The room is dimly lit and cramped. Two chairs, one Miss Sandiego. Finally caught. The camera in the corner of the ceiling records her as Julia watches the footage on her monitor. Everyone told Julia she'd done the right thing - that this was the beginning of the end for VILE - but her own deceit weighed heavy on her conscience.
Carmen sat uncharacteristically still with her arms tied behind her back. If looks could kill, Julia would be dead. She just stared into the camera without moving a muscle.
There's a creak and the door to the surveillance room opens behind Julia.
"Agh!" she squeaks and falls off her chair.
"Relax, Miss Argent - I don't want my best agent to injure herself." the chief laughs as she enters the room.
Julia looks at the floor as she readjusts her glasses. "Of course... My apologies."
"Well, as we expected, our new prisoner won't talk. In fact, the only thing she's been saying to me at all is 'let me speak to Argent', so here I am asking you to do my job again."
"Are-are you sure that would be the best idea, Chief?"
"Of course. You're the one who caught her in the first place - clearly you are, by far, our most capable agent." she pats Julia in the shoulder. "And don't worry, she's fully restrained - she can't hurt you."
Sad that it's come to that.
"Okay. I will see what I can do." Julia croaks out with a quiver.
The door to Carmen's cell looks enormous to Julia as she stands outside it. The plain whte paint is chipped, dilapidated and clinical all at once. Why am I being like this? It's all my fault and I need to face the music. She's trembling and her chest feels tight. I can't do this. I have to. The sound of her inhalation is a wheeze as she turns the door handle. It takes every bit of courage she could ever have mustered to look at the face opposite hers.
"Congratulations Argent. You won. I hope it feels good." she first spits out.
"Carmen... I..."
"Save it. Quit acting like you care." she growls out, eyes looking almost aflame with anger.
She looks so young, Julia thinks as she stares at Carmen's flawless skin. How could I have done this?
"I'm not pretending, Carmen. I do care. I know you can't believe that right now."
"The promotion good? Nice pay increase?" she narrows her eyes.
"This isn't about money!"
"What else would it be about?" Carmen snaps nastily. "You got some vendetta against me?"
"It's about the fact that two wrongs don't make a right." Julia takes the seat opposite Carmen. "And don't think I don't know about your spending habits. The amount of money you have stolen in just a month is more than I make in a year, and that is not including any of the value of the items you have stolen. My way of making a living isn't a crime, but yours is."
"I do it for the greater good!" she yells petulantly. "How much do you guys waste on tracking me down? All that money and still you will never take VILE down. It's pathetic."
The immaturity hits Julia like a punch in the nose. "That is hardly a justification. VILE isn't good enough for you, but their money is? Where do you think it comes from?" She glares at Carmen. "It comes from the crimes you say you are trying to put an end to. Carmen, if you cooperate with us then you can have a job here too. With your intel and our resources we can put an end to VILE."
"That's exactly what your Chief said, and if that's literally all you have to offer then just shoot me now."
Julia feels her brow furrow in disgust. "We are not going to kill you."
"No, you'll just keep me incarcerated forever because I will never help ACME, you hear me?" She narrows her eyes and lowers her voice. "And I would rather not live the rest of my life in your custody, so if you care so much, as you say you do, just put me out of my misery now."
Once again Julia is reminded just how young Carmen must be. The usually so confident and capable thief now behaved in such a childish manner that it was hard to believe she was the same person.
She really doesn't take defeat well...
"Carmen, no one is going to bring any harm to you. You have a future whether it is with ACME or not."
She looks at Julia through her lashes, her pretty face now a picture of misery. "You really don't know the plan, do you?"
Julia slams the door to her hotel room behind her and throws her handbag at the chair. She misses and it hits the wall instead, her keyring chipping the paint on the wall. She cringes.
She had marched right out of Carmen's cell to find the chief after hearing about the supposed plan, but she had already left the building. Julia called her ten times on her way back to her hotel, but there was no reply. Julia isn't one to get angry, but tonight she is furious.
Her communicator vibrates inside her bag and she scrambles to the floor to get it out, thumping her head against the wall in her hurry. Wincing at the pain she looks at the device and inhales deeply. The Chief.
She tosses the pen to the floor and it wobbles before a hologram of her boss appears. "Good evening Argent." comes her smooth voice.
Julia forces her muscles to relax as much as she can. "Excuse my calling you at such a late hour, but there is a pressing matter I need to discuss with you."
