Okay guys, so this is my very first fanfic, so I apologize in advance for any obvious mistakes in the writing. I got the idea for this while watching some gameplay of the old games through the Sly Collection on PS3, and after I got over the nostalgia, I decided that it would be cool to write a story about my favorite OTP since I was like 5. Feel free to drop some feedback or give some advice or something, because I kinda still have no idea what it is I'm doing on this site and I am open to any suggestions or help. Anyway, the story picks up right after Bentley destroys the bridge during Operation: Hippo Drop in Sly 2. I'll likely be continuing this, if I get any sort of support for it. I have an idea of where I want to take this and how far it'll go. Enjoy, and let me know what you think! Disclaimer: I don't own Sly Cooper or any of the characters portrayed in this story.

"Okay Sly, the bridge is down. I'll warm up the van and get ready with the RC chopper. Good luck."

"Nice work, Bentley. I'll see you in a little bit."

Sly adjusted his tuxedo, and looked around the massive ballroom. Hundreds of faces crowded the palace, and if everything went according to plan, not a single one would notice Murray taking away the Clockwerk wings. He chuckled to himself; the thought of Murray hanging from a rope Mission Impossible style would've been hysterical if the situation wasn't so serious. Then again, Sly wasn't exactly taking it too seriously anyway.

Right on cue, Sly watched as a pair of guards made their way to Rajan. The tiger's complexion turned angry for a moment, as his men gave him the news of the bridge's destruction. A moment later, he mouthed some words to the guards and sent them away. Rajan settled down again, but the tension was clear on his face. He was anxious, alert, and that could present a problem. Obviously, he needed some entertainment to take his mind off of it. It was time to get to work.

Sly put a hand to his ear and turned on the mic.

"Murray, you in position?"

"Check!" came a muffled reply.

"It looks like Bentley's little distraction did the trick. Initiate phase two – I'll take care of Carmelita and the crowd, you handle the heavy lifting."

He began searching for Carmelita; he needed to keep her attention for as long as he could so that neither she nor the palace guests would see Murray getting away with the wings. Fortunately, that was a task that he was more than willing to perform. His heart beat a little faster than usual, excited to spend some time up close with his favorite policewoman.

Spotting something out of the corner of his eye, Sly turned to see Carmelita stepping out onto the floor. She looked anxious somehow, but still as beautiful as ever. The dress that she was wearing gave her a certain elegance that Sly couldn't remember seeing before, and it was incredible. Without a doubt, this was the best part of the operation. Sly ran his fingers through his hair one last time to straighten up, and then went out to meet the lovely officer.

Striding out into the center of the room, he watched her face break into a subtle smile as she recognized him. Thanks to Neyla, he was able to convince Inspector Fox to agree to dance with what she thought was a total stranger tonight, and very few things were as fun to Sly as hiding in plain sight.

Carmelita looked on expectantly as her dance partner came to her, and held out his hand.

"Miss Fox, I believe you owe me a dance."

She rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"About time. I thought you had left," she replied with false seriousness.

"Just waiting for the perfect moment."

"Right. You and your timing."

Wait… What? Sly raised an eyebrow at her.

"What do you mean by that?"

As they clasped hands and drew together, Carmelita leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "Cooper, putting on a tuxedo and calling it a disguise isn't gonna fool me. Unlike the rest of these brain-dead goons, I know a familiar face when I see one."

She tugged at the ends of his mask and laughed.

"You're even wearing that same damn mask, Ringtail."

Sly felt the blood drain from his face beneath his fur. His disguise didn't work. Carmelita had him trapped here; he couldn't run, he needed to stay and play the distraction. If he left, the operation was a bust. Suddenly, this situation felt a whole lot more dangerous than it did a few seconds ago. His mind raced to come up with a way to get out of it.

Trying to stay calm, he spoke to his dance partner in his usual suave tone, trying to figure out what to do.

"If you know it's me, why haven't you arrested me yet?"

The music began to play in the background, and they put their arms around one another to begin.

Carmelita seemed to notice the worry that came across Sly's expression, and her eyes widened. She spoke in a hushed tone, "No no, Sly, I'm not here to arrest you. Not you or your friends. Whatever you're doing here, I'm not here to stop you."

She stared into his eyes with a strange intense sincerity not often seen by a thief, and it made his scalp tingle. He was stupefied. What did she mean, "not going to arrest him?" It didn't make sense. He felt a wave of relief come over him anyway, but made sure to keep his guard up in case things went south. On cue, they began to step forward, their bodies pressed together in artistic conjunction.

Sly tried to make sense of it for a little while, but quickly forgot what he was worrying about. The two of them kept dancing, moving gracefully together to the beat of the song, twirling and raising their legs in an intricate fashion. They swung back and forth, holding each other and watching each other with every step. As she fell into his arms, they paused for a moment; by this point, they had forgotten all of the eyes that lay intently upon them.

