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ATTENDING Professor Argent’s history lectures was one of Flo’s favorite things to do, and she wasn’t afraid to admit that.
Professor Argent had only transferred to her university a couple of months ago, recently brought over as a highly recommended educational professional from her previous job, and she fit right into the university’s scholarly environment.
It did take a while for her to adjust, though- whatever her previous job was had her strangely grabbing at her empty pockets whenever someone dropped something in the lecture hall, especially if it was a loud noise- and Flo had seen her flinch when she’d worn her new red winter jacket to class. She’d switched it out for her old black one the next day and caught the professor’s visible relief on her face when she walked in.
It was weirdest when someone was speaking to her about how they were thinking of dropping the class because they were bad at history- and Professor Argent had gone “I’m here to help you. You’re not going to fail, trust me.” - and her face blanched pale white before she straightened and acted like nothing had happened.
And before you ask, no, Flo wasn’t eavesdropping. She was just passing by!
Her teacher was a mystery, but hey, she was just here to learn about history and get her credits. She couldn’t judge if her teacher had a fight-or-flight reaction to the color red and trust and loud noises. Professor Argent was a fantastic teacher and made learning worth dragging herself out of bed every morning for. Seriously, she could’ve taken the course online and bought herself more sleep (God knew how much she needed the extra hours after spending all night drawing fictional characters in love), but there was just something about the way Professor Argent was so passionate about the subject that made her love it too.
She couldn’t believe she actually liked school now and looked forward to classes. Professor Argent had power.
In any case, today’s lecture was about Ancient Egypt, and she was doodling pyramids in her notes’ margins to help her focus when the doors to the lecture hall squeaked open. Flo didn’t look up- people were usually late, it was nothing worth directing her attention to- and Professor Argent proceeded with her lecture, not paying the student any mind either.
Then people behind her started to chatter, the buzz filling her ears and disrupting the calm silence they’d cultivated from the past hour. Flo set down her pen to tell them to shut up and listen to their brilliant history professor speak.
“Can you guys be quiet?” she hissed, trying to keep her voice low. “This is important, you know! Our exams are in a few weeks!”
A couple students murmured in agreement, and the chatter died down. Flo was glad- Professor Argent didn’t deserve to deal with misbehaving students. She scanned the room, trying to see who had started the conversation- not like she was keeping track, or anything.
(There were thirty-two students on a typical weekday, just enough for her to lecture them after class about the importance of respecting Professor Argent.)
Her eyes latched onto someone… unusual. A red jacket, a smug expression, and a sense of unbelonging. Almost like they were above everyone else. They definitely weren’t a student. Perhaps another professor had decided to stop by and visit Professor Argent’s class? She wouldn’t blame them- her class was just that good.
Oh. A red jacket. Flo blinked as a few things seemed to click into place. It could just be a coincidence, but on the other hand…
She was so going to fight this stranger if they had hurt Professor Argent.
Flo stood up quietly, placing her notebook and laptop on the empty chair next to her. For once, sitting in the front row was an obstacle, because Professor Argent could easily check if she was still listening. But she didn’t want her beloved professor to worry about this stranger, so that concern overrode whatever doubts she had. She waited for her to look down at her clicker and change the slide before dashing out of her seat to the back of the room.
Flo held her breath as her back pressed against the wall. Professor Argent droned on about mummies and embalming organs. Phew. She’d read ahead like she always did with her lessons, so she wouldn’t miss much. She took a few steps toward the stranger, sliding into their row and coughing softly to get their attention. The stranger turned away from the lecture slides for a moment, their grey eyes settling on her in curiosity.
“Who on Earth are you?” Flo asked accusingly, eyes squinting behind her glasses and her hands on her hips. The stranger glanced at her, an eyebrow raised in amusement, and crossed one leg over the other in their seat.
“Depends. Who’s asking?” they answered smoothly, and Flo didn’t hesitate to lean forward and glare at their smirking face.
“An actual student in Professor Argent’s class,” she snapped back, and the stranger just laughed.
“Professor Argent,” the stranger repeated, a smile spreading across their face. “It suits her.”
