkness in even a little. And he was going away soon. Him and Dean. Why shouldn't they make the most of the night. She let the thoughts fill her mind all the way to the apartment building of Racism, or at least to the wall outside of the salt lines. Stupid salt lines. She hated salt lines. And traps. And Latin, except her kind. Her kind was fun. She leaned against the wall, two knives on her person. One, her knife, in her boot. That if the kid even looked at wrong, she would hurt. And two, her other knife. It was a little wrong she supposed. It was usually Sam that used it, and usually on her. But she'd cleaned it. And at least she didn't mind being cut with it if it came to that and she had to disarm the boy.
PUCK: Puck didn't have time for those cranky bitches back at the apartment complex. Nah, he was in a whole new...thing now. Alternate universe? Disneyland on acid? Hell if he knew. The only thing that he really was certain of was that he was gonna do something incredibly awesome. If the monsters in this joint really were real, he was gonna learn how to take 'em on. That way he'd be like that badass Blade guy or the dude from the Matrix or something. And the best part of it? Was that he was gonna get to go hunt a monster with some hot chick that he'd picked up on the boards. All those chicks that were giving him a hard time were gonna regret turning him down after he showed that dark-haired whoever what he was made of. He'd impress her by punching a demon in the face, then he'd get laid; soon after, that woman would brag about his skills in bed and everyone would be lining up to be with Puckzilla. It was a flawless plan, one that he fully intended on seeing through. Besides, what else was he gonna do around here? Look for some lame job, hope that it was good enough for Quinn, and then let people rant at him because he was trying to have a little bit of fun? No way. This was better. It was more fun and it involved him getting to have sex with a perfect stranger. A stranger who was, he had to admit, pretty damn good looking. If he had knocked this chick up, he was pretty sure that they'd have sexy babies too. But that, he found, was something that he was gonna have to leave up to Quinn. Eh, that was all right. She was hot too. Kinda whiny and needy sometimes, but he figured if she eventually came around to understanding how things were supposed to work with him everything would be just fine. After all, Puck was a man. He had needs.
And now? Now he was going to see those needs fulfilled. For the night, anyway. One round of sex wasn't going to keep this well-oiled machine fueled forever.
Knowing that the hot chick was supposed to meet him outside the apartment complex, Puck slipped out of the building and made way to the front. He didn't know what she looked like outside of that picture that was displayed on the board site, but he had a pretty good feeling that he was not about to be disappointed. He had this sort of radar when it came to women. He could pick the sexiest bitch out from a crowd with his eyes closed - it was a natural gift. Stepping out onto the front path, Puck folded his arms over his chest confidently and waited. Whatever those people had thought about him being completely useless was about to change. He'd show them, all right. He'd show them all. While getting laid.
RUBY: Ruby spotted him right away. He actually had a mohawk. It was probably all kinds of trendy or cool or whatever. Personally she liked the whole long-ish hair on a guy. Sam's was the perfect length she thought. It worked. Damn she was sappy now, thinking about his hair and not her plans for the poor kid. He'd learn a hard lesson from trusting the stranger on the boards and maybe he'd actually grow up a bit. Either way it would make for a fun afternoon. She nodded, waiting till he came over to her and crossed the barriers against her to step forward and make her introductions. She'd dressed to impress too, a shirt cut ridiculously low. A pair of perfectly fitted jeans, and her favorite boots, knife of course hidden under the jeans. She loved her knife, she really did. Even if it could kill her. Maybe that was why. Maybe she liked the danger. The other knife though she held, twirling it back and forward in her hand as he finally reached her. And she knew exactly how to play this little scene, even if it had been a while since she'd had the chance.
"Hey" she started with a smile, already leading them away from the area. Thinking like the demon she had been before Sam. How would she do this? Get him away, get him not paying attention to his surroundings. Well, she'd done that with the clothes alone. "I'm Ruby. And like I said, I can show you how to kill those things. The demons...they're...seriously messed up. I'm glad I'm not going out alone." Ugh she was going to make herself sick with this crap. How exactly was she not eyerolling. Oh right. The being awesome. That was why. They'd already got a little ways away when she moved on to her next logical approach. "So, tell me about yourself. You're new right? All this has to be confusing as hell. You're brave to be out here. Fighting these monsters. Aren't you afraid. I think that I'd be afraid if I'd never heard of any of this. Sometimes I still am y'know?" Sometimes she still was. This. Was far too easy.
PUCK: Ah, he had been right after all - the chick was pretty damn hot. She was no Angelina Jolie, but she seemed to be doing all right for herself. Plus, that was a sexy little outfit that she was wearing. Upon first spotting her, Puck happily took the time out to shamelessly look her over. He didn't care if it was offensive. Thing was? If a woman dressed like that, they were looking for attention. The low-cut top, in particular, was hard to resist eying. And who could really blame Puck anyway? He was a male. A normal, teenage, woman-loving male. If a hot piece of ass like that popped up in front of him, going all Scary Movie But Not on him, what was to be expected? Was he supposed to tuck his hands behind his back, look the other way, and whistle like an innocent, narrow-minded gentleman? Nah. Not in a bazillion years. "Hey -" He paused, watching as the chick - her name was Ruby - started walking forward. All right. Didn't seem like she wanted to wait around. Adventurous. He liked that. "I'm Puck," he continued, giving the building behind him one last look before he eagerly bounded after her. "Yeah, I'm new. Fresher than anything else you'll see around here anyway. Also ten times better looking than half those people in that place, too. How come you're not staying there?" Maybe it was because they were all uptight assholes. At least it seemed that way from what he could tell. Bitching at him, threatening him, being all super serious about the rules and safety guidelines and all that crap that Puck honestly didn't give a damn about. Maybe this Ruby chick was the right one to hang around. She probably knew where all the real fun was at. After all, she was the one taking him to fight monsters and have sex. Did anyone in the building offer to do that? Hell no. Pricks.
