Another can whizzed past her hair. She just watched as it exploded on the wall behind her. And then it was a bottle, bursting in a flurry of glass and liquid. The floor was quickly turning into its own major hazard. Getting knocked to the ground would mean getting sliced open by broken glass and stomped on by an angry, inebriated rock crowd.

The feedback from the amplifier was loud enough that she could barely hear Gabe. She watched his mouth move without understanding a single word.

Being the smaller of the two of them, a blonde woman in a hardened mob, Ruby was the easier target. It would be too easy for Gabe to lose sight of her the moment they were separated.

A hand grabbed for her and she reacted with a sharp, jabbing elbow. She reached for Gabe, pulling him up toward the stage with her as she fought against the audience.

This was not how she had wanted this evening to go.

“Fucking feds!” someone screamed.

She could not tell what the crowd was chanting in unison. The words ran together and all she could hear was the rising pitch.

Marcia and Man's Ruin had jumped back into their song, putting a soundtrack to the struggle.

She was not going to get pulled in and eaten alive.

She wriggled out of the crowd, yanking Gabe with her, and crossed the concrete floor. The crowd thinned a little, some of them realizing it wasn't just a joke.

But it was not over. She felt a tug on her jacket. Someone attempted to yank her back, off balance.

It felt like she had hit a trampoline. Then she hit the concrete and was stunned. The air had been knocked out of her.

A strong hand found hers, pulling her back up in a single swift motion. Back on her feet, Ruby was still shaky, outnumbered, and for once feeling all the aspects of herself she had to overcome to reach her position in the FBI. In some other version of her life, she was just a small-town girl getting pushed around. Too many of these people were just like ones she’d grown up with. They wanted to get away with everything.

Gabe stood squarely behind her. She was nearly right up against the stage, Gabe guarding her from the unruly mass of the patrons.

“I just want to talk, Marcia,” she shouted.

The woman kept crooning. Ruby could only make out bits and pieces of the lyrics, so much of it practically screamed then piped through the tinny speakers.

Where have you been, my lucky thirteen.

Ruby set her jaw, ready to spring up on the stage and tackle Reuben to the ground.