Sly decided to continue the conversation, as his own curiosity had now peaked.

"But… if you aren't here to arrest me, why are you here?"

"Oh, don't flatter yourself Sly, there are other criminals to chase after," she said with a smirk. Then she let out a soft sigh.

"Here's the thing. I was assigned here to investigate rumors of an illegal spice operation-" she glanced at Rajan, and lowered her voice, "-and I've found everything I need. We have everything we need to incriminate Rajan, I just…" she trailed off.

Sly sighed with relief. So the operation was still a go.

"Just what?" he asked with flirtatious curiosity.

"I just want to enjoy a dance with someone tonight, before that someone runs off again like he always does. Is that too much for a girl to ask?"

The raccoon grinned from ear to ear, because it wasn't often that Carmelita flirted back with him.

"Not at all, Miss Fox. It'd be my pleasure to be that someone."

"Good. I don't like it when things don't go my way."

Sly laughed, "You don't have to remind me."

He spun her about, holding her face close to his as they waltzed from one side of the room to the other. Sly began to completely forget why he was there, what he was trying to do; he was slipping into another reality with no crowd, no job, no Klaww gang, no Clockwerk. There was only the enchanting woman whom he held in his arms, and nothing else.

"God, Cooper, where did you learn to dance like this?"

"I watched a movie," he said matter-of-factly.

Carmelita laughed, and pulled Sly even closer than they already were. For the first time in a long time, it looked like the dangerous cop was actually having some fun. It was actually kind of amazing to see, and Sly couldn't keep his eyes off of her for more than a few seconds at a time. He made a promise to himself right then to make time for he and Miss Fox to spend more time together in the future. She deserved more relaxation time than she probably got.

Thinking about it, as much time as he spent running away from her (and as much time as she spent chasing after him), Sly felt as though he didn't really know his lawful pursuer as well as he should have. It seemed as though this was one of the few times that he could finally see the real Carmelita, and who she really was behind that badge that ruled so much of her life.

Eventually, the music became softer and slower, as the dance began to come to a close. The two dancers had completely lost themselves in the tango; neither could pay any attention to anything but each other. Both of them moved as one, with such ease and finesse, they had the entire palace audience mesmerized by their performance. Of course, neither of them even noticed.

As the final notes played out, Carmelita fell into Sly's arms, her own hands wrapped around the back of his neck. When the music stopped, they stayed there for one moment, then another, then three, just gazing into each other's eyes. They were completely silent except for the sound of their breathing. The sight awed the crowd, and not a single person noticed the giant pink hippo slipping away with the massive metal wings in his arms.

Sly and Carmelita finally let go of one another, and they started to come back to reality. The palace filled with the sounds of lavish applause, praising the wondrous performance. Sly sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"That was…"

"…really nice," Carmelita finished. "Thank you for that. Really."

"The pleasure was all mine, Inspector," he replied with a mischievous smile. "You know, I wouldn't mind sharing another dance with you, should the opportunity arise."

She put a hand on Sly's cheek, and he could feel the warmth radiating from under her glove.

"That's a very tempting offer, Cooper. I might just take you up on it."

Hearing her say this made Sly happier than he would admit, and he smiled inwardly at how well this had turned out. However, he still didn't understand why he was being spared the sting of a shock pistol.

"Carm, I still don't get it though. You've practically made it your life's work to put me behind bars… why waste the opportunity here?"

She smirked.

"You're right, it is my life's work. And that hasn't changed. I don't need to rush it though; you always end up in trouble somehow, so I've got no doubt that I'll have many more chances to catch you after tonight. Besides, once I do arrest you (and I will), what then? All of the other criminals I've gone after are boring."

"Glad to know I'm a challenge," he replied playfully. "You know how hard I try."

"Oh don't I know it."

She glanced at her watch, and then looked back up at Sly.

"Listen, this has been really fun, but you should probably get going. Y'know, before the handcuffs come out and the rest of us blow our cover." She gave him a shifty smile, and said, "You know what? I'll even give you a ten-second head start."

"No worries, gorgeous. I was already on my way out."

"Were you? You gonna leave early this time?" she said humorously.

Suddenly, Rajan jumped up from his chair, roaring with rage.

"The wings! What happened to the Clockwerk wings?!"

Carmelita swung around, and stared at the now wingless statue. Putting a hand on the shock pistol concealed in her dress, she started to warn Sly, "Okay Ringtail, you'd definitely better start…"

But when she turned around, he was already gone.

"…running." She sighed, and laughed to herself. What a shocker, he was already gone. Speaking of shocking though…

"Everyone, this is the police! NOBODY MOVE!"

Hopefully that's okay for a first chapter. Thoughts? Reviews are greatly appreciated!