Characters Watching Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego

Dinner

The screen goes dark as Player's question hangs in the air.

"That did not just happen. Tell me that didn't just happen." Gray says.

"Sara what was that?" Ivy shouts. Sara appears at the front of the room.

"Sorry guys, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the last two episodes." Sara says.

"You can't leave us on that cliff hanger!" Zack shouts.

"Sorry guys I don't make the rules." Sara says.

"Yes you do, you brought us here." Carmen says.

"No really, I'm just the messenger. My job is to enforce the Authors will." She says.

"The Author? Who is this Author?" Shadowsan asks. Sara just smiles.

"That's not for you to worry about. For now you should have dinner and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be... a lot." Sara says and vanishes. 

"Not much we can do about it, so might as well do as she says." Carmen says. Everyone slowly gets up, some people trudge towards the door to the living space. Gray pulls Carmen into a tight hug. Player worms his way into the hug.

"I don't know what's going to happen, but we'll make it through together." Gray says.

"I know, the whole point of watching this is so we don't have to live through it." Carmen says. She wraps an arm around each of her boys and they head to the dining room to watch Antonio and CK go all out in the kitchen. Both are trying to deal with their emotions by diving into the cooking and from the look of it, they're about to be treated to a feast.

"Is Chase okay? He's chugged like six bottles of water." Jean-Paul says from his spot at the table.

"Oh he's fine, he mentioned to Julia that he rarely drinks anything other then coffee and now she's making him drink a bunch of water." Sheena says.

"He's going to explode at this rate." Kyle snickers.

"Are we... are we just ignoring what just happened in the theater?" Sonia asks.

"Yes we are. Because we'll only work ourselves up if we think about it right now. We're going to do our best to relax. It's not over yet." Lupe tells her. Everyone takes her words to heart and does their best to not think about what happened. The delicious smells from the kitchen make it easier to focus on something else, by the time Antonio and CK are done there's a buffet of dishes from around the world.

"A little overboard don't you think?" Huang asks amused.

"Maybe just a little." CK laughs.

"Are those Baozi?" Huang asks catching sight of a plate of dumplings.

"They are, a meat and veggie filled type i learned to make during a trip to China a few years ago." CK tells him. Huang smiles.

"My late wife used to make those for every special occasion. I used to make up reasons we should celebrate to get her to make them." Huang says and the two men laugh together.

"Looks like your dad made a friend." Player tells Xifeng on the other side of the room as they're both grabbing a helping of curry.

"Yes I'm glad. Between work and me he doesn't take a lot of time for himself."

"Well, when this is over you can talk to him about it. Explain to him that you're worried about him. I'm sure he'd understand." Player says. Xifeng smiles.

"Thank you Player." She says and gives him a quick peck on the cheek before going to her seat. Almost everyone noticed Player looking like he's about to combust and everyone that does is making plans on how to tease the boy.

The chatter is lively around the table once everyone is seated and eating. Carmen smiles at the sight, it really was like one big family sharing a meal together. She cared about these people, most of whom she'd only just met, but it only brought a stronger sense of dread for whatever would come tomorrow. Whatever was coming, she would put a stop to it and protect these people. VILE was going down.