Conner sat in the back of the police car with handcuffs on. Not his first time in this position. Ember sat next to him in a similar situation. This was her first time. Striker would be located in another cop car following this one to the police station. Ember sat silently. She looked about as nervous as Conner felt about this situation in the eyes, but tried covering it with a determined, hard, confident face. Striker had trained her well. Conner wondered if the doubt was running through her mind as it was his. Was she thinking of every way this could go wrong?

Conner didn't voice his thoughts. No need to scare Ember further if she wasn't thinking the same thing. But the conversation of a few nights had gone over in his head constantly. Striker had approached them and told them about the contracts for criminals. Conner had assumed it had just been a scam cops were pulling to try and find criminals and ship them to jail, but after Striker said he'd confirmed it with Darren, Conner knew what was coming next. The conversation in its self had gone better than Conner had thought. No one had tried to kill Striker when he fessed up to becoming a vigilante by night. Most had cursed and asked him if he were crazy, but Striker stood confidently and continued. Damn his leadership abilities to be able to face a situation like that and not even blink. Striker went on to tell them he didn't think he wanted to be a criminal anymore. That was where a whole mess of fighting and arguing came into play. Conner was somewhat shocked Striker had been straight forward about this rather than beat around the bush. Finally when the team had calmed down just enough to let him continue, he threw his third strike in there. Well, he'd always been named Striker for more than one reason, Conner supposed. He'd told the team he was going to sign the contract with the cops. Another chaotic scene erupted, but the fact that Striker was being so calm and confident about the decision meant that it was final and that there was nothing anyone could do to back him out of it. He explained he'd been living his whole life as a criminal and now he wanted out. He wanted to chose for the first time in his life what to do with his life rather than have the pressures.

Dean hadn't taken it well. He felt betrayed in a lot of senses. The whole team did in a way. Dean had argued and argued, but once he realized he couldn't get Striker to turn around on this, he sighed and said this was where they had to part then. Striker said he understood and that he'd keep Dean's secrets. He asked Dean not to tell him where he was going so that even if they gave him a lie detector test, he still couldn't betray him. Dean said a hasty goodbye to the team and went to pack up his things.

Reiner and Doniel had both come to the conclusion that they weren't sure what to do. They said for now, they were leaving too. Doniel went ahead and packed with Dean while Reiner said he'd stick around to help with the preparations, but he wasn't going to join yet. Striker thanked him and waited for Ember and Conner's answers. Those were the two answers he valued the most. Sure losing the rest of the team was terribly hard on Striker, but Ember was his sister, and Conner was his left hand man.  Conner knew their answers would make or break him when he left.

Conner knew he couldn't leave Striker to enter this alone. Not only was it incredibly dangerous and stupid, but Striker just wouldn't make it on his own. He'd never lived a normal life. He'd never learned to read or write. He'd never known how to talk to lawyers or anyone else that wasn't helping him with criminal deals. He wouldn't make it on his own and Conner knew that. On top of that, Conner had finally admitted to himself that he loved Striker. He wasn't going to let him lose everyone. So despite how idiotic he was being right now, Conner couldn't let him be idiotic alone. So Conner had agreed. He didn't find it too surprising that Ember had agreed to come with them too. Conner knew it was up to him to protect both Striker and Ember now. He'd keep them out of harm's way as often as he could.

So that had been it. Striker then talked out plans with all of them on how to get purposely caught, but not make it look that way so that they could enter into this. Conner also texted Darren notifying him that they would be coming into the police station tomorrow to sign up for the program. He notified him because Striker said Darren should probably have time to think of a case he could use to convince the other cops to let them do this, if they said no. Plus he said that he owed it to the cop to give him a heads-up on the chaos they'd likely cause tomorrow. That was what Conner, Ember, and Striker were doing in the back of the police cars right now. Conner had convinced Striker to let him do the talking for the case and for neither of them to sign ANYTHING until he read over all of it. He was not going to risk them walking into something blind.

