The Red Woman

by shinigami-shane

On one trip with her mother, Flaime is left alone while Kim goes out to work when Wade calls, setting in motion the one thing that Ron had been working to avoid.

One night, in an apartment in Paris, Kim was in the loungeroom of her hotel. She said, "Okay Flaime, I shouldn't be too long, but I don't want you leaving the room until I get back, alright?"

Flaime, her fifteen year old daughter replied, "Yeah, whatever you say, Mum," as she rolled her eyes.

Kim sighed and thought, 'Was I ever like this with my Mum and Dad? Ah well, I guess I'll just have to ask them about it when we get back home.' She then left the room.

What must have been about an hour later, Flaime heard a beeping coming from her mother's room. She thought, 'Huh? Is that Mum's phone? And she's always after me to keep mine on me when I'm out.' She sighed and said, "Well, I suppose that I might as well get it. If it's Dad, at least he'll be able to bring it up with her. So she went into her mother's room to look for it. What she found, was a strange watch with a large, digital, dial that was flashing. She shrugged and said, "Well, I guess that that must be one of Mum's old gadgets that she didn't want to get rid of," and went over and pressed a bunch of buttons until a holographic screen appeared with an image of a familiar face on it. She exclaimed, "Uncle Wade?!"

Wade asked, "Flaime? Where's Kim?"

"Mum went out about an hour ago. Why? What's up?"

"Do you know when she'll be back then?"

"No. She didn't say a thing about a return time."

"Hmmm…" Wade sighed. He said, "How much do you know about your mother's work with Global Justice?"

"I know that she was like some kind of renowned superhero when she was still in school, but I thought that she'd quit?"

"Yeah…not so much."

"Then all of these trips that she's been going on 'for work' are…"

"Not all of them. She is actually an international crime reporter, but, on occasion, Global Justice will ask for her help when they think that the police won't be enough."

"So…can…uhhh…I help…somehow?"

"Hmmm…" Wade sighed and said, "Kim wanted to keep you and Damian out of it, but I don't see that we've got much of choice right now."

"Okay, so then, what's the sitch?"

Wade said, "Please don't do that," as he saw an image of Kim when she was seventeen descend over her daughter. He said, "Regardless. Go and get your mother's bag."

Flaime said, "Right," and went and got it."

Wade said, "Okay, now use the code Four, Three, Seven, Zero to open it."

Flaime punched in the code in the digital display on her mother's bag and it opened up, revealing something that Flaime hadn't ever expected to see in her mother's possession. On the top half of the bag, were slots, containing a black gun and a strange makeup compact next to it. On the bottom, were a set of loose black cargo pants and a tight t-shirt that had sleeves that must have reached to about halfway down her mother's forearm, and black sneakers and gloves that had an open back. She gulped and said, Uncle Wade, what are…"

"That's your mother's mission gear. She takes it with her whenever she leaves, just on the odd chance that something will come up and she'll need it."

"Okay, so what do you want me to do with it? It's not exactly like any of these clothes will fit me or anything."

No, but if you wear some kind of similar clothing that you took with you, you'll be able to use the gunhook, mirror and the Kimmunicator."

"The Kimmunicator? Is that this watch-thing?"

"That's right."

"Well, alright," Flaime said, and rushed from the room. She quickly put on her workout tights and a t-shirt before strapping on the thigh bag that she'd brought with her over the pants and threw on her running sneakers before going back to her mothers room to strap the watch on. She said, "Okay Uncle Wade, now what?" as she put the gunhook into the main pocket of her thigh bag and the mirror into a side pocket.

"Now, Flaime, you hightail it to The Louvre."

Flaime asked, "The Louvre? Why would someone that GJ is interested in be there?" as she went onto the balcony.

"It hasn't made it into the papers yet, but there's a new thief that's been going around stealing all sorts of historical items from museums, art galleries and houses. It's not often that you get thieves that cross the border between different types of theft."

"So who is this?"

"They don't really know. All they know is an alias that she goes by."

Flaime asked, "What's that?" as she took the hook out of the gun and hooked it to the railing.

"Carmen Sandiego."

Flaime said, "Carmen Sandiego? That sounds like the name of a game," and leapt off of the side of the balcony.

