"I can't believe..."

"Down because of Carmen Sandiego..."

"Julia was- is our best.."

The agents of ACME could find little else to talk about.

Carmen Sandiego had gotten one of their agents taken down.

Carmen Sandiego was working with the kidnappers.

Carmen Sandiego had stabbed her in an attempt to murder their best and smartest agent.

The rumors grew until no one was in doubt: Carmen Sandiego had attempted murder.

All the agents were writing their get-well cards when he arrived.

Devineaux.

BANG!

The door flew open and he strutted in, wearing a full uniform and a grin, as good at reading the room as ever.

"I have returned!!" He yelled.

A few of the agents looked up from their get-well cards, annoyed. "Who are you?" one muttered.

Zari sighed. "Agent Devineaux.....welcome back."

She wrinkled her nose a little bit, and went back to supervising the making of the get-well cards. She was not writing one herself.

"Well, thank you! I am excited to see my old partner again. Where is she?"

A few more agents looked up at him with sad eyes, saying nothing.

"Eh...." Devineaux said, slightly deterred. "What are you all making?"

He peeked over the shoulder of the nearest agent and read aloud: "Get well soon, Julia. You are our best agent!"

"Eloquent." He muttered, and did a double take, brow furrowed. "Julia? Is she sick? I never remember her missing a single day."

The agent whose card he had been reading looked up. "Julia Argent was stabbed by Carmen Sandiego last night. She's at the hospital."

Devineaux physically reeled backwards. "La Femme Rogue? Stabbed her?"

The agent looked up, their face scrunched sadly. "She's-"

Devineaux was already skidding out the door. The agent blinked. Zari looked at them. "Give him a second."

A few seconds later, Devineaux poked his head in again. "Uh, where might I find her?"

Devineaux's car came skidding into the hospital's parking lot with a few new dents. He sprang out, forgetting to lock it, and ran into the hospital.

Turning about, he went up to the front desk and slammed his hands down. Audric was working the desk, and he looked up, unimpressed.

"[I need to see my partner! Julia Argent! Which room is she in??]" He said loudly in French.

Audric raised an eyebrow and picked up the phone, dialing something, and speaking into it. "[Agent, there is a crazy French person in a suit demanding to see Ms. Argent. His name is...]"

He looked up at a fuming Devineaux. "[Your ID?]"

He handed it to him stiffly.

"[.....Chase Devineaux.]"

He listened for another second, and then hung up. "[Well, Agent Porter says you can go on up....room 407, fourth floor.]" He handed him back his ID.

"Hmph." Chase growled at Audric's polite disdain and stomped over to the elevator, which was guarded by two policemen. Slamming his fist into the "up" elevator button, he got in.

Audric smiled a little. Small pleasures.

Devineaux spent half an hour searching for room 407 before he realized he was on the third floor, not the fourth.

He finally found it, and came in. Julia was lying on the bed, propped up on a few pillows, listening to quiet music with absent eyes. She looked up, and her eyes widened.

"Inspector Devineaux!" She squeaked, scrambling to pause her music. Devineaux caught the words, "I don't wanna be your friend, I wanna-" before she shut it off with a wince.

He came over to her bed and sat in a chair. "Julia! I heard you'd been injured and I came straight away!"

Julia sat up a bit stiffly, wincing. "That was very kind, Inspector. Or, have you been made an Agent again?"

He nodded, but waved his hands around a little. "You are my partner! But nevermind that! Has la femme rogue done you any lasting damage?"

"La- Carmen? She didn't do this to me! Of course you would think that, Chase!" She let out a pained hiss and cut off, clutching her chest.

Chose looked at her with worry. "I did not know! That is just what the agents told me. What-what happened?"

She blinked, recovering. "You're going to actually listen to me?"

Devineaux looked slightly ashamed. "I know I have not always listened to you in the past, but your judgement has been correct more often than mine, I see now, and...I trust you. I want to know what happened."

Her eyes lit up and she smiled at him. "Everyone else thinks I'm just confused!" She paused and took in as deep a breath as she dared. "I don't remember what happened exactly before, but when I woke up, I was in an unfamiliar vault. I was being held at knifepoint."

"By La Femme Rogue?"