Conner volunteered to do his interrogation first so he could get this over with. He requested Darren, but didn't think his requests would be heard as they brought him into a room. He explained that he, Striker, and Ember wanted to know about the criminal program and would offer information in return. He requested that both Ember and Striker be brought into the room with him, so they could explain it in one go and he could look over everything, and then requested that Darren be present too. The cops didn't seem to understand why Conner was so persistent on making Darren come into the room, but Conner knew that Striker trusted him, and that likely the cop could make a case for them if the other cops tried turning them down for the program. Conner waited to see what the other cops would do. He hoped they'd bring the team in and Darren would come too.

Starbucks? Check. News on? Check. House locked? Check. Text from Conner about Strike Out doing something incredibly risky and dumb? Check. Ah the daily life of Darren Faust....

Wait what?

Darren stared at his phone with the straw to his mocha dropping out of his mouth, he had been just about to go on his way to work. He had quite a large suspicion that Striker would probably try to take up the offer with his whole vigilante business and concern for his sister, but he did not quite expect him to either go through with it or at least do it this soon. Darren set his drink aside in a holder, still in the driveway of his home, and pressed his forehead against the handle of the wheel before suddenly relaxing and pulling his head away from his wheel.

No. If they got themselves killed it would be their fault. If they got caught by the other criminals, it was on them. Not him. Them. Not him. They're the dead ones. Not him.

A text from work soon after he had looked at the message, they need him there. Now. Where had that call been from Striker about this decision again? Darren would just love to hear his excuse on this. Darren shifted his car into reverse, Striker had made a mess of the office it seemed, and he needed to clean it up.

---

When Darren got there, he was immediately questioned on why he was the one being demanded of all people. He shrugged the people away with, "Maybe he just liked my methods and wanted a taste?" Although to his surprise Conner was the one being interrogated first. He had not spoken face to face with that one, just over the phone. The only ones he had ever spoken to directly would be Striker, only having just seen the sister when she was on the run along with another member.

The task he was assigned was to simply talk and see what funny business this kid was trying to pull. Darren had folders thrown into his hand and someone even had the nerves to ask if he'd be needing any clocks as a joke. He merely gave them a glare and walked into the room that contained Conner.

"Ask and ye shall receive apparently," Darren huffed as he walked in, referring to how quickly the police was to comply with Conner's requests. Although Darren knew these three meant no harm and were honest, though the chance that they were completely bullshitting was still within Darren's mind due to his skeptic nature, he was annoyed with the willingness of the force to just throw the criminal's desires before them like treats.

"Let's just get this over with, I'm required to ask you what you want and why you want it. What made you so willing to just surrender and hand yourselves in?" Darren said simply, putting down the files that contained the questions the others wanted answers to.

Conner waited rather impatiently. Neither Striker nor Ember were brought into the room with him, but he hadn't really expected that so quickly. They probably assumed the three of them had an escape plan or something cooking and if they all three were in a room together they'd have a better chance to making this escape plan. However, Darren was eventually brought into the room. Conner had never seen the man in person, only heard the description from Striker and knew this man was the only police officer Striker trusted. Conner eyed him up and down as the man entered muttering 'Ask and ye shall receive apparently'.

"Let's just get this over with, I'm required to ask you what you want and why you want it. What made you so willing to just surrender and hand yourselves in?" He asked immediately. Conner narrowed his eyes a bit at the bluntness. Was he always this way or was this just an act to show the criminal in front of him was not his friend? Conner wasn't positive. He'd heard stories from Striker and the man did seem rather... harsh sometimes, but still Striker trusted this man so much that Conner needed to trust him on this.