"Nah, I'm not afraid of nothin'." He shoved a hand in his pocket, then stepped around so that he was walking alongside Ruby. His eyes strayed to the cleavage in that top of hers before he glanced back up and grinned. "I'm a football player. And I got my own fight club. I think I can handle a couple monsters." The poor woman was really risking herself, dragging him out into the dark, scary night. Eh, whatever. He'd impress her, show her his guns, and they'd be good. "So, uh, you really scared of the monsters? What do they look like? Where are they?" He tilted his head to the side, searching her person in a way that wasn't focused on staring down her shirt. She had a knife on her. "Where's the shotgun we talked about? I gotta blast the monsters away. How am I 'sposed to do that without a shotgun on me? Are we gonna go get one?" He might have been a football player and Grade A Bully, but he wasn't about to go tackle any disgusting monsters without something fun to kill it with. Yeah! Killin' monsters with a hottie. He was really badass now.
RUBY: He couldn't take his eyes off her, well, obviously. She knew just how hot this tiny little brunette she'd gotten attached to wearing was. She knew from Sam, who loved her, yes. But had always approved of how she looked. And she'd gotten better and better at finding what suited it. But the boy liked it too which really was the important thing for now in this little scenario. As for the gun he was asking about. "Oh its waiting for us. I could hardly carry it around so I hid it near where I hear the demons hide out is, and its all protected. For now, here" she told him, passing the knife in her hand across. It was just a knife and would do nothing against her, but it kept the act up. He was going to help her, protect her from the scary bad demons.
She led him further toward the city proper, not the best area of town. Alleys and gangs roaming them. But Ruby knew she was in no danger. One flash of her eyes and they'd run. They always ran. She suspected the kid would run too, but she'd make sure he was in a nicer area before that happened. Or near enough one. Ugh she really was mellowing. Why should she have cared? In fact why was she doing any of this beyond genuinely wanting to teach the kid how things were in their world. "Not long now" she told him, veering left into an alley and pausing for a moment, entirely planned. "The guns just a few alleys over" she said leaning against the wall, foot up just enough that her top rode up a little. She was entirely flirting with him. Of course she was.
"So...you have a fight club huh?" she said beckoning him over toward the wall. "You'll do great with the demons I just know it.You'll be able to do this no problem. But how about we just...stay here for a few minutes before we go find the gun and the demons. I always get so tense before I fight..." He'd be lapping out of the palm of her hand if she wasn't about to terrify him within an inch of his life. Teenagers. They were so easy.
PUCK: She hid the gun. That was probably smart. One couldn't exactly blame Puck for not thinking too far on the gun stuff outside of actually getting to have one. He wasn't used to the idea, nor was he quite so sure that they were actually going to take on monsters for real. Who knew? It could've been a buncha guys dressed up in costumes, claiming to be Freddy Krueger or something weird. He didn't know what was going on with much of anything nowadays, so he mostly just went with it. It was a whole lot easier than standing around looking confused (though Puck generally did that quite well). It seemed smart though - hiding the gun from people. He didn't want the cops to bust them or whatever. Puck hated the cops. They were such pigs; always giving him trouble for tagging stuff with graffiti and giving kids a hard time out of school. What was the point in being able to bully people if he couldn't do it without the police harassing him about it? Jeez. But whatever, he'd get his gun, then he'd be awesome, and the cops could go...huh. Puck paused as she handed him her knife, eyes not on the weapon between his fingers but the woman as she skillfully taunted him with her body. She was taunting him. That meant she wanted him. Oh, hell yes, she so wanted him.
"What are you gonna use?" Outside of her banging body, that was. Puck raised a brow and watched as Ruby propped herself against the wall. She was really working the action chick flick look. That was probably because she'd just handed him something sharp and pointy to use against any creeps that tried to kill them. Creeps. Monsters. Aliens. Whatever it was that they were about to go up against, this Ruby chick had just entrusted her only obvious weapon to him. That must have meant something. Like...she knew he was a badass. Or she couldn't fight.
...he really hoped she could fight.
"Yeah, I got a fight club. Sorta. It's most just me and the guys from the football team, sluggin' it out or whatever." Puck turned the knife over in his hands, trying to play it cool. "But the guys are pretty tough. Big. They lift weights and stuff, you know? It's not something a skinny dude with glasses could handle. I mean - don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that it's something that any old person could walk into and hold themselves in, but..." He shrugged, eyes dropping down to look at Ruby in a blatantly obvious inappropriate manner. "Tense, huh? You know..." Puck stepped forward, happily invading her personal space. "I could always help you loosen up." This was too easy. All those other chicks had been snobby bitches, but not her. Not this Ruby. She was making all that hell he'd gotten from everyone earlier worth it. One easy chick, one good lay, some awesome action...then he'd go back and everyone would realize that he wasn't to be screwed around with. Yeah.
RUBYShe probably should have felt bad about this, given her whole acting human and good thing. She probably should have thought about other less awful ways to do this. But honestly none of them had occurred to her. This seemed like the most appropriate way."I have other knives, I can use those" she told him, watching as his eyes dropped to look her over again. "But you have a fight club. You'll be fine, better than fine. You'll do great." He stepped closer, close enough that he was right up next to her and she smiled back at him as seductively as she knew how. Which was a hell of a lot as it happened. "I think you should" she said, voice low and husky as she leaned in. "I think it'd make me feel sooo much better if you did. Loosening up could be just what I need, Its been a while since I've been really 'loose;" Of all the cheesy lines. But still, it was working, it was all working and she wasn't done yet. Timing was of course everything in situations like these, he was explaining to her just how manly he was, he had his little knife...He thought he was in complete control of the situation. Going to get laid, going to hunt monsters. He'd asked none of the right questions. He'd merely gotten swept up in her. Not that she blamed him. All the same, he just needed to learn the lesson, and learn it he would at the right moment. The moment that would find its way to them as he drew closer and closer, almost close enough to kiss...Three, Two...
