A/N: Hey everybody, it's been a while. Sorry this chapter took a bit longer than the last few, I've been taking it a little too easy these past few weeks (and Steam Summer sales certainly haven't helped). Anyway, here's my shameless Twitter plug: follow me 'at' SoloRStudios; and with that out of the way, let's just dive right in.

Chapter 4: Mind Games

Warden Glass was finally at ease, finally able to do his work in relative peace and quiet. Locking Roman Torchwick in solitary confinement was the best decision he had made since the infamous crime lord had arrived. Even the regular prisoners had settled down, figuring that if a big fish like Roman could be punished, then so could they. Of course, this state of affairs would only last about a month or two before devolving back into the normal prison hierarchy, but the warden was content taking what peace he could get.

"Warden Glass." said a female voice, as a knock was heard on the office door.

"Come in."

The door opened and the warden's secretary entered the room, her arms full of papers. The blue-eyed young woman adjusted her glasses and the loose bun her brown hair was held in, as she made her way across the office to the cold, titanium desk. She casually dropped the pile of documents in front of her boss, before tucking a loose part of her white blouse into her black business skirt.

"These are all the latest forms you have to fill out, Sir." said the klutzy young woman. "They're all in triplicate, so this pile isn't quite as bad as it looks."

"Thank you, Crystal." said the warden, as he took the first three pages from the stack.

"Right, so first up we have acknowledgements for all the new inmates that just got incarcerated today." said Crystal, picking up some sheets that had gotten scattered on the floor. "You'll need the database for those."

The warden nodded and opened the database on his computer. He spent the next ten minutes looking up each prisoner and signing the acknowledgement forms.

"Okay, now what?" he asked.

"Next up are prisoner transfers in and out of the penitentiary."

The warden looked through each transfer form. A fugitive had been apprehended in Mistral and was being sent here to his home kingdom. Atlas was requesting a few White Fang members be sent up North to be interrogated by local law enforcement. Villages outside the main kingdom wanted to send over criminals that couldn't be reliably held in their smaller jails. Inmates that had finished their sentences or made parole needed to be cleared for release.

"Next." said the warden.

"Bills to pay."

Warden Glass grunted in disappointment. He looked through the expenditures and signed away what funds were needed to pay for them.

"And what's this last one?"

"An application for an internship." replied Crystal. "She's a promising criminal psychology student from Vytal University looking to get some work experience."

"Hmm, Amarella Golding." said Glass, as he looked through the application. "High marks, flexible schedule, wants to work with the Vale Police Department."

"Sounds promising to me."

"Perhaps, I just hope she doesn't end up scared off of the job like the last one." said Glass, signing the document.

A week passed by, bringing a phone call and an interview with one of the prison's counselors. After making a good impression and proving herself up to the task, Amarella Golding found herself standing outside of Vale City Penitentiary for her first day of work. The blonde college student tugged nervously at her blouse and patted the loose bun her hair was tied in atop her head. She adjusted the glasses framing her aquamarine eyes, and made her way to the entrance.

She was greeted by a pair of guards in the doorway, who directed her towards the desk where a brown-haired woman was waiting for her.

"Oh, hello, you must be the intern." greeted the blue-eyed woman. "I'm Crystal, the warden sent me down here to greet you."

"Amarella Golding, but you can just call me Ama." said the student, meekly, as she shook Crystal's hand.

"Ama, I like it; short, sweet, rolls off the tongue."

Ama laughed, slightly flustered by the secretary's enthusiasm.

"Anyway, let's get you set up." said Crystal, leading the younger girl through the halls. "We'll probably have you do clerical tasks until you get settled in, after that you'll mostly be interviewing prisoners. You'll want to do some research on their cases and prepare questions in advance; we've prepared a desk with a computer for you, right across from mine in fact, for you to work on that."

"T-thank you, I honestly wasn't expecting to get my own desk."

"Of course, we want to make sure our interns get the most out of their work here and are well taken care of. Oh, that reminds me; for safety reasons you will be escorted by prison guards at all times when you're in the main part of the facility, we have quite a lot of dangerous characters in here after all."

"I understand." said Ama, with a nod. "Also, is it true that you're holding…him?"

"Hm, who?" asked Crystal, coming to a halt.

"Roman Torchwick."

"Oh, yeah we are. He's in solitary confinement though, completely off limits; you'll need some more experience and a special appointment from the warden before we let you sit down with a criminal that dangerous."