Conner took in a deep breath as if he'd rather be doing anything but be here right now and then looked back at Darren. "Let's cut to this, alright? I want Striker and Ember in the room with me. I want a contract for the three of us to hand over information on the account of a clean slate and absolute, and I mean ABSOLUTE, confidentiality about this. If you're going to ask where the rest of the team are, they're gone. They didn't want to be a part of this and none of us have a clue where they would be right now. I require to read over everything before Striker, Ember, and I sign anything, since I'm the only one who can do that for them. If you can't do that, then say so now and we'll take the jail time." This was all said in a blank almost harsh way. He hadn't meant it to come out so rough, but he wasn't playing around. If this was some kind of joke, he needed to know now. He wasn't sure if he trusted this cop or any of them for that matter. He hoped this all worked out for the best, but in his experience, Striker had a habit of trusting the wrong people sometimes.

Conner looked down at the folders curious on what information they had on the team in them, but moved his eyes away after a moment to look back to Darren. He wondered, not for the first time today, if he was making the right chose. He wondered if they were going to be sent to jail. Whereas Striker and him had been to it before and that wasn't a problem for him, Ember had never been to Juvie and he worried a bit on how she would take that if worse came to worse.

Darren looked to Conner once Conner had finished talking, his look was more of one that said, "Excuse me?" rather than a sarcastic, "Naw really?" He may have had some form of truce with Striker and apparently his team at this rate, and the cops may have been cooperating with the trio at this point, but he was not about to take attitude from any one of them.

"Could you please calm down?" Darren warned Conner with a hint of just as much harshness in his tone, "If you're looking for a clean slate, i'd advise that you use common sense and common courtesy. Need I remind you that you are in the midst of a police office and making demands so suddenly in that kind of territory in your state is not exactly the best course of action 'captain'."

Darren continued in a more business like tone without giving Conner a chance to answer, "Now, we're going to be questioning you one by one. You are not going to have any contact with the others until I'm done."

Darren had put a slight emphasis on the word 'i'm' it was meant to serve as a warning to those listening in that he was taking up the interrogations and partially as a reassurance to Conner that he would be the one to do the questioning so some other cops couldn't trick them into saying something that would harm their case. Whether or not it was an effective reassurance was not Darren's concern. He hated this program, but he had to admit it'd be more beneficial to share his leak of information with the rest of the station, it'd make it easier for him to give reasoning to his 'suspicions'.

Conner wanted to object. He wanted to shoot down the proposal and force the cop to agree to his terms, but he knew that what the cop said was true. This wasn't his territory and he'd have to play by the rules if he was going to get things done. But a private investigation on each of them without contact with each other was hard for Conner to agree to. He wanted to be right there to guide them through everything, but he'd have to trust Striker and Ember could hold up on their own. Striker had been through interrogations plenty of times before, but Conner's thoughts were on Ember. How would she hold up? He supposed he'd have to risk it. If Darren would be doing the interviews, then at least he could possibly be assured that nothing bad would come from this.

Conner gritted his teeth a moment before nodding. "Okay." He said. His eyes held a warning look. If he found out any of the members were being mistreated, he didn't care what it took, he'd bring them all down. He stared at Darren a moment before taking a deep breath and trying to use a calmer tone. "Where do you want to start? I will tell you that neither Striker NOR Ember will be signing anything until I can look over it and talk to them about it. You can maybe understand why I wouldn't trust the system not to take advantage of them. That's my only request. Is that I can look over any papers before they sign them. Please allow me that and I'll cooperate completely."

Conner was waiting for this cop to throw it back in his face and tell him he had no control whether or not they got to look over their contracts. If they did that, he would know not to trust them. He would know to pull out immediately. And though the team would have hell to pay if the news ever got out to anyone, it would be less hell than if they signed a corrupted contract and got exposed for that. At least if they pulled out before, they could say they were trying to be double agents. They could come up with a cover and things would go back as normal. But once they signed the contract, their life would alter and never go back.

He was concerned about Striker being taken advantage of, good reasoning. Striker didn't exactly seem to think things through all the time. Darren listened to the criminal as he made a request once more despite being told to shut it with the requests.

"I promise you," Darren spoke with honesty despite knowing that some of the higher ups were probably not going to be too happy about him making the decisions for the office. As usual, what the hell were they going to do to him? They could report to Eden all they wanted, but Eden trusted Darren and Darren trusted Eden.

