Prologue: First and foremost I do not own the rights to Sly Cooper or Carmelita Fox or any other character mentioned in this story that is based off of The Sly Cooper trilogy. That being said, this story line follows the OC of mine Bonnie Cooper who is the esteemed daughter of Carmelita and Sly. This story line picks up almost directly after the ending of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, and we're ignoring the plot/game Thieves in Time for the sake of this story. I wouldn't read unless you've either watched the story lines on YouTube or even played through and beat the games yourself! It's got a few nods to the games and some characters too! I hope you like it!
Chapter 1: My Name is Bonnie Cooper!
It was a cold day in April, the soft cold. The kind where a jacket was absolutely necessary in order to go outside, but warm enough that it didn't have to be a parka. The clouds rolled over the Paris sky and the wind blew the windows on all the chateaus and apartments along the riverbanks.
At a hospital off of the side streets of Paris, Carmelita Fox strained and squealed in pain as doctors rushed her to the nearest room. "Hurry you buffoons!" She managed to push out in between short hot breaths. The doctors and nurses worked feverishly plugging in IV's and stationing Carmelita just right. She squealed in pain as the doctor split her legs. "Get it out! Get it out!"
Hours of labor passed, until finally the room was filled with a soft sweet cry. Carmelita's muscles relaxed and she collapsed her head back on the pillow, not realizing how stressed they were or even how she was propped up on her elbows in the bed. Her eyes fell half shut as her breaths came in heavy and fast. "It's a girl," She heard the doctor say.
She let a half smile escape her lips. "How does she look?" The smile subsided as she realized what her physical characteristics could potentially entail. She grew panicked; remembering who this child's father is.
"Why she's got your looks Carmelita. Not a thing wrong, of course we'll have to run some tests to make sure she's up to par, but she looks like a healthy baby." The nurses wrapped up the little bundle of joy and Carmelita relaxed once more and a full smile escaped her lips. The doctor came over and handed her off to Carmelita, "She's quite beautiful."
Carmelita fought off the exhaustion and held her baby close to her heart. "My dearest daughter, look how beautiful you are." She watched as her daughter's eyes fluttered open and the gentle cries subsided. She had soft brown eyes and hair just like Carmelita's. Her smile was toothy and her skin was beautiful and just what Carmelita was hoping for, no trace of Sly Cooper at all.
Just then a man walked in the room, immediately through tired eyes Carmelita recognized her brother and newfound partner in the force, Detective Carmelo. "She's just like me," Carmelita gave him through a tired voice. He strode over to her and studied the baby.
"Cute little fart isn't she?" He said waving a finger over her snout. She giggled and swatted at her Uncle's hand with her paw. "What are you going to name her?"
Carmelita thought well and hard, she didn't want any ties to Sly at all, so far she had the looks of this baby going for her, but something felt wrong. Sly, as dastardly as he was, she did care about him. She thought through history and remembered some great thieves in time and came to the conclusion. "Her name will be Bonnie, after Bonnie and Clyde Cougar."
"Thieves? You're naming her after a thief? That's so unlike you, a Captain of a police precinct in Paris?"
Carmelita just smiled; "she's got to have some sort of connection to her father. However minimal and discreet he is there." Bonnie fluttered around in her nest of blankets all the while in her mother's lap and began to sleep.
The doctors took her to another room for some tests and prints for her birth certificate. "Have you got a name Miss. Fox?" The nurse asked.
"Bonnie, Bonnie Cooper."
When Bonnie was taken for tests Carmelita couldn't fight the exhaustion anymore and her eyes fell shut and sleep overtook her and one thought plagued her throughout her slumber.
Bonnie Cooper. What have I just done?
*Some Years Pass*
"You have to understand this is not a joke! I need full access to a police copter. I'm taking a trip to Russia…" another voice muffled over the opposite end of the phone… "Understood corporal, but there was a siting if I could just go I could…" Carmelita was cut off again by muffled voices… "Do I need to come down there and explain? You've gotta trust me here." The muffled voice returned and Carmelita slammed her phone back to the receiver on her desk.
She let out a sign then opened the big safe behind her desk retrieved some file and began to head for the door. "Wait here Bonnie," She gestured toward her daughter playing with blocks on the rug in the middle of her office. "And don't go wandering around the precinct again! Mommy will be right back!"
