Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For someone with such an erratic sleep schedule, Player usually fell asleep easily and slept fine. Not always good, but almost always fine. His mom told him when he was a baby, he fell asleep in 10 minutes and he slept through shouting. (Who the shouting was from she didn’t mention, but he could guess.) He figured some people were just wired like that, and he figured he was one of them. He liked to think that he was wired like something, that he was as easy to understand as a computer, as a drone programmed to circle the moon forever. (He had hacked into one when he was younger once, for fun. Got it to stay dead still for a minute.)

Not even a truck backfiring at night used to wake him up, let alone a phone buzzing next to his ear, but that changed when he met Black Sheep. He was always anxious to pick up her calls, and almost always did before the second ring. As they got closer she began to call him at random hours of the night (sometimes from closets and air vents while “exploring”) and his body somehow learned to always get immediately awakened by her ringtone. He couldn’t remember the first time he woke up to her voice, and yet now it was hard for him to even remember a time where he hadn’t woken up to it at least once a week. It comforted him, knowing she could always call him.

His ability to jolt awake at the slightest sign of contact from her only increased once she became Carmen Sandiego. Suddenly, she was calling him from situations where her life might be in danger. Situations where it was his unspoken job to make sure it wasn't. As her proclaimed secret weapon, he became even more efficient. When she needed to know which side of a building to jump from, he picked up. When she had nightmares at odd hours of the night he sat up immediately, swiping onto her video call. He knew he would always wake up for Red. Besides for her though, he didn’t really wake up at odd hours of the night. No nightmares, no random hunger, no reactions to backfiring trucks or loud raccoons. . No, he never woke up of his own accord, until after the fight with Coach Brunt.

He knew Carmen had nightmares about it, of course she did, how could she not , Brunt had broken three of her ribs. She had nightmares every night for the week after. More often than not, she’d tap her earrings immediately, and only breathe out when she heard his voice. He’d talk quietly, sprinkle bits of their usual banter into more comforting topics, and a lot of the time she would fall back asleep. This made sense, and he honestly found it comforting as well, a reminder in the dark hours of the night that she was okay, that she could reach for him. (Metaphorically, but still.) What Player didn’t expect was nightmares of his own.

His first one happened, ironically, the first night after the fight with Coach Brunt that Carmen didn’t have a nightmare. He heard Carmen's bones cracking, saw Coach Brunt’s shadow, and heard Carmen gasp for air. Player woke up screaming. He sat up, and before realizing what was happening, he asked the empty room,

“Red?”

There was a response, but not from her. His mom opened his door.

“Parker, baby? Are you alright?”

He blinked, looking at her.

“Um, hey Mom. Sorry, I’m fine. I hope I didn’t wake you or David up, I must’ve had a nightmare.”

She looked at him, then yawned.

“I’m sorry sweetheart, that’s so unlike you. Are you okay? I have an early morning tomorrow.”

He forced a smile, confirmed he was, in fact, alright, and she told him she loved him and she closed the door. When she was gone, he realized he was shaking. He checked the time. 1am. 3 for Red. There was no point in waking her up, she had a caper tomorrow. He put the phone down, and closed his eyes, shuddered, then opened them again. He looked at the softly glowing screens.

“She’s okay.” He told them, leaning his head against the wall. “She’s okay.”

He couldn’t fall asleep again that night.

When Carmen called him in the morning, he was half awake at his desk.

“Player! First night without the nightmare. Did I wake you? You hadn’t called yet.”

He yawned. “Morning, Red. Something like that, and I’m glad. I guess the day’s treating you well so far. Let's hope that continues for our caper.”

He stretched as she requested a video call. He accepted. She blinked at him, taking in the bags under his eyes, his monitors half off, and his messy hair.

“Are you alright?”

He paused, yawning again. “Always am.”

She narrowed her eyes, and was about to say something when Zack walked into the frame.

“Is that Player?”

Ivy rolled her eyes. “‘Course that’s Player, Bro. Who else would Carm be on the phone with at 8am?”

Zack continued, ignoring his sister. “Hi, Player! Did you only just call Carm? I didn’t see you earlier." He paused, awaiting a response. "Player?”

Carmen looked down, and Player had fallen asleep. She blinked at the screen. After a few seconds of looking peaceful with his head on his arm, he jerked awake, and looked around, looking almost scared.

“You with us?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure you’re alright, Player?”

He relaxed when he heard her voice. He turned and looked at her, considering, then looked at the bickering siblings in the background and frowned. For all his desire not to lie to Carmen, it would be tough enough to admit it to just her. Maybe later. For now, he shook his head. “Tired.” He sat up straighter, eyes on his screens. “Time to start this caper, Red. Did you know that Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle? It's a country rich in history, culture, and natural beauty. Unfortunately for us, not just natural beauty. I don't think VILE'd be about to steal that.”

