Chapter Text
Player heard the beeping sounds indicating that the call he'd placed was yet to be picked up, twice, before it stopped and the sounds were replaced by red's voice.
"Hey, player"
He stopped typing as soon as he heard her, the clicking sounds giving way to silence before their voices filled the room.
"Hey, red"
"Got a new mission for me?" she asked jokingly, but he thought he heard the slightest hint of wistfulness in her voice, he knew better than anyone, well, maybe except shadowsan, that she'd already grown tired of her new life.
Nonetheless, he played along.
"Of course not, you're supposed to be enjoying retirement, I'm just calling in for the daily checkup".
"Temporary retirement" she corrected.
"Right, temporary", he paused briefly, wondering if he should address it right now, and dwelled on it for a moment before making up his mind, he continued. "you sure you're not going to change your mind about wanting to go back in the field one day"
Red replied immediately, without missing a beat "Yep, don't get me wrong, domestic life is nice and quiet and peaceful and the exact opposite of being a globetrotting super thief, but, it's not for me" her voice had gotten progressively softer and sad as she'd spoken with emphasis on the last part, and he knew she already missed those days.
"I know red, this way of life's never gonna agree with you, but you have to admit, it's nice to not constantly have to look over your shoulder"
He heard her chuckle through the phone, feeling the weight he'd felt give way to warmth and relief "Yeah, it is nice, but if that's your argument to why I should continue with this, it's a pretty weak one considering it's impossible for me to go about my life without looking over my shoulder, or did you forget that we took down a centuries old criminal organization with hundreds of members?"
"No, I did not, though speaking of which, how are you doing? still having nightmares?"
A thick silence came upon them as it usually did whenever the topic of red's ordeal, her brainwashing came up, they'd talked about it in length before but it still brought on a weird type of awkwardness whenever it was brought up that player wasn't used to.
The silence stretched on for a couple more seconds before red's voice cut it off.
"Yes, to both those things, I'm doing well, the best I can, honestly, considering everything, and I'm also still having nightmares, the not so good part of it"
"Still about the same things?" He asked though he already knew the answer, it was the same as always, and this time was no different.
"Yep, the stuff I did during those noxious six months"
"Red, you should really-"
" I know what you're gonna say, player, that I should do something about this since the nightmares are still persisting, with no sign of stopping" player didn't say anything, that was exactly what he was gonna say, they'd had this exact conversation before, multiple times and at this point they could both tell what the other was gonna say.
"To which I'll say, that It's not like I can go to therapy and tell someone about this, the only people I can talk to are you and team red, which as much as I appreciate having you all to talk to, you don't know what it feels like, and honestly,I just feel so alone knowing that there's no one who knows what it feels like"
Player waited a beat before replying "There is someone though"
She didn't reply, he didn't say it out loud but he knew that she understood who he was referring to "No, player, you know that that's not possible"
"Why not? He's quite literally the only other person on this planet who would be able to understand what you went through, not just sympathize but know exactly what it feels like, hell, he literally went through it for more than a year, you couldn't ask for a better option"
"Language, player" she rebuked, but he knew from the tone of her voice that she'd seen an opportunity to change the subject and she was using it.
"He might know what it feels like, but I can't face him, not after Casablanca, you know that"
"I know that you're under a mistaken impression that he wouldn't want to see you, usually that wouldn't stop you but you're not over the murder attempt by your evil counterpart" he supplied, mocking helpfulness
"It's not a mistaken impression, I nearly killed him"
"Eh, not really, you thought you did but it simply wasn't going to happen cause the device wasn't charged to the required level, the correct way to say this would be 'I thought I was killing him'"
"You know that's what I meant, how can I ever face him again after that, and if I can't, how can I expect him to, he probably doesn't want to see me ever again, I gathered that much from the regards he sent via chief"
Aaaand they were back to her reasoning behind her decision to have no contact, the day red had left for Argentina to meet her mother, one of the things shadowsan had told her before parting, from his conversation with the chief of ACME was that graham calloway had sent his regards to her, and she'd taken that as her sign that he didn't want to stay in touch, she hadn't been planning to reach out anytime soon but any hope she might have harboured about working things out had been stuffed out by that.