“As opposed to?” Flo challenged, daring the other to answer. The stranger chuckled again, leading Flo to shush them. Whoever this was, she didn’t need to draw attention to them and cause Professor Argent any more heartache.
“Though ancient, the Sphinx continues to enthrall modern imaginations,” her professor spoke in the background, and Flo wished she was learning about the Sphinx instead of dealing with this stranger with their shit-eating grin.
Would she get suspended if she slapped that grin off their face? Probably. She hoped she didn’t have to go that far.
“Shouldn’t you be paying attention?” the stranger simply said, and Flo had to clench her fists in frustration to keep from swinging at them. Maybe she would have to enlist the help of one of her friends overseas in America, Arden (who sometimes dabbled in murder and was extremely skilled at avoiding the law), if worse got to worst.
Just at that moment, Professor Argent’s gaze fell on the two of them. Flo grimaced, an apology already on the tip of her tongue.
“The Sphinx at Giza is perhaps the most familiar, but it was the Greek Sphinx which demanded passersby to solve its…” she trailed off, gaze resting on her first and then locking eyes with the stranger in the seat. Her eyes grew wide, and she scrambled to finish her sentence, her tone sounding panicked.
“...R-Riddles. Uh- that is all for today, class!” Professor Argent dropped the clicker and shut her textbook, all but running off the lecture hall stage. Flo’s jaw dropped.
What the hell was going on? Did Professor Argent just stammer? And end the class early? In her entire time she’d taught here, she never did either of those things! Despite her outside timid demeanor, her teacher was always confident and never wavered as she taught her material to the class. She was no-nonsense and didn’t let students speak over her, but she was open to criticism as well, and Flo adored that about her teaching. She was, without a doubt, one of the best teachers she’d ever had (though the bar was set incredibly low to begin with).
She wasn’t even going to approach the fact that Professor Argent had dismissed them a good half hour before the lecture was supposed to be over. Out of sight, out of mind, after all. If she pretended it never happened, then it never happened. Simple mathematics.
Anyway, this not-student was going to have to leave.
“You’re coming with me,” Flo seethed, grabbing the stranger’s red sleeve and dragging them out of the lecture hall. They didn’t protest, letting themself get manhandled by a five foot tall college student, similar to a toddler dragging a penguin stuffed animal across the floor.
Several people shot withering glares their way when they bumped into them, but Flo couldn’t even bring herself to apologize. Her reputation could suffer for all she cared. All that mattered was that she had to get rid of this not-student fast.
As they left the room, Flo stole a quick glimpse behind her and watched as the stranger lifted their hood with their free hand and revealed auburn hair tied up in a bun. She’d think they were handsome if she didn’t want to lock them in the university’s headmaster’s office. They opened their mouth to speak, and Flo looked away before she could be charmed, pulling them down the stairs to said office.
“I have to admit, several organizations and forms of law enforcement have attempted to arrest me multiple times, but I think being subjected to a college student’s anger is much more terrifying.” They paused, then- “Have you considered minoring in Criminal Law and Justice?”
Flo blinked twice at that. Was this the stranger’s idea of humor? If this was what Professor Argent had to deal with, she could understand why the color red would send her flying in the opposite direction.
Maybe she could get some information out of this. Or, at the very least, confirm her suspicions. For her favorite professor’s safety purposes, no other reason, obviously.
“There’s no way that’s happening, trust me,” she said, anticipating their reaction.
The stranger blanched, going stiff at the words. So there was something there. Flo was torn between beaming at this discovery or punching the stranger before they were even out of the hallway for what they had hypothetically done to Professor Argent.
Well. At least she’d shut up the stranger’s shit-eating grin for a while.
“Wait, you keep asking me who I am, but who are you?” they said a few minutes later, sounding mildly confused. “You don’t seem like a typical college student.” Flo snorted and dragged them roughly around the corner. They were almost at the office.
“That’s rich, coming from you. Besides, you keep deflecting, so why do I owe you anything in return? ”
“Fair enough,” the stranger conceded, unbothered. “As long as you don’t have an affinity for the color green, we’ll be fine. You’re not dragging me all the way to some foreign off-grid location headed by criminal masterminds, are you?”
