(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.
"Alright, that I can do." He nodded his head steadily, unfastening the handcuff keys from his belt. He flinched as soon as the handcuffs fell from the girl's wrists, preparing to be punched in the throat.
But... She didn't do it.
Rena picked up the pen in a delicate swoop and got ready to sign her name at the bottom of the document.
She didn't try to run.
And honestly, he was a little disappointed that she didn't even try.
After years of hunting this girl down, years of her putting up one hell of a fight to keep her identity a mystery, years of outrunning the law... She didn't run.
The great and illusive Raux had finally given up.
Despite the fact that she was a thief and a criminal... It was a little sad to see the fire burn out in someone so young.
"Now, for my second request." Rena's droned words snapped Looker out of his thoughts, bringing him back down to earth. "I... Would like to write a letter to someone, and you must have it delivered."
Looker just blinked at her once, twice. Was she being serious?
"Th-that's it? You want to write a letter to someone...?" He shot her a quizzical look, completely confused by this request of all things.
Whatever shred of light that remained in Rena had dissolved into a permanent darkness right then and there, and she stared down at the paper before her. "I have many regrets that I can't possibly live with for the rest of my life, but this... This one tops them all."
Regrets? Her? Now that... That wasn't something he expected to hear.
He always thought criminals, street scum like her, were ruthless. They didn't care about what they were doing or who they were hurting, so why did she have regrets?
The answer was that she was human of all those things, and even a child could understand that.
"Uh...alright?" He shook his head, snapping out of it. "Yes, I will see to it that it's delivered." The officer took a minute to fish out another sheet from his coat, handing it over to her for writing the final letter. Looker watched as she graciously took it from him.
Rena signed her signature at the bottom of the confession paper as promised, then handed it to Looker. "This'll only take me five minutes, I promise." The broken thief stared down at her blank letter, trying to figure out how to put the shambles of her feelings into words.
The writing paper was a small scrap sheet, so she couldn't write much. A short and sweet apology for something like this just wouldn't do, but she had no choice. It was better than nothing.
Rena didn't even know where to begin with her letter. How do you apologize sincerely to someone you love for deceiving them?
Just then, a thought popped into her mind. Rena knew exactly what she was going to write, and she got straight to it. Five minutes later, she folded the paper into thirds and handed it to Looker.
"Is that all?" He asked her, wondering if she had one last request.
This was completely against protocol, but he felt sorry for her. The look of utter defeat in her eyes was so powerful that it made a cop feel bad for a criminal.
"No, you've already treated me better than you should have." Rena shook her head, slumping back in her chair.
Looker stared at her for a good minute, feeling even more pity for the woman. He shouldn't feel this way, but...he did.
"Well, about your prison arrangements," He changed the subject, getting the last thing he had to do in here out of the way. "I've arranged for you to be sent to a more upscale, secluded prison that's more safe for those your age---"
"No."
...
No words could describe the extent of this man's shock at the girl's interruption.
"N-no...?" He stared at her in disbelief. "Wh-what do you mean no?"
"You've done me one kindness already." Rena sat up in her chair, staring right into the eyes of the man. "I see no need for you to do me another. Arrange for me to be sent to Almia's average prison, no matter how horrible it may be." Rena paused to swallow the lump in her throat. "Honestly, I---I deserve it. For what I did, I really do..."
"You can't be serious." He stared at her, not able to even begin to comprehend this.
"Consider it my final request." Rena flashed him a half-smile; one with not a single thing superficial about it.
He paused, hesitating for a moment. He didn't want to do this, but it was her wish...
Looker shook his head to protest. "No, I simply cannot agree to this. You do realize that the possibility of someone like you being killed in lock up is---"
"Potentially high?" Rena finished his sentence for him, seemingly unafraid of death. "Yes, I'm aware. I was counting on that."
His shoulders slumped, and his face fell. "B-but... You'd most likely be killed within six months, given the number of fights and prison riots...and your status..." He shook his head, staring into her eyes to make sure she was being truly sincere. "You're only nineteen years old..."
"And yet, I've done more damage in ten years than most criminals have in their lifetimes..." Rena frowned, feeling truly ashamed of herself.
That pain of being a criminal ate away at her soul every second she kept on living now. She had so many regrets after hurting so many people in her life, and she honestly felt like she didn't deserve to live another moment. She hated herself for what she had done, all the crimes she committed...
She had grown a conscience over the past two years, and she hated herself for it...
"Listen closely to what I'm about to say." She leaned forward, covering up the tape recorder that was resting on the table with her hand. "I can't be allowed to exist on this planet anymore. I'm far too dangerous. If I were to fall into the wrong hands, again..." Rena trailed off, remembering the chaos that had unfolded in the past two years. "...who knows what would happen." She stopped and looked directly into Looker's eyes with nothing but a grave haze. "You do understand that I am solely responsible for Team Dim Sun's rise to power and getting this close to world domination? Whether it was intentional or not, it's still my fault."
