I Love you, Carmen

Prologue

The door opened. A woman who appeared to be in mid fifties, her wild brown, red, and gray hair pulled into a ponytail. She was in a red shirt and blue jeans. It was clear to tell she was Carmen's mother; She simply looked like an older version of Carmen. The woman gasped silently, then covering her confusion with a look of curiosity.

Carmen smiled, clearly nervous. "Hello, Miss.. Carlotta Valdez?" Carmen asked.

"Yes? That's me.." Carlotta said, nodding. "What do you want, miss..?"

"Sandigo. Carmen Sandiego, I.. I need to talk to you." Carmen requested nervously. "Then, please come in, Miss Sandiego, and follow me." Carlotta said courteously.

They walked into the her office. It wasn't big, just the size of a normal room, and it had a Table, with two chairs on each side. The room akso had a bookshelf behind the table, which was adorned with photos of Dexter Wolfe and Baby Carmen.

They  had only sit down, when a girl, around 19 years of age, entered the room. "Miss Valdez—" She began. "Not now, Lucia, I'm busy,"Carlotta interrupted, though not harshly. Lucia exited the room, closing the door behind her.

"You know, you remind me of someone.." Said Carlotta musingly, more to herself than Carmen, as she sat on one side of the table, and Carmen on the visitor's side. "Do you want something to drink, Miss Sandiego?" She motioned towards the table between them which was laden with Water, Tea, and Coffee.

"No, thank you. And call me Carmen, Miss Valdez." Carlotta chuckled. "Then imagine the same coming from me, Carmen. All right, coming to the point, what did you want to talk about?"

"I..I- I'm Dexter Wolfe's daughter.. And you're supposed to be my Mother.. "Carmen said, showing the locket of her father and herself, in Vera Cruz, Mexico. Carlotta took it, and frowned.

"B-But that isn't p-possible.. M-My daughter d-died.." Carlotta's eyes filled with tears. "She was killed in a f-fire accident more than twenty years ago.."

"You didn't know? N-no body was recovered from the remains of the mansion.." Carmen handed the case files to her mother. She took them, and began seeing through them for nearly half an hour. Carmen watched her expressions fearfully. Player was whispering words of comfort in her ear. Carlotta's eyes filled with tears, dripping gently on the table.

"B-but how did y-you— wh-where d-did you g-grow up?"Carlotta stammered, her eyes still filled with tears.

For a very long time, (atleast that was what Carmen felt it to be) she explained all about her growing up on the isle of Vile, Meeting Player, enrolling in Vile, Shadowsan trying to fail her her, of her sneaking in a caper Morroco, coming back in an holdover year, escaping Vile, Meeting Zack and Ivy, doing numerous capers across the world, of Shadowsan joining them, finding out about her family, searching for her mother in Vera Cruz, Of Vile making her bad by messing her in the brain, and how Gray helped her get her memories back. Carlotta and Carmen herself couldn't spot it, but she talked about Gray in particular fondness. And not once did she say, 'Gray's like a brother to me.'

"I—I don't know wh-what to say.. If I knew you w-were alive, I would h-have searched for y-you.. "

"How–did you ever meet Dexter Wolfe?" Carmen asked. Carlotta stopped crying, and assumed what she clearly thought was a monotonous voice.

"I met him in a party on one of his voyages in Vera Cruz. He was a very energetic and fun man. We fell in love the first night we met. After a few months, he asked me to become his girlfriend.

"I was very happy, I... I loved him very much. He never told me what he did in those long gaps he was away.

"After about an year, Dexter proposed to me. We quietly got married. He still kept going out for a few months. Finally I asked where he kept going to. He said that he had some sort of a business named 'Vile'. He said it was some Criminal organization. I was stunned. He begged me not to say anything.

"Then we had you. It was one of the happiest days of my life. We even went to a trip to Vera Cruz. One day, Dexter suddenly said I had to change my name to Vera Cruz, and buy a house under my name. I agreed.

"You were only an year old when Dexter said he was quitting Vile. He said they saw him as a traitor. He said they could target me and could very well kill him. He said I could be used as blackmail and needed to leave. I begged him to come with me. I asked him to give my baby to me. He said he would move to the safebase where I was. I left. Dexter staged my funeral, promising me he would join me in the safe base.

"Two weeks later, I got news that the mansion bought under my name was burnt. I thought you had died in that fire, and I had no evidence to prove myself otherwise.

"I was completely devastated. My child and my husband were dead in the same night. I came back to Buenos Aires to start an orphanage. 

Carmen sat there, thunderstruck. She didn't expect in her wildest dreams there would be such a story behind her mother.

Carlotta grinned. My daughter is alive, and I'm very happy. So, would you like to stay here?"

_

Shadowsan stood at the entrance of the room. Hideo, Shadowsan's elder brother, watched his reflection, and smiled. Shadowsan smiled back.

"Welcome, Suhara," Hideo turned, still smiling. Shadowsan too, was smiling. They both bowed to each other. "Defeated your 'Evil Organization'?"

"Yes."

_

Ivy clicked the pen. It felt to the ground, and the Hologram of Chief appeared. "Who is this?" She asked.

"Um," Ivy began, with a look to her brother, "I'm Ivy, and this is my brother, Zack. Uh— Carmen told us to contact you, Chief. She— gave us this pen.. " Ivy finished awkwardly.

"You've worked with Carmen Sandiego?" Chief raised an eyebrow. "You both could come useful indeed. Where are your pals, Carmen and Shadowsan?"

"Carm went back to her mother, and Shadowsan returned to Japan!" Zack exclaimed enthusiastically, but with a lot of hidden sadness.

"You would come useful, gumshoes. I want to know if you're going to join ACME."

Chief sat down on the Sofa. "Take your time, I'm in no hurry. "

Finally, after a long silence they siblings answered, "Yes."

"Good, I'll expect you both to be in Seattle this coming Saturday."

_

"Hey mate!" Noah exclaimed. "You're here!" His other friends and colleagues started crowding around him. He grinned.

"I'm here to stay, mates," Graham said easily. But on the inside his heart clenched painfully. The injury was still new. He wondered whether Carmen had found her family. Sighing wistfully, he walked inside the Sydney Opera house backstage.

Word Count: 1229

_

So this is just a prolouge/ filler chapter of this story, and this part is very long! I thought Carlotta should have a story to herself. Comment! I don't need votes, comments make me happy! Stay tuned for next chapter! I published this on Tumblr in my account,  'red-crackle-for-life' . Thanks for reading!