A/n: This would be set during Stockholm Syndrome. It's one of my favourite episodes, so when I couldn't decide which fandom I wanted to do for this prompt, I remembered Carmen Sandiego and voila. Apologies in advance for any chronological errors or anything but I don't want to watch the actual episode and write while watching and stuff. I'll try to write it so that bit makes sense though.

She didn't remember much about her time in the ice.

She faintly remembered crashing, but it was more just what she'd been feeling then. Panic, mostly, and pain, but above all just the confusion and blurriness that was a result of the gas. She'd passed out then, and when she came too, she found herself cold and wet.

That was when she was the most aware, she thinks, because by then the gas had worn off but the cold hadn't really set in yet. Her only thoughts then had been the mission, and worrying about getting back. She'd figured out quick enough that she wasn't getting out without help. If only her stupid comms hadn't broken…

She remembered feeling lonely, oddly. Out of everything, that feeling - along with the cold - was what she remembered most. For so long, she'd always had people with her, whether physically or over comms. Player himself had been with her for so long now that she felt so alone without him chatting with her. It made her appreciate them even more.

As the cold had set in slowly, her mind wandered. Every now and again, her eyes would go to the ACME pen that had somehow stayed with her, and she'd have a quick internal debate of whether or not to ask for their help. Of course she wanted to get out and needed someone else to do so, but they saw her as the enemy currently - were the reason she was in this predicament in the first place - and after she called them, there was no going back.

Zack, Ivy and Player would be worried. So would Shadowsan. She almost hoped they didn't tell the old samurai - she doubted he'd ever let her go out again. She almost laughed at the thought.

She wondered what the others were doing. As much as she wanted to be out of the cold, she hoped they'd gone after VILE. Each win for the enemy was becoming more and more costly, and they couldn't afford to let VILE win. Even if it meant she was left here for longer.

One thing she absolutely hated though, was that she was so unaware of everything around her. Not that there was much going on, or anything like a clock to go off of, but she'd always prided herself on her observation skills yet now she barely knew how long her eyes had closed for, whether it'd been a blink or she'd passed out for an hour and woken up. Nothing around her surroundings really gave her an idea of time, or direction, or really anything of use. If her circumstances had been different, it might have been almost peaceful; existing in a place that seemed outside of time and space, no people or distractions around.

It made her feel lost. She was an adventurous person, loved exploring, but she never really felt lost. Maybe it was because she always had Player in her ear telling her where to go, maybe because she had a purpose wherever she usually found herself. Whatever it was, she felt so, completely lost. Out of her element. And she was rarely ever out of her element.

She could feel her consciousness going, the cold replacing it and shutting her down slowly. Her senses were dulling and she hated knowing that. With the way she was raised, her job and even just the fact that she had enemies had made losing any of her senses invoke a sense of paranoia. She expected to be snuck up on at any second, but at the same time, she couldn't force herself to be more aware. It was just physically impossible.

How much time had passed now? She was dangerously close to her eyes shutting indefinitely, and the ACME pen was looking more appealing by the second. It should be a simple decision, but nothing in her cursed life was ever simple unfortunately. Even so…

For a long while after, all that she remembered was blurry flashes. Chief, ACME, a choice, Ivy and Zack in the distance- no wait, they were right next to her in a van. The mission! No, wait, Ivy said she dealt with it. A hospital, doctors.

She drifted in and out of sleep for a long time since then. Each time she woke up, she seemed to be somewhere different, different people around her. The first few times - according to Ivy - she asked about the mission multiple times and each time they told her it was all good and caught her up on the cases that'd happened ever since. She remembered feeling a bit of fomo, sad and frustrated that she couldn't join them on her own mission but then she'd drift back into unconsciousness and forget all about it.

After waking up in the hospital the first few times, the warehouse was a constant. She woke up each time on the couch, sometimes with Zack and Ivy nearby putting something up on the walls, Shadowsan reading a newspaper on the couch or snoozing, almost always a laptop open on the table with Player keeping an eye on her.

She hated every second of being on that couch. Of course, she adored the time to just chill with her friends for once - conversations with Player about things other than work, bonding with Ivy, finding out about Zack's secret passion for cooking - but she felt so helpless. So useless, confined to the couch except for the occasional trip to the washroom and with or without help getting there, the short walk left her winded. She could barely stay awake for more than four hours and it annoyed her to no end.

Not only was she stuck physically, but with nothing else to do, she was left with her own thoughts and that was maybe the worst part of all. Her mind was not a pretty place. For all the good she did, all she'd survived, her past and twisted upbringing had left its scars. She never realised just how much her unusual childhood had affected her, but now that she had no other choice but to reflect, all the memories of her time on the island came back. The things that her mind had pushed aside, the less… appealing memories her mind had blocked now came forth. More often than not, she found herself waking from nightmares, or being woken up by a concerned Ivy.

It reminded her of why she did what she did. What she fought for, why she risked her life, what her mission was and what it was all for. What would happen if she stopped - or worse, failed. It only bolstered her resolve.

The second she was able to stay awake long enough, she'd start training again. Her body needed rest, yes, but she could sleep as much as she wanted when she was dead. Or at least when VILE was taken down for good, however long - or preferably soon - that might take.

A/n: That took way too long to write lol. I don't love the ending and I'm sorry it's short but I still have a lot of prompts to catch up on for Febuwhump as well as real work ToT

Anyway, hope you liked it either way. Stay safe and see ya soon.

- CrowofArcadiaOaks