Where on Earth, Spies Ch. 8

"les enfants débiles, femme démoniaque, et ne pas fumer. aujourd'hui je suis plein de haine. Waldo grumbled, steering the small plane onto a runway in San Fransisco.

He got out of the plane and did his best to look cool and aloof without a cigarette, as he had an image to maintain as best he could. It took effort, and he had to show those teenage morons who was boss.

"Dude, awesome! A real spy!" A blond boy with poofy hair remarked cheerfully. The relentless cheer was giving Waldo a headache. Or maybe it was the lack of cigarettes. Or maybe the alcohol was already wearing off. He didn't drink that much. Not for his tolerance levels.

"Not for long if you keep saying it out loud." Waldo stated shortly, glaring at the kid. "I shouldn't be angry at you, but I was stabbed in the last twenty-four hours, had my cigarettes stolen from me, and now have to go save another spy from almost certain death. If I happen to not make it on time to save him from that almost certain death, I have at least four people to inform of these events and console. Kindly turn down the cheer a tad, s'il vous plaît." Waldo stated shortly, before extending a hand. "Waldo. Expert in hiding in plain sight, gathering information, and spreading propaganda." He took a much more professional approach now.

"Err... Zack. My friend, the serious redhead behind me, is Ivy. We're your Acme Agents. The ones assigned to work with you." The boy looked up with a hint of suspicion, worrying that this would be a problem.

"Non. I will not have children accompanying me on any missions. None. I just need information from your resources about where Carmen's hideout is, and any information about her I should know in advance. And so help me if you only tell me 'she is crafty' I will risk the chances of my getting fired to boot you halfway across the atlantic."

"Y-yes sir! We'll get right on that, we'll have to call the chief." Zack ran off without looking back, leaving Ivy.

"...What is it." Waldo glared at Ivy, who had her hands behind her back, and was looking up at Waldo curiously, without even a hint of fear or wonder toward him. Just mild curiosity.

"Nothing. Just heard a lot about you. That's all." Ivy stated simply, turning purposefully to walk away, following Zack's path.

Waldo raised an eyebrow and followed.

The ACME agents walked back into the building. It was an unusually-shaped, round sort of building. Built like modern art. As much as Waldo appreciated modern art, he still thought it looked weird. Mostly because the 'secret' organization could be seen from any passing jet passenger looking out the window. Or, indeed, anyone short of an astronaut. And he thought -he- was good at hiding in plain sight. This was just ridiculous. It looked like the insides of a lava lamp solidified.

"Chief, do we have any idea where Carmen SanDiego's current location is?" Ivy asked calmly, looking up at the main computer's massive screens while Zach typed away, trying to pinpoint locations.

"We know she prefers to base her operations in Russia, and early location transmissions for Agent Martin's location were headed in that direction. We understand, however, that his location got scrambled on the way there, so we don't have an exact fix. Zack, any progress?" The Chief requested through the computer, sounding authoritative as expected.

"Working on it. We're getting the tracking signals somewhere close to a place called Kargopol. It's only got a population of about ten thousand, so it's relatively small. Lots of big stone carvings on churches and stuff, looks pretty cool."

"Say that when your friend and coworker is on Ice. When it happens, then say 'it looks cool'." Waldo stated darkly. There was a pause in which Zack looked up with a bit of fear at Waldo.

"...Sorry. It has been a long twenty-four hours, and I have not slept in some time." Waldo admitted, raising a hand in peace.

"...It's... It's alright man, just... try not to take it out on me just because I'm some dumb kid, alright?" Zack scratched the back of his head and looked away, keeping a rather tense pause before he turned back to the computer and pulled up the location. "You can probably get there in just a few hours, if you go quickly." He offered quietly.

Waldo knew he was going to regret this.

"Actually, Zack... and Ivy. Both of you. ...I'm going to need some backup. I have not slept in some time, I cannot very well take on Carmen with so little sleep. Perhaps we can work together, this once. If you are up to it."

"Alright! I'll go pack my stuff!" Zack chimed and ran off. Such an eager kid. He would be a good guy to have around in the spy world. Not in the field, but he would definitely have his uses.

"You really made his day. Just so you know." Ivy smiled a little, looking up at Waldo.

"Do you know how to fly a jet?"

"Yep, provided you buckle up and aren't airsick, shouldn't be a problem."

"Merveilleux. I'll sleep in the back. Get your things, here's the keys, see you on board." Waldo tossed the girl his keys, figuring she could figure out all the other directions and such they would need. They had no building plans, no plans of action, no idea how to find out where she was, and indeed: No idea if Carmen was still there. Surely there was no possible way this could go horrendously wrong and he was going to have to explain to two children's families why they wouldn't be coming home from work that day.

Waldo walked back to the Jet and got in, spreading out across the back seats as best he could with any form of comfort. The thing was built to comfortably hold about five people, move fast, and not need to house anybody. He looked forward to the time he could ditch the children, and take care of Carmen himself. Not that he wanted the credit. They could take all the credit they wanted. He just wanted to take Carmen down so that she would know he bested her. If he didn't do it, he would never be able to look himself in the mirror again, wondering if he let her get away with it all those years without even realizing it.

He started to drowse off, unbothered when Ivy and Zach climbed into the Jet and took off for Russia. And thank goodness: it was going to be a long flight. Plenty of time to catch up on dreams of victory.