A/N: Time to bring the gang back together. Hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

Chapter 4 ~ Back to San Diego

It was close to 7pm local-time as they rolled up to Team Red Headquarters. Player had arranged for a town car to collect them from the airport, the driver detouring through their usual drive thru en route to the old warehouse. It almost surprised them how foreign the routine felt now, despite how easily they slipped back into it. The constant correcting of watches, the rushed meals, jetting here, there and everywhere – it was all part and parcel of the lives they led. Or more so the lives they used to lead, the pair now accustomed to the peace of home-cooked dinners and travel scheduled months in advance. They would return to those things soon enough, but first they had to navigate the sudden change in plans.

On the topic of changes, a young man stood waiting on the kerbside; he wore a familiar grey-blue hoodie, though the garment was now paired with black track pants, two maroon stripes running down each leg. He kicked at the ground with his worn trainers but brightened as the car slowed to a stop, not missing a beat in opening the back door for its female passenger.

"Welcome home, Red."

"Player!"

Carmen shot out of the car at breakneck speed, practically tackling him as she raced to hug him. Player stood frozen for a second before awkwardly wrapping his arms around her, his last growth-spurt allowing his chin to rest comfortably on her shoulder.

Shadowsan shuffled out as well and went to grab their bags from the trunk, allowing himself a knowing smile. Carmen could not be blamed for her innocence; she had, after all, been raised on an island in complete isolation from those her own age. He, meanwhile, had his suspicions since early on – the boy's "did good while looking good" comment had certainly not been lost on him – said suspicions amplifying as time went on. It was while Carmen was in Dubai that he first received the opportunity to speak with him privately, and though neither had said anything regarding the nature of Player's feelings towards her, he would be a sorry excuse of a father not to notice them on his own. And at this point, the boy could not be more obvious.

Carmen pulled back from the embrace. "Are the others here?"

"They're in the main room." Player gestured over his shoulder with his thumb. "Go on ahead. I'll help Shadowsan with your things."

"Thank you." She gave him one last squeeze, then sprinted off without a second thought. Truth be told, she had missed their HQ; however she fought against having one in the beginning, the building had become the location of many great memories together. A place for sick days and impromptu miniature birthday parties, good moments and bad ones. True, it had changed over the years – Player had acquired one of the bedrooms to house his computer set-up, while ACME took it upon themselves to install one of their high-tech wide-screen displays in the common area – but the space was still her home-away-from-homes.

Her body relaxed as the elevator doors opened, her senses hit with warm light and the welcoming scents of chocolate and faint, ocean air.

"Bro, she's here!"

"We haven't seen you in ages!"

Carmen laughed as the siblings rushed over. "You saw me last month."

"Actually, we saw you last week," Ivy corrected. "That was you, right? On the rooftop?"

"I wouldn't make you handle Paper Star alone." Carmen hugged them both, suddenly feeling guilty. "Though if I knew all this was going to happen…"

"Ah, don't worry about it, Carm." Zack gave a gentle nudge. "ACME's already on the trail."

"And Chase is keeping everyone fuelled up on his famous chocolat chaud."

Carmen looked past them. Unlike the Bostonians, she hadn't interacted with Jules and the former inspector since that fateful night in Morocco, but she'd heard about their recent nuptials from Zack and Ivy, who attended the courthouse wedding as the couple's two witnesses.

Chase Devineaux, who had previously been stood in the kitchenette with his back towards them, carried over a tray of steaming red mugs. "I still don't see how I got put on kitchen duty."

Player and Shadowsan had made it inside by this point, setting down the bags and suitcases intended for Argentina against the wall. Player cracked his knuckles as he walked back to the sofas – his laptop abandoned on the coffee table – claiming two of the drinks. "Better you than Miss Polypropylene Temple."

"Mrs Polypropylene Temple." Julia held up her left hand to display an antique, filigree ring, remaining focused on her work. It amused Carmen that her dispute was solely over the use of incorrect prefix and not in denying the copious amounts of takeaway she consumed; alas, Julia's terrible secret of her tragic cooking skills was discovered the very moment Chase first walked into work with an upset stomach after eating at her place (or so the story went). "But I agree. The last thing any of us need right now is food poisoning."

