"Alri', Carm!" Ivy cheerfully called into the coms, voice rising to call above Zack's loud – and quite ugly – singing in the background. "Due 'o ya boyfrien's usual pa'ern, he shoulda be there in a few minu'es."

"Perfect." Carmen nodded, typing at her computer quietly as she waited for Graham to show up to his first coffee shop. She was seated at his favorite table while waiting for the young electrician to appear, expecting him to spot her upon arriving and joining her at the small café. "But, Ivy, he's not my boyfriend. He's like an honorary brother."

"Oh, puh-lease." Scoffing, Ivy seemed to be bewildered that Carmen didn't seem to realize her own relationship status. "I've seen the way he looks at ya. An' the way ya look at him. If that ain' 'rue love, I dunno wha' is."

"I don't believe in true love." Carmen flashed back, glaring at the white van parked several blocks away, hoping that Ivy could see her through the tainted glass of the vehicle. (Ivy and Zack were within said vehicle.) "And up until now, I thought nobody in the team did."

"Well, I didn' un'il I saw how perfec' you and Graham are 'ogethah." Ivy said, and Zack, having stopped singing, joined in to agree. "Carmay? Cray? Cay? RedGray? What's ya ship-name?"

"Yeah, what is ya ship name?" Zack piped up thoughtfully, the sound of him scratching his arm coming through the coms. "Ih's go'ah be something cute, somthin' that cap'ures ya perfec'ly!"

"No, it doesn't!" Carmen protested, but in vain. "Guys, like, seriously, we don't need a ship name, because we're not even together. We've never gone on even a single date."

"So, all the 'imes ya went to get coffee–" Ivy paused, to probably list off all the times on her fingers, then proceeded. "–okay, like, once, that one 'ime didn' coun' as a da'e? Because tha' sounds really weird 'ah me."

"That's right. Not a date. Just two friends hanging out." Carmen agreed, glancing around her thoughtfully as she also kept an eye out for Graham. "I mean, honestly, you two sound like Player when he was trying to set me up with Gray, and-" her voice petered out, landing on Graham from where he stood across the street from her, talking on his phone. His eyes drifted over, and their gaze connected.

"Never mind, he's here." She said hurriedly into her coms, closing her laptop as she raised her hand in greeting towards him. Graham responded with a wave back. "Ivy, Zack, we can talk about my romantic life later. For now, I've got to quit responding to you both, got it?"

They mumbled their agreements as the light turned to the walk-symbol and Graham approached her, hanging up on whoever he was talking to as he crossed, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets, giving her a winning smile as he drew closer to her position.

"Nice to see you again, old red sneak-a-roo." He greeted, sliding into the chair opposite Carmen. "It's certainly been a while."

"About twenty months." Carmen translated with a sad smile, crossing her arms on the table in front of her. "I'm sorry it took me so long to come back, I was–"

"Busy." Ivy supplied helpfully in her ear, enjoying the role of 'Player' a little too much. (The real Player and Shadowsan were busy touring Sydney. They hadn't gotten the chance to tour the whole time that Carmen was gone and were now living life to the fullest since they had the opportunity.)

"–busy." Carmen relayed, sighing quietly. "A lot has been happening, and it would require a very lengthy explanation to summarize it all up."

"I have time." Graham shrugged, leaning forward. "Do you? Or did you come to recruit me for a new… uh… secret service job?"

"No, nothing like that now." Carmen assured, smiling kindly at him as she straightened. "I thought it might be nice to… reconnect? I do understand if you don't want to, though; if you'd like, I can go–"

She didn't realize she was rambling and even starting to get up until Graham reached out a hand and grabbed her wrist. "Mate! It's alroigh; you can stay around. Want to wave over the waiter for a cuppa?"

Carmen sat back down, heaving a sigh of relief. She really did want to reconnect with Graham. "Yeah, that'd be… that'd be great. Thank you, Gray… um, Graham." She adjusted without him having to make the correction himself. "I really am sorry that it took so long for me to come back."

