"One thing!"
Rey sighed and hung her head. "I know."
"I asked you to do one thing!"
"I know."
"Lay low." He gestured wildly, then attempted a high-pitched voice. "'Of course I'll lay low, Finn. I promise.' And what do you do? The exact opposite!"
"I know!"
"And what happens? You almost get caught, this giant hulking guy is stalking you now, and I can't fence anything from the Canady job because of all the heat on you!"
Throwing up her hands in surrender, Rey shouted, "I know! Okay? I'm sorry."
"You should be! Do you know what you put me through?!"
Poe, who was leaning his chair on the back two legs, sighed loudly. "Since we've both listened to you whine about it for twenty minutes now, I'm pretty sure she does."
"You stay out of this! For all I know, you put her up to it!" Finn huffed as he walked over to the kitchen and made himself coffee.
Poe glanced at Rey, then dramatically rolled his eyes at Finn, which made her smile a tiny bit.
"Any idea who this guy is?" He asked her, and she shook her head.
"What I can't figure out is how he even knew I was there! I mean, I know he's not guard at the gallery, so was he extra security for the exhibit? But the bronze necklace wasn't even that valuable! Was he there for me? And if so, how did he know I'd be there? I didn't know I'd be there until like three days ago!"
Poe tapped his chin thoughtfully. "What we need is more intel on this guy."
Finn, slightly mollified by Rey's penitence and the coffee, rejoined them. "I might know someone who can help."
…
"Despite your best efforts, she managed to escape?" Snoke repeated softly, his quiet tone carrying far more danger than any of Hux's bellowed threats.
"Sir, she already had an escape route set-"
"Silence," he hissed, causing Kylo's jaw to tense and Hux to gloat even more in the corner. "Your failure has cost this company millions. I've not seen incompetence of this magnitude in years."
Hux stepped forward, ready to shove Kylo under several buses if it meant moving up in his boss' favor. "If I may, sir, in light of my colleague's inadequacies, I have several plans already in place to catch the little-"
"I was at least in the right building," Kylo spat at Hux, who flushed and glared at the reminder that he had taken a good amount of time and men to secure the untouched Coruscant collection.
"I knew where she was," he continued, watching as Snoke slowly turned back to look at him. "I knew when she would be there, and I came closer to catching her than anyone else." He swallowed, then added, "I can find her again. All I need is time."
Snoke narrowed his eyes, then nodded curtly. "You have it. Do not disappoint me again."
Bowing his head in acceptance, Kylo stepped out of the office, Hux still sniveling behind him.
"Sir, in addition, I do have several theories about her possible next targets-"
"Out."
"Yes, sir, of course, sir. Right away, sir."
Hux closed the door, then rushed to catch up with Kylo. "You dare interrupt Snoke while he-"
"I interrupted you." He told him, lengthening his stride out of pure spite. "Snoke doesn't care about pleasantries, he wants results. Something I have already given him." Pausing in front of his office door, he growled, "And if you ever try to undermine me again, you won't live long enough to regret it."
Slamming the door behind him, he took a few ragged breaths as Snoke's cutting remarks and threatening tone washed over him, then threw his coffee mug into the wall, kicked over his chair, and flipped over his entire desk before storming out and shouting at one of the assistants to clean up the mess they had left in there.
He had told Snoke that all he needed was time.
But after following her trail, learning about her expertise, watching her work...
He hoped he was right.
…
Rey followed Finn curiously into a coffee shop, glancing around at the gathered clientele.
"So, who's this hacker again? And how can hacking get me out of this?"
"Just follow my lead, okay?" Finn whispered to her, then turned with a big smile and wave. "Rose!"
A petite Asian girl waved at them from a table near the back corner. "Finn! Hi! Over here!"
Finn grabbed a chair, then tilted his head at Rey. "This is my friend I told you about."
Rose stood with a look bordering on awe. "Wow. The Scavenger. You really are a girl, and are really… really… gorgeous," she added the last word in an odd tone of despair.
Blinking, Rey attempted a nod. "Thank you?"
"Oh, no, I just mean that you're really good at what you do. Amazing, actually. And you're Finn's friend. And beautiful." She hung her head a little and muttered sadly, "Of course."
As Rey furrowed her brows in confusion, Finn sat down with an oblivious smile. "I know, right? Anyway, we were hoping you could help her out with a bit of a problem."
Plastering on a smile, Rose's fingers hovered above the keyboard. "Sure! What kind of problem?"
"Over six feet tall, dark hair, brown eyes, and almost caught me at the D'Qar gallery the other night." Rey grumbled as she sat.
"Someone caught you?" Rose gasped.
"Almost." Rey corrected, then glared at the sugar packets. "Although it was still far too close for comfort."
Finn leaned forward. "Problem is, we have no idea who he is or why he wants Rey."
"Or if he even found me on purpose. Maybe it was just bad luck." Rey countered, and Finn shot her a look that suggested she was being much too optimistic before addressing Rose again.
"We were hoping you'd be able to grab a shot of his face so we can at least find out who we're dealing with." Finn scooched closer. "Is that something you can do?"
Rey observed with interest as Rose flushed a bit, then cracked her knuckles. "No problemo! You said the D'Qar gallery?"
"Two nights ago. Around one in the morning." Rey told her, then waited as Rose quickly pulled up a window of four different security feeds, then jumped to the night in question.
All three watched the motionless gallery for a few moments, Rey smiling in satisfaction that she had indeed estimated the view of the cameras correctly, only her hand briefly appearing to squeeze the plastic explosive on the main display case. As the tall man rushed into frame, Rose shook her head as he mostly kept his back to the camera.
