Straight up, most fics I see lean hard into a redemption arc for CJ, with Ruby as his unlikely moral compass. It's fascinating how writers navigate that dynamic—he's older, deeply entrenched in that violent lifestyle, and she's this sharp, resilient kid with a totally different moral code. A lot of stories start from the canon divergence of him surviving the finale, then build out a slow-burn mentorship that morphs into something more paternal, and sometimes, if the writer is going there, romantic, though that's always controversial.
You get a lot of 'what if' scenarios too, like CJ laying low at the farm and Ruby teaching him how to fix a truck or tend to crops, those quiet moments where his guard drops. The tension often comes from whether he'll relapse into his old ways or if her influence is strong enough to pull him out for good. I've noticed the better-written ones don't shy away from the ugliness—the guilt, the nightmares, the sheer logistical nightmare of a wanted man trying to go straight.
Honestly, the pairing's popularity seems tied to a craving for complex, messy healing narratives more than just straightforward romance. That's what keeps me scrolling through the tags.