The October air is brisk and Rey shoves her hands into the pockets of her peacoat as she walks, her eyes obscured by sunglasses, and her collar flipped up to her chin to block the wind. Vicrul walks next to her quietly, in his typical black pants and black shirt, with the addition of his black Ray-Bans and dark grey dress coat.
Cars rush past them on the bridge and the air is heavier with moisture than in the heart of the city from the water below them. Rey had received anonymous communication of someone wanting to meet with her privately, without Ben or anyone knowing. For protection, she had told Vicrul and made him swear he wouldn't speak of the meeting to anyone.
Her heels click on the cement below her feet, barely audible over the sound of the cars on the bridge. They don't speak to each other, just wordlessly walk, their pace rapid, and eyes trained straight ahead, occasionally turning to view the water below.
They approach the marker on the bridge that she had been told to meet at and Rey slows, observing the faces of the patrons passing her, none of them recognizable, but maybe that was the point, this was likely someone she didn't know.
Vicrul stands near her possessively, his eyes scanning the faces as well. Rey has become like his little sister in the 9 months he has been working as her bodyguard. She's spunky and snappy, not to mention caring, always looking out for him and the rest of the guys. He appreciates her and becomes even more protective when Ben isn't present, making him the sole person responsible for keeping her safe. Not that he thinks she isn't capable of protecting herself, she has successfully gotten away from him multiple times now, but it was the added security of being near that made both him and Ben feel better.
Rey takes a few steps forward, glancing up at Vicrul as she turns and looks at more faces. A man leans against the railing in a brown leather jacket layered over a white shirt and light blue jeans, his face turned out towards the water away from her, and his grey hair rustling in the wind.
Rey walks towards him, wondering if this is who her meeting is with, the sound of her heels alerting him to her presence and he turns, revealing his structured face, prominent nose, and the same eyes as Ben. "Mr.Solo," Rey says timidly, shoving her hands in her pockets and stopping in her tracks, Vicrul behind her.
"Hi Rey," Han says turning towards them and placing his own hands in his pockets. He looks up at the man behind Rey and nods, "how's it's going, Vic?"
"Hi Solo, been a while," Vicrul says politely. "I'll be over there," he mumbles to Rey and walks a little ways away, giving them room to talk privately. Both Han and Rey watch Vicrul walking away, the tension between them overwhelming. The last time she had seen Ben's father, he had been forceful, almost rude, insisting that he speak to his son despite Rey's frantic attempts to get him to leave.
"So," Rey turns back to him, sizing him up, noticing the subtle similarities between him and Ben still. "What do you want to talk to me about that's so important."
"I heard you and Ben are new Captains under Palpatine," he says, leaning against the railing of the bridge and crossing one leg over the other like Ben does when he leans against his desk.
"If that's what you heard," she says cooly, not letting onto anything.
"Right, 'trust no one,'" he laughs, looking down at the ground. "You know I taught him that," he looks back up at her, one eyebrow raised and eyes squinting in the bright morning light.
Rey doesn't say anything, just continues to look at him, her hands clenched tightly in her pockets from stress. The wind kicks up, blowing her hair across her face and she releases her left hand from her pocket to tuck it back behind her ear and under her coat's collar. Han's eye is immediately drawn like a bug to a light to the flashy ring on her finger and she shoves her hand back in her pocket to hide it.
"I'm guessing that's from my son?" He asks, his eyes crinkling up at the corner.
"Yes, in fact, it is," she confirms.
"At least he has good taste when it counts. Can't say much about some of his previous choices."
Rey stares at him, trying to figure out how he knows about the women Ben has been with in the past if he really hasn't been around much over the years.
"You're not a chatty one are you?" He asks, running his eyes around her face.
"Not overly no," she says blankly again and he nods, laughing lightly again.
"Look, I called you here to warn you," Han says once he realizes she isn't going to hold a casual conversation with him. "I knew Ben wouldn't see me because our last meeting wasn't great and that Vicrul wouldn't rat me out. He's always been a little different than the rest of them," he chuckles, staring off into the distance. "You should know though, Leia is now your enemy."
"Excuse me?" Rey asks, her eyebrows scrunching together and her eyes narrowing. Leia was like her mother, had been for years, what does he mean that she's the enemy?
"My wife is the leader of an anti-crime group that works directly with the police force and FBI to shut down the mobs."
"Ironic," Rey muses, a small smirk trying to peek through.
"You can laugh," he chuckles. "For some reason, she never divorced my ass, but instead started a group to come after me and others in this world."
