Work Text:
“So... you and Liam seem to be hitting it off.”
Ruby’s voice sounded weirdly small in the silence of the night, echoing throughout the vast inner courtyard of the repurposed mall-turned-base. Mara looked up from where she was tying her boot, frowning immediately at her — which was not helping the meagre courage she had dug up to talk to (confront?) the other girl. Jesus. Ruby swallowed.
Mara silently tightened the laces once, hard, still staring at her. Then, she snorted, looking back down at her boot, shaking her head. “That’s what you want to open with?” She asked, straightening the flap and getting up in one smooth motion. Ruby fought the urge to shrink away, grounding herself by planting her feet in the ground. She watched as the other girl pushed stray flyaways from her ponytail back away from her forehead, smoothly whipping longer locks that had escaped away from her cheeks. She got why Liam liked her so much, in that moment. She was so... so...
Mara cocked an eyebrow expectantly, leaning her weight on one foot. Ruby blinked. “Oh. Oh! Yeah, no, I just-" she cleared her throat. “I’m... yeah. I just noticed. That’s all.”
Mara’s eyebrow travelled further up her forehead. Ruby fidgeted.
“Okay,” Mara said finally. “And you’re mad about it.”
Ruby startled. “What? No! I just-” she shook her head. “No. Liam — and you — can do... whatever you guys want. I just...” she swallowed again.
Why was this so hard? It wasn’t like she didn’t expect this. She was the one who deleted herself from Liam’s memory in the first place. Liam wasn’t obligated to-to still want her, or anything. It was her fault.
She had to live with the consequences, even if it meant watching him fall for someone else.
And why wouldn’t he? Mara was more powerful than she could ever imagine. Her eyes glowed the same orange as hers did, but she could do so much more. Clancy could never stand a chance against her, if he didn’t have Gabs in his clutches.
Ruby had thought that she and Clancy Grey were the only Orange ranked kids in the world. After all, most of them had been killed off when President Grey’s administration rounded up all of the United States of America’s “malfunctioning” children to be corralled into submission. Oranges had been deemed too dangerous to be kept alive, what with their ability to mess around with a person’s mind. They could change memories with a blink of an eye, read a person’s thoughts without lifting a finger — even command anyone to do whatever they wanted. They didn’t have the firepower Reds packed, or the electricity that ran through Yellow veins, or even the telekinetic pull of Blues, but that didn’t make them any less dangerous. Their abilities were far more sinister because of their subtlety. When commanded, you couldn’t fight it, not unless you had more power than the commander. And Ruby had never met anyone more powerful than Mara.
She had found this out the hard way when she and Chubs had led their ragtag gang of deserters into her group’s territory, stumbling straight into an ambush. Against a circle of fire breathing Reds and an army’s worth of hovering artillery, they had watched as Mara emerged from the shadows of the seemingly abandoned warehouse she had cornered them in, stepping into the circle with all the grace of an experienced general.
Her flinty eyes had narrowed, one hand held up in the universal sign to wait. “Children’s League,” she had growled, recognising the logo on their clothing. “Back for more?”
Ruby had panicked. “No, we—”
“Shut up,” one of the Blues had growled by Mara’s side, the guns he was holding up with his psionic abilities cocking quietly. “We won’t stand around and listen to you again, only to have you stab us in the back.” The group shuffled in solidarity, a similar sentiment in their eyes. Mara’s remained dark and unfathomable.
“No,” Ruby had stepped forward, hands raised placatingly. “Please. We escaped from them, we need help—”
“We’ve heard that before,” Mara had said, lowering her hand like a judge’s gavel. “We won’t be making the same mistake twice. Perseverando 2, you know what to do.”
She had watched in fear as the circle closed around them, heat spilling from Red mouths as they strode forward, rope and handcuffs in their hands. In an act of desperation, Ruby had called upon her abilities, commanding Mara to stand down and to tell her people to back off. The group had stopped in shock as the orange light flared in her eyes. She had foolishly thought that would be the end of it.
