This Alexa xo

tristan approached the stalls and saw a familiar head bobbing around in one, it had been a while since he'd last seen ruby, but the same could be said for just about anyone not involved with the sons.

"ya know, they did once," he said taking another step forward despite the weapon aimed at him. "but something tells me you might have been told some things and chosen to ignore them as well," tristan suggested as he nodded at the gun.

"Something? Or is it the gun that's pointing at you? I can see you're not actually blind." With that, Ruby finally lowered her gun, but didn't look away from him.

"No, only to special people." She grinned and eventually placed her gun down on the counter, moving to get her next box of bullets. As she pressed the button to bring her target to her, so she could change the paper, she smiled happily seeing all the bullets gone through the bullseye. "You seem a bit special, you know. Can't quite decide if you need a bullet in you or not." She was mostly joking, as if she'd actually shoot him in broad daylight. "Someone got you pissed off or are you here to... Show off?" Though it was just the two of them there besides the staff.

Ruby always had this very specific way of needling him, like a pincushion being poked and poked until the stuffing eventually began to spill out — thankfully, it was a game he didn't mind playing. Leaning back against the bar, he cast a sidelong glance, lips quirking. He'd been prepared to drink alone, but he didn't exactly mind the company. But she was right about one thing—they were stuck with each other for the foreseeable future. Whether that was a good thing or just outright fucking unnerved him, he hadn't quite decided yet.

"No one's getting rid of you, Batista. You're like the fucking plague." He snorted to himself. However, her question floored him. Stopping with the shot that had just arrived touching his lips. Talking about himself wasn't exactly a strong suit. He preferred to listen — make snide or sarcastic remarks until they got pissed off enough that they usually left him alone. How he'd ever managed to cheat on his wife was beyond him. For some, his thoughts might've made it seem like he regretted it — and in some ways he did, but in most...he simply didn't.

It was the easiest place to start. "I'm in the middle of a divorce." he didn't wait to knock the shot back, before turning to face her with a smile. "Your turn. Every time someone answers with a fact, we drink."

"Can't argue that Ender has...." His nose scrunched as he shook his head. He was not having this conversation about his older brother. He appreciated the banter; it eased the tension that often lingered between those thrown together by circumstance rather than choice. And it happened far more regularly than any of them wanted. Usually, there was always one dimwit on the team who'd fuck everything up for everyone else. "Can you not. There are plenty of other men out there. Talk about them. What were those guys everyone used to be obsessed with? Edward and Jacob? Yeah, them. Talk about them."

Once he started to talk about his divorce, Ruby flagged the bartender, gesturing for a second drink as she downed the rest. "Are you putting a label on yourself, Yilmaz? Who the fuck cares if you're getting a divorce or not? I couldn't give two fucks, but obviously you do? Seriously, it's as if that one life event would define you?" Ruby rolled her eyes, nodding once the new drink was in front of her. Some people really wanted to label themselves just so they could moan about shit, and Ruby wasn't going to have it. "Don't even think I'm going to ask you about any of that shit. Just keep it to yourself and stop crying about it."

Ruby wasn't the kind of girl who would swoon at anyone, let alone a man with crocodile tears. "My star sign is a leo." She threw the easiest thing at him because, for obvious reasons, she wouldn't, couldn't tell him a lot of her life. Everything else - he could have looked up.

Arching her brows at him, Ruby once again shook her head. "You need to read better literature. And why I'm bringing him up, because you lot are doing a fucking family reunion at the force. That's just fucking weird." Next, they'd be bringing their kids into work.

"Maybe that's the problem." Doing everything for them. For a cartel, an organization that didn't give them shit in return. One that crumbled under the slightest sign of weakness. Niko was starting to see things clearer now, for better or for worse. "So, what, you're going to stay with ATF while you look for your next fix? Sell guns and drugs from the evidence lockers and what not?"

Brows narrowed, he turned to look at her. "You have ways to help me? What does that even mean?"

While maybe Niko was right, she didn't agree with him. Even if she had done so much for them, she didn't regret it. Yeah, she hated how quick it was gone, how quick they were disregarded, but for so long, they had been her family. The only people who had ever looked after her.

How fucking sad was that?

"It's my job." She said, not wanting to get more into the conversation of LS, so Ruby chose to ignore it. "I'm not going to go out of my way to do shit. That's not in my morals. As funny as it sounds." She grinned at him. "I'm just..." she shrugged, because in reality, she didn't actually have an answer to it.

"It means what it means. It means if you need help, I'm there." It was something that Ruby hardly ever offered to people outside her circle. What she meant was that she would help him with what he needed, and he knew how capable she was. The kind of help just wasn't defined, and it was better that way.

The coat moved like magic, had the corner of his lips curling. Cute, if it wasn't masked by the devil horns that went with Ruby. A snort slipped from him, a quick shake of his head. He hardly knew the girl, but they worked together.

"My mouth, huh, I mean...awkwardly, not the first time I've heard that? I've been told I talk too much for my own good." Celal raised his glass in a mock toast before taking a large sip, letting the whiskey settle in his chest. It wasn't a lie, and it was something he often wondered about. Was that the reason he'd never been able to get past his station in politics? Was he too outspoken in that regard?

"Johnny Walker Blue, coming right up," the bartender echoed, and he did his best not to grimace. Not to look at how much this was going to cost him, but he didn't care. Not really. Especially when he was in a new place and knew fucking no one. A hum, swift, grunted as he eyed Ruby for a second.

