Moment of Weakness

Low Profile

"So where did they go?" Rey asks, swirling her coffee in the mug.

"Back to Chicago to see if they can intercept the FBI and keep them from getting too much information," Vicrul explains.

"I cleared them doing this, not that I needed to, Qi'ra doesn't really report to anyone," Ben adds.

"For the time being, we're isolating here, not getting involved with anything, and keeping you two low profile."

"Why about clothes? I only had two days worth of clothes," Rey points out.

"Cardo and Ushar got Christie to help pack up some season-appropriate clothes for you since though two are clueless and she took Chewie with her," Ben tells her. "They'll be dropping off the clothes on the way to help Qi'ra since they're not needed here right now."

"Ah," Rey acknowledges and looks around the expansive yard. "So how long are we here for?"

"We don't have an exact plan, but we're thinking a minimum of a couple of weeks," Vicrul explains. "We need them to lose interest a touch before we can go back."

"We can work remotely, Christie is sending us manuscripts and will be communicating with us safely," Ben assures Rey, running his hand in small circles on her back.

"How do we know we can trust Christie though? What if she's just another Billie?" Rey counters.

"Because Phasma is one of us," Vicrul responds, fiddling with a pistol in his hands.

"What?" Rey whispers. "I don't understand..." she looks up at Ben.

"She works for us," Ben reiterates. "She is actually another Billie, but on our side. She's the one who found out Hux was a spy."

"Is there anyone who isn't involved?" Rey laughs, shaking her head in disbelief.

"There's plenty," Vicrul laughs.

"Crazy mob shit," Rey mumbles and rolls her eyes with a smile and elbows Ben.

—

Lying on his back, Ben stares at the ceiling over him and listens to the sound of Rey's breathing next to him. Her limbs twitch a little as she drifts off and her breath slowly evens out signifying she's asleep.

Waiting twenty more minutes until she's hopefully in deep sleep, Ben slips out of the bed as quietly as possible, slipping his jeans and sweatshirt back on, and going downstairs to meet Kuruk.

"She's asleep," Ben says to Vicrul as he laces his boots up, Kuruk waiting in the open door. "We'll hopefully be back by the time she wakes up."

"And if you're not?" Vicrul asks.

"We went for a drive and to get coffee," Ben says shrugging his coat on and ruffling his. "She's a deep sleeper, she won't be awake for a while."

"Weak excuse but okay," Vicrul mumbles and locks the door behind them as they sneak out.

Ben leans forward, attaching his phone to the mount on the dash with the GPS already set, noting the time on the dash that reads 12:10 am as Kuruk puts the car in drive and pulls down the long driveway.

—

Leia rolls over in her bed, glancing at the clock that reads 2:25 am and is casting a blue hue across the floor. The trees rustle outside the window and a few branches tap against the window.

The glass on her bedside table is empty, so she crawls out of bed, wrapping herself in her sweater and slipping her slippers onto her feet. The old stairs of the house creak as she walks down them carefully in the dark, the downstairs void of any sound.