"O-oh, I wasn't-"

"Of course you were. What aspiring criminal psychologist wouldn't want to take a crack at Vale's most notorious criminal?"

"W-well, maybe a little bit."

"Hm, listen sweetheart, lemme give you some advice; don't hide your ambition, it's what'll get you places."

"This coming from a secretary?" said Ama, covering her mouth when she realized she had said that out loud. "I-I'm sorry!"

Crystal stifled a giggle. "I'll let you in on a not-quite-secret; I'm the only reason the warden gets any work done, this place'd fall apart without me. Although, I am a bit of a klutz, so sometimes I wonder how true that is."

Ama laughed along with the slightly older young woman.

"C'mon, let's get you set up." said Crystal, continuing down the hall. "Oh, and keep that snarky side going strong, you'll need some grit to work this job."

Ama got settled into her new place of work quickly. The desk they provided her with wasn't anything fancy, but it would get the job done. One look at the reinforced steel box made her wonder how the staff managed to move it to where it now stood; apparently all the desks in the building were bulletproof, just in case. She dropped any materials she had brought into the drawers and went straight to work.

True to Crystal's word, the first few days were mostly spent helping the secretary with clerical tasks. When Ama wasn't doing that, she was diligently studying the records of the inmates that were deemed safe enough for her to interview. The prison staff wanted to 'start her off light' with some of the more reformed criminals first, apparently they were worried about liability issues after what happened with their last intern; disconcerting as that sounded, Ama refused to be discouraged.

On her fourth day on the job, Ama finally got her first interview set up; it was just a local small-time thief, but it was progress. Two guards brought her to a secluded room beyond the cell blocks; apparently it was used by the prison psychiatrist for his own meetings with the inmates. The room had a steel table and matching pair of chairs in the middle of it. The guards stood by the door, while Ama took a seat on the chair furthest from them. Another guard came through the door, bringing the interviewee in with him. The man was tall, with a slight build and some light stubble on his face; he had brown hair and matching eyes, and was adorned in the same orange jumpsuit as the other inmates. He sat down across from Ama, eying her nervously as she flipped through her notes.

"Your name is Corvo Corsair, correct?" asked the girl.

"That's right."

"And you hail from Mistral, yes?"

"Yeah."

"And it says here you were arrested after stealing a car from a dealership you worked at for two weeks."

"Not a car, a pickup truck, better for off-road."

"Ah, I see. And why exactly did you steal that truck?"

"I was gonna drive it across Sanus, make my way to Vacuo."

"Go to a place where you would be among other thieves?"

"That was the idea."

Ama made some notes on what she had heard so far. "Where are you from in Mistral?"

"Yamiyuri, it was a small village that was overrun by Grimm. After that, I drifted from place to place until I was taken in by a clan of bandits."

"And I suppose they're the ones who taught you to steal?"

"No, I was stealing to survive long before I met them, they're just the ones that made me good at it."

"So why come to Vale?"

"I didn't want that life, I wanted a fresh start. We were conducting a raid near the coast; first chance I got, I stowed away on a boat and came here."

"Hmm, and yet you continued to steal anyway."

"Finding steady pay was tough; I ended up robbing quite a few stores for whatever I couldn't afford. Guess I couldn't escape the life of a thief after all; after that, I figured I'd go to Vacuo where thieves like me are welcome."

"I see." said Ama, putting down her pen and removing her glasses. "Thank you for sharing all of that with me, it helps me a great deal."

"Mm, no problem." said Corvo, solemnly.

Ama signaled to the guards that she was done with her interview, prompting them to take the young thief back to his cell.

When the men returned, they brought a haggard-looking young woman, barely older than Ama herself, into the room. Her unkempt, dirty-blonde hair covered much of her face, and the dark rings around her hazel eyes indicated a lack of proper sleep. The girl slumped into the chair and looked up weakly at the psychology student; she grasped her arms to stave off the chill of the room.

Ama shook off her initial shock and cleared her throat, she put on her glasses and looked through her notes. "You are Angel Wan, yes?"

"That's me." replied the girl, nervously.

"And you were put in here for drug possession, correct?"

"Y-yeah."

"That's a bit of an unusual charge; police normally don't have time to deal with individual users, so I'm guessing you pled down from something more severe?"

"I w-wasn't dealing if that's what you're asking. M-my mom's the one who told the cops that when she called them."

