Author's Note: Hello All! I hope that you are all doing well under quarantine right now and keeping your spirits up. When I last wrote I had not anticipated the whole world falling into complete and utter chaos as it has. Nonetheless we are all now adjusting to a new normal. Perhaps I will be able to post some more again soon. I've got a number of new chapters in the pipeline now, in addition to several new ideas for more future chapters as well. We'll see how things go!

Thank you again for the lovely reviews! :) They do brighten my days so!

A note on this chapter. This is another "flashback" as it were, I seem to be stuck on those right now, but this time from Carmen's point of view. It goes back to the night of her assault. Everything remains in the T category; however there may be some scenes that could be potential triggers.

Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever owned the Carmen Sandiego Franchise.

The streets of San Francisco were chilly this evening. Carmen found herself pulling her sweater more tightly around herself as she walked. Whether this was to shield her from the cold, or to provide her with some sense of protection she was not entirely sure. It was quite late, and she really should not have been out walking the streets, especially not on her own. Yet she could not bring herself to return to VILE, not quite yet anyway. Her mind was still racing from her time in Paris and she needed the cool air to cleanse it.

Coming back to San Francisco after Paris had been immensely difficult for Carmen. When this whole thing had started she had known that it would be, it always was when she and Chase parted. Over the years it never got any easier. Whether they were sparring with one another on opposite sides, or if they were meeting on personal terms it was a challenge. Without him here now she felt an emptiness inside of her chest as if her heart had been ripped out. This visit had been far more difficult than the rest had been over the years.

There were many times she thought back on the decisions she had made throughout the years and felt a sense of deep regret. They had caused her immeasurable pain and others as well. It had been a very hard step for her to take to turn to this life, but when the offer had been made to her she had known that it was the right thing to do. How utterly insane it had sounded at the time. To go from solving crimes to committing them? It still went against her moral grain to this day.

Some parts of it she liked, the mental gymnastics and the thrill of the chase. There was no way she could ever be bored. Having a complete organization and employees of her own was also quite useful and she was able to accomplish a lot of good through that, even if it was behind the scenes. She could also work in near complete autonomy. The directives she was given were minimal at best. Just a push or pull in this direction or that. The rest of the time she was free to be creative and do as she liked.

On the other hand it was difficult being her. She was not often able to see those whom she loved, and by necessity she was not at liberty to make too many personal connections with people. Maintaining her relationship with Chase was probably something she should not have been doing. It was risky business in more ways than one. Her employers had been afraid that they were too close. Perhaps they feared that she would end up saying more than she should because of their emotional involvement. If she was being honest with herself in the past she had come quite close to doing just that. Life certainly would have been far easier that way. Easier if he knew that things really were not all that different than they had been before. She knew though, that it would ruin things were she to do that.

As much as it would have been far easier for her to have cut the connection entirely; in her heart she knew that she could not do that. It would have crushed her. Yet with what she had done to him this morning she might as well have served him with divorce papers. After the wonderful weekend they had shared, and all of the years before that, this had perhaps been the most heartless thing she had ever done to him or anyone. Heaven knows he did not do anything to deserve her treatment. Had she left him on the tower it would have been a far gentler thing to do. Yet she had wanted more time with him. More time in a normal life. Her selfishness had led her to today.

From the moment she had snuck out the window of his bedroom earlier in the morning she had been wracked with guilt. In true Carmen Sandiego fashion she had made an escape, only this time she had not stolen anything but time. More than anything she wanted to go back and set things straight. Yet she knew if she had done that she would not have been able to leave. Had she faced him in person this morning she would have ended up staying; perhaps telling him everything too. That was why she had to do what she did. As utterly painful and cruel as it was.

As her mind wandered in all directions she had not even been paying much attention to where she was going. Without even thinking about it she pulled at the chain of the necklace she wore underneath her shirt and brought it out into the open clasping the simple ring it held tightly. It was modest, all they could afford in their early days as detectives, but she loved it all the more for that. It was the only piece of jewelry she regularly wore.

Her memories turned to the night before as she held it tightly in her hands. He'd cooked them dinner in his apartment, their apartment, and she had been helping him with the final preparations. It had felt like the old days again, a simple life like everyone else had. She was washing some of the dishes in the sink when he had come up behind her and pulled the pins out of her hair. All of it had come out of the twist she had tied it in earlier that morning, pins flying every which way. With hair like hers that had taken an inordinately long period of time to get it to stay in place to begin with.

"What was that for?" She asked looking up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I've been wanting to do that all week." He said by way of reply; placing his hands on her shoulders.

"That does not answer the question."

"Oh I think it does." He said. "You asked why, and I told you."