In one sharp move the knife was in her hand again, the cord of the amulet falling away to the ground as she removed it with one nick of the knife and blinked, her eyes turning to their demonic black state as the seductress of moments before became for all the world a monster, reversing their positions so he was against the wall, for all his strength Ruby easily pinned him there. "I could take you over." she told him, "So completely that I'd have all of your memories. I'd know everything. Your hopes, your dreams, your deep dark secrets, I could make that pretty blonde of yours believe I was you and it would be so so easy. You don't trust the pretty girl without proof in this world cause the pretty girl could be a demon.or a shapeshifter. Or something else designed to hurt and kill" she leaned in, more than invasively, holding the moment a little before pulling back again. Letting him go and taking two steps back entirely proud of how well she'd done. Poor kid. He looked entirely spooked. Which he should. He should feel terrified and he should learn from it. Like she'd said any other demon and he'd be dead or worse now. But he'd gotten lucky with her, very lucky. Just not the kind of getting lucky he'd expected from the hot little brunette he'd followed into the dark alley.
"But you lucked out." she told him, "You found the one demon that wouldn't hurt you. The one demon that wants to actually help you learn. Now take the amulet. Refix the cord and get the hell back to the complex. And maybe have learned from this." she finished. "Go" She really did hope he'd learned, but also she had to admit. The truth was, she was pretty damn awesome. And now that all that was done, she had a whole other sort of fun to have. Sam. He was hunting her and she knew she'd pissed him off, maybe pushed it too far by mentioning Azazel like she had but it was still something between them she knew was unfixable. He'd never be okay with it. She knew that. She didn't have to hate the memories of her mentor though, that wouldn't be right either.
PUCK: Puck knew he had this chick right in the bag. He'd done this sort of thing plenty times before. That look in her eyes, the way she was maneuvering that tiny, little body of hers so that it'd look appealing to him. Yeah, she was trying to get laid just as badly as he was. Personally, he didn't think that was a bad thing. It meant that he had to work less harder to charm her. See, Puck might have been a bit of a manwhore, but he had a little bit of class. If a girl wanted to be wooed, he'd follow through. Puck would pull all the stops, he'd do his research, and he'd do all he could to make sure that his woman was happy - so long as he benefited from it in the end. But this? It was much easier. All he had to do was flash this chick a smirk, tell her he was badass, and BAM. That was it. He was in and they both knew it. So Puck gleefully stepped in, bowing his head down so that he was dangerously close to Ruby. All he had to do was lean in and kiss her. Once that started, there was simply no going back. After all, she'd be crazy to pull away after he set his awesome sexual skills loose on her. No one could resist - it wasn't physically possible. Yet, before he could have possibly landed his lips on hers, the tiny woman snatched his knife away and lunged it upward toward his neck. That was it: Puck didn't exactly know what was happening, but he was pretty sure that he was gonna die. One didn't watch someone raise a knife to their throat and think that they were actually going to make it through the rest of the night in one piece. She wasn't eager for sex, she was eager for blood and chaos and...fuck it all, this bitch was insane!
Rather than having his throat slit, Puck felt the new weight around his neck lift. She'd cut the amulet thing that he'd been given at the apartment complex off! What for? What did she want his amulet for? Did she not have -
"Whoa!" Her eyes. There was something wrong with her eyes. "What the hell is your problem, la -" Not lady. Definitely not lady. Okay, so maybe this whole plan hadn't been thought through as well as he'd originally figured it was. And that was just putting it lightly, seeing as the thought came along before the black-eyed bitch turned on him and slammed him into the wall she had been casually leaning against before. Crap. Crap! She was gonna eat him! Ruby was the monster! It wasn't the thing that they were headed toward, it was her. Puck yelped out in surprise, immediately attempting to lunge forward in retaliation to the wall slam. The problem, of course, was that Ruby was a demon. And even though Puck had some pretty big muscles for a guy his age, he wasn't exactly strong enough to overpower a creature from Hell. So Puck instead struggled against her grip, eyes wide as an unbelievable amount of alarm, fear, and frustration flooded through him. "Let me go! I didn't sign up to be eaten by a freakin' monster!" If only it were that easy. With her black eyes boring into his own and her iron grip holding Puck down, all he could do was listen as she lectured him on all the things that she could have done to him right then and there. Puck wasn't exactly interested in having her "take him over" or whatever it was that she was going on about and he sure as hell didn't want her going after Quinn. So the second that Ruby let him go, he shoved away from the wall. Ignoring her instruction to collect his amulet, Puck staggered away from her - eyes as wide as quarters - and took off down the alleyway and into the open street. "Get her away from me! THAT WOMAN ISN'T A WOMAN!"
SAM: As Puck bolted back toward the apartment complex, a second figure chose to move in the opposite direction. The way Puck was shouting in the middle of the street like that, it really didn't come as a surprise that someone else had heard him. That someone in particular had been Sam, seeing as he had been searching for Ruby ever since she had challenged him on the boards. He knew that she was out here somewhere, giving one of the new arrivals her idea of a quality life lesson about demons, but Sam honestly didn't think that it would be so easy to find her. Fortunately, the mohawk ridden boy screaming like an overgrown child had helped Sam with that quite a bit. Ruby must have shown him the eyes; which, as far as Sam was concerned, was probably for the best. For the kid. He'd never screw around with all that monster hunting crap without being prepared again. Properly prepared. Not all that stuff about guns and fighting that he had seen the kid going on about on the boards. Ruby's methods were more than a little unorthodox, but Sam didn't exactly care. The kid had learned and he was still whole. And, more importantly, he now knew where Ruby was. This was both a game and a challenge, something that Ruby had easily initiated the second she had decided to bring Azazel into their conversation. Before? Sam would have joked around, but he probably wouldn't have followed through on the actual hunting aspect of their conversation. Now he was serious. Sam wanted to hunt Ruby down. He wanted to make a point - he had learned the best from his actual father, not that yellow-eyed son of a bitch she had been buddies with for years on end behind his back. He'd prove his point. Then, maybe, if she admitted that he was right...he'd follow through on that whole pet thing that they had discussed. In a kinky, fun way. Not the literal idea.
