Time and again, p.29
Time & Again, page 29
"Honestly," Kara said, "I think you're both probably right."
"Huh?" Yumi asked.
"I think they probably slept together," Kara replied. "And also, there's something wrong. I think two weeks ago, Jaccob wouldn't have been so tender with the way he helped her up the stairs, and I also think two weeks ago, Ruby would sooner have taken a tumble down those stairs than let him help her at all. And there is definitely a difference between the way they're acting toward each other now versus how they were the last time we were on this airplane, meaning whatever happened to change that happened in Texas. Add to that his popping into her room in the middle of the night, and yeah, I think Angel is probably right. They probably spent the night together. But even if they did, I don't think that explains Ruby suddenly being willing to let someone help her up the stairs. So I think even if Angel is right, Lisa's also right. Something's wrong with Ruby. The thing is, I don't think that's actually any of our business."
"You don't?" Lisa asked, shaking her head and rattling the ice in her glass. "The person we work for--who, might I remind you, was in a coma last week--is visibly unwell again, and you don't think that's any of our business?"
"I mean," Kara replied with a shrug, "I guess that part's a little more our business than whether or not she and Jaccob slept together, but no. Not really."
"I guess. Maybe." Lisa took a sip of her soda and shook her head again.
"But you're worried?" Yumi asked her.
"Yeah," Lisa replied.
"You think it's going to screw things up for us?" Friday asked. "Because I feel like we've got the recording of Floyd, and we've got all that equipment back at the penthouse that's just about ready to be turned back on, and we got a look at the contraption when it was on the helipad. Plus, we've got Angel for protection now, in addition to all the security upgrades Jaccob put on the building. I mean ... I think we're good without her help for the time being."
"Okay, no," Lisa said. "I'm not worried because I think our work's gonna suffer or we're going to have a big setback that might affect our bonus, or whatever. I'm worried because she's a person--a person who's been unbelievably generous to us, by the way--and she almost died, like ... a week ago, and now she's not doing well again, and I have actual, like, human concern."
"Well," Yumi said, sipping on the botanical mocktail the steward had brought her after takeoff, "I don't think we have to worry about her. Jaccob seems to be paying close enough attention. And we're headed back to Cobalt City, where Dr. Hao will be, and to her building where, apparently, there's a god available for consultation."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
It was raining when they landed in Cobalt City. Ruby's driver met her at the top of the aircraft stairs to walk her down with an umbrella over her head. She was a little grateful for the lousy conditions, as her unusually slow and deliberate trip down the boarding stairs was easily attributable to the weather and slick shoes.
Ruby managed to fake her way off the plane and into the car. Jaccob could likely tell she still felt rotten, but her head was high, and her gait was steady, so there was little chance the others noticed anything was off. She had the bright idea to order the driver to stop at the Tower's residential entrance first, to let her employees out of the car with the quickest trip back to their accommodations.
It also meant they wouldn't see her possibly struggle to get out of the car, which was a thing she was growing increasingly concerned about. The longer she was forced to sit upright and hold a stiff upper lip, the less energy she would have to make the trip upstairs. When the car finally stopped outside her private entrance, only Ruby and Jaccob were left inside. He'd seen her at her worst first thing this morning, so she didn't much care what he saw at this point.
"I can have the driver pull around to your door," she told him. "That way you won't have to cross the street in the rain."
"I'd rather walk you inside?"
Ruby shrugged. She'd seen that one coming and didn't have the energy to push back.
He got out of the car ahead of her, holding out his hand to help her out much as he had when they'd arrived at the airfield in Lapis. It was just the kind of casual gallantry he was prone to, and she wouldn't have thought twice about taking his hand had she been feeling herself. So she fought the stubborn urge to wave him off as some sort of proof she was okay.
Once she was on her feet, Jaccob offered his arm as he took the umbrella from the driver and held it over both their heads. Ruby took his arm then, giving a nod of dismissal to her driver as she did. Jaccob's presence beside her as she made the short walk beneath the awning to her private entrance was warm and reassuring. She didn't like how much she appreciated having someone to lean on, and she was doubly annoyed with herself at how deeply she enjoyed the fact that person was him.
She did her best to push those feelings to the back of her mind as the doorman pulled open the glass and brass door to let them inside. Jaccob handed the umbrella to the doorman and followed Ruby into the small receiving lobby. Ruby realized, as they approached the waiting elevator car, that Jaccob had no intention of letting her go.
"So, by walk me inside," she said softly, "you meant--?"
"Just let me get you upstairs," he implored.
Ruby shook her head but gestured for him to board the elevator alongside her. She'd managed to mostly ignore the man for the better part of the past two years; surely she could ignore him for the next five minutes.
Ignoring Jaccob proved to be, somewhat predictably, easier said than done. It was clear when the elevator doors opened again on the forty-eighth floor, he meant to see her all the way to her bedroom. It wasn't that she minded Jaccob in her bedroom--in some circumstances she'd have positively reveled in the idea--but she didn't need to be tucked in like a child. He'd been adorably sweet and attentive on the flight, bringing her mineral water while she lay in bed in the aft cabin, and staying to chat or leaving her in peace afterward according to her stated preference.
