A/N: NaNo broke me a little and I had to take a break after it. I finally started making some headway on the issues I had with my other series, but then this idea smacked me upside the head and dragged me off to its cave by my hair. So. :/

I'd really hoped to post something by the end of this month, though, so since it's not quite finished, it gets to be three chapters now.

Also, this is between one or two years pre-RA and in the same verse as all my other fics featuring these two.

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Chapter 1: Ruffled Feathers

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"Well, well, well. I thought I recognized that particular starship."

Why?

Rivet doesn't even need to look, but she squints from beneath the hand shading her face anyways, stomach sinking in dismay.

How?

Infuriating as ever, Pierre peers idly back down at her, leaning over the ship's railing with his head resting against a fist. "Though I must admit, I did not expect to find you quite so far from home."

She drops her hand, letting it ball up at her side, and fixes her tormentor with the full, unmitigated fury of her glare. "Why, have you started tracking me now?"

That seems to pique his interest.

"No. But now that you mention it, I love the idea." He straightens and turns to his crew with an enthusiastic snap of his fingers. "Is there anybody we can get on that? For I grow weary of these never ending encounters." Tilting his head back to Rivet, he taunts, "Why, ma petite chérie, one would almost begin to think you were following me."

She scoffs. "There is literally an entire galaxy out there. Can't you guys go find some other planet to invade for the day?"

Pierre pauses. Even from this distance Rivet can make out his scrutinizing look, and heart lurching, she glares at him harder, in the hopes that it'll be enough to hide her mounting apprehension.

"Such impudence is unbecoming of you, Rivet." Then, voice laden with suspicion, he continues, "Tell me. What are you truly doing here?"

Today of all days. Here of all places. And with the continual pointing out of her presence, each instance more accusatory than the last. It feels far too contrived to be a mere coincidence.

She juts a thumb over her shoulder. "I was on my way to meet with the vullards here. I didn't realize I needed to sign off with you first."

It's the truth, if only by half. Unfortunately, their intel had been less than stellar, and outside of a target, a day, and a general location, she'd been otherwise left to her own devices. So. Picking the brains of the nearby locals is the best she'd come up with.

"Vullards." He draws the word out in revulsion. "You expect me to believe you traveled all this way to deal with the vullards?"

"Well, you've already looted everyone back home, so I don't see why not."

Eying her reproachfully, he taps his fingers against the railing. Then, with a woebegotten sigh that already has Rivet rolling her eyes, he holds a hand to his chest and says, "And here I thought I was your go-to whenever you found yourself in need. But alas, you did not even come to me before running around behind my back. I am hurt."

Not yet, he isn't. But that's likely to change if he doesn't hurry it up and move along. Her lips press together and her ears twitch and that twinge of worry inside of her swells with every second wasted placating him. She doesn't have time for this. There's no telling when the Emperor's forces will finally arrive.

"Look," she huffs, and it's a bad idea. She knows it's a bad idea. But what choice does she have at this point? She gestures in the direction of the town. "I'm going to see the vullards. You guys…do whatever it is you're doing out here. Let's just agree to stay out of each other's business for once."

For a moment Pierre almost looks open to the suggestion, but he about-faces just as quickly. "As compelling a proposal as that is, my darling troublemaker, I am afraid I must decline the offer. I cannot allow the risk of you getting in my way this time. I trust that you understand."

Oh, she understands alright. Any and all doubts she'd had about his reasons for being on Lumos fly right out the window. If his intel is the same as hers, though, then he knows there isn't a ton of time to squander on her. She'll just have to give them the ole runaround until Pierre finally abandons the chase.

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"Come, now, Rivet. It does not have to be this way between us."

Ugh. If his voice isn't grating enough at normal volumes, its amplification is all but unbearable. She's seriously feeling the beginnings of a migraine.

Speaking of.

Rivet lets out a soft exhale and turns her attention back to the sniper rifle spread across her lap. It's jammed. Again. She bumps it up to the top of her mental list of weapons to have Ms. Zurkon look over. Don't even get her started on where the money for that little expenditure is going to come from.

Maybe Quantum was onto something when he left to become a pirate.