Carmen joined Player on the other sofa, taking the offered mug so he could retrieve his laptop. "I'm really glad to have your help on this, Jules. And congratulations, by the way. To both of you."

Chase merely smiled in response, sitting beside Julia. "I'm just thankful this wise woman had the foresight to suggest that we delay our honeymoon."

Carmen nodded. "Player only told us so much on the plane… How is the search going?"

Zack, Ivy and Shadowsan all made their way over, the siblings taking the third unoccupied couch – another recent addition – as Shadowsan stood to the side.

"Rather poorly, I'm afraid," Julia confessed. "It seems we may have sorely underestimated VILE's reach, and the lengths some operatives are willing to go to in the name of loyalty to its Faculty. Chief is convinced that Maelstrom had followers on the outside aiding in his plan, so she has taken the liberty of doubling down on efforts to track said operatives. We can only hope that the initial chaos is great enough to increase the margin for error. Player has been rigorously combing the dark web in twenty-minute intervals to be certain nothing gets past us."

"Looks like ACME's thought of everything."

"Almost everything. You and Shadowsan understand VILE in a way we could never hope to. Your incite will be invaluable."

Carmen thought for a moment, sensing as Shadowsan stepped closer to the group. "If Maelstrom's the one who arranged the prison breaks, we should expect the worst. He won't be after payback like Brunt, wealth like Cleo or success like Bellum…"

"He will seek to achieve vengeance by obtaining all three," Shadowsan concluded. "By laying waste to anyone in his path. By breaking Carmen's spirit."

"He can try." She reached back for his hand, squeezing it tightly. "We're closer and stronger than we've ever been. We have ACME on our side. There isn't a crack left for him to exploit."

"Cracks, no," Player interjected. "Operatives, on the other hand…"

Carmen perked up. "Found something?"

"Someone. Well—" he closed his laptop, "technically not 'found', but… i-it's a start. Looks like VILE's cast out a line of contact for a specific operative. Some guy known as 'Revenant'."

"Reverend?" Zack scratched his head. "VILE has a priest now?"

"Ha! The Villains International League of Evil?" Ivy smirked. "They need divine intervention."

Chase aspirated something – probably mints – his new wife reaching over to pat his back as the others snickered amongst themselves. Shadowsan crossed his arms to steel himself, pretending he had not also cracked a minuscule smile. However they may have frustrated him at first, the siblings had slowly but surely grown on him. Carmen viewed them as her siblings, which he supposed made them his own honorary children.

"Not Reverend, Revenant. It is a word for someone who is believed to have returned from the dead."

"Class of 2015…" Carmen mused, holding up her hot chocolate. "Back when the codenames were good—"

"—and not all puns or animal-themed." Player chinked his mug against hers.

Julia pulled up a file on her laptop. "According to ACME's database, Revenant was the codename of a Malaysian operative, Aati Rayyan, who worked as a commercial diver along the Asian coastline until his purported death in May 2014."

Ivy did a double-take. "Wait, he actually died!?"

"On paper, yes. He had been working in South Korea on the morning of April 16, 2014, when a passenger ferry known as the MV Sewol capsized on its journey towards Jeju Island. More than three hundred people died in the accident, including around two hundred and fifty students travelling to the island for a school trip."

The group shared sorrowful glances, but Shadowsan focused mainly of Carmen. All things considered, she had been so sheltered growing up, and most of the world's hardships she had experienced had come directly from VILE. Furthermore, he knew for a fact that Revenant spoke little about the tragedy – he suspected the burden of the bloodshed weighed heavily upon his shoulders, just as the time he spent in the Yakuza weighed on him. Carmen's response was measured, though she naturally wore a look of empathy.

Chase bowed his head, placing a hand over his heart in condolence. "Paix à leurs âmes."

Julia continued down the entry. "Reports indicate that he was one of three civilian divers to perish whilst searching the wreck for victims. However, his own body was never recovered, and just one week after Aati's passing, 'Revenant' appeared on the dark web, advertising himself as a ship raider for hire."

Shadowsan nodded. "VILE played no part in the Sewol tragedy, but we were aware of it. The Faculty intercepted Revenant's calls for employment and deemed him a viable candidate for VILE's program, both as a professional diver and as someone who would be unlikely to turn on them."