She had things to tend to, and a mind to get to sleep as soon as possible. And she didn't need company. But Jaccob seemed disinclined toward leaving, and this thing burgeoning between them was too new and too fragile for telling him outright to leave to be a good idea. If he meant to spend the night, for whatever reason, she didn't actually mind. But she would absolutely not stand for being doted upon.
He could stay if he wanted to, but she wasn't going to change her evening plans to accommodate him.
"I'm making a call," she said, less to get rid of him--because she was pretty well convinced that wasn't going to happen--and more to prepare him for the fact she was about to start talking and it wouldn't be to him. She pulled out her phone and punched the button to dial Vivienne.
"Hello, darling," Ruby said into the phone, as soon as Vivienne picked up. "I said I'd call, so I did. I'm home but I'm tired, so I'm going to bed. We'll talk tomorrow. In the meantime, could you please tell Jaccob he has his own shiny skyscraper to go home to, and if he can't at least pretend to relax, I'm going to insist he do so? Because he's hovering, and it's getting to be a little much."
Ruby continued into the bedroom, placing the phone into Jaccob's hand as she passed through the door. She gave him a look over her shoulder as she turned to head toward her closet.
Ruby strode across the room with more purpose and pep than Jaccob would have thought her capable of after the way she'd been all day. He put her phone to his ear as soon as she'd closed the closet door behind herself.
"Um--" Jaccob had no real idea what to say. "Um ... Vivienne?"
Her response was curt and to the point. "Don't you dare leave her alone."
"Wasn't planning on it."
"Is she sitting right there, or can you talk?"
"She went to get changed. She's in her closet with the door closed."
"Good. So you can tell me what the hell is going on. I got a text this morning saying the flight was delayed but not for how long, which is completely out of character for her. And now when she finally calls me, she sounds like death warmed over. What's going on?"
"She used magic before she should have, and--"
"This can't just be magic," Vivienne insisted. "I've seen her kick her own ass with magic, and this is ... this is more than that."
"It is, but it's--" Jaccob sighed and shook his head. He already knew more about magic than he'd ever intended to, but trying to digest everything he'd learned and form it all into an explanation another person could understand was a horse of a different color. "I talked to Dr. Hao. She says it's akin to someone falling on a broken bone just as it's starting to knit."
"So, she's re-breaking herself every time she uses magic."
"Pretty much. Yeah. You know when your phone's battery dies then you finally get it just charged enough to turn it on, but then the very act of turning it on is enough to kill the battery again?"
"Yeah."
"It's like that, only with her magic abilities."
"That was a surprisingly good analogy," Vivienne said. "And you're not freaking out. Kudos."
"You think I'm not freaking out?"
"Not about the magic stuff."
Jaccob paused. It was true. Somehow, it didn't seem as threatening as before. "Huh."
"Should I be getting on a plane?" Vivienne asked.
"No. No, that's a bad idea. She's doing her damnedest to keep people from realizing there's anything wrong. I feel like she'd try so hard to convince you she's fine, she'd wind up putting herself back in a coma."
"Yeah, okay; that tracks. But you're going to take care of her."
"As best she'll let me."
"You've got to do better than that," Vivienne snapped. "Listen, I know you two have a past and I know about last night. What I don't know--what you're going to have to tell me honestly--is where your head is right now. If magic still gives you the willies, if you're still holding some kind of brokenhearted grudge against Ruby ... You've got to level with me. If you're not up for keeping her alive whether she likes it or not, then you need to tell me that right now."
"No, I can. I promise."
"Okay, good."
"You're still here, and you're still on my phone," Ruby called out, as she strode back into the bedroom. Dressed now in a dark gray silk nightgown and matching lace robe, she looked even paler than she had in her navy-blue travel dress. She seated herself on the edge of the bed and looked up at Jaccob expectantly.
"I think she wants her phone back," Jaccob said.
"Sounds like it," Vivienne replied.
Ruby held out her hand and waited for Jaccob to set her device on her palm. He did so presently, and she put it back to her ear.
"He didn't leave," Ruby said.
"Don't think he's going to," Vivienne replied. "I'm not so sure he's going to chill out, either. If you need me to come smite him, let me know."
"Oh, I doubt it will come to that. But it's nice to know you care."
"Get some sleep, Ginger. And call me tomorrow."
"All right, darling. And I'll keep your offer in mind."
"You better," Vivienne replied before hanging up the phone.
Ruby ended the call on her end as well and then reached over to set the phone in its charging cradle on her nightstand. She looked up at Jaccob and frowned.
"In case you're wondering, V's offer was to fly out here and smite you if I deem it necessary."
"That's because she doesn't want you smiting me yourself."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. No smiting. No magic at all."
"Excuse me?"
"I think you know."
"You think I know what?"
"That it's your magic. That the magic you used on Simon Floyd last night is the reason you've felt so badly today."
"Any academic sources for this theory?" Ruby stood up to pull back the covers. "Or did you come up with this one all on your own?"