Carmen smiled.

Player closed his eyes. She's fine.

Chapter Text

After having two consecutive nights of nightmares that caused him to wake up shouting, Player was tired. Tired, and irritable. And much more anxious than usual. They had an early caper that day, at ten or so for Carmen and nine or so for him. He had woken up from the nightmare at 4 that morning, and being unable to fall asleep, he had decided to just get an early start. Better than just laying awake replaying the dream. ( “Dream” makes it sound like make-believe, Player. This actually happened.) He reviewed the museum floor plans for over two hours, over and over again, memorizing every possible escape, every possible place that Carmen could get cornered. Nothing in the hard drive or VILE’s accessible files said anything about a possibility of Coach Brunt arriving for this heist, but none of them ever had. And Player was scared.

One undeniable and constant thing about him was that he trusted Carmen. Not just with his thoughts, his history, and his father’s name. Because he trusted her as Red, obviously, endlessly, but he also trusted her as Carmen Sandiego. He trusted her abilities. He knew what she could handle, and he trusted her to handle it. He had to, because there was never anything he could do to help her. Unfortunately, this meant he also knew when she was outmatched. And he knew that with Brunt cornering her, she was outmatched. He reviewed the floor plans again.

At eight, he clicked off the blueprints and he called Carmen. When she answered, he let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding.

“Hey, Red.”

“Morning, Player. Sleep okay?”

“No empty coat pockets, if that’s what you mean.”

“Figured. I think Zach and Ivy are up by now, did you order food?”

“You know it, Crimson Ghost.”

She laughed. “You’d make a good ACME agent. Let’s hope I am a ghost today, Florence has some of the most well-guarded museums in the world.”

“Touche. Afraid your breakfast isn’t as well guarded, though, and I think you should get down there before the elusive Zach finishes it all.”

“Good call, Player. Going down there now.”

He hit video call, and leaned back in his chair, shifting her face from his phone to the biggest of his monitors. She smiled at him.

“You look tired.”

“You flatter me, Red.”

“Please. No insults here, and you know your dark little cave usually suits you fine. But are you sure you slept okay?”

He sighed, blowing air into his cheeks. “I don’t know. Not as bad as yesterday, I only woke up early this time. It’s just-”

Zach popped his head into the screen. Player stopped talking.

“Player! Thanks for the pastries. Ivy had the espresso and I saved mine for Carm, next time send an orange juice or something.”

“Hey Zach. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Ivy smiled at the screen. “G’mornin’ Player. Want us to send a bit of our Italian breakfast to Niagara Falls for you?”

“I’m alright. I prefer diner food.” He stretched his arms behind his back, and yawned.

Carmen sat down at a counter, and picked up her coffee. “What were you saying, Player?”

He sighed, and propped his feet up on his desk. “Maybe later, Red.”

She glanced at the red-haired siblings. “Okay. You’re feeling up for the mission, though?”

“Of course. Everything’s all ready, including me.”

During the caper, Player was on edge. Then Carmen’s comm cut out. For a minute. And he panicked. He pictured Coach Brunt yanking an earring out, he pictured Carmen gasping in pain.

“Zach? Ivy? Does anyone have contact with Carmen? Or eyes on her?”

“If you don’t have her on comms, you know we don’t. And we’re not scheduled to have eyes till she comes out that window in five.”

“I don’t know, it could be a problem with our comms. Try it from Zachs?”

“He’ll be back in a minute, he popped into that place for some beans. They ‘ad a menu out front and he couldn’t resist”

Player wanted to yell at her. Carmen could be in danger, Brunt could be there, and she was waiting for her brother to get beans? He took a deep breath.

“Can you, I don’t know, go get him?”

“He’ll be back in a sec, Player, and I can’t leave the truck ‘an everything.”

“I think the truck will be fine for a minute. Get your brother. He might be on comms with Red right now and we might be worrying for nothing but there’s no point in not checking, Ivy.” His voice got louder, until it bordered on shouting. Just then, Carmen clicked back into his ear.

“Player! Earring got caught and I couldn't get it back till I got the painting. Sorry. I trust you held down the fort okay?”

Relief filled his chest, and Ivy was silent. “Hey, Red. Sure hope I did. You didn’t run into any trouble?”

“No more than usual. Zach, Ivy, are you outside?”

Ivy hesitated, and Player bit his cheek. He had been harsh with her, but she didn’t understand, and that was a problem, what if Carm had been in danger.

“Ivy?” Carmen said, sounding a little annoyed.

“Sorry, Carm. Yeah, Zach an’ I are waiting. He just went into some place t’ get some food.”

“Alright. I’ll be there in a minute, and we’ll have to hit the road.”

“Copy that.”

