This place takes place during S4E5: "The V.I.L.E. History Caper".
Any dialogue you recognise is from there.
"So, anyone here know how to read the runic alphabet?" Player said with a cheeky grin.
"We might need some help in that department." Carmen thought aloud. "An expert in ancient languages. Possibly history."
And of course, her thoughts had already gone to Julia. She was not an expert in ancient languages, as far as Carmen knew, but she could know enough of it to be able to help them or, if that was not the case, at least she could direct them to somebody who could.
Julia, whom she had seen many times since that night in Cambridge, and more recently, during a strategic lag on her way back from Himalaya.
Her thoughts and feelings, a turmoil, Carmen had almost run, from the airport to the taxi, from the taxi through the lobby, down the corridor until finally… She had entered the hotel room, and without a word, she had collapsed on Julia's arms, exhausted and drained.
"What happened?" Julia had asked, the moment she had seen her, "are you alright?"
Carmen had just nodded. The bruises would come in the morning, and there were things that hurt much more than being hit. Somehow Julia had understood and she had held her, even when Carmen hadn't been able to put her feelings into words for a while. "It's alright," she had said after a while, stroking her hair, and pulling her inside the room. "It's going to be alright."
After a moment, Carmen had finally let her go.
"Tell me."
"I… ran into an old friend. Gra- Crackle."
"The one A.C.M.E. held in custody for a while?"
"The one," Carmen nodded. "He had had his memory whipped or modified or something…"
"Is that even possible?"
Carmen had shrugged. "I am as amazed as you are, but I'd known for a while Dr. Bellum must have found a way. But he remembers it all, now. He remembered his training and why he joined V.I.L.E. in the first place…" it hurt, almost as physical pain. "It was so nice when he had forgotten all of it and he had gone back to just being an electrician in Sydney, you know? Safe, and wholesome, and just a nice guy…" her voice had cracked and she was scared by it. Taking a deep breath, she had continued. "Back on V.I.L.E. island he was like a big brother to me… and I was glad he was away from this world. But now he's back. And I even had to fight him."
Julia was just listening, her hand stroking her back.
"I am so sorry, C."
"Me too…" she had sighed. "Sometimes I just… I wish we could go away from all this, you know?"
It had been the first time she had said it aloud, but it was an idea that appeared every time she'd seen one of her team members get hit. Every time she paused to think of the danger they were all in.
"Yeah…"
"And I wish… I wish I could keep you all safe. But then there is all the damage I know V.I.L.E. can inflict," Carmen had sighed again. "I don't think I could live knowing that I could do something about it and I'm not…"
"Shhh," Julia had pulled her towards the bed and hugged her. "I know, Carmen. I am so sorry."
Carmen had hugged her back, just breathing in Jules' familiar scent, and releasing this was the first time she was feeling free to show vulnerability. Was it a weakness? Maybe it didn't matter. Not to her Jules, anyway.
That night they had just laid in bed, hugging and sharing stories about museums they had visited, and cities they wished to walk together, hand in hand.
When Carmen had left in the morning, after one lingering kiss and the promise she would call as soon as she could, she had felt lighter than she had in a very long time. Despite what laid ahead.
"Whoa." Player' voice brought her back to the video call. "Care to guess why you haven't seen your favourite A.C.M.E. agent in a while?"
Carmen made an effort not to chuckle in front of Shadowsan. While Player didn't exactly know how often Carmen and Julia had met in later weeks, he had been the one establishing that first call and he had provided that very encrypted cellphone Julia now had, for whenever she wanted to contact Carmen. He knew. And he had also promised not to tell.
If, for Player, Julia was objectively a good asset, Carmen could very well pay her a visit.
This time, though, there would be no climbing down a window. No heads up. She would just go, blend in with the students, surprise her.
For a moment, before taking a seat in the middle of the lecturing hall, Carmen listened from the shadows. Jules was a great lecturer, both thorough and able to keep the class' interest. But Carmen wanted her to know that she was there, and how nice it had been to see always posed Julia stumble on her own words when their eyes met, and dismiss the class.
Carmen waited for the lecture hall to empty, watching Julia put off the classroom projector methodically.
"This is unexpected," Julia finally said, walking down the stage and approaching Carmen, with professional demeanour but a gleam in her eyes that all but illuminated the entire room.
"Not in a bad way, I hope."
"Certainly not. Please, follow me, Miss Sandiego."
Carmen sighed. This controlled Julia was going to turn her into a mess. A hot mess at that.
"How are your classes?" Carmen asked, as they walked down the hall, if only to have something else to think about.
"Good, thank you. This term I have a couple of quite talented students."
"That's nice," Carmen replied, not really listening, and itching to put a hand on the small of Julia's back.
"It is," Julia agreed.
"So… where are we going, Professor Argent?" She had the satisfaction of seeing Julia's lips quiver for a second before she fell back into her detached demeanour.
