Funny seeing you here- A Carulia Fanfiction

Midnight coffee

The girl stiffened immediately, her eyes widening. "How do you know Carmen?"

"Uh.."

Helping Carmen in mumbai.

The roses.

Watching her stumble from the edge of the belltower, sure she had died.

"I..."

Leaving ACME."It's... complicated." Julia's voice was clearer, but she hated the uncharastic squeak at the edge of the sentence. This could be going better. It could be going worse, but it could be going better.

"You're not from VILE, are you?" the woman's fingers tightened her grip on the painting.

"No."

"Carmen mentioned another one..." Her eyes slid away from Julia, deep in thought. "Ask... me?"

"ACME," Julia corrected. When the woman's eyes narrowed, Julia quickly added, "But I'm not working with them." Pause. "Well, I was. But not anymore."

"Then how do you know her?"

"She's my..." Julia hesitated. Partner? Friend? She thought back to the day on the train- "Partner?" and the edges of her lips pulled up despite herself. "We worked together. Sort of." God, why couldn't she say what she wanted to say?

Julia suddenly felt very tired, as if her head was wrapped in lead, and it occurred to her how little she'd slept in the past few days.

Maybe it was fatigue, or the urge to escape a very awkward conversation the only way she knew how, but the words tumbled out of Julia's mouth before she could stop them.

"I'm sorry, do you want a cup of coffee?"

The woman raised her eyebrow. Assessing if the college professor, in her thin flannel and baggy jeans, was a threat, probably. Julia knew the look.

Great job, Argent. Up to this point, you were doing a good job not thinking about Carmen.

In a way, this woman reminded Julia of carmen. Flighty, but with an air of determination that would be hard to shake. She had seen it in Stockholm, she had seen it in Mumbai, she had seen it in the airport when Carmen hurriedly explained the plan, handed her a black earring, and handed her the duffel bag filled with... millions, probably, of dollars worth of stolen goods.

Finally, the stranger spoke.

"...sure, why not? This painting isn't getting any lighter."

Back in the classroom, walking from the small stove that had been in the classroom since before Julia had arrived, she walked over to her desk and handed the stranger, perched on the edge of the table, a cup. She had been watching Julia intently, perhaps to make sure she didn't slip something in the drink, but took a slow sip now as Julia sat down with her own cup. She preferred iced coffee, really, but the autumn chill and the simple fact that it was much faster to prepare had made her reach for the pot instead of the pitcher.

Fatigue made Julia's hands shake slightly as she raised the mug towards her lips, and she gave a small hiss of pain as the hot liquid spilled on her sleeve.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?" Julia asked after silence that stretched a bit longer than she wanted it to. The (former) ACME agent realized suddenly that the questions burning at her mind seemed more like an interview pamphlet than something you'd ask a strange woman who broke into your workplace's art studio at twelve thirty two in the morning.