“What is it with you and these colors?” Flo mumbled under her breath. “And an off-grid location headed by criminal masterminds? What exactly do you deal with on a regular basis?”
“You do not want to know,” the stranger replied instantly, and Flo stamped down her immediate curiosity. She was not going to indulge someone who caused her teacher this much distress.
“The color green, huh?” she said, switching the subject. She had so many questions, but now wasn’t the time to ask them. “I hope it doesn’t send Professor Argent into a panic attack. Something I can’t say about red,” she added pointedly.
The stranger began to sputter, and Flo felt an odd sort of pride at managing to catch the puzzling stranger off guard. Not so high and mighty now, were they?
“Besides,” Flo went on, finally arriving at the headmaster’s wing. Just a couple more strides and they’d reach the office at the end of the hall, and she’d be rid of this trickster. “Lettuce contains several shades of green, and I adore the beauty in that, don’t you?”
“Are you comparing my traumatic experiences with the color green to lettuce? You amaze me,” they said, smiling slightly. The color green being traumatic? Were they joking?
Flo didn’t respond to the… compliment…? and moved forward. The stranger wasn’t even resisting, practically walking along with her voluntarily at this point.
“Flo,” a stern voice stated suddenly, and the student jumped at the sight of Professor Argent standing in front of the headmaster’s office with her arms crossed. The stranger dropped from her grip to the floor in her shock, eliciting a soft Ouch! from them. And then, quieter, they whispered her name to test it out. Flo, huh?
Flo whirled on them and narrowed her eyes. She’d be upset at Professor Argent for giving up her name, also known as her only upper hand, if she wasn’t too occupied being upset at the stranger for intruding on her lecture. (Also, she could never be upset at her favorite teacher.)
Professor Argent looked at the stranger with concern, reaching out a hand to help them up before thinking better of it, shaking her head and bringing her hand back to her side. The stranger smirked and adjusted their hoodie, brushing their hands on their jeans (cuffed, Flo noticed) and seemed to exchange a look that spoke volumes with Professor Argent.
Flo gaped at them both and decided to turn to her professor. Did they have a secret alliance...?
“Professor!” she exclaimed, on the verge of losing her mind. “What—”
Professor Argent fixed a look at her. Flo shrunk under her fierce gaze, sheepish as she was scolded.
“My best student dragged... someone out of my classroom and you expected me not to follow and see what you were up to?”
“I was trying to be helpful!” Flo replied defensively. At that, Professor Argent gestured at the stranger, who was rubbing at their crinkled sleeve and wrist with a faint red imprint from being dragged for so long. They stood up in a flash, quicker than should have been humanly possible. Flo vaguely wondered if the line about being chased by multiple law enforcement agencies wasn’t entirely a joke and if they had practice with quick escapes.
“Please enlighten me on how dragging Ms. Sandiego out of my class was being helpful,” Professor Argent said dryly. Flo winced.
“Jules, you know you can call me Carmen,” the stranger- Carmen? said, amused. Wait, Jules? Flo knew her professor’s name was Julia, but no one ever called her by a nickname like this stranger was so boldly doing. A blush spread around Professor Argent’s face before she quickly composed herself.
Flo’s eyes widened in realization. So that was what was going on here. Their secret alliance was gay. A small part of her felt a bit guilty (even if she did still want to punch Carmen- hold on, would that be committing a hate crime? No, she was gay too, they cancelled each other out, she'd be fine). She always woke up ready to choose violence even before Carmen had showed up.
“Witnessing your normally unfazed history professor run off stage in seconds at the sight of an unregistered person on school property is quite alarming, come on,” Flo argued, not ready to lose just yet. Carmen laughed and nudged Professor Argent.
“She’s got a point, you have to admit.”
“Hey!” Flo cried out. “We’re supposed to be fighting here! I’m not siding with you, and you’re not supposed to side with me!”
Carmen threw up her hands in surrender. “Jesus, Flo, I was just trying to help.”