Bonnie watched intently as her mother left. She was so young and shouldn't really have been left alone, but she didn't mind. She could stretch her legs when adults weren't around. She was only five years old and she could climb to the top of the fridge and steal cookies when he mom wasn't looking. She knew she had a given knack for it and she used it to her advantage.
Bonnie didn't really know much about her mother though, granted she was always around, picking her up from school, driving her to the precinct, making her sit on the rug playing blocks and doing homework until the wee night time hours all because her mom's driven life purpose, to find and bring Sly Cooper to justice.
She never understood why her mother had such hate for the guy: he seemed like an awesome guy. Living off his will, taking what he wanted without anyone else having to give him permission. Bonnie was always intrigued by him; even though her mother "didn't want her around that stuff" she was always exposed to this rabid goose chase because it basically consumed her mother's life. Bonnie secretly wished her mom would never find him. Bless the man that can escape her mother. She envied him because sometimes even she wanted to escape her mother's grasp.
Bonnie began wandering around the office when she realized her mother left her safe wide open. Curious little thing she was, Bonnie decided to see what exactly Sly Cooper was all about. She read through the files like they were a bible of sorts and Bonnie was intrigued by everything this guy was. Even if the files were hard to read completely beyond her first grade reading level she stuffed a few of them in her backpack in between the binders so her mother wouldn't notice. Bonnie had promised herself that one day she would read them all and get a feel for just who this Sly Cooper was.
"Thank you Corporal." She heard her mother say from outside the door as she heard some laughter coming from her mom's boss. Realizing how close she was to the vault and knowing how much trouble she'd be in if her mom found her snooping around the Sly Cooper files she did a quick jump over her mother's desk and back to her blocks. Building a few simple structures to make her mother think she'd been busy.
The door opened and her mother returned with haste. She put the files in her safe and shut it tight. "Bonnie pack up your blocks you're going to Uncle Carmelo's for the week. I'm going to Russia."
*Some years Passed.*
Bonnie had just turned ten and was living with her Uncle Carmelo most of the time. She rarely saw her mother only occasionally when she wasn't running off to some remote corner of the globe trying to find Sly Cooper.
She often felt like she didn't exist to her mother, and she sometimes wished she could. Bonnie was finally double digits and her mother had missed her last three birthdays again because of her time being consumed with Sly Cooper.
She began to wish she had a father, someone else who could spend time with her and love her. She was growing up fast and no one seemed to have time for her. Her Uncle worked just the same and wasn't married or had kids. It was just Bonnie. She was trusted to go to school, come home do her homework and get good grades. She hated every second of it. Bonnie felt expendable, like she was only there because her mom just decided to have a baby.
"This is stupid." She said throwing her homework off of her uncle's tiny kitchen table. "I'm just as much alive as my darn mother. I deserve to be wanted too, if not more than at least as much as the God-forsaken Sly Cooper." Bonnie got angry and started breaking things. First it was a chair then it was some dishes left in the sink. She strode around her uncle's small living room and kicked a hole in his wall. She was amazed to find that there had been a jar with money stored inside.
A sly smile sneaked across her face, "If no one will indulge me with some company, I'll indulge myself with a little shopping spree."
Being only ten she couldn't go very far, she'd found a good amount of money in that wall. First she went to a fancy restaurant and ordered a fine three course meal. Then she went to her favorite boutique off the riverbank and bought a whole new wardrobe. Then she wound up getting some ice-cream. She felt happy for the first time in a while, even more satisfied knowing that she didn't have to work for this joy or even ask for money, she felt like a common thief, a minor Sly Cooper. Maybe her mother would focus on her if she found out. She was usually denied all requests for money or clothes. However it just seemed that no matter how much of it she spent there was so much left.
She didn't want to return it because there was so much she could do with it. Run away? Nah, where could she go? Buy her own place? Seriously? Who would believe a ten year old had that much to spend?
She worked through the options and wound up walking all the way to her old neighborhood where her mother's house was. Just a few blocks away and she could ditch her new clothes bags there so her uncle wouldn't get suspicious. When reaching her street she noticed a poor man sitting by a sewer. He was reaching in for something that when she got close enough realized was a rotten banana.
"What are you doing?" Bonnie asked.