That night, Player stared at his ceiling. The day he had to hear Red fight Coach Brunt had been one of the worst of his life, and hearing it nightly was becoming unbearable. After a few moments of contemplation, he decided he wouldn’t sleep. Kick the dream’s schedule off, and get some decrypting done. It’s not like he hadn’t not slept for a night before. It was fine.

Carmen stayed up with him for a long time, and they talked about this and that and he felt safer than he had felt in the past days. It was her voice, really, that got rid of the after effects of the fear. He thought about how he had yelled at Ivy, and he frowned. He really had been on edge today. Eventually, Carmen went to bed. He knew she would’ve stayed if he asked, but he didn’t want to tell her about the nightmare when he was so close to being done with it, if this worked, and when he knew how recently she had had her own nightmare about the exact same thing. And hers was an actually valid one too, considering it happened to her. It wasn’t his trauma to be having nightmares about. It was the right thing to do to let her sleep, but he missed her.

With only his softly glowing screens to comfort him, his rapid-fire typing started to sound like the cracking of bones. He froze, his fingers hovering in mid-air. His right middle finger rested on the R key, and he couldn’t bring himself to move to pick it up. He watched the screen. R, R, R. It kept going. And going. R, R, R.

“I am never going back to vile island.”

“And after everything we’ve done for you. Come here, little cub.”

R, R, R.

That morning he woke up, at his desk, his finger on the R key, to Carmen’s ringtone. At first, opening his eyes, he was scared, convinced he heard the cracking of bones.

Chapter Text

The fifth night in a row of nightmares was the worst one. By far the worst one. The night before, Carmen’s own call had woken him up right before he started to hear the bones crack. Her voice, safe and warm (and, you might say, red, ) despite being shaky from her own nightmare, had filled him with relief and soothed him so much so that he had actually been able to fall back asleep after she did. He had hoped this meant the nightmares would go away, but on the fifth night, he woke up gasping.

He sat up almost immediately, leaning his head against the cold wall of his room, and he realized he was crying. Not even screaming this time, he hadn't screamed at all, to his knowledge. (Yay him.) Just crying. He pressed his thumbs to his forehead, trying to calm down. It didn’t help. He heard it over and over again, despite being awake. The cracking of Carm’s bones, Coach Brunt’s mocking voice.

“Come on, Red, you just need to buy yourself a little more time. Backup’s on the way.”

“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.”

Vaguely, in the back of his mind, he was glad that at least Carmen apparently hadn’t had a nightmare yet tonight. He had, but at least she hadn’t. If that was actually how it worked, if that was how they were wired, he knew would take them from her anytime. He wished it worked like that. He pressed his fingers harder into his forehead. He was only shaking more.

Pulling his knees up to his face, he closed his eyes. His blanket slipped down to his ankles and he shivered.

“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.”

Instead of a soothing black he saw the shadow of Coach Brunt, and her voice, and Carmen’s desperate one, got louder in his head.

“Then you better pound harder, because I am never going back to VILE island.”

He opened his eyes, it was worse with them closed.

“After every little thing we’ve done for you.”

He shook his head, then shook it harder, but snapping out of it wasn’t working.

“Come here, little cub.”

He banged his head back into the wall, but it made no difference. It hurt, though, and he bit his lip, looking at the phone by his pillow. He shouldn’t wake Carmen. His shaky knees hit him in the face. That hurt, too. His eyes watered even more, and his nose stung from the collision. He heard Coach Brunt, he heard Carmen’s gasp. He picked up his phone, and he stared at it. He heard the bones cracking again, like it was an audio on repeat in his brain. Like he was programmed to hear it continuously forever, like it was wired into his head.

She’s fine.

He called her.

She picked up after two unbearable rings. There was half a beat of silence before he heard her voice, and for some inexplicable reason he panicked.

“Red?”

When she answered, she sounded scared. Scared, and sleepy. “Player? What’s happening? Are you safe? It’s late.”

He took a deep breath. See, he scolded himself, She’s perfectly safe. That’s Red, and she’s fine. She’s fine.

“Player!”

Oops. Okay, she’s fine, but she’s really scared now. Damn it, you scared her.

“Red,” Was all he got out before his voice cracked. He was crying again, this time a little less in fear and a little more in relief at hearing her voice.

“Player? Player, hey, tell me you’re safe?” Her voice was less urgent now, just as worried but almost convinced he wasn’t in immediate danger, at least.

He tried to breathe. “Shit, yeah, sorry.” He half choked back a sob. “I’m safe.”

“Okay. What is it?” He heard her shift, probably sitting up.

He shoved his palms up against his eyes. “Nightmare,” He meant to continue, but wasn’t able to. He half-choked on a sob, and he was mortified, and Carmen’s voice softened even more.

“Okay. It’s okay. Give me a second.”

