Blue Robin | S. Lang

Chapter Six

Kace was at work, so the day was hers and hers alone.

She leaned her head against the window and watched the rain fall down the glass. It was relaxing, and Rowe couldn't wait till the rain stopped so she could throw open the window and let the petrichor inside.

A smile pulled at her lips and she took another sip of her tea.

While things should be different, they should be strange, Rowe couldn't help but feel almost relaxed. Sure, there was that nagging voice in the back of her head that was screaming panic, the rest of her wasn't all that concerned. Scott seemed like a nice guy and he was a good hero. He wasn't going to turn her in, so what was the worry?

Rowe turned her head at the sound of a knock on the door and pushed herself up and walked towards the door so that she could answer it.

"Scott?" she asked in confusion as she stared at him on the other side of the threshold.

"Hi. I thought I'd actually knock this time," he joked.

"Haha," she said, rolling her eyes. "Uh, come in, I guess," she told him, gesturing him inside.

He went inside and stood awkwardly between the front door and the living room. Rolling her eyes, Rowe brushed past him and sat down on the sofa, waiting for him to do the same. It took a few minutes, but eventually he sat on the other end of the sofa from her.

"So, what do you want?" she asked him.

"Do I have to want something?" he defended.

"Yes," she said, smiling, "because the last two times we met were not exactly the beginnings of a friendship. The first time I scared the living daylights out of you and stole a USB back, and the second time I almost killed you. So yes, you do have to want something."

"You're smart, that's good," Scott said and Rowe rolled her eyes again.

"What do you want, Scott?" she asked him.

He sighed and dug into his pocket, then held something out to her. Her USB.

"You never took it back, at the diner, so I thought I'd hand deliver it to you since I am just that considerate," he told her as he pressed the USB into her open palm, ignoring the scoff from Rowe at his words.

"While I appreciate this, it doesn't explain why you're sitting on my couch," Rowe said.

"I do believe you invited me in," Scott retorted.

"I didn't invite you to my couch," Rowe shot back easily.

"Alright, I do have another reason for being here," Scott finally admitted. "The person I work with, or well, for, wants to meet with you. He was the one who had me tracking you down in the first place, trying to figure out who you were. Now, he wouldn't tell me why he wanted me to do this but I suspect it has something to do with a new mission that can't be done without your help."

"Oh really?" Rowe questioned, "then why doesn't your employer come here himself?"

"Because he doesn't know who you are."

For a moment, Rowe's mind blanked. The whole point of Scott tracking her down and learning her identity was for this mysterious employer and even after doing just that, he hadn't told him. Why? Why wouldn't Scott just tell him who she was?

"You didn't tell him about me?" she asked.

"No," Scott admitted.

"Why?"

"Because you may not have been okay with someone else knowing who you were and I didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

Rowe didn't know what to say to that. Despite being told explicitly to find out who she was and report back to his boss, Scott had disobeyed that order just because there was the possibility of her not being comfortable with someone knowing. There was a tight feeling in her chest as she and Scott stared at each other.

She swallowed and forced herself to speak.

"And what will you do if I am uncomfortable with that?" she asked him.

"I'll tell him that you weren't comfortable with a team mission and that I couldn't change your mind no matter what I said."

"And if I am comfortable with that?"

"I'd tell him and we would arrange a meeting."

"It'll be pretty hard to arrange a meeting when you don't know how to get in contact with me," she said, smirking.

Scott smiled, "I do know where you live."

"Well, it could be pretty inconvenient to have to cross town just to tell me a time and date. Having my number would be a lot easier, don't you think?" she asked, not breaking eye contact with him, despite the screaming voices in the back of her head.

His smile widened and he pulled his phone out of his pocket and gave it to her to put her number into, "and don't go putting spyware on that thing," he warned her, to which she replied with a sly grin.

Once he was gone, Rowe sank down on the sofa, her heart beating a mile a minute. She almost thought it would beat right out her chest if she didn't calm it soon. But she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

Maybe giving Scott her number was a bold move, but it felt right. And it's not like he wasn't attractive, he was. Maybe her doubts were coming from him having the opportunity to expose her and have her thrown in jail. She didn't know a lot about Scott. In fact, she knew virtually nothing. Aside from his secret life and his name, she really didn't know anything about him.

But that would just give her the perfect chance to get to know him on this mission thing. And even if the more she got to know him, the less likely an actual relationship got, that was fine. At this point of knowing him, she couldn't really have any sort crush or whatever on him. It was too early.

And if he never used her number for anything other than a working relationship, that was fine too. Maybe having a partner like Scott was just the thing she needed to keep Kace's worst nightmare from coming to life.

Maybe having a partner was exactly the thing she needed to keep from being caught.

Permanently.