Another Word for Home

by Aon Rarsdani

Everyone has soulmates, a small collection of them that makes up their little world. But Carmen? She's covered in names.

Carmen laid on her back, taking in a gentle breath, Her leg dangled over the couch, slightly tingling from the pressure against the nerve but unwilling to move it all the same. The warm weight of Julia was pressed against her front; half-curled into her, Carmen's arms wrapped securely around her waist. She felt peaceful despite the shoving, yelling and playful cursing coming from the scene before them as Player launched a banana peel at Ivy's car, knocking her to second place. Ivy retaliated immediately with a blue shell stunning Player's character. Kitu neatly wove between the jockeying powerhouses and secured first place much to their good-natured but enraged screams.

Zack wasn't far from them, rambling animatedly to an intrigued looking Chase Devineax as the two compared foods. Carmen honestly hadn't expected the friendship that ended up blossoming between them, but Zack was happy and Chase appeared to be steadily developing a sense of if not paternal care then at least brotherly affection for the red-headed siblings. When Zack changed subjects getting onto the topic of cars, Carmen knew she'd have to invite the Inspector over more often if only because he pulled a notepad from his suit and began scribbling something down. From what they could tell, Devineax was actually taking notes.

Shadowsan for his part sat behind them all on his laptop facetiming his brother. The two were slowly attempting to reconcile and he'd seemed grateful when Player offered him the chance. Occasionally the older men would look up, turning their attention towards the general room - a faint smile flicking across Shadowsan's face before it vanished into his usual facade once more.

"What are you thinking about?"

Carmen dropped her gaze to Jules laying in her arms, eyes half-lidded from tiredness but gaze full of curiosity all the same.

"My family," Carmen hummed. "We've been through a lot."

"We have," Jules agreed, directing her own attention towards her coworker and Zack. Carmen smiled at the sensation of contentment flowing from her, linking up to her emotions transferring a wonderful soft feeling into her chest. The warmth attracted Kitu's attention, drawing the racer from her game so she could flash them a pretty smile. Their character was struck by lightning in the same move but they didn't seem to care as they just flooded the link with affection that Carmen swiftly returned with a gentle smile. Jules shivered in her arms, always easily overwhelmed by the love directed at her but smiling a goofy smile all the same.

My new family, Carmen thinks fondly though they're not all that new anymore. No, they've been family for a long time now.

Black Sheep loved looking at herself - in mirrors, in person, in pictures. It wasn't from a sense of egocentrism or self-obsession but rather the seven-year-old loved looking at the words and names tangled across her body.

Soulmates.

That's what Coach Brunt told her earlier in the year when she asked why the woman's name was scrawled across her right bicep. She remembers watching her adoptive mother tear-up in front of the entire faculty, their important meeting stopping immediately as the burly woman scooped her into her arms. Black Sheep had laughed enthusiastically as Brunt was congratulated by her colleagues. She'd promptly searched her own body, finding a matching marking with the somewhat messily scrawled name, 'Black Sheep' adorning her.

"What does that mean?" Black Sheep had asked innocently.

"It means I'm your mama-bear Lambikins," the woman had cooed, and Black Sheep had immediately thrown herself into her arms; trying her best to give her the tight hugs she was known to be gifted.

Of course after that, her nannies had been tasked with explaining Soulmates to her.

She remembers sitting on a bed, kicking her feet as her latest nanny explained to her the names that found themselves scrawled across her skin. Soulmates were divided into two overarching types - platonic and romantic soulmates, representing the vast array of relationships and pairings that could be found in the world. Platonic soulmates were the most common - most people had a decent handful of platonic soulmates that could express themselves throughout their lives.

Sibling-love, motherly-attention, paternal-affection and even rivalries. Platonic soulmates had many forms they could take and were usually among the first to begin showing up.

It was Coach - her mama's name to appear first, entangled neatly across her upper bicep and that one she showed off to everyone with pride. She ran her fingers across the rugged skin on her arms, delighting in the texture that brushed against her pads of her digits. They were stark and vibrant against her skin, like a fresh tattoo without the puffy edges or forming scab. She got sharp looks from the agents going through the training programs, people curious about the name she displayed so openly. Black Sheep wasn't surprised - most of the students she saw were covered up, keeping their markings hidden away and adopted darkened faces when she brought them up.

It's because they're shattered Black Sheep," her latest nanny told her.

"Shattered?" she echoed, curiously.

"...sometimes people do bad things," the woman explained gently. She set their book aside, choosing to refocus on the questions and subjects her ward was interested in. Black Sheep was a ball of endless energy, constantly on the move. It was easier for everyone involved to teaching her what she took interest in instead of forcing her into other subjects, guiding her back to the topic if necessary. "Sometimes they do things that are completely unforgivable, things that a relationship can't recover from. When that happens, the soulmate bond shatters and the mark changes to reflect that."

"It changes?" Black Sheep asked, perking up. "The marks can change?"

Her nanny nodded.

"Yes, all marks are capable of change," the woman said. "Healthy bonds look like yours - bright, vibrant and crisp. Deceased soulmates have faded colors with blurry lines and edges. But shattered souls… the color drains away slowly and it becomes skin-toned, the mark will then become a scar."

"Like when I cut my hand?"

"Exactly like that."

Black Sheep considered this, wondering what people could possibly do to shatter their marks. Black Sheep had been grounded for two whole months once by her mom for damaging her favorite knife and their relationship had recovered. If they could recover from the unfairness of being locked inside of her room two months, only released to use the bathroom; then shouldn't everyone else be able to recover from what they did?

"Let's keep up with our lessons Black Sheep - you like learning Spanish don't you?"

"Yeah!"

The second soulmate Black Sheep ever met had been completely by accident.

She'd pulled off a truly legendary prank - one that would go down in history as her most feral of crimes. Releasing Count Cleo's dogs but training them to steal students' IDs? Training them to stack them all up in a hidden location that she would only reveal when they paid her? Black Sheep was certain the Faculty would be incredibly proud of her once they got over the initial fury of also being victims of her prank. She was deeply satisfied with the sounds of outrage and offense she'd received and so, in the interest of preserving her own hide; the eight-year-old had booked it; giggling madly to herself as she easily disappeared into the island. She knew this island like the back of her hand, better than the students, probably better than the faculty too.

That's how she found herself where she was now; a darkened metallic hallway with dark gray walls. An underground lab of some sort she thinks, somewhere for Dr. Bellum and Professor Maelstrom to play around with their experiments without risking them destroying the upper facility or worse; disturbing their more orderly labs. She's almost insulted they hadb't brought her down here willingly at some point! She was Dr. Bellum's favorite lab-rat, how could she be her favorite experimentation subject without letting her into the secret lab?!

"I'll prank them extra hard for this betrayal," the child swore to herself solemnly. She understood why they would be frightened of the chaos she could get into in a secret lab but she thought their commitment to chaos and disorder would've been enough to bring her downstairs. How hurtful it was to find out that this wasn't true.

Black Sheep pushed away from the latest sealed room, the wide window the same metallic gray as the walls - probably on lock-down.

More intriguingly was an open wall where an almost ominous red light pooled on the floor, flooding the hallway and alighting the walkway. A cheeky grin emerged on her face as she skipped towards it, eager to see something new and fun in the sea of closed off research rooms.

She leaned forward, pressing her palms against the cool glass. She was a bit surprised by how thick it was, wrapping her knuckles lightly against the thick clear material, listening to the heavy knocking sound rather than the usual rattle that came with a thin window pane. That wasn't even addressing the massive, heavy door only a couple feet to her right; a card was needed to open it - likely a faculty ID. That was in addition to the long bars that secured themselves into the metal bar at the base of the door, held in place by a mechanical lock. Whatever was in this room, the faculty really didn't want it getting out.

With the casual disregard for her life that could only come from growing up on an island of thieves and villains, Black Sheep wrapped even louder on the glass; intent on summoning whatever it was that was locked behind the glass. Her gray eyes flitted through the room, trying to see whatever inhabited the decently sized room. The floor was hard, and Black Sheep figured it was made of stone or smooth concrete. There were pools of liquid spattered across the floor though red-overhead light made it difficult to tell what they were, She saw a large crate towards the back of the room, not unlike the ones that Cleo's dogs were trained to enter for transportation albeit with thicker bars and a truly impressive looking lock on it. It was empty at the moment, the crate's door wide-open like the creature had burst out.

A flick of movement towards the more shadowy back of the room caught her attention.

The figure was human, slightly smaller than herself but a bit more muscular. She stared in confusion - it was a girl like her with dark brown almost black skin paired with amber eyes so intense that they almost seemed orange. She moved slow and close to the floor, not smiling but baring her teeth threateningly. Her clothes were a bit ragged, stained with things Black Sheep couldn't identify even when the other drew herself up to a standing position; placing her own palms on the thick, defensive glass.

Black Sheep was startled to see that the liquid was red, a deep red almost black that smeared with her palms but she was distracted from it by the delight of finally seeing someone else her age.

"Hi!" she chirped. "I'm Black Sheep - what's your name?"

The other stared blankly at her, as if she couldn't comprehend what she was saying. Her face was blank, and her eyes held no light of understanding. The girl's eyes flicked to something she couldn't see immediately. Black Sheep moved towards the side, peering through the window towards a small mounted box against the wall, a simple flashing red light drawing attention.

Oh, a radio, Black Sheep thought to herself with realization. It made sense - with the thickness of the glass, it was probably near impossible for the girl on the inside to hear anyone trying to speak to her. She searched the wall, her eyes immediately shooting towards the big metal door in research of the matching piece. Sure enough, she located the radio on her side; a black box attached to the part of the door closest to the glass wall, a little microphone extended far enough for her to speak.

"Hello," said Black Sheep into the microphone.

The girl on the inside blinked at her.

" Hola, konnichiwa, ciao ," Black Sheep rattled off, watching the other for a spark of recognition and understanding. Her tutors had been teaching her about their cultures and languages - one of the first things they successfully taught her was the ability to identify when another could understand her. There was recognition for a couple words she tried but nothing that screamed 'I understand you' until finally, the girl tried, "Habari."

The girl on the inside perked up.

"Jambo," she responded immediately, relief blossoming on her face.

Bingo, Black Sheep thought to herself triumphantly.

"Unaongea kiswahili?" the other asked curiously.

"Kidogo tu," said Black Sheep. "Jina langu ni Black Sheep."

"Kitu," said the caged other.

"Unaongea kiingereza?" asked Black Sheep.

She earned a wry smile as the other parroted, "Kidogo tu."

Well. They had nothing but time.

She came to visit Kitu as many times as she could get away with after that. Partially to entertain herself given the entire island went on edge because of the way Black Sheep would disappear for hours of the day; often reappearing with a new prank in mind, but mostly, she was just eager to meet someone her own age. Sure she was generally a happy kid but it was lonely being the only kid living on VILE Island. The students would graduate and leave for missions out in the wider world or find themselves 'expelled' from the program. Her nannies never stayed for too long, every-time she started getting attached to one; she'd return to find them replaced with a new one. It was fun to learn new languages and cultures, but Black Sheep really only had The Faculty as family.

And now, she had Kitu.

Kitu with no last-name who was hard to understand sometimes because she rambled so fast in Swahili that Black Sheep had to beg her to slow down (though it did make her feel smug to whip out her slang terms and conversational Swahili with her current nanny who was from Kenya). Kitu who lived behind the thick walls of glass and refused to explain to her what happens when Black Sheep wasn't down there and insisted that she didn't have superpowers. It was a struggle, becoming friends when they could only speak basic fragments of each other's language, but Black Sheep was incredibly stubborn on the best of days about more minor things than making a friend.

