The Williams family often hosted overly extravagant galas to fund raise money they already had for foundations they didn't really care about and somehow, Ruby always ended up dragged along to keep up the facade that they were some happy family that actually spoke for more than a few minutes at dinner on a Sunday night, dressed up in a beautiful gown her mum had made just for her.
That was why she was at this stupid party, far too close to her heat and mingling with pervy alpha's who thought her being here at this point in time was all for them.
This was how she'd ended up cornered by an alpha she didn't know, faking a smile and trying to locate an escape route that wouldn't upset him or cause more disappointment with her parents.
There'd been some chatter amongst the guards about Ruby's presence; most of them were Alphas and not all of them had enough sense to keep their comments to themselves. Cassian took a small bit of pride getting them to shut up about it with a word. He'd worked for the Williams' for years and he recognized what was happening here with their daughter. They put up the perfect front and she just...survived them.
It was kind of sad.
It was also ten thousand percent none of his business, really.
He hadn't meant to interrupt whatever was happening between Ruby Williams and the alpha, but the latter was giving off a dangerous scent for an alpha who had an omega cornered (even at a party). He glanced around, noticing one of the other guards who was too busy chatting up a waitress to notice the precarious situation Ruby might be in.
Then again he didn't want to read too much into something that might be nothing, so he just sort of...hovered, in Ruby's field of vision, trying to make eye contact and see if she needed his help in any way.
Ruby was cornered. One hundred percent trapped by an alpha who was making it very clear that he felt he had every right to have her where she was. Still, the smile stayed plastered on her face even as her usually sweet scent soured with unease.
There was another alpha lurking, she could feel his gaze, but unlike the brute in front of her, ignoring her discomfort, the other stare didn’t make her stomach twist in knots so she sought him out.
Andor. She remembered her father praising him and she hoped he was as good as he’d claimed and could see the desperation in her stare.
"Miss Williams! I'm sorry...Daryl, was it? Miss Williams is due downstairs for a photograph of the donors." This was both true and not; the donors were all taking a photo, and while her parents had not asked for her by name, they wouldn't argue if Ruby were to suddenly appear for a photo op. "You'll have to excuse us."
For a moment it seemed as though 'Daryl' wasn't going to give ground. Cassian hovered there, over his shoulder, and heard the other man growl his displeasure. "Need help, Andor?" Came through the earpiece and Cassian waited to see what the other man would do.
He stepped off. Surprising, really, but it gave Cassian the opportunity to give Ruby his arm and lead her down the staircase. "Are you okay?"
“Of course!” She turns to Daryl, smile still firmly in place despite her growing discomfort. “Please, excuse me. My mother will have my head if I’m late.”
She also knew she wasn’t expected, that her parents didn’t care what she did as long as she showed up and didn’t cause a scene but the alpha doesn’t seem to want to back down and Ruby is far from being interested in turning down any reason to escape.
As soon as he does, Ruby takes the guard’s offered arm and says goodbye before letting him lead her away and down stairs.
“I... should not be here tonight. Thank you for the rescue.” A beat. “I don’t actually have to take photos do I? Because I could really use some air.” She was painfully sober; she’d be stupid to get drunk around this many alphas and so close to her heat.
And of course that was the only reason the smoky scent of the alpha at her side was so appealing. Or so she tried to tell herself.
"I'm sorry about that." The fact that she was forced to be here in the first place, so close to her own heat, really put into stark lighting just how little her parents were concerned for her well-being. He knew of countless parties at people's houses that turned sour for unpaired omegas near heat. Everyone did.
Presumably, that was part of what he was there for, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
"Outside is perfectly fine. Whatever you need, Miss Williams."
He leads her out to the side garden where there are a few party-goers but mostly clear air. "Are you going to be okay? I can call you a car."
“So am I.” Ruby had learned at a young age that she existed purely for appearance, and so that her father had some way of keeping his money in his own name when he inevitably died. Of course, he’d have preferred a son, but that just wasn’t meant to be. There were many things Ruby would fake; being a man wasn’t one of them.
