Chapter Four:
Carmen glanced at the pen in her hand, once again she was in a rather bad predicament, if she pushed the button she would not only reveal her secret base to ACME, but she would be admitting to Chief that she was weak, and being weak was a sin, or at least that had been what the Faculty had instilled in her when she was little.
"There are two types of people Black Sheep," Coach Brunt had told her on more than one occasion, "Those that are strong, those who take from others, those that don't get caught, those that live, and those that are weak, those that can't keep a hold of that which they have, those that get caught, those that die. You don't want to be one that dies do you Lambkins?"
Carmen shook her head, trying to clear her head of the echoing voice from her past, Coach Brunt was wrong, about everything, besides Player had told her to make the call and he was always right, This was different from the last time she had to make this decision, last time it was a matter of life or death, this time… Carmen glanced at her sleeves, remembering what was beneath them, this could very well be another life or death situation.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself and gather her courage, she pushed the button, dropping the pen onto the floor.
Almost at once, a holographic form of a woman sprung forth from it with a mighty sigh, "What is it this time Agent Zack," the woman asked, rubbing her temples, "This better not be about Loche Ness Monster again," she muttered before looking up. Her eyes grew round as she saw who was standing before her.
"Carmen SanDiego," she said, "Or are you going by Maria Valdez now?"
The girl shifted slightly, fidgeting with the sleeves of her shirt, "Zack loaned me his pen," she muttered.
"Yes," Chief said, taking the girl in, she was thinner than the last time she had seen her, her eyes were bloodshot. She looked tired, and beaten, worst than the time she contacted her in Stockholm or even when they talked after restoring her memories, "I can see that. Zack informed me this afternoon that you had finally reappeared, in San Diego."
Carmen let out a sigh, "Yeah, according to Ivy I scared quite a few people when I left Argentina."
"That you did," Chief agreed before letting her eyes soften, when Zack had contacted her in the alleyway outside of the corner grocer to tell her where he and his sister had gone, and why they had left their stakeout early, and what he had told her was concerning. The agent might not have known what was wrong with his friend, but Chief had known, more or less, by the time he was finished, that Carmen SanDiego had suffered from a mental breakdown, "I take it that you are feeling better?"
Carmen tipped her head as she tugged even more desperately on her sleeves, "How did you know?"
"Zack contacted me earlier," Chief explained, "He told me a little bit about what was going on, I hope you realize that I am not your enemy. The only reason I had agents posted outside your mother's orphanage was to insure that Vile didn't seek revenge on you."
Chief took Carmen's nod as a good sign, she was listening, "You are aware that ACME has connections around the world, with multiple law enforcements and government officials, however, we also have a network of health providers as well, including several that specialize in mental health. This of course is at your disposal."
"Really?" Carmen blurted out, obviously surprised, "But I don't work for you."
"Your information on Vile proved invaluable," she insisted, "Providing you with any medical help you need, rather it is mental or physical is a small price to pay, especially when you consider what happened in Argentina twenty years ago, and what happened in Stockholm."
Carmen opened her mouth to protest, but changed her mind, "I do need the help," she admitted, "and the sooner the better."
"I know someone there in San Diego, I think he might be able to squeeze you in tomorrow."
Carmen glanced at the clock on the wall, "Why don't you give me his name and number," she asked, "His office is probably closed for the night, I'll call in the morning."
"Make sure that you do," Chief said.
…
"Do you think Chief can help Carm?" Zack asked, glancing at his older sister as he handed her the dirty cups and plates from the table.
"I hope so, with all that she has been through she deserves some peace of mind," Ivy insisted, placing the plates in the sink before turning on the water, "I've never seen her like this in all our time together, not even after Poitier, or Stockholm, or when she was convinced that Shadowsan had killed her father."
Zack stiffened at the mention of the Samurai Ninja Thief that had been a father figure for the team, the leftover mac and cheese still in his hands, "Has Player contacted him?" he asked, "I mean, he always lets us know when one of the others are missing, but that was before we broke up the team."
"He wasn't the one to inform us that Carmen was M.I.A.," Ivy pointed out turning off the water, "ACME did, all he did was call us once he had a location where he knew she was."
"Maybe we should call Shadowsan, just to check, make sure he heard," Zack suggested sticking the casserole dish into the soapy water before pulling out a plate that Ivy had placed in the clean rinse water, "You know just to see if he's having a hard time adjusting," he finished, grabbing a towel and drying the plate.
"Maybe, although I wouldn't be surprised that Player already called him," Ivy said, wiping another plate clean "He probably let Shadowsan know what was going on before he contacted us."
"Maybe," Zack said, putting the plate away, "But we should double-check, just to be sure, I mean it took Playa two weeks to finally track Carmen down."
"Yes, but according to Carmen she's been constantly moving, that would make it harder for Player to track her."
…
"Hmm," Zack said looking at his sister, after they had finished cleaning up the kitchen he had decided to call Shadowsan to update him of what was going on, but it had gone straight to voice mail, "He's not answering," he announced.
"It could be that he's already on a flight," Ivy said, "You know Playa could have called him."
"Yeah," Zack said, "Your right sis."
Just then the door to the kitchen opened, as Carmen walked in. She smiled slightly at the twins before handing Zack his pen back, "Thanks," she said softly.
"Was Chief able to help?" Ivy asked, looking eagerly at her friend, who nodded softly.
"Yeah, she gave me a number, but the office has closed already, so I'll have to call in the morning," Carmen shrugged, before giving her friends a look, "Please make sure I do it?" she pleaded, "I'm afraid I might chicken out if I have to wait for tomorrow."
"Don't worry Carm," Ivy said, "If you don't feel up to making the call in the morning, then I will," she paused for a second, "why don't you give me the number now, so I don't have to ask for it."
Carmen agreed, giving them the phone number, before asking what they had been up to.
"We were going to call Shadowsan," Zack explained, "But it went straight to voice mail."
Carmen shrugged, "Makes sense, he was eager to return to Japan and make amends with his brother," she insisted, "He probably moved on, like you did," she folded her arms and glanced down at the floor with a dirty glare, as if it had wronged her somehow, "I'm the only one who hasn't moved on."
"That's not your fault Carm," Zack insisted, "What with all those people following you around, and those fire drills scaring… Ow Ivy," Zack finished, glaring at his sister as she jabbed her elbow into his side.
"You ain't helping." she insisted, before turning to their friend, "It's fine Carm, you just need a little help adjusting, that's all."