She was fully committed to earning Kitu as a friend.

Thankfully, Black Sheep's lessons were coming in handy. Everything she picked up from her nanny, she would return to Kitu with and she accepted every correction and blushed at every word of praise. Using her growing understanding of Swahili, she taught the other how to read and speak English.

She felt a bit bad. Her nanny had remarked most kids from Kenya could speak Swahili and English so if Kitu was from around there, she was behind in her studies. She had half a mind to scold Professor Maelstrom and Dr. Bellum for letting her lag behind, but Black Sheep also wasn't supposed to be in the secret lab, so there wasn't much she could say. She made due with catching her new-friend up to where she should be, slowly but steadily teaching her to speak English but also Spanish and Italian and every other language the Faculty felt that she should learn. If Black Sheep had to drown in conjugations in order to get her fun culture stories, someone else was going to suffer with her.

"It not suffering to me," Kitu tells her one day when she expresses this opinion. "You are only person who treat me like I not stupid."

"We have to work on your plurals," Black Sheep tells her.

It's eight months into their friendship when she discovers a ragged mark on her thigh while she's taking a bath. A happy nine years old and fully capable of taking baths all by herself without needing a monitor or even a Cleaner standing outside for her. She's drying herself off when she finds it, about to rub lotion on herself when she sees it. It's an inky black name written in gentle looping curves, more neat than her name on her mama's bicep.

Kitu Masai.

Black Sheep was sprinting back to the secret lab within minutes after identifying it.

She beamed when she found her friend already pressed against the thick paneled glass, face lighting up when she saw her. She lifted her shirt without preamble or need for her to explain, showing 'Black Sheep' scrawled at the base of her spine; twisting around to grin at her.

"I was hoping," Kitu confessed when Black Sheep pressed the radio button. Her face burned from the blush that blossomed across her face at how thoroughly delighted the other girl was. Her eyes twinkled with warmth and a softness that had been developing for a while - she still didn't know what it meant. The soft look was different from the one that mom gave her but when she brought it up, Kitu had seemed confused before shrugging it off. "I was really hoping. There are no mirrors - I had to get the Cleaners to read it for me."

"I was hoping for you too," Black Sheep admitted shyly. "And now we even know your surname!"

"Masai," Kitu echoed thoughtfully.

They exchanged adoring looking through the glass and Black Sheep basked in the unbridled affection flowing strongly through the link.

Her third soulmate comes out of left-field.

Black Sheep is sixteen when the cell-phone she managed to acquire first rings. Her reflexes failed her for a moment as she stared in the direction of the illegally acquired device. It had been around four years since she got it and in all that time, it had never rung with an inbound call. Her instincts kicked back in, a sense of panic flooding through her as she scrambled to get to it before someone heard the shrill ring. She cursed herself for not muting it, never considering that anyone could possibly want to call the captain of Cookie Booker's ship.

She managed to hit the side-button which - to her relief - silenced the sound through the phone continued to ring. She hesitates, deliberating back and forth a moment as she stares at the blinking button. Should she answer? It was certainly not a call for her and if it ended up being someone who knew Booker, she'd be in serious trouble. Black Sheep was six teen not six anymore, she hadn't turned the phone in for additional credit so she'd be lucky if she was simply grounded as her punishment this time around.

But then again, this was also a link to the outside.

The place where all of VILE's students came from - the place where she'd come from though unlike the students she had no memories of anything else.

That's what made the decision for her.

Even if she got in trouble, Black Sheep's world began and ended on the shores. This could be her only chance to experience what the others didn't care to.

"...hello?" she answered hesitantly.

"Who is this?" the voice came through. It was young - younger than her, she reasoned though she supposed it could be an advanced voice-changer - and she thinks it could be masculine. She'd met quite a few women on the isle with deep voices and her own seemed to be getting lower by the month so she didn't want to ping it as a certainty.

"... Black Sheep," she answered, deciding to take a risk. Hopefully Booker wouldn't've told anyone about falling victim to the same prank for ten years.

"Come on, what's your real name?" the voice pressed.

"Black Sheep," she reaffirmed, suppressing a light giggle. She'd known the 'real names' of many students on the isle. She supposes 'Black Sheep' was pretty obvious as a code name and this mysterious caller would be somewhat annoyed by her refusing to give them a plausible one. "Honest."

"Okay, well you can just call me Player," the other responded, sounding exasperated.

"Do you really wear a white hat?" Black Sheep prompted curiously, glancing down at the little icon on the phone screen.

"...uh, why? You've never heard of a white-hat hacker?"

She hears shuffling in the background and smirks a little. So he does wear a white hat.

"That's a thing?" she continued probing.

"Yep - I have wicked good hacking skills but I use them for good. And video-game money ha ha."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Sure it does," retorted 'Player.' "I just hacked through 27 layers of encryption - so who do I inform over there about your weak-link so you can upgrade your security?"

"Are you punking me?" Black Sheep demanded. As far as she knew, no one could get through the Isle's defenses - physical or electronic. She'd seen a few students try, sneaking in their devices from the outside and watched them grow frustrated; throwing their devices to the ground and shattering them when they refused to work or one of the Faculty would catch them and confiscate it once the network had destroyed it. These were some of the isle's best operatives too - how could one lone hacker do what hundreds hadn't. "Where are you even calling from?"

"My room in Niagara Falls."

"Seriously?" Black Sheep gasps, her annoyance and suspicion dropping out immediately in exchange for her eagerness. "Which side?"

"Canadian."

"You're in Ontario?"

"Woah," said Player sounding impressed. "You really know your geography."

"It's my favorite subject," Black Sheep admitted. "What's it like there?"

The Cleaners had revealed their status as soulmates to the Faculty who'd immediately introduced Black Sheep to her. It had been hard pretending that she didn't know her, hard pretending that they'd only just met and they simply clicked in a way that only made sense to them but it had worked. Black Sheep was allowed into the enclosure provided Kitu wore a black, fabric muzzle around her mouth. She'd wanted to ask but Kitu hadn't fought it being put on so - silencing the growing unease in her belly - she accepted it. Being able to touch her skin-to-skin, run her fingers over the soulmark and feel the burst of energy and emotion that came with it was a nerve-tingling status. Kitu always pretended she couldn't read or speak when the Faculty came downstairs (Black Sheep shoves that flag under a rug too) so it was never too strange for her to just press their foreheads together, eyes closed and bask in the emotions that cycled between each other.

So of course, the second she finally trusted Player enough to assuage her worries; she'd gone running for her soulmate.

She swiped the pass card she'd been granted, sliding into the cage with Kitu who looked at her with excitement and curiosity. The other had kindly waited, staring her in the eyes with an expression of complete trust while the young woman took a deep breath and affixed the muzzle across her mouth. Black Sheep didn't like it but she also couldn't afford to admit to the Faculty that she'd been sneaking around with their 'secret project' for years. The more time that passed, the more uncomfortable she became with the way her best friend was being treated, but there was nothing she could do.

I'm sure there's a reason for it, Black Sheep thinks to herself as she calls Player.

Kitu's emotions swirled with excitement when Player answered, equally enthralled and intrigued by the world outside as Black Sheep was. They rested their head on her lap, sighing a gentle sigh as she cuddled her face into Black Sheep's belly and listened to her and Player quietly talking together. She kept the side of her head with the earbud in facing down so that no one who saw them would immediately know there was something wrong. Black Sheep hid the other one in her ear facing away from the glass, listening to Player rambling on about his home area with a smile on her face. It was like touring Ontario the way he was so detailed, her eyes fluttering shut as she listened; stroking Kitu's hair.

"I bet he's seen so much," Kitu whispered softly when Black Sheep was leaving one day, her expression wistful as the collar around her neck beeped gently. Black Sheep had pried had demanded answers for the collar as the same day she'd received it, she felt a brief flash of pain from her before all of Kitu's emotions were shut off to her. She'd prodded, pushed and begged through the soul bond; worried that her soulmate was angry with her. In response, Kitu had gently refused her entry for about two weeks before finally allowing her to see her again. She ignored Black Sheep's questioning about the stitches she had on miscellaneous portions of her body, the bandaged wrapped around her palms.

Dr. Bellum and Professor Maelstrom know what they're doing, she thought to herself uneasily, but the reassurance felt weaker and weaker every time she used it.

Player talked endlessly about everything Black Sheep could think to ask him about - even going as far as to pull up 'wikipedia' and reading random articles about various places in the world to her. It wasn't uncommon for her to get drowsy listening, the steady stream of knowledge paired with her friend's calm voice did wonders for her racing mind. She relayed the questions that Kitu had, acting upon the burst of inquisitive emotions that her soulmate had begun to direct towards her intentionally whenever she wanted to know more. The feeling of her gratitude, the wordless 'thank you' that bled through made her feel like she was curled up on the beach; warmth seeping into her bones.

"Why don't you pass her the phone?" Player asked her one day. "I've never heard Kitu speak."

Black Sheep's hand tightened in Kitu's hair.

"I can't."

She must've sounded as defeated and uneasy as she felt because Player never asked again.

Listening to Player speak was the last push she needed. Black Sheep approached the Faculty with her request to join VILE Academy as an official student and a furious determination to enter the world as a professional thief. It took a year of encouragement from both him and Kitu, watching another set of students enter the Academy and escape out into the real-world to perform jobs. She doesn't know if it was the growing sense of unease around her adoptive parents or if it was the way they were starting to push her, starting to press on her without her actually being a student but she was beginning to feel smothered. The shores impacting against the warm sandy beaches operated as a form of sapphire cage-bars, leaving her staring out through the gaps and watching the horizon like a little black-bird sitting on a bird swing.

Shadowsan and Countess Cleo had their own arguments - that she was feral, undisciplined and untrained - but the majority vote was in her favor. Her friends had cheered, and Black Sheep had been excited but she'd felt the increase in attention, in strictness the moment it began to weight itself down on her shoulders. Only her mom retained any form of leniency towards her, gently correcting her in private rather harshly dressing her down in front of the entire class like she did the other students, but that was about the only excuse she received.

They cracked down harder on the pranks she tried to pull and started grading them. Now that she was in classes like Stealth 101 and Beginner Pickpocketing, they treated her pranks like personal projects. She could get extra credit for them, but now they criticized each action - they took points for being seen on camera, for getting spotted by anyone, for bad excuses, for smudges, for fingerprints - it was… demoralizing in a way. They were draining the entertainment value for her pranks but she couldn't afford to stop either.

"It'll look like I'm quitting," she explained to her friend lowly. "And Black Sheep never quits."

So she brainstormed and plotted. She took these harsh deconstructions as the learning tools they were meant to be, as an additional aspect of her training. She learned to plan around her fellow students - using them when she had to - constructed better alibis, learned to avoid camera angles (and modifying their folks when they couldn't) and learned to memorize her plan so that there was never a paper trail.

Opinions on her were divided - half of the school hated her and the other half admired her talent, the effort she put into her increasingly elaborate pranks. This was the result of a child raised by VILE. This was what she was like untrained and raw - Black Sheep was the ipitomy of everything that operatives should aspire to be.

There was so much pressure on her now.

She had so much to prove.