"Yes, but why?"

He just smiled at her without saying a word before leaning down and kissing her cheek. Pausing briefly his hands moved from her shoulder to the chain around her neck. "What is this?" He asked her.

"Nothing." She said hastily rinsing off her hands, but his grip on the chain did not loosen. Instead he pulled it up and out of her shirt, revealing the ring on the end of it.

He was silent for a moment as he held the ring in his hand examining it. "You still wear it."

"Always." Carmen replied wiping her hands on her apron and turning to face him. "Close to my heart." She watched him as he continued to stare at the ring in silence for a moment trying to make out his expression.

After a few more moments he replaced the ring. Then he kissed her gently before returning to the food on the stove. It was a simple gesture, Chase had never been one to overtly show his affections and emotions in a dramatic way. The kiss was enough. She was glad he had let her hair down, it was the only thing hiding her blush.

Even just thinking about that one little moment from the evening before was like a knife to the heart. It was sweet and happy, yet painful and melancholy as well. Looking down at the band one more time she replaced it under her shirt. She could feel hot tears pooling in her eyes now. Why oh why had she allowed herself to open up again the way she did? To indulge as much as she had? Where had her common sense been? Reopening old wounds and adding salt to them. Not a wise decision to make.

She kept wandering aimlessly around the city walking down sidewalks and occasionally passing other people. A voice in the back of her head said that she should have been more alert. More careful. Yet she ignored it. She was not, after all, walking down alleyways or anything of the sort. This was not what one would consider to be a dangerous part of town. She had walked down here several times before both in daylight and in twilight; there was no reason at all to be nervous. Her wandering continued until all at once it was interrupted.

"Hello Carmen." A male voice said from around the corner. She stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of it. The husky Italian accent surely could not have been the person she thought it was. It was not possible. Her heart was pounding now, her instincts told her that she should run and get out of there immediately. Yet she was too stunned to do anything.

"It's quite nice to see you again." The voice said as its owner rounded the corner and stood before her. This time it carried a voice that was completely different but one that matched the face. The man of a thousand faces. He had outdone himself on this count. He had managed to portray his subject in startling accuracy. How unnerving it was to see Chase Devineaux standing before her now.

"The time has passed by in an achingly slow manner, but I am here now, and you are here now too." He said looking at his watch. Even the way he stood was such a precise impersonation of the ACME director that Carmen had to keep telling herself it was not Chase that was standing before her, but Toscano.

"What on earth are you doing here?" She asked at last trying to keep her voice level. She was scanning the area around her trying to calculate the best chance she would have of escape.

He chuckled gently and walked up to her, caressing her cheek with his hand. "Is it not obvious?" He asked her somewhat condescendingly. "I am here to see you."

A chill ran down her spine. An extremely dangerous criminal had escaped from prison, an old adversary, and tracked her down. Given their last few encounters he was not there to make amends or catch-up. If she was not able to escape things would not end well for her. This much she knew.

"You've seen me." She said taking a step back from where she stood, but before she could move anymore he grabbed her wrist and yanked her towards him. His grip was viselike and she could not break free of it.

"You still have that razor sharp wit and determination I see." Toscano said with a chuckle. "It's quite a shame you could not be more useful to me. You could have joined me you know. We would have made a fantastic team." He caressed her cheek again, but this time she slapped his hand away with her free one.

"Tsk, tsk." He said shaking his head. "That was not a very smart move at all. For as similar as we are in character your impulsiveness and judgement are still quite lacking. I could have trained you well my dear."

"We are nothing alike." Carmen said in a dangerously quiet voice. "I've done quite well on my own, no need for your training. I for one have not been captured."

"Here we go again, you and your lofty morals. It's big talk for someone who has entranced the world as a thief. You are no better than I am really. Like me you also take what isn't yours. Don't think I have not heard about these things during my time in prison. Mark my words Carmen, being imprisoned would be a far better fate for you than anything I would do. By the time you get to that point I will have destroyed your reputation and everything that you have worked so hard for over the years. Taking away all that is dear to you in the process." Toscano said in a low voice close to her ear."You will be utterly ruined, and I will return to take my place as the greatest thief the world has ever known."

Carmen glared at him as he said this, still trying to figure out her best course of action to escape from this mad man. His appearance, and mannerisms were quite effective right now. She saw in front of her someone she loved deeply, yet this person was somebody else entirely. This wasn't Chase she needed to run, to get away, yet she couldn't. He was playing head games with her. Chase was in France right now. Perhaps already on his way to Osaka. Scheduling wise there was no way that he could be here.