He didn't even know how to respond to that.
Rena uncovered the tape recorder. There wasn't anything else she had to say that she didn't need recorded.
Looker slowly nodded his head, and two more officers stepped into the room. Rena was handcuffed once again, and she was brought over to the door. As she was being lead out of it, she turned her head to look at Looker to express her last chance at fixing at least one thing.
"Please, I beg you." The two officers gripped her arms and began pulling Rena out of the interrogation room as she poured every last drop of her feelings into her final plea. "See to it that letter is delivered." A tear slipped from Rena's eye, and the door was shut right behind her.
SLAM!
The man called Looker who had interrogated her stood left behind in the interrogation room, holding the frail letter written in neat cursive writing on a small scrap of paper. He turned over the letter, reading aloud who it was addressed to.
"Keith Dazzle?" he spoke aloud in confusion as he turned his head to the door where Rena was just a moment ago. "The Top Ranger...?"
________________________________
"Err...excuse me?"
Keith rose his head from his desk at the Ranger Union, staring up at the man before him. He immediately took notice that this man was an Interpol Officer based off of the badge he wore clipped to his brown trench coat. "Yes? Can I help you?" His voice was on malice edge, but left a hollow echo.
"Well, not exactly..." The officer trailed off. "You're Top Ranger eleven, Keith Dazzle, correct?" The man asked Keith, making the red-head even more confused.
The twenty-year-old red-haired Ranger rose an eyebrow in curiosity. "...yes. That's me. Can I ask what this is about?"
The officer pulled a small envelope from his jacket pocket, then set it on Keith's desk. "I'm just here to deliver this to you." As soon as he finished his sentence, he turned to leave.
"What---?" Keith looked up from his desk, but it was too late. The officer was gone.
He stared back down at the envelope that rested on his desk neatly, and he picked it up. Turning it over, he saw his name written on the back neatly in handwriting all-too familiar to him.
"Rena...?" he nearly doubled over in surprise, and immediately ripped open the envelope with a loud tear that awoke the Buizel nearby. He pulled out the small letter enclosed inside, and he unfolded it hastily. Seeing more of the handwriting only reassured him that it was written by Rena, and the words spoke to him in her voice as he read it inside his head.
Keith.
As I write this letter to you, all I have to say is...
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry that I lied to all three of you. Living a life of lies has taught me that it comes with a price, and now I'm paying it.
My name is Rena Deveraux; that wasn't a lie. But I never wanted to be a Ranger... That's not why I was at the Ranger School.
I am so, so sorry that I lied to you, but the truth is... I'm a thief. And you...you were my assignment, and I was to think of you as nothing more than that. It wasn't personal, I promise you. It was just business.
I thought I could outrun the law my whole life and never get caught. Never did I once think that the law applied to me, or that my actions would catch up to me one day. It never crossed my mind...not even once. I was so confident, which made my downfall inevitable.
I left my back turned for one second and I lost it all.
No words can describe the feeling I get when I look at your face... That look of pain, and sadness... Your eyes are filled with nothing but hate and disdain when they meet my gaze. Honestly, I'm surprised that you haven't killed me for what I've done to you.
I'm afraid this is the end, and I will never see you again. You can hate me for the rest of your life. I understand... What I did to you is unforgivable, and I don't deserve your forgiveness. I don't deserve to see your smile ever again.
My biggest regret is that I will never get to properly say good-bye to you, so, I must do it in this letter.
Good-bye, my Prince Charming. I will never forget you.
Take care of Rhythimi and Isaac for me, and please...apologize to them on my behalf, since I can't do it myself.
Oh, and one more thing, Keith.
Assuming that you didn't just tear this letter up upon receiving it, I just wanted to say... I've told you a lot of lies since the moment we first met...
...but my feelings for you were never one of them.
Sincerely, your one and only blue-eyed girl.
Keith set the letter back down on his desk slowly and carefully like it would shatter, just staring at the wall across from him. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but he did know one thing for sure.
...
Keith abruptly shot up from his desk and stormed out his office door.
He had something he wanted to say to Chairperson Erma and Professor Hastings.
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I know I know I know, you guys hate me for how this book is ending blah blah blah I'm taking forever to update and am cutting it really close to the watty award deadline blah blah blah.
Hey, I'm doing the best I can here XD
Only one final chapter left, and the book is over ;-;....
Will it end in tragedy, or will it be a happy ending? After all that they have gone through, will metal bars really be the end of Keith and Rena's love?
Read and find out more in the final chapter ;)
XD see what I did there with Rena's letter? Her letter has been the description for TSTHOAT ever since I first published it...
Read, comment, and enjoy, my lovelies!