"Your mother got you arrested?"

"Y-yeah. She told 'em I was dealing one night when I was really strung out; by the time I could think straight, I was already in the back of a squad car. Court couldn't f-find me guilty of intent to distribute, so they p-put me away f-for possession instead." Angel elaborated, as she looked down in shame.

"And how do you feel about your mother doing that to you? Do you feel any kind of resentment towards her?"

"God no, if anything I'm g-glad I'm in here. I was wrecking my life, h-hurting everyone I care about; prison's been like hardcore rehab for me, I feel like shit b-but at least I'm going clean."

"So you would say your time here has been beneficial to you?"

"Sure has; guards keep me drug-free, and even some of the other girls in here help me keep lookin' up. Once I'm out, I'm gonna set my life straight." said Angel, with a smile on her face.

"That's an admirable goal. It's been very insightful talking to you, thank you for your time."

"Hey, no problem, whatever helps you out, Doc."

"Wha- oh no, I'm not a doctor, not yet, I'm still just a student." said Ama, flustered at the thought of one day having a PhD.

The guards calmly escorted Angel back to her cell, allowing Ama to lean back and take a bit of a break. She hadn't expected her first two subjects to be such reluctant criminals; she had supposed some would be victims of circumstance, but was more interested in working over more…deliberate perpetrators.

The next week was spent with similar crooks and con artists. Some had sob stories, some owed money to the wrong people, and some were just greedy. After Crystal saw that Ama could handle herself, she allowed the eager student to start interviewing some of the more dangerous offenders in the facility.

"You know, I really don't get it." said one of the door guards, as they waited for the latest inmate to arrive.

"Hm? What?" asked Ama.

"I don't get it, your fascination with criminals, I mean. How does a nice, young girl like you get interested in what goes on in bad-guys' heads?"

"I want to understand their motives, what drives them, what makes them do what they do. I figure I can use that knowledge to help the police catch them and put them behind bars." replied the girl, resolutely. "As for why I want to do that, my father was killed in a home invasion when I was very young; no little girl should ever have to go through that, and if I can help stop it happening to someone else…"

"Oh jeez, sorry I asked." said the guard, solemnly.

"Its fine, I don't really mind talking about it anymore."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door, signaling that a prisoner was about to be brought in. The guards opened the door, allowing two more officers to enter the room and drop off Ama's latest subject.

The man sat down calmly, running his hands through his slicked-back red hair. His face was rather gaunt, though it was clearly more a result of his age than any physical ailments. He looked up at Ama with his amber eyes and waited patiently for her to begin.

"So, you're Red Jack?"

"That's what they used to call me."

"You were one of Vale's most infamous serial killers just a decade ago."

"That's right, then they caught me and I've been on death row ever since; but you know all of this already. Why don't you ask me the questions you really want to know the answer to?"

Ama paused slightly, a little put off by how straight-to-the-point the man was being. "Alright. Why did you kill those women?"

"They were the dregs of society, selling their bodies to the highest bidder; they disgusted me." he replied, matter-of-factly. "Honestly, I believe I was doing society a favor by cleaning them off the streets."

"Your…'cleaning'…was quite messy if the police reports are to be believed; or are you trying to tell me your hair is the reason they called you Red Jack?"

"Well, a death without bloodshed is hardly going to get any attention."

"You wanted the bodies to be found? You wanted people to find out there was a killer on the loose?"

"Of course, if no one discovers the pattern, no one gets the message."

"Message?"

"That such behavior will not be tolerated."

"I see. So, you must see yourself as some kind of big hero; is that it?"

"No, of course not; what I did was utterly reprehensible, I have no illusions of that." responded Jack, casually.

Ama practically flinched. "And you're just…okay with that?"

"What can I say, young lass; some people just have a few screws loose, I'm one of those people, I've just accepted what I am."

Ama stood up, horrified at what she had just heard. She knew there were people in the world who took lives for callous reasons, but actually meeting such a person and hearing them talk about their atrocities so casually still caught her off guard.

"Takes you aback, doesn't it? You cannot even fathom that a mindset like mine exists."

The girl took a breath and sat back down. "You're right, there's more wrong with the world than I thought if someone like you can exist in it. I think we're done here for today."

Jack smiled. "Well, it's been a pleasure speaking with you."