“Stop saying my name, I didn’t introduce myself to you so you don’t get to—”
“Both of you hush,” Professor Argent interrupted. Flo and Carmen shut up instantaneously at her command, scarily enough, and once again Flo marveled at her professor’s power.
“We’re getting nowhere with your bickering. Look, Flo, this is Carmen Sandiego, my… old friend—” Carmen quirked a brow at the choice of words. Flo said nothing, playing the role of the perfect well-behaved student (unlike the mischief magnet next to her). “—and Carmen, this is Flo, the best student in my history course.”
Professor Argent faced her first. “Flo, I appreciate you being worried on my behalf, but it did not warrant you getting up from your seat and dragging Carmen out of the room. She wasn’t causing any trouble to begin with, and you could have confronted her after class. Still, you’re not at fault, and I’m not going to punish you. That would do more harm than good for your nearly flawless student record, and I’d hate to ruin that.”
Flo nodded gratefully and swallowed the rising words in her throat. What if she was bad and after class would’ve been too late? She was just being cautious!
Her professor turned to Carmen second, maintaining her serious tone. “Carmen, I don’t know why you’re here and why you chose not to visit during my off-hours, but it’s… nice to see you. Please keep my students and their distractible and curious selves in mind the next time you decide to drop by one of my lectures.”
“Next time?” Carmen echoed. “Noted, though I wasn’t aware I was held in as hostile a manner at college as I was at VILE and ACME.”
The unfamiliar names meant something, Flo knew that, but it was beyond her as to what they meant. Judging by the way Professor Argent stood a bit taller at their mention, she could tell there was some awkward history there. Damn, did she have to add two more names to her purely theoretical and definitely not at all a physical sheet of paper ‘People to beat up’ list?
“As entertaining as this all was,” Professor Argent began, “Flo, I take it you have some homework to finish? Considering the way you took it upon yourself to accost Carmen in the middle of my lecture, I’m sure you won’t have any issue with the assignments I’ve posted.”
“Of course,” Flo said immediately, back to being the obedient student. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Professor,” she added, waving, and Julia smiled and waved back.
“Don’t forget to bring both your textbooks, we’re covering double the lessons tomorrow because of today’s little stunt,” she called. Carmen’s face flushed in embarrassment, something Flo hadn’t realized she was capable of (Julia just had that effect on her, it seemed), and Flo gave her a thumbs up, doing a salute before leaving.
“Sorry about that,” Julia apologized, once Flo disappeared down the hall. She started to lead them away from the headmaster’s office, and Carmen hummed and bumped her shoulder, loving how Julia’s face went pink.
“No need to apologize, Jules. It was pretty funny, actually.” Julia’s office wasn’t too far from the headmaster’s, just a flight of stairs away, and they’d made it in minutes. They entered, the door shutting behind them with a click.
“You have to admire how protective your students are of you,” Carmen teased, watching as Julia closed the blinds in her office. Julia let out a soft giggle, and Carmen’s heart skipped a beat.
“That’s Flo for you,” she sighed, sitting at her desk. Carmen joined her, hopping onto the desktop and trying not to knock over her stationery. “Ever since I said she was my best student, she’s been even more immersed in her studies. It’s brought great results though, and she has the highest grades in my class.”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think she has a crush on you,” the thief winked. Julia choked on air.
Somewhere on the third floor stairwell, Flo felt like she was being exposed, which was ridiculous because she wasn’t doing anything particularly illegal or exposé-worthy at the moment. She shrugged and continued the walk to her dorm room, leaving thoughts of the red-jacket stranger- Carmen Sandiego, she knew now- behind. She had work to do and grades to keep up, anyway.
“Tough luck for her, then, because I happen to have my eye on someone else,” Julia said, once she’d recovered from her choking fit. Carmen grinned and leaned forward, her eyes twinkling in the warm afternoon sunlight.
“Oh? Do I know this person?”
“I would certainly hope so,” Julia replied coyly, leaning forward as well, elbows on her desk. “Completely unrelated, but would you join me for lunch?”
Carmen smiled, catching her drift, and offered an arm to Julia (or should she say Professor Argent?). “Jules, I would love nothing more.”