Mara had swiftly destroyed that thought by flooding her own irises with vivid orange light, batting away her command as if it was nothing. She had brought Ruby down to her knees without a single word, pushing into her mind with such blazing speed that she could do nothing but lay out all her secrets to her. Her power had been overwhelming, rivalling Clancy’s in its magnitude, and Ruby had little choice but to crumble like a child’s sandcastle against the waves. Chubs’ jaw had dropped in shock.
“Who are you?” He had asked, eyes flaring green as he tried to discern her with his superpowered intellect. Mara had smiled something cold and sharp, flicking her glowing gaze in his direction, making him flinch at its sheer intensity. Her smile had then turned darkly amused as she undoubtedly sifted through his thoughts.
“You won’t find anything out like that, Charles,” she had drawled, not needing an introduction. “If you’re lucky, you won’t have to find out anything at all.”
Ruby’s movements were sluggish, but she wrenched her head up, voice rasping past her disobedient throat. “Please,” she had croaked. “You- I don’t- I dunno how you’ve escaped his- and their notices, but we- I- we have nowhere else to go.”
“She’s telling the truth,” Chubs had scrambled to say, looking down at her in distress. “We don’t mean any harm. We’re just a bunch of kids with targets on our backs. You- you get it, right?”
Empathy writhed somewhere in her irises, but Mara had not been convinced. “I do,” she had said simply. “Which is why I can’t just let anyone who says they’re good in. You think you’re untagged, that you’ve escaped, but you know what kind of world we live in.” She had gestured to the people around them. “Kids turned into soldiers and decoys. I’m not endangering my people on the off-chance the League doesn’t have a mole amongst yours. You know how they are. Tell me, Charles and Ruby,” she blinked. “How confident are you that you’re as innocent as you say?”
Chubs’ gaze had flicked momentarily to their group, and that had been all the confirmation Mara needed.
This is it, Ruby had thought, watching the hypnotising orange light in her eyes flare to a fever pitch as she rose to her feet without her consent, leading their group away from the warehouse and back into the dangerous unknown. This is the end. And it had looked like it, too, but it had all come to a staggering halt when Liam, oh, Liam had pushed to the centre of the circle, eyes bright and disbelieving at the sight of them.
For a moment, Ruby’s stupid heart had swooped, certain that he had remembered her against all odds. His gaze was unwavering as it raked over their battered forms, mouth dropping open in shock. It was so familiar to the face he had made when he still knew her, when he had found her in the aftermath of Clancy’s betrayal: relief and hope and fondness all rolled into one.
Then, his gaze had rested on her… and slid right off to stare tearfully at Chubs. Her heart, foolishly, had stuttered in shock.
“Chubs,” he had breathed. “You- how-?”
Chubs’ smile had been bewildered, but impossibly hopeful. “Liam, you’re alive?”
“Of course I’m- oh, wow, I- Christ- Mar,” and the familiarity in the way he said the nickname had made her breath hitch, “Mar, we can trust them.” He had grabbed her arm, squeezing briefly, eyes shining. “That’s Chubs- Charles, I told you about him, remember? I trust him with my life.” His smile could have lit up a whole city. “He’s the smartest guy I know. If he says they’re good, chances are, they’re good.”
Mara’s brow had furrowed, inclining her head to him. “Are you sure? You haven’t forgotten the last trick the League tried on us, have you?”
“I was there with you, wasn’t I?” he had smiled. “I’m sure. Don’t you trust me?”
Her eyes had flashed orange briefly, but Liam hadn’t even flinched. All he did was smile wider, gaze warm. Slowly, a matching smile had flickered over her lips, cementing the sinking feeling in Ruby’s gut. “Hm. You’re lucky you’re charming, Lee.”
Chubs had run straight to him, gathering him up with a joyous shout. Liam’s laughter had rung through the warehouse, putting an answering grin on every Perservando’s lips. Ruby had been happy, of course she had been, but she could not have helped the lump growing in her throat as she watched him laugh away amongst friends that once included her. He had remembered his best friend, of course he had, but not a single spark of recognition had sparked in his eyes when he had met her gaze. Instead, he and his people had allied with this strange, powerful girl and her own strange, powerful rebellion. Where could Ruby possibly fit herself into all that?