Andor leads them outside and the cool breeze hits her warm skin instantly, causing a shiver despite how pleasant it felt.
“I can fake it for another hour.” By then, her mother would be suitably sloshed and her father would be too engaged in his business to see her slip out. “I’d be better if you called me Ruby.”
"Alright, Ruby. I'm more worried about the jilted paramour inside than your parents, honestly." He can handle the latter, spin a story to protect Ruby from their wrath regarding this party at least. The former he can also handle, but it might get violent and Cassian would rather avoid that.
As if summoned, the man in question appears on the second-floor balcony, which Cassian can see from his peripheral vision. He sighs, a little. "We should maybe get you out of here before things get messy."
"If it comes down to it, I will put him in his place. He's not the first difficult alpha I've had to deal with close to heat, and he won't be the last." She smiles softly though, because she does appreciate the thought.
And the fact that Andor seems capable of keeping himself in check around her.
Ruby doesn't miss his reappearance of said alpha and she rolls her eyes, letting out a sigh.
"Let's get you a car," Cassian says, checking his watch. His shift at this party is just about done anyway so he can deal with this if it blows up, which...he suspects it's about to, if the growl the man on the balcony lets out when he spots them is any indicator.
He offers Ruby his arm and radios to the guards at the front to order her a car. "Is your apartment safe?"
Ruby sneers and takes the offered arm once more, delighting in the way it causes obvious frustration within the alpha upstairs that she's being so free with her affection here when she wasn't with him.
"If you count having a doorman who looks like he just stepped out of the military and the best security system money can buy installed, then yes. My apartment is safe."
"Great." Cassian gives Ruby a nod and a smile, trying to reign himself in from taking a deep breath of her scent. Since she's no longer as distressed, it's taken on softer, sweeter tones mixed with the pressing heat and Cassian is glad that she's going home, where she'll be safe from Daryl and any other alpha with bad intentions.
The car is waiting for them when they reach the front door but so is the alpha, reeking of fury and barely contained by three of the guards on shift. Cassian sees his replacement gesturing for them to get in the car as fast as possible and Cassian knows if he stays behind, it's gonna be a fight. "Mind if I join you just as far as your apartment? I'll take another car from there."
Ruby knows exactly how this could end up going so she doesn't hesitate to tell Andor that of course he can, lest her family decide to fire him for drama caused by a cranky alpha who didn't get his own way.
She lets go of Cassian intending to slide into the car when she feels a rough, smooth hand grab her upper arm and she knows exactly who it belongs to. It's definitely not one of the guards -none of them would dare- and only one person here would have the smooth hands of someone who hasn't worked a day in his life.
"Let me go!" The guards are about to step in and Ruby raises her free hand, telling them to stop. "Now."
He doesn't.
She feels bone crack underneath her fist before she even registering making the decision to punch him and the scream tells her she's broken his nose. But at least he's let go of her arm.
It happens so fast that Cassian doesn't anticipate it; one second Daryl has his hand around Ruby and the next there's blood everywhere, gushing from the alpha's nose and Cassian has to stop himself from cheering or growling. Instead, he shakes his head at the rest of the guards and puts himself between Ruby getting into the car and the now incensed alpha, raising an eyebrow at his coworkers and deciding, at that moment, that he's quitting this job.
It's cemented in his mind when he sees Mr. Williams coming towards the front stairs screaming his daughter's name just as Cassian shuts the rear car door behind him as the car pulls away from the house. He can still smell the blood in the air and his nostrils feel perpetually flared open, so he brings up a hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose.
It also helps to cover his growing smile, but not entirely, if we're being honest.
Ruby hears her father's angry voice and immediately slips into the car and across the seat to the other side, allowing Cassian plenty of room to get in as well. There's blood on her knuckles and they're going to be swelling underneath it but in 24 hours, the pain there will be the last thing she can think of.
