AN – You want to know what happened to Richie? I aim to please!
***
"I didn't actually steal it." Richie continued the argument, as Duncan settled him back on his former spot on the couch.
"Did the sword belong to you?" Tessa arched a brow.
"Well, not exactly." Richie admitted.
"Did you ask anyone if you could "borrow" it?" Duncan challenged.
"I think the answer to that would have been no." Richie said dryly.
"Please tell me you didn't skewer Walker with one of his own swords." Duncan groaned.
"It belongs to the fencing club," Richie pointed out. "I belong to the fencing club. You signed the form."
"I think this afternoon's little escapade definitely counts as an extra curricular activity." Duncan told him.
"The door was open. The sword was just lying there. I mean, it was dangerous, a kid could have picked it up. I was just returning it to the nearest responsible adult." Richie shrugged.
Duncan gave him an old fashioned look.
"That defence might work," he decided. "Right up until the point where you ran him through with it."
"Yeah, but that part would never stand up in a court of law," Richie insisted. "How would Walker explain the whole coming back from the dead thing? The judge would throw the case out, not proven."
Tessa shook her head in amusement at the teen. "I did not know that you had trained as a lawyer."
"You spend enough time in court, you pick up stuff." Richie picked at his blanket.
"I thought you said you hardly ever got caught?" Duncan teased.
Richie looked up.
"Tessa hardly ever smokes. Which means sometimes she does."
***
"Richie, we only met because you broke into our Store, in a way that suggested you'd had lots of practise," Duncan reminded him. "Its hardly a surprise to us that you've had a few run ins with the law."
"And you have many unusual skills, which I do not think you learnt at Scout camp." Tessa murmured softly.
"Aye," Duncan agreed. "You're the most skilled person I know with the possible exception of .." he stopped.
"Amanda?" Richie offered.
"I'm going to kill Connor," Duncan fumed.
"Who is this Amanda?" Tessa wrinkled her brow.
"Ah," Duncan hedged.
"A lady thief Immortal. Old girlfriend of Connor's from way back when." Richie supplied.
Duncan's jaw dropped.
"Connor ..?" he spluttered. "And Amanda?"
"Yeah," Richie looked up. "He said they used to run an inn, or a brothel, or something."
"Really?" Tessa cast an arched look at her partner. "So, this Amanda is Connor's lady friend?"
"So it would seem." Duncan said dryly.
"The thing is .." Richie returned to the topic in hand. "I haven't told you everything about me."
"And do you really think I've told you everything about me?" Duncan scoffed fondly. "That would take centuries."
"You certainly have not mentioned this Amanda before." Tessa murmured.
"Its not the same," Richie swallowed. "Your mistakes are like ancient history. Mine are here and now."
"So, you're not perfect," Duncan shrugged philosophically. "Tell us something we don't know."
***
"Nine months?" Duncan said in a voice, devoid of all emotion. "What happened?"
"After Walker took me back to the Orphanage," Richie swallowed. "I pretty much gave up on the foster care system. I couldn't, wouldn't, go though that again. I knew older teens were that much harder to place, so I changed my records so everyone would think I was fifteen and started spending more and more time on the streets."
"You said you were fifteen when you went to Juvie," Duncan stood up and went to stare out of a porthole. "Is this two years ago, or three?"
"Two, I really was fifteen." Richie said over a dry throat. "The first few months, when I was fourteen, were pretty OK. I was kinda small for my age so I could get in skylights and stuff that the older kids couldn't."
"You were climbing up on roof tops!" Tessa worried.
"Its not usually a good idea to go through the front door Tess. That's an easy way to get shot."
"So is carrying a gun." Duncan murmured, without turning.
"He said it wasn't loaded." Richie's voice quavered.
"But the victim could not know this. Why would you ever agree to do such a thing?" Tessa asked.
"By the time I turned fifteen," Richie pulled at a thread in the blanket. "I had grown some, it got harder to find people who'd take me on jobs and that winter was real cold."
"But there must have been places you could go. People who would help." Tessa was horrified.
"They don't much like minors hanging around soup kitchens and shelters and the like," Richie shrugged. "If they spot you, they ship you straight back to Social Services."
"Would that really have been so bad?" Tessa wondered.
"Yes." Richie said flatly. "So, when Kevin said he had a way to make some easy money, I agreed. I swear, I didn't know about the gun."
"You weren't even the smallest bit suspicious, when he gave it to you?" Duncan turned around.
***
"And then, when we got there .." Richie was explaining. "He just thrust the gun into my hand and said it was for insurance."
"With that kind of insurance, the premiums come pretty high." Duncan scoffed.
"He swore it wasn't loaded. I was just supposed to wave it around to make things look good. But when the guy was putting the money from the safe into the bag, this old wino keeled over, taking a stack of bottles with him, I jumped so hard at the crash, I squeezed the trigger by mistake .. and the gun went off." Richie admitted miserably.
"Where did you shoot him?" Tessa asked quietly.
"In the cash register," Richie said unhappily.
"What?" Tessa wrinked her brow, as if this was some American slang that she was unfamiliar with, only to realise that Duncan looked similarly confused.
"In the cash register?" the Immortal repeated.
"I didn't think the gun was loaded!" Richie reminded them. "When it went off, I leapt about a foot in the air, not to mention the kick from the recoil, it missed the guy by a mile. The cash register was toast though."
"But you said you shot this man." Tessa said.
"That was the Judge. He said some legal speak about purpose and intent. Trust me, claiming you thought the gun wasn't loaded doesn't cut much ice and being a lousy shot is apparently no defence when the damn thing goes off in your hand. He said I was lucky I hadn't killed anyone and he was gonna make an example of me."
"You were lucky you dinna kill anyone." Duncan said darkly.
"Even so, such a punishment seems very harsh for a boy of fifteen." Tessa frowned.
"I had some priors. Shoplifting, Joyriding and the like," Richie shrugged. "And besides, he thought I was sixteen."
"Is that everything?" Duncan asked tonelessly.
"Apart from the bit where you throw me out on my ear, yeah." Richie swallowed hard.