— CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE,
becca's island.

RUBY GRINS BRIGHTLY AS SHE AND LUCA EMBRACE. It's been days since she's since the older man. She's more than happy to be back with one of her best friends. Luca's presses a swift, friendly kiss to the top of her head.

When they pull apart, Luca looks down at her. "We heard about Arkadia. . . and Ryland. How is he doing?"

"He's alive," Ruby answers curtly. "I trust Niylah, Bellamy, and Marcus to take care of him. Bell and Marcus won't let him die."

Luca nods.

Before he can say anything else, Amara swoops in and embraces Ruby so tightly that a small gasp slips past her lips.

"I thought you and Ry were dead." Amara mumbles in Ruby's ear.

"I'm still here, Mars." Ruby hugs her friend. "Neither of us are goin' anywhere."

Luca smiles when he sees Clarke. "Hello, Wanheda." He greets her. The two are fast to hug. Commander of Death.

"Hi, Luca," Clarke says with a smile of her own as she returns to the hug.

Amara's eyes lock onto at Roan. "Hello, Roan."

He pulls away from where he helps with unloading the barrel's. His blue eyes dart over to the young woman.

"Amara." He nods at her before turning back to his work. Amara smirks to herself.

"Murphy's at the house." Luca says to Ruby. "Wanna go see him?"

"Yeah," she raises her eyebrows. "Are there showers? Hot water?"

"It's a whole mansion, Ru." Luca laughs smally. "Of course there's showers and hot water."

The two set off towards the house Ruby can barely see in the distance. She sees the lights and that's all. Amara returns to the lab with the others.

Shortly, Ruby and Luca approach the giant house. She gapes at the building. "Holy shit," she mumbles to herself.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Luca says.

Ruby nods in amazement.

Her eyes then find a hole in the ground. It's full of clear water. Lights shine at the bottom of it, reflecting against the water and the blue lining.

"What is that?" She questions.

"It's a pool." He informs her. "You swim in it."

Luca opens the glass door. Ruby walks in first, then she's followed by Luca. Her eyes scan the home, looking for threats but also because she's amazed. She's never seen anything quite like this.

"Ru!" A voice exclaims happily.

"John!" Ruby cries out.

She smiles brightly as her brother approaches them. "How's it going, little sister?" He asks her.

"Well, I could be better." She says to him. "I was nearly drowned earlier today."

"What?" He and Luca cry out at the same time. "You were almost drowned?"

"Yes," Ruby nods. "The Azgeda warriors betrayed us. Don't get freaked out, guys. I don't need Nyko to check me out." Ice Nation.

At her words, Luca and Murphy share a look. Ruby immediately notices this. Her eyes narrow. "What's happened? Where is Nyko?

"Ruby. . ." Murphy starts.

"Nyko is dead." Luca finishes. "He was shot by one of ALIE's drones when we first got to the island."

Ruby gasps. Tears well in her speckled eyes. She doesn't know what to say, she doesn't know what to do. Nyko was her friend. He's been there for her since the first time they met. He's saved her on numerous occasions. And when he needed her the most. . . she wasn't there.

"Can—" Ruby bites back her tears. "Can you show me the bathroom?"

Luca nods. He then leads her to the bathroom. He sets out two towels and a wash cloth for her to use as he says, "there's stuff inside the shower for you to use when washing yourself. I'll set some clothes out for you on the bed."

He then leaves her alone.

She shrugs off her bag and places it on the floor by the sink. She takes her weapons off of her person and gently sets them all on the counter. She then removes her memory book from her coat pocket. Luckily, when she was being drowned, the book didn't get damaged at all. She lays her jacket on the toilet and then strips off the clothes.

She opens the glass shower door and reaches inside. She turns the shower handle. The water shoots out of the shower head.

It only takes a couple seconds for the water to reach the temperature Ruby wants it at. As she steps under the water, it scorches her skin.

As she watches the dirt and blood swirl at the drain, her thoughts slam into her.

Nyko is dead.

Before she can stop herself, a sob slips past her lips. Tears fall down her cheeks, mixing with the hot water from the shower. She brings her shaking hands up and presses them to her mouth. She squeezes her eyes shut.

Her friend is dead.

It hurts so bad.