Graham shrugged, seemingly unbothered. "Eh, no worries, mate. It doesn't particularly bother me. I've been occupied lately, so no hard feelings."

"I see." Carmen agreed, a bit sorrowful by his lack of grief.

The waiter approached, and Carmen and Graham gave their coffee orders, relaxing as they waited for their cups to be served.

"So, are you gonna tell me theht 'very lengthy summery'?" Graham inquired with a cocked an eyebrow, humming quietly when Carmen glanced away a little awkwardly. "You don't have to, you know, I'm just curious, is all."

"I know, I know." Carmen nodded, sighing as she ran her fingers through her free hair. "I'm just trying to come up with the best way to start. Okay, so… umm… when you came with me to Auckland, you noticed the technology, right?"

"Don' men'ion the 'echnology!" Ivy cried into Carmen's ear. "Bad idea, bad idea!"

"Of course." Graham confirmed, biting his finger as he thought, oblivious to Ivy. "There was… a lot of advanced tech; I didn't even know half of it had been invented. I mean, there was theht electricity stick… a Crackle Rod or something?"

Carmen winced slighting at that but verified it. "Yup. Well, there's even more advanced tech out there."

"Really?" Graham leaned forward, intrigued. "Like what."

Carmen sighed, pinching her brow. "Well, there's stuff like… mind control technology."

"Nooo!" Ivy hissed in her ear. "Don' 'alk abou' tha'! Do you wan' 'o drive your boyfriend away?"

Carmen pointedly ignored Ivy, leaning towards Graham. "I've been mind controlled for a good nineteen months, due to a… mistake on my part."

"Owie." Zack sniffled with fake sorrow, hardly actually offended. "'ryin' 'o save us? A mis'ake? You'ah mean, Carm!"

"Mind controlled." Graham echoed blankly, watching her carefully for any sign that she was joking. "Theht's impossible."

"Quite possible." Carmen confided, turning to thank the waiter as they were delivered their coffee. "Thankfully, it was reversable. Unfortunately, it took a long time for half of my team to recover myself and the other half. During that period, we were made to steal from the wrong people: from good people. It's made the police more dependent on catching us, and… well, everything's been going south lately."

"Is theht why you're all over the news?" Graham inquired thoughtfully, arching an eyebrow at her. "How in the world was it reversable? How does theht technology even work? Is theht why you cut your hair? To be less recognizable to the police?"

"Yes." Carmen validated, taking a small sip of her coffee. She thought for a moment, then carefully answered each of his questions in order. "My team was able to recover the device that first mind controlled me and reprogramed it to reinstall free will and sensible thinking. I'm not sure how it works; you'd have to ask Player. It wasn't my decision to cut my hair: that would be VILE – the organization I'm trying to take down – who did it. They cut my hair I-do-not-know-when because they're all for short hair. The shorter the hair, the less of a chance it is that it'll get stuck somewhere. I know how to properly bundle up my hair, but it's fairly hard to do, so they probably couldn't figure it out."

"Nice exposition." Ivy and Zack marveled with twin crackles.

"Huh." Graham scratched his forehead. "So, basically, they were mind-controlling you to be one of the operatives, like theht one Greasy-Eel guy. Neil, I think. They cut your hair to hopefully avoid casualties, and you've been out of it for about nineteen months, with your team trying to recover you this entire time, and apparently half of your team was also kidnapped. Was theht it?"

"In short, yeah." Carmen substantiated with a small smile. "I don't know…about a lot that happened during that time. I do know that I ruined a couple of friendships due to my mind-controlled state. And… I want to make sure that you're… I don't know; I suppose I wanted to make sure that you and I didn't have any interactions during that time, or, if we did, I want to fix whatever I did do."

"Well." Graham hummed. "Last time I remember seeing you was during the Auckland thing, so as long as you weren't mind-controlled during theht time, I think we're good." He scratched his chin, and he smirked quietly. "Well, the last time I actually saw you was on the news, but I don't think theht counts."

