Chapter Text
A life of crime was what Graham had called it but his life was far cry away from what it had been since V.I.L.E had been dismantled.
As the Chief had said, he would not be put under arrest and his hospital stay would be kept under wraps.
It had taken some time for him to recover from his almost fatal encounter with his former schoolmate, his last encounter with her.
Graham didn't know what had happened to her after the whole debacle, the only thing he let Chief tell him was that she was okay, her memories had returned to her if a bit scrambled up. It was all Graham knew about her, he didn't know where she went after or if she knew about his whereabouts, Chief might not have given any of his contact information to her but that still didn't mean she couldn't have figured where he was and was currently tracing his steps.
Maybe she had figured out he was currently in Casablanca, the place where his first caper took place, another fantastic disaster. It was also the last place where he ever saw Carmen, the place where he almost got cleaned up.
But there was an exhibition on priceless Maroccan paintings in Musée Abderrahman Slaoui, an art museum in the heart of Casablanca, it was close to an art school and the building could be seen from Casablanca cathedral just a few blocks away. It had sounded eerily similar to the last time he was there, when the eye of Vishnu had been back on display to lure out a brainwashed Carmen and get her to remember who she was, it wasn't something Graham liked to remember. But in the back of his mind a voice said that maybe Carmen would think the same as him, that she could not pass up the opportunity to go back to the city where everything had started, the city where the two of them had parted, to finally have an excuse to.
He had been there for about a week now, scoping the place, knowing the rotation of security, exits and entries, the layout of the museum and so on.
He had been staying at a small hostel at the edge of town, trying to attract as little attention as possible.
Graham had done some petty thefts, short con crimes and break-ins into lightly secured buildings, all to build up his repertoire once again, without the help of V.I.L.E's toys.
Though sometimes he missed his cracklerod but that was only when he was in dire situations and it was only a passing thought.
He never truly wanted to hold such a device again, not after almost killing someone with it, not after zapping Carmen, not after almost being killed by Carmen with one.
No, he needed to rely more on his training, he needed to prevent violent encounters, to become undetected, he needed to be as elusive as the crimson ghost herself.
If you can not defeat your enemy, learn from them.
That statement was painfully true, even if Graham would label their relationship as complicated, it didn't change the fact that if V.I.L.E were to be rebuild Graham would not hesitate to join them as long as it was beneficial to him.
Because that was his reason to live this kind of life, the money, the thrill, the focus on the next big caper, the focus on the next treasure to be stolen.
That was the life, the life of crime he knew his was always going to be.
Graham looked from the roof across the museum as the lights were turned off and security was doing a sweep on the inside of the building. The only people left on the property were four security guard, three for every floor of the museum and one as a back up, who would walk through the whole building. Graham would have five minutes to get in through the top floor window of the main room, the guard stationed there would be in another side room while his back up mate would be on the second floor just about to set out of the stairs up to the third. Once inside he would have to by pass all the guards to get to the main hall of the second floor where the exhibition was on display, if he had timed it right, he would have another five minutes to take as much paintings as he could. Once in possession of them he would rack off out of there and take out any guards by surprise, he would be long gone before they could contact the local authorities.
The only thing that needed to be taken care of before he could enter was the security system and surveillance cameras, he had found a small electrical box outside on the side of the building in a narrow alley, he could dismantle the security system from there and scale the same wall to get to the third floor.
He set his timer for five minutes, took a deep breath and scanned the perimeter again, this time specifically looking for a flash of red moving through the darkness, all the while telling himself he was looking for any blue coats.
When he didn't spot anything, Graham looked at his point of entry once again and waited for the light of the security guard's torch to dissappear. The guard turned the corner and he was gone, Graham started the timer on his wrist and dropped down from the building across the street and moved in.
He ducked into the ally coming to a stop at the metal box fastened to the wall, from here he had free access to the small electrical box, supplying the museum with endless electrical power.
Only when Graham opened the box did he notice that the electricity had already been shut off. His mind reeled with possibilities of how and who had disabled it, it would only be possible from a remote electrical station a few kilometers outside the city but than the whole block would be without power and that wasn't the case as streetlights were still lit.
The thought of Carmen past his mind, he hesitated and threw a look at his timer, he still had enough time.
Maybe she would be there, already inside the building, napping the treasure he was gunning for.
Graham scaled the wall making his way over to the top window, it was still closed when he got there. He frowned, if she- if someone other than him wanted to break in how come they wouldn't do it like he had.
