Hi there. This is my first written fanfic, period. I have had this story in my head for a long time and I figured it is time to get it out.

My story takes a different approach to Carmen Sandiego, in terms of how she deals with feelings of loneliness. We all know her as the strong charismatic criminal, but these are just a mask hiding the real Carmen. Also, how I have always perceived VILE to operate.

I know this may sound like a boring analysis like she's lying on the therapy couch talking to Dr. Frasier Crane, but trust me it's not.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Carmen Sandiego, Zach, Ivy or the Chief. (Wish I did) They are owned by whoever owns Cookie Jar (WOEICS) and the Learning Company (Carmen Sandiego franchise). I do own the concept that this reading will present and the mild characters.

Please review.

Enjoy!

Carmen Sandiego led a rather lonely life, with no immediate family or family of her own. Of course, she considered VILE her family, but she would not trust anyone of them with her most intimate thoughts. On the other hand, she would with her former friends at ACME but never could gather up the courage to do so. She missed her friendships and wished she could, some way, get them back; but who would have her friendship now? She was a traitor plain and simple. On the days she felt nostalgic, like today, she would look up their personal profiles on social networking sites to see what was going on in their lives.

Her ex-partner Jennifer Hammond (Daniels) was her best friend. They worked on many cases together, too many to count. Jennifer would always talk about what she wanted to do after ACME, like ACME was just a stop along the way in her life plans. Carmen would think to herself, "There isn't anything after ACME". When Jennifer put in her resignation Carmen felt as if someone had pulled the rug out from under her, of course she would never show it. She was the stoic strong detective, but everyone needs companionship now and then. Jennifer joined the CIA and after a few years with ACME, got married and had 3 children. She currently is a stay at home mom, and considered it the best job ever. Her husband works at the Pentagon.

Then there was her ex-cube mate Matthew Scott, before she was promoted and got an office of her own. He was the closest brother figure she had, and often wondered what life would be like if they grew up together. All those holidays, summer trips and brother/sister antics they would experience, just the mere thought made her smile. He recently got married to a woman named Amanda Rogers. She started working at ACME after Carmen left. They meet in the cafeteria when he was not paying attention and bummed into her, causing her to drop her lunch tray. When Carmen read this it sounded like something he would do. He was always a bit accident-prone.

She often thought about creating a profile so she could interact with them and others, but there were too many questions swimming in her head such as, "What name would I pick to let them know who I am? Would they accept my invites? If the invites were accepted would I be able to handle the major question about becoming a thief, and the possible rejection?" They did not understand the whole reason behind what she does. Her crimes are not just mere crimes, but each served a function.

The ringing of the telephone shook her back into reality. She cleared her throat and calmed herself, but could not calm her rapid heartbeat.

"Hello?" she answered brushing rogue hair out of her face.

"Boss, its Alan Wrench. We've repaired the push and pull cable system on the main hovercraft. It appears that the cable was somehow got stretched, which is why it was too hard to control. It will operate much smoothly now. Also, I doubled over the skirt at the inner skirt attach point." He said.

"Wonderful, now I don't have to worry about sinking if the outer skirt were to tear." Carmen said, with her heartbeat returning to a normal rhythm.

"And we've melted the bolt holes to seal the inter mesh so they won't be weak spots." Alan said in a satisfied tone.

"I am glad to hear this. Now, please do the same to all the others and put them through the tests. I want to make sure that when they are ready to be shipped that they are 100% without flaws." Carmen said.

"Will do Boss." Alan said, and hung up the phone.

Carmen put down the receiver and typed in the information into the computer. The profit from the sale of the hovercrafts will be enough to invest in more research and development, and give bonuses to the maintenance crew. When she was done she looked at the clock, it was 3:00 in the afternoon, which meant it was 7:00 am in San Francisco.

"Only 4 more hours to go. I better get ready." she said to none in particular. She got up and headed for her private quarters.