"Help meeeee." Rey whined as she banged her head on the table at the cafe.
"Rey, this was your idea." Finn pointed out unsympathetically, not looking up from his newspaper.
"Please. I'm dying of boredom!"
"Still doesn't sound like my problem."
"I've never tailed anyone so boring in my entire life! All he does is go to work, go to his apartment building, work out in his building's gym, then sleep, then back to work! He is literally the most boring person in the entire world!"
Finn continued to browse the classifieds, unmoved by her plight.
"And there's no way to get into his apartment at all. Facial scanning at the entrance, keyless number locks on every door, you name it, they got it. The building has a better security system than the French National Bank!"
He raised an eyebrow at her as she shrugged and amended, "Okay, bad example. But still!"
"No way to do a button cam? Or drop a bug in his bag or something?"
"Nothing. He guards that bag with his life, and you should have seen the way he interrogated the last person who bumped into him. He lit into her like she was stealing the coat off his back - and she was 80 years old!"
She downed the rest of her latte, then banged her head on the table again. "So now I've wasted two weeks of my life for nothing. Can't even get in the door of the ground floor."
Finn paused, then folded up his newspaper. "What about the roof?"
"The roof?" Rey squinted at him.
"Yeah. If you can't go from the bottom up, why not try the top down?"
Frowning, Rey starting turning the problem over in her mind. "I mean, security is usually much weaker at the roof access, but I'm pretty sure someone would notice me scaling the side of the building. If there was a better angle, maybe I could…"
She looked up, eyes alight with an epiphany. "The apartment building!"
Tilting his head in confusion, Finn clarified, "The building you just said you couldn't climb?"
"No! The one next door! I guarantee you that they have cheaper places and an easier security system, living in the shadow of that metal monstrosity."
Standing up, Rey dropped a kiss on Finn's head and rushed off, shouting, "You're a genius!"
Finn laughed. "Glad you can finally admit it!"
…
In a fantastic stroke of luck, the apartment building next to Kylo's was currently undergoing a massive renovation, so sneaking up the stairwell to the roof was a breeze. All that was left to do was grab her crossbow out of storage, hook up a zip-line, then glide on over; admiring the view and her own brilliance at the same time.
The door into the stairwell only took a minute to disarm, and that brought Rey to her current position, laying on her stomach, head resting on her hands, waiting patiently in the 28th floor's air vent for Kylo Ren to come home from work. Checking her watch one more time, she wondered what was keeping him so late.
A ding from the elevator down the hall, followed by heavy footsteps and dark mutterings heralded his arrival, and Rey watched excitedly as he approached his door. The angle was off and it was too far for her to see the numbers on the lockpad, but she didn't need to.
Closing her eyes, she listened carefully to the sequence of tones as he punched in his code. As he jerked the door open and marched inside, Rey grinned in satisfaction and waited for him to change. Right on schedule, he stalked outside twenty minutes later in workout clothes (all black, of course. Did the man own anything in color?) and headed down to his apartment's gym.
As soon as the elevator started to move, Rey popped open the vent cover and skipped over to 1138's door, humming the lock sequence to herself as she pressed each number. The sound of the bolt unlocking set off a giant smile on Rey's face as she spun inside.
Quickly taking in the minimalistic design of the apartment, she set aside her initial observations (everything was so shiny! Who knew there was this much black plastic in the world?) and searched for the ideal place to plant her bugs. One went under the coffee table positioned between the couch and the tv, and the other she attached to the lip of the kitchen island counter.
Glancing around, she debated whether to add another one, then decided against it. The more there were, the greater the chance he would find one. Now, all she had to do was sit back and wait for her plan to come to fruition.
…
Another week passed, and from her perch in a semi-renovated apartment across the street (two floors up and one balcony over, but it still gave her a great view into Kylo's living room), Rey continued to be bored out of her mind as she tailed him, but this time with surround sound.
She was hours away from giving up the whole thing when an interesting tidbit of information tumbled into her lap. Kylo had (again) stormed home in a dark mood, then left for the gym, leaving his cell phone on the counter.
Rey perked up when it started to ring, using her binoculars to try and peek at the name on the screen to no avail. He hadn't gotten any calls in the whole time she'd been watching him, and it was starting to look like he had no friends at all, so this was a refreshing change of pace.
