On Angels and Dragons - Carmen/Dragon/Vic

On-Angels-and-Dragons [OOC: The following happens after the end of "Case of the Knight's Errand" and before "La Vie de Luxe".  This was a co-op between Carmen, Vic, and Dragon.] Undisclosed Location, Montreal, Canada. Carmen Sandiego drew the silhouette of an angel on the hotel's provided notepad with a spinel-embedded Mont Blanc signature pen. "It won't take you too long," she spoke lightly as ink absorbed into paper and incandescent light glinted on the gem, turning its bright pomegranate hue a deeper red. Vic finished looking over the map of Canada's largest cemetery, the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, and whistled. "Huge bit t' go through for a statue, ah?" Dragon was hanging onto the wall just outside the window, her claws embedded within the mortar around the bricks, a single foot resting on the window ledge, her back pressed against the wall itself; out of sight for the occupants inside and those curious enough to look up from the streets below. "Mm," she agreed, "but someone else wants it, and I..." pausing to look at her creation on paper, the woman continued, "I don't think they deserve it." Pleased with the doodle, she capped and pocketed her Mont Blanc. So far there was nothing noteworthy about the conversation. Carmen had proven, throughout the day, that she was extremely skilled at keeping a low profile and running an underground operation. But that wasn't what Dragon was looking for. Hearing about people deserving things made Vic nervous and his neck began to itch. The truth of the matter was that he wanted to discuss something else with the boss. He couldn't talk about it before she left Headquarters in that giant bird, but when she asked him to meet her here before she headed to San Francisco, he felt like he was given another chance. Thinking of how to start, he still couldn't bring himself to say a word. Though now the conversation could be heading elsewhere. She knew something was up with the male... his voice was slightly strained and she could feel his nervousness. Dragon continued to listen. V.I.L.E.'s ringleader had been sensing her friend's disposition for some time, but she never reacted to things immediately in order to filter out the trivial from the terrible. She can see now that Vincent's problems were of the latter. "What is it, Vic?" Leaning back in the recliner, she awaited a response. It's not easy, and not a lot of people understand, that having this powerful woman's attention fixed on you is like baring your soul to the world. Vic was sure he must be pale because cold sweat was starting to bead between his gelled strands of hair. "It's my ma," he timidly admitted, "got herself into some gambling debt, I didn't even know she played cards... so much." "How much?" "Twenty... grand," Vic fidgeted, "over the past three years." Raising her eyebrows only slightly, Carmen was otherwise expressionless. "I can't get a loan anywhere, C, I tried." "Have you thought about fixing her addiction?" The question was indirect. Vic shook his head desperately. Carmen crossed her legs and leaned forward. Gracefully removing the spinel pen from her coat, she tore away and discarded the sketched angel. On the now blank notepad, she wrote down a series of numbers in three different lines and then handed it to the Salesman. Vic scratched his head. "The first number," she explained, "is how much you're getting after this heist." The figure covered his request. Vic looked at her, his eyes beaming with thanks. She stopped him then moved on, "The second number is for you to call; they should help with mother Fumigalli's 'condition'," the woman paused to put her writing utensil away. "And the last number is how many heists you're doing for me without pay." Not one to enjoy holding favors, Carmen made her deals clear and concise. Dragon was in a mix of shock, awe and complete and utter respect. She knew enough about money that twenty grand was a decent amount and that Carmen had more than likely just bailed him out, of course not for free but nothing ever was free these days. Nodding to herself Dragon had come to a decision. The time for stalking her prey was over, now the hunt could begin. Searching for words to say, Vic was choked up to the brim. "How do I thank yer for this, C?" "I have to go, Vic," Carmen smirked briskly, ignoring the question "I need to be in San Francisco by morning." She'd like to smile and tell him it was nothing on her part, but Vincent Fumigalli was ultimately an employee, and she must maintain a level of emotional distance. "Keep me informed." Vic saw her out of the hotel room and down the hall. When he came back inside, Carmen's abandoned angel drawing was on the floor. Smiling wide, he picked it up, smoothed it out, and kept it for his own sake. + + + Carmen left the hotel an hour after midnight. The streets were empty, animated only with sounds of guests partying in the glittered ballroom floors above. Her car and driver waited two blocks away to avoid suspicion, and she quickly followed a predetermined path. Dragon had been tailing the infamous thief all day. As she saw the woman leave she followed, using the nearby buildings as spring blocks until she made it back to ground level. From there she never used the main roads, staying hidden in the shadows almost being one with them, jumping over dumpsters, ally walls and climbing along the sides of buildings. Never once did her blood red eyes lose sight of her prey... though the night was quiet, one must never assume that no one was watching. The notion of being observed crept into Carmen's consciousness. She often assumed the possibility, but she rarely frequented one spot, and it was hard to distinguish premonition from paranoia. In thought, she walked slower. Her prey was slowing down... Dragon's muscles tensed. Now... now was the time to strike. Kicking off the wall she was holding onto, the primal female grabbed hold of Carmen from behind, one clawed hand covering her mouth so she could not scream the other around her abdomen and arms keeping them pinned at her sides. "I am not here to hurt you Carmen Sandiego." Dragon knew her voice was always a touch rough, but even as she spoke the words she was pulling the captured female back towards the shadows, in mere moments concealing them both from the lights on the street. "I just want to talk. I'm going to let you go in a moment if you promise not to scream alright?" If the woman could not agree, Dragon would have to remove them both from the