Thief (of my heart)

Chapter 7

AUTHORS NOTES:

I'M SO SORRY

Basically, I have had anemia for months. I pretty much slept for 12-16 hours a day for months. Any time I was awake, I was adulting and parenting.

I'm finally on a supplement that is working.

I finally had the energy and mind space to write again. I basically typed this out an hour ago, didn't edit it, have no beta. Just typed it and yeeted it into the atmosphere.

So, I apologize for any errors

  🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗

Chapter 7:

A bad part of town.

Ben drives, well aware that his TIE sticks out like a sore thumb. A very expensive, very shiny sore thumb.

He can't worry about it. He's on a mission.

Every other street corner hosts a suspicious air of humanity. Sometimes a single person, head hung low, hood drawn tight. Sometimes it's a duo, swapping no-telling-what between themselves. More often than Ben is comfortable with, a female stands, hand on hip, eyeing his Silencer with some hope of him stopping, inquiring of her talents. He continues on, until he sees the dilapidated sign, Plutt's Auto Repair.

A high fence circles the dust bowl excuse of a yard, not a blade of green to be seen. No shrubs or trees or even a potted plant are found here. Just dust and dirt and grime covered, broken down vehicles surround the dirty mobile home in the center. The thing must be decades old, rust nearly eating through the sides. Lean-tos attach to each side and off the back, various cars poking out from underneath, hoods raised. A rotted deck protrudes from the front, looking hazardous to even stand on.

Ben pulls into the yard, eyeing for any movement. Light flickers in various muted colors inside a dirty window, undoubtedly a TV lighting up a dark room.

No one appears to be outside, not surprising, considering the late hour.

Ben had followed Poe's vehicle, from a considerable distance, all the way to the police department. He'd watched closely as Rey was taken inside, her face swollen from her tears, her body shaking in a combination of fear, uncertainty and fatigue. Poe was kind, as far as from what Ben could see.

He watched until she disappeared inside, thankfully without the cuffs. Poe must've changed his mind about using those. It made Ben breathe a little easier. It was hard enough seeing her like this, adding her cuffed wrists to the equation would've made the sight much more difficult.

As he made his way to what was now her former home, he thought about what and why he was doing this. The simple answer was that it was the right thing to do, searching for her beloved pet to ensure its well being.

Recompensation. Fixing his wrongs. Putting things right. Making up for past mistakes. All of that, maybe more.

The more difficult answer was one he was trying not to dwell on. Her face flashed through his mind, her simple but angry beauty, quickly there but promptly shoved away. He wouldn't think on that. On her.

Especially with such an important task at hand. Searching every inch of the property with his eyes, he soon spots a lump of fur, wound tight into a tiny ball. It lies in the dirt, a chain trailing from it to a flat tire attached to a sad excuse of a vehicle. The slight movement of a tail is what catches his eye. One, then two thumps in the dust, a cloud of dirt stirred up into the air.

Ben watches as a head emerges, light catching in dull, tired eyes. Face turned towards him, towards his Silencer. Two more thumps, more dust and then the lump appears to be shaking with excitement.