"That's a fairly ambitious plan you have Toscano." Carmen said at last. As much as she had wanted to come up with a biting comeback it was almost useless to do that now. "I seem to recall that you always planned too much before and oftentimes failed miserably because you got in over your head."

"Oh you would not even be able to begin to understand what it is that I am working on now." Arturo said with a laugh that was not Chase's this time. Without warning he grabbed her and forcibly slammed her up against a brick wall. The impact had been enough to knock the wind out of her. The suddenness of it all was enough to throw her completely off guard, it even took a moment for the pain to sink in. In vain she tried to push him away from her but he slapped her across the face.

She went into survival mode to do everything she could to stop him. Flailing and pushing, but he managed to dodge all of her attacks. In the years since he had been imprisoned she had forgotten quite how strong he was. She kept up the struggle but stopped cold when he pulled a knife from his pocket. "I see some things never change." He said looking at the blade in the faint light of a street lamp. "It's fortunate I still have this particular tool, I almost lost it before my incarceration…."

Her blood ran cold she never thought that she would see that weapon again, and yet here it was. After all of these years it still hurt to see it. Something that had inflicted so much damage and pain. It took all of her resolve not to look away. With a wicked gleam in his eyes he held it to her stomach and she could not help but flinch. While the physical wound had long since healed the scar and the memories of it had not.

He was playing a vicious mental game with her. After that there was not much she could do to get away from him. To struggle too much more could mean certain death. Instead she went numb to everything, and tried to focus on something else, anything else as he attacked her. As he invaded her body. At least she would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She would never give him that. When he had finished with her he dragged her into the alleyway and left her there, damaged, scarred, and alone. Within a few minutes the pain overcame her and everything went black.

Carmen awoke suddenly, her heart pounding and covered in sweat. It took her a few minutes to realize that she was indeed back at ACME and that she was safe. Those memories from the assault had been so vivid in that dream it was as if they were happening all over again. The tears came back and she pulled the blankets on her bed more tightly around herself.

This was not the first time since the attack that she had dealt with this. She knew the trauma would be present for quite some time. Common sense told her that; but in vain she had hoped that things would have gotten at least somewhat easier by now. Burying herself in her work only did so much to distract her from what was going on and that only worked during the day when she was awake.

Sleeping with a light on had helped her somewhat, but there was only so much that it could do for her. Since the incident Dr. Evanston had told her that if ever there were problems or things she needed to talk about he would be available to her any time of the day or night. Looking at the clock next to her bed she saw that it was 4:00 in the morning. It was rather early, but she got out of bed and sent him a quick message anyway. At least that would not wake him up.

She was quite surprised when in a few minutes there was a knock at her door. Throwing a robe on over her pajamas she walked over and opened the door mentally preparing to put on the Italian accent again should she need to but when she opened it she found Edward standing there in his robe and slippers with two steaming mugs of cocoa. "May I come in?" He asked after a moment.

"Of course, yes, please do." She said stepping away from the door and then closing it behind him. "I do hope I did not wake you."

"Oh no, not at all. I actually just got off of my shift a little while ago." He said.

"Still, I'm sorry I am keeping your from your sleep." She said.

"There is no need to apologize. I told you any time of the day or night I would be available to you. I meant it then and I mean it now." He said looking over his glasses at her. "Now this is for you. I have found in my experiences that chocolate goes a very long way in helping to soothe the spirit."

He handed her the mug and she accepted it gratefully; taking in the sweet aroma and allowing the cup to warm her chilled hands as she took a seat on the bed. Edward took a seat across from her on her desk chair. The two sat there in silence for a little while. Carmen just staring into her mug, as if the answers to her problems might just flow to the surface or be washed away in the steam coming from the drink.

"I'm sorry for wasting your time." She said at last. "You should be resting and here I am bothering you."

"Don't you ever say that Carmen." Edward said after a moment. "You are not wasting my time, nor are you bothering me, I am here to help you. Even if that means just being another person in the room with you. What you went through is something that nobody should ever have to endure. I'm not going to sit here and say that everything is going to be okay. Everything is not okay right now, it is not normal. It will take time to recover and to learn your new normal."

"I just feel so…..weak right now. So utterly powerless, so defenseless." She said a few tears escaping as she did so. I'm not used to that. I like to have control over the situation. Control over my own person."

"I know that." Edward said taking her hand in his once again. "Just know this. You are not weak, you are not defenseless. You put up a good fight in the situation and you pulled yourself together. You have been doing amazing things throughout these past few weeks and you will continue to do them. We are all here for you at ACME, we always have been and we always will be."

"Thank you." She said finally wiping away her tears with one of her sleeves. "It is just very hard. Very hard indeed."

