Screwed up Sandiego

By: FunahoMisaki

(A/N: I own nothing and what if during the Birds of a Feather case Ivy manages to slip Carmen a note attached to her magnifying glass? What's in this mysterious note and why does Ivy want to go through with this plan? A fight with Zack may be the cause…or not. AU OOC)

"I'm glad you were able to meet with me." Ivy said without looking up at the woman who sat down at the table across from her, Ivy perusing the menu at the moment.

"Well when you manage to attach a note to that magnifying glass asking if my offer was still on the table and if I would talk with you about it I was curious and a bit confused. The drawing of a wave helped me figure out that you meant my offer from the submarine." The smooth voice asked in return making Ivy glance up at the woman and take in her outfit.

"Nice shirt, matches your eyes even if it's strange to see you in something other than red." Ivy complimented as she noticed the icy blue shirt and the pair of jeans the woman was wearing, and her hair was up in a ponytail while her usual hat was missing.

"Thank you, your own outfit is a bit out of the ordinary for you though is it not?" Carmen asked in return as she smirked at Ivy who just shrugged. She was wearing a modest green tee-shirt with a cartoon character, a Pokemon one if Carmen wasn't mistaken, on the front and a pair of skinny jeans.

"My brother was being nosy about my 'date' that I didn't tell him about until a little while ago. He's so used to seeing me in my jacket and tank top he walked literally right past me about ten minutes ago." Ivy said earning a snort from Carmen. She had seen him wandering around while casing out the place earlier and had thought for sure that it was a trap but he just moved right along and left without preamble. Now she knew why.

"Not the most perceptive is he?" Carmen asked although she frowned a bit. Zack wasn't able to recognize his own sister unless she was wearing her usual outfit? That was a bit…well…sad.

"You have no idea. Shall we order? Since I asked for this meeting then lunch is on me." Ivy offered as the waitress who had been eyeing them both for a minute, and Ivy for a little while longer, approached them.

"I'm never one to turn down a free meal." Carmen said with a smirk since she had noticed the waitress as well.

"What can I get you ladies to drink and eat today?" The waitress asked without wasting time as she approached the two, eyeing them curiously but not saying anything.

"Water with lemon, and the large Grilled Chicken salad with no cheese or tomatoes if you don't mind. Ranch dressing will be fine." Carmen said when Ivy motioned for her to order first, glancing at the menu quickly.

"Alright and for you babe?" The woman asked eyeing Ivy appreciatively since her shirt showed her trim and toned muscles.

"Water with lemon for me as well. Grilled pork chop, salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette, Lima Beans over Rice and I'll have the desert today as well. Do you think I can get a second Grilled Pork Chop as well to go with that?" Ivy asked with a smirk on her face, making Carmen and the waitress both look at her surprised for the…well…rather large order.

"Are you sure you can eat all that? Those pork chops are nothing small and you're not that big." The waitress asked staring at Ivy who smirked slightly wider at that and rested her chin on one hand, her arm propped up on the table.

"Oh I guarantee you when I want to I can eat a lot. I have a very…different appetite than most." Ivy drawled out the words as she gave the waitress a once over, making the dark haired woman that was only about twenty at the most blush slightly and stutter. Carmen watched in disbelief as Ivy gave the woman a look that had the poor woman blushing brighter as she shakily wrote down the order and then turned and practically fled to the kitchen.

"Well that was my fun for the hour." Ivy said with a grin as she looked back at Carmen, hearing a couple of laughs come from the kitchen.

"You made that woman blush as red as my fedora and nearly run from the table." Carmen said dryly and earning a hum from Ivy.

"Yeah she's new here. She's not used to me yet. Maybe I should have taken it easy on her." Ivy said causing Carmen to stare at her for a moment before a grinning woman with blond hair that had brown streaks in it walked over with two glasses of water with lemons in them.

"Ivy are you tormenting the new girl?" The blond asked as she set down the water on the table in front of the two women, holding out some straws in offering.