Mara was a revolutionary, a leader — just like Liam was. She could start and end wars; she had started and ended wars. Her passion and drive had freed and convinced so many of their people to join their cause. And it didn’t help that she looked like a warrior princess straight from legend too, with her sharp dark eyes and shiny hair, like freakin’ Mulan had decided to pull up in Virginia of all places to save their asses from President Grey and his asshole son.
Why wouldn’t Liam, wouldn’t anyone, want her?
Mara blinked slowly, one hand propped up on her hip, still waiting. “You just?” She prompted. Ruby gritted her teeth.
“I just... want you to know... that I’m happy for you guys,” she said finally. “Liam’s better off with you, anyway.”
At that, Mara’s face twitched. Ruby watched as Mara’s expressions cycled through more emotions in ten seconds than she’d ever seen her make in the whole time she knew her. It went from surprise, to incredulity, to exasperation, before settling on something more neutral, almost amused. Ruby resisted the urge to bristle.
“Sure...” Mara said. “You know, maybe it’s because he doesn’t think there are other people he could be investing his time into.”
Ruby frowned. What was she getting at? “What?” She asked.
Mara stared at her, expression unnervingly bewildered. Then, she snorted, rolling her eyes in exasperation. “How’d you pass as a Green for six years?” She asked, incredulous. “They’re supposed to be smart.”
“That-that’s just rude,” Ruby stuttered, folding her arms across her chest defensively.
“Not if it’s true,” Mara said, unapologetic as ever. “But prove me wrong, Daly. Tell me, why do you think me and Liam are a thing?” She crossed her own arms, lifting her chin. A challenge. Ruby pursed her lips.
“You guys have been hanging out a lot,” she said, resisting the urge to fiddle with the hem of her hoodie. “You spend every night together in the war room. You train together. You-“ she groaned internally, “you call him Lee.”
Mara lowered her chin till it dropped against her chest, gazing down at her through her eyelashes, because yeah, she was taller than her too, the heck. The silence dragged on for two seconds too long, triggering Ruby’s fight or flight response, but Mara spoke before she could shoot off into the atmosphere out of embarrassment.
“Right,” she said. “So. A few things we should clarify.”
Ruby braced herself, fearing the worst.
“Firstly,” Mara said, lifting one finger in the air. “Liam and I spend time together because we’re trying to lead a movement. Because we’re co-generals. You know, the ones elected by the public?” She raised her eyebrows.
Ruby swallowed. “Okay, but-“
“Secondly,” a second finger joined its sister, “we spend every night in the war room because we’re, get this, trying to lead a movement. Revolutions don’t happen overnight, Green.”
“Yeah, but-“
“Thirdly,” and the pattern continued, “we train together because he needs training against someone who won’t shy away from using their power on him, like how Grey won’t.” She tilted her head to the side. “Like the only orange on base who isn’t scared of her own powers? Who isn’t afraid to bruise the little pretty boy?”
Ruby glared at her. Why was she being so mean? Okay, so maybe she was being a little presumptuous, but to anyone else it would’ve looked, well, romantic! She refused to believe that her own feelings were clouding her judgement so badly that she saw every little thing like, like that.
“Fourthly,” Mara raised her chin again, peering down at her like she was a kid who was pouting at the loss of her favourite toy and needed to suck it up, which was probably what she was intending. “I call him Lee because I shorten everyone’s names, Daly. It’s not exclusive.”
You don’t shorten my name, Ruby fought the urge to complain. It wouldn’t help her case of looking mature and in control of the situation. At all. Mara frowned, and her eyes flickered orange. Ruby balked as she felt her mind brush against hers, automatically bringing up her defences, but Mara was too quick.
The other girl blinked, then sighed. “And I don’t shorten your name because I don’t like you,” she continued. “We’ve been over this.”
Ruby groaned, clutching her arms defensively. “Would you stop that?” She asked, feeling a surge of power colouring her pupils orange, intent pushing the command forcefully to the other girl. Mara’s eyes flashed orange in response, batting away her demand easily, smirking as she did it.