"It does not." Carmen comforted, tilting her head at him. "I'm just-"

The sound of sirens interrupted Carmen, and she glanced up in surprise, sitting up straight. Of course, though, there was no way the police knew where she was, ACME, maybe, but surely they couldn't get here so fast, and would probably learn to think before they leapt thanks to the accident in Guatemala, but–

"Dang it." Graham hissed, standing, and reaching across the table to grab Carmen's arm, pulling her to her feet and hustling her away, to her upmost surprise. She barely managed to grab her computer before she was yanked toward the café.

"Boss, there's, cop cars incomin'!" Ivy warned, voice rising in fear. "Get somewhere safe, and fast!"

"I picked up on that." Carmen growled back as Graham pushed her into the coffee table, instructing her with a small gesture to get into one of the tables angled away from the windows. He didn't seem to either notice or be bothered by her seemingly talking to herself, instead diverting his attention completely to the incoming cop cars.

A few of the people in the coffee shop rose an eyebrow at Carmen when she slipped in, perhaps able to pair her sudden hustle into the café with the incoming sirens, but they didn't do much more then continue to wipe down counters and serve coffee. They probably thought it was just an odd coincidence. At least, Carmen hoped that's what it was.

"They'ah a' the coffee shop." Ivy updated, and Carmen turned on her phone's camera to lift up, able to use it to see out the window. "I 'ope you go' a good hidin' spo'."

"Moderately." Carmen frowned, able to see Graham speaking urgently to the police officers. "Be ready to perform a quick evac if need be. Maybe get Shadowsan and Player on speed dial just to be safe. Don't call quite yet but be ready."

Ivy made a loyal noise in the back of her throat then waved Zack off to get Shadowsan's number up, turning on the engine carefully.

Graham, in Carmen's camera, pointed somewhere down Wallaby Way, making a dramatic motion with his hand that resembled tipping a fedora, and Carmen gasped quietly, leaning against the back of her seat. Earlier, Graham had been on the phone. He hadn't acted surprised when their eyes met, like he had noticed her several minutes beforehand.

Graham had been the one to call the police. Well, of course he had been. Why had Carmen expected any differently? She should've remained jaded and realized that only her four closest companions wouldn't betray her. She couldn't even trust her honorary brother.

Carmen balled her hands tightly, gripping her suitcase's handle and her phone like vices.

She couldn't leave without the police spotting her, which was pretty much a given at this point, and she couldn't stay put lest Graham show them where she was. She lost either way. She could have Ivy and Zack pull up and make a run for them, but if the police saw the lisence plate, they could track the van rental and then, if they had anyone like Player, could probably trace them to their plane, which came from California, or maybe follow them until they got into a different plane, which was going back to California. Fiddlesticks.

Carmen checked her phone again, noting in surprise that the police cars were driving down Wallaby Way, away from the café and – probably a coincidence – away from the white van Ivy and Zack were camped in. Carmen opened her mouth to instruct Ivy and Zack to come as quickly but discreetly as possible, stopping suddenly when Graham reentered the coffee shop.

She glowered at him through the camera, quietly lowering the phone as she waited for him to slide up beside her. Carmen pocketed her phone quickly and turned to face Graham, snarling up at him when he came to stand beside her, his cheeky smile lost on the furious dark-amber-haired girl.

Carmen stood up swiftly, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and leaned in, snarling. "You're the one who called the police, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Graham declared, bobbing his head. "'m sorry, Carm, but–"

"If I wasn't so mad I'd be laughing about how he stole our nickname for you from us." Ivy determined in Carmen's ear, probably scowling.

"–like I said earlier, you're a known criminal!" Graham pointed out, holding his hands up in surrender, brown eyes widening. "I didn't know what to do when I saw you: they only thing I could think of was to call the police so they could bring you to justice! But when you explained–"

"Why should I believe you?" Carmen demanded, clenching his shirt even more tightly, holding up her free hand to whack him in a pressure point if he tried to do anything to escape.

"I saved you just now, didn't I?" Graham insisted, gesturing toward the window's general direction. "I diverted the police; got them to chase you elsewhere. They'll be distracted patrolling those streets for a while to figure out the ploy."

