Summary: The entire time, she'd been a pawn in someone else's competition.

Standard Disclaimer: I'm just a fanfiction writer. All hail the rightful owners.

Content Disclaimer: There is violence, sexual content, and copious misuse of power in this work of fiction, and not of the cartoon variety. The characters as portrayed here are neither invincible nor morally flawless. If you've read Endgame and Play On, you know where this is going. If you haven't, I suggest you start with those so you don't get confused. However, if you are too young or attached to "beloved childhood" versions of the characters… you've been warned.

"Carmen I'm going to ask you a question and I don't want you to take it the wrong way." Ivy began, as she bit into her peanut butter sandwich.

Carmen took another bite of her pickles. "What?"

"Are you pregnant?"

The thief choked. "What? No."

"You sure?" Ivy persisted.

"Certain." Carmen replied steadily.

"Am I missing something?" Zack interjected.

"OK, that's a good thing. Never mind." Ivy recanted.

Carmen shivered dramatically. "I should think so. Could you imagine bearing that monster a child?"

Zack waved his arms. "I'm getting really confused here."

Carmen glanced once in his direction and then dismissed him. "Where did that come from, Ivy?"

Ivy gestured at their plates.

"Oh." Carmen said, suddenly getting it. "You thought that because of what I'm eating."

The plate was piled high with various types of pickles, cheese, and flavored potato chips. "Is that normal?" Ivy asked.

Carmen gestured over her shoulder. "Suhara back me up on this one, please."

"That really is normal for her." The teacher conceded. "When she gets worried, she starts wanting vinegar. Everything pickled. I remember one time in Scandinavia she piled a bunch of sauerkraut on pickled herring and…"

Zack wrinkled his nose.

Smiling, Carmen said, "You're ruining my image, Sensei."

Suhara ruffled her hair affectionately. "You could try craving chocolate like an average American woman."

"I'm not average." She answered sweetly. "In fact, 297 days of the year, I'm not even American."

Ivy rolled her eyes. "You counted?"

Carmen shrugged. "Good record keeping is key to any endeavor, detective."

"Don't you start doing that mentor thing again, Carmen..."

The thief finished her pickles. "Why not Ivy?"

"I am not going to start listening to a thief."

Carmen winked. "I'm good at this, detective. You'd do well to take some pointers."

"If you two are done with whatever argument you're having…" Zack said. "We need to figure out what we're going to do."

They filled Carmen in on Ceria's revelation.

"So some random woman named Mary Stuart is involved in this?" Carmen asked.

"Guess so." Chief said. "I was kind of hoping you'd know a Mary Stuart."

Carmen thought for a few moments. "The only Mary Stuart I know was a historical figure."

"Who was that?" Zack asked.

"Mary Queen of Scots." Carmen explained.

"Care for an infoscan player?" Ivy suggested.

"Better not Ivy…" Carmen said carefully. "Chief do you know anything about this just offhand?"

"OK So…" Chief began. "Mary Queen of Scots was the Catholic ruler of Scotland while Elizabeth the First was the protestant ruler of England."

"Something tells me there's more to the story than that." Zack commented.

"You betcha gumshoe." The head continued. "They were cousins. And both of them thought the throne of English was theirs."

"By the time they got done fighting, detectives." Carmen continued. "Elizabeth had Mary beheaded."

"And I thought the two of you fought a lot." Chief said.

"Isn't that the same Elizabeth I whose father had her mother's head chopped off?"

"Yep…"

Carmen leaned back on her elbows. "That family had some serious issues, detective, but England also prospered under Elizabeth's rule."

"Ok," Zack said. "So maybe the killer is doing some sort of weird role reversal thing and throwing us clues. Where would you go for a clue about Mary Stuart's blood Carmen?"

"Probably the place she was executed, detectives." Suggested the thief. "There are plenty of grisly stories about that… it took several strikes of the ax to kill her and the first one missed her neck entirely. More than morbid enough for our mystery murderer."

"Tower of London?" Ivy asked and then without thinking began. "Player would you…?"

"Not tower of London." Carmen said before the infoscan could begin. "Fotheringhay Castle. James I had it destroyed and there's not much to see but I suggest we look anyway."

"How do you do that?" Zack asked.

"We didn't always have infoscan, detective. Back when I was a detective we had to live by our wits."

"We had this argument already, Carmen." Ivy said irritably. "Remember? You lost."

"Well I don't trust the C5 this time." Carmen said. "So I suggest we get some plane tickets."

"I can't believe the two of you actually fought over who would sit next to me." Carmen muttered in exasperation from her place on the plane.

"This works though." Zack said happily. He was sitting by the aisle, Ivy by the window. Suhara was one row back.

Carmen rolled her eyes.

"You are comfortable enough, right?" Zack asked, suddenly second-guessing himself. "Because we can switch if you…"

"I'm fine, detective." Carmen answered lightly. "Don't worry so much."

Zack hesitated. "Are you going to try to sleep?" He asked softly, gesturing to Suhara and Ivy, who were both dormant.

"No." Carmen refused. "I'm not tired enough for that yet."

"Yeah," Zack said toughly. "Me neither."

Carmen hesitated for a moment and asked. "Are you doing alright, Zack?"

"Yes." Then he sighed. "No. I'm totally scared out of my wits."

"I am so sorry." She whispered, "To bring you into this. This is my fight."

Zack answered firmly. "It's all of our fights, Carmen."

"I should have just taken it and kept quiet." Carmen muttered bitterly. "I had no cause to speak. I did not want to die with you hating me, and so I risked your lives. This is my fault."

"Listen," the young man said intensely. "None of this was your fault."

Carmen shook her head, as though she could not believe him. "I was fine. Then I spoke and everything got so out of control."

"You were in denial." Zack analyzed. "Being numb all of the time wasn't healthy either."

Shifting her weight slightly, the thief muttered. "Who decided denial was such a bad thing? At least it worked."

Zack looked sadly at her silhouette. "You're hurt really bad, aren't you?."

"Yes…" Carmen admitted reluctantly.

"You know I'd take it away if I could." Zack said.

"That's why you and your sister are such good people. You don't like seeing anyone hurt, even someone like me."

"This isn't philosophy." Zack argued. "We especially don't want to see you hurt."

"I've never been able to understand that…" Carmen mused.

"Can you really not see how amazing you are?" Zack asked.

Carmen shrugged. "There you have it. The arrogance is just a cover… I don't think there's anything special about me at all…"

"Well you're wrong." Zack answered fervently. "I mean, I know you're not usually wrong and all but you're wrong about this."

Carmen didn't answer for a long time.

"Umm Carmen." Zack said hesitantly.

She turned her head towards him. 'Yes, what is it?"

"I'm uh… going to try and get some sleep. Would it be too awkward if I leaned on your shoulder?"

"Go ahead," Carmen offered softly. "I don't mind."

It wasn't until later that he remembered how badly her shoulder had been torn up, that resting his head on it was almost certainly causing her pain.

Zack never would have asked it he'd realized, and he wondered why she agreed.