To prove to her schoolmates that she was just as capable as them, that she wasn't let in on a sentimental whim. To prove to the Faculty that she'd been watching, that she'd been learning and they didn't need to start from scratch; in fact, Black Sheep had even managed to skip a few years as she polished her talents. And most of all, to prove to herself that she was ready for the outside world, that she had enough willpower and she truly wanted to get off the island.

So when her arm started itching, she'd studiously ignored it. Ignored it and her suddenly constantly ringing phone. She'd figured out how to silence it not long after she started talking to Player regularly so every time she snuck back and looked at it, it was full of missed calls from her friend. Black Sheep had been busy, so she hadn't taken the time to call him back yet- her latest prank had been graded, her first class the next few days had been gym and that was after taking sparring before she went to sleep.

So it was a full week before she was able to get a breather. A full seven days before she had time for a good long shower and a determined scrub of her body. She was sore in ways she'd never been just running around the island but it was a good kind of sore, one that told her she was building muscle and getting more powerful, She grinned to herself, Black Sheep would one day be a name to be feared along her class-mates. She was going to destroy them in future sparring classes.

She glanced down at the inky-black words scrawled across her upper bicep, an expression of belated confusion overtaking her.

Who the heck was Mason Bouchard?

One week later she finally finds some free-time. She's skilled, powerful and the top of her class. Black Sheep seldom got anything lower than a B+ and even then, those were often about subjects that required anecdotal knowledge from the outside. She'd been given a free-period by her mom - ever kind and ever spoiling her, Black Sheep found the freedom to take another shower; basking in the warm water before making her way back down to Kitu. She hadn't had the time to bond with her soulmate, always sending her emotions of apology and regret when a general sense of exhaustion washed over her; dragging her into dreamless sleeps. Just like she'd been out-of-contact with Player, she wasn't in contact with Kitu ever.

She tried to reassure herself that she wasn't neglecting her, that their soulbond wouldn't be in jeopardy but the times that Kitu would suddenly slam down on her emotions and refuse to let anything through… it had begun to break her down. She'd been afraid for a brief moment, terrified that she would go to see her little wolf but be turned away - or worse, growled at and her bond would shatter leaving her with the faint, scar-like marking across her skin.

The sigh of relief she releases when her friend just smiles at her, an expression of kind adoration and affection removing even the faintest traces of insecurity from her heart.

She picks up her phone and quietly dials Player, putting an earbud into her ear and leans against the wall then gives the other to Kitu to place in her own ear.

Player picks up on the first ring.

"Holy shit, your name really is Black Sheep?!" he blurts out immediately.

She laughed - both amused and reassured by the question. She'd been a bit worried that her soulmate was someone else, someone she'd barely known (it was rare but apparently, it could happen) but Player's joyful confusion flowed powerfully through her, brushing almost curiously against the emotions she shared with Kitu.

"Yep. Your name is Mason?"

"Yeah - I feel kinda bad now. You gave me your name right away…"

"It's alright, I know Black Sheep isn't a normal name," she dismissed easily. Having her code name also be her real name saves a lot of time but it was inconvenient. She wondered if the Faculty would allow her to pick a real name now that she was enrolled in the academy. After all, she was the only one on the whole island who didn't get to pick her code name and that felt a little unfair. "Do you want me to call you Mason now?"

"... I like Player more actually," her friend admitted. Black Sheep waited - growing up on an island of thieves and tricksters, she'd had to learn to read people through anything they offered. Now that she was in classes and being formally taught, her skills were blossoming. She was steadily proving herself to be heads and shoulders above all of the other students - it made the Faculty grin smugly every time they handed her a test with no incorrect marks, every time she showed up one of her classmates in a spar. Sure, it also made things a bit lonely as some people (read: Sheena) seemed to have an issue with such a young student beating them all the time, but that didn't matter as much. What mattered was managing to draw Player into speaking whatever was on his mind now, He hesitated longer and she could practically imagine him rocking back and forth, before he came to a decision. "I actually uh, I've decided to change my name to Player. Legally I mean. I don't mind Mason but…"

Black Sheep smiled - she'd heard someone talking about this. She'd watched one of their housemates start using the boy's bathroom a full week before he officially came out to them.

"What are your pronouns now Player?" she asked kindly.

Relief dripped from every word as he laughingly replied, "He/Him and They/Them."

It's two weeks before she had time for Player and Kitu again.

Kitu announces that she identifies as she/they/it.

It takes Black Sheep another four days to decide she is also she/they.

Black Sheep had always wondered what a shattered bond would feel like. In the privacy of her mind, she would curl up in a corner and stare at the students that either had no bonds or horrible scars carved into their skin. She'd been fearful on many occasions, worried about losing her soulmates because of how busy she'd become when she started VILE Academy but the endless flood of love and affection she received from the bonds had never bothered her,

Ordinary soulmates were wonderful - it was a series of interactions stacked on top of each other, layering and building as they impressed themselves into your skin. It was becoming completely intertwined, your lives always meant to cross over each other and it was up to the people involved to determine what the bond meant. Could it be rivalry? Best friends? Endless maternal love? They could be anything, meant anything. A soulmate in a word as potential in the best way.

Defining Moments were much less common.

Sometimes the emotions built up like usual, layering and layering as encounter after encounter shaped you. There were no emotions yet - so faint feelings dancing in the back of your mind as you identified a second or third heartbeat in your chest, beating in time to yours as your nerves danced and sang to each other - no mark upon your skin, not even an itch to signal the emergence of the spot. Instead of a gradual build of emotions and the culminating mark as you pushed the bond the rest of the way, there was an explosion of emotion; of intention and potential is determined all at once,

Black Sheep discovered this first had.

She clutched herself, rocking in silence as she rubbed the tears from her cheeks. She had long since learned to cry silently, to never let on she had any weaknesses. It was only Shadowsan that had ever tolerated her tears, had looked at her calmly and let her sit close to him and cry all over his robes before handing her a tissue or a handkerchief to wipe her face with. Everyone else had always been firm, always elaborated on the risks and penalties of showing vulnerability. She'd always been a bit sad but she took the lesson to heart, buried her tears deep down inside and learned to cry alone; to cry in silence, to never show she was affected.

In the end, it was saving her life,

She pulled up her shirt, looking at the scarred name on her arm - Graham Calloway. It stung when she moved, as if it were a real wound. The letters around it were raised and puffy, like it had been carved in with a needle rather than appearing on her arm in a flash of pain sending shocks up and down her arm. It was paler than her other markings, faint like a weeks-old scar rather than thick and certain like an ink-well pen. She clenched her first feeling the pain shoot up her arm, stabbing down into her individual fingers in response - as if the pain of his betrayal, the betrayal of the boy she was beginning to view as a big brother was going to kill someone wasn't enough. He was going to kill that man, kill that man for just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Valuable Imports, Lavish Exports, Black Sheep thinks to herself and for the first time; is completely and utterly revolted by the people she lives around. They are thieves now but when they leave, they will be killers. They are family and would play tag with her as a kid, but they would shock a man to death; uncaring of how it would affect the people related to them.

Stealing was still a game. In Black Sheep's mind, stealing could be fun, could be entertaining. But it would never be a game to steal someone's lives, to steal someone's history.

Her mind whirls as she tries to process all that had happened.

Her phone had been taken away from her, revealed in the chaos of all; that had happened. Her heart panged as she thought about Player who'd been worried when she didn't at least text them an update every few days. She wouldn't be able to contact them anymore, not for a long way. And the Faculty had taken away her access to Kitu, claiming that she had proven herself to reckless and irresponsible.

"We've finally managed to tame The Beast," Professor Maelstrom had said, voice uncaring and dismissive. Black Sheep had bitten her tongue so hard she tasted blood when she heard him, speaking about her soulmate as if she were just an object. Like something with no intelligence or awareness. "We cannot afford for you to undo all the training we did."

They tried to reassure them, sending emotions of comfort and apology to them both as she pulled her blanket over her body. The emotions of panicfearconcern radiating from them became a background for her mind as she went through the motions. Her old team was gone now, graduated and running through the world as professional thieves. She hadn't liked Sheena too much, the other girl incapable of showing any form of affection towards their team without it being insulting but the rest…

Jean-Paul and Antonio had been doting older brothers in their own right. She hadn't received a soulmark from them, no defining marks either ( They weren't the ones holding the crackle-rods, she thinks to herself; the mark releasing a stabbing sensation once more) but she'd cared about them all the same. Black Sheep had loved them like a little sister. They chided her for her pranks before realizing she was being graded for them; then they started offering her tips, feeding her advice. They snuck into the kitchens sometimes, slipping in the back and providing her with endless amounts of baked goods for her continuous good grades. She knew Jean-Paul and Antonio grew up on the streets and instead of shying away from it, they told her stories about what it was like on the outside. It had sounded hard, sounded gritty and painful, but there was an underlying sense of love and loyalty, of determination to survive in a world that didn't want them to. Of a dedication to each other.

"When Antonio said yes, there was no question for me," Jean-Paul said wistfully. "Where he goes, I go and there is no room for hesitation."

And Gray had been a chaotic twin-brother sort for her.

While the others offered advice on her pranks, he was in the thick of it brainstorming alibis. When others praised her skills and talents, he was practicing in the training rooms with her. She split cookies with him in thanks for his help, he lied for her when she couldn't help but to sleep in, patched up the braising on her palms from practicing alone and was her friend when she felt isolated.

Graham Calloway had been her brother. She had felt that bond beginning to form, had started to anticipate his reactions and emotions just like she had just before Kitu and Player's marks had appeared on her person.

And now she had his mark as a scar on her arm.

"You-you came back for me?" Kitu whispers into the night and their voice wobbles, disbelief in their tone conflicting with the joyhopelovelovelovelove love exploding from her end of the bond. She's clutching Black Sheep's hand, only breaking her tight grip when they have to break for cover individually. She moves like a shadow but with more confidence in her form, there's menace in the way she stands, in the way she presents herself. It's like watching a predator in the way their muscles flex in response to their slow, deliberate movements. There's a story there, a long one but she doesn't have the time or emotional capacity to ask yet. She'd barely had time to remove the collar, undo the muzzle, free her from the crate she was locked into or finding the key cards that allowed her access to the underground lab in the first place.

Black Sheep glances back at her for a brief moment and tightens her grip.

"Of course. You're mine."

Black Sheep will later learn to recognize the burst of L OVE as something important. As a change.

When she looks at the mark later, there's a new word beside it; written in Kitu's handwriting.

Uhuru.

Freedom.

Perched on the corner of a rooftop, Carmen breathed in and out; eyes locked on her very first target for a caper. It had been rough adjusting to the world outside - the first thing to go was her old name. Black Sheep. She would always have fond memories attached to that name, the name that her family gave her but for now; it only filled her heart with pain. Every time she heard it, it was like a rod lancing through her mind and stabbing straight to her heart as her mind was filled with the conflicting images of VILE operatives as her family but standing over still, cold bodies.

Carmen Sandiego was what she put on her new cards and now, that was who she would become.

She felt the change of Kitu's skin, watching the woman (because wow, Kitu was 22 years old and she was wearing maturity very well ) shiver when she ran her fingers over the mark. It didn't remove her old name exactly… 'Black Sheep' remained stamped upon her skin, but the dragging edges of their new name struck through her old one, crossing it out as she closed that chapter of her life. Mo- Brunt's name was still branded on her skin; fading with everyday she spent away, backed by the consistent pulse of pain, betrayal and anger spiking with every heartbeat. She ignored it as best as she could, there was nothing more she could do. Coach had chosen her path and Black- Carmen had chosen hers.