The outer guards came in and escorted the notorious murderer back to his cell. Ama sat back down in her chair, still a little shaken from the experience.

"You alright?" asked one of the guards, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder in a practiced manner.

"I'll be fine." she responded, keeping herself as composed as she could.

"That's something you're gonna have to get used to. Plenty o' crazies like that in here, plenty o' crooks that do things for reasons that make no sense."

"Yeah, I'll bet."

For the next week, Ama interviewed the worst criminals that Vale had to offer; everyone from rapists to drug lords to terrorists. True to the guard's word, many of them had motivations that would never make sense to the rational mind. Ama was not discouraged, however; these…people would serve as the tests by which she would prove her resolve, her devotion to her goal. The young woman was determined to face the worst this building had to offer. It was for that very reason that she was glad to have been called to see the warden at the end of the week.

Ama stood nervously outside Warden Glass's office. Despite being an intern at the prison for a couple of weeks now, Ama had yet to actually meet the warden; the man was exceptionally busy and didn't have time to immediately meet every new person in his employ. The fact that he was willing to take some of that time out of his schedule to meet with her was a fairly good indicator that he saw some value in her. So, here she was, knocking on the door of the most important person in the facility.

"Come in." said a stern voice, prompting the girl to enter the heavy, metal door.

Ama entered the office confidently, but not without some slight apprehension. The middle-aged man at the desk looked up at her and adjusted his glasses.

"Ah, you must be Amarella Golding, good to finally meet you; I hope Crystal hasn't been too hard on you."

"Nice to meet you, too, Sir; a-and no, Crystal has been nothing but wonderful, I don't know what I'd do without her."

"Believe me, I know the feeling." said the warden, getting up from his seat. "Come, sit down." he continued, pulling back one of the chairs in front of the desk.

"Thank you, Sir." replied Ama, taking a seat.

"So tell me, how has your time here been so far? Do you find the work to be satisfactory? Demanding? No doubt you've faced some…challenges in the past week or so."

"The work experience has definitely been useful to me; as for the challenges, I expected as much when dealing with criminals."

"Mmm, I see. You know, I've seen people put on brave faces like yours before. Our last intern did the same thing, cracked under the pressure before quite furiously quitting the position. Don't be too proud to ask for help if you need it, we have excellent counselors here for both inmates and staff; you're here to learn, Ms. Golding, not break."

"I understand; thank you, Sir."

"Good. Now, off you go, we both have a busy day ahead of us."

"Wait!"

Warden Glass paused at the sudden outburst.

"I-I don't mean to overstep my bounds, but…I was wondering if you would be willing to allow me an interview with Roman Torchwick?"

The warden raised an eyebrow in intrigue. "Crystal mentioned that you had asked her about Torchwick. No doubt you think this is the opportunity of a lifetime for you, to pick the brain of Vale's most infamous criminal; I admire the ambition, really, I do."

Ama sat uncomfortably still, she took a hard swallow as she awaited the prison-keeper's answer.

"I can't help but think it would be a waste to deprive a model student such as yourself of this."

Ama's face perked up.

"I want you to meet with the prison counselor, and I'll be assigning an extra guard; under these conditions, you'll have a sit-down with Torchwick by the end of the week."

"T-thank you, Sir." said Ama, flabbergasted. "I don't know what to say."

"Do not thank me for this, Ms. Golding; you'll quickly learn that Roman Torchwick is quite a bit more than you're used to dealing with, don't be ashamed to end the interview early if you need to." said the warden, sitting back down.

The rest of the week passed by in a blur. Ama had a sit-down with the prison counselor, just as the warden had requested; after she was given the all-clear, she went about her work as usual. She interviewed the usual thugs and thieves, all the while working on her questions for Torchwick. Before she knew it, the day had arrived.

Ama sat in the meeting room, awaiting the arrival of the most dangerous man in the City of Vale. An additional guard stood in the corner of the room, opposite the door.

"I feel the need to remind you how dangerous this man is." said the new guard. "We have no idea how he'll behave in this situation, but we are authorized to immediately subdue him at our discretion if things start to escalate."

"I understand; do what you have to officer, but please try to give me as much time as you can." responded Ama, anxiously.

"I still think the warden is making a big mistake doing this; letting a college kid interview Roman Torchwick, honestly, this whole thing is probably just a publicity stunt."