"It had better be urgent at this time of night."
"It is." She takes a deep breath and steadies herself. "Is it true that you told Miss Sandiego that you will keep her incarcerated indefinitely?"
"If she doesn't agree to co-operate with us, yes." the chief answers confusedly.
"She has made it very clear that she never will help us."
"Then we will keep her in custody until she does." seethes the chief.
"That is unlawful!" Julia yells without thinking, completely horrified. "We would have to press charges, see that she has a fair trial, and I-"
"I will do whatever it takes to bring down VILE, lawful or not." The chief stoops slightly and stares Julia down. "You understand that, Argent? There is nothing you can do or say that will make me change my mind. This was decided a long time ago."
The anger boiling inside her is completely foreign to Julia. She's been mad before, but this inhumanity leaves her shocked. "This is so wrong. I-I can't believe you would do something like this! You really think you are above the law you are supposed to be upholding! This is an outrage." She scowls at her superior. "What if the police find out what you are doing?"
"The police won't know, will they Argent?" She narrows her eyes. "Anyone who tries to inform them of this will suffer the same fate as our latest captive."
Julia's jaw falls.
The Chief inhales sharply. "I will hear no more about this. You will do your job and I will do mine. If you don't agree with my methods, then you can give me your notice."
Her mind is made up within seconds. Julia Argent knows exactly what she has to do. "Of course. My apologies for questioning you, Chief. I'll see you at work tomorrow.
The detention facility is silent as a grave. Carmen can't see her hand in front of her face. It's so dark and she swears to herself that she will lose her mind if she can't find a way to escape soon. She curses Julia Argent to the depths of hell for tricking her and curses herself to the same fate for not seeing it coming.
The bed Carmen is lying on has the texture of a rock and she is so cold she has to stop her teeth chattering.
And this is just night one.
There is a sound of someone walking in the hall outside the windowless door. Carmen listens as the sound gets louder. It stops and is replaced by the sound of keys jangling. The door slowly creaks open as a cold white light pours in and temporarily blinds Carmen's eyes. "Agh! Who's there?"
"Carmen, I need to talk to you." comes a small voice.
"Julia? Ugh!" Carmen slaps her forehead and runs her hand down her face. "What is it now?"
Julia switches the light on with a remote device and closes the door behind her. "I talked to the chief... and she confirmed that you were repeating her words."
"Duh. I told you I wasn't lying." Carmen sat up on the bed. "What's so urgent that it couldn't wait 'til tomorrow?"
Julia pauses, looking at the floor, then lifts her head and looks Carmen dead in the eye. "Breaking you out of here."
"What?!"
"Shh!" Julia puts her hands out in front of her to signal Carmen to stop. "Let's not raise any more suspicion than I already have with the guards."
"What are you doing?" Carmen growls as she stands up.
"I never felt right about lying to you to catch you. I thought I had to. I thought I had to do my job, but I don't think I can. I know I can't."
"What the fu-"
"I know, I know I should have realised that before I got you into this mess, but I am helping you now."
"What changed your mind?" asks Carmen, uncharacteristically interested in the feelings behind the motives.
"I saw that two wrongs don't make a right." Julia replies with a small smile, echoing her words from earlier. "I'm so sorry for what I did, and I'm sorry ACME has come to this."
"Wow. Okay, wasn't expecting that. While we're at the apologies, I guess I should say sorry for calling you a two-faced lying bitch and telling you to die in a hole." She smirks slightly.
Julia scoffs. "I almost forgot that."
"But Jules, how are we gonna do this?" She steps closer to Julia.
"I have greater authority than anyone else in the complex at this time of night. I will escort you out in handcuffs and tell anyone who asks me where we are going that my directive is classified." Julia rushes out in one breath. "When we get to the exit, you'll be free to go, and I will tell the chief that you broke out by yourself."
"But the cameras. They'll be filming everywhere in the complex. Plus, I don't even know where we are."
"This is a high security ACME detention centre in London." She gives a small smile.
"Okay, but what about the cameras?" Carmen cocks an eyebrow.
"Don't worry about me." Julia says with a smile that doesn't reach her eyes. this time. "Just worry about the best way back to your friends when you get out."
"You know dumbass, if you would have followed through with the plan instead of lying to me, you could have been rolling with me by now." Carmen looks at her dirty nails as if she's inspecting them. "Sure you wouldn't have a job here, but hey wait a minute, you won't now either."
