Moment of Weakness

Deal

"Ow fuck!" Vicrul shouts as he grabs his nose and backs up from Rey at the counter, his eyes starting to water from the sharp impact. Kuruk and Ben rush out of Ben's office quickly in response to Vicrul's outburst, looking between the two of them, Rey standing with her arms crossed, and Vicrul holding a paper towel under his nose, his eyes now visibly watering.

"What happened?" Ben asks, walking towards them trying to read the air, Rey looking royally pissed and watching Vicrul walk around the island with her eyes narrowed.

"I think she thought I was trying to attack or something and she broke my fucking nose," Vicrul yells and sits down at a stool. "I was just trying to grab a glass from the cupboard in front of her."

"I told you not to sneak up on me," she snaps at him. "That's on you dude."

"Stand down Rey," Ben says as he walks past her and mouths 'good job' at her before getting out an ice pack and wrapping it in a dishtowel.

"When did you learn that? That was a fluid motion and solid hit," Vicrul says as he sets the ice pack on his face and leans forward on the counter.

"Before the Gala last week. We didn't know what we were getting into," Rey says as she goes back to mixing up the iced tea she was making.

"That's fair," Vicrul says as he turns and looks at Kuruk who is laughing at him. "What?"

"Nothing," Kuruk chuckles. "Rey just keeps putting you in your place and it's funny seeing you get your ass handed to you by someone half your size."

"Har har," Vicrul rolls his eyes and Rey snorts. "So what are y'all going to do?" He asks Rey and Ben and they look at each other.

"We haven't exactly discussed it," Ben shrugs. "I guess we should do that?"

"Yeah probably," Rey agrees as she pours her tea into her tumbler, looking at him over the island. Both Kuruk and Vicrul watch them with intrigue, hoping to maybe get more information.  

"Let's go talk," she says as she walks to the bedroom leaving the guys in the kitchen.

"Sorry Vic," Ben says with a laugh as he claps his hand on Vicrul's shoulder and follows Rey down the hallway.

"Okay, so what...." Rey says as soon as he walks into the bedroom and Ben interrupts her by putting his finger to her lips.

"In here," he says simply and motions for her to follow him into the bathroom. Rey rests against the tub watching Ben as he turns both sinks, the tub, and the shower on full blast before also turning the small radio that sits on the counter on. "Just in case, this will hopefully drown our voices out," he says as he comes to sit by her. Rey steps into the tub with a couple of inches of water pooling on the bottom and sits down on the other side of the edge with her back to the wall, and Ben turns so he's facing her from the exterior wall of the tub.

"So what do we do?" Rey asks once they're both settled and their feet rest in the warm water next to each other.

"We need to find a way out," Ben answers not sure what else to say.

"Well, obviously, but like how?" Rey stares down at the water and thinks, listening to the sound of the rushing water.

"So I started working on something while you were in Chicago, and I don't want you to get mad at me for hiding something, because I haven't met with this person since you've returned."

"I won't get mad," Rey confirms and waits for him to continue.

"I started working with Billie on an article exposing everything."