He checked his time, he had two minutes left, enough time to get in. He took could see the lock on the window, taking out a trusty crowbar from his duffel bag, Graham destroyed the lock from the out side as quietly as he could. It popped open and he got inside, letting the window fall close behind him and making sure his break in wasn't too obvious.
He dropped down scanning the inside of the room, the guard from the third floor was still gone but he could hear the back up guard going up the stairs, his torchlight already visible from the top of the stairs.
Graham stopped his timer, resetting it to five minutes and ducking behind a stand just to the side of the stairs, he would wait there for the guard to pass and sneak down stairs. A beat of silence past and Grahams heart fluttered, the sound of the guards footsteps had stopped and the torchlight had disappeared. One more beat of quiet past and Graham came out of his hiding place, carefully going down stairs and glancing around the corner, looking directly into the main hall and seeing a figure of scarlet he knew all to well, her back was turned to him and the lights were out but even under the cover of darkness Graham would recognize her, he stepped around the corner making her turn to see where the sound of those footsteps came from.
"Carmen Sandiego." it slipped out before Graham knew it.
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Carmen thought back to the times she had been in Casablanca, those were not good things to remember.
It had been her lowest point, both the first and last time she had gone there. The first time it made her realize V.I.L.E wasn't the organisation she thought it was and that her whole upbringing was a lie, the second time she had turned into the thing she had hated most, doing so many horrible things that night which she would never forgive herself for.
Those memories came to mind more now that she was actually there, scouting the area around an art museum in the heart of Casablanca, where her sources said a left over V.I.L.E operative was going to make an appearance.
It had been two years or so since Coach Brunt, Countess Cleo and Roundabout had escaped prison, well Roundabout hadn't so much escaped as he had been freed of all charges against him, he had friends in high places.
It also seemed he had spoken Dr. Maelstrom free, the mad man was now being held under house arrest under surveillance, Carmen knew without a doubt he was picked by Roundabout himself as to fall in good graces with Maelstrom.
Only Dr. Bellum was still in jail as her social network was small so her influence wasn't so big as to warrant her release, but Carmen was surprised the Countess hadn't already bailed her out at this point.
It was stressful sometimes to know that they were out there now.
Regular V.I.L.E operatives were mostly indifferent towards her, only when she would get in their way would they try to take her out but other than that she had nothing to really fear from them. Alot of former operatives had given up their lives of crime in return for a more tranquil life, a less lethal one.
But the V.I.L.E faculty were different, they held grudges, and big ones at that. They would actively be searching for her, targeting her and the people she was close with, that was one of her reasons for leaving her mother's home in Veracruz. Carmen had just found her, she was not going to let V.I.L.E take her away.
Now she was on the road again, taking out bad guys as she went, meeting some familiar faces once again and planning out capers with Player just like the old days, like in her school days.
Getting her mind out of the gutter, Carmen scanned the building from her hiding place on the roof behind the museum, she had given Player access to their security system just the day before, when she scouted out the area and came across the electrical box on the side of the building.
It would be an easy caper this time, getting in and out undetected would require minimal effort, as Carmen got in easily through the back entrance, sneaking past the guard on the first floor and going up the stairs.
"Heads up Red, guard at nine o'clock." Player said through her com link.
It was usually not Carmen's style to knock down every obstacle in her way but sadly the A.C.M.E agents she saw lurking outside in their black colored car with their tinted windows gave her reason to act decisively in the moment. The only reason she recognized that specific car as being of A.C.M.E is because it was Zack and Ivy's car, only they were so attached to their car that they would take it with them on every mission they went, but even if they were as close to each other as family Carmen could not take the risk of there being more agents ready to capture her in their stead.
Carmen took out the guard with a small apology, hiding him behind a stand close to the stairs leading to the third floor.
"It'll take only a few minutes for the other guards to notice their colleague is missing." Carmen whispered to Player. "Can you amake me an escape route?"
She could almost hear him grinning as he spoke, "One step ahead of you Red, just head to the room on your right once you're done, there should be a fire escape underneath the third window on the left."
"Remind me to never underestimate you."
Carmen headed to the main hall, looking at her winnings of the night hanging on the walls around her, she could hear the footsteps of the floor's guard in the room to the left of her. But those weren't the only ones she heard, there was someone behind her, someone who was deliberately light on their feet.
Turning around, Carmen looked into a face she never thought she would lay eyes upon once again.
"Carmen Sandiego." Graham Calloway said.
"Gray." was all she could reply to him.