#carules

Pairings: Carmen Sandiego x Julia Argent

Summary: It all starts with a deep wound and Carmen's soft voice trying to keep her awake. Then the next few times are far from being the result of a mission or even a sweet coincidence.

Warnings: violence.

Word count: 1225

Ao3

Part 1 of 2

The first time Julia registers the gray blue of Carmen's eyes after the brief conversation on the train, she's not sure what's going on. Everything seemed to happen in front of her in less than a second. At first Julia has her gun aimed at a woman who is certainly part of VILE with her paper too sharp for the ACME agent to think that this is really paper and and with her very different figure from the security team of the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro.

 "Do you want to try your luck, agent?" The woman raises her hands at chest level revealing numerous paper stars between her fingers.

And the next moment, Carmen's figure appears in front of her, pushing Julia to the ground to save her from the colorful origami flying toward.

The thief's face hovers just above her, her eyes widen slightly, and Julia can see tiny darker dots intertwining with the blue. She thinks of the meeting of the Seine River with the blue sky of Paris, the mix of tones from the last time she was in the French city.

“Are you ok?” Carmen asks without moving away.

Julia doesn't know what to answer, for right now the indistinguishable smell of iron reaches her nostrils and she feels the skin above her belly button damp. It's blood, she recognizes. But there is no telling exactly if it is hers or of the woman that still holding her against the floor. Her doubt disappears when the pain finally hits her turning her expression into a grimace.

“No. I think I’m injured”, Julia says in her trembling words and the thief shifts her gaze to the open wound on the agent's abdomen before getting up.

Carmen looks somewhere behind her and seems to weigh her available options. Julia watches the redhead pinch her lips as she helps her to her feet, offering her shoulders for support.

"No," Julia protests trying to lean against the nearest wall. "Go after her."

"I can't leave you like this."

"Devineaux is here too," she steps back a few more staggering steps. Julia wants Carmen to go her way, chase that woman and prove once again that she is doing nothing but what is right. But the thief approaches again and she can't refuse her help when her vision fades a little and Carmen's warm hand comes over hers pressing on the deep wound.

"Then I'll take you to him," Carmen says looking straight into her face. "I just need you to hold on a little longer."

"Okay," Julia tries to promise, but her senses slip away and all she can register is Carmen's tightening grip and her voice very close to her ears.

“No, no, no, Jules. I need you to stay with me, please.”

"I'm sorry to ruin your clothes," Julia manages to mutter before everything else goes off.

 A few hours later when she wakes up, Devineaux is asleep on a bench near her bed, leaning fully against the wall behind him that Julia thinks is from a hospital. She looks at her bandaged skin, but that's not what catches her eye. At her feet is an Egyptian archaeological artifact that she recognizes is from the Museu Nacional.

  _______________

  The second time she's in the same space as the lady in red, Julia doesn't expect it. It has been two weeks since the mission in Brazil and the agent is in her London apartment still recovering. Julia comes out of her kitchen holding firm a cup of tea in her fingers when Carmen appears sitting on her couch, her long red hair messing with the wind that invades the room through the open window behind the thief. She looks at Julia with a crooked smile on her lips and the suggestion of a challenge to get closer in her blue eyes.

 “What are you doing here?” She struggle to ask when Carmen removes her fedora putting it on the dark leather of the couch besides her. "How did you find me?"

  "Hello to you too, Jules," Carmen gets up.

Julia is not sure how to breathe. The air vanishes from her lungs as the other woman approaches to stand less than a meter near her. Is she afraid of Carmen? No. It's not fear. Julia doesn't know exactly how to feel about it. The most wanted international thief standing right in front of her, smiling. But also the only one who has really done anything good in the international circus that became the hunt for VILE. Carmen is one of the good guys.  Julia knows that. There is no one who can change her mind, not after she saved her life. There is no reason to fear Carmen.

Still Julia has trouble catching her breath and looks even harder when the late afternoon sunlight hits Carmen's face. Her heart is making a number on her chest.

“I just wanted to come by and see how you are doing,” Carmen comes a little closer.

 “I'm fine,” Julia holds the cup in one hand so the other is free to push her glasses up her nose. "Still recovering but much better than last time we met."

 “I’m glad to hear that.”

“Thank you,” Julia says suddenly and her voice sounds much softer. “Thank you for saving me and for retrieving the golden mask for the Rio de Janeiro museum. I didn't have a chance to say back there in Brazil. Actually I never really had a chance to thank you for everything else. ”

  "You don't have to. It's the kind of thing I do. My job."

“I’m aware of it. But anyway, thank you Miss Sandiego.”

"I'd like to hear Devineaux saying it," the thief smiles at the agent. "But as long as I imagine this is impossible to achieve as something in return for the work I've been doing, I'd like you to call me Carmen."

 Julia feels her face warming and she imagines the blush reaching her cheeks as the smile of the woman in front of her widens a little more. She can't help but smile too.

The real reason why Carmen is there still pokes her ribs even though she wants to believe in the thief's words. Julia needs to be careful even if she trusts her. She is nonetheless an ACME agent and a connection with the other side could mean some breakthrough to finally track down what Chief has failed in twenty years. She just hopes Carmen won't back down because of it.

"So, are you really here to see how I’m doing?" Carmen's smile falters immediately and she regrets asking. But instead of what she thought, the thief doesn't back down. Carmen shifts her gaze to the floor and lets out a weird laugh before looking straight into Julia's eyes again.

“I thought you were going to ask that. Don't blame you with all this cat and mouse game going on. The truth, ”she studies the agent's expression. “The truth is I've been working around and thought a visit wouldn't kill me.” Carmen looks shy for the first time in the talk even though her words don't sound like that.

"Oh," it's Julia's turn to look away. Carmen's intensity burns her train of thought. "If so, would you like a cup of tea?"