And it was what he had been trying to help her get past, when that hadn't worked, he'd settled on reinterpretation, he tried to get her to look at it differently, that they didn't know the circumstances or the thought process behind the words, for all they know, he could've told her to say that in an act of misplaced selflessness, maybe that hadn't been what he'd meant at all, and it'd just been horribly paraphrased, they didn't know anything.
"And I've told you, red, that maybe your interpretation of that might be wrong, we don't know what the atmosphere of him saying that was, for all you know, he does want to see you and is waiting for you to contact him"
"Why are you pressing for this so much?, I thought you didn't even like him,didn't you have some one-sided beef with him or something"
The last bit was, as he recognised, a rhetorical question but he decided to answer it anyway.
"Well, yes, but that's beside the point-"
"You didn't want me to be interacting with him anyway, you're finally getting what you wanted"
"Okay, for the record, I have been willing and have, ignored whatever problems I have with him for your and the missions benefit, and this is no different, you need someone to talk to, and even if that someone's him, I will put aside whatever issues I have for your sake"
"Oh and also, I don't have a problem with him anymore, kinda hard to after Casablanca" if he thought about it, it was actually kinda funny that red and him had changed positions on "interacting with gray" now, and he would have pointed it out to her and made a joke if their changed positions weren't getting in the way of what needed to be done.
"Glad to hear that we're at least on the same page about that now, but it's not gonna change the fact that I'm not going looking for him and that's the end of this conversation, player, I don't want to talk about this again, we've been over this way too many times"
He wanted to argue more but he recognised that red had made up her mind and she wasn't gonna budge, and there wasn't a point in fighting a losing battle.
"Fine red, I'll drop it but seriously, you need to do something about this, it's not good for you"
"I know, player, I'll think of something, I promise"
He nodded, aware that she couldn't see him but felt they were at a point where she would know that he was doing that.
"Okay, I need to go now, mom and dad are taking me out, they think we need to spend more time together"
"Well, they're right, and you especially need to go outside and touch some grass"
"Yeah, yeah, make fun of the hacker" he heard her laugh through the speaker, it was a rare sight, even in all the time he'd known her, and felt himself smile at it.
"Seriously, player, go and have fun, you should enjoy the time that you have now that you're no longer helping me"
"I will, red, I'll be in touch, bye"
"Bye"
Player heard the line click, and settled in further in his chair, he hadn't been lying when he told her about his parents, he'd just failed to mention that they weren't going out until the end of the week, the proper term being a "lie of omission" didn't mean anything, he knew that red was stubborn, she wasn't going to change her mind, but he wasn't backing off either, but it seemed that he had to switch tactics cause persuasion was getting him nowhere.
An idea had been forming in his mind for the past couple of days, since the reality that he might not be able to convince red had dawned on him, and he immediately thought of that when he thought of an alternative way to go about this.
It wasn't a great idea, since it involved something he knew red didn't want to do, and contacting the very person she was actively trying to avoid, but he also couldn't think of a better way.
Getting red to talk to grey was necessary, she needed closure and he was the only person who could give it to her, figuring that out was the easy part which only left finding out a way for them to interact, this was the hard part.
Red couldn't bring herself to face him after their last interaction and he couldn't blame her, and as far as gray went, he didn't know what he wanted, the "sending regards through chief" part wasn't exactly giving a positive sign, but he wasn't just telling red to reinterpret what she knew with no belief in it, he stood by it, they didn't know anything, he could be waiting for all they knew, but it was a gamble, if the opposite turned out to be true then it would crush red.
But if it was what he was hoping it to be, it would be good for her, like he said, it was a gamble, and it was one he was willing to make.
The 50/50 chance of this idea was what had held him back from pursuing it, or giving it serious thought, and it was then that a fix came to him.
