Summary: A retelling of the ending of Sly 1, which would mark the beginning of the relationship between Sly Cooper and Carmelita Fox.

It had been a long and hard journey, but Sly Cooper had finally taken the last piece of the Thievius Raccoonus from Clockwerk. He had beaten the whole Fiendish Five, one by one, in order to reclaim the aforementioned book. Sly had considered the book to be his birthright, after all; it had taken him forever to get it back. He knew that he couldn't have done it without his friends, in fact. He took a moment to thank them silently, before remembering that Inspector Carmelita Fox was there too.

She had promised to give Sly a ten second head start when she was free. Granted, the raccoon would have talked his way into getting away, no questions asked, but time was of the essence, and he took comfort in knowing he could get himself out of her claws once she was free. He turned from where he stood looking into the lava, and there she was. Waiting for him. She had her shock pistol pointed at him, and her handcuffs were in the other hand. The thief had a moment of panic before she spoke to him.

"Relax, Ringtail. I told you I was gonna give you that head start, and that head start's exactly what you're gonna get," Carmelita said, as Sly did, in fact, ease up.

"Aww, Miss Fox, isn't there some way you could just sorta...let me go? After all, you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me," Sly effortlessly said back. He had done it a few times, been coy, or, one could even say, sly, to the Interpol agent in their back-and-forth games in the past. But Sly knew that this time, it wasn't a game. Or was it?

"No can do, Cooper. Gotta bring you in. I'd suggest you start running, no?" Carmelita tilted her head a bit, a small amount confused the raccoon wasn't running already. They'd had their banter before, and it typically ended in a chase, with Sly getting away, leaving the vixen to stew in the rage that followed. Her temper didn't make the matters any better, and to Sly, it seemed as if she was a bit more angry every time they encountered.

"Fair enough, I suppose," He responded. He had made it this far, might as well have some fun.

One.

Sly leaned against his cane, the book he had fought so hard to get closed in one hand. Mentally, he counted to himself the seconds he had earned, and thought for a moment. Sly could tell from a few of their encounters that the Inspector had a thing for him. "They always did like me. I guess it has something to do with being, what would Bentley say, 'undoubtedly unhealthy' for them," was a thought that ran through the raccoon's head. Which wasn't weird in the slightest, he sort of liked her too, he realized, deep down inside, but it could never work. He was a thief, she was a cop. It was her place in life to make sure he never got to do the things he did, and that meant that a relationship between the two of them, even if one was struck up, wouldn't last long, and would probably end in excruciating pain for the both of them.

Two.

I have been here for too damn long to let that dirty thief away from me again, Carmelita thought to herself. She kept her hand steady, her sidearm at the ready to dispatch Cooper once his ten seconds were up. She couldn't let the way she felt get in the way of her assignment; she had been given the Sly Cooper case, and she'd be damned if she were to let him away. But Carm seemed to notice that he was standing there. Unmoving. As if he had never been issued the challenge in the first place. The fox narrowed her eyes, and kept careful watch. That bastard could be planning something dangerous...

Three.

Not even halfway through the countdown, and Sly was already giving Carmelita that coy smile of his from behind his mask. Weird, how he wore that, considering raccoons already have black around their eyes and he looked almost exactly the same without it. It was all part of the faรงade, he supposed, trying to look as cool as he could, being just as slick as his attire was. After all, he was Sly, in both name and personality. The vixen opposite him probably thought the same thing, and the idea of that was enough to make the raccoon a bit flustered.

Four.

Why isn't he moving? Carmelita was extremely confused. It wasn't like Cooper to just up and give himself up like that. He liked to play games, to goad you into doing something you shouldn't do. All of this the fox knew, but there was something...alluring...about him. Something that made him, as irritating as he got, rather likable. She supposed that was why he had amassed his following and been able to pull off such incredible heists under her nose. But, none of that mattered. It wouldn't. After she had gotten rid of him, it wouldn't make any difference.

Five.

"Something troubling you, Inspector?" Sly spoke. There was a bit of tension, and being who he was, he was going to do something to it. Make it better or worse, he hadn't decided yet.

"You're not running. Why aren't you running?" Carmelita asked.

"I don't even need the ten seconds, Inspector...I could get out of here any time I wanted, as fast as I wanted, and you probably wouldn't even notice." He smirked. He was deliberately being irritating.

Six.

"Well, then, pendejo, if you don't need them, why in the hell did you ask?" Carmelita's anger began to flare. The damned raccoon was playing with her, toying with her emotions, and she wasn't too appreciative of it.

"Maybe I just like standing here. Watching you. Waiting. Perhaps you'd like that, hmm?"

At that Carmelita herself became a bit flustered. It was a bit obvious that the thief was trying to confuse her, to get his quick getaway he bragged about, and yet, something inside her believed he was sincere. That he meant it. That he thought she was cute, or something like that. He knew that she'd been harboring feelings, and now, he was capitalizing on it. Her anger swelled a bit more, becoming a bit hotter.

Seven.

Ah, there we go. She was upset, and Sly was all the more grateful for it. He could get away from her just as easy as he said he could. But, he felt a bit bad about it. He was manipulating her, and that wasn't a very honorable thing to do. Before his father had died, he had promised to be a master thief, and in his opinion, there was no honor in making Carmelita feel bad for how she felt. He'd make it up to her somehow.

Eight.

"Time's almost up, Ringtail," She had growled.

"I know. Don't worry about it," Sly replied.

"You seem awfully cocky for someone about to go to jail," Carmelita almost snarled back.

"Me? Go to jail? Carm, I thought you knew me better than that..." Sly chuckled.

"I know you better than you know yourself, Ringtail, so I'd suggest you watch it." She was moments away from foaming at the mouth. He was so irritating, so deliberately obnoxious, why did he have to be the one she'd fallen for?

Nine.

Sly had already thought of his plan. He smiled a bit more. He had had it thought out quite a while ago, but, now it was the time to implement it. Time to make up for his annoying disposition earlier, but also time to make sure he lived to steal again.

Ten.

"That's it, Ringtail. You're out of time. I hope-" And that was as far as she had gotten.

Sly had rushed forward the moment her leering gaze shifted, and like the thief he was, stolen a kiss from Carmelita Fox. It was a quick one, but it was also filled with emotion, passion, and above all to the Inspector, sincerity. She was dazed momentarily afterwards, swooning from the emotions she was currently feeling. She put a hand to her lips, and was going to move her other, but something was stopping her arm from moving. She looked at the railing near her hand, and saw that the sneaky devil had not only given her what she wanted, but also given her something she didn't want. Her hand was cuffed to the rail, and Cooper had the key. Almost immediately, her daze turned into frustration. He had gotten away, and used her own god damned handcuffs to leave her stranded there.

She would be getting away, she knew that. Just not before Sly was already gone. She frowned angrily, shortly before trading her shock pistol into her free hand, and shooting off the metal. She holstered her weapon, rubbed her wrist, before turning to the darkness behind her, and screaming.

"COOPER!"

Sly chuckled a bit, as he heard the sound behind him. He was happy, for more than one reason. He eagerly anticipated the next time he encountered the hot-tempered fox. Perhaps things would be different now. Maybe there was something in this life of his that wasn't stealing. But he wasn't ready to give up the game just yet. He'd know for certain when it was over. And maybe, he thought, she'll know, too.