Julia unpurses her lips. "Don't make me change my mind."
"Nah, there's gotta be a catch here." Carmen folds her arms.
Julia sighs. Grow up. "There isn't. Really Carmen, how could there be? We have you caught with no way of escaping. Not to 'rub it in' as they say, but ACME has already won."
"You don't know what I can do."
"If there was a way out, you would have already exploited it." Julia lightens her tone. "Actually, there is one way, and it's by just, please, for the sake of my blood pressure, following my lead and shutting up."
Julia and Carmen make their way down the dimly lit hall. They walk briskly with the only sound being their thumping hearts. Carmen never usually gets nervous... ever, but this feels much more important. The flickering lights and odd red spatter on the white walls spooks her more than it normally would too. Must be Julia's influence.
"So far so good." Julia's voice breaks the eerie silence.
"Can I take the cuffs off then? They're hitting my bones." Carmen purses her lips and lifts her cuffed wrists to her face.
"Stop it, I need to try and think of the best way out." Julia bites her thumbnail.
"Oh my God. This what passes for an agent here?" Carmen scoffs.
"Stop it, just stop it. I need to-"
"If this is the same ACME detention centre I think it is, and I'm pretty certain it is, then the offices are the best bet. They're in the north side of the complex and have a door that leads directly to the staff parking lot - or car park as the Brits call it. We can escape in whatever ride ACME has given you then ditch it when we're far enough away."
It's all rattled off too quickly or Julia to keep up, so she just looks at Carmen, stupefied.
Carmen continues "I could probably find the way to the office myself, but if you could just wipe that dumb look off your face and focus, I feel like it would be faster if you just show me the way."
Blinking hard, Julia takes a second to break her stare. "Uh, yes, yes we can go through the offices. Come on." Julia walks ahead, a blush growing on her cheeks as she adds "Your planning skills are impressive Carmen."
"Don't say that so soon - I don't have a plan for that guy."
Julia stops in her tracks when she sees a warden waking up to her.
"Having any trouble here tonight agent...?" asks his deep voice as he comes closer.
"Um, it's Argent. And um, no, not at all thank you. I am just taking the prisoner here to my office to answer further questions. She is finally cooperating." Julia feels a cold sweat building on her back. "So that will be all. You can go back to your duty now." she croaks out.
"I would Miss Argent, but I'm afraid The Chief has me under strict orders not to let any prisoners out of the cells tonight." The warden pulls his shoulders back.
Her eyes blink so hard and rapidly that it almost hurts. "I have th-the authority." Julia shows her ID.
The man narrows his eyes. "See, I'm also under direct orders from The Chief to ignore your authority." He lowers his hand to the gun holster around his waist and gives it a pat. "Take the prisoner back to her cell and we can forget about this."
Before she knows it, Julia hears the clunk of metal and crackle of bone as Carmen throws her heavy handcuffs at the warden's face. The moment seems to go in slow motion as she watches Carmen kick the gun out of the man's hand just as he is about to raise it.
"We're doing this my way now Jules! Run!" Carmen commands as she gives one final and brutal kick to the guard's jaw.
Julia didn't need to be told twice. She ran to the office faster than she ever thought she could with Carmen right behind her. Teetering between fight-or-flight and wild panic attack, Julia's lungs burned like never before as she made it into the office and fumbled with her key card.
Carmen tapped her nails on the door in a rapid pattern. "Come on, come on!"
The door opened to nearly pitch black room
"I-I need to find my car keys." Julia blindly looked for the light switch with her hand.
"Hurry up!"
"I'm trying, I'm trying" Julia chokes out as she finds the switch.
"I see your bag. Come on." Carmen slings the strap over her shoulder and snatches Julia's key card out of her hand to open the door.
Suddenly, the two of them are out in the freezing wind and Carmen throws the car keys into Julia's hands in the darkness. "Get us out of here, Jules. I can't figure the British roads."
Shell shocked out of her senses, Julia dumbly nods and runs to her assigned car. Her lungs are burning and her teeth chatter in the frigid air. She presses the button to unlock the car and practically throws herself in the driver's seat. Carmen is in the car quicker than Julia would have thought possible.
"Quit staring and floor it!" she yells.
"Seatbelts, Carmen!"
"Ugh!" Carmen groans as they both buckle their straps. "Happy?" she throws her hands up in frustration.
Instead of responding, Julia starts the car and works her way through the gears as fast as she can on their escape. She doesn't know where she's going, she just knows far away is her best option.
