3rd Person POV
Carmen was lying on the floor, holding her sore abdomen. She looked around for something to help her and Devineaux out of this predicament. Player's voice was telling her to buy time until reinforcements arrived, but Coach was advancing rapidly, cracking her knuckles menacingly.
"You rescued me from the side of a road, only to lure me here so you can pound me into dust ?"
"Believe me, Lambkins, that is one stone you do not want to turn. But I promise to let bygones be bygones if you be a good little sheep and come back to the island with the rest of the flock."
Carmen's eyes widened in fear before turning to the blue and red lights approaching outside. If she could gain just a little more time, Devineaux would be saved, and she...
"If I ever agree, would you leave Devineaux in peace ? He has nothing to do with this."
"You know very well I can't do that for you, kiddo. He is a loose end who must be tied up. Him and his organisation."
At that moment, Coach bent down to Carmen's level, a triumphant look on her face at the young thief's pain. She brought her hand to her cheek to remove some dirt, but Carmen pushed her away.
"Then I won't follow you."
" So you leave me no choice..."
Coach pulled a white cloth from her pocket and pressed it against Carmen's face. She struggled, but the pain radiated through her body, reminding her of her wounds. With her other hand, Coach held Carmen's firmly, ensuring that her wrists would be bruised when she woke up. Finally, the girl collapsed in her arms and Coach carefully lifted her. She turned to see Shadowsan rushing in. He quickly assessed the situation before cutting the padlock on the escape hatch.
"The French police are on their way. We must leave quickly."
Coach nodded and motioned for Shadowsan to retrieve the truth extractor, while she climbed down holding Carmen against her chest. They got out quickly and joined the Cleaners who were waiting with the van. Climbing in, Coach laid Carmen on the ground and Shadowsan rushed over to check her condition. He pulled out the first-aid kit when he saw Brunt handcuffing Carmen. She raised an eyebrow as she found no tracker or communication device on her.
"I was sure I'd seen her communicating with someone," she raged before turning to Shadowsan who was pulling out bandages.
"They must have broken or fallen off during your confrontation," he replied without paying any more attention to the woman.
"I didn't know you were so careful with the girl, Shadowsan." He saw her point to the bandages.
"I wouldn't have to be if you hadn't broken her ribs. It's precious cargo, I remind you."
Coach shrugged before stepping out of the van to join the Cleaners at the front, leaving the Japanese man to bandage the girl's wounds. Making sure he was alone with her, Shadowsan injected her with a painkiller and removed the handcuffs. He discreetly opened the doors and took Carmen in his arms. Before Coach realised what he was doing, he had fled into the darkness carrying Carmen. Shadowsan briefly heard a furious Brunt shouting and trying to chase him, but to no avail.
After ten minutes or so, taking several detours to cover his tracks, Shadowsan returned to a small hotel room. He laid Carmen on the bed and changed her from her dirty, torn clothes into a more casual outfit he had planned just in case.
He placed Carmen's switched-off headphones on the table before sitting down in a chair to watch the young girl struggling in her sleep. Unconsciously, he began to hold Carmen's hand or whisper gentle words to calm her down.
After several hours of watching to make sure VILE didn't find her, he activated Carmen's earrings.
Carmen POV
I wake up to the feeling of a hand running through my hair. As the memory of Coach flashes back, I pull myself away from the grip of the hand and recoil violently. I feel myself falling off a bed and scream in pain as my ribs crack again.
"Wow, easy, Carm, you're hurt."
I look up, surprised to hear a female voice with a Boston accent. In front of me stand Ivy and Zack, worried.
"Brunt ! VILE ! Where are they ?" I try to get up and Zack comes to help me as he leads me back to bed. "How did you do it ?"
"How did we do what, Red ? We found you about ten minutes ago in this hotel. Unconscious. Your tracker mysteriously turned on after radio silence." Player had just logged on to the computer Ivy had placed on his lap.
"But then who... We need to move. It could still be a trap to catch us all."
I scramble to my feet and, as I retrieve my damaged battle suit, I see hidden in the middle a VILE hard drive with a simple word printed on a post-it note.
Hopefully this will help.
"Looks like we're going to have some work to do..."
I stow all my stuff and the hard drive in my bag. We leave through the back exit of the building and get into the car. As Zack drives off, I swear I see a shadow watching me from the roof of a building before it disappears.
Dialogues from the episodes:
- S1 E09
YOU ARE READING
What If Series
FanfictionA What If series where I take each episode of the series and see what might have happened if it had been captured by VILE or ACME. I stick with the canon that if it's VILE, she'll get brainwashed. Update every two weeks.
