Hmm . . . pre- 'Boyhood's End' fic: in which Lee Jordan walks in on a chess game between the Chief and his programmer, Tara Suzaku  . . . with Lee being the impatient idiot he is, Tara, like practically everyone else at Acme, decides she doesn't like the kid much and has a bad feeling about his future . . .

One last thing: the Lee Jordan I'm talking about IS NOT the Lee Jordan from the Harry Potter books; this Lee Jordan is a complete asshole, unlike the sweet little Gryffindor(?) from Harry Potter. If I see any flames confusing the two, they'll be deleted on sight . . . anyway, this is a Carmen Sandiego fic; you want the Harry Potter section if you're looking for your Lee . . .
 

Of Chess and Chasing Crooks . . .
by Shadow Wolf75

The C-5 corridor opened onto the Acme Detective Agency's computer lab, depositing Lee Jordan in the middle of the room.

"Chief, I've just about got the Staffordson caper figured out; one more Infoscan and I should have it--" It was about there when Lee noticed there was something strange going on. There was a 3-D chessboard on the secondary screen, and a blond-haired woman in her mid-40s that Lee didn't quite recognize was sitting at the console.

The woman glanced over her shoulder at Lee, then turned back to the chessboard. "Ignore him, Chief . . . I'm sure I'll only take a few more minutes to beat you. Surely the detective can wait until then . . ." She clicked a few keys and the black knight moved a little closer to the white king. The Chief took his move as well, even though he was fairly sure the woman could beat him in a few more moves.

Lee glared at her. "Now wait just a minute, don't you know who I am?"

The woman didn't even look back at Lee as she said, "I do know who you are, Mr. Jordan; that you're one of the few to actually catch Carmen Sandiego. But really, that doesn't add up to much if she doesn't stay caught! Yes, I know you, but do you know who I am? Do you know what importance I hold to the Agency?"

"Well, no, but--" Lee began, but the woman cut him off.

"That's what I expected . . . I swear, they put so much focus on you detectives and not enough on the people who really make this Agency run! Anyway, I'm Tara Suzaku; I programmed the Chief here and helped make Acme the high-tech place it is today. Without me, you wouldn't even have your precious Infoscan Database!" Tara typed in another command; one of her rooks moved over to threaten the Chief's king.

"So, you're more important than I thought. But I still need to do an Infoscan for the Staffordson caper . . . sometime today would be nice, you know." Lee grumbled as he watched the Chief try in vain to save his king.

"All right, all right . . . you sure are impatient, boy!" Tara typed one last command, and the knight she used previously moved next to the Chief's king. "And that would be checkmate . . . now you can do your Infoscan, Jordan."

Lee did so, looking up something having to do with Faberge Eggs, then disappeared into the C-5 again.

Tara looked up at the Chief after Lee took off and said, "Dammit, I can't even enjoy a short little chess match with you around here without getting interrupted anymore! And how the heck did such a jerk get to be Acme's star detective, anyway? He's too impatient for his own good . . . reminds me too much of Carmen when she went bad."

"Only she wasn't nearly that immature, right?" the Chief added.

"Yeah. I just have a bad feeling about him, that's all . . . but if he does turn, I doubt he'll be anything like Carmen is . . ."


Yes, I know it's extremely short, and probably not that great either, but that's what happens if you're trying to get rid of writer's block!