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Sergeant O’ Riley has been in the police force for ten years. He’ll never forget his first arrest… or rather, who he arrested. A criminal by the name of Old Johnny. At least, that’s his name now. Since that first arrest, Old Johnny has escaped custody and has been arrested by many other cops, leading O’ Riley to think; “Did he ever care the way I did…?”. The line replayed in his mind non-stop. It was like a broken record, reminding him of the bittersweet memory that brought him to tears on some occasions, though the reason behind those tears varied. He liked to believe it was because he felt like he failed at his duties when he escaped, but there was always a pesky little idea lingering in that back of his mind that maybe.. maybe he felt betrayed by the way Old Johnny allowed himself to be arrested by these other cops.
Today was meant to be a special day to him. The day of the arrest, the anniversary… their anniversary. He sat at his desk in his precinct, the occasional officer going up to speak with him, whether it was casual office chatter or about a case. Everyone O’ Riley was well acquainted with could tell something was off about him, and they knew why. Every year around this time, he just seemed down, less motivated, more.. hopeless. O’ Riley was sipping on a lukewarm cup of coffee and looking at things on his monitor during a break, when suddenly another officer plopped a stack of papers on his desk.
Slowly putting his cup down, he looked up at the officer with tired eyes, an exasperated look on his face. He was sick of keeping up any facade. Was he really being given such a dense case today? The officer was quiet for a moment before speaking up, his voice somewhat lower than usual, which the Sergeant picked up on immediately, taking a mental note.
“…Sergeant. Take a look at this.”
O’ Riley looked at the papers and then the officer, then back at the papers. He opened up the thick file, reading the title a few times over as he slowly processed, eyes going wider, the look of exasperation turning into a surprised, almost shocked and eager look. Swiftly turning his head up with parted lips, he saw the officer ready to speak, holding back a smile at how his Sergeant reacted.
“How… just.. how? He hasn’t been in our city for years..”
“We’ve gained some intel, and apparently he’s back on the street again. In our area. Tonight he’ll be doing a deal and we all thought you’d want to be the one to try catch him.”
Without hesitation O’ Riley stood up, his chair rolling back as a few of his coworkers looked at him, some with intrigue, some with knowing smiles. He followed the officer into a room where he was met with many more officers, all greeting him before informing him of the deal set for tonight. It was a rather strange case, having to ride on a bike to remain inconspicuous, but he was willing to do anything, anything just… just to see him again. For the love of it all, he just needed to remember that feeling. That warm, accomplished and almost comforting feeling.
A few hours later he was preparing, getting his gear, putting on his helmet and getting his signature sunglasses. The other officers were all parked in cars, ready at standby around the area in case something went wrong. O’ Riley was still on his bike, looking down the long road as he stood alert at an intersection. That’s when he saw it. Those familiar arms, those muscular legs. It was Old Johnny. As soon as he saw him, he began the chase, following him as fast as he could. Old Johnny caught on, moving faster. O’ Riley called out, desperation creeping into his voice.
“Old Johnny… wait! You can’t get away!”
Old Johnny turned his head, giving a sneer and cock of the head, clearly not willing to stop and let himself get arrested again… But O’ Riley was hellbent on ensuring he had him once more. He continued to plead, shouting and on the verge of begging. There was a bit of pain in his voice, a pain you can only find in someone who was on the verge of tears.
“Please! Johnny you need to stop! I… I need you to stop! Not in the name of the law!”
That caught Old Johnny’s attention. For.. for him? He thought maybe for a second he could consider it.. why was he so adamant on him stopping.. wait.. wait! No! He can’t stop. He can’t stop running, never. It was all he knew, and it was all he would ever know. Pulling out a handgun, Old Johnny aimed as best he could whilst similtaneously trying to steer the bike with his other hand, shooting messily at O’ Riley. He could feel the impact of several bullets hitting him in the chest, causing him to fall to the ground, lying on the road sprawled out, bleeding heavily.
The other officers turned on their sirens, quickly going after Old Johnny whilst a few officers went to rush to O’ Riley.. but the damage was too great. Before anyone could catch Old Johnny… he was hit. He hadn’t been paying attention to the road, and was hit by a large truck transporting goods to houses. That was the end of both of their tales. That same fateful day where they met years ago, though this time, they both ended up having their last meeting.