Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Gray.”

No. Not this. Anything but this.

“Gray, how could you?”

Black Sheep, I’m sorry, I had no other choice.

“Gray!”

Please forgive me…

“Crackle, wake the hell up!”

Tigress’s sharp voice rouses Crackle from his troubled sleep. Rubbing his eyes, he sits up in the bed he had been occupying in their hotel suite. Tigress is standing over him, phone in hand, with an annoyed look on her face.

They had been in Peru for the week, casing the Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipán in Chiclayo. The lavish jewelry and regal artefacts on display were worth millions, plus Countess Cleo had her eye on a few pieces for her personal collection. Since he, Tigress, Le Chevre, and El Topo were up all last night planning their caper, and they didn’t need to be anywhere until after midnight tonight, Gray figured he could sleep in without any problems. He fights the urge to roll his eyes, figuring he’s better off just doing what the kitty cat wants so he can get back to his own life.

“The mission’s off. We’re going back to V.IL.E.”

Well… that’s a surprise. Did something go wrong at the museum?

“What happened? Did the police sniff us out? What about--”

“Look, I don’t know ok? Just pack up and be ready to leave in half an hour. The cleaners are coming to pick us up.”

Without waiting for a reply, she turns on her heel and struts out of the room, presumably to inform their partners of the change of plans. Gray secretly hopes she walks in on them in the shower or something. Serves her right.

Alone again, he flops back in bed and thinks back on his dream, well memory really. More and more these days, whenever he closes his eyes, he sees Black Sheep’s heartbroken, tearful face and hears her dismayed voice condemning his betrayal and loss of morality. He begrudgingly gets out of bed and shoves his belongings into his bag, and reminds himself that there is no Black Sheep anymore, only Carmen Sandiego. They’ve been pursuing the scarlet superthief for almost two years, and her absence continues to sting like an open wound. He sighs. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. They were going to travel the world together, make a ton of money, retire from thieving, get married, buy a private island--

--Wait, what? Get married? That was never in the plans they’d discussed as students. The island was new too, but he figured it would suit both of their needs in terms of climate and privacy. Marriage was never a part of any plan he’d ever had, even when he was a lowly junior electrician. It just seemed like a huge hassle. One sheila for his whole life? Please. But the thought of being with Black Sheep forever, planning heists and pranks, was appealing to him for as long as they had been friends, so why not add romance to it?

And he’d thought about it. A lot. She drew him in with her feisty attitude and quick wit. She was a challenge and an enigma, and there was nothing he loved more than a puzzle to solve. He admired her dedication, her drive, and her kindness (a rarity at V.I.L.E, though he feared it would have to be snuffed out of her so she could be the operative they needed her to be). His heart broke when she didn’t graduate not just because she was crushed, but also because his dreams were dying right along with hers.

Once he and the others had been shown the true nature of the organization that had trained them, he knew deep down she could never truly be one of them. For all her brilliance, Black Sheep was too nice. Part of it was her naivete, but it was also just the way she was. She could mess around and pull pranks, but Gray could never imagine her actually hurting someone, let alone “tying up loose ends” the way V.I.L.E. required.

But that didn’t mean it hadn't hurt when she left them and stole the hard drive. News of her defection had both impressed and devastated him. There’s a reason she was the top of our class, he’d thought grimly. He’d spent hours that night gazing despondently into the eyes of Black Sheep’s beloved nesting dolls, hoping beyond hope that she’d left him a clue, a sign that she wanted him around, or even just that she missed him. But the dolls stared sightlessly back at him, showing him nothing to ease his pain.

I should never have left her alone. The thought became his mantra, a somber reminder that despite all the times when she’d had his back, he hadn’t returned the favor. He ditched her for his new life. Maybe if he had visited or lived closer during his downtime, she wouldn’t have felt so alone. He could have helped her, cheered her up, or something.
No amount of wishing is going to bring her back, he thinks, bringing himself back into the present. All four of them are in a cab on their way to the airport, where the cleaners are waiting with a helicopter to take them back to base. He rests his chin on his palm and stares out the passenger seat window, wondering what his former friend is doing right now.

Where in the world are you, Carmen Sandiego?

Chapter Text

Coming back to V.I.L.E. Island is hard. Gray wonders if it’ll ever get easier, if the hole in his chest might shrink even a tiny bit so he can feel more at peace with his choices.

The cleaners take them to the faculty room, and a familiar sense of apprehension washes over him at the sight of the five instructors gazing down on him, eyes burning through his flesh and into his soul.

Professor Maelstrom stands and, in his familiar drawl, says, “Carmen Sandiego has struck again, but this time we caught an image of her on our surveillance systems.”

Dr. Bellum continues, “She was sighted near our secret base in Prague, and she made off with several paintings.”

Countess Cleo sniffs, “Some of my best pieces too. That girl has always been trouble.”

Shadowsan looks particularly unimpressed. “She knew too much even before she got her hands on the hard drive.” He turns and looks toward Coach Brunt on the other end of the table. “You were too lenient with her.”

