#nova mcclain

Timeline I made for the fic:

and

“I’m a Renegade, aren’t I? I can safely take myself home,” she scoffed. 

Oscar nodded. “Yeah, of course you can. You’re the most capable of anyone. But it’s a long walk, and any Renegade loves some good company.” Ruby smiled, glancing at him before quickly looking away. 

“That’s also true,” she acknowledged, and reached out and took his hand. Oscar jumped, and then laughed in the awkwardness and tried to calm his nerves. She just took my- she’s- RUBY IS HOLDING MY HAND. His heart thundered and he began to think of all the ways he could possibly screw this up.   

“So, uh…” Oscar silently cursed himself for not having anything to say, and they walked in silence for some time. An uncomfortable amount of time. He couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t embarrass himself.  “I uh, I was wondering…”

“Yeah? ‘Bout what?” Ruby’s face seemed a little red under the warm streetlights.

“Well, I don’t have any clue how to phrase this less blatantly, so…” Oscar sighed. “Ruby, I really like you. Like, really. I just get so embarrassed, and I mess up around you, all the time. I just, I don’t know, hell, if the world is really going to end soon, I just wanted you to know that I- that I love you.”

Ruby was silent for a second, watching him intensely. Oscar began to stutter an apology, when a scream echoed in the street.

“Oh no,” Ruby said, and dashed off, taking out her grappling hook and running toward an apartment building. “Smokescreen, c’mon!” Oscar took off after her, huffing and trying to imagine how to make up for this situation. I messed up so bad.

It was soon obvious that a room in the building was on fire, and not a single alarm was going off. Ruby began to shout to alert the residents, but her voice was drowned out by the shrieks and yells and people flooding from the building. Oscar shoved past her and right into the building, running up flight after flight of stairs. Finally, he reached the flaming room and slammed into the door. The door groaned, but didn’t break. He could hear wails inside.

“Here, both at once,” came Ruby’s voice from over his shoulder. He nodded, and counted down on his fingers. They both crashed into the room, coughing with the smoke. Oscar grimly remembered how he got his powers.

“We’re here! Over here! Renegades!” Oscar pulled a little girl and boy, seemingly twins, from the wreckage. Ruby pulled a man up from the floor, covering his mouth with a little piece of torn cloth from her shirt. Oscar followed suit for the twins, and started to lead them down the stairs.

Ruby called for backup while supporting the man as they descended the stairs. They got them out of the building, and headed back to see if they could get a couple of missing pets out before the building went down. They drenched their cloths with water and carefully headed in.

“Hello? Anyone else in here?” The building creaked, but Ruby seemed unaware of the danger. She’s so beautiful, so strong. Look at her, just saving lives. What a woman, Oscar thought. Entering a room, they carefully lowered a cat and dog using her grappling hook, but found no one else.

“Guess that’s it,” Oscar said loudly, leaning out the window as the cat was safely taken into its owner’s arms. Renegades had started to show up, and he thought he saw Adrian’s glasses glinting in the crowd.

“Guess so. Let’s get out.” Ruby reeled her hook back in. But with a huge crash, the section of wall in front of the door came crashing down, and a large piece of drywall struck Otto before he could get out of the way. “Oscar!”

“I’m-” he coughed, feeling the pressure on his chest. It hurt, so much. “I’m okay. Help…”

Ruby hurried over and put all her strength into lifting the drywall from his chest, as he shoved himself out from below it. “Thank you so much.”

“Of course. C’mon, seems like we’ll take the window out,” she said, her words muffled by the cloth. She coughed violently a few times. The heat was beginning to get unbearable.

Ruby used her hook as a climbing rope, carefully lowering the two of them down the building. Oscar clung to her, his whole body aching. Mmm. Her hair smells good.

When they touched ground, Oscar tried to stagger to his feet, and almost fell. A hand caught him, securely around his back. He coughed, and tried to help stand up. But he was met with Ruby’s nose surprisingly close to his. She smiled. She smelled like smoke and lavender, and Oscar grinned.

“You know, despite your dumb luck and food-related humor, you’re a hell of a guy. I love you, too, Oscar,” Ruby said, and pressed a kiss to his lips, firm and reassuring. Oscar wrapped his arms around her, the feeling in his chest swelling. She loves me too? What? Now?

Oscar looked at her bright eyes for a moment before kissing her again. The heat of the building felt like a comforting warmth in the chill night, and they held each other, under the starless, dark sky in the middle of the night.

“Well, finally,” came Adrian’s voice, and Nova snorted, looking at him with a look much like the one Oscar was giving Ruby. The four of them laughed, tried to clean themselves up, and stood watching the residents as the prodigy healers showed up.

“Guess I waited long enough,” Oscar said, and Ruby rolled her eyes. She rubbed a smudge of ash off his nose with her thumb.

“Well, better late than never,” she said, a wonderfully perfect smile on her face.

Oh, I most certainly do love her, Oscar sighed.