#carmeneaux

hi again ppl! i'm not dead yet (yay!)— this post is literally me checking you out and announcing that i'm posting new fics right now (the pending ones) i'm sorryyy for making you wait this long. 2025 was a pretty chaotic year for me but furtunately everything is starting to feel good finally and i'm happy to be so near to become a phycisist! 🪐 i appreciate so much 🤍🤍 *tight hugs*

here (pending bc im dumb😭) is the rest of the yotp 2025 challenge, i wrote new things too and they're ready to go! i'm so excited to share them with you so which fic would you like me to post first? ...

that's all my darlings, thank you for reading me 𖹭.ᐟ

The misty Stockholm evening draped the embankment in leaden light as Carmen Sandiego, concealed on the roof of an old warehouse, saw them. Below, at the pier, Agent Chase Devineaux in his rumpled beige trench coat was talking animatedly to his new partner. Zari. Slender, with a flawless bun, she stood almost motionless, listening to him or pretending to. Carmen couldn't see Zari’s expression; her attention was wholly absorbed by Chase. He gestured, spoke with that familiar intensity Carmen had seen so many times, but now... now he seemed different. His usual stubborn zeal was mixed with something Carmen struggled to define – an attempt to please? He leaned slightly towards Zari, spoke with exaggerated energy, even smiled a couple of times – that wide, captivating smile of his, which Carmen... which Carmen had thought was reserved only for her in their eternal game. Zari merely tilted her head slightly in response, her reaction hidden from Carmen. But for Carmen, it was enough: Chase was clearly trying. He was flirting. A sharp, prickly feeling, cold and burning at once, tightened her throat. She jerked back from the roof's edge, her red coat swirling behind her like the wing of a startled bird. Stupid! Pure stupidity! But she couldn't shake the feeling off.

Their next encounter occurred a week later in the alleys of Lisbon. Carmen, merged with the shadow of an arch, watched as Chase searched a deserted tavern alone – obviously following the false trail she had carefully laid. When he emerged, shuffling his feet irritably on the cobblestones, she allowed him to glimpse her. Just for an instant – a flash of scarlet coat hem at the end of the street.

Chase lunged after her with a growl, familiar stubbornness burning in his eyes. The chase was swift but short: Carmen easily led him into a dead end – a quiet courtyard, draped with grapevines. She stood with her back to the wall, her hat slightly tilted over her eyes, not running. He stopped three paces away, breathless.

“Sandiego,” he exhaled, more a statement than an address. His gaze slid over her face, lingering on her tightly pressed lips, on her eyes slightly averted to the side. “You’re… tense today. What happened? Did someone actually outpace you in the art of vanishing? Or…” He took a step closer, studying her. “Or is it something else?”

Carmen forced a smirk, donning the mask of her usual bravado: “Concerned about my mood, Devineaux? Don’t get ahead of yourself. Maybe I’m just tired of watching your little show. Especially with such a partner.” She deliberately drew out the last word, unable to suppress the sting of jealousy. “The new nanny from ACME… Must be very comforting during those long night shifts.”

Chase froze. His eyes, usually full of the fire of pursuit or irritation, suddenly became intensely focused. He didn’t laugh, didn’t snap back. He looked at her. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the corners of his lips twitched not into a smirk, but into something else – understanding? Insight?

“Zari?” he asked quietly, and there was not a trace of anger in his voice, only a strange, unaccustomed softness. He took another step, closing the distance. Carmen felt her back press against the cool stone.

“That arrogant idiot?” Chase said it calmly, without malice, as a statement of fact. “She considers me incompetent trash, Sandiego. Every look from her is a scalpel, every word a reminder that I’m a hindrance to her flawless career.” He shook his head, and a familiar stubbornness flared in his gaze, now mixed with something frank. “Stupid. Just stupid to think that someone like her could occupy my thoughts for even a second. Especially when they are all, every single one, occupied by you.”

The silence in the courtyard became resonant. The city noise vanished somewhere. Carmen felt heat rush to her face beneath the wide brim of her hat. She hadn’t expected such bluntness. He hadn’t been flirting. He was… clarifying. Removing an absurd misunderstanding. Because he saw it mattered to her? That realization made her heart pound wildly.

“Occupied by me?” She tried to inject a mocking note, but her voice betrayed her with a tremor. “Dreaming of my handcuffs, Agent? Of the cell? Of the triumphant report to the Chief?”

“Dreaming of understanding you, Carmen,” he answered seriously, and there was not a trace of play in his eyes. “Why do you do it? Why steal from thieves, play cat and mouse with me and ACME? What cunning plan lies behind it all?” He took another step closer. Now only a meter separated them. Carmen could see the creases in his coat, the shadow of stubble on his cheeks, the warm, intent gaze. “You’re not just a thief. I know that. Feel it. But this… it drives me mad. Because I have to stop you. Have to arrest you. It’s… my job. My purpose.” He uttered the last word with a kind of fatal heaviness.

Carmen forced herself to straighten up. Fear (of his words, of VILE, of her own inexperience) mingled with something sweet and unsettling – his admission that his thoughts were filled with her.

“And your purpose, Devineaux,” her voice sounded slightly husky, but she steadied it, “as usual, is twenty minutes behind me. Just like your new car, which I’m sure you’ve already managed to wreck somewhere. Or is it still intact?” She cast a quick glance down the alley behind him, assessing her escape route. She needed to run. From him. From these feelings. From his dangerous sincerity.

Chase only smiled – wide, warm, sparkling, without a trace of embarrassment. That smile held all his spirit, his indomitable will, and… a challenge.

“Intact, Sandiego. For now. But don’t kid yourself about twenty minutes. Or about my purpose.” His gaze became piercing, hot, full of the promise of pursuit. “I will find you. Always find you. Never stop. You are my life’s work. And not one icy Zari or a hundred headlights I smash along the way will change that.”

And then Chase appeared.

Me, Carmen Sandiego, a woman who can plan a bank heist in Zurich while drinking her morning coffee in Tokyo... I couldn't calculate him. Or rather, I couldn't calculate the effect he had.

His courtship... it wasn't a standard set of moves. It was like how he tracks me across the globe. He didn't just give me flowers. He found that one, nearly extinct orchid I'd mentioned in passing during a conversation about Borneo. He didn't just ask me out to a cafe. He found the one with a view of the sunset over the River of Castles, knowing full well that I appreciate not just the coffee's taste, but the aesthetics of the panorama.

I've always been a lone wolf. My team is my family, but it's a professional bond. But this... this was someone giving me their attention not as a thief, not as a target, but simply as a woman. And that was the most difficult operation I had ever faced. Harder than breaking into Fort Knox. Because there was no hiding behind a cloak and a clever plan.

And his support... He never says "don't go." He says "I've got your back." When I leave on a job, he doesn't try to stop me. He looks me in the eye and says, "Show them what Carmen Sandiego is capable of." He believes in me more than I sometimes believe in myself. And there's not a shred of that patriarchal desire to control or shelter a fragile woman in it. There is respect for my strength and a readiness to be my rear guard.

Before Chase, I thought relationships were a weakness. A vulnerability. But they turned out to be... the most valuable prize. The kind you can't lock in a safe, can't appraise in dollars. It's like trying to steal the very concept of the sky—pointless until you learn how to fly.

He taught me to fly without being alone. And damn it, this flight has turned out to be the most thrilling adventure of my life. Far more interesting than any treasure hunt.

Because a treasure, in the end, can be returned. But this... it's not proper to steal this. This is meant to be cherished.