A knock was heard on the door, putting the room into a deathly silence. One of the guards by the door opened it, allowing two more guards to enter the room with an orange-haired man. The man was roughly seated in the chair opposite the table from Ama, before the escorts left the room to stand guard outside.

"Well," said the criminal, "I must've been a good boy; first time out of solitary in what I'm guessing was a month-or-so and my first order of business is a meeting with a pretty little thing like you."

"Mr. Torchwick," said Ama, tentatively, "I've been looking forward to meeting with you."

"Mmm, I bet you have, Sweetheart."

"I don't really appreciate-"

"So tell me, you're not the shrink around here are you? No, you look much too young. Student? Intern?"

"I will be asking the questions in this interview, if you please; but your deduction is correct, I am a student, and I would like to begin."

"Ooh, deduction, good word but not quite the one I had in mind, try switching out that first letter."

"Mr. Torchwick, please."

"Oh just call me Roman."

"Mr. Torchwick; if you don't mind, I would like to start the interview." said Ama, getting agitated.

"What's there to know, Goldilocks; I'm the best criminal in the city, I'm the best dressed criminal in the world, and I'm the one criminal these guys wish they could hold in this place. That should be all the important details you need for your little homework assignment."

"Like you're getting out of here, Torchwick." said one of the guards.

"Aren't I?" replied the convict, turning around in his chair.

"That a threat!?"

"Stop!" cried Ama, startling everyone. The intern composed herself and shuffled some of her papers. "Why don't we focus on that ego of yours, Mr. Torchwick; why exactly are you so sure of yourself?"

"Because I'm just that good, of course." replied Torchwick, turning back to the girl.

"In other words, your attitude is a textbook case of narcissism."

"Listen, Honey; when you've lived through the kind of shit that I have and still end up on top of the criminal underworld of a major city when you're still in your twenties, I think you've earned the privilege of a little narcissism."

"So, you think you've earned everything you have, and you think your ego is justified?"

"Absolutely; every penny in my bank accounts, every piece of property I use, and every woman that comes sauntering up to me looking for a night to remember." responded Torchwick, confidently.

Ama briefly looked angry, but quickly hid it. "You seem quite focused on talking about women today. Is this normal behavior for you?"

"Y'know, now that you mention it, Blondie, not really; I guess I'm feeling a little…deprived."

"A few weeks of solitary confinement will do that to you." said Ama, flatly.

"Exactly! No human contact for weeks, it's practically torture!" cried Roman, in dramatic fashion. "And even before that, the only company I've had in here are lesser prisoners and shitty guards!"

"Hey!" called one of the officers, indicating their presence in the room.

"In fact," said Roman in a low voice, completely ignoring the guard, "it's been far too long since I've seen a woman." he finished, standing up and hunching over the table.

He moved before anyone had time to react. Ama sat in shock, her mind scrambling to figure out what was happening to her. Torchwick was perched on the table, his lips crushed against those of the younger woman as he held her hair in his fist.

The guards were the first to shake off their confusion. They rushed over and pulled the criminal off of the still-bewildered girl. After a few strong hits, the inmate was subdued, and the guards dragged him out of the room.

Ama's mind finally caught up to her; she gasped in horror and covered her mouth with her hands. Tears welled up in the student's eyes, as all of the frustrations she had since the interview started crashed down on her at last. She buried her face in her hands and let herself go.

The two remaining guards walked over and comforted the sobbing girl.

"Hey, c'mon, let's go." said one of the men, as he ushered Ama out of her seat. "Let's get you back to the office, Crystal will take care of you."

As they walked through the halls, Ama continued to sob silently into her hands. The guards scanned their surroundings, staying ever vigilant but paying no mind to the distraught girl. Hidden beneath her hands, her lips curled into a wicked grin; behind her fingers, her eyes opened, one pink and the other brown."

Back in solitary confinement, Roman Torchwick sat hunched over in the corner of his cell, seemingly in pain. He reached into his mouth and pulled out a folded piece of paper hidden under his tongue. He unfolded it to reveal a note written in a familiar, curly handwriting.

Make lots of friends, and

I'll get you out early for

good behavior.

-Neo

P.S. How good do I look in

glasses?

Roman bared his teeth in a confident smile.

A/N: And there we are, the groundwork for Roman's daring escape has been laid. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review so I can get some feedback. How many of you immediately figured out that Ama was Neo in disguise? Next chapter has already been started, hopefully I can get that one out a little quicker. Til next time, have a nice day.