"What yer' think lil'fox I dropped me dinner!"
Bonnie felt terrible, this man was so hungry he was reaching in a sewer to grab a rotten banana. His coat was worn and she felt chili on behalf of him. The November night breeze was picking up. She knew what to do with her winnings. "Here." She said handing him the money jar. "You need it more than I." The man looked at her funny
"You seris lil'fox?" She just nodded. The man took it and thanked her greatly then disappeared into the night.
When she reached her house she noticed she didn't have the key. However she heard police sirens wailing and approaching her location fast. She didn't know what to do and felt somewhat panicked. But she remembered the old drainage pipe that hung in the back of her house and lead up to the balcony. She slipped over the fence with ease and ran to the pipe. She slung her knew clothes bags up on her arm and climbed the pipe. Just like she used to do before she had to go live with her uncle. Like always the balcony door was open and she slunk in and hooked a hard left and ran into her room. She flicked on the light and opened her closet door throwing the clothes bags inside. She ran through the house and flicked on more lights trying to create the illusion that she's been here.
It was night time and her uncle would be home by now, the sirens indicated that she was missing and she knew it. It wasn't like her to come to her old house but she had a lie fabricated and was planning on using it.
As predicted the cop cars stopped outside her house, the door was rushed open by none other than her Uncle Carmelo. "Bonnie? Bonnie Fox are you here?"
She walked out of her old room and met her uncle's eyes from the banister of the second floor, "Yes why what's happened?"
"Thank the lord. I went home and the place looked like it'd been robbed. I saw your work thrown on the floor and thought you'd went missing too. I've searched everywhere and this was a last hope. Why are you here are you okay did you see anyone?"
Bonnie thought Sure, now I'm alive, "No," she replied. "I finished my homework and came here after, I just miss my mom and my old bed. It's been a few months since I've been here and I just miss this place."
Her uncle relaxed. "Thank God at least you're okay. I was robbed; luck was on our side tonight that you weren't there. I'm going back to the crime scene for an investigation. You'll have to stay here tonight. Don't worry about missing you mother though, she's coming home tomorrow."
"For how long this time, three days?" Bonnie asked sarcastically.
"Permanently and indefinitely, her passport has been revoked and she's been demoted. The Corporal can't have the precincts reputation being tarnished by her never ending goose chase of Sly Cooper."
"He's really good at escaping her that guy." Bonnie replied.
"Yeah, that's because he's been dead for about ten years now. Your mother seems to be the only one who thinks he's still alive. She's sucked up company funds to find him with anonymous hints coming in from all over the globe. It's been real hard on the precinct, not to mention you."
Bonnie remembered the files she'd stolen from her mother back when she was young, based off of that knowledge alone she knew with skill like the thief of Sly Cooper he couldn't be dead. But Bonnie needed to know more. Sly Cooper was beginning to mean something to her too. "He's been dead for almost ten years?"
"Yes, now just get to rest I'll have some cops on detail tonight watching the house. They'll bring your homework and some dinner. Bless the lord for your safety."
When her Uncle left Bonnie contemplated the gravity of what he told her. She strolled back to her room and looked herself once over in her full body mirror. "I could get used to this." She said to herself, and that same sly smile streaked across her face again.
*Some Years Passed*
Bonnie sat upright in her bed; it was the morning of her 16th birthday. She noticed the sunlight was blocked by a sea of dark gray clouds. Figures, on my birthday it's miserable. She slowly got up and strolled to her closet, picking out loose and comfortable clothing like any other day. Something felt off about the day and she couldn't figure it out, but something strange was in the air and she didn't know what to make of the feeling she had in her gut.
She heard her mother walk by her door and head down the stairs, on her usual morning phone call. "Listen I just need a small donation, I've got a feeling this could be my chance!" A voice over the phone seemed angry and tired but Bonnie couldn't hear what she said specifically from her bedroom. She heard her mother let out a sigh and heard her footsteps stop in the middle of the steps. "No I understand, I will just have to keep looking for someone else to help." Bonnie exited her room upon hearing her mother click the end button.
Carmelita looked up at her daughter at the top of the stairs. "Morning Bon," she said as she turned and continued down the steps. She rounded the corner and headed into the kitchen. Bonnie shuddered. She'd hated when her mother called her that. At least she paid some recognition to her existence though. Carmelita brewed coffee and put her head in her hands and rested her elbows along the kitchen counter.
