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She had managed to get Jon home and to bed in time to come back and actually close out both her and Jon’s tabs. She wasn’t actually sure how much Jon had had by the time she had finally convinced him to leave, and the whole walk back to the bar she’d been thinking on what he’d said in his drunken state. Probably overthinking it, too. But getting back into the bar and seeing the smirk on Ruby’s face told her that the ever-attentive owner had spotted the two Captains. Ruby had known them since they were lieutenants, and they’d known her since she was just the barmaid. But 14 years had changed a lot for all of them. "You two were sat there like there was nobody else in the universe." Ruby commented as Erika got to the bar and handed over her chip card straight away. Erika wasn’t entirely sure she was in the mood for this conversation.
"It's been a long time since I've seen him." She answered coyly, not even trying to deny who they were talking about. They both knew that Erika’s thoughts were still lingering on her fellow captain, so maybe denying it would be pointless.
"Nothing changed though, did it?" Ruby pushed, but that was one question she was going to ignore. There was no comment she could seriously make that would both appease Ruby and not be a lie.
She motioned over her shoulder as if Jon was behind her. "How much does he owe, I'll pay it off now and he can owe me."
"Forget it, we can cover Jon for one night.” Ruby waved in the same direction and shook her head with another grin. “Watching you two tonight I can't believe you aren't together." The tone of Ruby’s voice told Erika that she was speaking truthfully about it. Erika wasn’t surprised either, she and Jon hadn’t seen each other in a long time and they’d blocked everyone else out while they talked.
But while that had happened, it wasn’t an indication of the two of them rekindling anything. They were just very good friends now. "It's long over, Ruby. I spent enough time drinking in here to prove that.” She had spent days if not weeks drinking in here with Veronica and complaining to Ruby whenever she got in earshot, right up until she and Veronica had actually left on the Republic and she’d gotten the distance she needed from San Francisco to be able to heal. “We’re just friends.”
Ruby still wasn’t buying that, and Erika was now wondering if she was channelling A.G. He was the only other person who was so outspoken about her and Jon. "Then you left on the Republic and he had Enterprise. You're the same rank now, and he needs someone to save him." She continued, and Erika just couldn’t really buy the idea that Jon needed saving.
"Ruby-" She tried to head off the lecture she knew was coming. Many of their friends were the same. Ruby, like most of them, didn’t speak up unless they really wanted her to realise something.
"Erika, I've known you both for almost 14 years and the whole time you two have belonged together, that hasn't changed now.” For the first time since this conversation had begun Ruby came around the edge of the bar and sat on the stool besides Erika. “He needs someone to save him after everything he probably went through in the Expanse, the only person who could save him right now is you."
"He doesn't care for me that way anymore." She shook her head. There was a reason the two of them hadn’t spoken that much in four years. Though in the last year, since he’d visited her the night before he left for the Expanse, they had written to each other more, revealed more to one another. She still was certain there was nothing else there, it was all platonic, wasn’t it?
It seemed like Ruby didn’t believe that, and considering how closely Ruby had apparently been watching them, maybe she had a point. "If you believe that you're a bigger fool than I thought. Nobody looks at someone the way he looks at you without there being some serious attachment there.” Erika couldn’t help but roll her eyes, and unfortunately for her Ruby caught her movement. “You should at least try, what's the worst that could happen?"
Erika really hoped that was a rhetorical question. In the current climate a lot of very bad things could happen. "Do I really need to tell you that?"
"AG isn't here to start any more barfights, I think we're probably safe." Ruby grinned, and Erika had to laugh at that. AG had had an uncanny ability to start up a fight, even among his friends. He would also have probably been the one giving her this pep talk if he could, instead it fell to his wife to do it, and Ruby was doing a good job.
"You just like to meddle." Erika accused jokingly, a smile spreading across her cheeks as she did. Even if Ruby was wrong, it would be nice to harass Jon a little for a while, he’d always accused her of being annoying, she might as well put that to the test for a while. “You’re a meddling meddler who meddles.”
Ruby just shrugged and grinned in return. "You caught me. But only for the good of my friends and my regulars.” She slid off her stool and started picking up the glasses left on nearby tables before turning back toward the bar. “Erika, you know him better than anyone, no matter how long you two have been apart. Trust your instincts, you know he needs you."
"Tomorrow. After his debriefing." She conceded. It was about time that she sucked it up. Either way Jon needed a friend right now, that was obvious, and probably someone who hadn’t spent the last several months travelling through the expanse with him.
"Call me when you can." Ruby ordered with a final laugh, placing the glasses behind the bar as Erika slipped off the stool and prepared herself for the walk home.
“I’ll try. See you later. Kiss that baby for me.” Erika smiled, referring to Ruby and AG’s 9 month old little girl. Erika hadn’t managed to see the baby for a while, that was something she was going to have to change soon too, when she wasn’t so busy.
“Will do.” Ruby waved her out, and the darkness of the night outside gave Erika the space she needed to think. Could she really help Jonathan after what happened. She’d read all of his reports, she knew exactly how badly he’d been treated by the Xindi, and that was why he would need a friend. It wouldn’t hurt, she didn’t think. And if it did they’d soon be on opposite ends of known space.