Finding the alley that Sam had seen the boy bolt out of, he quietly crept his way toward it. Back pressing to the corner of the building that turned into the dark alley, Sam carefully leaned to the side to peer out. She was probably still there. He hoped she was. Possibly distracted and smug with herself. If so, that meant he'd be able to get the drop on her. He'd be able to use that irritation and need to prove himself right (something that Ruby had probably purposefully shoved in him with those words of hers) against her, thus making her defeat very, very easy to come by.
RUBY: Sam had worked it out entirely. Distracted, and smug. She'd hadn't expected him to have gotten there so early. Or to have tracked her this far. She just expected to wander around for a while before the hunt really began in earnest. Maybe she'd buy herself a victory cookie somewhere first. Sit, relax and think about how a demon would go about hunting herself a Winchester. Particularly that Winchester. H'd be furious with her in some ways. Their jokey kinky little talk about hunting as a game for them had turned a little serious, when in her role as the bad demon she'd mentioned Azazel. And he'd been so very derisive of him that she'd found it very hard not to get upset and angry. As of course had Sam. so the game had turned a little different. Not bad. Not that it would cause a row particularly. No, now there were just a different set of rules involved that meant Sam would hunt her like he would hunt anything else. No games in the hunt. Those would come later. She was entirely confident of the fact.
First would come the victory cookie. The very much deserved victory cookie. The kid would hate her and all, but he'd also learn. It was entirely worth the lesson. But dammit it meant she'd earned her cookies
She turned the corner none the wiser about the hunter who now had her in his sights. She would have thought it was unfair if she'd known he was so easily able to track her. She probably left traces beyond the terrified boy. Hunters left no such traces unless pain, shattered lives and stale beer actually showed up on EMF's nowadays. That was probably cruel of her but Sam would probably agree. Truth was, she knew more about his life and how much of it had actually been a game that she didn't know what to do for the best. Telling him would make things worse in so many ways.How sad was it that so much of her life was still made up of omissions. Ruby was distracted, as well as still a little bit smug, thinking of her day's efforts. It was of course why he was so easily able to blindside her as she turned the corner into the street.
SAM: Ruby never actually made it all the way into the street. No, the alleyway was a perfect setting for this exchange of theirs to go down. It was subtle, it was dark, and it was less likely to draw attention to them than being out in the open road was. Sam was the Hunter in this situation and, as every good Hunter knew, being able to pick the terrain in a fight was always a good thing. Being able to decided that they were going to take care of business in the alleyway, along with the surprise that he was about to spring on her, was already giving Sam the advantage that he needed to prove to Ruby that he didn't need to be Azazel's bitch to get things done. As Ruby began to step out of the alley, Sam quickly turned, grabbed her by the waist, and shoved her back into the dark. As of right now, Ruby wasn't his girlfriend. She was the demon. He didn't know her. If they were really going to play this out like a hunt, Sam was planning on going about it that same way. He'd bring her down; Sam knew that Ruby could handle it. She was tough, she was smart, and she had instigated the situation knowing full well how Sam would react if she pushed him enough. She had pushed him enough, which meant that Ruby was the enemy. Not enough of an enemy for him to actually try exorcising or killing obviously (because that would have been crazier than they already were), but enough for Sam to tackle Ruby into the alley with nothing in mind but bringing her down the old fashioned way. No powers. Just him and all that John Winchester had taught him about hunting the things that went bump in the night.
"Easy," Sam growled, pushing Ruby so that her shoulders hit the brick wall of the building behind her. He had a glare set on his face, not the familiar look of amusement or interest that he took on whenever he first saw her. This was different. He wasn't here to see Ruby, after all. Not his Ruby. "That was too easy." Maybe for him. Not so much for someone else. Ruby wasn't stupid, she knew how to cover her tracks if she really wanted to. But Sam was very experienced with tracking. He'd found sulfur, he had strategized on what locations Ruby would be most likely to follow through on, and he'd finally located her after getting lucky with that terrified kid making a fuss. Maybe if Ruby had slipped off before Puck had started screaming, she'd have been the one getting the drop on him. But since Sam had gotten here first...
"Give up now. It'll be for the best." He was holding her down, though Sam knew well enough that he couldn't keep her down forever unless he resorted to his psychic abilities. But that was out of the question. Old fashioned meant old fashioned - no abilities allowed.
RUBY: He actually got the drop on her, which impressed her more than she’d expected as she found herself shoved with no small amount of force back against the wall of the alley. It was impressive tracking and a little bit of luck, and isn’t that what Hunters were all about. Still the element of surprise had its downsides for the hunter. No traps. No salt lines. No way to keep her down. Because he wasn’t using his powers. That would be too much like admitting Azazel had a hand in what he’d become. Giving in to the demon blood inside him was giving in to that and Ruby knew Sam too well to assume he’d give in when he was proving a point. So she pushed back, happy to use her own demon strength against him. Why shouldn’t she? Oh he was still strong, still bigger than her, but without the blood she was easily able to push back, shoving him across the alley to the far wall.