Bonnie walked into the kitchen and headed for the pantry, she stopped briefly to observe her mother. She was weary and beyond tired. She looked as if she hadn't slept in years. Ever since she had been demoted six years ago nothing has been the same. She looked like she'd aged beyond her years, she was only 38 and yet she looked as if she should retire.
Bonnie never really reached out to her mother; she didn't seem like the type of woman to go to with your problems because she always had a boat load herself. She'd given up her chances at a relationship with her mother simply because her mother was hell bent on finding someone who's been dead for sixteen or so years now. Bonnie was impressed at the fact that she was even allowed to look that long.
It was an infatuation that she never really understood, one that she could never figure out. Even with the files she's read from her mother's safe, she couldn't understand it. Bonnie still had those files returned a long time ago when visiting her mother's office and she left once again to go beg her corporal officer to fly to some other remote part of the globe and leaving her safe open around her again. Only that time she didn't get the chance to read any others her mother was denied before she could even make it down the hall. Part of her yearned for the rest of them, she wanted to know so much more because her mother would never tell.
"I'm exhausted you know." Bonnie froze in her place as her mother picked her head up and turned to her. "I've been hunting for this guy for as long as I can remember."
Bonnie stood in silence.
"I wish I could just find him and just get the satisfaction of winning." Carmelita's gaze turned to the back window. "I've given everything I have to bringing this guy to justice and I've given years of my life. No one will help me find him. Everyone thinks the worst. I know he's out there, I'm getting closer I can feel it!"
Bonnie rolled her eyes. She had had enough, it was her birthday and yet it was still all about the notorious Sly Cooper "Are you ever going to quit this? Ever?" Carmelita raised an eyebrow as she drew her gaze to her daughter, almost as if questioning Bonnie's attitude. "I'm so sick of this, your precious Sly Cooper is dead, has been dead, and will remain dead. You are the only person hung up on his existence!"
Carmelita turned to face her daughter completely; she didn't realize what was going on entirely because this was the first time she'd actually paid attention to her daughter in a while. There was anger and anguish on her face, all for which she knew she was to blame. She'd wanted so hard to keep Bonnie out of the mix but it seems that in her heinous efforts to find Cooper she'd lost a chance at enjoying life with her daughter, her own daughter. It was the first time she'd even studied her daughter, she'd grown up so much, and Carmelita had missed most of her daughter's life. Where did she go wrong? Why did she let her obsession get in the way of the life she needed to live, not for herself, but for their daughter? It was too late to say sorry and she knew it. Now Bonnie stood here, resenting her and she had no one to blame but herself, so she stayed silent and let her finish.
"Why can't you let it go? You lost your ranking in the precinct, you lost your brother! You sacrificed everything for this 'thief' that did you so much injustice that you need to devote your life to finding him. Worst of all you lost me, happy sixteenth birthday to me!"
Bonnie turned to leave and strode off without even grabbing her backpack for school. As she strode for the door she'd noticed her mother followed behind her, when she turned to face her Bonnie saw the regret and sadness in her eyes, but she didn't care. She was too consumed with anger for all the years that she'd been just another life force walking earth, another life that wasn't possessed by Sly Cooper. "By the way," She said grabbing the door. "It's no wonder the guy was on the run from you, and if he is alive, I hope you never find him."
Carmelita stood speechless as she watched her baby girl walk out the door and stride toward school. "What have I done?" she asked herself. For the first time in sixteen years Carmelita thought to herself, for herself. Her thoughts weren't about Sly Cooper, they were about Bonnie Fox, her daughter. She knew that she'd never get back the time that she'd lost, but she could start by making things right at least in the now, in the time that she still had with her daughter. Her fingers dialed on her phone fiercely as she requested a day off of work for the first time in all these years. The boss was eager to give it to her, and on that note, Carmelita got busy.
On the walk to school Bonnie felt a little sick to her stomach, she had always been able to cast her feelings aside where her mother was concerned because in all honesty she felt bad for her. Bonnie couldn't imagine finding the one thing that was out of reach but needing it for the sake of self-peace. She figured she'd stop by the precinct to apologize for being hasty, she should just expect this of her mother at this point in her life.