"I can see why they'd think that," Julia agreed. "The disaster spawned outrage across the globe, much of which directed at the current government. It would not be far-fetched to believe that Mr Rayyan would have been fervently against working with any government agency after that."

"Hold on," Zack interrupted. "This guy was an operative for six years and we're just hearing about him now? Shouldn't we've at least seen him in Ecuador?"

Everyone looked to Shadowsan, the ninja bobbing his head. "Given his origins, it should not come as a surprise that Revenant holds a particular social conscience towards minors. Upon graduating, he took it upon himself to approach us with an ultimatum: he would steal for VILE, but only under the condition that he would be exempt from harming children."

Ivy gave a slow whistle. "Gutsy. Foolish, but gutsy."

"Under normal circumstances, the Faculty would abstain from making such agreements, but we knew we possessed no counter to his skill set, and thus, no other means to control him. As Revenant himself pointed out, he had faked his death once before, and we could not stop him from doing so again if we crossed him. And concerning Ecuador," Shadowsan turned specifically to Zack, "Maelstrom did attempt to dispatch him there. Fortunately for my position at the time, Revenant continued to view Carmen as a child, even after her defection."

Carmen smiled fondly. "As far as operatives go, he was actually one of the better ones. He used to take time out of his study schedule to teach me how to fend for myself in the water. Said it's most important skill a young person should have."

"I could not agree more," Chase affirmed, "but Le Fantôme de L'eau is still an operative. One VILE is attempting to locate at this very moment."

"Speaking of 'locating', do we even know what VILE's after?" Ivy asked. "Chief can't send agents to guard every shipwreck in the world."

Julia pondered the question for a moment, adjusting her glasses as she formed a response. "Let's not forget, the Faculty has only just escaped from prison. They won't have access to any of their usual resources."

"Jules is right," Player agreed. "Even if they have some tech stashed away, it'll still take time for them to get back to normal. They'll be acting on survival mode for at least another day or two."

Chase clicked his tongue. "Then they'll be looking for an easy target. Something they can steal without drawing attention to themselves."

"What about their old island?" Zack chimed in. "We know there's a ton of debris down there from when we went looking for intel on Carm's bio-dad."

The Wolf… Shadowsan paled. He only knew by sheer coincidence, his one admission of such witnessed by a single operative who guarded his secret with her life. But there were whispers. He had suspected Maelstrom knew twenty-five years ago but never found proof. Was this it? Would Maelstrom go so far? The question was pointless; of course, he would. Revenge, riches, reprimand. All would be his if he pulled that thread. A thread capable of unravelling Carmen's whole world…

"Yeah, from when they blew it up!" Ivy ruffled her brother's hair, Zack groaning as he tried to fix it back into place. "Besides, ACME already combed that area two years ago. What could they possibly hope to find there now?"

Carmen set her mug back on the coffee table. "I don't know, but it would make sense for them to keep some valuables close to home. Any thoughts, Dad?"

She turned towards Shadowsan, finding only empty space.

Player followed her gaze. "Seriously, how does he keep doing that?"

The room went silent, each of them looking around for any sign of the man. Carmen was the first to find one; downstairs, the back door stood ajar.

A/N: My inspiration for Revenant comes loosely from El Topo's scene in TSONTS; I liked the idea that there are operatives who possess actual humanity while still committing to VILE. I will say, basing an operative's backstory on a real-world disaster was harder than I thought, but I love the character I've created for doing so. And of course, my respects to the victims, survivors and heroes of the MV Sewol.

One last thing, just to clarify, Carmen is neither aware of Player's feelings nor does she return them… yet. ;) I know RedPlayer is one of the more controversial ships in the fandom's view, but I like the idea of them being best friends who slowly develop feelings as the years go by, especially since Player has shown signs of crushing multiple times throughout the series. Most importantly, I don't feel that Carmen is ready for a romantic relationship just yet, so I place RedPlayer firmly in the "I ship it but give it a few years" category.

As always, excited to hear your thoughts!

Translations:

Paix à leurs âmes. = Peace to their souls.
Le Fantôme de L'eau = The Water Ghost