Kylo stalked in an hour later, made himself a protein shake, then listened to the voicemail (to Rey's great delight) on speakerphone.
"I hope for your sake that you've come up with something valuable for Snoke in the past 24 hours, you ungrateful cretin," an angry, masculine voice hissed, "or it will be my great pleasure to inform him about how utterly and pathetically worthless you-"
Rolling his eyes, Kylo stabbed a button and went back to his protein shake.
"Message deleted." The automated voice responded. "First skipped message:"
There was a soft, pained sigh, which oddly made Kylo freeze, then an older woman's voice came over the speaker. "Ben, it's your mother. I just wanted-"
Setting down his drink, Kylo ended the call, then gave the phone a long, unreadable look before he swept the phone into his bag and finished his drink, somehow even surlier than before.
Putting down her binoculars, Rey raised a curious eyebrow and grinned widely. "So, your real name is Ben, huh? Well isn't that fascinating."
...
Rose shook her head as she leaned back in her seat. "Nothing with his photo plus the name 'Ben'. It's almost like he's been scrubbed from the whole internet. Which, if anyone could do it, it'd be IYS."
Tapping her chin, Rey asked, "Do you have a… reverse aging thing?"
The look Rose gave her was no less than affronted. "A reverse aging thing? What am I, CSI?"
"Basically! You're a computer genius, I figured you could do anything!" Rey said with a bright, flattering smile.
Sighing and biting back a small grin, Rey pulled up a new window on her screen. "Okay, I might, might, have some leeway with my facial recognition to tweak the age, but it'll take time."
"That's okay!" Rey told her, then deflated a bit. "All I have is time."
Figuring she might as well do something useful until Rose finished tweaking her code, Rey headed to her dojo for the first time in weeks, excited to work out some of her nervous energy.
As soon as she stepped through the door, the owner turned his bright blue eyes towards her and greeted loudly, "Rey! So happy to see you! Metaphorically speaking, of course."
Smiling widely, Rey bowed in and called back, "Hello, Chirrut! Baze about?"
"Here, mei-mei." The larger Asian emerged from the supply room to give her a warm side hug, then shouted at his partner, "We all know you can't see! Stop making that joke."
"Humor is a sign of strength of character!" Chirrut responded, then tapped his bo staff twice on the floor, calling the chatting students to attention.
Snap, the oldest student, commanded from the front, "Line up!"
There was a brief shuffle as everyone sorted themselves according to rank, then they followed Snap's lead by bowing first to the front of the dojo, then to Chirrut.
"Onegaishimasu!" Chirrut said, and the chorus of eager voices repeated it back.
"Let us begin by awakening our muscles. Staffs behind the small of your back, hands stretched to hold out either side, and slowly turn back and forth."
There was a small "oof!" as one of the white belts incorrectly guessed how much space he needed between him and the adjoining student.
"We are warming our bodies, not attacking our neighbors," Chirrut rebuked kindly, patting the white belt on the shoulder.
"Sorry, Sensei."
"Overhead rotations! Reach, turn your forearms, then reach to the other side! Older students, work on fluidity and deep lunging. Remember, go slow to go fast," Chirrut told the class as Baze gently corrected some of the students' forms.
They were in the middle of sparring when it happened. Rey was blocking Jessika's strike when a shadow at the window caught her eye. She glanced over and gaped at the tall, looming figure dressed in black, carrying a take-out bag and staring at her like he had seen a ghost.
Rey was brought back to reality with a resounding thwack to her shoulder.
"Oh my God, Rey, I am so sorry! Are you okay? You just dropped your stance and I was already-"
"I'm fine, Jess, really, I just… need to go to the bathroom." Rey managed, then fled as quickly as she could, most of the other students whispering about how Rey never got hit, and what the hell had just happened?
Their confusion increased when a thud of dropped styrofoam boxes hit the pavement and a broad-shouldered man rushed into the dojo.
"That girl! Who is she?"
As the students all stopped and stared, Snap yelled, "Stop standing around! Lunge cuts, now! Deep as you can."
Chirrut paused, then swung around slowly, tapping his staff as if it were a cane on the dojo floor while effortlessly sidestepping the myriad of staffs spinning around him.