Ruby is so, so tired of losing the people she loves and cares about. Everyone she seems touch dies. Her parents, the delinquents, River, Finn, Maya, Lexa, Lincoln.

Maybe she is the problem.

When she finishes crying, she finally gathers enough strength to wash her hair with shampoo and conditioner. She washes her body, three times. She even shaves with technological razors.

Razors made out of tech.

When she is done showering, she steps out of the shower and wraps one of the towels around her body. She wraps the others around her wet hair.

She leaves the bathroom and looks at the cloths Luca has laid out out her. There's a new pair of underwear, a new bra, and a new pair of socks. She then glances at the clothes. She grimaces at the dark blue jeans and dark gray t-shirt that definitely belongs to her brother.

She rolls her eyes and the swiftly gets dressed. Sh returns to the bathroom and grabs all of her belongings. She lays her jackets out on the bed beside her, along with her weapons. She sets her bag on the floor between the bed and bedside table. She then places her book on the bedside table.

She doesn't bother to put her boots on as she practically falls face first onto the bed. A satisfies sigh escapes her lips as comfort surrounds her.

As she finally begins to drift off into a much needed slumber, she hears a loud crash from the floor beneath her. She shoots up from the bed and grabs her sword.

She rushes from the bedroom and down the stairs. Her wet hair slaps her in the face as she rounds the corner into the kitchen. There, a man straddles Emori, attempting to kill her with a knife.

"Hey, bitch!" Ruby shouts. The man looks up just on time for the hilt of a sword to strike him. He falls off of Enori. The Carson girl doesn't hesitate to grab Emori's hand and help her up. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Emori breathes out, looking back to the man that glares up at the two young women.

"You got him?" Ruby asks Emori.

"Oh, yeah." She replies.

Just as she makes a move to attack the man, Murphy and Clarke rush into the kitchen. He's fast to grab hold of Emori.

She fights to get out of his arms. Her gaze still locked on the man. "You son of a bitch! Get off of me! If we don't kill him now, he will kill us!"

"You know him?" Clarke questions Emori. Ruby glances over at Clarke and shrugs.

"Baylis," Emori hisses out the man's name.

"She's lying. You don't know me," the scavenger snaps harshly.

"You said you'd kill me!" Emori continues to fight against Murphy's grip, "well, guess what, Planhaka. I'm gonna kill you!" Bitch.

The man sits up. Immediately, Clarke and Ruby point their weapons at him. The Grounder doesn't to know whether to stare down the barrel of a gun or the shining metal of a word. 

"Just let me go. I'll leave the food and you never have to see me again," he tells, raising his arms.

"Is he alone?" Clarke asks Emori.

"Not usually," she replies. She rips herself out of Murphy's arms and walks up to the man, "where are the others?"

"I don't know who the hell you think—" Emori cuts him off by kicking him. Then again. And a third time for good measure. His head rolls to the side as he slips unconscious. Ruby's eyebrows shoot upwards at Emori's viciousness.

"Emori!" Clarke snaps.

Emori whirls around sharply. She moves towards Clarke, stopping right in front of her, "you don't know what he did to me."

"No, and you can tell me and Ruby both about it, but please, Emori, if he's not alone we need to know now. Here, Murphy, take my gun. Tie him up. There's a medicine cabinet upstairs. Will you let me fix this? Murphy and Ruby won't let him go anywhere. Right, guys?" Clarke says.

"Not a chance," the oldest Murphy sibling replies.

"Hell, no," the youngest Murphy— well, Carson sibling says.

─────────

"We're gonna have some fun." Murphy says as the siblings drag Baylis  into the living room and shove him into a chair.

"Some sibling bonding time, huh?" Ruby quips as they tie Baylis's arms and legs to the chair so he can't escape.

The man starts to stir.

"Ready to have some fun, Ru?" Murphy smirks. Ruby rolls her eyes.

As soon as the man opens his eyes and sees the two people standing menacingly in front of him, he immediately starts to explain, "I only came here for the food. Things I can trade. I scavenge so my family can eat. Please."

"That's it," Murphy chuckles as he begins to circle the man. Ruby plops down on the piano bench with her sword in her lap. "Find the right angle." Murphy presses his gun against the man's thigh.

Ruby sucks in a breath. She doesn't expect the flashbacks that slam into her.

