To Steal the Heart of a Thief {Pokemon Ranger Fanfiction} (Pokemon Watty Awards 2015)

Chapter 39: A Price Paid

(Third Person POV)

Post-Operation Brighton: one week later.

"...and here I almost thought you'd be thrilled that you finally caught me after all these years." She changed the subject for the fourth time now, trying to avoid answering the same question that the man pressed like a broken record. Her eyes swam about, half of her mind wandering to how everyone was coping with this.

Looker was growing even more impatient with each passing second that she kept stalling. "Miss Deveraux, do you deny your crimes?"

The brunette lazily looked up from her lap at the very same Interpol Officer that had been gunning for her for nine years. Just like before, she was sitting there bored in the shadow-kissed interrogation room, once again handcuffed to the table. She couldn't help but feel that she was just doing this once before a little over a week ago. And she laughed a bit to herself, earning a crooked stare.

Looker impatiently leaned forward, resting his hands on the table. "Miss Deveraux, do you understand what you're being accused of?" He looked into her hollow eyes one more time with only a shred of sympathy regarding her age. "Countless thefts and robberies, break-ins, conspiring with corrupt government officials, firing an unregistered weapon in a building filled with civilians, illegally smuggling weapons across region borders and then dealing them... The list just goes on and on, Miss Deveraux."

Rena just leaned back in her chair tiredly, crossing her arms with an exasperated sigh. "Oh, is that all?"

She had actually done so much more, and she was almost a little smug they didn't discover all of her past crimes.

This retort only set off the international officer once again, causing a thin vein to pulse from his forehead. "Miss Deveraux." Looker's voice was more stiff and aggravated as he spoke her name through clenched teeth. "Do you misunderstand how serious your situation is?"

"No, not at all." Rena stopped leaning her chair back, letting the metal chair make a loud thud as it hit the ground. She knew couldn't dodge his question for much longer. So she casually watched everything she and her father built slip away with only one regret, "I don't deny any of it. I did everything that you accuse me of."

The graying officer seemed surprised by her sudden compliance, certainly not expecting this from her.

He quietly slipped a piece of parchment across the table towards Rena with his fingertips, then handed her a blue pen. "Then will you sign this confession, admitting your crimes?"

"Only if you abide by my requests." Rena raised an eyebrow at him, holding all of the good cards in her hands.

He was a little aggravated at that, and his voice tightened down in the pit of his throat as he strained to speak a few words through his gritted teeth. "And what would those requests be, exactly?"

"I have two." Rena rested her elbows on the table, holding her tightly handcuffed wrists as high up as the table would let her. "One, un-handcuff me so I can actually sign the stupid thing." They were well aware of her skilled escapes and took nothing too far to hold her.

Looker's gaze darted back and forth between her bound wrists and her expectant face. "Err..." He hesitated, causing Rena to just roll her eyes.

"Don't worry, I won't punch you in the throat and try to escape." She paused and watched his face not change at all from the implication, restating her firm position once more. "I promise. If I do, you can just taser me again." Rena shuddered at the painful memory of being electrocuted the first time. Yowch did that hurt...

Looker mulled this over for a moment, not sure what to do. But, when he saw the look of defeat in her washed out eyes... He knew that she had given up. The infamous Raux all along was just teenage girl, one who never stopped running. At least until now. He wondered why she had given up. Despite his position, he admired the determination the girl had to keep running for so long.