“How else are you going to prepare against Grey?” She asked blithely. “You won’t train with me.”
“Because you don’t like me,” Ruby said, miffed at her easy dismissal.
“Doesn’t mean I won’t be professional, genius,” Mara rolled her eyes again. “I’m aggressive, not illogical.”
Ruby glared. “I really don’t see the difference, Choi.”
“Then you’re really not the brightest,” she mocked, shrugging her shoulders. “But back to the matter at hand — I don’t get you, Daly. I know you messed with his memories. If you’re so afraid that I’m going to steal him away from you, why don’t you just put them back? It’s not like he didn’t like you before.”
Ruby fought the shudder that threatened to overtake her. Mara was the only one who knew what Ruby had done other than Chubs, thanks to their first meeting making her an open book to her eyes forever. It did not sit well with her that she knew. Still, there was some comfort in knowing that the person who did know would get it, in a way. Ruby knew that if she could, Mara would remove all traces of Grey from her own mind in a heartbeat, if the asshole wasn’t the source of determination that gave their rebellion the fire it needed.
“It’s not fair to him,” Ruby said. “I can’t just... just put myself back into his head. It’s not right. I took them out in the first place.”
Mara scoffed. “What, like it was right for you to take yourself out without asking him first?”
Ruby froze. She had not known she had gotten that far in. She raised her gaze to meet Mara’s unbothered one, swallowing. “You knew about that?” She asked, weakly.
“You’ve got talent, but no finesse,” she said dismissively, oblivious (or uncaring, more likely) to her mounting panic. “Of course I knew about that. You’re shit at defences.” She snorted. “Actually, maybe you’re right to stay away from him. Don’t know if I’d forgive you if I knew you took away the ‘love of my life’ without consent.”
Ruby was still trying to process all that. “You... knew,” she said slowly. “Did you tell him?” Her voice came out panicked, but Mara paid no attention.
“Of course not,” she said, annoyed. “That’s none of my business. That’s your bullshit to sort out.”
Ruby breathed. “Then- then you know. You know why I can’t just put myself back in. Like you just said. If he knew-“
Mara groaned, cutting her off. “I’m being sarcastic, Daly,” she said. “He’d forgive you. He’s a huge sap under that ‘ooh I started a revolution’ front he puts up. Don’t you know that?”
“I-“ she shook her head, knowing she was wrong. Even if Liam forgave her, what she did... “It wasn’t right. I made my choice. I... I have to live with it. No matter…” she inhaled. “No matter what.”
At that, Mara got quiet. Ruby had to glance up to make sure the girl hadn’t just up and left her in the long silence that stretched between them. She had a funny look on her face, one that scrunched her eyebrows and made her lips drop open in a slight ‘o’, staring through her more so than at her. Ruby cleared her throat awkwardly, and Mara’s eyes snapped back to hers, as if she had never been distracted in the first place. There was a beat of tense silence as she watched Mara’s eyes flicker. Not with orange light, for once, but with something arguably worse: indecision. Then, she blinked, apparently deciding something, before twisting her lip, looking almost disgusted with said decision.
“Listen,” she said slowly. “I’m only going to say this once. What you said? That’s bullshit. Gǒu pì, you get?”
“Gǒu pì?” Ruby asked, dazed at the intense look Mara was fixing her with. Mara groaned.
“Dogshit in Mandarin. Keep up,” she snapped. “Sure, we make choices that we can’t fix. That happens. It’s normal, and we have to live with those consequences. Thing is, that only applies when we make irreversible mistakes. This,” she gestured at Ruby, “is not irreversible.”
Ruby blinked. “But I... I violated his memories. I don’t deserve—”
“No, you’re probably right about that,” Mara cut her off unrepentantly. “You don’t really deserve the chance to make it right, but you have that chance. So take it from me: use it.” She frowned. “Before... before it’s too late.”
