Chapter Text
Three to six months after the Benedict job in Vegas, Rusty went to pick up Danny and his personal belongings.
He would never say it out loud but he resented this task. But it was Danny. He’d do anything for Danny, including pick up his ex ex-wife.
Tess had been hiding out in San Francisco for a few weeks. She was being followed by Terry’s men, that much she knew, but she didn’t really consider herself in danger. Rusty disagreed with that sentiment.
However, this was for Danny. Rusty bucked up, got in his piece of shit car that he loved, and drove to California.
He drove to California two weeks early.
This Rusty couldn’t explain. He could rationalize it as protecting Tess from Terry. He could say that he wanted to make sure she actually showed up for Danny but to be honest, he just drove without thinking.
He thought about turning around a hundred times before parking in her driveway but he couldn’t. It’s not like he hated the poor woman. He actually liked her. She’s incredibly nice, smart, and pretty. She makes Danny better. Rusty appreciates that.
He just can’t stand how Danny acts around her. He can’t stand that she let him win her back. He knows she won’t stick around.
More than anything, he hated Danny being serious about a life he wasn’t in.
Yet, he knocked on Tess's door. Tess took a minute before opening the door. She looked him dead in the eyes, suspicious and a little afraid.
Rusty just sighed and held up his car keys. “Wanna go for a ride?”
Tess sighed too. “When is he getting out?”
“Two weeks from tomorrow.” Rusty replied.
“You're early then.” Tess said.
Rusty just nodded.
“Come in. Let me pack a bag.” Tess walked off as she finished. She left the door open, top gun style.
He walked in.
***
Rusty sat uncomfortably on Tess’s very stiff leather couch. He popped a piece of gum into his mouth and was trying to chew quietly.
He took in his new surroundings. Tess’s little house was sparse. He knew she was subletting and wasn’t planning on sticking around but even so, there was little indication that anyone lived here.
There were clothes in her closet, bath supplies in her bathroom, and leftovers in her fridge. There wasn’t any art on the walls. Maybe she was more afraid of Terry than she let on.
She certainly wasn’t getting comfortable in her new life.
And now Rusty was here to take her away from it. He fidgeted with his hands as the guilt set in.
Twenty minutes later, Tess walked out of her bedroom with a large brown leather duffel bag.
“Let’s go.” She said.
***
The silence in the car was tense. Too tense. Rusty never did well with dealing with complicated relationships and oh boy was Tess complicated.
He was starting to get the feeling that she hated him.
He needed to break the ice somehow. A sign on the highway provided an opportunity to do just that.
They had just gotten on the highway. They had barely gone two exits before Rusty couldn’t take it any longer.
He pulled into a McDonald’s drive through once he was off the exit ramp.
“You really are always eating, huh?” Tess asked.
Rusty smiled a little and nodded. “What are you having?”
“Oh nothing.” Tess replied. It was one in the afternoon. She had eaten lunch an hour and a half ago. She wasn’t particularly hungry.
Rusty pulled up and ordered a cheeseburger, a large fry, a coke, and an Oreo McFLurry.
He pulled up to the next window, paid, and collected his food quickly. He situated his drink in a cup holder with his fries next to it and held the burger in his hand.
He gave her the McFlurry.
He saw the skeptical look in her eyes. “Don’t protest. I know you like ice cream.”
She smiled slightly and grabbed the spoon out of the takeout bag.
Rusty started driving again.
After about five minutes of quiet chewing, Tess tilted her head to the side.
“How did you know that I like ice cream? Danny?” She asked.
“I pick up on things. Paying attention is a big part of my job. You served vanilla ice cream with the cake at your wedding. Danny only likes the chocolate ice cream that tastes like chemicals so ergo the ice cream was your idea. You also had it twice at dinner with Terry when we were on the job.” Rusty explained.
He had always just known things about people, small things, but it didn’t make sense to him or to anyone else until he tried to explain it. He just knew she liked ice cream. He had to go back through his memories to figure out what gave him that piece of information.
“Interesting. I thought you were the person that organizes everything to make Danny's ideas work.” Tess replied.
“I am,” Rusty agreed. “But to have things run smoothly, you need to know a lot about everyone involved in whatever job you're pulling.”
“So you were watching me in Vegas just as much as you were watching Terry?” She asked.
“Sort of. We had a kid, Linus, tailing Terry and as soon as he reported that you were with Terry, I started following you and had the kid follow Danny.” He answered nervously. It was odd to talk to someone that you had sort of stalked.
“Why were you watching Danny?” She was very curious about everything relating to Danny and Vegas.