He panicked, almost thinking she was going to hang up, but all she did was switch on a small light, he heard the soft click, and request a video call. He picked up, and looked at her. Her hair was down, and a little disheveled. She was sitting up, alert, looking at him.

He attempted a grin. It didn’t work out that great. “Hi, Red.”

“Hey, Player.” She looked at him, taking in his shaky hands and red eyes.

“Sorry about this.”

“Don’t be. Talk about it?”

“Not yet.”

“Okay.”

“Just, I guess, the coat was empty, or something like that.”

“About VILE?

“Yeah.” He paused. “About you.”

“Me?” She looked horrified.

His eyes widened. “No, not like that, Red, never like that. They’re the only bad guys, even in my dreams.”

“Okay. I mean, okay either way, it’s a dream, but I’m glad. You don’t have to tell me about it now.”

“In a second. I’m just,” He bit down on his tongue, and looked down. “Talk for a second, Red? Tell me about something?”

“Okay. You know, I don’t have the best view through your curtains right now, but Ontario is known for its diverse geography, abundant freshwater, and vibrant culture.”

Player relaxed, let out a breath that sounded almost like a snort, and Carmen looked relieved, and smiled gently at him. Like he was the sun. She continued,

“I guess you’re our little sample of that vibrancy. Ontario is home to the world's largest freshwater island, Manitoulin Island, and to the famous Niagara Falls. That, and home to the secret weapon, the only true confidant, and the best friend of the elusive Carmen Sandiego. Can you believe it? Less interestingly, the province is a major economic hub, with a strong manufacturing sector and thriving technology industry. I have no doubts about that last part, with the Ontario I can see right now.”

He smiled, softly, and slid his knees down, opting to pull the blanket up to his chin. “It really scared me.”

“What, Ontario? This mysterious confidant of La Femme Rouge? I’ve heard he’s terrifying.” She said, a soft attempt at their banter.

He laughed, really laughed, and she grinned. “No, he seems pretty approachable. Though I guess you might know better than me.” His smile faded a little. “It’s Coach Brunt. That’s the nightmare. That fight. I know how hard that fight was on you and I know it’s not for me to be having nightmares about, it just scared me so much, Red. It scared me, and I heard it and I keep hearing it, and I keep dreaming about it and I get so scared and I wake up and I know you’re fine and you hung in there so well and you were okay and you are okay and you’re fine but I don’t really know you’re fine until I hear you and I want to call when it wakes me up but you have capers in the mornings and you have so many nightmares already and obviously it was so much worse for you and you have the worst nightmares and it’s selfish but,” He took a breath, “I don’t know what I’d do if,” He trailed off, drumming his fingers on his knees.

Carmen looked at him. “Oh, Player, I’m sorry. I hate that you heard it.”

“Don’t. It would be so much worse if I hadn’t.”

“You’ve had the nightmare all week?’

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Would you have told me, if Zach and Ivy hadn’t interrupted?”

“I think so. I didn’t want to bother you. It’s already so hard for you, Red, and it happened to you, not me.”

“Please. It happened to both of us. We were both just as helpless, and you witnessed it. You probably remember it better than I do.”

“I hope so. I wish you didn’t have to remember it at all.”

“I don’t. Not really. But it won’t happen again.”

“We need to make sure you’re not alone with her again.”

Carmen sighed. “I hate that.”

“Yeah, I know. But everyone knows you can do almost anything, Carmen. You just can’t risk it with her.”

“It’s my job.”

“It’s not your job to fight her.”

“It is, though.”

“She could kill you, Red.” Player’s voice was an attempt at a cold and serious tone almost reminiscent of Shadowsan, but it shook, and he bit the inside of his cheek.

“Hey. I’m sorry. Now is the worst time to talk about her anyway. I won’t fight her alone, Player, unless I have to.”

He blew air into his cheeks. “Do you promise?”

Carmen hesitated. “Yeah, I promise. Not unless it’s essential.”

“Okay.”

“I hate her even more, now.” She said, looking at him.

“Like, as of tonight?”

“Yeah.”

He snorted. “Why?”

“She gave you nightmares.”

“Red, she tried to kill you.”

“I hated her a lot, but I hate her even more now.”

Player laughed.

“Better now?”

“Yeah. I still hate that I woke you up, we have a caper tomorrow.”

“I always wake you up.”

“Yeah, I know. What am I even worrying about? If I can handle it, I’m sure Carmen Sandiego can.”

“Exactly.”

“You know, you missed one thing about Ontario.”

“I did?”

“It’s great to visit, this time of year.”

“Book a flight. I’ll give you that hard drive in person.”

“Done.”

“Going back to sleep? We could probably get a few more hours in.”

“Yeah, why not. Stay on the phone, Red?”

“Done.”