She rubbed Brunt's name again and a palm rested atop hers. Kitu watched her with gentle, understanding eyes.

"You ready?" Kitu asked, not making mention of the mark. She ducks her head, pressing her cheek against Carmen's, pouring kindness and warmth into their bond. Since they'd left the isle, Kitu hadn't closed the link even once. She left her emotions floating around, accessible to Carmen at all times, flaring them in a pointed way whenever she wanted her attention. Carmen loved it - loved the constant affection, loved the constant warmth, the neer-ending chant of lovelovelove dredging through their nerves.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Carmen voices, not yet having a reason to pretend otherwise. Player and Kitu could both feel her emotions, feel the uncertainty that prickled down her back. Player sent her a wave of reassurance at the same as Kitu.

We're right here, they told her silently.

Carmen smiled about to say something else before her attention was drawn by movement on the ground, "Wait - I saw something."

"I'll check it out," Kitu said immediately and dropped down before Carmen could argue. She blended in perfectly with the shadows, slinking towards the entrance well enough that even Carmen would be hard-pressed to spot her if she didn't have red cuffs.

It only took a couple of minutes before Kitu's voice came in over the comms.

"Looks like it's Amateur Hour guys," they murmured. "A couple of thieves performing a donut run of their own."

"Seriously?" Player sighed as Carmen shook her head. She'd begun to learn during the few months spent on the outside adjusting that things rarely went to plan in the field. If anything, crashing her old classmates' final exam had been doing them a favor - now they were better prepared for a world of people that could destroy a perfectly designed strategy.

"Alright team, change of plans."

Carmen hardly has the heart to fight Jean-Paul and Antonio. They seem to share the same reluctance. When she knocks them overboard, she throws them a life-presever too, They're not too far from land - the Cleaners will have recovered them easily.

She hides her face in Kitu's hair and stuffs the urge to cry deep down in her chest,

Their tag-alongs were kind enough to not mention it.

That night, they picked up Zack and Ivy - brother and sister, the only family each other had. They were surprisingly open about their history, unafraid to explain the whole story to Team Red - they weren't twins, but only just, Zack was born about an hour after Ivy the next day, but Ivy took the hour's difference very seriously. Parents were involved in shady things that eventually got them killed while the siblings were young leaving them all alone. They were tossed around in the foster system for a few years, transferred from family to family before they ran away at rumors of them being separated. Zack had always had an interest in racing and Ivy had always had an interest in mechanics - they were going to race, going to win.

"Our parents weren't the best so we wanted to be nothin' like 'em," Ivy said, scuffing her foot. Carmen had nudged Kitu when the other hadn't been quite as successful at hiding the befuddled expression on their face as they wondered the same thing that Carmen was.

If they had raced to stay out of crime, why were they dealing with a loan shark? Why were they breaking and entering? Stealing?

"We know how this looks," Zack said sheepishly. "Robbin' a place while sayin' we don't wanna turn to crime. But we didn't have much of a choice - it was my fault. I-I got cocky and completely totaled Lydia."

Ivy nudged her brother gently, "Water under the bridge bro."

Kitu grimaced, eyes flitting up to them, "So you really can't go home right now, huh?"

"We could pay the mob off," Carmen suggested immediately, receiving a gentle hand on her arm. "What?"

"We can't just pay the mob mpenzi wangu, " Kitu told her and Carmen was pleased when she was able to smother the reflexive shudder that ran through her body at the way her lips shaped the words. Kitu had never been allowed to speak her own language back on the isle - always suppressed with the muzzle or treated like a common dog. It was nice to hear her accent tinting her words and the way she spoke in her native tongue. "It would get them in more trouble than before. The mob would think they're associated with another group - and then when we're gone, they really be up a creek if they tried to tack on interest or something."

The siblings shuddered.

"We didn't even think of that," Ivy said looking both haunted and like she was angry with herself. Likely for not considering how manipulative the mob could be and how managing to get their hands on the amount of money that would save them would put them in a lot more danger. "Thanks for letting us come with you."

Carmen sighed, sitting back on the couch.

"Well, VILE had already seen your faces - there was no way we could've just left you," she admitted. "You would be in a lot of danger."

"About that… what's VILE?" Zack asked. "And why were you so afraid of those old guys?"

Kitu and Carmen exchanged glances.

"Well, they told you their stories," Player pointed out in their ears. "And it's not like they have anyone to tell it to."

"...let's order take-out first," Kitu recommended, leaning forward to pluck her own phone from the table. She turned it on and scrolled through her contact information, tapping the number of a local Chinese place that she had become attached to. "This is going to be a long story and I'm already hungry from being surrounded by donuts these last couple hours."

"...you know that's abuse right?" Ivy said gently when Carmen mentioned the way Coach Brunt would shut her out of the soul-link when she was angry.

"What?" Carmen said, taken-aback.

"She only lets you in when you're doing what she wants?" Ivy clarified and there was a sad look to her eyes. Not quite pity but something close - sympathy or empathy maybe? "And only sending you anger and disappointment when you don't?"

"...that's just mom," Carmen said, shrinking in on herself a bit. She doesn't know why she feels so defensive all of a sudden. Ivy was just pointing it out to her - Player had broached the topic a few times himself, it wasn't anything new. Maybe it was just the sensation of it being recognized by someone who didn't know her? The embarrassment that a girl who was just hearing the story recognized the abuse before Carmen had?

"Hey, hey I didn't mean anything by it," Ivy said, holding her hands up in surrender. "It's- we can move on."

Neither Zack nor Ivy bring up the word 'abuse' again throughout the rest of the story.

Carmen tucks her face into Kitu's throat and breathes in her smell, reassured by the gentle fingers carded through her hair.

"... I still love her," she rasped, her throat tired from suppressed sobs and eyes stinging from quiet tears. "She's still my mom and I-"

"I know Carmen," Kitu said, pressing a kiss to her head. "I know."

Carmen had spent most of her life being the youngest person in the room. She was the only kid on VILE island, the baby, the Faculty's adoptive daughter or niece. She was the chaotic little squirt that darted across the island causing trouble for all of the new operatives giggling rambunctiously.

So having Zack and Ivy around was… an experience.

VILE were terrible people but suddenly, she felt the need to find a burner phone to phone the Faculty. She would like to apologize to each one of them for all of the dangerous stunts she pulled as a kid because Zack and Ivy weren't as young as she'd been and they were giving her heart attacks.

She wants to meet the foster families they'd lived with just to tell them all off - how had they managed to instill exactly zero survival instincts in the two of them? She feels like every time she turns around, one of the twins was doing something more and more dangerous. Welding without a face-shield? Messing with electrical wires to 'see how things worked? Baiting VILE agents into attacking them?

Carmen and Kitu had started teaching them how to defend themselves, offering them sparring lessons and helped them learn to think live thieves in an attempt to assuage their worries. Player had to repeatedly talk them out of straight-up chipping them - and the only argument that had worked had been the very real concern that VILE could hack them and use them to their advantage.

It was like some underlying protective instincts that rolled about passively regarding Player and Kitu had been switched into hyper-mode over their newest additions.

She found herself monitoring their atrocious eating habits; helping them try all kinds of food all around the world. She would sit guard outside of Zack and Ivy's room to make the older red-head feel safe enough to sleep soundly, secure in the knowledge that Zack was protected and she could rest. She had to monitor the deteriorating state of their clothes since the twins would never tell her when a hole would be worn into their jeans or the soles of their shoes would become paper thin.

She thought she would get annoyed by it - that eventually she would feel the need to confront them.

But that feeling never came.

Instead, she found herself warm and on the verge of tears the first time Ivy had knocked on her door late at night. She was in her pajamas as Zack shuffled into the room after her. Carmen had sat up slightly, loosely dislodging the arms wrapped tightly around her waist; stirring Kitu into a temporary state of wakefulness herself.

"Wha'sup?" Carmen murmured tired while Kitu yawned quietly behind her.

"We uh, can't sleep," Ivy said sheepishly, She shuffled a little, rubbing the back of her leg with her socked foot. "That last mission… um…"

Carmen's gaze became soft and Kitu made a hum of understanding in her throat. Encountering the results of someone unfortunately enough to catch VILE in the act… the crackle rods made it seem like they'd had some form of unfortunate electrical incident or even a heart attack but looking at the undamaged skin in comparison to the still, cooling bodies with the memories of bright electricity being discharged through them… She'd been glad that she and Kitu had begun sharing a bed not long after leaving the island. She didn't have to come up with an excuse to cuddle with her soulmate, tucking her head beneath Kitu's chin while the other let her cry into its chest; mourning the family she'd never actually known. She'd hoped this wouldn't affect the twins as much, hoped dearly that as much as it would scar them that it would hurt them less than it did hers.

"Can we uh- stay in here?" Zack asked, messing with his fingers. "We'd feel safer if… if…"

"If you were watching?" Ivy finished for him hesitantly.

Carmen's eyes stung as she twisted herself around, glancing at Kitu. Technically this was her bed too and she didn't want to push its boundaries even if she didn't think Kitu would turn them away. Sure enough, the other just yawned and released Carmen's waist, wiggling backwards leaving space for the two red-heads.

"Hop in," Kitu yawned,

"I- really?" Ivy said looking surprised. "We can just lay on the floor-"

"Y'not sleeping on the floor kitu kizuri, " Kitu half-slurred, padding the open space invitingly.

Zack and Ivy hesitated a little long before anxiously creeping forward. Ivy tried first, pressing her knee lightly against the bed and watching them carefully, as if Carmen and Kitu were going to suddenly change their minds and snap at them for daring. When that didn't happen Zack followed her lead, nervously clambering into the open space between the two of them; slowing laying down. They laid there somewhat stiff to begin with, tensing while Kitu and Carmen shuffled and readjusted to having two new people in the bed with them.

Finally Kitu yawned one last time and threw her arms over Ivy, gently holding her the way she'd originally held Carmen when they first shared a bed and the night was too intimidating and unfamiliar. Carmen watched her go stiff before slowly relaxing into Kitu's hold.

It's different, Carmen noted. Ivy was the same size as Kitu and was able to press into the darker woman's neck without Kitu having to slightly prop herself up to accommodate the extra inches in height that Carmen had on her.

She tried it for herself, hesitantly extending her arm and draping it across Zack's side. She imitated Kitu's own tricks to adjust for comfort given that Zack was taller than she was too. It was a bit strange, sharing the bed with three more people than she'd adjusted to and she wouldn't like it to happen every night but it wasn't bad either.

Carmen's eyelids drooped and she started to drift back to sleep.

This is nice.

Carmen thinks Zack and Ivy were the only ones surprised when their names appeared on hers and Kitu's skin; rough and somewhat awkward, perfectly imitating a child's handwriting. She lets them trace it with awe on features and a mass concoction of emotions flowing through the fresh bond.

"Sorry," Ivy said, rubbing her eyes. "It's just- we-"

"You don't have to explain," Carmen tells her gently. Ivy leans in and wraps her arms around her tightly.

The twins don't speak, don't explain with words but they don't have to. They've been sharing hotel rooms and showers for months now, modesty not really a concept that any of them possessed. Carmen had spent the last couple of years of her life in a dorm-style life with communal bathing areas, Kitu had been treated more like a dog than a person; scrubbed like a filthy counter to further strip away any form of autonomy she had. As for the twins? They'd been lucky if their foster families let them use the showers and the streets held nothing for them - modesty died quickly when one is on the journey to survive.

It wasn't difficult to notice.