"Oh come on Jen. You know I have to have my fun with the fresh blood whenever they come in and I have the time off. Did you not warn this one about me or did she not believe you?" Ivy asked grinning back and earning a snort from the other waitress, this one a grey haired woman that was rather short.

"I tried to warn her but since you haven't been around in the last two months since she's started working she didn't believe me. Where have you been anyways Ivy?" The woman asked looking at Ivy who shrugged a bit.

"Oh traveling around here and there for work. Been busy recently." Ivy said casually avoiding most of the question while making it look like she answered it.

"So who's your friend? You almost never bring other people here." The one Ivy called Jen asked looking at Carmen who blinked slightly. So picking this place was a show of trust on Ivy's part?

Taking Carmen to one of the places where she seemed to be a regular but never took other people. Interesting.

Perhaps Ivy's request was truthful after all.

"My name is Trista. Ivy met me on one of her most recent cases and since I was in the country she invited me out for lunch." Carmen said smoothly slipping a Spanish accent into her voice as she used one of her aliases for when she was in Spain.

"Well your food should be done soon. Just wave us down if you need anything hun." The older woman said as some more customers walked in.

"Will do." Ivy said waving the two off with a smile as they smiled back and then went to take care of the other customers.

"So then. Shall we get down to business?" Carmen asked folding her hands in front of her on the table while Ivy stuck her straw in her glass.

"I thought my message was straight forward enough while still being cryptic." Ivy asked before taking a sip of her drink while Carmen watched her curiously and sort of surprised.

"Hmm. I can infer as to why you would ask about my offer…but to be truthful I'm a bit surprised that you would. I never thought you'd take me up on it." Carmen said humming slightly and making Ivy frown as she stared at her glass.

"Let's just say…I got tired of the way things were going…and I don't mean the chase and all. That's the fun part. I got tired of everything else." Ivy said her voice quiet as she stared at Carmen who stared back.

"And your brother?" Carmen asked raising an eyebrow and earning a snort from Ivy.

"Zack's a big boy now. He doesn't need me to hold his hand, hell he's probably better equipped to handle any assignment than I am given that he's fluent in like eight languages." Ivy said waving it off and making Carmen look at her suspiciously.

"And you don't know any other language?" Carmen asked earning a snort from Ivy.

"Oh please. I recently graduated from a high school where learning at least two other languages was required. I'm fluent in Sign Language and Spanish. Know most of the basic French phrases and stuff too. Any other language…well I know curse words." Ivy said with a shrug of her shoulders at the end.

"So you can understand sign language and Spanish, and basic French…how many languages can you curse in however?" Carmen asked a bit more curious than she should be about that part.

"Fourteen different languages, counting Spanish, French, and English." Ivy said with a grin, she could curse out pretty much everyone in the world in their own language. It's made some assignment's she's had without her brother or another translator fun for sure.

"Impressive even if they are just swear words. However if you do go through with this you will be learning more languages." Carmen said making Ivy shrug her shoulders.

"That's fine with me. It'd be nice to be something other than the brainless brute." Ivy said sounding self-deprecating in the last few words before she abruptly turned her head out the window to watch the people on the street for a minute. Carmen filed that away for later investigation.

"You know you will be tested and all. You're a detective…if you go through with this none of the others will trust you until you prove yourself." Carmen warned the young adult who just shrugged again.

"I'm used to that. Honestly if you're trying to get me to change my mind it's not going to work. I'm very stubborn once I decide to do something." Ivy said looking amused.

"Very well. If that's what you decide then I'll allow it. It'd be interesting to see how things turn out." Carmen said watching curiously as the girl played with her straw, although she noticed that Ivy was being much more cautious now than she was during a crime. Her eyes were roaming everywhere every few seconds, and even when she was looking at Carmen the master thief knew that her favorite detective was still acutely aware of everything that was going on around her.

"So then that means…" Ivy trailed off looking at Carmen who smiled a bit and nodded her head.

Leaning back into her chair Carmen said one thing before taking a long drink from her glass.

"Welcome to VILE Ivy."