Author's Note: Hello All! I'm back again. Goodness time flies, it's already almost October! Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews, they have really kept me going on this story. I enjoy hearing from you so very much! :)

I'm already working on the next chapter and I cannot wait to post that one as well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Carmen Sandiego

ACME's director of personnel was sitting at a cafe in Paris reading a newspaper; when a soft voice from across the table had brought him back to the real world. She was speaking in French, ordering a salad, but even with her impeccable accent he would recognize that voice anywhere. Startled was not quite the sentiment he had felt at the moment, but nevertheless he was certainly surprised. Immediately he lowered his newspaper and found himself face to face with Carmen.

He was intrigued more than anything else. Her dark hair was braided over her left shoulder and she was wearing large sunglasses. The gray sweater dress she was wearing was simple and plain; a far cry from the bold colors she wore when on the job although she did maintain her trademark red heels. A subtle joke of hers, he knew. Hiding in plain sight always was one of her strengths.

"Paris is quite lovely this time of year I think." she said taking a sip of coffee and breaking the silence. For a moment Chase found himself wondering where she had gotten the cup.

"It is indeed." he replied after a moment.

" Pleasure." she said after a moment. Chase must have been giving her a strange look because a moment later she clarified. "You were wondering if I was here for business or pleasure. I can assure you, for whatever it is worth, you do not need to worry. I'm strictly a tourist this weekend."

She always had that knack for being able to get into his brain; she always had some idea what he was thinking. In a way it was kind of eerie, but she had started out as a detective.

"A tourist indeed?" Chase asked her skeptically. "You?"

"Everyone needs to recharge their batteries at some point Chase." Carmen replied with a smile. "Whether or not you care to believe it I do other things with my time. I do not spend every waking moment trying to foil your detectives."

Chase merely raised an eyebrow. "You merely create the illusion of it then?" he asked her folding up his newspaper and putting it away for good now.

"You could say a good portion of my job is sleight of hand, yes." Carmen replied with a wryly.

"So as a tourist what brings you here today? Surely you know what a situation you must be putting yourself into. You are an extremely intelligent woman." Chase said. "So why on earth would you choose to walk right into the hands of ACME when you are not even on a job as it were?"

"You really think I am planning something right now?" she asked with a laugh. "How droll you are."

"I think you avoided my question." he said leaning forward and resting his chin on his hand.

"I have not walked into ACME's hands. I have walked into yours." she replied.

"That may just as well be the same thing though. I am the director of ACME, and you are putting yourself in a rather, shall we say, delicate position right now."

"Is it really the same thing though Chase?" Carmen asked leaning forward so that they were now eye to eye. The casual observer might have perceived the two of them to be lovers lost in one another's eyes at the moment. Chase was not entirely sure that they would have been off the mark.

"How is it not though?" Chase asked her leaning forward still so that now their conversation was a whisper. "I could easily cuff you right now and bring you into custody."

"You certainly could do that." She replied thoughtfully. "In fact I would not blame you if you did. However I do not think you will do it."

"Why not?"

"Being who you are, you are curious, almost morbidly so." She said both eyebrows raised. "You are wondering what it is that I am doing, and if I am plotting something nefarious."

"Indeed, are you though?" He asked her now fully immersed in the conversation.

"Perhaps, perhaps not." she said. "If I was however, do you honestly believe that I would have told you about it?"

"I suppose not. Giving your secrets to ACME would not likely be in your favor." Chase replied.

"I thought we had already established this point. It is not ACME that I am presently dealing with. It is you."

"Fair enough, although the question still remains, what interest do you have in me right now?" Chase asked his pulse quickening a bit. "Since, as you say, you are disinterested in communicating with me in any official capacity."

"Official capacity? Perhaps not in the sense of your career at ACME, but you certainly serve in other capacities." Carmen said mischievously.

"Which other capacity would you be referring to then?" He asked her silently goading her on."

"Really, and you call yourself a detective." Carmen said with mock judgement. "Did it not occur to you that my reasons for seeking you out might perchance be more personal than professional?"

"Do go on." Chase said. By now the waiter had returned with a generous slice of cake and two forks. She had ordered his favorite, raspberry.

"I think you can put two and two together

Carmen said slyly taking a forkful of cake.

"So you are here now just to see me?" he asked taking a forkful of cake for himself.

"Is that a crime?" Carmen asked taking a second forkful of cake.

"No, but you must admit it does allow for some suspicions." Chase replied. "I do not know that my charm extends quite that far."

"You seem to be underestimating yourself." Carmen replied. "You certainly have your charms. If some of the rumors are correct you are quite the ladies' man."

Chase colored and nearly choked on his cake. "All hearsay." he said once he had recovered from his shock.

"Hmm, are we certain about that?" she asked him. Her tone was teasing, but he could tell that the question behind it was a serious one.

"I am completely serious." Chase said reaching across the table and taking her hand in his. "I can honestly say that you are on my mind more than any other woman."

"One of the advantages of being on the most wanted list." Carmen replied with a smirk.

"In more ways than one." Chase replied in a low voice.

"This time you flatter me." she said clasping his hand.

"So, spending the weekend as a tourist?" Chase asked her after a moment. "Will you be flying solo?"

"I do actually have plans with someone." she said.