Ruby watched her, frowning, trying to place the reason for the catch in her voice. Hesitantly, she brushed her mind with her own, mostly crashing into the expected mental walls. She huffed a silent breath, then abruptly made up her mind and pushed. Mara startled — probably not expecting her to push at all — and she got a-a glimpse, a glimpse of—
—Clancy’s ugly smile stamped like a damning brand on the EDO Commune, wreathed in flame as fire rained from above on this supposed paradise that had only been a lie, had always been a lie, and as helicopter blades whipped the dry, stale air into a frenzy, flames licked at Gabs’ lips as she gripped Mara’s hand, glaring in defiance at the descending soldiers wrapped around ropes wriggling like snakes from the heavens, features twisted because she was angry and righteous and good and—
—Gabs’ tear stained face as orange light flared in Clancy’s eyes, forcing her to walk to his side and swallow her fire and place her neck between his fingers, a dozen hundred thousand guns trained on her and her friends and a simple smirk, as if he had already won, as if he knew that so long as he had his hands on her that she would never stand a chance, but of course he’d know, because he was a goddamn Orange, and wasn’t that just the curse of all curses and—
—a laugh as her friends tried to wrench back control, only to fall on one knee against their wills, and Clancy’s fucking voice shouting “Don’t be stupid, Mara, don’t be a fool, just give up before anyone else gets hurt, just give up before I have my way with her and—”
—a flash of fire, pure hot lava burning his words to a scream as Gabs snarled, hands wrenching up to tear at Grey’s face, but not before she grinned, feral and wild and hurting but hopeful, always hopeful, putting all of that hope in her, in Mara, even though she’d done nothing to earn it and—
—a single word—
—Go.
Mara’s mind snapped at the intrusion, blasting Ruby out of her mind and memories with enough force that she felt herself stumble backwards a couple steps in reality. Ruby shivered, looking up at Mara in surprise. The other girl glared back at her, vehemence and shock rivalling for top spot in her gaze. Then, her stare hardened, as flinty and as dangerous as they had been the night she had met her, like she was seconds away from commanding her to drop to her knees again.
“Don’t ever,” she growled, “do that again.”
Ruby’s throat went dry. The anger in her eyes was nothing to scoff at. It was the same look that she wore when she thought about the League, or rallied their people, or cursed at Clancy: fire condensed into hard little irises filled with barely contained rage and disgust. She knew to be wary of it, to walk away from it, but—
But she found herself bucking at that familiar, condescending gaze. At all the times she had fixed that look on her, frustrated and irritated at her lack of a place in her carefully oiled rebellion. Ruby felt just a little bit of an answering surge of rebellion rise within her.
She straightened her back, glaring back. “How else will you train to stand up against Grey?” She mocked.
Mara’s gaze widened just so, before she bristled in response. “Not the same.” She drew herself up, pulling her jacket tighter around her shoulders. Her glare was enough to halt armies, which meant that it was more than enough to make Ruby feel the regret at inciting her. The slide of a bead of cold sweat down the back of her neck made her shiver, wary of what the other girl could do to her, before Mara suddenly cast her gaze away, frowning wordlessly at the ground.
Ruby blinked bewilderedly. Was this the end of their conversation? Had she gone too far? The silence stretched uncomfortably long, and Ruby nearly broke under the pressure. Maybe she should cut her losses, leave before she made things any more awkward, before she messed something up and endangered her standing with the most powerful Orange in the world like an idiot—
Mara’s boot scuffed the ground, the small sound echoing through the quiet antechamber. It was so sudden, Ruby could hear it over the quiet murmur of the camp outside, startling her into stuffing her voice back into her throat as Mara’s eyes closed.
“Every day,” she said, her voice as loud as a gunshot in the quiet air, face turned to the ground, “every day, I wonder what could have happened if I’d stopped him, that night. If I’d just… come out. And revealed myself.”
Ruby’s lips parted in surprise. Mara didn’t look angry — okay, a bit of an overstatement. Mara always looked angry, but this time, she looked… frustrated. Uncertain. Almost... remorseful. For some reason, that sat uncomfortably with her. Mara? Unsure of herself? In what universe?