"Dr. Hao," Jaccob said.
"Did you call her or did Vivienne?"
"I did."
"Jaccob--"
"What? I was worried about you."
"Were you now? Or was it just that you figured I might need saving, and since that's the thing you do best--?"
"You didn't seem interested in knowing why you felt so poorly this morning."
"What does it matter why?" She sat back down and pulled the blankets up around her waist. "It is what it is, and I have to deal with it either way."
"I just--" Jaccob was flustered. "Maybe it is my need to save people. But I wanted to know what I could do to take care of you."
"And you told Vivienne?"
"She wants to take care of you, too."
"I would think the both of you know me well enough by now to understand that I can take care of myself."
"Really? Without magic?"
Ruby was struck by how non-confrontational his tone was. He wasn't sassing her, poking her, or daring her. He sounded genuinely concerned she might not be prepared to do what she said she could do.
"Jaccob--"
"And how long until you figured that out?" he pressed. "How much more damage would you have done before you realized it was your magic that was hurting you?"
Ruby shook her head and sighed. She hated it, but he had a point. "You know, I can't say. I've gotten used to this power. Half the time I use it without thinking. Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've had to walk across a room to close a door or turn on a light?"
"I'll tell you what." He sat down on the bed opposite her. "Tomorrow, I'll take a few minutes and put all your lights on voice control. That way you can keep your seat, the lights will obey, and you don't have to use magic to make that happen."
"And the doors?"
"You can voice control that already." He reached over to pat her hand. "'Jaccob, would you please shut the door?' I doubt you were raised in a barn, so how about you stop acting like it?"
He stood up then and walked the short distance to the bedroom door. As soon as he could reach it, he turned the handle, opened it slightly, then closed it again before crossing back to the bedside.
"You're enjoying this!" Ruby exclaimed, all her feelings of warmth toward his apparent concern gone in an instant. "Poor, pitiful Ruby, all helpless and broken and needing to be cared for. Well, I'll tell you--"
"No." Jaccob interrupted her. "No, it's not that."
"It's not?"
"It's just--" Jaccob shook his head and took a step back toward her. "When we were together, you were going through something I can't even begin to imagine. I mean ... I didn't know it at the time, but you'd basically lost the principal way you interact with the world. And you didn't seem to miss a beat. Not only that, you were there for me in every way I needed someone. Meanwhile, you couldn't even tell me what was going on with you."
"Oh, right," Ruby snarked. "'By the way Jaccob, it hasn't come up yet, but I think you should know I'm the living embodiment of the thing you hate most in the world.' I'm sure that would have ended well. And quickly."
"Yeah, I know." He hung his head and clasped his hands at his waist. "I know you couldn't confide in me, and I don't blame you. I didn't make myself a safe person to talk to. And I'm sorry for that. I'm trying--" He sat on the far side of the bed and looked into her eyes. "I couldn't be there for you then, but I can be here for you now. I can tell you don't want people to see you this way, but with me ... at least I hope it's different. I've seen you with no magic. I fell in love with you with no magic."
"Don't say that."
"Why not?"
"Because it's bullshit."
"Ruby--"
"No," she stopped him before he could go any further. "It's bullshit. Love does not exist. It's a made-up aspirational state perpetuated by capitalist oligarchs in order to increase sales of greeting cards, chocolate boxes, lingerie, and acoustic albums."
"Are you really that cynical?"
"I'm not a cynic, Jaccob, I'm a realist. I've heard an awful lot of love songs in my day, and every one of them is a work of fiction."
Jaccob shook his head, looking down at the bedspread and trying to pretend there was something interesting in the damask. He hadn't really meant to admit his feelings like that, and he surely hadn't been prepared for her response.
"I'll ... um ... I'll go. I'll stay at my own place tonight," he offered. "If you'd rather--"
"Jaccob," Ruby said, "I honestly don't care where you stay tonight. I do care that you stop treating me like I'm everybody else. I do not need saving. You're right that you've seen me without magic before--and, as you just said yourself--I didn't miss a beat. I was fine. I was fine then, and I'll be fine now."
"Yeah. You will be fine. But you're not fine right this minute. And there's a difference. Back then you couldn't use magic, but the current problem is that you shouldn't. Your magic might work, but it could also kill you. Meanwhile, I wonder sometimes if you'd rather die than go without it."
"Oh, so this is a suicide watch? Jaccob, really?" Ruby rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I can assure you I do not need a babysitter any more than I need a superhero."
"Ruby--"
"Or a nursemaid."
"You know." He leaned in to rest his chin on her shoulder. "Even the Stardust suit can't take six bullets without needing some down time."
"But you see, those bullets never hit me. So--"
"But they did. They may have hit your magic and not your body, but you still took the force of all six shots."
"Hrmph."
"Now, I can't imagine the amount of energy you had to generate to make that happen." He sat up straight again, then he held his hands up, jiggling his wrists just enough to make his Starbands bangle on his arms. "Except I kind of can. After the thing at the White House--"
"Thing?" Ruby interrupted. "Jaccob, it was a bombing. You make it sound like a bad cocktail party."
