Carulia Oneshots

Dance With Me

~words: 945

It was the end of June. A large crowd of happy paraders decked out in rainbows and pride colors entered a gay bar after the annual Marche des Fiertés through Paris, including one Chinese-British girl.

After waiting for a tall Frenchman and a stocky man, (who she assumed was his boyfriend) to enter, Julia Argent walked into the bar. Upon entering, she scanned the room. The people dancing, and the people sitting at the bar or the tables. She wasn't looking for anyone in particular being off duty for the day, but to her surprise and delight, Julia's eyes landed on a certain bored looking lady in red.

Carmen Sandiego. Stunning, as always. Seeing Carmen with her long auburn hair tied up in a messy bun and dressed in her pride colors, Julia's heart raced. She started to walk slowly in Carmen's direction, eyes glued on the Latina. Her mind was racing with all the possibilities of seeing Carmen. Here, of all places. What did it mean?

Oh God.

Julia stopped abruptly, mere feet behind the thief. What would Carmen think of seeing Julia here? What if Carmen was only undercover? Only pretending?

Think logically Julia, she mentally scolded herself. Carmen probably was here on a caper. Why else would she be here? Certainly not of her own free will. With that thought, Julia resumed her approach, somewhat more nervous and shaken up.

"Carmen Sandiego in a gay bar? Never thought I'd see the day." Julia teased in as lighthearted of a tone as she could muster.

Carmen tensed, instantly alert. Chuckling softly, Julia moved to sit next to her at the bar.

"Relax, it's only me."

Carmen exhaled slowly and turned to face Julia, taking note of her colorful attire.

"Here from the march I see," she said with her signature smirk.

Julia felt the heat rise to her face, a gentle blush dusting her cheeks. She hurriedly turned to the bartender and ordered a drink.

"I'm assuming you're undercover?" Julia asked, turning back Carmen with her drink. She was still pink cheeked and flustered.

So flustered.

"You're smarter than your superiors give you credit for Jules." Carmen grinned. "Although if you were trying to see if I was into girls, you could've just asked."

Julia sighed suddenly and turned away, staring into the depths of her drink. She really didn't feel like having this conversation now.

"But is that really true Carmen? Or are you just pretending because you're on a caper?"

Julia said softly, barely audible above the din of the paraders. She knew Carmen sometimes did or said things for the sake of her cover.

"Jules, look at me."

Julia tilted her head toward Carmen reluctantly.

"It's true that I am on a caper," she began, "and that most of the time I pretend or go undercover for the sake of my charade."

She looked directly into Julia's eyes.

"But I just want you to know that I don't pretend to like you. None of that was fake, however much everything else might seem."

At this point Carmen was mere inches away from Julia. All the oxygen seemed to have left her lungs at once.

When she didn't answer, Carmen leaned back into her seat and took a long sip of her drink.

Julia was stunned. Was this really happening?

"Carmen. I–"

Carmen cut her off with a smile and a small shake of her head.

"It's okay Jules, you don't have to answer. I don't expect anything from you."

Smiling softly, Julia placed her hand on top of Carmen's.

"I was only going to say that this is all so unexpected. I came to the march to show my pride, and the person I least expected to see today was you. Especially here," Julia finished with a small laugh.

"You might not believe this, but I've never been to a gay bar before today."

Julia stared at Carmen in surprise, raising an eyebrow.

"You? Of all people?"

Carmen took a moment to answer. She looked down with a lopsided smile and stirred her drink.

"Whenever we travel, it's always for capers. If you take V.I.L.E. down in one country, they just pop up in another. We usually don't get a lot of free time."

"And you're on a caper now."

Carmen exhaled deeply and turned to watch a couple on the dance floor. The same couple that had walked into the bar before Julia. No doubt there were members of VILE hidden around here somewhere. Maybe even in this club. She was sure they were interested in stealing something of value or harming someone vulnerable.

As always.

Before Julia could say anything else, Carmen pushed out from the bar and stood. She looked like she was about to make her excuses and leave, so Julia stood quickly and pulled Carmen close. Carmen raised an eyebrow as she stared directly into the shorter woman's eyes. Julia could feel Carmen's breathing speed up. She smiled faintly.

"Dance with me." Julia murmured.

Carmen's breath caught at Julia's sudden boldness. Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was seeing so many happy gay couples throughout the parade decked out in rainbows and pride colors. Or maybe it was just seeing the gorgeous Carmen Sandiego in her brightly colored pride outfit. Whatever the reason, Julia knew what she wanted at that moment.

"Dance with me." She repeated. "Just for a bit. When you need to disappear to stop VILE you can leave and I won't hold it against you."

After a long pause, Carmen smiled back and let Julia pull her to the dance floor.