Bonnie decided she didn't care if she was late for school considering she was ill-prepared for it anyway. She took a few blocks North and wound up at her mom's place of employment. She reached the assistants desk when she was denied access to her mother's office because her mother wasn't in.
"That can't be right?" Bonnie questioned. "My mom never calls out of work."
"Well believe it sweety!" the attendant muttered through bites of her gum in a rather raspy voice. "Now get to school before she winds up having to come in, it was good to see yuh again hun. Stop by some time!"
Bonnie waved her off and strode out of the building, that's unlike her. However it wasn't unlike Bonnie to get a little curious, if her mother wasn't in her office, her safe was left unprotected. This could very well be her only chance to find out what was so important about this Sly Cooper. She noticed the gutters going up the side of the building; her mother's office balcony was just a few feet away from it. A simple leap could land her there.
But how could she get into the safe? She didn't know how to hack safes. Of course she could pick pocket the lunch money off of a couple suckers at school. Sometimes she hacked the locked door of the arcade downtown so she could play video games at night, and yeah she had practiced her climbing fluently since that night she was ten. But breaking into her mother's office? Her sacred Sly Cooper safe, could she do it?
This could be your only chance Bonnie, you have to try… Her thoughts raced and she decided on an impulsive whim that she needed to do this, for her own sake at this point. She backed into the alley between the precinct and the adjacent building she slowly and stealthily climbed the water drainage pipe, careful to avoid windows until she reached her mother's window balcony.
She took a breath, and closed her eyes. Opening them slowly, she took a leap of faith and landed safely on the platform.
She did a slight victory dance and crept into the window before anyone could see. The office had looked the same to her since all those years ago when she was barely five playing blocks on the floor, when she'd first stolen those files. They've been long since returned now, but Bonnie was determined to retrieve them all this time. She strode over to the safe wishing for a clue or anything that could help her to crack it. She rummaged through files on the desk. She searched for keys after trying to pick it. Nothing helped. She began to think of what she knew of Sly Cooper, in the files that she had read, she remembered how he was able to crack this code but with help.
She knew only of Sly what her mother told her, so she began thinking back. Her mother mentioned once that her first ever encounter with Sly Cooper happened on a night in September. It was a stretch but maybe 9 was the first number, it could apply here. The day was either the third or fourth she remembers this only because one year it was back to school day and her mother had made it a big deal about being the anniversary of the night she'd met Sly. She said something about finishing up her work shift at five but having to chase the thief until he got away at seven that night. Nine-three-seven. Let's try it out.
It was wishful thinking, she'd been here for an hour at least trying to find a way in, it seemed quite hopeless and she was grasping for anything at this point. Maybe it was dumb luck or maybe just fate, but the safe clicked open upon entering the code, she let out a sigh of relief and silently applauded herself. "Okay Sly Cooper. Let's get to know each other."
She tore through those files until it was borderline noon. She read about small adventures in the Welsh Triangle taking down Sir Raleigh the frog and to Utah when coining Mugshot. To some bigger villains like The Warden Contessa and King Rajan. The files were endless, a lot about a mysterious figure named Clockwerk, which she was interested in reading into. Then she learned about his team. There was Bently, the tech guy and demolitions expert and Murray "The Brawn" as he was described.
However none fascinated her in the way that Sly Cooper did. He was a master thief and he was so skilled that no one could find him, not even Carmelita Fox. Bonnie began to see her mother's agitation, but she read on.
She rummaged through the files some more until she came across a box in the back of the safe, it was kind of big but it had been hidden by all these files that she had just now noticed it. Mainly considering all the files were sprawled across the floor. She pulled it out with some difficulty it had a little weight to it however it was the last thing in the safe that she could go through, all that was left of Sly Cooper.
She set the box down; her stomach did a back flip. She gasped so loud she thought someone outside would hear. She had to blink a few times to make sure what she was reading was actually there.
Bonnie Cooper.
She couldn't believe it, she didn't believe it.
Bonnie Cooper.
Sly Cooper, her father? No it couldn't be. She began to unfold the mystery in her head. Whenever she had asked her mother if she had a father all her mother said was he skipped out on them and died. But did he die? Did he even skip out on them? She needed to know more, what did this mean?
