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“Woohoo! Another caper successful for Team Red!” Ivy cheered, throwing her hands in the air as she, Carmen and Zack had entered their hotel room.
Carmen laughed. “I thought I told you two to stop calling our team that.” She said teasingly. She really was okay with it, but she couldn’t help but mess around with the redheads a little.
Zack and Ivy both gave her identical grins and tackled her into a hug, nearly making her fall to the ground if it weren’t for her strength to hold herself up.
Carmen chuckled, ruffling their heads before quickly pulling away. “Alright you two, let’s keep the hugs to a minimum. We still have some work to do.”
Zack and Ivy pouted at her.
“No, we can’t have any days off. We actually have work to do, you two, nice try.” Carmen said, rolling her eyes, but smiling fondly at them.
“Sooooo...Carm! What’s our next job then?” Ivy asked, putting her “I’m so ready for this” face.
“...Ivy, I think you need to wake up.” Carmen said, taking off her fedora.
“W-Wha?” Ivy was confused. What did Carmen mean by “wake up”?
Just then, a sound interrupted them. It sounded like..an alarm clock??
BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!
Ivy’s eyes shot open, awakening from her deep sleep as she looked over to her nightstand to see her ACME pen, her special glasses, and..Carmen’s note.
The note she left her and Zack with.
When that had happened, Ivy had no idea what to feel. Anger? Sadness? Happiness? ...Depression?
No...it was all of them after Carmen had left.
She knew Carmen had not meant to hurt her and Zack when leaving that note. She didn’t abandon them. She just gave them the opportunity to live their lives the way they wanted now that VILE was gone. And Carmen still had to go out there and find herself now that the final link to her past is found.
But..that didn’t mean Ivy hadn’t missed Carmen. All the time. Everyday. Carmen is the only thing she ever thinks about.
Even if Chief had been checking in and giving her and Zack updates on her, Ivy still missed her boss. Her best friend. Her..everything.
Ivy sighed, looking out the window to see the sun starting to rise. With pink and bright red hues lighting up the sky. When she saw red, she saw Carmen. And Carmen, like the sunrise, was her light.
“I miss you, Carm.” She whispered.
When Zack and Ivy, along with Julia and Chase, had gone to the museum to stop a escaping VILE operative from stealing a priceless artifact, they had expected Carmen to stay with her Mom in Argentina and let ACME handle all of it.
But imagine Ivy’s surprise when they had all seen a certain lady in red standing on the rooftop of the museum after they discovered Paper Star tied up in red string at the entrance.
La Femme Rouge was back.
Carmen was back.
Ivy had fought the urge to cry in front of everyone right then and there. Carmen..she was back! After two long years, she was back where Ivy could see her.
“You do realize we’re going to have to take her down?” Zack asked in a spy-like voice.
Ivy swapped him on the shoulder, smiling at him.
“Ow! Kidding!” Zack said, laughing.
Ivy smirked at her little brother. “I’ll take YOU down, Agent. Even if you are Chief’s favorite.”
She then looked back up at the lady in red herself, who didn’t seem to budge from her spot on the roof. Along with the rest of the group as they watched her tip her hat and run off.
‘Long time no see, Carm.’
When Ivy had gotten home from work the next day, she didn’t expect to suddenly get a text from an unknown number on her ACME phone. But she had felt the curiosity rise inside of her as she looked at the text.
‘Look outside your window, Ives.’
“Ives”? But the only people who ever called Ivy “Ives” was Zack and...Carmen.
Ivy felt adrenaline rush through her body as she processed what the text had said. No, no, no, no! It can’t be her..can it?? Carmen wouldn’t possibly just randomly text her when she still had work to do like helping her mom with the orphanage or whatever she does in her free time now-
Would she?
A knock on the window had interrupted Ivy’s train of thought, as the redheaded ACME agent swiftly turned around to see what the source of the sound was. And it turned out the text meant what it said.
Because standing on the edge of the window sill was none other than the infamous Carmen Sandiego.
Ivy’s jaw dropped at the sight of her long lost friend. The one she hadn’t seen in two years. Two long years of mourning over the woman who had come into her life and made it so much better.
Ivy quickly sprinted to the window and opened it, inviting Carmen in, in which the woman accepted the invitation without a hesitation.
“Carm? Am..Am I dreaming again?” Ivy asked, not believing what she was seeing. “Yeah! I have to be dreaming! There’s no way I actually let the lady in red who had been off the grid for two years into my room! You’re hallucinating, Ivy, you’re hallucinating.” She said, trying to convince herself she was, in fact, dreaming again.