Carmen rummages through Julia's bag and grabs her phone and communicator.
Julia catches it with her peripheral vision as she joins the motorway. "What are you doing?"
Opening the window, Carmen nonchalantly replies. "Taking care of business." She opens the window and throws the apparently offending items out of it.
Julia nearly swerves into another car. "What was that for?!"
"So they can't track us, dummy." Carmen rolls her eyes. "Duh."
"Oh because the number plate on the car would be impossible to identify!"
"Whatever, we'll ditch it when we run out of fuel or when we make it out of civilization - whatever happens first." She gives a shrug. "Just keep heading south. Ideally I wanna make it to Hastings without having to walk for days cause you took us the wrong way."
"I don't know what I'm doing, never mind where I am going! I don't even know where Hastings is! I-I-I am going to crash this car if you don't let me focus." Every muscle trembled in her body. The bright lights of the streetlights and cars seemed blinding and it took all her effort not to stop the car to vomit.
"I wish I would have just driven. There is no way I could suck more than you do. We're gonna get caught if you keep driving like this, Grandma." Carmen calmly continues. "Listen, I think we must be on the ring road. Just follow it round. Oof, unless you're heading the other way around. We started on the Heathrow side though, so I'm pretty sure we're good." Her voice picks up. "Just too bad you're driving in slow motion!"
Julia snaps. "Oh my God, what have I got myself into? What have I done? What am I doing? This is completely crazy! We're going to either die in a crash or get shot." She flicks her head to face Carmen while speeding along the road. "And I can't even go back now! It's all too late!"
"Look at the road!" Carmen grabs the steering wheel from Julia and swerves them out of the way of a car and straight into the barrier in the middle of the road.
Julia screams louder than ever before as the car smashes at the front. In an instant the airbags burst into her face and stifle her screams just as fast.
The bag is like a punch in the face and their seatbelts pull so tight they almost break their ribs.
Winded by the force of the crash and the bags, they sit staring at the shattered windscreen while trying to remember how to breathe.
Carmen is the first to speak. "Thanks for reminding me to use the seatbelt." she wheezes out without breaking her gaze.
"We... have... to move." Julia breathes.
She finally turns her head slowly to look at Julia. "Are you okay?"
"No. But I can walk... I think. " Julia croaks. Her glasses were broken by the airbag and the glass had scratched her cheek. Blood trickles down her face as Carmen cringes at the sight. "Don't worry about me, Carmen. Just open your door and help me out the car on your side. My door is jammed shut."
For the first time Julia has ever seen, Carmen looks like she has tears in her eyes. "Okay." her voice wobbles as she gingerly opens her door and clambers out. Wincing in pain, she bends over to offer her hand to Julia. Steadily as possible, Julia climbs out the passenger side and looks around. There are other cars stopped around them, but none of them look like they have crashed and the police nor an ambulance was there yet.
Carmen said nothing and just gazed at the stopped traffic as though she was a rabbit caught in their headlights. With all rational thought killed by the crash, Julia could only think of one plan: run. "Come on." She grabs Carmen's hand and drags her across the lanes of the motorway to the fence on the left.
Concerned shouts come from some people on the road Julia didn't bother processing.
"What are you doing?" Carmen rasps out, uncharacteristically startled.
Julia lets go of her hand and pulls herself on top of the fence. "Getting away. We have to keep moving." She jumps over to the other side. Not missing a beat, Carmen is behind her in a flash and they run through the trees. Some branches smack Carmen in the face as she runs behind Julia's frantic motion, but she barely notices. They make it to another much narrower road and cross it without even looking. They continue through some more trees and find themselves in a park.
Carmen stops in the middle of the plain. "Shit. What even is this place? She looks around frantically, finding it nearly impossible to see where she is.
"Carmen, please." Julia pants. "We have to keep running."
Glaring, Carmen hisses "We can't outrun them. The police and ACME will be looking for our asses now. We have to hide."
"Well we can-"
Carmen focuses her eyes on Julia. "Listen, I know what we have to do, but I know you're not gonna like it."
"What is it?"
"Follow my lead and don't say or do anything without my permission." She gives a half shrug. "You know, unless you wanna go to jail."
The area around them turned out to be a village or town with seemingly nothing but houses. Julia watched with anxiety as Carmen marched past a house at a time giving each one a brief inspection before moving on to the next.
