Psiren
Fool that she was, she had actually let the child get the better of her more than once.
For a child he undoubtedly was, despite all his numerous exclamations and protestations at being called one. He acted so mature and grown-up, naturally- all children did- but it amounted to nothing. There was no way he could be considered an adult. She was certain of that. She had proof.
His youth didn't have to be a bad thing, though. In fact, she suspected that it might have made him even more difficult to deal with: he still retained all the fervour and intensity of childhood.
But then again, she thought, that might just have been him.
Much as she shamed to admit it, his intervention had surprised her. It wasn't because the old policeman had finally enlisted some outside help- in her opinion, that was long overdue- but because he, the boy, had managed to catch her.
For a moment, maybe a second, she had been alarmed. But then she had remembered his age and inexperience, and his passion, and had smirked inwardly. He would be all too easy to get rid of.
And sure enough it had worked, leaving him pinned, red-faced and mortified, to the ground. As she ran off he had yelled insults at her, more perhaps in revenge for her manipulations than because of his own wounded pride. Well, doubtlessly her tactics had been different from any others he had come up against, and doubtlessly she was different from any other opponent. She knew that, and had used it to her advantage. The two combined had made him flustered and bewildered.
And so, basking in self-satisfaction, she had blown him a kiss, and left him there.
A bigger surprise had come when he set her free after she was caught on her next job. She remembered the armoured man, of course, and the way he had helped her; and she remembered seeing the two of them together a lot. But she hadn't expected the boy to have picked up on his large friend's sympathies, not after the violence with which he had accused her of being nothing but a thief, after discovering her in the hospital. In a way his sudden change of mind had disappointed her. It showed a lapse in his stubbornness, perhaps a sign of increased adulthood. There was no fun in battling an adult. It would make him just the same as everyone else. In another, much more important way, however, she had been pleased that he had changed his mind, as it had prompted him to let her escape from the police.
Him surprising her, she thought ruefully as she caught sight of him standing in front of her and blocking her path yet again, seemed to be becoming a habit. Normally nothing surprised her. But this boy had managed it multiple times- first with his youth, then with his sudden startling maturity. She spoke to him with new-found respect that time, suddenly seeing the depth in him. He was smarter than he looked- not that that was saying much.
But the real shock came when she offered to give him something in exchange for releasing her- and she would have given him whatever he wanted, anything at all- and he asked her for information on some stone or other.
It was then that she decided that he was a child after all.
Author's note: Yeah, I went hyphen crazy. XD
I'm really churning out the fanfics! Look at me go! My eighth piece in eleven days. -wipes brow- Expect more! I plan to give out commissions once I reach the big one oh!
Much love to all my beautiful reviewers, especially the ever-wonderful Legendary Chimera and kelol.