rr (ON HOLD)

Epilogue

Ruby had looked up to the sound of bare feet. LB hauled her up from the ground and untied her arms and hands.
"Come on, Redfort," she muttered. "Someone wants to talk to you."
LB led Ruby down the corridor. Seeing her best friend, she pushed in front of LB and ran to Clancy.
"Clance," Ruby said, her voice full of concern. "Are you alright? What happened? You hurt?"
Clancy shook his head.
"Not badly. But it's not me you want to be worried about. Look."
Ruby followed his gaze and her eyes landed on a slumping man, surrounded by five or so Spectrum agents. Her heartbeat seemed to stop for a second.
Then, with heavy steps, Ruby slowly walked over to where her bodyguard lay.
"Hitch?" she whispered. The man opened his eyes, and gave a smile.
"Ruby," he croaked. "You're alive."
And you won't be soon, Ruby thought bitterly. She returned his smile, blinking through her tears.
"Who - who did this?" she asked.
"Novak, Marnie Novak."
Ruby grit her teeth. "We'll get her, Hitch. Don't worry."
"Where is she now?"
"She disappeared with the Count," the girl paused momentarily, unsure whether she should continue. But she knew the agent would ask, so Ruby told him anyhow; "They - the Count - took Kaina. She's gone too."
Hitch paled. He gave a sudden choke, and Ruby touched his shoulder warily.
"Redfort," he said quietly, "it's been a honour working with you. You're the most annoying kid I've ever met, but you're also the best. You can be rude, ignorant, arrogant and downright irritating at times, but you're also loyal, caring, hardworking, funny and you'll always take one for the team. I'm glad I met you, kid."
Ruby was crouched over him; tears fell down her face and onto his.
"I've enjoyed every moment with you, Hitch," there were seldom times where Ruby Redfort truly was serious and utterly sincere about something, but this time was a clear exception. "Every darn moment. You were one of the reasons my job was and is so great; sure, you're a true pain in the derrière, but you're also pretty awesome."
Hitch was beginning to close his eyes; he was losing too much blood. He signalled to LB.
"You want to speak to her?" Ruby asked, slightly surprised. He nodded. Ruby took a step back and LB came over. Hitch held the woman's hand.
"LB," he began, his voice getting fainter by the second, "I know. I know about your secret. I've known all along. Know that I never judged you, never. What you did then doesn't matter. You're a tough boss to please, but we've shared some great moments; do me a favour and never forget those momemts. I've loved working for Spectrum, and for you. If Bradley was here - I know he knew too - he'd help you. He'd help you find her. So would I. Stop hiding your past like it's something to be ashamed of, LB, because it isn't. I'm proud of you, Bradley would be too."
The woman's clothes were stained with his blood, but she hadn't even noticed. She said nothing, and only clutched his hand harder. One lone tear escaped her eye and rolled down her face.
"I lost Bradley," she whispered, "and now I'm going to lose you. All because of one flagitious man."
"Don't think about that now. Kill him for me, for Spectrum. Rid this world of one less villain. You don't have to be scared anymore; stop hiding and fight him." Hitch gave Blacker a solitary salute, which Blacker returned, his face fallen with emotion. As Hitch's eyes shut, Ruby made a sobbing sound and hugged Blacker. He tried to comfort her.
"What's happening? You all seem to be standing in one place. Do you need back-up?" came the pompous voice of Miles Froghorn, the silent 'G'. Blacker rolled his eyes and Ruby gave a small watery laugh.
"Hitch is dead, Miles," Blacker replied.
"Oh," Froghorn said, then a few seconds later, "I'm sorry. I really am. He was a great man."
"He sure was." Blacker looked at Hitch's still, lifeless body, and sighed. He would be remembered throughout Spectrum as a man as great as Bradley Baker, Blacker would make sure of that. And Blacker wasn't the religious type, but he hoped that if there was Heaven, Hitch would be with Baker now.
Two great men, fallen, but never forgotten.

Ruby's birthday was only three days later. She was too depressed to celebrate. So instead she and her best pal Clancy Crew had a Crazy Cops marathon. No one disturbed them, not even Sabina; the whole of the Redfort household, including Mrs Digby, were all crazy upset at the news of Hitch's death. They just couldn't take it in - one moment he was making their life amazing, and now he was gone. Sabina had been utterly distraught. Hitch was a man liked by most of Twinford, and no one seemed to want to believe he was dead. But as horrid as it was to believe, Ruby Redfort had to; it was part of her job. Move on, don't think about the past. Don't even think about the future. Just the present.
True to Blacker's word, Hitch became a hero, just like Bradley Baker himself.
It was ironic really, Ruby thought. Both of them had been killed by the Australian, and when they thought she was finally dead, frozen in a lake, she popped up again. That thought led her to thinking about the Count; where was he now? Every time, he somehow managed to escape death and disappear scot-free. He was almost invincible. And he was still out there, a dangerous criminal mastermind, who practically had immortality in his hands now.
What were they going to do?

Hitch's funeral took places two months after his death. Almost the whole of Spectrum 8 was there, and a few agents from the other parts of Spectrum who had met Hitch, including people like Agent Delaware and whatnot.
It was a sombre, depressing event but Ruby was glad she decided to go with her parents (who had exclaimed that Hitch must have had a "very big family" to have so many people there).
And a thought crossed Ruby's mind - it might not seem like it, but in some ways, Spectrum was a family to her.
When Ruby got home, she dialled up the Crews' number.
"Rube?" came the voice from the other line.
"Come over to mine, Clance. I need someone to distract me."
"I'm on it."
Clancy appeared ten or so minutes later. They sat down and discussed everything that had happened, until the distinct sound of a toaster interrupted them. Clancy looked at Ruby and Ruby looked at Clancy. She ran over to the kitchen where the toaster was. Ingraved on the toast said,
"A case has came up. Come to HQ immediately. In the children's playground again."
"The playground?" spluttered Ruby, but secretly she was pleased. She waved goodbye to Clancy and headed to the Spectrum HQ, wondering what case they had for her. She doubted it had anything to do with the Count, but even so she held onto a small flicker of hope - if it did, it could lead them somewhere, to Kaina perhaps.
The new Buzz smiled at her. "Wait outside LB's office. She wants to speak to you first."
Ruby sat on one of the chairs and tried to wait as patiently as she could. Finally, after five minutes, she heard a gravelly voice saying, "Come in."
She entered the room and sat down.
"So, Redfort, prepared to take on another case?"
Ruby nodded eagerly, trying to remain her cool.
"It's to do with a small robbery in Minnesota. The information is in the green file. We need you to work out when and where this gang's going to try strike next. Can you do that?"
"Definitely," said Ruby, and she looked at the papers.
This is gonna be easy, she thought with a smile. She looked up and was surprised to see that in LB's near empty office hung a picture of Hitch, a picture of Baker next to him. Her smile grew wider.

                                                                                             FIN