“Easy” she repeated tauntingly. “Like I said to you before, just who do you think you’re dealing with?. I don’t give up. I don’t play games and I’m not that easily taken down. Even by a Winchester. Because the truth is. I’ve been hunted by some of the best and there are some in the pit now and some just plain dead. But they all left this world all cursing my name. Every. Last. One” she told him, eyes shifting to black as she applied enough pressure to keep him in place. She thought about the sad fact that it was true, what she’d told him. There were hunters in hell that she’d put there, hurt them so much, caused their families so much pain that they’d given into her. Or then there were the ones she’d just killed. She didn’t suppose they were in hell “Did you ever think for a second that maybe I wanted you to find me here? You hunters, so dammed overconfident, so convinced that just because you’re righteous you can take us down. But you’re different aren’t you. You have other ways to fight a demon.” It wasn’t that she wanted him to give into it. It was more...some kind of need for him to know that not everything Azazel had done had been awful. He was using those powers. Using everything she’d taught him and she wasn’t saying what John had taught his son had been useless, it had made Sam the man he was today in very many ways. To Azazel it had made him an already well trained solider. But to Ruby she could see the best of Sam coming from both. The powers might have come from evil but so did she after all. And she wasn’t going to try and make him feel sympathy for the demon that had taken his parents and girlfriend from him. That was stupid, and it was wrong to do so. He should hate him. He shouldn’t hate the powers though. And she didn’t think he did. Not all the time.
“You know how this could go. How it should go. You could stop me, any time you wanted, just tapping into that part of yourself. Pinning me down in a way I couldn’t come back from” she told him, pressing a little harder just to prove her point.
SAM: He'd had the advantage of surprise, but that didn't change the fact that, physically, Ruby had him beat. At least by way of strength. That didn't mean that Sam was useless - he fought things that were ten times stronger than him his whole life - it just meant that he had to figure out a way to work around that without resorting to using his abilities. That was the hard part. Being able to throw Ruby across the alley with a single thought made him far more dangerous than a single, unarmed Hunter could ever be. But at the same time, he was so used to relying on his abilities that he knew he'd be a little rusty when it came to fighting her hand-to-hand. Technically, he wasn't entirely unarmed. Sam still had his gun on him, but that was pretty damn useless against a demon (unless it was the long lost Colt) and he wasn't exactly looking to shoot any holes in Ruby anyway. That would've been way too into the hunt than he wanted to be. It was an extreme that he wasn't willing to break into because, even if he was annoyed with her right now, Sam wasn't a total jackass. He had other methods. Smarter methods. Of course, implementing them while having the attack he used on Ruby backfire on him would be difficult to accomplish. And, unfortunately, backfire was exactly what Sam was facing now. Kind of an extreme one, given that if this were any other demon, they'd have happily used this opportunity to take him down without a second thought. That in mind, Sam grunted slightly as Ruby shoved him into the wall, eyes dropping down to find that her own had gotten much darker than his ever could. That only raised his determination up a notch, reminding him that he was here facing a demon. This brawl between them was happening because they were two different people who came from two different places. One human, one demon - both, in their own ways, monsters. Their relationship was actually something that Sam knew Azazel would have found intriguing in his own twisted, screwed up kind of way. He'd have probably had Ruby eating out of the palm of his hand through it all though, which only proceeded to spark that irritation buried inside him into a more sturdy, satisfying sort of anger.
"I'm not some of the best," Sam replied through gritted teeth. He shifted slightly, her grip hard enough for the wall behind him to bite at his shoulders painfully. She had him by the upper body. That meant that Sam had to work with his legs if he wanted to undo the pin. "I am the best. And you and me both know it, don't we?" He didn't really care if Ruby actually intended for him to find her. Something about the way that he had jumped her at the corner told him that, at least, he'd done his job at surprising her. That's all that mattered to him. Besides, even if this was Ruby, she was also a demon. And demons? They liked to talk at their prey when they were in a fight. It was kind of a annoying trait that they all seemed to share, actually. Sam half wondered if they took lessons on it in Hell: 'Ways to Annoy Hunters - A Guide on Witty Insults and Phrases.' They usually had them, without fail.
He had other ways. She was right about that. But they both knew that he wasn't going to resort to them. Not until he'd tried everything else he had in his arsenal, anyway. "Or I could just kick your ass," Sam responded, smirking just a little as he tilted his head forward just enough so that his face was barely a breath away from her own. "But then you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Before she was given a chance to respond, Sam shot his foot at her knee. He knew that it'd hurt, but Sam also knew that she would recover well enough. Plus, they were both in this for the pain. Couldn't exactly go on a hunt without dishing it, could they? Using the kick, he reared his shoulder to the right and drove his elbow toward her side. Sam was hoping to reverse positions with her, if he went about it quickly and cleverly enough.
RUBY: As she pressed harder still she realized no matter how much she pushed and taunted Sam, he wasn’t going to use the abilities. He really was just much too stubborn for his own good sometimes. This was something she ought to have known. It was again a decidedly Winchester trait. He was as stubborn as his father and brother and she imagined Mary had been just the same in her day. But unlike a true hunt, he’d come unarmed much as there was something that could kill her tucked in her boot. She of course didn’t feel threatened, not deep down, because at the end of it all this was Sam. Her Sam and he loved her. He probably just didn’t like her a great deal right at that moment. He was looking at her like she figured he should in a situation like this. Like she was a demon. Nothing more, just another dammed demon and he was a hunter trapped by his own foolishness. Surprise was well and good but he was missing a lot of the basics here. How did he intend to get out of this one? Apparently, first of all by declaring himself the best of all the hunters out there. She agreed of course but then he had extra advantages. Perhaps even without those he’d be the best. “The best?” she asked, amused. “Oh now that's a bold claim even for someone like you. Because I’ve seen a lot of you. All with that same cocky assurance that they’re the best. The only ones who can take down demons, the only ones with reason y’know?” Cocky self assured Hunters, the ones who on looking back over it all reminded her of how little had changed in the grand scheme of things. But here like this, with him. Nothing was really predictable much as she’d lie to say it was.