The omega doesn't bother to hide her own smile, tilting her head over the seat to look at the guard. "I am. Y'see the thing about alphas is that most of you completely underestimate omegas. Everyone talks about how strong you are, but they forget what feisty little fuckers we can be. Especially, this close to a heat."
"That's fair." He knows better than to underestimate omegas (or even betas, for that matter) after knowing one who would knock him on his ass as soon as look at him. He'd loved Jyn, and Jyn loved her freedom, so that was that. He doesn't see a point in telling Ruby he knows better though; too much like tooting his own horn, really. But he does give her a soft, warm smile and opens his hand next to her. "Lemme see your hand?"
He just wants to make sure she hasn't injured herself unduly. And maybe wants to know if she'll allow him to touch her at all after all that.
"You're not one of those alphas." There's a story there, behind the expression in his eyes when he says that. She'd never expected him to be one of those alphas and hadn't lumped him in with them on purpose. It's easy to watch him and Ruby feels both the heat in her belly rise and the adrenaline calm as both their scents fill the car.
The driver -a beta- doesn't react at all.
After a brief moment, almost as if she's waiting to see if he'll force it, Ruby turns in her seat to place her hand in his. "They'll be okay."
"I'm glad to hear it." His smile stays soft but his expression is a little distant. It's not until she puts her hand in his that he snaps back into the present. "That I'm not like the other alphas you've dealt with, I mean. I try not to be...the quintessential."
Cassian has a little shudder at her hand in his, and he stops himself from licking his lips as he runs his thumb across her bruised knuckles. "Should put some ice on these though, when you get home." She smells nice, he thinks, and he needs to keep his head about him.
His phone rings, with the tone that tells him it's Ruby's father. So much for thaat job, but he's pretty good with money so it's not like he'll do poorly without it til he finds something else. He takes out his phone only long enough to silence it after letting go of Ruby's hand.
"When you live this life, you learn to tell who you can trust and who you can't. I can trust you." She knew, deep in her soul, that he was someone who could be trusted, regardless of how close she was to her heat. He'd yet to make her feel even slightly unsure about it.
She nods slowly, jumping slightly when the ring tone pierces the air. It's a sharp sound in the heaviness that's filled the cab and she flinches, sensitive.
"I'm sorry. My father... He's not going to forgive this any time soon. I'll probably hear about it for the rest of my life."
“This omega life, you mean?” Cassian looks away. "I'm glad you feel you can trust me. I don't want to betray that at all." He knows it's hard and he knows her father makes none of it easier for her. Neither does her mother.
He wishes he'd met her some way other than being their employee.
"It's fine. I needed a new job anyway." The car stops and Cassian blinks. "Oh. I guess this is you."
"The wealthy omega life. Always in the spot light, surrounded by alphas who think they deserve everything." Ruby keeps watching him, even when he turns away. He's as beautiful to look at as he smells and when they stop, Ruby doesn't want to get out of the car.
"He's going to think you nailed Daryl." Because of course his precious little daughter couldn't defend herself, being a helpless omega. "Did you.. wanna come inside? The least I can do is offer you a drink?"
"Everyone on my team, well, the security I mean, will own up to the fact that it was you and not me. Don't know how much that'll mean at the end of the day." The Williams' really need to reevaluate the ways in which they consider their daughter capable or otherwise, he thinks.
Then she offers him a drink inside and his brain goes just slightly haywire. Cassian is good at reading people, and he thinks there's a different offer being made here, but God knows he doesn't want to come up with the wrong idea. "...I'd be honored."
"I'm sure he and my father will choose to overlook the fact and find some way to still blame a rogue security officer." Ruby felt herself preen at the shame Daryl must be feeling after having his nose broken by a small, female omega in front of several others.
"Good." She smiles, thanking the driver before slipping out of the car and waiting for Cassian to meet her on the sidewalk in front of the ridiculously lavish building she calls home.