Carmen released him, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to think. "Great, this isn't good. The police are smart: they'll figure out that they can use security cameras. If they figure out that you lead me in here and then lied to them, they'll arrest you for that. I'd almost rather that you turned me into the police so that you don't have to deal with that…" Carmen slid back into her seat, clenching her brow. "But now you're forced to remain on the run, because you brought the police into this before joining, and… why did you call the police before I could explain?!"

"I'm sorry." Graham apologized, sitting beside her and laying a hand on her shoulder. "But like… your mind-controlled-self did a lot of stuff, and… well, I'm used to hearing about the infamous Carmen Sandiego stealing from the good guys instead of from them. And all of the items never being recovered, so…"

Carmen sighed into her palm, narrowing her eyes as she stared at the table in front of her. "We're going to have to relocate you."

"You got it, mate. Theht's fine. I assume theht means my job in the Sydney Opera house is out, then?"

"Ugh!" Carmen cried, dragging her arms over her head. "But now you can't get a new job as an electrician because Interpol will be scouring the world for you, and those jobs would be the first ones they check. This isn't all fun-'n-games, Graham! You can't put yourself in jeopardy like that!"

"I don't mind." Graham assured, patting her back a little awkwardly as he offered her a smile.

"But I do! Next time, just… don't call the police until we talk about it." Carmen scolded, wagging her finger at him. "Until we figure this out, you're coming with us."

"'Us'?" Graham echoed, confused. "Oh, roigh, your team."

"That's right." Carmen grinned at him, pressing two fingers, middle and pointer, to her left earring, even though it was completely unnecessary. "Ivy, Zack, bring the van around. We're bringing Graham along with us." At their idiotic chuckles of glee, she rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, can you guys just please come?"

The white van started up, switched gears, and the engine rumbled. Carmen walked over to the shop's window – only now noticing the wide-eye stares that she was received from the café workers – waiting for Ivy and Zack to pull up as Graham joined her. When the white van pulled up and she took Graham's arm to lead him out, he snorted.

"A white van? Sorry, Red, but theht's unbelievably cliché." He chuckled, enjoying just how classic it was.

"'Red'?" Ivy pondered, beyond miffed. "How many nicknames is he going to steal from us? I though at very least Player'd be safe from this thief."

"You call me Red; I get to call you Gray." Carmen bargained, not missing how Graham arched an eyebrow at her in confusion. The confusion blossomed to admiration, but she, however, did miss that, too busy checking for any police cars – none were within sight – before hustling him into the van.

"Security camera-wise, wouldn't they be able to see the license plate?" Graham inquired, glancing at Ivy and Zack, obviously recognizing them from the Auckland incident when he greeted them with a nod. "Because, I mean, theht's also a possibility."

"We'll have Player fix it later." Carmen assured, sliding into one of the back seats instead of on the ground like she ordinarily would. "He can probably hack into their systems and mess up the recorded license plate number. He can't edit security camera footage, though, even though he can turn them off easily. Messing up the number will only serve as a setback."

"Who's Player?" Graham pondered, tilting his head. "Did I run into him last time?"

"He wa' that Kiwi 'Peter'." Zack told him, tiling his head over at him as the Boston boy turned off the radio. "If… you, ah, remembah him. He wa' the 's'age managah' an' all."

"I think I remember him." Graham agreed, nodding very slowly as he recalled Player. "Nice dude, despite all of the deception theht was used in said mission." The last sentence was said with a pointed, teasing look towards Carmen.

Carmen grinned back, pulling out her phone and dialing Player rapidly. "Zack, it's time to pick up Player. I'm getting his location now."

"Gotcha." Zack agreed, turning the van towards the street leading all the way to the Sidney Opera House, which was close to the general area where Player and Shadowsan had claimed they would be spending the majority of their time. "An' we're off like dir'y shir's!"

Player picked up on the third ring, grinning up at Carmen with a teasing manner. "Hey, Red! How was your da–"

"Zip it." Carmen told him warningly, tilting the phone enough to get him a proper glimpse of Grey.

