When two weeks and three days had passed, Julia's initial irritated sadness had been replaced by pure unadulterated anger. Now, though, after two extra weeks, that feeling was starting to be replaced by worry.

Alright, she had been very cross when she had left. And maybe she had reasons to remain so for a while. But this was an overreaction, and Carmen could be a lot of things, but she was not a drama queen.

If only those V.I.L. hadn't taken her encrypted cell phone! But even if they hadn't and Julia still had a mean to reach out to Carmen, would she answer back?

There was just one way she could think of, for reaching out to her. She had used it, back then, the day Chief came to her office to recruit her again. And it had worked. And right after that, it had been the last time Julia had seen Carmen.

Julia opened her computer and got into her blog. She was not going to try to reach just Carmen, although that could be good. She would try to get the attention of the one other person that could help her and that could also be looking for signals if something bad had happened.

Something about missing artefacts. Not coffee this time. Clues. Deciphering…?

It took her the best part of three hours to compose the blog entry, and just to be sure, she even added a close up of the first relic Carmen had brought her to decipher. The image was almost unrecognisable, unless you were very familiar with the original piece. Nothing suspicious, she hoped.

And now, she only had to wait.

"I can't believe you flew all the way to Seattle," Carmen said, after they hugged. This was a very small room in a nondescript bed and breakfast, but both had agreed on trying to avoid patterns.

"You do it all the time… Egypt, being the last." Julia said with a chuckle.

Carmen sighed with a smile. "I guess I am used to being the one doing the travelling." She leaned forward and kissed Julia, softly. They hadn't been apart for too long, but for Julia it was torture anyway, and such a deep relief when they could be together again.

"Well, don't get too used to it." Julia pulled her hand, and sat on the edge of the bed. "So, how was the meeting with Chief?"

"Good… I think. I finally…" Carmen sat down next to Julia, but doubted for a second before speaking again. "I just asked her help to find my mother."

"You did?"

Carmen shrugged. "I guess I have nothing to lose. And I rather ask for her resources than steal them… right?"

Julia beamed. "I am glad. At least… well… I am glad you trust her."

"I think I do. It's an alliance of sorts and I'm not especially fond of them, but I guess if I want to really know the truth, there are some sacrifices I'd have to do."

Julia took her hand and nodded. She had learned by now that trust was something that didn't come easy for Carmen, which is what made every moment spent with her all the more precious. And it would be just too easy to kiss her again, and stop talking altogether, but Julia knew she needed to face it all, the sooner the better.

"Well… I have news too," she looked nervously at her own feet. She knew this was good news, but after their last time together in Giza, she was not sure anymore about how Carmen would react.

"Tell me," she said, holding her hands.

"So, you know how Chief asked me to contact you and I wrote that blog entry…"

"Yeah…"

"She offered me my old job back." She said in one single breath. "At A.C.M.E.," Julia added just to be clear.

"She what?" Carmen's eyes were now fixed on her in a way she couldn't really decipher.

"She always said I could go back whenever I wanted to. But this time she came to my office and offered it."

"What did you say?" Not her voice was definitely cold, and Julia didn't have to guess anymore. She would not take it happily.

"I accepted," she just said, holding her own gaze.

Carmen's fingers left hers and moved to rub her own forehead and she clenched her jaw.

"Why?"

"There are several reasons." Julia took a deep breath. "One of them is being informed. The others have to do with ideals you might find we share."

Carmen shook her head. "You accepted… after what we talked in Egypt?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't want you back in the field, Jules. I want you safe-"

"I don't want you in the field either, C. I'd rather have you living in one place, with me preferably, and not risking your neck every two days, but that's who you are and that's who I love, for better or worse."

"But don't you understand? I am better at taking care of myself."

"What if you're not? What if I only need more training? What if me being kidnapped could've been prevented, had I been protected by A.C.M.E.'s resources?"

"You don't know that!" Carmen stood up, now facing Julia, and she mirrored the gesture, even though it was much less impressive given her short height.

"You never questioned my ability before, when we would meet during a caper. Hey, you even enlisted my help. Milan? Monaco?"

"That was different!"

"Why was it different?!"

Carmen sighed so hard it was almost a grunt, and Julia saw how her hands went to fists a couple of times. "Because I wasn't with you then! I didn't know I was in love with you!"

"Then it should be better now. We talk. We see each other. We can watch both our backs like this."

"I don't want to watch your back if I can't avoid it. I rather know you're safe!"

"Sure," Julia resorted to sarcasm. "As safe as one can be inside an office at Oxford."

It was a very low blow and she knew it.

