Work Text:
Ruby came running when she heard the scream. She skidded to a stop when she saw a tray of cookies on the floor, and Anna kneeling next to them cradling her oven-mitted hand to her chest and fighting back tears. She’d seen Anna take pain before, she played volleyball and basketball and was used to slamming into gym floors. Something big enough to make her scream? Ruby was torn between checking on her and calling 911. She eventually decided to check first. “Anna? What the hell?”
Anna held out her hand, choking back the sobs. It didn’t take long for Ruby to realize what had happened – there were huge cuts running the entire length of the glove. Now that she saw it, she remembered Meg laughing about a practical joke Tom had set up that was going to get one of those stuck-up jocks working the bakery hurt. At the time, Ruby had thought it was funny, too – most of the people working here were stuck-up pretentious twits who made fun of the geeks and bullied them. She’d thought it would be nice to see one of them get a taste of their own medicine.
She just hadn’t realized Anna was in the line of fire. Anna was one of the jocks, sure, but she never went along with the bullying. She’d even shut down pranks if she discovered them in time. Ruby certainly wasn’t laughing anymore as she reached out and carefully pulled the glove off of Anna’s hand.
It got worse. Ruby flinched as she saw the melted plastic wrap attached to the hand. “I don’t know how to fix this, Anna. Don’t wanna pull it off and hurt you worse, but leaving it there… should I call 911?”
Anna shook her head. “I can walk, if you’ll help me, I think.” She got to her feet, pulling her hand back into her chest. “Get me to the gym, Raphael’s guys can figure this out and it’s covered by my athletic scholarship.”
Ruby wrapped one arm around Anna’s back as physical support, and after a moment’s hesitation, took Anna’s good hand to hold as emotional support. “I’m really sorry this happened to you. How is this going to affect your scholarships? There’s no way you can dribble until that hand’s healed up at least some.”
Anna managed a weak laugh as she started walking. “My coach is not gonna be happy, but I don’t think I’ll get cut from the team over this. If he finds out who sabotaged the mitt, though… I would not want to be that person. If you know, you might want to warn them.”
“What makes you think I’d know?” Ruby had to ask. Never mind that she, in fact, thought she did. That wasn’t the point. “You don’t have any enemies at work, do you?”
“I don’t think this was meant for me, at least not me specifically,” Anna said. “I wasn’t even supposed to be working this morning. Castiel called in sick, and I went to cover his shift. Didn’t ask why. For Castiel to be calling in sick, there’s got to be a good reason for it.”
Meg had probably warned Castiel not to go to work today. No one in the geek crowd got it, but the two of them were good friends. She said they weren’t dating, but no one, not even Tom, believed her. Of course, Anna hadn’t answered her original question… “What makes you think I’d know?”
“Well, it’s hardly any secret that my coworkers tend to be horrible to your friends. If one of them – or you – decided to get a little bit of revenge, they’d brag about it so everyone could get in on the satisfaction of it. It’s definitely where my coach is going to start looking, if he decides to investigate or have it investigated.” Anna sighed. “I’d like to think it wasn’t you, that you’d have warned me if you thought I might be in the line of fire. If I’m wrong, just… don’t tell me? Ever?”
“It wasn’t me. I didn’t know anything specific, but yeah, I’d heard some bragging about taking someone down a peg,” Ruby admitted. Would she have warned Anna? Ruby would like to think she would have, too, if she’d known something specific. Of course, now she wondered why Anna thought Ruby would…
“Some of them deserve it… although I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. Not even Zachariah.” Anna pulled her hand in a little tighter. “Thank you, by the way. For being there, for helping me. I wouldn’t blame you for just calling someone to come get me and then bugging out.”
“Well, we’re…” Ruby trailed off. Friends was hardly the right word for what they were. Ruby was the pathetic geek with a crush on the hot jock, and Anna was the hot jock who would give Ruby the time of day. “You’re not like the others. You’re a good person, and except for maybe Castiel, you’re the one who deserved this least.”
“Thanks.” Anna looked at where Ruby was holding her good hand, and then up at Ruby. “Castiel keeps telling me that I should ask you out, that I’m living the cliché of the useless lesbian if I can’t tell that you like me like that. Is he right, or does Meg have something against you?”
“Okay, what’s Meg got to do with anything?” Ruby asked to avoid having to deal with the rest of the implications right away. Because it sure sounded like the only reason Anna wasn’t asking her out was that she didn’t think Ruby would be interested, which would mean she was.
“Well, they’re friends, at least if you believe Castiel that’s what they are, no one believes him about the two of them not dating, but the point is he says Meg says your friends all think you have a thing for me.”
“Oh.” Ruby shrugged with her free shoulder, the one she wasn’t using to help support Anna. “When Meg tells me I should do something about my crush on you, I always blew her off as wanting people to stop talking about her and Castiel. Sounds like maybe I was wrong? Maybe she and Castiel want to not be the only ones crossing the lines between my friends and yours?”
“Maybe.” Anna gave Ruby a hopeful smile. “Does that mean if I ask you out, you’ll say yes?”
“Only if you promise not to lie about dating me. We’re not gonna be like Castiel and Meg where everyone knows but for whatever reason they’re not admitting to it.”
Anna lit up. “Deal!”