Murphy is fast to whirl around to face his baby sister. Without a moments hesitation, he pulls the trigger.

As the bullet lands in her thigh, she screams. She's thankful for the gag in that moment because it muffles her pained screams.

"I'll help ya out." Her brother's voice brings her out of her head. "One of the two women I love was beaten and tortured by a man who thought he could control her."

"I'm not that man. You can beat me and torture me all you want but that won't change the fact that—" Baylis cuts himself off as Emori storms into the room. She doesn't hesitate to approach Baylis and slam her fist across his face.

"Ouch," Ruby mumbles to herself. She then stands and walks over to Murphy, "one of the two women you love, huh?"

He nudges her.

"For my brother!" Emori shouts furiously, another blow. "For me!" Four more hits to the Grounder's face.

"Wait! You'll kill him," Clarke speaks up.

"That's the idea!" Emori snaps.

"Why don't you stay out of it and let her have this, Clarke?" Murphy says to Clarke.

"What if his death could save us all?" Clarke asks.

─────────

"Bellamy?" She presses down the button on the walkie. "Come in, Bell."

"Ru?" Bellamy's voice is full of static.

"Hi, Bell. How's everything on that side of the ocean?" She questions.

"Um. . . the black rain came." He informs her.

"What!?" Ruby gasps as her heart starts to beat faster. "Are you okay? Are the others alright?"

"Marcus and the others are okay back at Arkadia. I— I left in the rover to go save Peter and Mark Colton. They didn't make it." He tells her shakily.

Ruby knows Peter. He is— was one of the hundred. Another one of the delinquents she couldn't save.

"Bellamy. . ." she whispers. "hey, it's not your fault, Bell."

"I couldn't save them. I can't protect anyone, Ru. I don't know where Octavia is, she was caught out there in the storm. I— I don't even know if she's alive. I couldn't protect Lincoln. I couldn't protect Ryland and I sure as hell can't protect you. You almost drowned today, Ruby. You could've been killed." Bellamy rambles. Ruby can hear the tears in his voice.

"I could've been killed lots of times. You can't always save people, Bell. It's not your job to protect everyone. I don't be the one to tell you this, but Octavia doesn't want your protection. She's not a kid anymore. She can take care of herself. And Ryland doesn't need it either. He's been protecting himself, plus me and River since we were toddlers. And you don't need to protect me either." Sh shakes her here, despite the fact Bellamy can't see her.

"You're my responsibility. Octavia is too." Bellamy says. .

She closes her eyes and sighs, "no, Bellamy. We're not. We can protect ourselves. Maybe. . . maybe Octavia doesn't want to be saved."

Ruby heard Bellamy suck in a deep breath over the radio, "I have to go. I gotta get back to Arkadia. Make sure Ryland and the others are okay. See if Octavia came back. Stay safe, okay? I love you."

"I love you too, Bellamy. You stay safe. Over and out." She says.

─────────

Ruby stands beside Roan in Becca's lab with her arms crossed over her chest. Baylis is laid on a gurney, his body strapped down. She watches as Abby pushes the needle into his skin.

Nightblood.

They're going to pump this man with Nightblood and stick him in the radiation chamber to see if their therapy is correct.

"Are we sure this is going to work?" Ruby asks quietly.

"No. We're not."

________________________________

word count: 2,273
episode: gimme shelter

okay, i think there is one thing we can all agree on. and that's the fact that ruby and murphy are both batshit crazy.

i don't have a lot to say about this chapter but i did add well over eight hundred words to this rewritten chapter so be proud of me. in fact, y'all should be proud that i even finished this chapter today because i currently have covid again and it's even worse than it was when i first had it.

anyway, back to this chapter.

nyko is dead 😢. and it's just one of the many, MANY deaths that truly affect ruby in this act. we got three major deaths coming up soon and none of them, let me repeat that, none of them are friendly for our best girl. they all affect her so much and i already know it's going to break my heart to rewrite all of them, especially her reactions to them.

ruby and emori 🤝 the best future sister-in-laws ever. the way ruby wanted to punch emori's teeth in not even ten chapters ago and now she's protecting her like she's known her since they landed on earth. that just goes to show how big ruby's heart truly is.

the next chapter will probably (hopefully) be up sooner rather than later because i've been looking forward to rewriting the next chapter.