Disclaimer: If Tortall, Terrier, and the characters were mine, Beka and Rosto would be together already, simple as that. That being said, it all belongs to Tamora Pierce. Except the plot idea. That part actually is mine...
This was written as a birthday present to my wonderful friend and writing partner Navigator101, as per her request. It is also a bit different for me, particularly in that there is little angst in it at all. And Rosto didn't die (which happens to be a trademark of mine, apparently). Hey, I've only killed him eighteen times or something. ANYWAY, this is an AU to Bloodhound, so none of that ever happened, and we do not have the stupid chipmunk (Dale Rowan) screwing things up. Beka is not partnered with Tunstall, and Goodwin is not a desk sergeant, she's still an active Dog. It's just fun Beka/Rosto banter and flirting, expanded from prompt #96 of Undeniable: Terrier.
So, I hope you all enjoy it, and most especially, I wish Star a very happy (and belated) birthday - I hope you like your present. Don't forget to review!
Beka was glaring at them with icy blue eyes. That seemed to be one of her favorite things to do. She was clad in civilian clothes for once – a green tunic and brown leggings instead of her usual black Dog uniform. Her dark blond hair was pulled back in a severe braid, her spike strap carefully woven into it.
Obviously, she was not in a good mood. She seemed to be glaring at no one in particular, but it was fairly obvious to the object of her annoyance that she was quite angry with him. Rosto was on his throne, laughing at something one of his rushers was saying. There was a girl sitting by the throne, but she was only there for show – not that anyone but Beka and Rosto knew that. It was a cruel thing for Rosto to lead her on, but he felt that it is necessary. It is a necessary façade for him. He was, after all, the Rogue.
He was also the man she chased halfway across the city the night before. And the one that she had caught, for all he had gotten away from her in the end. She had found every piece of weaponry on him. She knew where everything was.
Except that she didn't. She had watched him put everything in place enough times to know where everything was. But he still had a lock pick. She did not know where he kept it – she had checked everywhere she could think of, from the soles of his boots to his long blond horsetail. How he did it still amazed her. He was out of the irons she had had him put in and off running within moments.
Of course, she hadn't had anything she could pin on him to start with… It was a game for them. The two of them never stopped. They would bicker with each other – playfully, almost flirting – in the morning, then chase each other around in circles at night.
He caught her more than she caught him. He could get out of anything it seemed. He could manage to slip his wrists out of any rawhide she bound them in. He could get out of every set of irons she tried. He could pin her down and look at her until she couldn't breathe.
Beka hated it when he did that. At least, she thought to herself, he didn't do it where people could see. It was always dark alleyways where no one was looking. He would catch her and drag her in. Her partner could never figure out where she had gone. He only frowned at her when she caught up with him later, entirely out of breath. But he never asked. He knew something was going on between her and the Rogue, but he never said anything. What happened in their private lives didn't matter to him, so long as she did her work well on the streets. She was Tunstall and Goodwin's Puppy, after all. She was expected to be good. She was the Terrier.
And that was why everyone who looked into her eyes cowered at the sight of her as she glared at Rosto. Except for him. He looked at her every once in a while, but that was expected, when the Terrier was sitting in on the Court of the Rogue. He never cowered under her glare. Likewise, to her his gaze was absolutely stifling. It was so warm that she could not breathe.
She was trying her best to ignore it, but he was making it very difficult and she was even more annoyed by that. Rosto laughed again at something his rusher had said. Beka continued to glare at him. People were cowering around him, scared by the nasty looks she was sending in their vague direction.
It was a few moments later when Rosto extricated himself from the conversation to rise and walk over to where she sat.
"You're scaring my people, Cooper" he told her, his voice loud enough for anyone to hear. "Would you kindly stop or leave?"
"Why? If I sit here, then I can find something to pin on you so that I can arrest you," Beka replied in kind.
"You know you never will," Rosto responded, his dark eyes glittering at her. "I'm untouchable."
"Of course, the Rat-King on his throne must be. That means nothing, Master Piper," she said.
"Oh, but it does, Cooper. When the Queen of the Rat Catchers can't catch the 'Rat-King,' as you've called me, then no one can."
Beka's eyebrows rose as she looked up at him. "And who is this queen you're talking about?"
"You, Cooper," Rosto told her. "You can catch any of my rushers. You're good, Cooper. But I'm better. You'll never catch me."
"I'll catch you," Beka promised. "And then I'll make sure you don't know what's going on until you wake up in the cages," she added.
"Sure you will. When you can keep me in the cages for more than an hour, I'll pay you a gold noble," he retorted. He leaned closer to her then, lowering his voice so that only she could hear it. "I mean it, Beka. You're my queen. You're the only one who can catch me. That will never change." His eyes told her everything she needed to know, even as he smirked triumphantly at her. Beka allowed a look of outrage – false as it was – to slip over her face.
"I'll hold you to that, Piper," she told him. "That noble will be mine and you'll get to sit in the cages all night."
Rosto shook his head at her. "You wish. Now get out of here before I have my men drag you back to the cage you got out of."
"Have it your way," Beka replied coldly. "But I will get you, Rat. And then you'll be sorry."
Rosto ignored her, walking back toward his throne. By the time he looked at the door, he could see Beka disappearing out of it. No one knew that they would be meeting only hours later, or that nothing was more powerful than their love for each other.