deeper parts of the city.. take Carmen somewhere safe, secluded and private where they could talk. Though she didn't want to have to knock the female unconscious, she would if she had too. Establishing the speaker as female, the thief listened. In the brevity between one breath and another, Carmen's mind ran through her options. No one but Vic knew in advance that she was here, and her henchmen, charged with only transport, were at least a block away. Deciding that her captor's grip, while constricted, did not feel dangerous, Carmen ultimately relaxed in agreement. Relief was an emotion that, while rare, was very welcome. "Alright, I'm letting you go now." True to her words Dragon slowly released Carmen and took a small step back, further proving she truly was not there to harm Carmen. At first she kept her eyes closed, almost in thought, but then after a moment she opened those blood red irises of hers and looked to the other female. They would not be talking, in full detail at least, here but at least contact had been established and now it was time to make her intentions known. As the seconds ticked on Dragon remained silent, waiting for the female she had brought here to speak first. This would give Dragon a heads up about where Carmen's emotional standpoint was at the moment. Being grabbed like that is not fun and Dragon knew that bad things happened to people when others attempted to do that to her. Beyond this she needed to gauge the reaction Carmen had when she saw her. Dragon had always respected Carmen as a smart woman and as such the animalistic female knew it would not take her long to connect at least a few dots. So she waited, on baited breath, for her turn to speak. With rumination, Carmen watched her temporary captor. She saw only bits under the street lamps and moonlight while her imagination filled up the remainder. This was a young woman, perhaps not by normal means, but V.I.L.E.'s leader was essentially open-minded. By this time, she caught her breath, but her heart remained strongly pulsing, refusing to resign itself to the torpor of safety. "I rarely scream," her words were calm, yet she was ready to fly. Sensors at the base of her heels, if she ran, would raise an alarm to the henchmen in waiting. Without any intention to alert the men for now, she indulged her own curiosity. "You wish to talk?" "I respect that but you can never be too careful these days." Dragon said as she nodded to the woman, she did indeed want to talk. She glanced around a moment every one of her senses on high alert. The dim light almost making it seem like her crimson slit pupil eyes had a predatory glow that resided within a beast, something that the owner of these eyes was not fully aware of. "If I understand right you're the... Alpha-er leader of V.I.L.E... right?" she fumbled on words for a second. Leader was not a term Dragon was accustomed to using, not only did it go against her instincts but her vocabulary wasn't the best in the world to begin with. She hoped that she could hold a proper conversation with Carmen, someone she knew had quite the extensive word base. Taking particular interest in the eyes of this new acquaintance, the woman in red acknowledged with a tipping of her head, "I'm known as such." The way the young woman moved resembled something more feral and reminded Carmen of a case in the Ukraine several years ago where a neglected girl, Oxana Malaya, was discovered having been raised in her backyard by the family's dogs. Carmen knew her enemies, she preferred to believe, and not one of them would dare send someone of this caliber to deliver a verbal message. If any were this dangerous, she may be more watchful of her own survival. Once again reassured, she spoke, "Please, continue." "I... uh," Dragon thought for a quick second, she needed to get her words right. "I want to help, no ah..." she growls some in frustration with herself, her fangs fully barring at that. "I want to join your pack." Screw it, she couldn't be mucking her words and if Carmen was as smart as the rumours said she'd be able to figure it out. Least, Dragon hoped so. She looks around again, still a moment, her body tensing as if to run... and then a car goes by on the road a minute later, near silent as they can make them these days. She relaxes some looking back to Carmen, but still remaining on high alert. Dragon didn't like the city much, but she would go where she needed to. Glancing to the street and then back, Carmen's attention returned quickly from the short distraction. "What is your name?" "Dragon." She replied. In all honesty the woman had named herself after hearing her adoptive mother say the word when she'd seen the small dragon looking birthmark on her neck. Her eyes flit around the area again, though they are in the shadows Dragon is more covered by them due to her dark clothing. "Pleased to meet you, Dragon," as Carmen repeated the name of the figure cloaked in shadows, a suspicion emerged and she methodically looked at the girl again. Of course, the outlaw recalled, the Canadian War Museum: Dragon and the Silver Chalice. While neither V.I.L.E. nor its leader was directly involved in the interest of that silver cup, the solid network, built to support such a massive organization, was capable of knowing when nearly anyone or anything disappeared unscrupulously. "I'm sure you don't mind an informal 'initiation'?" She asked plainly. At those words a smirk broke out on Dragon's face. "Of course not." Maybe tonight would be beneficial in more ways than just one. Slowly, Carmen reached into her pocket to retrieve a disposable cellular phone, one she had used to contact Vic before this night began. The battery was enough to last approximately three days. "Someone will call you on this," her tone was promising; "If all goes well, we'll meet again soon." Gesturing one block down, she proceeded, "I have a car waiting, and I need to leave immediately, I'm sure you understand." A clawed hand reached out and accepted the phone, quickly vanishing back into the shadows thereafter. "Of course, I need to get going myself." She paused a moment as she vanished from Carmen's sight. "Hunt well Alpha." The words had come from higher up on the right where Dragon had crouched a moment to wave and then with that unique farewell the primal female was gone. As she left the rather refreshing encounter, Carmen toyed with the idea that the game was going her way. With her Knight recently captured at the Kremlin, quite by accident, she had conveniently gained a Dragon.