Notice that while Kitu had three names scrawled across her body and Carmen four (even though one was a scar she was still pretending she couldn't see) the twins had one each.

Each other.

They said nothing and neither did Carmen.

Carmen was really starting to get the hang of this about a year into her new career destroying VILE's finances. Yes it still hurt when she saw members of her old team and they were forced to fight. Yes it still hurt when she makes a joke and none of her team know how to react because it's something that only makes sense on the isle. And yeah her arm still stings and aches when Coach Brunt's rage and disappointment floods her system but now she has other things to think about. Now she has Player and Kitu to whisper and joke around with. Now she has "Carmen Outwear Sandiego" which sends their entire team into breathless giggles as they tried to be stern while labelling her with such a silly middle name. Now she has Kitu carding its fingers through her hair, pressing kisses to her head while they watch Zack and Ivy trash-talk each other in Mario Kart before Player sweeps them both; distracting her from the pangs in her arm.

She'd begun to find some fun in it all too.

One of the best parts about pulling pranks back at the Academy was the reactions of her targets, the shock that jumped between everyone and the adrenaline rushing flowing through her veins as they were pursued.

Being chased was by far one of the best parts of stealing. They were getting addicted to the rush, starting to appear in the background of images and videos taken of her next marks. She was getting more and more attention now, more and more blue coats showing up at her capers to stop her. They tried to build better defenses, held PSAs to their agents and tried bringing in more, unplanned for traps.

And Carmen loved it.

She was travelling everywhere and seeing the world! Visiting every country she'd ever wanted to (practically all of them); learning more about new cultures and the people part of it alongside being pushed and challenged in her pursuit to take down VILE. It got her heart pumping, an adrenaline fuelled mad-smirk usually present on her lips as she dodged everyone on her tail.

She'd be worried that she was becoming self-centered if her team wasn't enjoying it just as much as she was,

Kitu seemed to take endless amounts of pleasure in sounds of confusion and outright disbelief when she pulled her, "now you see me" trick and scrambled the feeds. She'd even begun leaving stamps in the shape and pattern of a wolf's foot; cackling to herself when the authorities tried to analyze it. Ivy - taking on the codename, Machinist - threw herself into designing and creating new tools for Carmen and Kitu, teaming up with player to make grapple-hooks, a back-pack glider and even a pair of really advanced comm-links designed to look like earrings. The more challenges Carmen discovered in attempting to break in, the more blueprints Ivy would eagerly begin sketching in the various notepads they bought for her.

Even Zack and Player looked forward to the latest capers - Zack (code-name: Jockey) getting the chance to show off his talents for driving, being given the opportunity to sit behind the wheel of a vast collection of vehicles and Player cracking more and more advanced firewalls.

She grinned to herself as she sprung forth, landing on the slanted rooftops with a gentle tap of her feet. She didn't even bounce forward anymore having figured out the proper speeds that kept her from toppling straight from the edge of the edge and into the streets below.

"On top of the world," she breathed into her comms, overlooking the city sprawling before her. The twinkling lights of Paris made the ground-level look like a sea of stars to her eyes. "I can see La Cathedrale Saint-Pierre from here."

"Friendly advice? Save the sightseeing for after the job," Player snarked in her ear.

She chuckled to herself and launched off, getting back on the move, "Glad to hear you're on board Player."

"You know I wouldn't miss a night out with you for the world Red - now let's get this party started."

Carmen hummed lightly, focusing on crossing the rooftops to the faint sound of Player's keyboard clacking as he got into position himself, absently rambling as he kept her in the loop. Her eyes flitted over to the shadow darting across the rooftops opposite to her, Kitu glancing at her. The emotions flowing through their link let Carmen know the other woman was smirking, excitement and a sense of eagerness for what could be their biggest bust on VILE yet.

"How are we looking Player?"

"You're getting warmer Red… warmer… you're red-hot!"

"Gotcha," she said, signalling to Kitu. She received a faint nod as her partner promptly split towards the lower levels. Though their growing notoriety was fun for entertainment and made their jobs more fun, it also increased the danger levels of their capers. Kitu - or as she was referred to in the field lately, The Black Cat - had begun further expressing her talents as a lookout, infiltrator and clean-up crew. While Carmen handled the main-show, her soulmate handled the backstage issues.

Landing on the building she quickly brandished one of the Machinist's latest creations - a nifty little remote USB connector disguised as lipstick. She plugged it into the building maintenance port and chuckled to herself when only five minutes later Player announced that the alarms and security codes had been disabled and decrypted.

"I can't believe we used to do capers without this little guy," Carmen chuckled.

"I'll say - this is way easier than having to zero in on the building and jumping through the network hoops," Player chuckled, the clacking slowing a bit as they began scrolling the information. They made a noise of concern as Carmen cut through the lock on the sky-light, preparing to descend. "Hey careful Red - I'm picking up another signal. Could be a trap."

Carmen pushed open the sky-light, "Let's find out."

"Watch your step Red."

They hooked their grappling hook to a suitable anchor and started her slow clamber downward. Blue-gray eyes scanned the room cautiously, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

"Watch,,,my…" Carmen murmured to herself, eyes flitting around. Player's information was almost never wrong in the entire time she'd known them. She hovered just above the ground; wary of setting her down completely until she identified the problem. A faint flashing red-light caught her attention. "...step."

The wall to her left promptly released a volley of arrows directly towards her. Quickly she twisted around, kicking a nearby shield from display and into her hand. She quickly adjusted it to cover her body as the arrows impacted aggressively into the artifact, denting it little by little until one final arrow managed to pierce right through it. They waited for a moment, crouched in concern that the trap would send forth a second volley if it sensed movement, but thankfully that didn't seem to be the case. She ran her fingers over one of the arrows with a faint grimace, "Well this just became worth a whole lot less."

"Nice to hear you taking your own safety seriously," Kitu's voice came through laced with casual sarcasm though her bond pulsed with light worry. Carmen immediately send forth a sensation of apology and reassurance that was accepted immediately.

"What's happening on your end Kitty?"

"Car just pulled up," she reported, her voice low. It must've been trying to get a better look at whoever was crashing their party. "Not seeing any lights but ah, yes that's a bluecoat."

"Cops already?"

"Must've liked that pic of you from yesterday," Kitu's voice was laced with amusement. "Mm, there's another one but she didn't go anywhere. Main concern is a black-tie that just came sprinting into the building like a madman. Going to do a sweep to see if they're the only ones or if there's back-up."

"Keep us posted."

"Of course love."

Carmen blushed furiously - a full year later and she still wasn't used to the fact that hers and Kitu's bond had become romantic. Player laughed at her, clearing feeling the flustered combination of joy, embarrassment and adoration that always flashed through their bond when Kitty got affectionate.

"Oh hush," she said rubbing her cheeks as she returned to the situation at hand. "Alright Player, let's find us a diamond."

"Stop laughing!" Carmen snaps three weeks later, exasperated as her team howled their amusement to the skies. She tried to give them all her best glare - and was losing her touch considering Ivy just buried her face in her arms and slammed her fist on the table as she cried tears of hilarity.

"I can't believe you harassed that poor bastard so much you got a rival soulamark out of him," Kitu snickered herself. She shot her partner an amused look when Carmen leveled her with an expression of pure betrayal. "You gotta admit that this is kind of hysterical love. Just imagine - this morning, Devineax woke up with the name 'Carmen Sandiego' branded on his arm for everyone to see."

Carmen imagined it.

Carmen burst into uncontrollable giggles with the rest of her team as the emotions of shock, irritation and annoyance flowed from the new mark on her left shoulder.

Their laughter redoubled two weeks later when his name appeared on Kitu's outer hip.

"He's too much fun to tease," they claimed.

Carmen seriously considered billing Paper Star for the injuries acquired by her innocent hat. She'd known that she would have to replace the original ensemble eventually - she couldn't wear Cookie Baker's specific hat and coat for the rest of her life - but she'd been hoping it would be a bit longer before she had to. She'd gotten taller since she left VILE, her lean frame filling out as she put her lessons to use and gained active muscles, but the coat had still fit. That multicolored freak owed her a new hat and she would wring it out of her if she had to set up a burner account for Player to wire funds from Paper Star's pay from.

"Eyes on the prize Red," Kitu cautioned her through their comms. The entire team had listened to Carmen's agitated rant about the hat and were vaguely amused by the whole situation. "This train is full of civilians and Paper Star has never been known to respect public spaces."

"Believe me I know," she murmured taking a seat in one of the many booths, She pretended to be watching the windows as kept an eye on Paper Star - stripped mostly from her more auspicious outfit - waiting further towards the center of the train. "Target spotted."

"Gonna make a move?" Player asked.

"Negative - that bitch doesn't care about collateral," Kitu answered before Carmen had to. "I'm surprised the Faculty sent her out in the first place."

"Why?"

"They were actually priming me to hunt her," Kitu admitted earning a wash of surprise from Player that Carmen agreed with. "She's a complete loose canon. Utterly unpredictable in that the police will never know what's going through her mind and neither does VILE. She's got her own agenda and she doesn't share it with anyone."

"Yikes," Player muttered. "Watch your back Red. You better not die."

"If I die to Paper Star, I'm coming back to life to kick my own butt," Carmen grumbled earning a team of giggles.

She turned her head, glancing back towards Paper Star once more before her view was obscured by a blue suit jacket. Immediately annoyance flowed from her towards her partners even as Kitu burst into giggles - likely watching from wherever she'd taken cover.

"What? What's happening?" Player asked, a slight bit of nerves in his tone.

"Ms. Sandiego I presume," Chase Devineuax said, sitting across from her.

"Oh, I see ," said Player, at least having the decency to hide their laughter unlike Kitu who was giggling so loudly, even the Inspector briefly glanced towards the front of the car where she was curled up in the corner.

Traitor, Carmen thinks fondly.

She doesn't know whether to be amused or annoyed the entire encounter she could feel the changing waves that were Devineuax's emotions while they chatted. She had to admit - it was fun to tease him. He was in a constant state of feeling to the very fullest and it was something that she both admired and couldn't waste an opportunity for. At the moment, he was sending her agitated wave after agitated wave of annoyance for the little trick, handcuffing him to a pole and vanishing into the next train-car following after Paper Star.

"Whatever part of the universe is responsible for rival soulbonds is the funniest being to ever exist," Player declared.

"It's truly the best thing in the world," Kitu agreed, her laughter leaving her breathless.

"Nice to know my suffering entertains the both of you," Carmen said, rolling her eyes with amusement. They were edging closer and closer to the front of the train; Paper Star jumping from car to car. It made Carmen anxious - normally an operative wouldn't move so much when they knew she was following them in an enclosed area. Which means that either the hat-murdering freak knows something she doesn't or plans to get off the train sooner than the next stop. She scanned the available seats in the latest car - all had someone in at least one. How irritating - no way was she insane enough to sit directly next to Paper Star but she wouldn't just stand suspiciously in the car either.

Carmen stepped towards a table with a single occupant - a short woman with clipped back hair and glasses settled upon her eyes. She easily slipped into the available seat making the other occupant look up.

"This seat taken?" she inquired politely.

"Actually yes but feel free to use it until my partner returns," the other said.

"Ooh, British accent," Kitu remarked immediately. "Is she pretty Carm?"

"Partner?" Carmen decided to ask instead of humoring her bondmate. She received an emotion of false offense and amusement combined. Her eyes landed on a briefcase leaning against the window - the initials C.D. were visible to her immediately. She refrained from smirking a little - she was the other agent always being dragged after Devineax.