She opened the box cautiously, inside she found a hat, similar to the one she'd seen in all the photographs of sly cooper himself. She rummaged some more, a couple of his calling cards that he left whenever he robbed a safe and most important of all she found what gave the box its weight. She was looking at the cane of Sly Cooper, she pulled it out with ease and shock grew all over her face. There was one thing left, something she needed to read. It would confirm her suspicions. She plucked it out of the box and unfolded the paper.
Birth Certificate: Bonnie Cooper
DOB: 4/3
Birth Parents: Carmelita Fox Mother
Sly Cooper Father
She dropped the paper. Rage consumed her. She knew what to do. She plucked up the Cooper Cane and Sly Cooper's hat too. She gathered the useful files on his team and a few others and put them in a brief case she found under her mother's desk. Whatever remained she didn't hesitate, she started shredding file after file, paper after paper.
She watched as her mother's Intel on the great Sly Cooper, Bonnie's father, diminish paper by paper. When it was all gone she took one of Sly's calling cards and left it in the open safe. Bonnie was done playing this game; she was done feeling bad for her mother. Bonnie was done being Bonnie Fox. She knew she was always good at thieving, she never understood her gifts of stealth and thievery until this moment. Sly Cooper, the man her mother searched for her whole life was her father, now Bonnie had a mission to do what she could never do. Find Sly Cooper.
*That Night*
"I'm surprised you reached out Carmelita, I wasn't expecting the call to be out of family concern." Her brother Carmelo said hanging up balloons.
Carmelita felt sorrow in her soul, "I've been an idiot Carmelo, and I've given up so much time with my daughter because I've been obsessed with finding Sly Cooper for all of her life, for most of my own life. She hit a nerve today, a nerve that I needed hit. I can't let Sly control my life anymore. Maybe I have to give up maybe I have to just believe that he is dead and gone and I've been chasing a fantasy for all these years."
Carmelo stopped decorating the house and looked up at her, "I've waited 19 years to hear you say that. The girls got spunk and no respect for authority if I might add. Takes after her no good father if you ask me, but she's got a point."
She stopped what she was doing, "I never wanted to find him for me, at least not after Bonnie was born, I know Sly's a thief but I couldn't believe he was dead. I didn't want to; I wanted him to know he was a father. I stopped trying to bring him justice all I wanted was for him to see that he had a beautiful little girl now, and maybe he could put crime behind him and get a clean slate with us. Be what I wanted him to be, the man I had loved even under all the chaos."
"I know Carmelita, but the time he could have had and the chance he had are long passed, just be what Bonnie needs you to be, a mother."
Carmelita smiled. She was going to be exactly that. The guests would be arriving soon for Bonnie's surprise party and she was going to apologize for everything, give herself a clean slate with her daughter. She went to the fridge and pulled out the cake, she placed it on the counter when she heard the front door open.
She rushed to the foyer and immediately felt defeat, "I wasn't expecting you for hours we were going to throw you a surprise party!"
Bonnie was taken aback, "We?"
Uncle Carmelo walked around the corner and into the foyer, "It was supposed to be a surprise!"
Bonnie was unamused and silent.
Carmelita grew tense, "I know you're upset with me, I know I've been wrong, but I'm going to start making things right you just have to let me."
Bonnie ignored her comment and held her gaze of rage, her mother's eyes met hers with sorrow but she didn't care anymore. "I'm going to find him Carmelita."
Carmelita grew slightly angry, "I am your mother do not speak to me that way!"
Uncle Carmelo stepped in with a concerned expression, "Find who?"
"Sly Cooper, or otherwise known as my father!"
Carmelita's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. She was speechless, confused, and paranoid. Bonnie picked the birth certificate out of her pocket and threw it at her mother's feet. She didn't plan to stay any longer.
"Bonnie wait!" Her mother said, but she refused and kept walking toward the door. "Bonnie Fox if you do not stop this instant."
Bonnie stopped only briefly, once her hand had reached the door, she turned her head slightly and muttered something that felt almost freeing to her. She felt like this is who she was meant to be. This is what she had needed to do in order to feel like she belonged somewhere. She always knew it wasn't here, she always knew she was nothing like her mother.
"My name is Bonnie Cooper!"
She opened the door and slammed it shut behind her as she left, and the world as hers to conquer.