Red didn't have to be the person to find out whether gray wanted to talk or not, he could do that, if the answer was no, even after pushing then he'd have to let the entire thing go and make sure word of it never reached her, but if the answer was yes, well that simplified matters, yeah, it involved going behind her back, but sometimes you have to go against your friends wishes to help them.
And with that thought, he sat up straight and started typing again.
§---->•<----§
Player had never been more happy that seattle was only 3 hours behind ontario, canada, it was only 4:37 currently, so it should be around 1:30 in Seattle, which meant that zack and ivy should be awake and about, and probably on ACME training but he knew they'd drop everything and help if he told them it involved red, which it did, she just wasn't supposed to know.
In normal circumstances he wouldn't have told them until later, but as soon as he'd figured out a way around his first problem he'd come across another problem, which was how he was gonna contact gray in the first place, he didn't know where he was so he tried to trace his last location, the hospital he'd been taken to, he could've hacked into its records but he'd spent enough time around professional thieves to know it would be useless, the fact that he didn't even know where he'd been taken didn't really matter, he thought about hacking ACME to find out, but no doubt the password wasn't the same anymore, so that was a no-go.
Which only left going to someone who would know that, in other words, the chief of ACME, and he actually had a way to contact her, zack and ivy had told him that she was personally overlooking their integration and especially seemed to like zack, and since she would know which hospital the Australian had been taken to, and possibly even where he was, it was a foolproof plan, if she asked why, (which she absolutely would) he'd just tell zack and ivy to say that "carmen wanted to know" or to just say that "it was none of her business" cause it wasn't.
He wasn't going to ask her directly, ACME other than julia and he guessed by now, chase as well, and zack and ivy since they were part of ACME now, weren't aware of his existence and he planned on keeping it that way, red and ACME were cordial for now but if in the future they ever found themselves at crossroads again, he didn't want them to know about her secret weapon.
The sound of his call being picked pulled him out of his thoughts, and he was immediately greeted with ivy's ever cheery voice,
"Player, how've you been? It feels like it's been forever since we last talked"
"It was 4 days ago ivy"
"Yeah, but the days feel so long"
Before he could respond, he was interrupted by zack, "ivy, is that player on call?"
"Yeah, he called"
"Oh, Hi player, what's up?"
"Hey, zack, I'm good, how about you both, how's ACME, still okay?"
Logically, he should have just hurried up the conversation and gotten to the point rather than engaging in pleasantries , but these were his friends, they'd been through a lot together and he could afford it, the mission could wait.
"I hate to say it but it's getting better, it's actually quite similar to when we were a team"
She didn't speak further but player felt she wasn't finished, he was right.
"Zack still hopes that something happens to the instructor and we don't have to train for the day"
He didn't say it but he agreed with zack, ever since they had rung ACME up, they weren't immediately put on missions, chief wanted to know their credentials, to see if they had had any formal experience in this line of work, which to both parties dismay, didn't exist, zack and ivy only had carmen's word to back them up and that wasn't nearly enough for chief, all her agents came from some sort of law enforcement and so for the first time since ACMEs foundation, she had given her two recruits a supervisor and told them to get formal training.
Something neither of them was happy about, he would be too in their position, in comparison to ACMEs agents, they had had on site interactions with VILE and knew how to take care of their operatives better than any agent and so to get decided that they weren't ready because they didn't have formal training when they had the experience to back it up didn't exactly have them ecstatic.
"Let me guess, his hopes haven't given way to anything yet"
He heard zack sign dramatically.
"No, I was never god's favourite" he could practically see ivy roll her eyes.
"Anyways, how's carm doing? Everything okay on her end?" Ivy's voice wasn't laced with concern for once, probably since carmen seemed to be back to normal now, so she wasn't actively concerned about her at the moment.
"Yeah, well as good as it can be, actually, that's why I called you, I need you to do something"
"That doesn't sound very good," Zack said, taking on a rare note of seriousness.
"It's fine actually, nothing to worry about "
"Okay, what is it?" Ivy again.
He signed, "I need you to ask chief which hospital Graham Calloway was admitted to"
He was met with silence, he waited for one or both of them to ask why, and it was only about a minute later when he was considering asking if they were still there, that they finally spoke up.
