The Five Foot Thief (lethal weapon)

Working girl

Authors note: Quick mention, this story takes place after the first lethal weapon, somewhere between the first and the second film and will start to bleed into the plot of the second film. Thanks!

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"So..." captain Murphy began, addressing the quiet of his office in a clear and calm demeanour. Three pairs of ears listened, in silence, to his words. It was like the calm before the storm...

Murtaugh, Riggs, and Toni all sat on the other side of Murphy's desk; Murtaugh -rather fortunately- positioned between the other two, whom both of which were slumped in their seats, eyes trained on the floor- looking down in shame.

Toni's previous anger and prideful attitude had long rubbed off, replaced with a strong, sour feeling in the pit of her stomach that made her feel incredibly nauseous.

Guilt.

What was going to happen to her now?

She took a brave glance up to the chief, only to avert her eyes when spotting his own sorely trained on her. Oh, great. Just perfect.

And From that brief glance at Murphy's dour expression, Toni knew she'd gotten herself in too deep this time. There was no way on earth she was getting off lightly with this.

'Stealing' a truck was bad enough, but stealing the truck of cop- Toni would be extremely lucky if she walked out that office without any pressed charges at all.

And her assault on said 'cop' was just the icing on the cake.

'Somebody hand me that shovel now, I'll start early.' She thought, her humour sounding rather dry in her own mind. She'd need more than a shovel to dig herself out of this mess. A bulldozer might do the job.

"Young lady"

Toni was snapped out of her thoughts by the captain calling her, and from the forcefulness of his words, she'd have guessed he'd been trying to get her attention for a while. 'Oops, my bad.'

"Huh?" she said, immediately regretting it, as the sound slipped rather rudely from her lips. 'Great, just great Toni- now you sound like a stuck up little brat.'

The captains frown increased, and she could have sworn she heard a scoff coming from the direction of a certain Martin Riggs.

"Are you aware of just how much trouble you're in?" he repeated, barely giving her the space to reply before continuing. "The consequences of your actions today may not've only been a danger to yourself and officer Riggs here, but a good portion of the city's population. Do you understand how many lives could have been lost by your foolish actions?"

Wait. What?

That struck a chord. Like a weight to the stomach, or a thousand splinters to the chest- making her feel hot and prickly. She felt sick with the feeling, so much that she had to look down at her feet to check that they were still firmly planted on the ground; for she felt light, dizzy- like there was nothing but water in between her ears.

"A little too much pressure there, sir" Murtaugh spoke up quietly, knowing how fragile a child can become to the knowledge of their own mistakes. After all, he had three rather mischievous children of his own waiting for him at home.

"I'm afraid a little pressure may be exactly what this young lady needs, if she's to learn her lesson and stay in between the lines of the law" The Captain remarked, and after having spoken- left a long bout of silence, taking the time to lean back in his chair and give himself a few good moments to think of his next words;

"Which is why I'm giving you a job"

And this was where the previously quiet girl found her voice once again.

"What?"

Was this guy crazy? She was a kid!

Murtaugh and Riggs' responses were bordering on the same wavelength as Toni's- with Riggs sitting up just a little straighter in his chair, his face a mixture of befuddlement and slight horror, and Murtaugh raising an incredulous brow to his boss. 'What?!'

"A Job?" spoke the girl with a sense of dread. She didn't think she'd need to worry about jobs till she was much older.

"A redemption" Murphey countered, holding her gaze levelly "I will personally set you up with a voluntary job here at the homicides department for two months; to earn back the respect of the LAPD and more importantly, the respect of your fellow officers here"

Toni snorted. "Sorry to burst your bubble there captain but, er, child labour isn't legal anymore"

"It's not child labour if you're volunteering, Miss Parker"

"I never said-"

"Well you better soon. Or would you rather face charges at juvenile prison?"

Toni swallowed past the lump in her throat, glancing at the two men beside her, one of which nodded encouragingly at her- the other; staring at her with a hard expression. She stared mutely back at them- tummy turning with uncomfortable little somersaults- before turning to address the captain.

Okay, Toni. Breathe...

With a long drawn out sigh, she finally asked "what have I gotta do then?" albeit, secretly dreading the answer. Hopefully a job far away from that phsyco nutt-job, Riggs.

"You'll be working here in the homicides department during your free time for the next six weeks, helping other workers here with any deeds they may need doing; fetching them coffee, sorting their files – all of the above"

He ignored the girls over exaggerated eye roll and slight huff, a clear indication of pre-teen annoyance at being handed chores to do.

"Anything else I gotta do there, officer?" mock was clear in her tone, hiding her irritation to a slight degree.

Murphy's grin grew at her question, which he hadn't failed to notice was laced with sarcasm and good natured fun-poking. "I'm afraid so, Miss. You'll also be working alongside a few people during your work here at the LAPD- as an apprentice, of sorts"

Toni's face fell, as did her heart; all the way to her stomach. He didn't mean...

"Meets your new mentors; Sergeant Murtaugh and Sergeant Riggs"

"What?!" Three voices chorused.

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(Authors note: hey there! Are you liking this story so far? What do you think of my oc? I hope she's a bit believable- she's my first ever oc so I'm a little wobbly! If you are enjoying it so far though leave a comment to let me know!)