"Hello? Who is there?" He called out in what Baze liked to call his 'useless old man voice'.
"That girl who just ran out, brunette, 5' 9", I need to know her name!" Kylo shouted.
Swinging his staff so it 'accidentally' hit him in the leg, Chirrut blinked and gestured to his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, sir, but I am blind. I do not know who you are speaking about."
Grinding his teeth, Kylo pointed accusingly at Baze. "You! Tell me who she is."
Baze looked extra inscrutable, then deadpanned, "I am face-blind."
Growling, Kylo leaned in towards Chirrut, who was still blinking and turning his head as if trying to locate who was speaking.
"You listen to me, old man. I need to know who that girl is right now. She is a thief and a criminal and a menace to society. She's probably only casing the place to rob you, if she hasn't already. Now you tell me everything you know about her, or I'll-"
"Come back with a warrant?" Chirrut interrupted blithely, derailing Kylo's threat. "You see, you are not police, nor FBI, nor anyone else with any legal authority to demand anything."
"So you will leave. Now." Baze added, stepping forward and narrowing his eyes. "We will not ask again."
After glaring at both of them, Kylo growled in frustration and stormed off, slamming the dojo door behind him. The students watched him stomp away, then quickly refocused on their partners at Baze's commanding look.
Once all the students had bowed out and headed home, Snap cleaned the dojo mats and reorganized the equipment, then bid Chirrut and Baze a goodnight.
"How did you know he was not FBI?" Baze asked as he poured two cups of tea.
"Wrong kind of shoes. His squeaked like Oxfords, not combat boots." Chirrut answered, holding out his hand for the tea. After taking a long sip, he let out a satisfied sigh, then placed both hands on top of his staff and called out, "You can come down now, Rey."
There was silence, then a muffled thud as Rey lowered herself from the vent. "Sorry, Chirrut. I didn't mean to bring you guys any trouble."
Baze patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry about us, mei-mei. But should we be worried about you? He looked… determined."
Rey shook her head. "He's just some self-important insurance guy with an annoying habit of good guesses, that's all."
After giving her a skeptical look, Baze murmured, "Mm-hm."
"Thanks so much guys. Sorry again," Rey said, heading towards the back door.
"Be careful, Rey." Chirrut warned, halting her footsteps. "I sense his heart is full of darkness and turmoil. He hunts to hide his loneliness, and a man with nothing to lose is a dangerous predator."
Rey stared for a moment, then gave him a troubled nod before leaving.
Maybe he is dangerous. She thought as she shouldered her bag.
But so am I.
...
Kylo sighed and put down his binoculars, turning up the AC in his car. Nothing. He had staked out the dojo for a week and no sight of her at all.
Throwing the binoculars in the passenger seat with a bit more force than necessary, he turned off the car and went to get some lunch. They were halfway through their karate class, or whatever those old men were teaching, so there was little chance she'd show up now.
Shoving past the other people on the street, glaring at the few who pushed past him, he growled his order to the timid teenager behind the counter and slammed down his payment.
He had gotten nowhere, with no new robberies, no new post-it notes, no new anything to follow her trail. It was as if something else besides tormenting him was taking up her time. Night after night of staring at the same files, he had given up and gone to grab take-out at a new Chinese place.
And then, she was framed by the window as he walked past, as if she was a living advertisement for martial arts and haunting his dreams. He had been searching for any glimpse of her shadow, and Fate had dropped her practically in his lap.
Those worthless old men gave him nothing (probably criminals too, he thought viciously as he bit into his sandwich and made a face at the overflowing amount of mayonnaise.), so now he was stuck sitting in his car in the hot sun, waiting for her to reappear again. He hated feeling like she was a step ahead somehow. As if he only thought he was lying in wait, when really, she had already-
"Sam's Subs! Nice. Although, they always overdo it on the mayo."
He froze at her voice, then looked up slowly, taking in her long legs, crossed as she sat on the hood of his car, leaning back as if she owned it.
"You look surprised. You didn't see this coming?"
"You," he snarled, which only caused her to raise an amused eyebrow.
"Still don't know my name, huh? Gosh, that must be frustrating."
She swung her legs back and forth, kicking his car with a hollow thud and causing him to twitch at each impact.