"My brother's face? What did he do this time?" An ice-breaker, of sorts. Because he couldn't imagine Ender having done anything. "Somehow, I doubt that it was bad enough to get you two in the ring. But I'll bite."

Her eyes focused on him, even when the bartender put her drink in front of her. "Well, why don't you make that mouth be more useful, then? Why don't you tell me something I wouldn't know about you now that we're going to be working together?" Since neither one of them was undercover, they kind of had to.

Ruby poured a mouthful of her drink into her mouth, placing the glass in the same place. Maybe she wouldn't have to stick around for as long as the drink went down smoothly. Or was that even a thing? With LS dismantled, Ruby was really trying to find her place in the world now and she didn't exactly know what it was.

Was she supposed to go find another gang? Really put herself into the ring with ATF? Would that even bring anything since she'd never been one to trust the government? What a fucking pathetic situation she was in. Nico mentioned about going straight, but she doubted she had it in her. But with no choice? She downed the rest of the drink.

"Nothing at all. I was just saying he's better looking than you." She said back with a roll of her eyes, but there was also a teasing smile playing on her lips.

"Forget I asked. I must be going crazy because I probably need a vacation." Probably she did, but also she liked to annoy Nathaniel by any means. Too bad his sister wasn't talking. "How about I go, take a nap and we meet up another day to get absolutely wasted or some shit? You can throw a drink at me if that makes you feel better?"

If she wanted it, it was hers. It wasn't like anyone was going to tell Ruby otherwise. He hadn't known her long at all, and in their brief encounters, he couldn't deny that she was...hard fucking work. "Whatever the lady wants," he told the bartender in passing, before resting his elbow on the bar top. "You always bust everyone's balls that you meet, or is it just me? I've been told I have a punchable face." A few too many times, something he wouldn't admit.

"Now that you're paying... Johnie Walker Blue label, double." She definitely couldn't afford it, but since he was so kindly offering. "Depends who you ask." She smiled and then looked at him, analysing his face. "I don't think it's your face that's punchable. Actually, it's a quite nice looking face... Not sure yet if it quite matches your brothers, but... I think probably it's your mouth that people want to punch."

"I didn't expect to run into you so soon — you following me or something?" Celal jested over the rim of his drink, a slow, easy smile spreading across his lips, brow kinking into an arch. For a man who'd never been interested in alcohol before, he now found himself frequenting bars more often than he otherwise would. "Guess you're here for the same reason as me—that briefing today," blowing out a low whistle, features falling for a second, pausing to raise his hand to order another drink. "Next one's on me. I think we both need it."

"I don't know how to do that." She finally muttered, taking a sip of her beer as she did that. She was never much of a sharer, but in the months, she just... Well... Niko was still here, wasn't he? That mattered to her. That counted. "Unlike your life, my life has never been something that was straight, as you call it. My home life was shit and after it was just LS. Everything I did was for them." And now, she didn't really have anything. "You can. You should." He already seemed to be getting his life in order, now that he had a girl he was running around with.

She thought for a moment, and again, she did something she never usually did. "Let me know if you need help. I have ways to help you."

She hoped he was lying, otherwise he was just dumb.

Watching him get... Flabbergasted? By her questions? By her movements? Ruby wondered which places he'd been assigned to before. Because if little things like this made him uneasy? Maybe he should have stayed working for the Whitehouse... Though surely neither Cali, nor LA streets were clean... "Didn't say you actually had to sleep with anyone." She winked. She was taught differently, perhaps because she was a woman? The shit she had to do on missions before coming to Tonopah was different. But she didn't mind.

"Not the ATF way, though." She smiled, putting the glass down. "Gotta work on strategy and work on putting all of them behind bars. Though some of them still manage to have a good life there." The bribes, it was always what flowed in prisons. "You're going to put a boundary with me for some water?" Ruby bobbed her head to the side, her eyes remaining on the man in front of her. "Alright." Not that she'd put them there, but she can let him think that.

Location: ATF Office

Hayden walked into the room, as she looked over at Ruby. "Whatcha got for me?" She asked, before plopping down into the chair across from the brunette. She threw her legs up on the table with a practiced nonchalance, fixing her gaze on the other woman. aving spent her day wading through the rap sheets of pretty much every member of the Motorcycle Club—all of whom seemed to have one—she figured it was time to stretch her legs and catch up on any solid leads, especially since Roman was out revisiting the leads from the bike festival.

Alas, the moment he stepped into his office, he immediately jumped, a hand flying to his chest as he locked eyes with the brunette. "Jesus chr -- you scared the fuck out of me. How did you get in here?" Closing the door behind him, Enzo took a moment to catch his breath. "Actually, fuck it, it doesn't matter. I don't want to know. But like -- did my assistant let you in? He's fucking useless, gives me an excuse to fire his ass." He shook his head. "Excuse you. My order has always been and always will be sesame shrimp, and I'm pretty positive you know that by now. You pay way too close attention to shit for that."

"Aw, you noticed?" She let out a pout, as she patted the seat next to her. "Why don't you come sit on my lap and tell me about your day?" Not that she wanted to hear anything he did. But then again, there could always be some useful information in that. Even if it was minor - minor details sometimes what broke the case.

Then again, did she care about any of that? With LS gone, she really felt like a lost chicken in the wild. Which was probably why she ended up in his office. "I've had a bad day, so at least make it better for me?"