Tired Of Running

Chapter 1

The new HQ was slowly coming together - the floors were changed, there were some new couches, rugs, and a big TV, and most importantly, everyone had their own room. Zack, Ivy and Carmen loved to spend time together in the common area, but Shadowsan tended to keep to his room more often than not. Sometimes Carmen would join him, they'd have tea and talk about everything between heaven and earth.

Carmen was, for once, spending time alone - she had even taken off her communicator. She had arrived home from her latest caper about five minutes earlier, and was laying on her bed, which was covered in red bedding, staring at the ceiling. She was feeling nostalgic, and not the good kind. She felt sad about Gray, and not being able to see him, talk to him. Again.

It seemed that every single time she got home from a caper, she would be reminded of her electric friend from the past, and she would feel sad about it. There were so many things she had experienced since the Isle of VILE that she wished she could have shared with him. There was also the fact that she had met Gray recently, but still didn't have any actual contact with him; it made him feel so close, yet so far away, and it made her torn. She wanted to see him, but if she did, VILE might pull some sick trick, use him to get to Carmen - or worse, hurt Gray in hopes of information.

She could hear Zack and Ivy messing about on the floor below, whooping as they were no doubt playing Mario Kart to relive their racing days. Zack might have been the driver, but Ivy kicked his booty in this game with her hands tied being her back. This made Carmen smile - she was so grateful to have the red-headed twins on her side, they really made her days so much brighter with their laughter and jokes.

Carmen put her communicator back in, in hopes of having yet another conversation with Player about Gray.

"Yes, it would be unwise to contact Gray," Player said before Carmen even had a chance to open her mouth.

"Wha- you don't even know what I was going to ask!"

"Yes I did, you ask the same thing every time. You know, you could go to Australia and speak to him, tell him the situation and everything, and he could stay at HQ. We have a room over, don't we?"

Player sounded smug, like he knew this was exactly what Carmen was thinking. And honestly, she had been deliberating the same thing back and forth for weeks, and she always arrived at the same conclusoon: there was no guarantee that Gray would even want to join them, and if he didn't, he would be a loose thread and even more of a threat in case VILE decided to revisit him.

"Red, I can basically hear the gears turning in your head I know this is hard, but I'm sure you'll be back down under soon enough," Player said this with a decent amount of understanding, despite the fact that Carmen knew he was completely against her contacting her old friend.

"I know," she sighed. "I just can't help but think about him, though. I mean, if circumstances were different..." she trailed off.

There was no response from the other side of the line, so she just sighed again.

"Anyway, got anything else for us? Should I bother to unpack at all?"

"This time, Red, I think you should. Take a week off; I have a lot of stuff to decrypt here, and I don't think anything is really urgent enough to not take a break," the Canadian answered.

"Are you sure? If there's anything I could do solo-"

"Absolutrly not. I promise I will give you guys a call if there's anything that needs urgent attending, but you haven't been home for more than a day in about four months - you should chill for a bit."

Carmen hated it when player was right. Well, at least when he was right about her needing rest. She was beginning to feel stretched thinner than a piece of paper, and really needed to relax for a bit. So did the others, too, she thought.

" Fine," she relented, "but if there's abything-"

"I will tell you right away, I promise," Player reassured her.

With that, Carmen took the communicator back off, and went to take a bath.

She began to run the water, getting it as hot as it would go. She then added some bubble bath that smelled like roses, in hopes of relaxing and driving a certain someone out of her mind. Before sinking into the water, she paired her phone to the wireless speakers in the bathroom, and turned on some relaxing music. Once satisfyingly submerged, she let out a deep sigh, and shut her eyes. What wonders a bath could make!

~*~

The next few days were uneventful. Carmen slept in for as long as she liked, which meant to about 9 am, and spent her days sparring with Shadowsan, playing games and watching movies with Zack and Ivy, and reading as many books as she could. She wished she could say that she felt at peace, because the other three sure seemed to be feeling some sort of way, but she just couldn't.

One day, she was watching Grown Ups with Zack, when her phone chimed.

Got a caper.

It was from Player. Carmen immediately ran up to her room, putting on her communicator, and asked Player what was happening.

"Well, Red, you're getting your wish - you're going to Australia."