It's not the first time he's been accused of going rogue and Cassian blinks at her, his smile slightly disarmed. She's surprised him, and it shows. "I'm sure you're right." He's sure she knows all parties involved better than he does.
Cassian tips the driver and climbs out on the opposite side of the car, glancing up at the building and the doorman before tilting his head in the man's direction. "Uh. I don't think I'll be allowed to hold the door for you."
"Getting K.O'd by a tough alpha security guard sounds a lot better than being punched by a tiny little omega woman. Take it as a compliment." The fact that he hadn't stepped in meant more to her than he'd know.
Ruby smiles and offers her hand to Cassian. "That's okay. Baze will hold it for both of us. Won't you, Baze?" She smiles at the doorman, who winks back and tips his head at the pair of them. "Welcome back, Miss Williams."
It's easy to lead Cassian through the lobby into the elevator and she hits the button for the top floor.
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• catnip is bad at titles •
That was why she was at this stupid party, far too close to her heat and mingling with pervy alpha's who thought her being here at this point in time was all for them.
This was how she'd ended up cornered by an alpha she didn't know, faking a smile and trying to locate an escape route that wouldn't upset him or cause more disappointment with her parents.
• not quite bodyguard au • that's my vote
It was kind of sad.
It was also ten thousand percent none of his business, really.
He hadn't meant to interrupt whatever was happening between Ruby Williams and the alpha, but the latter was giving off a dangerous scent for an alpha who had an omega cornered (even at a party). He glanced around, noticing one of the other guards who was too busy chatting up a waitress to notice the precarious situation Ruby might be in.
Then again he didn't want to read too much into something that might be nothing, so he just sort of...hovered, in Ruby's field of vision, trying to make eye contact and see if she needed his help in any way.
Works for me!
There was another alpha lurking, she could feel his gaze, but unlike the brute in front of her, ignoring her discomfort, the other stare didn’t make her stomach twist in knots so she sought him out.
Andor. She remembered her father praising him and she hoped he was as good as he’d claimed and could see the desperation in her stare.
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For a moment it seemed as though 'Daryl' wasn't going to give ground. Cassian hovered there, over his shoulder, and heard the other man growl his displeasure. "Need help, Andor?" Came through the earpiece and Cassian waited to see what the other man would do.
He stepped off. Surprising, really, but it gave Cassian the opportunity to give Ruby his arm and lead her down the staircase. "Are you okay?"
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She also knew she wasn’t expected, that her parents didn’t care what she did as long as she showed up and didn’t cause a scene but the alpha doesn’t seem to want to back down and Ruby is far from being interested in turning down any reason to escape.
As soon as he does, Ruby takes the guard’s offered arm and says goodbye before letting him lead her away and down stairs.
“I... should not be here tonight. Thank you for the rescue.” A beat. “I don’t actually have to take photos do I? Because I could really use some air.” She was painfully sober; she’d be stupid to get drunk around this many alphas and so close to her heat.
And of course that was the only reason the smoky scent of the alpha at her side was so appealing. Or so she tried to tell herself.
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Presumably, that was part of what he was there for, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
"Outside is perfectly fine. Whatever you need, Miss Williams."
He leads her out to the side garden where there are a few party-goers but mostly clear air. "Are you going to be okay? I can call you a car."
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Andor leads them outside and the cool breeze hits her warm skin instantly, causing a shiver despite how pleasant it felt.
“I can fake it for another hour.” By then, her mother would be suitably sloshed and her father would be too engaged in his business to see her slip out. “I’d be better if you called me Ruby.”
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As if summoned, the man in question appears on the second-floor balcony, which Cassian can see from his peripheral vision. He sighs, a little. "We should maybe get you out of here before things get messy."
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And the fact that Andor seems capable of keeping himself in check around her.
Ruby doesn't miss his reappearance of said alpha and she rolls her eyes, letting out a sigh.
"Okay, maybe you have a point."
