I KNOW, I KNOW! I'm late… Sorry? I've been a bit busy and writers' block has been a huge pain. The next chapter is written, but the one following that is still a complete mess. I'm hoping to post the next (and much-longer-than-this-one) chapter some time this weekend. If it isn't up by Sunday, then be on the lookout around Wednesday or so. Also, still totally obsessed with Merlin! Talk about polar opposite fandoms...

So there's a quick flashback in this chapter which references LEGO Star Wars: the video game. If you've never played it or don't know anything about it, it doesn't matter. Part of the scene was taken from a conversation with my brother because I genuinely can't fly or drive in video games without crashing into something every 5 seconds. I thought about trying to work with a different fandom since I already used Star Wars for one of Player's rants earlier, but LEGO Star Wars is a video game I've actually played (and am currently trying to get 100% completed on my cellphone with mixed results).

Thanks as always to Vodonn! I had WAY too much fun picking out ringtones and bouncing ideas off of you for which ringtone would match who. :)

I do not own Carmen Sandiego (Netflix). This story is a work of fiction that came from my own horrible brain because I have been searching for Player!whump and haven't found many fics like that.

…...

Carmen was bored.

Since she escaped from VILE, she could count on one hand the number of times she'd been bored. Carmen's life had been one adventure after another, jumping between every continent and country. The few times she'd been bored, she'd been confined to bed for medical reasons (i.e. recovering from Coach Brunt's beating, or frostbite in Stockholm). Now, not only was she bored, but she missed Player.

Player was the little brother she'd never had, who always had her back and was a constant source of comfort. They'd gone longer without contacting each other, but it still left her unsettled. Carmen knew that she was being ridiculous, but a nagging sense of wrongness persisted in the depths of her mind.

So now not only was she bored, but she was fretting. Carmen Sandiego did NOT fret; yet, there she was pacing the length of her room.

With a groan Carmen flopped down on her bed into a dramatic sprawl. Carmen reached blindly around her bedside table to snatch up her cellphone. Absentmindedly waking up the screen Carmen huffed; still no word from Player.

She thought about going to find Ivy, Zach, or Shadow-san to distract her from her own thoughts. Ivy and Zach were a hurricane of distractions on their own, and a spar with Shadow-san would normally help clear her mind.

Normally.

Instead she found herself tapping in her passcode and opening an app folder named "time wasters". One of the many things Player had taken upon himself to teach her were the joys of mindless, time-wasting games. Well, that along with emojis and memes. Her brow furrowed as she flipped through the folder, eventually settling on Fruit Ninja. While LEGO Star Wars was tempting, Carmen still struggled on the flying levels and she wasn't in the mood to crash into something every 5 seconds. A smile settled on her face; Player had laughed so hard he'd fallen out of his chair the first time he'd watched Carmen play the podracing level of LEGO Star Wars.

…

"It's NOT funny Player!" Carmen snapped, trying to block out Player's sniggering.

"No, you're right. It's not funny… It's HILARIOUS!" Player replied.

Carmen looked up from her phone to scowl at her laptop screen where Player could be seen flipping through a thick book via their video chat. The sound of Anakin Skywalker's podracer crashing into the stone canyon wall brought her attention back to her phone's screen.

"It's not like I've had years of experience playing video games like you do," Carmen grumbled as she narrowly avoided flying into a hole.

"Doesn't make it any less hilarious," Player said. He laughed as Carmen let out a stream of curses after she lost the race, sending her back to the beginning of the level. She hears a faint thud from her laptop and a quick glance confirmed her suspicions; the jerk had fallen out of his chair cackling.

"I'm going to throw my phone across the room if I do any more of this level," Carmen snapped, exiting the level with a few aggressive taps to the screen. "I'm replaying the first level instead."

"To find the last few minikits?" Player asked.

"Shut up," Carmen grumbled. "I'm only missing one and I already know where it is."

"Really?"

Carmen turned her attention back to Player who had climbed back into his chair and raised an incredulous eyebrow at her.

"Yes really!"

"I'll believe it when I see it!" Player snarked.

Carmen turned back to her phone to select the new level and chose her character.

"Who do I pick?" Carmen muttered to herself.

"Try Jedi Master Shaak Ti," Player recommended.

Carmen shrugged but took Player's advice and selected the character icon.

"And try not to die before you even get the first power-up!"

"PLAYER!"

….

A quiet boom reached her ears as Carmen swiped one of the bombs instead of a three-hit banana combo. Huffing in annoyance, Carmen put her phone to sleep and dropped it above her head carelessly.

Now her thoughts continued to swirl around her brain at a dizzyingly fast speed. Her worries about Player's lack of communication came flooding back with an intensity that sent shivers down her spine. Carmen knew that, despite his age, Player was one of the most competent, mature people she'd met and not only because of his genius level intelligence. He was her "secret weapon" and now she wasn't only missing him; Carmen's concern for Player was growing by the second now that she'd abandoned any form of distraction.

It wasn't like she hadn't tried to contact him. Carmen had sent about a dozen texts and left half as many voicemails, all of which were unanswered.

And that is what made her worry.

Even when Player couldn't talk with her for some reason, he'd always send a text to Carmen letting her know he was busy and would explain things later. Part of Carmen told her that she was being ridiculous and worrying over nothing. A larger part of Carmen was telling her something was very, very wrong.

Pursing her lips Carmen contemplated reaching for her phone to send off what would be the thirteenth text, when her phone rang.

Once Player had taught her how to set personalized ringtones, both for voice and video calls, she'd had far too much fun picking out ones that reminded her of her friends.

Ivy's was Run the World (Girls) by Beyonce.

Zach's was Shut Up and Drive by Rihanna.

Shadow-san's was Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas.

And Player's?

Hey brother! There's an endless road to rediscover.

Hey sister! Know the water's sweet but blood is thicker.

Player's ringtone was Hey Brother by Avicii.

Carmen rolled onto her stomach and snatched up her phone, quickly accepting the video call. A smile stretched across her lips, a friendly greeting on the tip of her tongue when the call connected and she froze. Her eyes widened as she realized that her gut feeling of wrongness hadn't been incorrect.

No… Oh, no, no, no, no!

"Well Lambkins, long time no see?" Coach Brunt sneered.