"My work partner," the other clarified quickly, her face turning a bit pink.

"I see," Carmen hummed, grasping her spoon and twisting it so that she could see Paper Star's reflection on the smooth metal surface. No way was she letting that woman out of her sight. "And you are?"

"Julia."

"So Jules ," Carmen shorted immediately. 'Julia' went a bit pinker in the face and Carmen immediately felt a brief flicker of pride. It was strange to be on the other side of this for once - not the one flustered but the one doing the flustering. And she was just being herself! Not even putting any of the skills she'd picked up from Kitu to use. "Off to see the Taj Mahal?"

Julia sighed, slumping a little, "I wish. The architecture, the history… sadly I'm travelling on business."

"Don't like your job, huh?" Carmen prompted, eyes flitting to Julia as a pit of sympathy panged within her. She'd felt similarly sometimes - curse VILE for always being up to something, refusing to let her explore wonderful monuments when she gets the chance.

"No, no, I love my job… I just love history even more I suppose."

A smirk flitted briefly across her lips, "Then you must be really upset about the Magna Carta."

"What?" asked Julia with a blink.

"The theft?" Carmen pressed as if she wasn't watching the women who had the stolen object. "It's all over the news now."

"Hat mangler on the move love - wrap it up," Kitu reported.

Carmen's eyes darted towards the corner immediately in time to see Paper Star stand with her little bag and walk towards the car door. She tilted her chin lightly, both nodding to Julia's somewhat adorable little rant about the importance of the Magna Carta and to let her partner know she was getting ready to pursue. Given that this was a moving train and it seemed that Paper Star was really going to push the situation, Kitu would have to stick around in the carts to keep an eye on the civilians. There was also this new group to consider - 'ACME' according to Devineax's card. Given that the inspector was still stubbornly convinced that Carmen as her team were the villains, it was unlikely that they were on VILE's side, but one could never be too careful. It was entirely possible they were even more covert than the actual thieves' organization.

"It was wonderful chatting with you Jules." Carmen hummed, rising to her feet to follow. She heard Julia speak up as she left.

"Wait but I never did your name-"

Carmen grinned to herself at the gasp of realization.

After that, it seemed like she was seeing a lot more of Jules. She was there for every mission, sometimes in the background and sometimes near the front. She was an intelligent woman - always seeming to make the best of Devineax's follies. She debated talking to her, debated chatting her up but never found the time mid-caper. It was like something was always interrupting them; Team Red and the ACME duo rarely crossed each other in close quarters.

Until they did.

Carmen gasped, tears pricking in the corners of her eyes as she struggled to hold herself upright. Pain stabbed through her like a needle being hammed through her chest with every breath she took in. She'd lost her coat fleeing, her mind scrambled and on the verge of panic. Kitu's side of the link was quiet - her emotions were muffled and faint like they were when she was sleeping. Alarming considering she'd been wide awake, filled with panic and fear not long before this.

The rest of Team Red were sending her emotions of panic, distress and fear. They were begging her to contact them, to at least unravel the tight grip she had on her emotions to let them know she was okay but she couldn't. Not while 'Coach Brunt' had faded into an agonizing scar, the emotions from her moth- The Coach - gone for the first time in a long time, pain brazing through her like she'd had a scalpel pulled across her. She couldn't let her emotions free with the name Suhara now emblazoned across her left shoulder, rough and striking and new.

Shadowsan found me as a baby, her mind tried to comprehend. Brunt tried to kill me.

She wanted to cry - she wanted to scream and thrash and sob to the universe how this was fair. She was just getting her feet beneath herself, just coming to accept her new life and enjoying herself at that.

Now she had another shattered bond, a fresh new mark with all the emotions linked to it suppressed, her romantic bondmate was unconscious somewhere she couldn't help her and the rest of her bondmates were searching for them.

She'd had to ditch her communicator earrings - they were mostly destroyed by the time she'd gotten to the alley and all she could hear was static from them. Hopefully, Player had already attempted to triangulate her location based on the previous data when he realized things had gone wrong. At least the most important part of this caper had been completed - Chase Devineax was safe. He was alive. The cops had taken him in and he would hopefully be receiving immediate medical attention.

She'd made it a decent distance from the scene of the incident. She had no idea where Shadowsan had gone but frankly, even if he'd saved her life; she wouldn't've trusted him enough to go with him either. He'd run at her with a drawn sword, he'd pulled away from her the older she got, he was harsh and judgmental towards her every step of the way back on VILE. She understood now, what he was doing - that he was trying to drive her away from a life of crime - but it still hurt. She'd still been just a little girl, a small child living up to what her family did every day. Just because she understood the why now doesn't mean she was able to move past it yet.

Her knees buckled when she staggered into the latest alleyway as she tried to drag herself to the last declared rendezvous point for the mission. Carmen shook her head in a dazed fashion, trying to keep her gaze clear. She deemed this alleyway 'close enough' by her calculations as she allowed her strength to give in. Her knees slammed into the ground, but the agony in her chest easily beat out the sting in her knees.

She leaned at the alley wall taking futile shallow breaths in the hopes that she could negate some of the pain pulsating in her lungs.

She jolted back into awareness what felt like only a moment later at the sound of footsteps tapping on the sidewalk. She curled in on herself, hiding the VILE drive that Shadowsan had given her and tried to give herself a semblance of fighting spirit. She glared at the approaching silhouette with as much menace as she could muster as the person stepped out of the shadow.

She flinched back, narrowing her eyes further even as Jules stepped out of the darkness, a look of concern on her face. Maybe she'd spent too much time around Sheena as a kid because her reflex is to hare her teeth (in a far less intimidating display than the animal she was imitating) and made an attempt to growl. The growl was cut off by her pained whine as she sank further down against the wall.

"Oh my goodness, Ms. Sandiego!" she cried out, stepping forward rapidly.

Carmen skittered back as far as she could against the wall, she wondered absently if her pupils were blown as wide as textbooks said they did when humans were flooded with adrenaline. Her breathing picked up in her panic which did them no favors given the state of their ribcage, agonizing pin-pricks stabbing through their lungs.

Carmen relaxed reluctantly - she didn't really have any choice. She was feeling really weak - by this point, a motivated rat could take her down and probably wouldn't even have to try too hard. She eyed Julia warily as she walked closer, hands up in a placating manner. The ACME agent crouched slowly at her side, gently beginning to undo her shirt to inspect her injuries. Ordinarily Carmen would've fought this - would've fought such a careful inspection but frankly, she was exhausted and her ribs hurt.

She closed her eyes at the horrified gasp that left the agent's lips.

"Ms. Sandiego, you need medical attention immediately," Julia said worriedly, Carmen wondered what it looked like for her to sound so choked up. She imagined her other bruises - the deep blue and purple ones blossoming from harsh impacts and gravel burn from being dragged across the stones. She imagined them wrapped tightly around her ribcage like a jacket, uniform is their division as they lined up among each of her individual ribs. "How did this happen?"

Carmen chuckled humorlessly, wincing at the lance of pain that elicited, "Family drama."

Julia's eyes flitted to her bared arms, likely landing on her two now matching shattered soulmarks.

"I- your soulmate did this?" Julia whispered, horrified.

"I should've expected it," Carmen murmured. Her eyes were starting to feel so heavy…

"Hey. hey you can't go to sleep," Julia said worriedly, shaking her awake again. Carmen gasped as the movement bothered the sore skin rubbing against what remained of her charred and torn shirt and her broken ribs. "I'm sorry I- I think I'm going to call am ambulance."

"No!" Carmen almost shrieked, panic flaring up in her again. "No! If I go to the hospital the Cleaner's'll get me for sure!"

"Ms. Sandiego-"

"Jules please, my team is looking for me, I'll get attention from them, I can't go to a hospital, I can't go, I can;'t go-"

Carmen could recognize a panic attack coming on when she felt one but she couldn't help it. There was so much going on, so many things shaking and rattling the fragile little world she built for herself with her new family. Everything was coming crashing down around her, shattering into little pieces leaving her destabilized as she tried to find any foothold she could have.

"Okay, okay, no hospital," Jules said quickly, leaning in perhaps to grab her before stopping herself looking anxious. She wrung her hands together as she added, "No hospital. I won't call. I promise Ms. Sandiego."

She continued murmuring things along this line adding in soothing, hushing comments in a desperate attempt to calm her. Her eyes flitted up, meeting Carmen's blue-gray ones and though she instinctively flinched at the eye-contact, the brief glance she got confirmed nothing but sincerity to her. Slowly Carmen's body unwound as much as it could in her distressed and injured state, settling a bit further onto the ground. Soon, her labored breathing filled the alley - stuttered and agonized but more or less even, unlike the short; harsh puffs from a moment before.

"At least let me help you find your team," Julia whispered, her eyes scanning over the only other visible soulmark on her body. "They must be worried sick."

"...probably. Comms went out while I got these," Carmen agreed softly, motioning as best as she could towards her chest.

Julia looked at her imploringly, so Carmen sighed and murmured her permission. The agent offered her hand and Carmen took a moment to psych herself for the pain she knew this would inspire before grasping her palm. As soon as she was vertical, pain blossomed in every part of her; an agonized gasp escaping her lips and her vision instantly went spotty. Black spots danced before her eyes and she swayed a bit, clutching to Jules' hand for dear life. She was infinitely glad the agent didn't seem to be inclined to go back on her word - Carmen doesn't know if she could've kept her promise had she come across someone in her condition.

"...a red car," she wheezed out. "T-that's my ride."

Julia murmured her understanding, leading her painstakingly slowly from the alley. This was the greatest exercise in trust that Carmen had performed in a while. The pain was so intense that Jules could've walked her right into a police station, checked her in, sat her in a cell and the thief never would've noticed.

They'd limped for what felt like hours down the sidewalk before Jules stiffened. Carmen felt herself get shuffled back and it took her pain addled mind a moment to process that Jules had taken up a protective stance in front of her. A warm sensation danced in her stomach - every time she placed her trust in Jules, it was always repaid in kind.

"There's a red car," she reported, coaxing Carmen to take a look for herself.

The woozy thief peered around her bodyguard/friend towards the street, relief flooding her at the sight of the car. The faint emotions of her soulmates exploded into sound, practically going from monochrome to full color and animation from the sheer amount of joy and relief pouring through them towards her.

"That's them," Carmen said and felt Jules' body relax on hers.

The car slowed down at their size, the engine purring softly as the passenger door swung open.

"Carm!" the twins cried out simultaneously, still weaning their disguises, but Carmen was focused on the tears welling in their eyes.

"M'alright you two," she said as reassuringly as she could. Admittedly, it would've been better if she wasn't slurring, but the pain was getting worse every second that she remained standing. She was grateful that Jules hadn't mentioned her tightening grip, likely sensing that Carmen was barely stable and needed all the support she could get.

"Get her medical attention as soon as you're able," Jules told them firmly, her gaze radiating worry as she handed Carmen over to Ivy who helped the injured thief into the backseat.

Carmen gasped, horror and dismay flowing through her when she saw Kitu curled up in the far seat. Her emotions were still muted, not flaring up even once - still unconscious. She was missing her shirt entirely, displaying the crisscrossing scars from stitches and scalpels now joined by burn marks and white bandages wrapped around her stomach.

"Your sneaky professor brought her in," Zack told her solemnly. "We don't know if he's the one who did it but…"

"But he was the one who led us to her," Ivy said softly.