“Maybe. Maybe if I’d been stronger, braver,” she wrinkled her nose, “I could have stopped him then and there. Gabby would still be here.” She inhaled. “We wouldn’t have needed another revolution. We’d be free. We’d be kids again.” She looked up, then let her gaze drop to the side, eyeing Ruby from the corner of her eye. “It’s useless to think like that. I can’t turn back the clock. I don’t have another chance. But you...” she sighed, looking at her properly. “You have a chance to make things right. Doesn’t matter if he hates you for the rest of your life. It’s your job to return what’s rightfully his. It was never your call to make in the first place.” She turned her cheek away from her, shoving her hands deep into her jacket pockets. “Don’t mess this up just because you’re scared that Stewart’s going to hate you for the rest of your life, because honestly? You’d deserve it. But he deserves to know. This isn’t about your feelings for him, or you being scared that I’ll take him away from you. It’s about you being an asshole to him, and making things right.” She cocked a brow at her. “Got it?”
Ruby felt her mouth dry as her words sunk in. She… she was right. She hated to admit it, because that felt a lot like admitting defeat, but she was right. She’d been worried about being hated for doing something wrong, but wasn’t that the fate she had unfairly escaped? These… These were Liam’s memories as much as they were her own. She didn’t have any right to keep them to herself and mourn their loss like she’d been the one who’d been stolen from.
Mara’s gaze was knowing, even without the orange light. She turned away wordlessly, footsteps light despite the heavy mood. Ruby felt a tremble travel down her spine as the other girl walked away. Something about seeing that brown ponytail swish to and fro as she strode off made her call out to stop her.
“Wait.”
Mara stilled, though she didn’t turn to look at her. “What?” She asked, irate.
“I...” Ruby shook her head. “I’m sorry I broke into your mind.“ Even if you do it to me all the time.
She didn’t see the orange flash, but she knew Mara had heard her. Mara snorted in response. “We’re free game, Daly,” she said, oddly defeated, speaking over her shoulder. “Oranges don’t have private minds. The minute you tried to command me to stand down, you gave me a free pass into your brain.” She shrugged one shoulder. “Took you long enough to realise you could do the same to me.”
Ruby blinked, then laughed, short and uncertain. Was this her own twisted way of training her, even after she’d refused? It had worked, she guessed. It hadn’t felt so scary, pushing against Mara’s mind — not like all the other times she had tried to do anything like that with her powers. Maybe she was a good teacher.
Mara laughed, clearly brushing past her thoughts again. “I’m the best, actually,” she said, flippant. She began to walk off again, but Ruby couldn’t help the last thought she pushed into Mara’s mind, making the other girl falter at the open archway back to the compound proper.
Thank you.
Mara hovered, then scoffed, before turning to lean against the doorway and consider Ruby with her dark, unfathomable eyes. “So you do have manners,” she said.
Ruby looked away. “You said some real stuff,” she said, hesitant.
“I know,” Mara said. “I tend to do that. Actually, most people do. You seem to be an exception.”
There she was. Ruby rolled her eyes, folding her arms and turning away. Mara chuckled.
“Hey,” she said finally. “Because you were so polite, I’ll let you in on a secret. You really don’t have to worry about me and Liam.”
Ruby frowned. “But you’re so close with him.”
Mara rolled her eyes, lifting them skyward, as if praying for strength. “Yeah. Co-generals? We just went over this.”
“So, you’re not...”
“Nope,” Mara said. “He’s sweet, but not my type.”
“Your type?”
“Yeah. Girls.”
Ruby stared at Mara, dumbfounded. Mara smirked, letting her digest the fact that she’d... she’d totally just made a total fool of herself. She felt the blush coming a mile away. Mara laughed.
“I really shouldn’t call you Green,” she said lazily. “Because Chubs called it the minute we had an actual conversation.”
Ruby spluttered. “You? Uh?”
“Yeah. Lesbian,” she flashed a grin. “Me. Later, Daly.”
She pushed herself off the wall, striding away into the compound. Ruby stared, and stared, then laughed, quiet and incredulous.
Maybe she did need some training after all.