The Other Side of The War.

timber & komrad - interrogation

"you do know how many things we can file against you right now?" the male cop said, sighing at the clipboard with papers on them.

"uhhhh, none! you legally can't send me to jail." timber rejected.

"right. and why can I 'not legally send you to jail'?"

"I'm 15. i can't go to jail." she said confidently. "all you can do is file a report for my parents or legal guardian to pay taxes and fees." her face crumpled in realization after she said that.

he laughed at her. "close enough. but yes, your parents will need to pay a fine for the broken items and stolen items. this is something I could send you to juvie for at least—so you're lucky."

the door opened and a smaller male—awfully familiar—walked in, he easily could've been the same age as her.

"oh. you're busy." the boy said, clearing his throat and placing both hands on what seemed to be a cup of coffee.

"i assume you're the mass thief everyone's been talking about that stole 5, thousand-dollar items?" he muttered with a sly grin.

"no. i'm the grinch who stole Christmas. what do you think, detective dumbass?" timber remarked, getting snarky with him—even returning the grin he gave her back to him.

"Striker what do you need?" the cop asked in a low voice, turning around to him. striker? god that name sounded familiar.

"Captain sent me to give you this coffee or something—I wanna go to the lasertag facility so i'll take your car." striker shrugged, passing him the mug.

the cop took out the keys from a pocket somewhere, dropping them in his hand like he owed him it. "no scratches this time. and be back before my shift is done or I swear you'll never go outside again."

"yes sir." he rolled his eyes, leaving the room.

timber kept staring at him as he walked away, dazzle and sparkle in her eyes. "you know him or something?"

she shook her head, snapping out of it. "i have a tendency to forget useless shit."

he scoffed, almost spitting out his coffee. "do you also have a tendency to break the law?"

"yeah, like i said, useless shit."

"my god you are not like the other criminals we've pulled in." he laughed. "yeah! and this is the most laid back prison, police station, whatever-the-fuck-it's-called ever!" she frowned, expecting more.

"back to your parents.." he inspected the paper below him. was this strikers dad? no.. he looked too young to be a dad. brother? cousin?

"it says your father has been dead for 10 years—is that true?" her stomach flipped. "yes."

"and your mother—what? she's serving time at prison for murdering him?"

she had every right to.

i do.. i do miss you though, dad.
focus.

"mhm. restraining order against him—she didn't win in court and she killed him." the cop opened his mouth to speak. "am I angry at them? yes. but do i try to grow and move on past said anger? well... actually no." timber started to giggle as she made the face she liked to call: the urmomface.

"who's your guardian right now?" he asked finally. "i don't have one?" she said seriously. "pardon me?"

"yeah. i've been living on my own for a few years."

"well, that explains a few things." he muttered, writing things down on his paper.

timber eyed the paper, then him, and snagged it from the desk, reading where he wrote.

"Timber Alpharo: transport to Residential Centre or adoption centre. Keep there for two weeks and transfer to a random home— You can't do that.. Officer Komrad, K." She laughed.

"How much is the fine?" Komrad sighed through his nose and grabbed the paper back, flipping it to the front sheet of the second paper.

"$258. It would've been $300, but I'm pulling strings since you have no guardian." He said. Timber remained quiet, sitting back in her chair with her arms folded over her chest.

"My mother will pay the fine." She choked up her words like the pills her mother made her take.

"Does she have that kind of money left in her account?" Komrad asked, standing up and approaching behind her.

"She does." Some of it was for my college funds—if I decide to go to college, Her mind reminded. He stood her up, grabbing her hands and placing the cuffs on them behind her back.

~

Timber felt a rush of selfishness wave over her as she watched her mother be brought in, and sat down on the chair. Hair garnished, but still looked like it was the same length and color as before.

She looked tired. So tired.

Yet she carried the biggest smile on her face.

"Timber..—" She started. "Ms. Alpharo.. we're not here for the reason you're probably thinking." Komrad interrupted, lifting up her hands which dangled with cuffs.

"Mum.. I can explain." Ms. Alpharo's smile started to fall. "You better be able to explain."

"Can you pay my fine."

"Can I what? You can't just fucking come all the way here to ask if I can cover for your problems? You've never come to visit me. Maybe just once." She flared, shutting her eyes afterwards with a sigh to try and calm her anger.

Komrad's eyes silently averted from Timber to her mother. "The fine, ma'am, is $258. I told her it would be 300, but because she has no legal guardian I'm pulling some strings for her."

Ms. Alpharo didn't speak, just staring at her daughter in disbelief. "I'll pay it. I'll give my bank information to you and you can make the transfer. It's not like she's gonna go to college anyway."

"She'd probably blow up a city by the time she was 24." She scoffed, shaking her head. Timber cocked a small grin at her mother, wanting to take that thought into consideration.

"Alright.. Officer, get her a notepad and a pen please."

"You're very lucky," Officer Komrad said, un-cuffing her when they got in the car. "I could've been meaner about this whole situation." Timber snorted. "Oh I'm flattered."

"Do you have any empathy?" He asked, sighing as if he could not believe this girl. "Do I get bonus points if I say yes?" She smiled at him. His brows furrowed in shock. "I almost have the urge to go back there and tell your mother I'm increasing the fine."

"You are about as intimidating as my grandmothers floral table mats." Komrad scoffed, wheezing with a bewildered expression on his face. "You're insane! Holy fuck this is the best day of my life," He placed his hand on his hair. "I am definitely not acting like a proper cop right now."

"Maybe you should let Striker take over then," Timber shrugged, watching his laughter fade to silence. "What? I saw the way he was trying to get all up in your work and business." Komrad frowned in annoyance at her, although he knew it was true as well. "Let's talk about you then huh? Got kicked out of a Laser-tag facility for kissing someone in the dark—"

"I'm just going to aggressively ignore that part of my life until it goes away."
"That's definitely not going to work."

"I don't even know who I kissed! Whoever reported it I swear I'm gonna kill—" He cleared his throat, raising his brows with a 'really?' expression. "Uh huh, sit down. You're not murdering anyone on my watch."

"Then look away."

"Say something happy for once." He asked, feeling the car slow to a stop. "My dad's dead?" She tried, starting to laugh with her mouth shut. "Close enough, jesus."

"Do you know how to unlock handcuffs with a paper clip?" Timber picked up the handcuffs he removed from her, or at least, made them very loose that she could slide them up to her biceps. "Absolutely not. I'm taking you home."

"And to think we were just getting along. Pity."

—