There was utter assurance in her gaze as she spoke. “Do you know how easy this is. I mean sure, you got the drop on me but look at you now. Hurts doesn’t it. I could make it hurt more? Do you want that?” Maybe he actually would, this being him and her, and knowing their usual preferences. But right now she couldn’t think of things like that. You’re good alright. But you could be better. You could be so much better with the right...guidance.” She was about to go on with her statement when he kicked out. Going for her knee. And it had fucking hurt too, she dropped her arm long enough for the elbow to jam in a little too well for the hunt to be going her way anymore but she retaliated in kind, sending a hard jab to his stomach and dragging him down to the dirt of the alley floor with her as her leg finally gave out from the kick. Whatever he’d been planning she was hardly going to let him away with. He should have known better than that. Hopefully trying to press the advantage of sunrise having gotten the tall Hunter to the floor, Ruby swung her leg across in an attempt to straddle him, if she managed it he couldn’t try that trick with the kicking again. It had been a cheap shot after all. She was very proud.
“Tell me?” she said, struggling wildly against him as they grappled. “Tell me who is gonna end up whose pet by the end of this, cause judging by right now, its hardly going to be me. Think you could beg for me Hunter. Think you’d do my bidding? Maybe even like it, what do you think?” The idea was in many ways ludicrous, and no matter the outcome here Ruby knew on some level it’d be her doing the begging. He had a way with control, if he gave into that it was possible the tide would turn. But would he? How much was he sticking to Daddy’s teachings? How worth proving a point was all this?
SAM: It probably should have bothered him more, knowing that the stuff that Ruby was saying to him was completely true. She had taken on hunters before. Sam didn't even doubt that she had killed, tortured, maimed, and dragged whoever she could down to Hell with her just for giggles simply because she could. Maybe if this was new information, he'd be shocked and appalled by her words. He wasn't though. Not really. In fact, if they weren't who they had turned into because of one another now, Sam was pretty sure that she would have honestly tried to do the same to him. Maybe Ruby would have beaten him out in a fight; maybe she'd have managed to drag him back to wherever until she was satisfied, only to ditch him at the edge of the pit and smile and wave good-bye as he tumbled in. That wasn't who she was now though. Sam knew that, even if they were kind of kicking each others asses in the middle of a dark, abandoned alleyway between insults and taunts. The asskicking in general appeared to be turning in his favor, seeing as Ruby was no longer pinning him down in a painful position with no means of escape. Sam was starting to feel slightly more confident as he twisted his way out of her hold, long arm reaching for her shoulder only to find himself taking a rough blow to the stomach. Sam grimaced, pain shooting through his side, then felt something hit him hard in the shoulders yet again. This time? He wasn't on the wall. Somehow, between the sharp pain in his stomach and the reach for Ruby's shoulder, the demon had managed to one-up him and pull him down with her as she fell. Biting back a string of swears, Sam pushed back against her as Ruby tried to restrain him once more. There was no way that he was going to let her get the hold on him this time. If Ruby pinned him, he wouldn't be able to kick away. He'd have to fight back by sheer strength and that, unfortunately, was something that Sam did not have on his side without his abilities intact.
Sam narrowed his eyes slightly in frustration as she taunted him, going on about pets and begging. Ha. There was no way anyone in the world could make Sam Winchester beg for anything. Not unless he absolutely wanted to. Forcing his body to the side, Sam wrapped his fingers along Ruby's shoulder and shoved at her. He wasn't pushing her away, he was pushing her down. She was going to be the one with her back to the ground, begging for his mercy as he held her inches away from her own death. Not with his mind, no - with something else. Something that he hadn't come to this fight with, but knew he was going to get his hands on all the same. Because Ruby? She never left home without that fancy knife of hers, tucked away nicely inside those boots she favored. All Sam had to do was find a way to get a hold of it. It wouldn't be easy with her trying to tackle him down like this, but if Sam could throw her off - even for a second - he'd get it. That was his goal. That was the end game. Now, Sam just had to work on finding a secure, solid way to get there.
"I think your buddies down in Hell wouldn't be amused if you were actually caught trying to turn a Hunter into your pet, rather than giving him a proper sendoff to his death," Sam replied, growling in annoyance when he realized that there was absolutely no way he was going to be able to pin her down without Ruby simply pushing back at him again. He had to hit her. Just...not so much in that pretty face of hers. Sam went for her ribs, hoping to knock the wind out of her long enough to get a hold of her knife. He aimed a knee at her side, halfway through shoving her to the ground and being knocked back himself. Whether or not that blow actually followed through, Sam still swept an arm out and reached for her boot. He knew which one to go for, Sam only had to get a hand at it before Ruby recovered. Demons were quick though; it was why they were one of the deadliest enemies Hunters had. Sam knew that, as of now, he only had one shot at grabbing the knife. If he fucked up, he'd have to pull back and find another way to get at it when he had a shot again.
RUBY: She supposed it would have looked messed up to anyone that knew them. Because they didn’t know this side of the demon and the hunter in love. The part of them that on occasion craved this kind of thing. They were hurting each other, she hadn’t held back on the punch to his gut because he wouldn’t have wanted her to, and when he pushed back against her it was with every inch of strength he had without resorting to the abilities, taunting each other, ranting, generally it looked like they hated each other when it was far from it. They grappled a little bit as Sam glared and fought, shoving her down into the concrete. She probably shouldn’t have been as turned on as she was. “That implies I have, or want buddies in hell” she told him, pushing back, keeping his tall frame from overwhelming her completely as he tried to force her onto her back. “I asked you before if you knew who you were dealing with and I really don’t think you do. And you are going to beg for me because I say you are. Because I command it, and this little skirmish. It won't take too long” she told him darkly as they wrestled on the dirt ridden alley floor.
