Chapter Two

A/N: Hope this chapter lives up to the last. Thanks for reading :)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the SPYKids material.

"Carmen, what do you think of the new R.A.L.P.H?" Juni asked the next morning, holding out his newest model of the R.A.L.P.H.

Carmen lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She was daydreaming... again. She sighed. "Mmm, yeah, Juni," she said.

"What are you thinking about?" Juni asked, a frown forming between his eyebrows.

"That's nice," Carmen replied absently.

Juni went over and waved his hand over her face. "Carmen! Listen to me!"

Carmen sat up. "What is it?" she asked.

Juni narrowed his eyes. "You aren't still mad at me about last night are you?" he asked.

"No, not really," said Carmen. She turned her head to stare out of the window.

Juni snapped his fingers. "Carmen! You've been like this ever since last night. What's up?"

Carmen looked at him innocently. "Nothing," she said.

"Come on, Carmen, I'm a spy," said Juni. "I know when you're lying. This isn't about Gary Giggles, is it?" He scowled when he said the name.

Carmen rolled her eyes. "Juni, I've already told you. I don't like him, okay?"

"Right..." said Juni, clearly not believing her.

"If you keep going on about this," Carmen snapped, "then I'll tell Gerti you have a crush on her."

"What?" Juni burst out. "I so do not like Gerti Giggles. She's annoying!"

"Right..." said Carmen the same way Juni did. "Well if you don't stop bugging me, I'll tell her anyway."

"Fine," Juni huffed and stomped out of the room.

Carmen brushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes and picked up the photo from her dresser. It was a photograph of Gary Giggles, his hair all blond and messy and his eyes blue, just having taken some spy-glasses off. Carmen had printed it off the night before. Now, she picked it up, stared at it for a moment, and then put it in the shredder. The shredder whirred as it destroyed the photo and Carmen turned her back on it. She couldn't afford to be thinking about Gary. Not when an important assignment could come up at any time.

Carmen and Juni Cortez walked into Junior OSS the following Monday morning. They stuffed their bags into their lockers and retrieved their files. Juni hadn't said another word on the Gary matter, fearing the rumour Carmen had threatened to spread. He was about to walk off when someone approached them from behind.

"Hello, Carmen." It was Gary Giggles again, dressed in his Junior OSS uniform, the gel gone from his hair.

"Gary," Carmen acknowledged him.

"And Juni Cortez, of course," Gary added.

"Giggles," said Juni curtly.

"Did you get back on the Best Spy Kid board?" Gary asked politely.

"I did," said Juni.

"Ah, good for you," Gary replied, giving a brief smile, an expression which Juni thought looked unnatural on his face.

"Don't you have stuff in your office to sort, Juni?" Carmen asked pointedly.

Juni gave her a look which said 'I told you so' and turned and walked down the hall.

"Sorry about my brother," Carmen apologised.

"Don't be," said Gary. "We've never been the best of friends. I thought he was going to quit the spy business after the Ukata assignment."

"He changed his mind," Carmen replied simply.

"Clearly," Gary smiled. "Have you had any missions of late?"

"A few," said Carmen.

"Of course, you're not allowed to say," said Gary. "Were they successful?"

"Yeah," said Carmen. She paused. "I expect you've seen your sister since you've come back here."

"Yes, I have," Gary replied. The two of them started to walk down the corridor. "There she is." He pointed to a blonde girl by the lockers. She had two pigtails high on her head tied with colourful bobbles.

"Gerti!" Carmen called.

"Hey, Carmen," Gerti said. "I see you found out my brother's back."

"Yeah, I have," Carmen replied.

"Uh, you know, you two, how about we meet up at the juice bar later?" Gary offered.

Carmen hesitated. It was one thing seeing Gary at school but she wasn't sure her parents, especially her dad, would consent to her meeting up outside school hours. "Um... I'm not really..."

"Juni can come along too, if he wants," said Gary.

"I'll... ask my dad," Carmen said finally.

"Alright," said Gary, flashing another smile.

"It's been nice seeing you, Carmen, but I have work," said Gerti. "I might see you later then." She flicked her pigtails as she turned away and headed down the corridor.

"Bye," Carmen replied, waving her off.

"I'm afraid I'll have to go too," said Gary. "I have piles of stuff to get through, now that I'm back here."

"See you then," said Carmen.

"See you later, Miss Cortez," Gary replied as he was halfway down the corridor, his voice drifting back to her. Despite everything, Carmen smiled.

"What did he say?" said the voice behind her.

"Juni! Stop that!" Carmen jumped.

"I'm a spy, Carmen, a spy. Of course I won't stop," said Juni. "So what was he on about?"

"We're meeting him and Gerti at the juice bar after school," Carmen informed him.

"What?!" Juni burst out. "Dad will never let you in a million years. He hates the Giggles!"

"I'll convince him," said Carmen. "You don't have to come, you know."

"Oh, I'm coming alright," said Juni, "to make sure he isn't up to anything."

Carmen rolled her eyes. "Fine," she sighed. "Look, I have to go. Got work to do, you know. Bye, Juni."

She strode off down the corridor biting her lip. She knew Juni was onto her. She knew that he would find out everything eventually – he was a Level 1 spy after all. But her threat about Gertie was enough to keep him in place for now. Carmen sighed. She knew that she should stick to that rule in the 'How to Be a Good Spy' book: Never make any connections to family or friends. It would only make things difficult in the long run. She simply couldn't like Gary, not that she did. Carmen wrestled with the matter all day, fearing the only answer. It was what scared her most.