"Okay, I can see you two are also in the van." Player noted, arching an eyebrow sarcastically. "Thus, you picked up another stray."

"Another?" Graham blinked in surprise, pointing to himself.

"Strays." Carmen, Ivy, Zack, and Player all said, gesturing to Ivy and Zack, respectively. "One might argue theht I was the original stray," Carmen stated with a girn. "And theht Player found me back on… um, yeah."

"What stray, pray tell, did Carmen pick up this time?" Shadowsan asked, peering into view just as Graham also looked over Carmen's shoulder.

Carmen stiffened, holding her breath, because she still, above all else, did not want Graham to see Shadowsan prematurely and recall his past. He'd have to see the instructor eventually, but Carmen wanted time to prepare him, maybe begin to explain theht she knew him during his year of amnesia, but… this was probably as good of time as any.

Shadowsan's eyes landed on Graham and he quickly backed out of view, probably having the same idea that Carmen had to delay the inevitable.

"Who was theht?" Graham asked curiously, staring down at the phone in confusion, tiliting his head. "I'm pretty sure I absolutely didn't see or hear him last time."

"You did not, and that's by desig–"

"Player, shhh!" Carmen glared at him, then squinted to the pink-blue display behind him. "Where even are you?"

"Yeaaah, opera's not really our thing, and we got bored with all the other attractions, so…we just started to chill at a nearby bakery." Player spun around the phone so that she could see the surrounding area easily. Player and Shadowsan were both drinking a cup of tea with a few slices of buttered bread. "Are you guys en route?"

"Yup." Carmen confirmed with a thumbs-up.

"And you're for really bringing Graham, right?" Player inquired, leaning forward while cocking his brow at Carmen curiously.

"Double yup."

"You better believe it, Peter!" Graham grinned, giving him two happy thumbs-up.

"My name's not–" Player protested weakly, then sagged in defeat. "You know what, why do I even care? Sure. Peter. Player. Call me anything but late for– oh, wait, I'm always late for dinner. You know what, never mind."

Zack and Ivy started crackling, shaking their heads at the young hacker's antics.

Carmen took Graham's hand in hers, squeezing as he grinned at the phone, firing Player with plenty of questions that the younger boy responded to easily, firing back answers just as quickly.

It…would be a little odd to have Graham join them. Carmen could no longer hide his backstory from him; he was bound to find out sooner or later, and Carmen wasn't overly eager for that to happen. She might be able to slowly lean him into the amnesic year, starting with first explaining that she had known him.

If push came to shove, she could probably use the Wiper to – based on its original use – wipe herself from his memories, but then that would leave her at where to put him, since he couldn't return to his original life in Australia.

Carmen would figure it out as she went along, she supposed. But she didn't have to figure it out alone; she had Ivy, Zack, Shadowsan, and, of course, Player. Now, with any troubles that came her way, she'd also have Graham, if he truly trusted her. Things were looking up.

She had her family, her free-will back, and everything else. Things were going to improve significantly.

Carmen gripped Graham's hand tightly, leaning against him as she stared out the window, watching scenery buzz past while Zack and Ivy turned up the radio and began singing along.

She sighed quietly, chest rising and falling. Everything was going to be just fine.

(:)

Griffin and I collectively headcannon that Graham cannot grasp the concept of nicknames. (I also headcannon that he can only grasp the concept when he does it.)

( )

This was written for two reasons: I kept on thinking what would happen between Carmen and Player if she chose the bad ending, thus 'abandoning him'. She said she'd never abandon her friends, but she would have literally ended up leaving behind her best friend.

Secondly: I really wanted a Graham-joins-Carmen fic. I have another one planned, though, again, it won't be the main focus. As usual, Player and Carmen will be the main focus, and…

I may be obsessed with Player and Carmen's friendship.

( )

Check the word count! If my math is correct, it comes out to exactly 12,000 words: 4,000 per chapter including author notes. It was hard work, especially with this last chapter because it refused to go all the way to 4,000 words, which is why I'm making a lengthy A/N. I had to cut out most of the final scene from Chapter 2, though was able to mostly add it.