There was more to it too though. Of course.“Mostly. I think I’d like you as my pet. My very own Hunter” she said deciding to try a different strategy, shifting her strength to pull him onto his side and pushing herself up so she was at his side grappling him and biting at his shoulder over his clothes, again not really holding back, she was giving this fight her all and she wasn’t above biting of course, but then he knew that. She didn’t expect the punch to her ribs, or the kick that followed though and doubled over before she realised what he was doing, “Oh no no no no” she said hand moving swiftly to smack his hand away and another toward his throat, she’d never really hurt him as much as she knew he’d never hurt her. But she was reacting like a demon, and he’d gone for the one thing, bar himself, in this fight that could really kill her. “I think you need to learn some respect” she told him, she’d been caught off guard, too distracted by the feeling of biting into him, of a rough physical connection that they’d always managed to share between them. Sam needed to learn though that if he was going to play rough with her, she’d play it right back. She had no intention of giving in just yet. She had so much more to give him.“Just give in, giving in to me, to the sin. Its not so bad. Hell, its practically a drug. That’s what you want at the end of this isn’t it. To take me, right here. But my letting you is too easy. You have to win. You have to beat me. Well baby we can work out suuuch nice terms between us you and me. How about a kiss?” she teased. She’d never do it. Not in a million years. He was too good even for the thought of a deal. He was better than that. But joking and teasing him like this was different. Really she intended nothing of the sort. But Ruby could be very tempting and Sam knew it. Of course he did. Tempting him was her favourite hobby most of the time, only a good kind of temptation now. The very best kind of sin. Sam had figured out that she really was the very best kind of sin and here she was using it against him. He had to have expected it. She might have been disappointed if he didn't. But expecting it or not he couldn't fight it.
She leaned into his ear, she’d distract him, and she’d pin him, and she’d win. “Maybe that is what you want, Either way, If you're considering fucking me Winchester. You’d better get to it, Do I look like I have all day?.” Ruby ran her tongue along Sam’s neck, “Or is it that you’re really scared, to go there with a demon”, The same words as the very first time to finish things off, right as her fingernails scraped a trail down the arm she’d just pushed back from her. She was ready with another punch if he tried to be clever but she thought there was no harm in trying for the other kind of pain he found so intoxicating. He’d fall, he’d fall so easily and she’d have won. Point proven, and if she lost, well then she lost. He'd make it worth her while.
SAM: Sam had expected her to hit him back. That was practically a given. The feel of her teeth sinking into his shoulder though? That had not been on his list of attacks to work at avoiding during their tussle. Sam shouldn't have been surprised by it, but the sharp sting of the bite was enough to temporarily throw him off, making it easy for Ruby to knock his hand away from her leg as he stretched for the knife. That sting lingered too; it was a painful, yet pleasant sensation, one that he knew he shouldn't have been thinking about in a positive sort of way considering the situation he was in right now. But fuck, he loved the biting. Probably why Ruby did it to begin with. Her hand found his throat and Sam struggled against her grip, hardly intending to make it easy for her to win him over. She might have been stronger than him, but he had his size and speed to work with as his own personal advantage. That didn't mean that Ruby wasn't quick herself - he'd seen her move at a startlingly fast pace before - but if he was smart...
Sam probably would have been amused at the stuff that she was saying to him now, if not for the current circumstances. A deal? Really? It was a hilarious statement, coming from the demon who had nearly had a panic attack over him suggesting that he make a deal with Lilith not too long ago. Sam would have pointed that very fact out, but the knowledge that they were still playing their little game was fresh in his mind, as was his determination to royally kick her little ass. She was the demon. He was the Hunter. The rules were still the same. He couldn't give in to the memories of their relationship, even if it'd probably be easy to do so. He could flash her a smile, tell her that the joke was over, and then they could go home or do whatever. But that wasn't fun. And it certainly was not him proving that point of his either. Sam planted his shoulders on the ground, using them to push his body up against her as Ruby continued to work at pinning him down. The physical struggle between them wasn't simple by any means: Sam would writhe to the right, only to have her pull him back. Then he'd push her body to the side, looking as though he was about to tackle her down, right before Ruby got the uppperhand on him all over again. The fact that she still had her hand at his throat didn't help him much either. But the real clincher? It came when Ruby leaned in closer, doing so while he was halfway to being pinned on the ground all over again. Sam breathed in sharply, suppressing a slight groan at the words that shortly followed. Hell yes, he wanted to fuck her. He wanted to grab her by the arm, drag her across the alley, and take her right there. Right in the middle of the alley, which was connected to a street - a street that probably had plenty of people moving along it in some place or another. It was almost unthinkable, but that's exactly what Ruby did to him most of the time. She challenged him, tempted Sam into doing things that he never would have followed through on if it weren't for her. Whether it was chaining her up in a Devil's Trap or dragging her out to a lake where they could screw each other senseless knowing that anyone might show while they were doing so, Ruby was always driving him to do things that went beyond his wildest dreams. Or maybe they were his wildest dreams. The things that he'd thought about, but had never tried before he met her because no one in their right mind would have agreed to it.
"Gotta make you mine first, bitch," Sam hissed. This time, he did groan out. Her tongue found his throat and Sam knew he was losing it. Sam practically crumbled under that single move. That was the one place Ruby knew she could get him at: the neck. Always with the fucking neck. Sam considered muttering something about her being a rotten cheater, but he decided to just turn the tables on her instead. If she wanted a cheat, she'd get one. And she'd lose because of it too. Those words of hers ringing in his ears, reminding him of the night where they'd first had sex in that abandoned, mess of a house (ironically, nowhere near as messy as he had been at the time), Sam purposefully shoved up at her one last time, right before he let Ruby finally push him down to the ground. As she did so, Sam put in a little extra force of his own, purposefully slamming his head against the pavement so that it would have very much looked like Ruby had put in a little too much strength with that last attempt at putting him down. As soon as his head hit the ground, Sam closed his eyes, released all the tension and struggle in his body, and went still. Yeah, he was faking. But if Ruby thought that the game was over and that she had gone too far, he'd be able to fool her. After all, he wasn't the first creature in the universe to play dead (or, in this case, unconscious) before to win and he certainly wasn't going to be the last either. If she wanted to play dirty? They'd play dirty. Just in a way that worked to his advantage, not her own.
...even if the sexual advances had effectively managed to turn him on.