"Get. Off." He growled finally, and with a little shrug, she hopped down and stood on the sidewalk, hands in her pockets as she watched him march past her to try and open his door.
Locked. Of course. And there she was, looking ever more pleased as he made a fool of himself. Should have just had his keys out before-
His keys. He fumbled in his pocket more frantically, only to hear a slight jingle from behind him.
"Looking for these?"
Reminding himself that he was in a public area, he turned on his heel and saw her holding out his keys with a wide grin.
"You should really be more careful with your things," she told him with a mischievous gleam in her hazel eyes. "Never know what could happen to them."
He reached out to grab them at the same time she pulled them away. "Ah ah ah, not so fast. You need to promise me something first."
His expression darkening, he snapped, "You are in no position to ask for any-"
"Leave Chirrut and Baze alone."
Pausing, he canted his head slightly. "Why should I?" He asked, intrigued despite himself.
"They don't have anything to do with my lifestyle. They're not involved in this, and I'd like to keep it that way."
Interesting. He hadn't found anyone she cared about before.
"And what if I don't? What if I haunt every friend you have ever had unless you give me everything you stole - Canady's gold, Krennic's art, all of it?"
Oddly enough, she didn't seem even slightly bothered. In fact, she almost looked bored.
"And the threats begin. First of all, all of the gold, the art, everything, is already gone. If I even took it. Hypothetically, of course. I fenced it before you even knew my name - oh wait."
Grinding his teeth, he took a step forward as she leaned nonchalantly against the wall. "I know you didn't have time to fence anything before I caught you at D'Qar. And again at Foss' house."
"But you technically didn't catch anything, did you?" She asked coyly. "And secondly, if you haunt everyone I know, which to you only means two martial arts teachers, then I'll have no choice but to let everyone in my profession know your name."
Kylo raised an eyebrow. "Everyone in your profession knows my name. I've hunted down more thieves and petty criminals than you'll ever know, and trust me when I say that you're next."
To his absolute shock, she started laughing. "Not that obviously fake alias, Kylo," she told him, "I mean your real name."
He froze, narrowing his eyes dangerously. "What?"
"You know. The name you've tried to bury. The name that's been nearly wiped from existence, because if anyone knows the power of names, it's you," She leaned forward and whispered mockingly, "Ben."
In a furious instant, he had slammed one hand into the wall next to her head and was gripping her shoulder so tightly his hand hurt. "Never say that name. Never."
Her face pale, eyes wide, she nonetheless lifted her chin in defiance as he felt a small prick near his chest. He looked down to see a small, but very, very sharp knife just catching the threads on his shirt.
"I gave you one scar already," she warned him quietly, the tremor in her voice barely noticable. "You won't like where I put the next one."
They stood there for a moment, eyes locked as he stared at her and wondered for the millionth time, who the hell was she?
How did she know his name? Why hadn't she told everyone already? Why wasn't she afraid of him?
Releasing his grip on her shoulder, he rested his weight on the hand near her head, fighting off whatever undercurrents were flowing beneath his adrenaline and anger. Trying to ignore how much she intrigued him, and knowing that this moment, where she was glaring at him in challenge, fighting past her fear, her hazel eyes staring through him, her face flushing as they both tried to measure their breaths, would almost certainly haunt his dreams as well.
After a few moments of watching her, and feeling the small point of the knife making her statement very clear, he took a slow step back, studying her as her shoulders relaxed an infinitesimal amount.
"Fine." He said at last as she returned the knife to its hiding place. "I'll leave your old men alone."
"That's all I'm asking."
"But trust me when I say that I don't need them to help me catch you. When you slip up, and you will," he leaned towards her with a low, menacing, "I'll be there."
The brunette raised an amused eyebrow. "Like all the times you've been ahead of me before?"
He opened his mouth to snarl at her when she tossed his keys in the air.
"Later, Ben!"
By the time he caught them and looked down the alley, she had vanished. Forcing himself to take a deep breath, he unlocked his car and turned it on, pulling out the small cell phone from his pocket and allowing himself a victorious smirk as he stared at the screen.
Clone complete
He sped down the road recklessly, weaving in and out of traffic and ignoring the angry horns around him.
"Let's see who's ahead now."