Coach Brunt does not dignify his statement with a reply, merely growling in Shadowsan’s general direction. Gray feels his palms start to sweat at the fury painted on her face. Intellectually, he knows the Coach isn’t mad at him, but he also knows that since the subject of her ire is not currently within reach, she may just settle for pummeling someone who is. His teammates seem to have come to the same conclusion, as they all look even more uneasy at their current situation.

Gray is pulled from his train of thought when Professor Maelstrom hands a sheet of paper to Boris, who brings it over to El Topo.

“The image we captured” is his only explanation. The photo passes to Le Chevre, and then to Tigress, who gazes scornfully at its subject before finally giving it to Gray. Reluctant to look just yet, He makes eye contact with Tigress as she hands it to him, and he is shocked to see something akin to sympathy glimmering in her gaze. He blanches internally. Does she know? Can she guess?

He musters up the courage to look down at the photo, and his breath catches in his throat. Black Sheep... sorry, Carmen… is stunning. Gray hasn’t seen her in a couple years, but in his memories she is a bright, beautiful girl. Now, she is a vision in scarlet, her hat and trench coat somehow illuminating her true self while also shrouding her in mystery. Her hair, so soft under his fingers when he would ruffle it playfully, is longer now, and it tumbles down her back in gorgeous auburn waves. But the most alluring thing about this new woman is the way she carries herself. She is proud and confident like he always knew she could be, and against his will, his heart warms with familiar affection for her.

He feels like he barely has a second with the photo before Vlad snatches it from him and takes it back to the faculty table. Gray barely has time to stifle the cry of protest clawing its way up his throat.
The hole in his chest she used to occupy grows ten times its size, almost consuming him entirely. He vaguely hears his dismissal as he robotically follows his former classmates back to their dorm to regroup.

He stays behind in that room while the others go to dinner in the mess hall. He has no appetite. Instead, he pulls the nesting dolls out of his bag, running his thumb over the burnt face of the largest one. When they first met, he’d wondered why on Earth Black Sheep had valued something that looked absolutely worthless. It took him a while to realize that an object’s true value cannot be measured by how much money someone would pay for it. Meeting Carmen had taught him that. He can’t count the number of times he risked getting into trouble at V.I.L.E. Academy taking part in one of her pranks, or stealing snacks for her, or doing anything else to make her happy. But still, he never thought he would give up anything truly consequential for her.

But when did a treasure like the Eye of Vishnu pale in comparison to her smile? When did the vast fortune he’d always dreamed of become an afterthought to her health and safety?

Graham, mate, he thinks, You’re a smitten bastard, and it’s time to try to make things right.

Once the others are asleep, Gray grabs his things and slips away in the dead of night. It’s embarrassingly easy to swipe a small boat from the dock and sail off into the distance. By the time the sun rises, he’s long gone.

I just hope I’m not too late, he prays.

Chapter Text

It takes Gray a couple of weeks not only to catch up to Carmen, but also to shake V.I.L.E. off his tail. He finds her in Sydney of all places. What are the odds?

He’d set up a couple of fake heists and made sure the chatter in the underground got back to her. Of course she took the bait in his home city. The arrogant part of him is sure it’s because Sydney is his place of origin that she chose to come here first. Fortunately, that part of him is shrinking every day. Anyhow, it puts him at an advantage since he knows all the best hiding places and can watch her from afar without being seen.

Later one night, he finds himself carefully concealed on the balcony of the hotel room Carmen is sharing with her two redheaded accomplices. Having seen them on a couple of previous capers, he is not surprised they would be with Carmen for what they think to be V.I.L.E. activity. Still, he knows they aren’t nearly as trained as he is, so when Carmen steps out to run an errand, he figures he’s as safe as he’ll ever be to make himself known.

He steps into the room “Hey mates. Sorry I don’t know your names, but I need to talk to your boss.”

The pair turns with almost comical looks of shock plastered on their faces. The girl recovers first and lunges for him. Gray sidesteps her, but catches her before she goes careening into the wall. The boy starts after his sister, but Gray puts his hands up in surrender before he can take an offensive stance.

“Whoa now. No need to get violent. I just want to talk to Carmen. You can tie me up until she gets back if you want.” They give him matching incredulous looks and turn to each other.

“You don’t trust this guy, right Ivy?”

“No way, bro, but we should see what Carm thinks.”

And so they agree to tie him up until Carmen returns. It’s clearly an uncomfortable arrangement for Ivy and her brother, who introduces himself as Zack. Their trepidation is not helped when Gray gives them advice on how to tighten the ropes they produce to restrain him.

“No, tighten that loop.”

“I know what to do.”

“Then why can I do this?”

“Ow! Ivy, he flicked my head!”

“I saw… let me get this…. And done!”

Then they sit around for a while. After what feels like a decade, all three hear a keycard swiping and the door opens, revealing the Crimson Shadow herself.

Carmen Sandiego makes all of three steps into the suite with her grocery bags before she notices the V.I.L.E. operative (as far as she knows) tied up between her partners. She mumbles several choice words under her breath, throws the bags on the table next to the kitchenette, and faces the others with her hands on her hips.

“Well?” She inquires when no one offers any explanation as to what transpired in her absence.