"That's exactly my point! You were kidnapped because I asked you to help us! And you being on the field… it's a matter of seconds before somebody at V.I.L.E. realises you are my weakness… and I am yours. And then, they won't stop! They would send you flying into that pitch, without a second of a doubt, if they knew that would make me weaker!"

She was right, Julia knew that. But she didn't want to be the damsel in distress. And she knew her best chance, not only for survival but for helping Carmen, was to join a team.

"My decision is made. I am sorry, Carmen." she finally said.

"No more than I am," Carmen said simply, and without a glance back, she exited the small hotel room in a movement so quick Julia thought she might as well had disappeared in thin air.

Of course the first job Chief had tasked her with had been to look into Carmen's past. At that stage, she had been furious, and the sight of Carmen's picture, looking at her from those cold cases files had done nothing to calm her. But the more she read, the more she understood. Or at least, she thought she did.

Carmen had been raised for what she was doing. It was in her nature, in her DNA… While Julia…

The following days were filled with sadness. Carmen was angry, Julia got it… but wasn't she taking it all too far? Couldn't they just talk through it? Or would this just be the end of their relationship? Over, just like that, after some uncomfortable words in a small bedroom in a dingy bed and breakfast? The thought made Julia's chest ache.

Ping.

The sound coming from her computer made her look up.

There it was, the familiar black screen, and then the white cap.

"Hey, Jules!" Player looked tired, and even older, but as eager at that first time he had contacted her this way.

"Hello, Player."

"You're… you're not with her, are you?" and Julia saw his shoulders drop.

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

Player sighed and rubbed his temple. "She's MIA. Has been for many weeks. For a moment I thought…" He remained silent, his eyes looking everywhere but the screen.

"You thought what?"

He smiled at her, a little sheepishly. "I thought maybe she had just gotten tired of it all, even if that would've been not really like Carmen. But I thought, well, maybe she went off with you, you know? Finally settling down?" Julia smiled, despite herself. That would've been nice. "That's why I didn't contact you earlier. I should've checked, I know… but I just hoped..."

Julia shook her head, sadly. "She didn't go off, at least not with me. We… We had a fight the day she met with Chief in Seattle. And then she was gone. I couldn't reach her because V.I.L.E. took the phone she gave me. I was angry, at first, but now I'm worried."

"Well… as far as we know, she had that meeting. And then she went radio silent for a couple of hours, and that usually meant she was with you."

It was both endearing and a little uncomfortable to realise that this kid, Player, really knew a lot not just about Carmen, but about Julia too.

"And then she spoke with me, which was strange because usually she would've stayed off the grid much longer."

"Did she sound angry?" Julia asked.

"Can't tell you. It was very brief. She just told me, matter-of-factly, that she had spoken to the Chief, and that she would help her find her Mum. And then there was this sound… a bit like a struggle. And that's the last thing I knew."

"Crap," she had been right to be worried.

"Since I could pinpoint the location, somebody from our team went there, to see if there was something to find, but there was nothing. And I mean zero. No videos from security cameras on traffic lights, no nothing. It was too clean. So, either it was Carmen, staging her own disappearance… or… well, you know."

"I know," Julia said, feeling as if she was being hit by Boris all over again. "I know…"

The weeks became months, and the lack of activity of all V.I.L.E.'s operatives had everybody on edge. Julia knew Devineaux had been sent to different places to check on clues that always turned out to be fake, or just leading to some other group.

After work, they would sometimes grab a coffee, and he would share with her what he had seen, in hopes that she, Julia, could see a pattern. Something he might have missed.

She was flattered by the new respect Devineaux had for her, but it was strange nonetheless, to talk so much about Carmen with him, even if it was all impersonal and detached. One thing was clear. Whatever had happened in Egypt between him and Carmen had completely changed his opinion of her, and for that, Julia was grateful.

And then, Vienna happened. It had been him, Devineaux, the one who had suggested Chief that Julia should come with him. This was no vague clue, this was Calloway being spotted right there, in a city where there were just too many things to rob. And even if Carmen would not be there with him, their mission was to take down V.I.L.E., and that meant all operatives.

It was a strange heist from the beginning, and Julia was on edge. Not just because she seemed to have been placed in charge, as a 'Sandiego expert', which was unnerving enough. No. What was making Julia feel like a stranger in her own skin was that mixture of emotions regarding Carmen. If she shows up, we're in good hands, she had said to Devineaux. If she shows up, that means she is alive, was her inner monologue. And yet, what to expect regarding her, Julia, if Carmen happened to be in the same city?p