"Oh indeed?" he asked intrigued. "What do those plans involve?"

Carmen was thoughtful for a moment. "Walks along the Seine, climbing to the top of the Eiffel Tower, visiting Notre Dame. Old bookshops, the Latin Quarter, dinner, you know touristy things."

"That does sound like rather a lot." Chase said.

"It is a long weekend." Carmen replied.

"Who will you be doing all of this with?" He asked.

"A gentleman of my acquaintance." she said with a wave of her hand.

"That's incredibly descriptive."

"Alright, a tall dark and handsome gentleman with whom I am very well acquainted."

Chase just looked at her for a moment. She was enjoying this too much. "Am I also acquainted with this man?"

"The two of you are on rather intimate terms." she said

"Indeed." Chase said with a smile. "When do you plan on meeting up with this tall dark and handsome acquaintance?"

"I dare say we have been conversing for the greater part of the last hour." she said with a gentle laugh. "We'll want to get going soon if we want to get the best view from the Tower."

"I'll get the check."

Perhaps, if he had just left it at that, just dessert and the Tower. If he had only encouraged her to go on her way after that the weekend could have been salvaged. Or if he had completely ignored her rather than even engaging in conversation; then none of this would have happened. Although he couldn't help thinking that if he had ignored her he would probably be having a similar argument in his mind right now. This was the no win scenario for him.

For what felt like the millionth time in the past few weeks Chase Devineaux felt his mind wandering once again. It did not help matters that the meetings he found himself in were almost unbearably dull at the moment. Nor did it help that he was currently in a very dark, very warm room. Add into that the fact that he had not eaten recently and it was a veritable recipe for distraction.

Distraction in and of itself was not necessarily a horrible thing. At least it would not be if his mind hadn't kept taking this opportunity to wander in a particular direction; or rather towards this particular person. Even better still had he been thinking of this other person in a different capacity, but no he could not seem to bring himself to such a thing. Even after what she had done to him a few weeks prior. Especially after what she had done a few weeks prior.

Not for the first time during these meetings did he find himself rubbing his temples and wondering why he still felt the way he did in regards to Carmen. Logic would dictate that he shouldn't care for her anymore. Logic would dictate that the only sense he thought of her in should be in terms of arresting her and bringing her to justice. In his capacity at ACME that was the only permissible thing. Yet still he held a soft spot for her.

Perhaps soft spot was not quite the right word. Saying that he would only be fooling himself and even then he was not doing a great job of it. To say he cared for her would also be a misstatement of facts; indeed rather an understatement. If he was being perfectly frank and honest with himself he was still in love with her. After all of these years, and even what had happened after Paris a few weeks ago. Paris, which had utterly ripped his heart out and trampled it into the ground.

How utterly infuriating that was for him. How utterly reprehensible as well. His own feelings on this had made bringing her to justice more difficult than it should have been. Had he only acted as he should have done in their encounters this would not have been an issue. Instead she still found herself to be free. While he was in this predicament. Constantly trying to recover from her. For all he knew right now she was off gallivanting with another man, or off in some distant country stealing a major landmark.

This current isolation was both a blessing and a curse for him right now. Everyone involved in these meetings was completely blocked out from everything going on in the outside world. No cellular devices, no laptop computers, radios or television sets. Not to mention any other pieces of modern technology were permitted. Instead the heads of several of the world's leading security organizations were closeted in a modest Ryokan in the outskirts of Osaka. No connection at all with the outside world.

There had been so many times in his life when he wanted to go off the grid and disconnect from everything yet now all he wanted was to know what was going on so that he could escape from the prison of his thoughts. To actually get some sleep without tossing and turning. To be able to dive into his normal work and find some distraction.

He took a deep breath and looked up at the clock on the wall. A quarter past seven. The papers in front of him which should have been filled out by now still lay blank. All week he had been too distracted to complete this report but now things seemed to be worse than they had been to begin with. No matter what he did his thoughts kept wandering back to her. To their last….encounter. Replaying every moment of it in his head over and over again.

Looking back he could kick himself for allowing it to happen. When she had shown up in Paris he should have had the authorities take her in. That should have been the end of it. At the time he had justified it to himself, telling himself that she had not stolen anything in Paris, during their time there, and it would not make sense to have her arrested due to that.

Utterly ignoring her previous record had seemed the convenient thing to do at the time, so it was understandable that he had done so. No need to cause a scene, and he was spending that rare weekend on his own. There were not many times he had been able to do that. Arresting Carmen Sandiego? That would throw the whole weekend into chaos. He would immediately have to return to ACME, deal with the press not to mention foreign leaders and law enforcement. Very messy, very time consuming, and more to the point it would take away any free time that he had. Really, any justification he could have found to avoid arresting her.

While the alternative was more counterproductive in terms of his career, it did offer him a much more relaxing way to spend his vacation. He would be lying if he said that he had not enjoyed that time with her immensely. It was selfish, he knew, but at the time that had been the furthest thing from his mind. It was something he should not have done; and now he found that he was paying the price for it.

Picking up his pen again he valiantly attempted to force Carmen from his mind and work. These reports would not write themselves and the sooner they were finished the sooner they would be able to move onto the next tasks for the meetings. The sooner everything was accomplished the sooner he would be able to leave this place, and hopefully these thoughts, for good.