Finally, after looking more closely at a very small house with a round door handle and a red car outside, Carmen seems to settle on it and turns to Julia. "Don't. say. A word."
Julia feels a simultaneously hot and cold sweat trickle down her back as Carmen rummages through her handbag and pulls out ACME key card.
"Seems like a good choice, huh?" Carmen chuckles quietly. She bends the card into an almost L shape and starts pushing around where the latch of the lock is.
"Carmen, you're not going to-"
"I'll do whatever I have to do and nothing more."
Julia swallows hard. I'm a criminal now.
It only takes Carmen about two minutes, and the flimsy lock opens. "Be very quiet." she whispers.
As she turns around from closing the door behind her, Julia can feel her eyes squint when she sees Carmen holding out the gun as she walks ahead of her into the property. They take the door to the right and Carmen stops. Julia blinks hard and makes a small noise in surprise as Carmen switches the apparent living room light on.
"So far so good." Carmen mumbles as she studies the cramped space around them.
Julia looks at Carmen's face and wonders not for the first time what has happened to this girl to make her so calm while running from the law.
"Jules, take a look in this room and the other room and gather any stuff you think we're gonna need."
"But what if there is someone in there?" Julia rasps out.
"It'll just be a kitchen. Who's gonna be there at, like, two in the morning? You'll be fine. Get plenty of stuff together and, for God's sake, be quiet."
"Carm-"
"It'll be fine. Chill." Carmen scoffs quietly. "Unless it's an ACME agent up there." She turns to leave the room and silently makes her way up the stairs.
Though terrified and on a knife's edge between functioning and panic attack, Julia always appreciates having a directive to follow. She wastes no time in looking through the few things in the lounge and moving on to the kitchen in search of anything that might be more useful than a TV remote. The kitchen is even smaller than the sitting room and just as sparsely decorated. As Julia notices an empty key holder, she feels a hand on her shoulder and screams.
"Hey, woah, it's just me!" Comes Carmen's alarmed voice.
Julia turns around and takes a deep breath of relief. "What did you do that for? I felt my heart stop beating!"
"Cool it. Better not yell when we're on the run. I just wanted to let you know we're alone in here."
"Then you could have just said that." Julia hisses, feeling her heart thumping violently.
Carmen looks away. "Well whatever. You probably would have screamed either way."
"I… I need to sit down. Can we sit down?" Julia breathes out.
"Yeah, why not, actually?" She brings her hand up to her chin. "Hiding here all night could even work. It's risky being a sitting duck, but running is an even worse option right now."
Julia practically throws herself on the squishy leather sofa.
Carmen continues as she paces the room. "I hate hiding, but this is best. We can figure out where the hell we are and maybe even the best route to the port. I mean hell, we can even get some rest here. Let me tell you, it is not everyday when you're on the run you can say that. We can get water here, maybe even food. Damn, I should have started breaking into houses to crash way sooner."
The words barely register with Julia. She feels her eyelids falling as she curls up on the cushions. She has been awake solidly for nearly forty-eight hours - her guilt regarding tricking Carmen to blame for keeping her from sleeping. Despite being a wanted criminal herself now, her conscience felt lighter.
Carmen's energy calms down as she notices Julia has her eyes closed. "Hey, Jules?" she starts with an unusually soft tone.
"Hm?" Julia lifts her head and sleepily looks at Carmen, still just conscious enough to wonder how Carmen could still look so pretty.
"I wanna thank you for saving my ass back there." She chuckles. "You didn't have to help me."
Julia props herself up on her elbow and gazes up at Carmen. "But I did. You didn't deserve that. I realise now that two wrongs don't make a right." She gives a small smile at her repetition. "And it definitely looks like ACME is wrong…" Turning her gaze to the carpet she softly says. "I'm sorry for what I did to you."
Carmen drops to her knees and does something Julia never would have thought possible: she hugs her. Surprised at first, Julia is quite stiff.
Into Julia's neck Carmen's voice is muffled, but she can still hear the words "I forgive you."
Shocked, Julia returns her embrace and wraps her available arm around Carmen's body.
She pulls back and holds Julia's shoulders as she looks into her eyes. "We're gonna make it, Jules. I promise."
Completely lost for words, Julia dumbly nods as she stares into Carmen's stormy grey eyes.
Carmen just gives her a little smile and rises to her feet again. "Okay, water, sleep, then plans… or maybe just sleep in your case."
Already deeply breathing, it's clear to Carmen that Julia is fast asleep. "Night Jules."