Carmen stood there, giving her the famous “are you fucking kidding me?” Look.
Ivy scoffed. “Don’t give me that look, Hallucination Carmen!”
Carmen sighed, before reaching out and pinching Ivy on the shoulder, making the younger woman screech in pain.
“What the hell was that for?!” Ivy screamed at her.
“To make you stop pretending I’m a ghost.” Carmen deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at her.
Ivy felt her stomach twist in guilt of thinking that this woman was imaginary. Since she clearly isn’t. She just wanted to believe that Carmen wasn’t here, in her room, after being off the grid for two years and then suddenly showing up again at the museum the other night.
She’s been seeing Carmen in her dreams for months now, and then Carmen disappears at the end. She can’t let Carmen go this time..not when she’s actually here. She NEEDED Carmen here.
Ivy looked back at Carmen, who was still standing there. She then felt her eyes beginning to water at the sight of her old friend. Her best friend. After two damn years, she’s back. She’s BACK.
Ivy collapsed to the ground, sobbing. She buried her face in her hands and cried.
“C-Carm..where have ya been?! Chief told me brief things but she never told me what you’ve been doing! Or where you’ve been going and when you disappeared from HQ with the note I was so worried! I-I thought I lost ya!”
Carmen stood there, looking at Ivy empathetically. She had never seen Ivy so broken down before, not even when the other woman had gotten emotional about her parents from time to time as her brother had shared memories of them with her whenever she herself was in the room. But now? Ivy was completely falling apart.
‘What’re you doing standing there?!’ A voice in her head screamed at her. ‘She just realized after two years you came to see her and she clearly missed you a lot! Comfort her like you comfort those orphans when they have nightmares!’
‘She clearly just needs time, no need to intervene.’ Another voice had said back.
‘Are you kidding me?! Ivy is CRYING her heart out for you right now! Don’t listen to that voice in your head!’ The first voice clapped back.
Carmen then looked back at Ivy, who was not emotionally in good shape. She frowned.
‘Ivy is my friend, she needs me right now. Especially since I had left her worried for me even if Chief had been giving her updates on my whereabouts.’ Carmen thought to herself.
Carmen slowly knelt down in front of Ivy, taking off her fedora and looking at the woman crying her eyes out in front of her. “Ivy..look at me.”
Ivy managed to tilt her head up slightly to face Carmen, being met with a hand gently cupping her face. Wiping her tears away.
“Hey..I’m..really sorry I worried you like that. It wasn’t my intention.” Carmen said, sliding her hand down to rub Ivy’s shoulder.
“When I left that note, I meant to give you two a chance to live the life you wanted. I wanted you guys to get a chance to choose your own path. Shadowsan told me that you both had dedicated your lives to stopping criminals even with me gone. And..I thought that giving you a place at ACME would help with that.” Carmen looked down, her face now having regret written over it.
“It took me until I saw you breaking down on the floor just now to see I also hurt you. And..I’m sorry.” Carmen looked back up, staying there frozen for a second before slowly pulling Ivy into a heartfelt and genuine hug.
“I love you, Ives. I love you and Zack..so much. I wasn’t lying when I said that in my note.”
Carmen felt Ivy’s head rest on her shoulder as her red coat was being soaked in Ivy’s tears, but she didn’t care. Her best friend needed her right now.
Carmen held her close, whispering quiet reassurances into her ear as she softly rubbed her back.
They both sat there for a while, as Ivy let out her two years of pent up fear, sadness and worry. And Carmen was there to hold her through it all. She was there for Ivy this time.
Ivy’s hard cries then turned to sniffles, and then she ran out of tears to cry. Relaxing in Carmen’s warm and comforting embrace.
Carmen ran her hands through Ivy’s hair. “Feeling better now, Ives? Or do you need more time?” She asked, going into Big Sister mode (which only happened when the orphans were around).
Ivy shook her head, sniffling and pulling away from the hug. Wiping away her remaining tears with her sleeves. “No..I’m good, Carm. Promise. And..thanks. For..helpin’ me, I mean.”
Carmen smiled. “No problem. I know it’s been a rough two years, but that doesn’t mean I ever stopped caring about you guys. You’re both the world to me.” She leaned in and kissed Ivy’s forehead.
Ivy chuckled. “Same with you, Carm. Same with you.” She said, leaning into the touch.
Carmen stood up from her place on the wooden floor and stretched a little bit. “So..I have some time off before I have to head back to Argentina. Wanna hang out? Maybe watch those cheesy rom coms on Netflix?”
Ivy smirked at her knowingly. “You know me too well, Carm.”