"Seems like a Leia thing to do," Rey says, a little calmer now.
"You got that right," Han agrees. "I'm not saying she's going to turn you in specifically, but I'm sure she'll use any information she can get out of you."
"Does Ben know this?"
"I tried telling him, it didn't go well," Han sighs. "When I came to the office in December, that's when I found out. He accused me of trying to push him away from his mother after they finally fixed their relationship. It was pretty ugly."
"He wasn't doing great after you left that day, but he would hate it if he knew I told you that."
"He's more like me than he wants to admit. That solo ego is a fragile one," he mumbles starring at the ground and Rey observes the sadness in his tone and his face speaking about his son. "How is he by the way?"
Rey chews on her lip for a second, thinking about what she can say without saying too much.
"He good, busy with work as always," Rey says simply. "I've moved in with him and Chewie," Han perks up at the mention of the dog.
"I miss that dog, I only had him for a year but he was a good dog," Han smiles.
"He's pretty great," Rey agrees glancing over at Vicrul who is watching them. "So are you back?" Rey asks, knowing she should push for information.
"You're a smart one," he laughs and points at her. "I'm glad I could meet my future daughter in law, but I should be going," Han pushes off from the railing. "Vic," he nods and reaches out to take Rey's hand. He bends forward and kisses the back of her hand and Rey freezes. "See ya, sweetheart," he winks and walks away, leaving Rey standing alone.
She watches him walk away, his hands in his pocket, his gate steady and exactly like what Ben looks like when he walks.
"What was that?" Vicrul asks over her shoulder and she jumps from not being aware of his proximity.
"I'm not sure," Rey mumbles and looks up at Vicrul. "We should go, Ben is going to get suspicious about where we are soon."
—
Back at the office, Rey walks between all of the workers who are still working on putting the finishing touches back together after it was destroyed two weeks ago. Ben works in his office, his head ducked behind his computer like normal and oblivious to the activity out in the main office.
Rey pushes the new door to the office open slowly after removing her coat and Ben's head pops up from behind his computer.
"Hey, where've you been?" He asks, still clicking on his computer, his hair falling evenly on both sides of his face, and his glasses resting on his nose.
"I forgot something at home and didn't realize until I was almost here," Rey lies.
"What's that?" Ben asks, not looking up at her but reading something on the screen.
"My underwear," Rey smile, and Bens eyes flick up to her, his lips twitching slightly.
"Oh?" He mumbles, leaning back and chewing on his pen cap, his eyes moving down her body in slow-motion.
"Yep. But the issue has been resolved," Rey says, opening her tablet up and avoiding his eyes, glad that teasing conversation is helping to distract him from asking for the truth.
"That's a shame," he smirks, still chewing on the pen and raking his eyes up and down her body.
"So today you have two meetings in the afternoon in the conference room and a call with your mother and the Chicago senior editor," Rey says professionally, ignoring her clearly aroused fiancé on the other side of the desk.
"Is that all?" He asks, still smirking at her.
"It is," she agrees.
"Excellent," Ben stands up from his desk, smoothing his pants out on the front, and Rey feels just like she did the first week she worked here, watching walk slowly towards him eying her up. "I want you to read this, make notes, and don't go easy on them," he says handing her a fresh manuscript.
"Why?"
"You have potential, and Christie wants to see it," he leans on his desk and grabs her free hand. "I can't promote you as an editor, but Christie can send your work to the Chicago Senior editor Ami, and she can."
"Ben, I," Rey starts.
"Look, if you don't want to be an editor and you're happy as a personal assistant, I'll back off, but you are talented. You'll go far as an editor and it would be a shame to waste that opportunity."
"Are you sure?"
"The comments you made in my book were so advanced and I haven't forgotten about it, you deserve a chance Rey," he squeezes her hand.
"I love you," she whispers, squeezing his hand back in return.
"I love you too," he whispers back. "Now get reading, you have a lot of work ahead of you."
"Yes sir," she responds with a grin and a wink and Ben catches her eyes, their eye contact heavy and lustful until she breaks it and turns on her heels to saunter out of his office.
She sits down in her desk, fighting the smile on her face as she looks down at the manuscript. It's clear that Ben has already gone through the manuscript, leaving a few of his own small markings but only a few notes. This is her chance, a chance she had never really thought of before, but the idea of it is exciting and she plans to at least try. Ben believes in her, so there's obviously something there even if she doesn't fully see it yet.