"However, you seem to have answered most of my required questions when you went on that rant of yours," he spoke as he flipped through the papers and information. He wrote down the information he had retrieved from Conner. The officer stood up from his seat, "Now, I'm going to go interview the others and then I will return to you before we look over the contract."

With what he wanted said being done, he moved to leave the room. If Conner didn't say or ask anything else then he would leave to begin his interview with Ember.

Conner's shoulders visibly relaxed when Darren promised him. He nodded and went quiet. That all he needed. That's all he wanted, was to be sure they were safe. He only cared that Striker and Ember wouldn't be taken advantage of. And now that they had agreed to let him look over the contract, Conner would cooperate with everything else.

Conner sat back in his chair ready to answer anything that came his way. However Darren stated he was done with his interrogation and so Conner remained silent. He was tempted to request Darren not use the clock torture as he had on Striker before, but he figured reminding him of that would probably only implant the idea in his head. So he clamped his mouth shut and let Darren leave.

Step one, complete. Now he just had to make sure the contract was just and wouldn't get them killed and they would be on a path of no return.

"What are you doing?" his assistant stepped up beside him as he walked his way towards where Ember was being contained.

""My job," he answered bluntly.

"You're making decisions without consulting us," she spoke warily, "Why were you acting all buddy buddy with him? You're usually playing bad cop aren't you?" she asked him, trying to keep up with his swift steps.

""Karren," He said, stopping and turning towards her. She stopped, blushing a bit as he seemed to suddenly turn all of his attention to her, ""Let me tell you something. Even when i'm not, I'm always the bad cop."

And with that he was on his way again, leaving Karren behind. God she annoyed him so, she practically obsessed over him ever since the Silver Shadow incident when she realized that he was in fact, NOT a corrupt cop. He left her with those words, attempting to make her think that he had some sort of plan to reveal whatever secrets Strike Out may be hiding, and being the arrogant prick he was, he wasn't going to share them.

The cop put down the papers at his desk before grabbing another file from someone's hands who were going to give it to him and give him a briefing, but he simply snatched the file and walked in. He probably would have been fired long ago with this sort of attitude, but yet again Eden allows for his smug arrogance to shine through to his co-workers. It also probably did not help that he no longer trusted half the people in the force. Even after the incident with Death Master and the thinning numbers, some here were leaks, and he didn't want any of his information to flow through that leak.

He opened the door, "Ember, correct?" he asked even though he already knew who she was, ""Welcome to the Police Station, I am Officer Faust and I shall be your host for today's questioning. Have any questions, concerns, swear words, you'd like to get off your chest before we begin?" Darren spoke.

Ember couldn't help but to feel a little threaten, this being her first time captured and all. But she tried to look fearless. She'd come because she was following Striker. Striker was her brother and though she was shocked, she still loved and adored him and would follow him which ever path he took. So he wanted to be a good guy now. She supposed she couldn't blame him, but it would be a hard adjustment. She wondered what their lives would be like from now on.

Ember was pulled from her thoughts when Darren entered the room. , "Ember, correct? Welcome to the Police Station, I am Officer Faust and I shall be your host for today's questioning. Have any questions, concerns, swear words, you'd like to get off your chest before we begin?" He asked. Ember knew this to be the legendary Darren that Striker had told her about last night. She could see from his features, he matched the description. Though she still felt alarmed because he was a cop and for most her life she'd been a criminal, she knew Striker trusted this cop, so she trusted him too.

"Is Striker and Conner okay?" Ember asked. She didn't really have anything she wanted to say. Conner and Striker had both told her not to sign any papers without Conner reading them first, and not to really say much unless she was asked directly something she knew she could answer. She knew she was supposed to tell them she was here to sign a contract and that was about it. Still, she'd never been an interrogation before and wondered if they would try to psychologically get to her as she'd heard they did with Striker some times.