Carmen stared at her, tears welling in her own eyes as she stared at Kitu; battered and injured but alive.

"Where was she?" Carmen rasped looking up.

"A fucking dumpster," Ivy spat with disgust. "Like someone just… Threw her away."

Carmen brought the walls around her emotions down half-way, a pang of guilt shooting through her when Zack and Ivy immediately gasped in agony as the amount of pain she was in slammed into them like a sledgehammer. She sought out her new link, the one with completely suppressed emotions and latched onto it. Sure she couldn't feel anything from her end but she poured as much gratitude as she could towards it.

Thank you, she thinks to Shadowsan fervently. Because now she knows why the Cleaners hadn't found her before Jules. Now she knows why Kitu had gone completely radio silent, her emotions muted to everyone no matter what anyone tried. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you-

"You'll be okay?"

Carmen was drawn back into reality, back towards Jules who seemed reluctant to let her go. The agent's eyes still wandered across her bruised and battered body.

"S'if this lot'll let me do capers like this," she told Jules.

"She's going straight to bed," Ivy swore in agreement. "Defintely no capers for a month."

"A month?!" Carmen gasped, immediately doubling back over when her ribs panged.

"It takes at least a month for broken bones to heal Ms. Sandiego," Julia chided. "And you broke many of them."

"You don't wanna set a bad example for us do ya?" Zack chimed in seeing her open her mouth to protest. The red clad thief thought about it before sighing and sinking down on the car seat without any further protest.

"Yeah yeah," she grumbled.

"Be safe," Julia told her stepping away from the car.

"I will - and Jules?"

"Yes Ms. Sandiego?"

"Call me Carmen."

It takes being put on high-end painkillers for her to notice the latest name embroidered on her body.

Julia Argent.

Of course, it was lettered in delicate writing across her third rib.

"The Lady in the Pen," Kitu murmurs, curled up on her bed; her pain crawling through Carmen's nerves and muscles as the meds drained too much of her energy for her to lock her emotions down. Its pain mingled with her own in a form of hellish feedback drowning them in each other's agony. Despite that, she couldn't be bothered to care. After all, new words had scribbled themselves alongside her soulmark - mileli (forever) and mlinzi (protector) which made her heart pulse with love and warmth. "She looks… familiar."

Carmen asks what she means.

Kitu is already asleep.

It's three long months of healing before Carmen is back in action. She'd complain more if it hadn't taken Kitu four to recover from the bullet wounds (actual bullet wounds, she didn't even know that the Cleaners carried guns) and the mild infection she got from being discarded in a dumpster in a nondescript alleyway. For each of those three months, she'd deliberated and fought with herself over her old soulmarks. It was hard to even acknowledge that Jules was one of hers while her arm still ached and there was a gaping emptiness where the distant emotions of Brunt usually resided. Even though she'd gained two new soulmates, the place where her adoptive mother had claimed was vacant.

She wondered sometimes if Brunt was thinking about this as much. If she was as upset as Carmen was. Did the Shattering affect her as much as it affected Carmen? Or had the woman merely scowled and grumbled that it had taken long enough?

Intellectually she knew that Brunt was also suffering. She knew that in order for the bond to shatter, both sides have to agree that there was nothing that could be salvaged and it wasn't Carmen leaving that had shattered it. It was Brunt trying to kill her. Crush her. Her mom tried to murder her and realized at the last second that her actions had destroyed them, had mangled any remaining desire Carmen could've had to return to the Isle.

Because she had.

As wrong as she knew as it was she missed them. That was her family. She loved them.

But now, she could never go home.

Carmen calls the inspector 'Chase' by mistake.

He pauses for a moment, visibly taken aback and she can feel his emotions twisting with confusion.

He doesn't correct her and the rant he gives about her evil misdeeds seems less heartfelt than it used to be.

Her team makes a candid effort at cheering her up. Carmen appreciates them more and more every day. The wounds from her old family are still raw but this time, she had people to fall back on. This time she wasn't blocked off from them. This time she has someone willing to catch her as she falls and she feels all the more adoring of them for that.

Things with Jules are simultaneously easier and harder than Carmen expected them to be.

She'd shuffled around when the emotions regarding the other things had faded enough to let her address the new situation. She had another soulmate, one she knew for certain now that she didn't feel merely platonic feelings for. She giggled to herself, thinking back to the Look in Kitu's eyes when they were younger, when she had gently told Carmen she loved her not long after they escaped VILE then simply waited for Carmen to catch on to the fact that her 'love you' was different. Looking back, she almost wonders how she confused the emotions.

The love she felt for Kitu and Jules was just as powerful as what she felt for Zack and Ivy but also sang as something fundamentally different. It was like two parallel lines running the same way, never intersecting but familiar enough to everyone in attendance for comparisons to be made.

The difference was in the little things.

Sometimes Ivy would do something that made Carmen beam and she wound lunge forward, wrapping her in a tight hug (because the twins had refused to let her memories of all hugs be tainted), but the same joy saw her pulling Kitu into a fervent kiss.

"You're so brilliant," she'd say to both of them with the same levels of fierce affection but her responses and the urges that came forth were always just a little to the left of each other.

Zack talks about food like Carmen speaks about geography and she's genuinely interested in what he has to say. Some would call him a senseless glutton or more kindly, a bottomless pit that food vanishes into no matter how much he's already eaten. Either way, most wouldn't think that he had in-depth opinions about what he did and didn't like - get right into describing the texture and flavor combinations of all sorts of food. He hated fish not for its flavor but rather, its texture triggered a response in his body that made him want to leap from his skin. Carmen would listen with attentive ears, fiddling with something while he ranted and when he stopped; she would look up and make comments to keep him going. Zack would grin at her and Carmen would feel a warmth in her chest so intense that she had to press a kiss to his forehead.

Julia speaks of history the way Zack speaks of food. Her focus was in art history but she has an interest in history as a whole. She jumped around while she spoke - a bit about Egypt, a bit about the Norse and a bit about the Romans. Though she listened with the same level of attentiveness that she did to Zack, she also found herself simply relishing in the melody of her voice. The way it rose and fell was like a song that Carmen was willing to listen to for all eternity, especially when it was paired with Jules' bright and excited face as she granted the uncommon opportunity to talk at length about the things she learned and studied. When Carmen made comments, urged her to keep talking; Jules would blush and avoid her eyes while seeking out her hand. The thief would be unable to stop herself, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles gently; giggling to herself when the agent turned scarlet.

The flirting came as easily to Carmen as the words of praise did.

It was easy when Kitu felt equally enthusiastic about both of those avenues of behavior; sending her waves of approval and adoration whenever she performed either action. It made her feel more confident in herself - in her looks, in her approach. Confident enough to get bolder with her offerings - red roses and chrysanthemums intertwined into wreaths left on statues, letters that she carefully placed a red lipstick mark upon and the occasional tourist-y trinket delivered with a word of compliment about her when she dropped off artifacts at her door.

Flirting in person was harder but yielded more excitement than she expected. The tiny gasp of surprise that left Jules' lips when Carmen took the gas gun from her, the way her cheeks turned pink when she allowed her eyes to scan her openly and the little shiver she gave when Carmen neatly tucked the gun back into its holster.

Jules is something exciting and new.

With Kitu, there was already history; already a backing of trust, a twinkling that there might be something more but it was never really clear. Jules is a clean slate - a soulbond built upon mutual, initial attraction; a form of pull and recede. Carmen had never had the pleasure of being chased before, her other soulmates were on her side and were perfectly content to settle in beside her. But with Jules there's a technique. With Jules, she has to run but never too far, always close enough to be just within grasp. She has to let her catch her sometimes, let herself be held and trust that Jules like a child cupping a lightning bug will let her go again.

She has to make every second she's 'caught' worth it and she does her best - cuddles, kisses to her palm, watching bad TV together and twining their fingers together. She has to make chasing her just as enjoyable.

Even more delightfully, Jules reciprocates.

When Carmen slows down for her, Jules plies her with warm tea at night, curled together under a single blanket on the couch while she does work and Carmen just rests. She reads Shakesphere and other plays while threading her fingers through her thick mane of hair and lets Carmen fumble through attempting to bake for her, destroying her kitchen in her attempts to learn for her. When Carmen takes off, Jules entertains her with witty banter and history facts that draw her closer, she listens to her when Carmen feels the need to ramble and doesn't grip her too tightly.

The words Jules adds to her ribcage are multiplying - Red, Charisma, Gentle, Free - between her and Kitu, she was becoming wrapped in words. So many it was hard to hide them.

So when they get a base, she doesn't.

The relationship she shares with Shadowsan is still… complicated.

He doesn't like to release his grasp on his emotions and she doesn't like to share hers with him. It's awkward, being marked as paternally connected but not on that level of trust with him yet. They're getting there - with every caper, she can find it in herself to trust him just a little bit more but she still wakes up from a dead sleep; shaking in Kitu's arms.

"The coat was empty?" she still asks, her soulmate although she now knows the answer. Kitu shushes her, consoles her, but that moment of failure still haunts her. The looks on everyone's faces - surprise, glee, disappointment - and the general sensation of dismay from Brunt that had gripped her chest. The following events that completely shook up her life, destroyed her trust in her family and gifted her the first shattered mark emblazoned on her shoulder.

Sometimes she's shaken awake by 'what if's' where Shadowsan doesn't free her from the lock and instead, he frees her soul from her body sending red smeared across the floor.

Sometimes he catches her before she gets to the boat and she's cut down where she stands.

Carmen enters the kitchen alone at 3am having put Kitu back to sleep, reassuring her that she was okay, just needed a midnight snack. Disbelief and concern radiates from her end of the bond but she can sense that Carmen needs time to think so she lays back down.

Shadowsan is sitting at the table.

There is a cup of black tea still steaming when she cautiously sits in the chair. She stares blankly at the warm liquid for a moment before her mind processes to pick it up. Some part of her still worries that she was being poisoned, that he was pulling the long-con. He'd tried to teach her to meditate many times before so she knows he has the patience for it.

She brings the cup to her lips and smiles. Two spoons of sugar,

His control loosens for a brief moment - she feels affection and apology before it's gone again.

It's still complicated between them but they're getting better.

Stockholm isn't the worst day of her life.

Brunt crushing her to death was solidly number one, finding out her family was lying to her was number two, but Stockholm could rest secure in its position as her third least favorite day. Jules radiates shock and horror that rapidly morphs into anger that burns so brightly that even dizzy and half-coherent, Carmen nearly canters right into a panic attack; her addled brain unable to comprehend that it wasn't her that Jules was angry with.

She's freezing, laying in the snow; staring up at the sky with her cloak half over her.

She wants to be angry with ACME - wants to be angry with their Chief.

But the woman had seemed horrified at her state, shocked at her fading consciousness. Against all else, the Chief lets her go.

She has Carmen in a position where she couldn't fight back if she wanted to. Her team was probably hours out, unable to reach her in the blizzard, she was injured and barely conscious. It would be so easy to slap a pair of cuffs on her at the same time they hooked her up to an IV. In fact, she thinks she hears someone advocating for that exactly.

But…

But she wakes up with Jules at her side in a medical wing. She blacks out and wakes up again as her team arrives, cradling her in their arms. Zack and Ivy are sobbing so hard that they didn't even bother to use their codenames. Belatedly Carmen hopes ACME wouldn't look them up because it was real names time.

Player was sobbing through her ear-piece, begging her to wake up; begging her to respond to him.

She manages to make a vague sound that could be interpreted as words and Players sobs of fear became hysterical sobs of relief.