Giving up for the time being, she pokes her head around the boulder she'd been using for cover. Her gun may be out of order, but the scope still works, so she puts it to good use. At least ten ships weave their ways throughout the canyon, and most likely, there's another ten or so further on out.

Surprisingly, Pierre sails alone, in a dinghy that's much closer to her position than she'd like for it to be. But no sooner does she catch sight of him than the hull of an even nearer ship passes through, blocking him from her view and forcing her to duck away.

Pressing her back against the boulder, she grits her teeth, glaring down at the rifle like this whole mess is its fault and its fault alone. Why she'd ever thought accepting this job was a good idea, particularly at a time when she'd known full well that she'd been suffering from a rash of equipment failures, is anybody's guess. And unless she can figure this out now, she's down to two options: a blaster and her hammer. A real winning combo against dozens of gigantic robot pirates and their ships.

When playing out her fantasies of wringing Pierre's neck on it fails to result in anything productive, Rivet smacks the rifle around a few times with the heal of her metal hand. Something inside of it shifts, subtle but unmistakable, and she freezes, hardly daring to hope.

Time to test it out.

She contemplates her options, lips twitching slightly as she settles on her favorite. It'll be a tough shot for sure, but she's mostly confident she can pull it off. It might even be enough of a show of skill to convince him to let her be.

After another quick once over, just to confirm that she hadn't done any damage to it, she takes another peek. Even without the scope, her eye is drawn to Pierre's ship instantly. A little closer than before, but not so much that she worries he'd spot her if he happened to look this way. Carefully, she props the barrel up on the rock and makes herself comfortable.

With her quarry in her sights, Rivet zooms it in as far as it'll go, indulging in a nigh inaudible laugh at the look of intense frustration painted over his features. She's never gotten to see that in quite this level of detail before. But the resulting movement, however miniscule, is enough to throw off her aim, so she dials it back and tries again.

Does he have to be so animated all the time? She hadn't considered how long she'd have to wait him out, not only for the perfect position to present itself, but for him to pause long enough for her to take advantage of it. Despite the fact that more often than not, he drives her completely insane, Rivet doesn't want to hurt him. She just wants to spook him a little bit. Make him take her seriously for a change. So it'd be really great for the both of them if he'd just. Stop. Moving.

By the time he finally stills, looking thoughtfully out in the distance somewhere to her rear, her muscles are aching with the effort of not moving. She takes as deep a breath as she can without losing her target again and forces herself to relax. Slow breath in. Steady on the way out. Gently squeeze the trigger…

The shot cracks out across the canyon, followed by an even more deafening squawk. Pierre's mic shrieks before cutting off, but a quick glance shows he's fine. Grinning, Rivet plops back down behind cover.

"I…uh…" He sounds dazed and a little bit rattled when his mic picks back up. "You…missed?" But his attempt to mock her is half-hearted at best, and the nervous laugh that accompanies it doesn't do him any favors.

Unable to contain herself, she yells out, "You sure about that? Check again!" Since her cover is blown anyways, she holds up her rifle and turns to watch.

Alarmed, Pierre examines himself, hands running over his torso and arms until at last he sees it, floating down toward the deck after being dislodged from its resting place on his shoulder. Without looking away, he reaches for his hat, and the moment his fingers come in contact with the new, blunted end of its feather, his expression morphs from stunned senseless to utterly incensed.

"Ohoho…you." Swiping up the decapitated length of feather at his feet, he brandishes it in her general direction. "So that is the game we are playing, now, is it? Very well, Rivet. I will make certain you come to regret that." He turns and calls out to his nearest mateys, but with the mic cut off, his words are rendered entirely indistinguishable.

Recognizing her cue to bail, Rivet climbs to her feet, storing the rifle away with her glove for now. She's kept to the high ground up to this point, but she's thinking it's probably about time for something a little different. Pausing at the nearest ledge, she peers down into the rocky valley below. The slope is steep, but she can already hear the ships converging on her location.

Welp. There's only one way to find out if it's manageable or not. Shoulders slumping, she sighs.

"This is gonna suck."

Then, bracing herself for a rough landing, Rivet jumps.

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A/N: These two are absolutely ridiculous when they get together, and I will never not be for it.