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Carmen’s last mission took her to Alaska, where VILE had a remote outpost monitoring their illegal oil withdrawals. Since she had gone straight from California to Alaska, the temperature transition had been rough. Now that she had returned to California with another successful mission completed, it was obvious she had gotten sick.
She woke up the morning after her return with a throbbing headache and shivering from head to toe. She laid in bed for a while, feeling miserable, before she heard a quiet knock at the door.
“Come in,” she called. Yikes, even her voice sounded a bit worn down.
Shadowsan entered the room, his forehead creasing in concern when he saw her huddled under the blankets. “Is something the matter?”
Carmen sighed, replying, “I’m not feeling great. I think the temperature changes were too much for my body.”
Shadowsan walked over and sat on the edge of her bed, putting the back of his hand to her forehead. He grimaced. “I’ll be back”
Carmen only had to wait a minute until he returned with a thermometer. Holding it up to her forehead, it read 101.3 degrees fahrenheit. “You certainly have a fever.”
Carmen sighed. “We’ll have to switch around who’s going on my missions until it goes away. I don’t want to risk a failed caper because I’m too sick to get the job done.”
Shadowsan nodded, a small smile of approval on his face, saying, “Good idea. I’ll go inform the others.”
Carmen smiled weakly, closing her eyes and pulling the blankets closer as he left the room.
–
Carmen woke up to the sound of her door being opened. It was Ivy and Zack.
Ivy walked over, whispering, “Sorry for waking you, Carm.”
“We come bearing gifts,” Zack chimed in.
The two of them helped her sit up in bed. Glancing at her phone, Carmen realized it was already eleven am.
Ivy spoke in her normal voice now. “I don’t know if you’re feeling up to eating, but we made you some soup. Well, Shadowsan made you some soup. We just brought it.”
Carmen smiled. “Well, thanks for bringing it.”
“We have a wet cloth too,” Zack chimed in.
As it was laid on her forehead, Carmen sighed in contentment. “Thank you. Seriously. Not just for this, but for taking my missions too.”
Zack smiled, “Don’t sweat it. You’re always doing so much for the team. Let us tackle these next couple jobs for ya.”
Zack and Ivy got up to leave, Ivy passing Carmen her computer on the way out. She smiled appreciatively.
Settling back into her pillow, Carmen watched Andor as she ate her soup. As soon as he had realized she didn’t know what Star Wars was, Zack made her sit down and watch all the movies. It seemed that these were some of his and Ivy’s favorites when they were younger. Zack had recommended the Andor show to her specifically after they’d watched Rogue One. She had to admit, she definitely was intrigued by the political aspects of the show.
Once she finished her soup, she watched the show for a couple more hours before Player came into the room with some rice cakes. It was the perfect dinner, well, the dinner that her stomach could handle. After eating, she and Player watched Andor together for a while. He had watched it before, thankfully, so he wasn’t too lost.
She noticed Player had fallen asleep a while later and decided to join him. Closing her laptop and setting it on her nightstand, she slowly drifted to sleep.
–
The next time Carmen woke up, it was in a hospital. She slowly blinked her eyes, taking in the bright lights above her. She didn’t have the energy to lift her head to survey the rest of her surroundings. She could hear steady beeping though, meaning she must be hooked up to a heart monitor.
Where was she? And how did she get here? Last she remembered, she was in bed at headquarters.
She heard the sound of movement beside her and twisted her head to look. Player was sitting in a chair beside her bed, with his head slowly lifting from her hospital bed. Rubbing his eyes, he stared at her. She stared back. It took a couple seconds for him to register what he was seeing, but once he did, his face crumpled into relief.
Before Carmen could say anything, Player abruptly stood up from his chair and ran out of the room. Carmen was more awake now, and pushed herself into a seated position on the bed. She was exhausted and her mouth was dry and she just realized there was an IV in her left arm.
As soon as she had processed this, she heard voices approaching. Player and a woman she recognized - though she wasn’t sure from where - entered the room. The woman was dressed in a button-up shirt and slacks. The contrast between their expressions was extreme. While the woman had a flat, emotionless expression, Player looked like he had just been in a car crash. His eyes were red and had dark bags beneath them and his hair looked like a rat's nest.
“What’s going on,” Carmen asked, “Where am I?”
The woman responded in a voice as flat as her expression, “You’re in one of ACME’s medical locations. According to the kid,” she gestured to Player, “you went to sleep and weren’t waking up the next morning.”
Now she realized where she recognized the woman from. Although she didn’t know her name, this was the woman who knocked her unconscious in Stockholm. Her tight, blonde bun was distinct, and so was her intonation.
Biting his lip, Player added, “Sorry, Carmen. I know you don’t wanna give ACME any more information than they already have, and now they know about me and maybe more than that. I don’t know. I panicked. I’m sorry.”
His voice was shaky and Carmen gestured for him to come over. As soon as he was close enough, she pulled him in for a hug. She felt the shoulder of her hoodie getting wet. She was quick to reassure him. “I don’t blame you at all, Player. I wasn’t waking up, which is super scary, and you found someone who could help that isn’t a regular hospital. If anything, I’m proud of your quick thinking.”
He sniffled, drawing back from the hug. “Thanks, Red.”
The ACME agent cleared her throat, saying, “You’ve been in and out of consciousness for the past couple days but today is the first time you woke up. While everything looks good, I want you to stay here for another day.”
Carmen raised an eyebrow, “This isn’t another ACME trick, is it?”
The agent avoided eye contact. “I assure you it’s not. One of our agents is simply, ahem, worried about you.”
She seemed to grimace at that, muttering something about “knew something was going on with Argent.”
She promptly left the room, letting the door swing close behind her. Carmen refocused her energy on Player, who was wiping his eyes.
“How did you find this place? I thought you said ACME didn’t have any information on their locations when you hacked them.”
Player smiled weakly, attempting to look smug as he said, “I called your girlfriend.”
Carmen rolled her eyes. After a moment of silence passed, she asked, “How are you doing, Player? I know this whole ordeal was rough, especially since the others are gone on missions.”
Player looked away from her. “I just… got really scared when you didn’t wake up. You were still breathing, but you were burning up and I didn’t know if you would stop breathing any second. Honestly,” He paused for a long moment, “it reminded me of when my mom was sick.”
His voice was getting more choked up now. “I just got really scared that you were gonna die too.”
Carmen pulled him in for another hug. She didn’t think she’d ever felt worse, not even when Julia told her about the abuse. She’d scared him so badly she brought back his trauma.
Attempting to not give away her own emotion, Carmen responded, “I can’t promise I’ll never get hurt, because that happens all the time on missions. But I will never leave you like that. If it’s in my control, I will keep fighting to stay with you, always. I love you so much, Player.”
Both of their eyes were wet as they pulled back from the hug. Wiping them and chuckling wetly, Player said, “I love you too, Red.”