Wade said, "It was," as Flaime was let down the wall of the hotel.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Apparently she has an eye for the classics, since she dresses up in a way to resemble the character from the game."

"Then…couldn't you find out what she's after by playing along the same lines as that game?"

"No. They've considered that, but apparently the only thing that she's taken from the game, is the name and the outfit."

"I see. That's too bad then."

"Yeah, you can say that again," as Flaime set down by the pool.

Flaime then asked, "Okay, how do I retract this thing?"

"See the two buttons on the side?" Flaime turned the gun in her hand and said, "Yeah. Got 'em."

"When you're looking down it, the one on the left retracts the hooks and the one on the right will stop the wire's extension. Pressing it a second time will retract the hook to the gun."

Flaime said, "Okay," as she retracted the hooks before retracting the hook to the gun. She asked, "What about this sliding thing near my thumb?"

"The first selection is for the regular hook. The second, has a camming hook function, the third generates a magnetic force within the hook and the fourth causes an electric charge to run through the wire. I would recommend not trying to use the last two while the hook is still inside the gun."

"Why not?"

"Because, if you try to use the magnet, the hook won't fire, and the second one, you would just shock yourself."

"Right," Flaime said as she aimed at a streetlight." She shot the gunhook and stopped the spool when it passed the street light, causing it to drop and spin around the bar attaching the light to the post. She leapt off of the side of the hotel and started the retraction. When she'd swung under the light, she started retracting the wire so that the spin would increase enough so that when she retracted the hooks, she flipped in the air and landed on the bar. As she did, she thought, 'I guess that it's a good thing that Mum managed to get me to take those rhythmic gymnastics classes after all.' She then fired it at the lamp on the other side of the street and swung over to it before shooting the grappling hook up to the rooftop of the opposite building and retracting the wire, lifting herself up to the rooftop. She then leapt and swung from rooftop to rooftop on her way to The Louvre. It took her about fifteen minutes, thanks to having to clamber over a number of gable roofs on her way. As she stood on the final roof across from the Louvre Flaime rolled her eyes and said, "I should have just run here by foot.

From the Kimmunicator, Wade's voice said, "Maybe so Flaime, but it's probably better that you got some experience in using that grappling hook before you try and confront Carmen."

"Hmm…you're probably right."

"I know I am."

"So, what now? It's been fifteen minutes since I left, she might not be there anymore."

"I know it's certainly possible, but security was beefed up recently, so she should still be there. just a sec, I'll…" Wade stopped talking as he typed away, hacking into the Louvres security system. He said, "Right. Yeah. She's probably still there."

"Why probably?"

"She's clearly got some pretty good skills, because she's managed to hack their systems and frozen their security cameras. If she can do that, she's probably got them set on a timer to return to normal when she's done, or soon after."

"Can you get them back up and running?"

"Let me see…"

"Okay. I got some of them up and running, but I can't get the ones in and around the exhibit of Cleopatra. So it could be that she's got some device with her that stalls the cameras and prevents those outside of the museum from messing with them that has a signal that degrades with range, or maybe…"

Flaime said, "Wade, focus!" in a manner that Wade thought sounded far too much like her mother than was for her own good.

Wade said, "Right. Sorry."

"That's fine. Where's the exhibit being held?"

"It's in Napoleon Hall, directly under the pyramid."

"Right," Flaime said, and hooked the hook on the edge of the building that she was standing on and lowered herself to the ground. She then quickly ran over to the walls surrounding The Louvre and shot the gunhook up to it. she retracted it, drawing herself up before hooking it on the outside before lowering herself back down again. She said, "Now, Wade, how do I get to the Exhibition Hall?"

"Well, I would hack in, but they've got a physical lock, so, unfortunately, you'll have to do it the old fashioned way."

"Hmmm…" Flaime said, looking around for any opened windows. She sighed and said, "That's going to take forever! Wait. I know! Uncle Wade, would it be possible for you to play me a limited-range sound that would vibrate with the type of glass that that pyramid is made of?"

"You want to shatter one of the panes to get through? Hm. That could work. Just let me see now…" As Wade typed, Flaime went over to the pyramid. When he was done, Wade said, "Alright, got it. place the Kimmunicator up against the glass."