Zack starts “We…. ahh…. You see Carm…” Ivy elbows him before taking over.

“He snuck into the room through the balcony, said he had to talk to you, and said we could tie him up until you got back. So uhh… we’ve just been waiting for you since then.”

Carmen sighs. “Well, I’m here now. What do you want?”

It’s the first time she’s spoken to him outside of his dreams in so long, and at first Gray doesn’t say anything, taking in her presence and the feeling of her (irritated) attention on him. Finally, he is able to make words come out of his mouth.

“I need to talk to you…” he glances at her companions. “....alone?”

Carmen stares at him for a moment before something flickers in her gaze. “Fine.” she says. “Zack, Ivy, will you wait in the other room?”

The two exchange looks, but make themselves scarce. Once Carmen is sure they’re gone, she leans over and unties Gray. Being this close is intoxicating. He feels her hair brush past his arm as she undoes the ropes binding him, and he catches a whiff of something floral and sweet (when did she start wearing perfume, he wonders). Then she’s gone, taking several steps back and gazing at him mistrustfully. He finds it in him to speak again.

“Are you sure you want to untie me? Aren’t you worried I’ll hurt you or run away?” He asks teasingly, but he is genuinely curious. Carmen crosses her arms and makes an expression that reminds him distinctly of Coach Brunt.

“I think I could take you. Besides, one word from me and Zack and Ivy’ll come beat your ass.”

He grimaces “I used to be the one you could count on for back up.”

Her eyes dart to the floor. “Well… things are different now.”

“But they don’t have to be.”

“You’re with V.I.L.E., of course they have to be that way.”

“But I left them! Carmen, I was wrong to do what they wanted, I left.”

“Even if that were true, that doesn’t change the fact that you were willing to steal for them.” She looks at the floor again, and her voice breaks when she says “That doesn’t change that you were willing to kill for them.”

“I know! I’ve thought about what happened after graduation every day. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to go back, to apologize, and---”

“But you can’t! Gray, when you take someone’s life, you can’t fix that! Money and jewels change hands all the time, but when you kill someone there’s no going back. There’s nothing you can say to make it better.”

“But I didn’t kill anyone. Not that night, or any night since, I swear! Every night, I hear your voice telling me killing is wrong, and it haunts me to this day that I betrayed your trust.”

“You’re not the only one who’s haunted by what happened that night! At least when you have nightmares, you have people around you who understand what you’re going through! If I told Zack and Ivy even half of the shit I went through, they’d probably flee from sheer terror. And when I had to go back to that island, drugged and tied up in a helicopter, I didn’t have anyone! I would cry myself to sleep every night and wake up alone. I needed you, and you abandoned me. I thought you cared about me more than that.”

“I do care about you! I love you!”

A grave, deafening silence falls over the room at Gray’s sudden declaration. Carmen is glaring at him with tears rolling down her cheeks. Gray swipes a hand over his own face and finds he has started crying at some point as well. Neither can meet the other’s eyes. Carmen swallows audibly.

“You…. you love me?” Gray steps closer and puts his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. When she doesn’t recoil, he takes it as a sign to continue.

“Yes, I do. I wanted to be with you then, and I want to be with you now. The only reason I didn’t try to find you sooner is because I didn’t think you’d want me with you.” She looks up at him.

“I did… I do…. I just thought I’d lost you.” With that, she all but collapses into Gray’s arms. He wraps them around her as she sobs into his shoulder. They fall to the floor in a heap, and he strokes her hair, whispering soothingly to her through his own tears

Gray doesn’t know how long they stay like that, but eventually his knees start to feel stiff and Carmens sobs subside to the point where she’s just sniffling into his shirt. She pulls away and looks up at him.

“So, if you left, why are you here?” Gray tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

“Isn’t it obvious Lambkins? I want to help you take down V.I.L.E.”

“Well, you would have to get the others to let you too, but I don’t see why we can’t at least try it.”

Gray stands, helping Carmen up as he goes. “Great! Do you want me to go get them?”

Carmen wipes her eyes on her sleeve. “No I’ll get them.” She starts toward the door, pauses, and turns. “And… about what you said--”

He waves a hand. “It’s ok if you don’t feel the same way. I just wanted you to know how I feel. Surprisingly, Carmen shakes her head.

“No, I do feel the same way, but you really hurt me Gray. I’m fine with starting over as friends and partners, but I need time before I agree to anything else.”

“I’m just glad you’re letting me back at all. I’ll respect your boundaries, I promise.”

She gives him a strange, yet satisfied look before she disappears into the bedroom.

To make a long story short, Gray joins team Red (and meets Player, thus finally finding out who Black Sheep would always talk to at school when it looked like she was just talking to herself). Gray wholeheartedly embraces taking V.I.L.E. down, and they all have many successful capers together.

Nothing seems to change until a few months later. Gary and Carmen have a hotel suite in Oslo to themselves while Zack and Ivy are out and Player is offline. They’re sitting on the couch together, trying to pick something to watch on TV. She turns and looks at him with that same strange look in her eyes, and shrugs in what looks like bashful surrender.

“I give up.”

“Give up wha--”

And then her lips are on his, and he’s home.