Ember continued staring at him wondering if she should play a role of some innocent kid or if she should continue the hard stares and delinquent attitude. She chose to stick to a quiet approach and watch which way he tried to shape her so she could live up to whichever way that was. She needed to observe his style a little bit.

""Conner's fine," Darren answered simply, ""Your boyfriend seems to have a bit of a nervous...tick I guess you could say?" It was a lie, he had no idea what Striker was doing right now. He was definitely going to enjoy this though. He needed to toy around with them, while he knew they were all for it, he needed to convince the other officers that they weren't hiding a bomb or something in their back pockets.

""So, Ember, your boyfriend, what can you tell me about him?" he asked. He knew perfectly well that Striker was not Ember's boyfriend, for pete's sake they were siblings. However the office did not know that, they probably would in the next few hours, after getting Ember's finger prints and finding out who the hell this person was.

""Could be anything,, just tell me all that you can, we wont tell the other two that you said a word," Darren didn't seem to be looking at her, more focused on the papers and looked as if he was actually reading over them. He was really just putting up a show, keeping Ember in the corner of his eye to watch for her reaction to his statements. He needed to get her to fess up to being Striker's sister in order for his plan to work.

Ember nodded when he said that Conner was fine but then the next statement made her recoil a bit. Boyfriend?! Ember blinked, her mouth slightly a gap for a moment at his accusation. Nervous tick? Oh god, what where they doing to Striker? Her mind went back to the clock torture he'd talked about not too long ago. Ember's expression set into a full on glare. He better not be doing that to Striker. Damnit! Her brother was trying to be a good guy! He better not be being punished right now!

"So, Ember, your boyfriend, what can you tell me about him? Could be anything,, just tell me all that you can, we wont tell the other two that you said a word." Darren said. Ember flinched again when she heard Striker being mentioned as her boyfriend.

"You've got to be kidding me, right?" Ember asked seriously hoping this cop was messing with her. "Striker's not my boyfriend. He's my b-leader." Ember corrected herself. She knew they'd figure it out through finger prints anyway, but she didn't know if she wanted to give it away by herself they were related. "And what do you mean, he's got a nervous tick? Are you doing something to him?" She asked with a almost demanding tone but then backed down a little. "Sorry... Just.... Is he really okay or are you just messing with me?" Ember asked looking up at the clock. She had a habit now of watching the clock like her brother did. She wasn't as bad about it, but she still couldn't resist looking at the time if there was a clock around.

"Pfft, I have no idea," Darren admitted with a shrug, "Odds are he's smack talking anybody who tries to even wave at him though," he managed to get some amusement out of her astonished reaction. Might as well keep going with this!

"'Bleader?' He's your 'bleader?' does he bleed for you or something? You some kind of spooky vampire? Drink is blood and all like in those occult movies?" Darren teased to let her know he had noticed her slip of the tongue, "Now, back on topic, what do you know about your boyfriend? Any secrets he might be hiding? Hidden motives? Come on, we're all friends here. Just tell me, he wont hear about any of this."

Darren seemed to almost taunt her with the word 'boyfriend' now, calling Striker her boyfriend instead of Striker or even her leader. He kind of wished she'd just up and admit it, but resistance was good. He just hoped she didn't resist too much that he'd have to go into psychological warfare against her. She was just a kid, it'd probably be a singe to break her mind. He noted that she seemed to look at the clock just as much as Striker, though he doubted that the clock trick would work on her. He would continue to taunt and jeer with Boyfriend until she was practically pulling her hair out and and screaming that she was the sister.

If she decided to go with it, he'd have to come up with a different plan. His goal was to prove that these three weren't performing any funny business, otherwise the offer of the contract might be denied and they'd be sent to jail once again.

Ember rolled her eyes at his lame attempt at the joke of her slip. He again called him her boyfriend, but Ember could see now it was some kind of joke to him. "I very well could call him my bleeder. He'd die for me, and wouldn't hesitate to bleed for me if it made me safe." Ember said seriously. "He's done it more than once. God you don't even know the number of times he comes home bleeding all over the floor because of some fight where he tried to save someone or something." She shook her head.