Flaime said, "Right," and nodded as she took off the Kimmunicator. When she had it up against the glass, even before she could say, 'go ahead,' Wade activated it, shattering the glass."

Down on the ground level, Carmen looked up when she heard the glass and saw a shadowy figure above her. She thought, 'Is it them? I didn't think that it would be so soon that I'd meet up with…!' She cut her thought short when she saw a pink dot appear on her gauntlet. She frowned as she thought 'What?! What's she doing here? I thought that I…' she sighed and turned up her collar as she affected a British accent to say, "Sneaking around like that, you're not one of the Sûreté Nationale. Are you after Cleopatra's Necklace too?"

Flaime said, "Don't be absurd, thief!" As she took on a defensive stance, Flaime announced I'm here to stop you!"

"Well, personally I prefer superthief, but whatever floats your boat. It's just too bad really."

"What is?"

Carmen said, "That I'm already done!" and fired her own grappling gun at the window that Flaime had broken to get in."

Flaime said, "I don't think so!" and flicked the slider to magnet and fired. Nothing happened.

Carmen said, "I'll see you again. When you've got more experience with that hook," and retracted the wire, causing her to rise up to the broken pyramid. As she did, a regretful look made its way to her face as she thought, 'Flaime.' She then hightailed it to the far side of The Louvre before using her gunhook to go over the wall and hopped onto a red motorbike, just in time for Flaime to see her drive away.

As Carmen drove away, Flaime fronwed as she growled, angry at herself for letting Carmen get away with Cleopatra's Necklace. Wade's voice came in over the Kimmunicator, saying, "Well, I guess that we were just a bit too slow."

"Don't lie Uncle Wade," Flaime said. "I messed up and let her get away."

Wade sighed and said, "Don't worry about it too much Flaime. It was your first time and you'd never even used a simple grappling hook before, so it couldn't really be helped."

"My mother wouldn't have botched it so badly as that."

"That's not a fair comparison Flaime. Your mother had been playing at the hero game for a long time before Global Justice took her on and it's not like Kim won every time, even when she was with Global Justice full time. Besides, if you want to get Carmen, I can talk to Global Justice about letting you continue on working with them."

"Really?" Flaime asked in a surprised tone.

"Yes. Despite being unsuccessful this time, the fact is that the only reason that you failed to stop her, was because you were barely informed how to use a tool that you'd never even considered existing, let alone actually use it."

"I used it just fine on the way over."

"Yes. but that was just as a regular grappling hook. It can take time to learn to use tools like that one that has had many variations since it was first implemented."

Flaime sighed and said, "Alright Wade. I'll do it."

Wade grinned and said, "I kind of figured you would."

"Why's that?"

"Because, you're your mother's daughter, and Kim could never turn down a single request to help anyone, even Doctor Drakken and Shego from time to time."

"She helped them?!"

"Yeah. But you're going to have to ask her about that."

"Alright. So, what now?"

"Now, I talk to Global Justice about signing you on and getting you your own handler."

"Why don't you just do it?"

"I can get a bit busy dealing with your mother and a few other agents, so won't be able to help you as much as you'll probably need in your early days."

"Alright. Is there some kind of training that I'll need to do, or…"

"That's something else that I need to talk to the bigwigs about. For now though, you need to get back to your hotel before your mother can."

Flaime gasped and exclaimed, "You're right!" She said, "Later Wade," cutting communication off with one of her few family friends.

As she cut him off, Wade shook his head and said, "Yes. Far, far too similar for their own good."

XXXXX

When Kim got back to her hotel, Flaime was still where she'd been when she'd left, lying on the lounge, her eyes glued to the television. She said, "So, did anything interesting happen while I was out?"

Flaime said, "Nah, just some standard action flick on the tele," as she thought, 'She can't know, can she? Did Uncle Wade rat me out?!' she sighed before continuing on to think, 'Ah well, even if he did, there's nothing that I could do about it now anyway.'

Kim said, "You're not lying to me, are you?"

"What? Uhhhmmm…no?"

"Was that a question?"