"My office," she replied.
"Is it a shared office?"
"No," Julia said courtly, and Carmen thought that not pulling her against the wall to snog her senseless right then and there was the most difficult thing she had had to do in her entire life. As a precaution, she stuffed her hands deep inside her pockets.
They didn't speak until Julia stopped in front of a brown door. Next to it, a sign said simple "Prof. J. Argent". Without a word, she opened with a key and entered, and Carmen followed, closing the door behind her.
And that's the last thing she could see before Julia's body pressed against her, her lips finding hers in a second. At her back, Carmen heard the metallic click of the lock, and then she saw Julia taking off her glasses and carelessly dropping them on the carpet.
"What the heck are you doing here?" Julia muttered between kisses that were intense and demanding, her hands clutching Carmen's jacket.
"Visiting my favourite agent." Carmen mumbled, her own hands running up Julia's back, pressing her even closer.
"Not an agent," Julia said, moving her lips to Carmen's neck and making her groan.
"Favourite person, then." Carmen' hands went lower and she heaved Julia by the hips. Her legs went immediately around her own hips and the friction of her pelvis against hers almost made Carmen's knees buckle.
Slowly, she walked the two steps separating them from Julia's desk and placed her there, her mind completely fogged by how Julia's mouth seemed to have found a path down her v-neck top.
"Gawt, you are so hot when you talk all professor," Carmen muttered, stroking Julia's hips, and then up her back again.
"It's hot to see you sitting there," Julia said now kissing up her neck. "In the middle of the classroom."
"I could be your student," Carmen said, finding her lips again.
"I couldn't concentrate," Julia said after a long kiss. She took a deep breath and pressed her forehead against Carmen's. Sitting on the desk, they were now almost the same height.
"Duly noted," Carmen said, taking a deep breath of her own..
"It's great to see you," Julia took a lock of Carmen's hair and put it behind her ear.
"It's great to be here, Jules."
Slowly, Carmen bent down and picked Julia's glasses from the floor. She placed them over her nose and, with a finger on Julia's chin, she tipped her head to give her a small kiss. Julia chuckled.
"Still," she said, now climbing down the desk and trying to erase the newly made creases on her blazer with her hands. "I'm quite surprised to see you here." She beamed at Carmen and walked around the desk to take a seat on the chair.
Carmen chuckled. "Imagine my surprise when I stumbled onto your blog. That's a part of you I didn't know."
"Well… I am glad there was still some mystery."
"Speaking of which," Carmen leaned on the desk and carefully took the ancient piece out of her pocket. "Would you give me a hand with this?"
Julia raised an eyebrow for a second, but then her eyes darted to the small relic with piercing interest. "May I?"
As Julia started talking about the piece, and the origins of the writing, Carmen's doubts, that had been chasing her on the plane, came back full-force.
"Listen, Jules," she started with a deep breath. "As I told you before, I know you wanted to get away from all this. I won't be offended if you decline."
"Well, that's the thing," Julia smiled. "This intersects my two areas of interest. So, yes, I'd like to help with this."
Carmen looked at her fondly for a moment.
"What is it?" Julia said, her eyes still on the relic.
"Nothing."
"Come on, what?"
There were the words. Those three words that kept bouncing inside Carmen's head whenever she was with Julia. But she couldn't tell them. At least, not yet. As far as she could remember, she hadn't ever even uttered them.
"I like how you take interest in this, that's all," Carmen said nonchalantly.
Julia frowned for an instant, but then her eyes went back to the markings and she started explaining. Carmen moved to stand behind her chair to better look.
"... even when its exact location was not known to them." Julia finished, and then turned her head around to smile at Carmen. "And, just as a matter of interest, it is really very difficult to concentrate when you're breathing down my neck like that."
Carmen chuckled. "I wasn't doing it on purpose," she moved back a little. "So," she pointed at the relic. "Could it be a map?"
"I suppose," Julia said, focusing on it again. "If one knew how to interpret the details."
If that was a map, and it was really leading to an actual place, that could mean getting ahead of V.I.L.E. for once.
"Well…" Carmen finally said, standing straight. "I hate this, but I really need to get going if I'm to have any hope of finding the next one."
"Wait, are there more of these?"
"As far as we know. Apparently the first one leads to the second and so on. Could you keep that one safe for me?"
Julia nodded. "I too hate that you have to go,"
"I'll be back as soon as I can."
"I liked it, though… you coming without announcement."
Carmen chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind."
Julia walked towards her and hugged her, pulling her body towards hers and leaning on the crook of her neck. "Please, be safe, C."
"I will." Carmen took a deep breath and cupped Julia's cheek. "I promise."
"I mean it. Be safe and… and come back to me."
Looking into Julia's eyes there was concern, but also something else, deep and warm, and for a fleeting instant Carmen wondered if those enormous three words could be inside Julia's mind as well.
"I will, Jules. I promise."