“I wanted to make sure he would focus on getting the job done as much as he would focus on you. He pulled off both eventually but I knew he spent more time trying to get you back than he did on anything else.” Rusty tried not sound bitter as he told Tess what she deserved to know. If he was her, he’d have a million questions too.
After a brief hesitation, Tess asked the question that had been weighing on her mind ever since she found out Danny was a thief.
“Can you tell me more about Danny?”
Rusty gritted his teeth. “What do you want to know?”
She had a list. “Was he robbing my gallery when we met? How did you two meet? What were his previous relationships like? Was he serious about me?”
“Okay, one at a time.” Rusty started. “Yes, he was planning on robbing you but he abandoned the job when he met you and instead put that energy into robbing one of your competitors. He stole a lesser known Monet from them.”
“As for how we met, we grew up together. We met in middle school; I moved into his neighborhood. He was a couple of years older and already a master at stealing small items. I was cheating other eleven year olds at cards. We crossed paths and started working together.” He continued.
He didn’t know how to answer the next question. “You should ask him about his ex's yourself.”
Finally, “Yes. He was always serious about you. He just wasn’t serious about giving up his life.”
“You were there, you could tell me about his relationships.” She pushed.
He sighed again. “He didn’t ever really commit to anyone. He dated people for a few months at a time in high school. Had one night stands when he wanted too. Dated people for cons but he never stayed with anyone long.”
“He dated people for cons?” she repeated, slightly stunned.
“It’s a good way to distract someone. He’s handsome. People try to sleep with him constantly.” Rusty tried not to flinch as Tess absorbed the realities of his job. Danny used people. Tess was purposely ignorant to that side of Danny.
“What about the people he worked with? It seems like it would be easier to date someone in the same line of work.” She hit the nail on the head with that one.
“Not dating. He slept with one of his coworkers when he felt like it. That went on for a while.” Rusty replied, attempting to sound casual.
Tess took a bite of her ice cream before continuing. “Was there ever an overlap? Did he sleep with anyone else while we were together?”
“I’m sorry Tess. Danny considered his life with you completely separate from his job. It’s like there were two of him. One that was fully committed to you. One that slept with that coworker occasionally.” Rusty replied.
She looked out the car window. “I don’t know why I’m upset. I knew. Of course I knew. I just didn’t want to think about it.”
“Don’t blame yourself for that. There’s a lot you can overlook with someone like Danny.” Rusty tried to comfort her.
“Thanks Rusty.” She gave him a little smile. They both knew it wasn’t genuine but it was progress.
***
The rest of the day’s drive was fairly easy. Sure, it was still quiet but the silence was punctuated with conversations about art and what Danny was like as a kid.
It was significantly more comfortable than where they started this morning.
Eventually, it hit dinner time.
“What do you want for dinner? Italian, Mexican, Chinese?” Rusty asked.
They were in Salt Lake City now and there were a decent amount of options.
“Chinese. If that’s alright with you?” Tess answered.
“Works for me.” He thought it was an uncharacteristic choice for her. He expected something a little more refined but he liked Chinese so he brushed it off and hung a quick right turn into a parking lot. He knew a good spot right nearby.
The pair had a quick dinner in a dingy little building. The restaurant was about fifty years old and probably hadn’t been updated since it opened but the food was delicious. They split some potstickers and Tess got noodle soup. Rusty ate a full plate of General Tso’s.
“There’s a clean hotel a few minutes down the road.” Rusty said as dinner was wrapping up.
Tess froze for just a second before nodding. She had been avoiding thinking about actually spending an extended amount of time with Rusty.
They got to a small hotel, some mom and pop local chain, about fifteen minutes after they left the restaurant.
Tess watched as Rusty smiled at the bored, middle-aged woman at the front desk. He certainly could be charming when he wanted to be.
He came back a minute later with two sets of keys. “I got adjoining rooms. It would be safer for us to share but I doubt you’d be a fan of that idea. We are being tailed though. Don’t forget that.”
Tess nodded and grabbed her key.
“Let me check out your room real quick. You might need an extra lock.” Rusty followed her down the hall to her room.
Tess watched as Rusty checked over the room for cameras, drew the shades, and fiddled with the lock on the door. She watched as he pulled out a small padlock from his pocket and looped it through the lock already on the door. He handed her the key.
“You should be good tonight. If you see anything or feel something off, knock on our door. I’ll be right through there.” Rusty said seriously.
“Thank you.” Tess replied, suddenly very grateful. This was the first time she’d really felt safe in months.
“Goodnight Tess.”
“Goodnight Rusty.”