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“And there’s only one thing I’ve ever regretted doing for VILE.”
His hand lowered, and Carmen’s eyes widened.
“Trying to hurt you.”
The crackle rod was dropped, and she felt like she could breathe again. Gray was looking up at her with conflicted, sincere eyes, and all she could think about was what he said.
Her entire being was frozen, wondering how things got to this point, how she let things get to this point.
She had never wanted him to get involved with VILE again, yet here they are.
He remembered VILE, but he also remembered her . One of his closest friends at the time, and someone he obviously still considered important to her. Her heart warmed, and if it weren’t for the situation they were in, she might’ve hugged him.
Gray (he would always be Gray to her), one of her oldest friends, her old classmate, someone she had always trusted, even after everything that had happened, considered her so important to him that he was basically defying VILE and letting her go.
He claimed that he was a bad person, that he had no morals. But Carmen knew that deep down, he was a good person, despite his extracurricular activities in the past.
Perhaps . . . if it was the old Gray, the one she knew from her school time, she wouldn’t have thought him capable of letting go of VILE.
This person in front of her is still Gray, in all the ways she remembered, but she knew deep down he had changed, just as she had. They were no longer kids, just trying to make it big and have fun. She learned to mature and he learned to be less prideful, and here they were, over two years later, better people than they once were.
She needed him to understand that he still had a choice, that no matter what he did, he would always have a second chance with her. She knew Gray like she knew herself, and Carmen knew this wasn’t something he truly believed in anymore.
His conflicted expression, his genuine regret, his tired defeat, she could see that he had accepted himself as someone from VILE, someone awful.
He wasn’t joining in for the glory or to be rich like he had originally joined all those years ago. He was joining because he felt like he had no choice, like this was the path he had to take.
From his stance, from his expression, Carmen knew she still had a chance. A chance to convince him, to have him join her. Gray wasn’t just a dear friend to her, but he was also a talented thief. If anyone could help her take down VILE, it would be him.
And if that didn’t work, the least she could do was try to get him to leave VILE. He didn’t deserve this fate, because Gray was one of the best people she knew and she refused to leave him to this fate.
(She wonders when she became so invested in making sure he didn’t take the wrong path and in making sure he never was on a side opposite her again. Gray had always been the older brother she never had, but lately, she thinks her feelings have become too desperate, too passionate for someone she seemingly cared about just as much as Ivy or Zack or-)
(This has been a long-time coming, Carmen realizes. She’s only just starting to realize it now.)
Carmen focuses back on the situation, watching Gray. He looks down at the rod between them, and Carmen has never felt more distant from him.
“Gray-”
“Crackle.”
“ Gray. This isn’t you. I know this isn’t you. No matter what VILE told you, no matter what you remember, you've changed. I know you have,” Carmen looks at him with pleading eyes, begging him to understand. She feels the tears pinprick the corner of her eyes, hoping that this be the one thing that goes right in her life. “You’re not joining VILE for the money or glory. I know you aren’t anymore, so why continue this? Why do something that both of us will suffer from?”
She can feel the tears slipping down her cheeks, and she quickly lowers her head, wiping them. Gray stands silent in front of her, mouth tightly drawn in a thin line, and Carmen thinks, I’ve lost him.
And Carmen hates it, hates the hope she had thinking that Gray might’ve joined her, might’ve sided with her, and hates the crushing hope and despair that she feels right then for thinking she had a chance to regain family she once thought she’d lost.
Carmen takes a deep breath to prepare herself, then gets ready to pull out the switch for the explosives she planted, but not right before Gray shuffles.
She prepares herself staring at the ground and wiping her tears, ready for the worst as Gray opens his mouth and prepares- “Dr. Bellum has a lab full of those robots. I overheard them talking about it earlier. If we want to leave, it’d be best we take care of those robots as well.”
Carmen’s head whips up, and she sees Gray, a soft, shaky smile on his face. Hope fills her and she speaks up, hoping so much that this means what she thinks it means.
“Gray- I- Does that mean . . .?”
“I don’t suppose you’ve got room for one more on your ride home?” he questions, a teasing glint in her eye, and Carmen knows she’s won. She got Gray back.
Carmen launches herself at him, hugging him tightly, and warms when she feels him hugging her back. She stands there for a few moments, enjoying the comfort, but she knows they can’t stay much longer or else fear VILE coming after them.
She smirks and takes out the switch for the explosive. “Hey, Gray?”
“Yeah?” He says it softly, fondly, and Carmen can’t help but remember how much she misses him.
Carmen leaves his embrace and waves the switch in his face, pressing it. “I’ve taken care of those robots already.”
The explosives go off, and Carmen feels all is right in the world, watching Gray give her a knowing smile.
They still have a lot to talk about, she knows, and they have to figure out what to do from then, but the hardest battle is already over, and Carmen feels bright for the future.
“You are a traitor, Gray, just like Shadowsan.”
“Carm-”
“Oh, wait, you prefer Crackle, don’t you? I can’t believe I never dealt with you since you defected. I’ll be sure to teach you a lesson for betraying VILE and betraying me.”