"Stop doing this to me! You have to stop fucking doing this to me Carmen!"

Dang, he's really upset, she thinks belatedly when they use her name. Her eyes shut and she falls asleep again.

"Do I… know you?" The Chief asks, staring intently at Kitu.

Kitu watches her with soft but honest eyes, "I think so. But I don't know from where yet. Maybe we can try this again under better circumstances."

"Maybe," agrees the Chief.

Carmen is getting tired of spending three months on bed rest.

At least Jules is here on vacation to help her through it this time.

"Stockholm," Kitu says simply when Carmen runs her fingers over the newly added name on her spine. The letters are clean and near - Julia Argent. "She led us right to you. She argued with the Chief - she was the reason that you came back to us."

"I'd thought you were eying her dress," Carmen mumbled.

Kitu grins coyly, "... I will concede the dress is part of it."

They rambled about the woman they were coming to adore, beginning to love until Carmen fell asleep again.

Carmen doesn't know who to believe or who to trust.

She doesn't trust Brunt when her ribs still twang in the freezing cold, her lungs stinging and her skin still prickles when she hears the pet-name, 'mama bear.' She still woke up lashing out at Kitu in a blind panic when she feels her arms draped across her hips, sobbing hysterically and eventually snuggling into her chest, gripping her shirt as she tried to re-assert a sense of calm in her heart.

She still doesn't trust Shadowsan, who failed her on purpose and subjected her to the laughing taunts and whispers ("I knew she wasn't all that, Faculty's spoiled brat"). Who always made her feel so uncomfortable in public, giving her harsh dressing downs for any minute mistake - whom she still felt a sense of betrayal towards for the way he pulled away as she got older; whom she perceived as abandoning her.

She didn't know who to believe.

But she knew where to start.

"Stop!" Kitu bursts out, rushing around the counter.

Carmen looks up startled alongside the rest of their team. Kitu never strays from the plan unless necessary, never breaks post - never goes against Carmen. But here she was, inside the coffee-shop instead of outside, coming in through the backdoor and rushing out to where Carmen sat face to face with The Chief.

"You again," the white haired woman responds neutrally, watching her through cautious eyes. Carmen commends her wary behavior - after the incident in Stockholm, it only made sense that Team Red wouldn't be friendly. It made sense to be on guard - they were even going to prove it to her had Kity not showed up.

Kitu didn't even seem to recognize what she was doing, moving forward with glazed amber eyes; tears welling up as emotions Carmen never expected began racing through their link. She felt Jules perking up, sending through emotions of concern as she picked up on Carmen's own distress and likely the waves rushing through Kitu as well.

"It's you," Kitu breaths, wiping her eyes and Carmen is shocked to see that she's crying. She's clutching something in her hand, a piece of paper or maybe a picture - she's not entirely sure from where she's standing. "It didn't recognize you at first- it's been forever-"

"What are you talking about?" The Chief demands.

Kitu's hands shoot towards her shirt, emotions and nerves making her clumsy as she struggles furiously to get it off. The Chief seems as bewildered as Zack and Ivy do, watching her with open bewilderment but Carmen gasps as she figures out what's happening. She presses her comm and quickly calls Player off, orders him as discreetly as she can to retract himself from ACME's severs because she would hate herself forever if she ruined this for Kitu.

She waits in silence, ignoring the look of suspicion from the Chief as Kitu manages to get her shirt off and quickly turns her back to the woman, displaying the two words written above Jules' name, above even Carmen's name.

Tamara Fraiser.

The café is full of silence, the woman in question frozen in disbelief. The Chief - Fraiser is staring at Kitu like she'd just seen a ghost. They're staring at each other, each woman seeming to be completely unable to believe their eyes. Kitu moves first, moves forward close enough to offer the crumpled image (Carmen is sure it's a picture now) in her palms. The Chief unravels it with shaky hands, staring down at whatever the image revealed as her shoulders began to shake.

"... kid?" Fraiser asked, and her voice was trembling like she was seconds from breaking down.

"I really tried to come back to you," Kitu promised quietly, tears streaming slowly down her face. "I swear I tried. I was stopped. I never forgot about you."

Carmen turned away as the Chief lunged, throwing her arms around her best friend.

She needed answers but right now, this wasn't about her.

"Really?" Carmen asked, completely surprised. "You're- you're just giving them to me?"

The- Fraiser - pushes the folder more insistently into her hands, an expression of sincerity on her face.

"Kitu told me some things about you," Fraiser informed, and her eyes sparkle when she says her best friend's name. There's a new light to her gaze, a new strength to her posture. Carmen doesn't know how it must feel to think the daughter you'd adopted was kidnapped and killed less than four hours after she'd been officially welcomed into your family. Can't imagine how it must feel to find that the daughter was still alive. "I told you what all I knew, but this is the official report. His picture's in there too."

Him.

Dexter Wolfe.

"Thank you," Carmen tell her sincerely. She feels bad that they were going to trick her, that they were going to squander any trust built between them. Now that she wasn't blinded by desperation, she was shocked by how reckless her plan had been. She beat herself up a bit for not even considering how her actions could've affected Jules who's been on her side since the very beginning. How it could've made her life within the organization so much harder.

"We can't be allies aloud - who knows how VILE would react," Fraiser continued. "But… Agents Argent and Devineax are the ones assigned to your capers. Permanently."

Carmen grins.

Carmen rolls her eyes as her team bursts into hysterical laughter when she tells them about her father.

Kitu eyes the man who'd brought her home with open amusement, "Really Shadowsan? A wolfe in black sheep's clothing?"

The man's face is carefully blank but he can't hide the trickle of embarrassment leaking through the bond to Carmen.

"What did you tell her?" Carmen wonders aloud, curled up in Kitu's arms again. Her partner is warm and solid beneath her, wiry muscle pressed against her back. A pang of sadness runs through her at the thought - Kitu had never been given the chance to be soft. Even when they were kids, she lacked the soft, roundness of baby-fat that Carmen had; her gaze hard and filled with steel and fire when she thought Carmen wasn't looking. They'd even confessed that Bellum had removed her breasts when they'd started getting on the larger side, complaining that they messed with her experiments. She'd never been given the chance to be soft, her body had always belonged to someone else. She looks down at the old folded image, the picture that had triggered a powerful and repressed memory. A very young Kitu - younger than Carmen ever remembers seeing her - with bright eyes and a cutesy smile. There's a woman standing behind her but the top of it is singed; ruined in the fire that changed their lives. Kitu is sitting on the woman's lap holding up a sign reading Happy Adoption Day Kitu Fraiser Masai!

Carmen understands what her father was intending - that he was just trying to keep her safe, that he was keeping VULE from killing a child after she managed to escape their custody after seeing one of their agent's faces but some part of her also hates him for ruining this joy, ruining this delight. She hates looking at her round race and soft features in this picture knowing that it would only be a few days before it was replaced by sharp angles and a gaunt look to her face. Carmen's heart clenched seeing that even soft-featured and gently smiling, her partner still had a haunted light to her eyes, had seen something no child should've. Kitu had yet to tell her what that was but given that she couldnt've been more than six in the picture and was being adopted, given how she met Tamara Fraiser...

"I told her that you kept me sane," Kitu said wistfully, drawing them closer into its arms. Their bonds were fully open to each other, feedback much like when they were injured but this time; purely the love shared between the two of them constantly flooding her ears."That you were my friend when I had none. That you were kind when no one else was. That you made me feel like a person, not the beast they were training me to be. That you kept me alive because I would've turned on myself without you. That you came back."

She looked down with love in her gaze, unconditional and unrelenting as she leaned forward to press a kiss to her forehead.

"I told her that you saved me mpenzi ," Kitu said adoringly.

And Carmen vows then and there to give Kitu the chance to be soft.

"Alright guys, who's providing the grub?" Zack asked, breaking Carmen out of the reel of memories she was in. The thief had slowly begun drifting back to sleep, the cozy feeling of Jules laying on her plus the feelings of contentment flowing from every member of her family all at once lulling her more effectively than any pill or melody. "'Cause I can taste but I don't think anyone wants me in the kitchen-"

"We don't," Carmen chorused in time with Ivy, Kitu and Shadowsan.

"There'z a story being zat isn't there?" Chase asks knowingly.

"It was the third and last time he's been allowed in a kitchen," Kitu chuckled as she stood up. She stretched, the hem of her shirt riding up in response to her movements which Carmen and Julia both appreciated openly. Kitu laughed, presumably feeling the approval from their partners through the bond as they offered their control to Zack. "I can start cooking if you wanna take over."

"Sure!" Zack agreed, easily bounding over with Chase following curiously.

"Wanna play too Devineax?" Ivy asked, tossing over a spare controller.

Devineax sat down beside them, accepting the controller from her with an agreeing nod. Carmen turned her gaze towards her partner, following their hips unashamedly when they slipped off towards the kitchen getting ready to cook.

"You know she's just going to make a massive pan of fried rice again right?" Carmen called to the red-head playing the game.

Zack nodded absently, "Yeah but she makes really good fried rice so it's okay."

"He's not wrong," Julia hummed. "That rice was delicious."

Carmen grinned a silly grin as the rest of the room paused to agree before returning to their tactics. She stretched towards the sky, gently moving Julia from her lap. She suppressed a giggle at the sound of protest this action garnered in tandem with her instantly sending emotions of faux betrayal and exasperation.

"Where are you going?" Julia pouted a little, staring up at her with injured eyes.

"To help Kitu - there's a lot of us," Carmen explained.

Julia immediately slid off the couch, moving towards her, just as happy to spend domestic time with her partner as the next girl. Carmen laced their fingers together as soon as she was within reach. She wasn't sure what she felt for Julia was love just yet but it was pretty damn close. She adored this woman the way she adored Zack and Ivy, like she adored Shadowsan.

She grinned as she entered the kitchen, Kitu standing at the counter with her phone propped up on a little stand. Tamara Fraiser was talking with her softly, the two catching up on each other's lives. Their story was one of complex tragedy - a series of decisions that had caused them a lot of pain though Carmen guilty wouldn't want a single thing different. Her father kidnapping Kitu had led to him being killed but it also gave her a best friend. His death hurt her but he was the reason she found Player. Finding Player let them escape the island, escaping the island introduced them to Zack and Ivy. Dexter Wolfe's decisions led to the creation of ACME and introduced them to Jules and Devineuax.

"Still thinking about our family?" Jules prompted, tugging her back to reality once more.

Carmen kisses her temples with a goofy smile - our family.

"Yeah," she agreed softly. "I wouldn't change anything about it."

An explosion of angry French came from the living room paired with maniacal laughter from two Boston siblings.

"Nothing at all?" Jules asked with a light giggle.

"It's all worth it," Carmen said simply, walking towards her partner while tugging Julia along. She couldn't help herself, she channeled all the warm, adoration and joy she could feel beating in her chest: pushing it towards each of the bonds tied to her heart.

"Love you too Carm!" she heard Ivy call from the living room, Zack chiming in.

Shadowsan made do with sending her emotions back to her tinged with affection and agreement while Devineax's side of their link became flustered and embarrassed albeit, he hesitantly returned the emotions to a lesser degree.

Jules leaned over standing on her toes while pressing a kiss to the underside of her jaw.

"I love you too Carmen," Kitu said with a warm smile, offering her a wooden spoon.

Carmen accepted it and moved to join her partner.

We should do domestic stuff like this more often, Carmen thinks.

Then she focuses on the fried rice.