When Rey slammed her elbow into his nose, the other two turned to her, clearly impressed. "Atta girl!" Finn said, clapping her on the back.
Fortunately, the display case blocked the view of her face once her mask was gone, then she was running out the window with her back to the screen. He rushed to the window, then stalked back inside and was giving orders to the night guard when he walked by, providing Rose with a great shot of his face.
"Alright, let me run this through a few of my databases. Hmm, nothing in the FBI personnel list."
"He didn't fight like a fed." Rey told her, thinking back. "He was more… rash. Violent. Reckless."
Finn shot her a curious look when Rose's laptop beeped victoriously.
"Gotcha!" She shouted, then sat back, blood draining from her face.
"What? Who is he? What's wrong?"
"That's Kylo Ren." Rose whispered, glancing between Rey and her screen.
"Who?"
"He works for IYS as an insurance investigator," Finn informed her, also in a frightened tone.
Rey raised an eyebrow. "So he's a pencil pusher?"
Rose shook her head. "He's a thief-hunter. One of the best."
"Thief-hunter?"
"You know that Berlin Polytech job Colin Mason did two years ago? Kylo Ren caught him in four months. You heard about the Mako pulling off the Van Gogh job in Copenhagen? Six weeks." Finn said, staring at the profile on Rose's laptop.
"I heard that he locked himself in the trunk of a car for five days to catch someone who stole a Matisse IYS insures." Rose told her with wide eyes.
"Bottom line, he's the best."
Narrowing her eyes at the photo of the dark-haired man, giving the camera a forbidding look, Rey clenched her fist.
"So am I."
…
As Kylo Ren spread out the files on his desk, he stared at the list of past targets, then scoured the portfolio of possible next locations, eyes flicking constantly back to the one blurry shot of the Scavenger's face that they had grabbed from the security footage. The vague impression wasn't a help to facial recognition, or to anyone who hadn't seen her, but it brought back every detail of her face in his mind's eye.
He was trying to get himself into the mind of his opponent, to understand her motivations, exploit her flaws, the same way he had done with every criminal he had caught, every priceless piece he had reclaimed. But, infuriatingly, his usual method wasn't working.
Every time he tried to mimic her mindset, predict her next move, he was suddenly back in that gallery, stunned at the sight of her floating in the air like a bewitching, fey creature. Remembering the feel of her shockingly strong frame as she wrestled free of him. The blood trickling down his cheek, her hazel eyes wide with surprise, lips parted as she tried to catch her breath. Leaning out the window, watching her hurtle towards the ground with a careless grace.
Her smile as she glanced up at him, flush with victory, alight with adrenaline.
That damn wink.
Like she had won easily, like she was challenging him to another round.
He let out a guttural growl and swept the files onto the floor.
No one mocked him.
Not even lithe, clever, startlingly beautiful scavengers.
…
"Rey, I'm not so sure about this," Poe told her as he glanced around at the dark alley.
"Oh my God, you're starting to sound like Finn. This is how I relax, okay? It's literally one of the easiest systems to crack. I've rewired the security myself in like ten seconds, so no risk there, plus this isn't something I'd normally go for, so no chance of Kyle whatever-his-name-is showing up either, so just calm down."
Huffing a bit, Poe watched her free climb up two stories, then got in the car and waited, hoping she was right.
Once inside, legs hooked around the support beam, Rey hung upside down and grinned at the alarm system.
"Hello, old friend. I know we haven't seen each other in a while, but I was hoping that we could pick up where we left off. Do you remember when the Smithsonian used you for all their restoration rooms, like five years ago?" She hummed a little as she popped open the faceplate and exposed the wires underneath. "Those were some good times. Too bad Judy Garland had tiny feet, else I would have worn those ruby suckers right-"
Pausing, Rey looked around, trying to figure out why something felt off. Muffled voices floated through the floor from below.
"...really don't understand why you believe Master Foss' collection is a risk right this moment. We have a top of the line security system-"
"That she routinely circumvented five years ago. Either open the door now, or explain to Mr. Foss exactly why you let his collection get robbed." A low, damningly familiar voice threatened.
"Oh come on!" Rey hissed, rapidly replacing the security case. "Again? Can't I get just one night to myself? Is that so hard?"
There was a swipe of plastic, then a click as the lock to the door disengaged. "Just because you're an employee of IYS does not give you unfettered access to-"
"Read the fine print," Kylo Ren interrupted before pushing his way into the dark room. He scanning the paintings, noting no obvious gaps, then looked up at the support beam running the length of the room.
Nothing.
"As you can see, everything is in its proper place. Now, should I call IYS myself, or-"
Kylo held up a finger, then narrowed in on the silent keypad. The two screws holding it in place weren't quite flush with the faceplace, almost as if they had just been hastily-
His gaze swiveled to the window, resting a quarter of an inch above the frame. He rushed forward, shoving the glass up, then looked down, a sudden déjà vu of the other night.
And just like the other night, her dark form was flying towards the ground, only this time without any kind of ropes or harness.
A strange impulse to call out a warning rose in his throat, before he choked it back and watched her tuck into a tight roll as she hit the pavement, effortlessly spinning around before she popped up into a three-point landing. As she got to her feet, she once again glanced up at him with a sly grin, then gave him a sardonic salute.
Better luck next time.
As she hopped into her getaway car, he glared at her with all of his impressive fury (setting aside the small part of him that felt almost… intrigued), and promised that the next time they met, things would end very, very differently.