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He offers Ruby his arm and radios to the guards at the front to order her a car. "Is your apartment safe?"
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"If you count having a doorman who looks like he just stepped out of the military and the best security system money can buy installed, then yes. My apartment is safe."
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The car is waiting for them when they reach the front door but so is the alpha, reeking of fury and barely contained by three of the guards on shift. Cassian sees his replacement gesturing for them to get in the car as fast as possible and Cassian knows if he stays behind, it's gonna be a fight. "Mind if I join you just as far as your apartment? I'll take another car from there."
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She lets go of Cassian intending to slide into the car when she feels a rough, smooth hand grab her upper arm and she knows exactly who it belongs to. It's definitely not one of the guards -none of them would dare- and only one person here would have the smooth hands of someone who hasn't worked a day in his life.
"Let me go!" The guards are about to step in and Ruby raises her free hand, telling them to stop. "Now."
He doesn't.
She feels bone crack underneath her fist before she even registering making the decision to punch him and the scream tells her she's broken his nose. But at least he's let go of her arm.
"Okay! Time to go!"
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It's cemented in his mind when he sees Mr. Williams coming towards the front stairs screaming his daughter's name just as Cassian shuts the rear car door behind him as the car pulls away from the house. He can still smell the blood in the air and his nostrils feel perpetually flared open, so he brings up a hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose.
It also helps to cover his growing smile, but not entirely, if we're being honest.
"You're a dangerous woman, Ruby Williams."
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The omega doesn't bother to hide her own smile, tilting her head over the seat to look at the guard. "I am. Y'see the thing about alphas is that most of you completely underestimate omegas. Everyone talks about how strong you are, but they forget what feisty little fuckers we can be. Especially, this close to a heat."
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He just wants to make sure she hasn't injured herself unduly. And maybe wants to know if she'll allow him to touch her at all after all that.
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The driver -a beta- doesn't react at all.
After a brief moment, almost as if she's waiting to see if he'll force it, Ruby turns in her seat to place her hand in his. "They'll be okay."
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Cassian has a little shudder at her hand in his, and he stops himself from licking his lips as he runs his thumb across her bruised knuckles. "Should put some ice on these though, when you get home." She smells nice, he thinks, and he needs to keep his head about him.
His phone rings, with the tone that tells him it's Ruby's father. So much for thaat job, but he's pretty good with money so it's not like he'll do poorly without it til he finds something else. He takes out his phone only long enough to silence it after letting go of Ruby's hand.
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She nods slowly, jumping slightly when the ring tone pierces the air. It's a sharp sound in the heaviness that's filled the cab and she flinches, sensitive.
"I'm sorry. My father... He's not going to forgive this any time soon. I'll probably hear about it for the rest of my life."
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He wishes he'd met her some way other than being their employee.
"It's fine. I needed a new job anyway." The car stops and Cassian blinks. "Oh. I guess this is you."
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"He's going to think you nailed Daryl." Because of course his precious little daughter couldn't defend herself, being a helpless omega. "Did you.. wanna come inside? The least I can do is offer you a drink?"
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Then she offers him a drink inside and his brain goes just slightly haywire. Cassian is good at reading people, and he thinks there's a different offer being made here, but God knows he doesn't want to come up with the wrong idea. "...I'd be honored."
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"Good." She smiles, thanking the driver before slipping out of the car and waiting for Cassian to meet her on the sidewalk in front of the ridiculously lavish building she calls home.
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Cassian tips the driver and climbs out on the opposite side of the car, glancing up at the building and the doorman before tilting his head in the man's direction. "Uh. I don't think I'll be allowed to hold the door for you."
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Ruby smiles and offers her hand to Cassian. "That's okay. Baze will hold it for both of us. Won't you, Baze?" She smiles at the doorman, who winks back and tips his head at the pair of them. "Welcome back, Miss Williams."
It's easy to lead Cassian through the lobby into the elevator and she hits the button for the top floor.
The Penthouse.
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