"Anytime of the day or night I will be here for you." Edward said again. "If you need anything, anything at all, do not hesitate to reach out to me. I will be here for you. We are all here for you."

"I thank you, but I do not wish to be a bother. I know that you are quite busy." Carmen said looking away.

"Nonsense Carmen, I will not hear any of that. You are a patient under my care. I am not now, nor will I ever be too busy to help you." Edward said. "Nothing is more important to me than the health; physical, mental, and spiritual, of my patients, of my friends. I cannot emphasize that enough."

Carmen nodded, not fully wanting to accept what he said to her. Not because she did not believe what it was that he was saying, but because she did not want to disrupt ACME's daily operations anymore than she was already doing. To take away one of their best doctors because she was sad or anxious felt unreasonable to her. There were people coming in with serious injuries, and illnesses. The past few weeks had shown a spike in those. These were things that required immediate care.

"I know that look Carmen. I know it is sometimes difficult to accept help. I know you and how you always want to put others first. I know this is exactly the kind of thing that you do not want to hear from me; but sometimes you need to put yourself first. You need to help yourself, and rely on others so that you can in turn help more people. What you are going through is not trivial. Your pain and your wounds, are just as real as anyone else's." Edward said squeezing her hand. "Everyone here at ACME loves and cares for you. Both as Carmen and as Francesca. We want you to be at your best and completely healthy; we love having you around."

"I am deeply grateful for that, and for the kindness I have been shown here. I love and care for all of you as well. Yet with the Director's imminent return, perhaps it would be best if I were to take my leave."

"No." Edward said firmly; surprising Carmen. "What I mean is, it is not the time for you to leave. You need to stay safe and fully recover."

"When I first came here you said that I only need stay for a week, yet I have been here several now." Carmen replied looking down at her hands again. She did not really want to leave, but when Chase returned she was not sure she would have much of a choice in the matter. She might have been able to fool the ACME detectives with her disguise, just barely in some cases, but she could not hope to have the same luck with Chase. He knew her better than anyone.

"That was then, and that was the absolute minimum. Besides some of your physical wounds still have yet to heal. The Chief and I will deal with the Director should he have any problems." Edward said his tone much more serious. "Trust me, the Director and I have some things we must discuss. As soon as he arrives, which I would think should be any day now, I will make sure there is not a problem."

Carmen was quiet through all of this. For the past few days she had been concerned about what might happen when Chase returned. While part of her concern was how she had left him when she did; the other concerns ran far deeper than that. She was not sure that she would be able to face him in person without completely falling apart. She knew he was not the one who had violated her. Yet psychologically she could not separate his face, his body from what had happened to her. Her attacker had been so meticulous in his performance. Everything down to the smallest of details was there to make him appear, act, and sound like Chase.

To have been able to put on such a performance he must have been stalking her for awhile now, perhaps even during the time she had spent in Paris with Chase. The very thought of it all sent a chill down her spine. That someone as dangerous as this man had been watching her for who knows how long. Suddenly nothing in the world seemed safe anymore. ACME, her only refuge, at least for the time being. Until he realized where she was, and she endangered everyone else by simply being present here.

The whole thing was simply maddening. He had even gone so far as to reveal his identity before the attack which made it all the worse. He was toying with her psychologically. This whole thing had been done not just to harm her physical person, but to harm her mind and spirit as well. With Chase's face ingrained in her mind from that incident Toscano had managed to effectively create a strain on their relationship. His actions had been so calculated as to make her miserable.

Yet thus far this was only what he had done to her. Not even getting into what he could potentially do to Chase and as an extension of that to ACME as a whole. Hurting her was one thing, but hurting him was something else entirely. Chase had worked hard and he was the best at his job, no questions asked. Even the CIA, and MI6 looked to him for advice. His well-being was vital not only to ACME, but to world security on the whole. He was invaluable. If it meant keeping him safe she would do anything. Anything at all short of endangering another human being.

Perhaps she would find some way to avoid him while they were both here. With her resources and background staying hidden should not be too much of a problem. With the recent developments in cases here too, she was sure that he would be kept very busy. The paperwork backlog from his long absence alone could theoretically be enough to keep him in his office most of the time anyway. He was a creature of habit, perhaps by simply tracking his movements she would be able to devise a system in which she would be able to avoid him completely!

Yet all of that planning would have to wait. In the next few days she would have to pull off a heist. As much as she did not want to leave the protection of ACME, even for a short while, she knew that she would have to. If not things would potentially get much, much worse. Tomorrow morning everything would be set in motion. Everything had been planned, and prepared. Right down to the smallest of details. All that was left was to put it all into action and hope and pray for the best.