She shot him a little glare and he wilted. "Right, yes, listening."

"It was by this huge operative. There was also another woman there. She had paper like the stuff we found in Mumbai. I believe she was the same rival."

"Rival? How can you be sure?"

"Well, unlike you, Chase, I was not discombobulated when I was being held captive." she mentioned acidicly. "Carmen was there...but..." Her face fell. "She was surrendering. I was there. I put two and two together. I was being held captive. A bargaining chip."

"Surrendering? To....VILE?"

"Yes. All of her tools and her glider were on the floor, and her hands were up. She was surrendering. She saw that I was awake, and she looked so...just so helpless in a way that I'd never seen her. Trying to put on a brave face for me.

"Anyway, I played dead. It was easier for Carmen to work when they didn't know I was awake. Goodness knows I couldn't do anything. I just had to trust her."

She waited for Chase to comment for a moment, but he didn't.

"So, the one pinning me and the colorful operative took us outside. That's when Carmen made her move. She shoved the knife away from my neck.."

She ran a finger along a small slit, pulling down her collar slightly.

"Well, I got out of the way. She started fighting the operatives. And then...well."

She shifted the sheets to reveal a lump of bandages underneath her hospital gown. "Carmen forgot about the other operative. It hurt a sh-" She caught herself. "A crap ton. I woke up here. From what I hear, Carmen brought me here, and then was nearly arrested. Even though she was apparently injured."

"The other agents told you this?"

"No." She smiled. "There is a very kind employee here who has been visiting me, who helped check me in. His name is Audric."

Devineaux sat back, eyes round. "Carmen Sandiego....saved you. But, she...she's a thief. She..."

Julia looked at him with pity in her gaze. "Yes, she's a thief. But she's a person too. A very, very kind person, who is devoted to saving artifacts..and..I guess..me."

Devineaux's face was twisted. "I don't understand. She has never helped us. Why would the VILE agents keep you captive?"

"Well, she has helped us!" Julia exclaimed.

Silence.

"....you didn't read the files on the time you were gone, did you."

"....no."

"Mmhm. I thought so. She has helped us quite a few times. She was even allied with us for a while, after we saved her life. Well, saved after we almost killed her."

"Ah! I need to read these files."

Julia looked amused. Devineaux was quiet for a second- a real miracle- before he started talking again.

"Well, how much longer until you are back in the field?"

"The doctors say about three weeks, maybe four to be safe."

"Oh! That is not very long. I look forward to working with you again."

Julia nodded. "As long as we are re-paired, of course."

Devineaux's face fell a little. "Oh. Yes. Right. Well. I should be going soon; I might have some mission. Er, where can I find that employee who has been visiting you?"

"Audric? He is working the front desk today."

"He- the- he wouldn't be the young skinny one with the dark purple hair, would he?"

"Yes, that's him."

"Ah."

"Why?" Julia questioned.

"Oh, I just wanted to thank him for taking care of you these past couple days." Devineaux said nervously. That was the guy he had yelled at the guy earlier.

Oops.

He got up. "I will visit you again soon, Julia. It was nice talking with you."

"Goodbye, Chase." She smiled. "I look forward to your next visit."

He was almost out the door when she spoke again. "Oh, and Chase?"

"Yes, Julia?"

"When you see Carmen when you're out, thank her for me."

Chase lifted an eyebrow doubtfully. "If I do, I will...goodnight, Ms. Argent."

He left.

The elevator dinged, and the loud French agent from before stepped out, looking embarrassed. He went to Audric's desk.

"[Eh, hello.]" He spoke. "[Are you Audric?]"

Audric nodded. "[Yes, Audric Fournier. How may I help you?]"

"[I wanted to thank you for how you have been treating Ms. Argent. And apologize for earlier. I had just heard about Julia. I was worried. She used to be my partner.]"

Audric smiled. "[Apology accepted. Ms. Argent is a pleasure. I am also indebted to someone who helped her. Its the least I can do.]"

"[Indebted? To who?]"

Audric tilted his head. "[The woman in red.]"

Devineaux's eyes widened. "Carmen Sandiego. La femme rogue."

He nodded his head to Audric and left quickly, thinking that maybe, just maybe, the thief was not as bad as he had thought for so long.