RUBY: She thought maybe she liked it when he called her bitch. Dean did it and it was just that, a crass insult, from Sam, well she thought maybe it was a compliment, an incentive to work harder for him, to be that bitch he so obviously wanted to make his own, to control and dominate like he always enjoyed. She’d have to up her game for him, play him, push him and make him crave her so much he finally snapped. It was a game like she loved to play with him, sexual, predatory, every bone in her body was screaming for him to jump her, just take her hard and dirty in the alley cause they’d knocked ten shades of hell out of each other, they deserved to get some fun out of it. She hurt, she’d kicked, teased, taunted. She’d done everything in her power to make him hers and he’d resisted better than she ever could have imagined. They tussled between teasing, Ruby more than a match for Sam even if he was possibly one of the best she’d fought, and with the added bonus of being able to turn him on in one single move, she was pretty damn sure she had this in the bag. She’d push him down and she’d have him. He’d realise he needed those abilities of his and that would be that. She already had him groaning after all, just at her words, she knew what she could do to Sam she always had. And so yes, to capitalize on that she’d gone for the neck. Because why wouldn’t she? It was the one place where she knew she had him, no matter what he did he could never get away when she did that. It made him want her. And Ruby liked being wanted by him, with a laugh she pushed, sending him down to the floor
But there was something.... He’d fallen too hard. He wasn’t...
He wasn’t moving.
“Sam!” she gasped wildly dropping all pretense of the game or the hunt and pulling him into her arms gazing down into his eyes, so focused on him and him alone. What the hell had she been thinking? He was still just human, Whatever else he was, whatever blood he had coursing through him, her lover was still just a human and sometimes she forgot that, he could take so much more than most but he was breakable in other ways, and maybe she’d really hurt him. How breakable were human skulls anyway, they hadn’t been that far from the ground but she’d heard it, the sound of head hitting pavement. He wasn’t bleeding, she could tell that as she ran her fingers through his hair out of concern more than anything else, “Sam open your eyes, this...this is silly this is just a game right, this is...open your eyes baby please I can’t....I didn’t mean” Why wouldn’t he open his eyes? He was hurt, he was really badly hurt obviously, she’d used too much of her strength on him and now she’d really badly hurt him. Fuck. FUCK. She didn’t know what to do, was it CPR, with the breathing and the pushing on his chest to make him breathe, was he breathing?
How did one tell? She lay her head against his chest, listening for breath, some sign that she hadn’t....Fuck what if she’d killed him, she’d go to Dean and she’d make him stab her with that stupid fucking knife...she’d beg him to. That wasn’t meant to be what their games were about, they were meant to be fun, kinky...not...not the kind of hurt humans didn’t come back from.
SAM: Sam knew that what he was doing right now was pretty messed up. It was a low blow, one that Ruby would probably be annoyed about later. But if they were gonna play this like an actual hunt, then Sam fully intended to do whatever it took to win. That was what had to be done in a situation like that. If he didn't try everything he had in his arsenal, then he'd end up dead or worse. Not with Ruby, obviously, but in any other given battle out there he sure would be. Sam would happily point that out to her later, right along with doing whatever it took to make up for scaring her half to death the way that he was now. Because judging from the way she had suddenly stopped moving against him, he knew that he had gotten her. She wasn't trying to pin him down anymore; there was no longer a deathly hold on his throat, nor was there the undeniably impossible amount of strength being held up against him. It was just her, panicking over the idea that she had actually harmed him in a way that they had not been prepared for. Maybe most people would have thought that the two of them were really screwed in the head for their earlier bout of fighting, but they sure couldn't say that Ruby didn't care about him after seeing the way she was behaving now. Hearing the concern in her voice, the way that fear seemed to come out with the panicked tone, it made Sam feel incredibly guilty for the stunt he'd pulled. It wasn't enough to make him drop the act right on the spot, but Sam immediately decided to cut it a whole lot shorter than he would have with anyone else. He couldn't handle her freaking out like that. It killed him on the inside, the mere idea of her blaming herself for anything that could have ever happened to him. So, Sam bit back the urge to up and hug her, that last bit of anger he'd held in regards to this whole fight quickly draining away. Instead, he held his bearing as she pressed her ear to his chest, obviously looking to find a heartbeat or a breath of some sort or something like that. She couldn't have possibly thought that the blow to his head would have killed him, could she? That certainly didn't make things better.
As Ruby sought out a heartbeat, Sam opened his eyes. She was too distracted to bother with seeing him do so, which was exactly what the hunt happy part of him had wanted to begin with. Quickly, Sam reached out and yanked the knife from her boot, right before he twisted Ruby around and pushed her to the ground. Flipping the knife over in a hand, he brought it to her throat and swung a leg over her waist. He wasn't exactly sitting on her, but Sam had her pinned underneath him in a way that she wouldn't have been able to escape from had she been human. The demon friendly knife at her throat was the one thing that would have kept Ruby from finishing him off again; she couldn't fight against the blade, even if she wanted to. "That," Sam said, leaning forward so that she was able to meet his eyes properly, "is why John Winchester is a better teacher than Azazel. At least he was for me. My father taught me that the things you love are the most important things in the world. Use that against your enemy? They break." He cringed a little, the slight pain at the back of his head from when he'd slammed his skull down against the ground sharper than he'd expected. "And I know what you're gonna say to that: Azazel encouraged the same thing. I know he did. Difference between him and my Dad is that my Dad wouldn't have wasted his time chattering on about crap. He'd have found the thing that hurt the most and eliminated it. Didn't play with it, didn't taunt it, he just went for the hurt and took his enemy down quick while they were busy clutching at their wounds." Sam pulled the knife away from her throat and dropped it onto the pavement with a clatter. "Point proven. Even if I did have to play dirty to get there." That said, he rejected the hardened look on his face and exchanged it for something softer. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you that bad. Didn't think that you'd buy into it that easily, to be honest. Just another dirty trick." He was still on top of her, but Sam wasn't exactly stopping Ruby from coming at him this time. If she wanted to retaliate for his cheap shot, she could. But he'd had the killing move. The game, on his part, was finished.