Summary: A miniscule injury with the potential to disrupt the entire dynamic.

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

Content Disclaimer: This story is not written from or for a child's perspective. Though both dark and light moments are present, if you don't wish to see cannon characters distressed, this is probably not for you.

Restlessness is all the more ruinous alone in the dark.

Carmen tossed and flipped on the cold mattress. She had a powerful urge to turn on a light, and that made it all the worse because she knew the light was on. Pitiful really, the thief thought, that she didn't have the heart to turn it off, that she kept hoping she'd see it.

One hand rested on the nightstand and beat a fierce beat that would have been a decibel short of audible, if her ears hadn't been hypersensitive.

The master thief took a deep breath. "It's fine. I delegated and no one suspects." It had turned out to be quite beneficial that she habitually entrusted her employees with different aspects of the legwork. It left them no cause for suspicion.

"No cause…" She chided herself. "Just rest and…"

Just rest and try not to hurt herself. Carmen felt like a naughty child dismissed into a corner. She could take her customary leave of absence between heists. That would cover the time remaining until her consultation. After that… well, she'd know wouldn't she?

"Only one rub in this particular scheme," The master thief muttered sardonically. "And it's that you can't keep still."

Carmen spared a few moments of her plentiful free time to reflect thoroughly on how disgraceful it was that she was talking aloud to herself like some sort of neurotic ignoramus. Surely, she rebuked herself, there were more suitable uses for her time.

However, are of those uses inherently required her eyes. Interaction with her henchman had to be minimized, to reduce the troublesome odds of one of them uncovering her dilemma. Any action at all could be the one thing that suddenly makes all the clues fit together.

The safest thing was for Carmen to lie still. It was only two days until the consultation. She'd kept to herself longer than this before. Her henchmen would probably just assume that she was sulking about some offhand remark Ivy made or a not particularly relevant moral dilemma. The master thief knew she was notorious for her so-called dark moods.

The reason for that was its own particular skein of problems, and Carmen wasn't in the mood to consider it tonight.

Well then she'd call it a blessing then. No one would miss her for two days.

"But you've only been here half an hour."

This wasn't working. Much like a toddler, Carmen realized that knowing she couldn't do something only made her want it more. She was going to loose her mind if she didn't get up and distract herself.

There was only one thing likely to work for that.

The thief shook her head. For some reason, she had a powerful urge to get on her computer and message the Player.

"The Player only talks to you before and after a caper. This is neither."

Wasn't it?

"Oh seriously… you are not thinking of going on a heist now."

"This just in, detectives" Chief announced. "Carmen just stole a copy of "Le Tigres" from a French archive."

"You're sure it's Carmen?" Ivy usually didn't ask, but she couldn't quite help it this time.

"Museum guard didn't see her face." The CGI head announced. "But did see her silhouette. Outfit's pretty distinctive gumshoe."

Ivy sighed with poorly concealed relief. If Carmen was stealing that meant she didn't have to worry about… well things she'd rather not consider. "Help me out here Zack, I don't speak French."

"Player, infoscan dude!" Zack instructed.

"Ok, so "Le Tigres" was a resistance paper distributed during the Nazi occupation of France. It was created by a group called Volunteers of Liberty."

Ivy didn't see any relevant connections. "Anything else we should know chief?"

"Uh… the group was founded by Jacques Lusseyran… the writers later worked on a more formal paper called Defense de la France… which later became France Soir… how far do you want me to go with this gumshoes?"

"Ok…" Ivy muttered irritable but cheerful overall. "That was a useless infoscan. Player, C5 us there, double time!"

As they entered the corridor, Chief began humming the Marseillaise. "Grab yourself a croissant gumshoes, because we're off to the land of escargot, crepes, and Andouillette. Let's go France!"

"Did she leave anything?" Ivy asked the librarian impatiently.

"No…" the woman muttered. "She was a bit … aloof."

"Then she must have said something." Zack inferred with delight.

"Good luck have thou! And may the powers on high guard thy path better than they guarded mine. And she said it like she was delivering lines. That means real grand and very obnoxious. "

Ivy sighed. "Player, cross reference, would ya?"

"That's one of the lines from Oedipus Rex." Chief announced. "And for you less cultured folks out there that mean Oedipus the King."

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Oh great, Carmen's on a pop psychology kick again."

Zack raised his eyebrows. "The Oedipus complex? OK we are so not going there. I know Carmen's got a dad issue or two but I doubt that's it."

Chief giggled.

"Oh real mature." Ivy derided.

"Haha still…" Zack said. "I don't think she's aiming at Freud here."

"OK, then." Ivy said. "Infoscan any performances of Oedipus Rex that are taking place today."

"errr…." Chief looked confused. "No Oedipus Rex… but there is a Antigone."

"Anti-who?"

"Antigone Zack-Man" The CGI head corrected. "It's a play about Oedipus' daughter. Equally tragic though."

"Care to give a synopsis Chief?"

"Creon, her uncle and the king, tells this girl Antigone that she can't give her traitor brother a funeral. She does anyhow. Everybody dies. Well not Creon, and I'm not sure about Antigone's sister Ismene. Still, it's basically everyone. "

"That's Greek tragedy for you." Zack laughed.

"Yeah real depressing… But it's still the wrong play."

"Wait a minute." Ivy said. "I read those plays in school. That line Carmen quoted was delivered by Oedpius to Antigone and Ismene."

"OK then…" Chief said. "That's got potential then."

Ivy demanded. "Where's the performance?"

"New York City!" The cheerful hologram provided. "It's an off Broadway production."

"Player, C5 us to the scene!"

"You got it gumshoes" the chief said. "You're on your way to Manhattan, the Big Apple, home of Broadway and Time's Square. New York City, here we come."