Flaime sighed and said, "Sorry Mum, but Uncle Wade called you on your Kimmunicator and you weren't here, so I…"

Kim sighed and said, "See, now was that so hard?"

"But…how did you…?"

"I got back shortly after you must have left and, since you weren't here, went out looking for you. You gave me quite a scare!"

Flaime sighed and said, "Sorry Mum."

Kim said, "Well, just so long as you don't lie to me again, it's no problem."

"What? Then…you weren't angry that I left the room?"

"No. When I got back and you weren't here I checked for the Kimmunicator. When it wasn't where I'd left it, I checked my bag and saw the stuff in there was gone. I figured that you'd probably be set, but still might need some help. Since it's been a while since I've been in the game though, I'm not sure what use I'd…"

"And here I thought that it was me that was the liar."

Kim frowned and said, "Come again?"

"Uncle Wade told me that you still work for Global Justice!"

Kim sighed and said, "Wade really needs to learn when to keep his mouth shut."

"Well, that's true enough," Flaime admitted, thinking on the time that he'd gotten her into trouble by tattling on her to her mother after she'd dragged her brother into playing a prank and convinced her parents that it was Damian that dragged her into it.

"So, what did he tell you I do?"

"Largely odd jobs when the cops won't be enough…like tonight's caper."

"'Caper'? That's a rather interesting term. What happened?"

"Well, I don't know how else to put it. I met Carmen Sandiego when she was stealing Cleopatra's Necklace from the Louvre, but messed up when I tried to use the magnetic function of your gunhook."

Kim sighed and said, "Yeah. That one was a hassle for a while for me too."

"Really?"

Kim smiled as she nodded. "Well, at least that's over and you won't be in danger anymore."

"Wellll…about that…"

In a dry monotone, Kim asked, "What about it?"

"I…kind of asked Wade if I could keep on working with Global Justice, at least until Carmen Sandiego is caught."

Kim thought, 'She wants to catch…' she smiled and said, "Well, if that's what you want, it'd be kind of hypocritical to get in your way. That said, I will tell you this one thing."

"What?"

"In the field, it's better to have a partner with you, at least in the beginning, but you need to be careful that you don't come to overdepend on them too."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Do you really think that once he hears about you joining Global Justice that your brother will want nothing to do with it too?"

Flaime sighed and said, "I guess not, but I don't think that I'll be depending on him for a whole lot."

Kim grinned and said, "I know. I was like that with Ron too, and look where we ended up. It doesn't have to be your brother, but you're going to need someone to keep you grounded so that you don't get ahead of yourself."

Flaime sighed and said, "Alright Mum. I'll think on it."

"In the meantime, I'll talk to Wade about getting you a…I suppose It'd be called a Flaimmunicator if you're using it, and a gunhook of your own."

Flaime said, "You…uhh…might want to hold out on that one."

Kim sighed and said, "Flaime. If you don't practice with it, you won't get used to it, then you'll never be able to use it."

"Maybe I won't need to swing from rooftop to rooftop…if I'm lucky."

Kim sighed and said, "Look Flaime. That gun hook has saved me more times than I can count, and not just because I could 'swing to another building'."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the first time that it had been equipped with the shock function, your father and I ran across an army of Drakken's Killer Bebe's. The shock function short circuited their systems, frying…well just about everything that made them work."

Flaime sighed and said, "I…suppose that I can kind of see your point."

"Hey, do you think that I could take Demeter with me?"

Kim looked up and to the right. "I…might be able to call in a few favours for you in the beginning, but you'll need to find your own ways to locations if you want to take her with you, because you won't be able to take her on civilian aircraft and whatever mission you'll be on will be well and truly over before you can ship her there."

Flaime ran over and hugged her mother, saying, "Thanks Mum!"

Kim smiled as she thought, 'This…could be a problem.' She said, "Now, bed. It's eleven o'clock!" As her blonde daughter left the room, Kim called out, "Oh! And don't tell your father about me 'n' GJ!"

"Okay. But why? Doesn't he know?"

"Your father? Nooo. When he took up his position as an actuary with your grandfather's company, he made me promise to stop. That's why it's only once in a blue moon that I link up with them."

Flaime sighed and said, "Well, whatever. Good night Mum."