It was zack this time.
"Um, why? Does carm want to talk to him after all?"
"No, but she needs to so I'm asking"
"I'm confused" ivy now.
"You haven't seen red when he's brought up, but you know how she has guilt over trying to electrocute him to death"
"Yeah"
"Well, she's also still not over her brainwashing and you know how he's the only one who knows what that feels like since he was subjected to the same thing, but she just can't face him right now"
"Yes"
"Well, I'm taking it upon myself to contact him instead and I need that info to contact him"
He might not have been able to see them but he didn't need to, to know that they were surprised, "So, you're going behind her back and doing the thing that she explicitly told you she didn't want to do"
"To help her"
A beat of silence and player worried that they might not agree and then not only would he have to find another lead he'd also have to convince them not to tell red, and then ivy spoke up.
"Okay, we'll get you the info"
Now, it was his turn to be surprised.
"Wait, aren't you gonna stop me? Tell me not to go behind reds back or anything like that"
"Normally, yeah, I wouldn't vouch for something like this, but, I know that he means a lot to carm and that she needs closure, and like you said, she's not getting it without him, so, yeah, I'm right on board with you reaching out to him and extending an olive branch"
He didn't need to convey his surprise, his silence said enough "Wow, I thought I'd have to make you both swear on a hacker manual to keep quiet"
Zack finally spoke up "Don't worry, we won't tell carm a thing, though are you sure we need to ask chief?"
"Yeah, I can't think of any other way to get in touch"
"Didn't you wire money into his account once at carm's request, I don't think he would've changed it, can that help?"
It was a moment before player responded.
"Zack you're a genius, I can get his contact info through that, nobody else needs to know at all"
"I have been known to help when it matters" he said proudly.
Player rolled his eyes, at his tone, smiling all the same.
"Wait, speaking of the people who know, does shadowsan know?" Ivy asked.
"No, I decided not to tell him cause he doesn't need to know, though I'm sure he'd be on board if I told him"
"Speaking of which, you both need to swear on a hacker manual not to let red know anything until I get back, okay" the last part was said with emphasis to convey that it was a rhetorical question.
Zack spoke up "wait, didn't you say you were only going to do that if we tried to stop you"
"Yeah, I changed my mind, you need to swear on the holy hacker manual anyway"
"Holy hacker manual, seriously, fine I swear" ivy said, chuckling.
"I swear too"
"Good, I'll tell you how it went once I get back, show those blue coats who's boss, okay, bye"
He heard them voice a "bye" back, before he ended the call, he'd picked up "blue coats" recently from red she'd only said it once or maybe twice but he felt it fit and he didn't want to just call them ACME and it worked well as a substitute.
Putting the thought away he set about finding a certain bank account number.
§---->•<----§
It took a while to find it, which was expected all in all, it was around a year ago.
But once he did, it was a cakewalk from there, he hacked to find his info and voila, phone number, now all he had to do was dial it and talk to him.
But he found himself hesitating, he'd spent all his time trying to find a way to contact gray that he hadn't thought about what he was going to say, he'd only interacted with gray once, under the guise of Peter and that was a while ago, he wasn't even sure he'd remember him, much less talk to him, yeah, he'd probably be curious to see what he wanted but he didn't know how to broach the subject,much less ask him to meet up with red, what if he didn't want to? What was he supposed to do then? Threaten to freeze his assets, yeah, that was never gonna work, and red would be so mad at him if she found out, with all these thoughts swirling around in his head, he found himself worrying about the what ifs.
He sat up straight, taking a deep breath, no, he'd gone through all this trouble and he wasn't going to second guess himself now, he was doing this for red and he'd see it through and tackle whatever problems came his way.
Taking a deep breath, he called the number, he heard the dialing tone, he counted, 1,2,3,4,5 it stopped midway, now gray was on the other side, if it wasn't for the familiar albeit a bit tired voice that came through he would've started to worry if it was the wrong number, but he heard it loud and clear, it was him.
"Hello, who is this?...."