She paused wondering if she should've said all that. Well, honestly they were about to give their lives up to be good guys. She supposed she really shouldn't lie much anymore. "What kind of secrets do you want? We're here to turn ourselves in for a contract. I'm sure he'll be willing to share about his life now too. Hidden motives, you ask? About turning ourselves in? You think if Striker wanted to do this for some hidden motive he would've let his s..." Ember paused debating on that sentence. They were going to know with the prints anyway. Was there a reason to hide it any longer? They'd only hide it before from the criminal world because they didn't need anyone trying to figure out who Striker was or taking advantage of herself. She sighed and allowed herself to finish the sentence. "You think if Striker wanted to do this for some hidden motive, he would've let his sister get involved in this? There are no hidden motives. The prints will prove that sentence. Striker really doesn't want to be a criminal anymore... Me and Conner came with him because we think he has the right idea. You can tell Striker, when you see him, that I told. Like I said, it won't be a secret much longer when the prints come in."

Ember wondered if that meant he'd drop the boyfriend thing or if he'd continue just to be a dick. Striker said sometimes Darren could be quite aggravating. She didn't know how aggravating he would be with her. After all, she was quite young. Did he go easier on younger audience, or did it matter to the cop?

"My name is Michele Harett, just to speed up that search. But I prefer Ember, so if you don't mind, just keep it to Ember, please." Ember said sighing.

About damn time was along the lines of what he was thinking, "Oh so you're his sister now?" he spoke, his poker face not giving away his sense of victory. The adult sat back against his chair, as if surprised by this though his voice kind of betrayed his facial expression with a low and unamused tone, "Never would have thought."

He figured the people behind the one way glass were already getting on that, searching for confirmation. Now he just needed to stick around with Ember a bit longer, make it look like that wasn't the only think he wanted out of her.

"So how about Conner? The other strike out members?" he asked, "what do you have to say about them? Anything at all."

"Oh so you're his sister now?" Ember bit back the urge to say 'uh-duh'. As if it hadn't be obvious. Still she held her tongue and sat quietly. "Never would have thought." He continued. "So how about Conner? The other strike out members? What do you have to say about them? Anything at all."

"Conner's here with me and Striker. If you need to know about his life, you should ask him. Really, I don't know his real name, nor any of the other's real names, aside from Striker. We were a criminal team. We all used fake names, and no one questioned each other. That's just the life style. But I told you my real name, and I'm sure you already know Striker and Conner's real names anyway with the amount of times they've been in jail. All I really know about Conner is he likes to read, and he's good at medical things. He's sorta Striker's voice of reason. As for the other Strike Out members, we told them of the idea of coming here to do the contract and they said they didn't want to be involved. So we all parted ways. None of us have contacts with the rest of the team anymore. Some could come and follow our lead and turn themselves in, or they could leave town and we'd never hear from them again. This wasn't the easiest news to break to the team, you know." Ember sighed.

She looked up at the clock wondering if Striker was doing the same thing, or had they purposely put him in a room without a clock? Ember would memorize the time before she was allowed to see him again, so she could tell him if that was the case. She didn't know if any police were actually using difficult measures to get things out of him or not. She didn't think it was necessary. Striker would tell them what they needed if they asked. He was willing to hand over the location of the Strike Out territory as well just to prove his loyalty. Of course, the remainder of the team had cleared out everything they didn't want found in there, so all that would be left would be the things from their own rooms, the training rooms, the stalked kitchen, and whatever Dean didn't take from the equipment room. The place would be empty though. Striker had told everyone if they didn't want to be caught, don't come back. So if anyone was there, they wanted to be caught on purpose.

"Honestly, though, you should ask Striker about everything. He'll tell everything you need to know. He knows a lot more than what I can tell you." Ember shrugged. "Also... Is it possible I can get some water? I mean, I know this isn't a hotel or anything, but I just have a feeling we're going to be here a very long time and I'd love a bottle of water if that's the case."