"How dare you trick me like that, Cooper!" Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox shouted at the running criminal, her trusty shock pistol firing bolts at the raccoon. Sly had his cane clutched in his hand, dodging the berserk waves of electric blasts. They've been running around the streets of Paris for over an hour now. The time was nearing midnight. He was hoping that she would never find out, that the two of them could have a steady relationship. Then again, what kind of relationship could a cop and a thief possibly have?

"Why did I ask her to dance with me...?" Sly thought, recalling what happened.

Sly had been flirting with Carmelita for years and was gifted the opportunity to create a real relationship between the two of them. Following the defeat of Doctor M, Sly pretended to have amnesia and posed as a member of Interpol working alongside Inspector Fox. Tonight was meant to be a special night. Her boss, Inspector Barkley, was hosting a fancy dinner party. Carmelita Fox and her partner, Constable Cooper had been invited to this party. Neither of them knew anyone else at this party besides Barkley and few inspectors. They all seem focused together at this time, so the two of them sat with each other. She was wearing a long scarlet dress with matching high heels. His attire was a navy-blue tuxedo with a red rose tucked into his overcoat's pocket. It had been a dull evening until the music picked up. Sly saw this as an opportunity to bring him and Carmelita (literally and figuratively) closer together.

That isn't to say that the two of them haven't been getting along, it has just been difficult to work alongside Carmelita without blowing his cover. Up until now, he had been extremely careful not to give any hints. Up until now...

Tonight, Sly had made a crucial mistake. He had asked her to dance. There's nothing wrong with that asking her to dance… The problem was that Sly had only learned the one dance that the couple performed in India. That dance was meant as a diversion while the team stole Clockwerk's Wings from Rajan. Sly intended this one to be passionate and meaningful. Having been fooled once before with the same trick, she was not going to let him get away with it this time. Near the end of the song, Carmelita pulled away from him, trying to find a way to solve the matter quietly. Sly was concerned for a moment, until she strangely asked if they could be alone.

Sly sighed before speaking. "Meet me on the balcony," he told her. She went ahead while he ran to the restroom to compose himself. He had definitely blown his cover. He knew it. What he didn't know was how she would respond to this.

About 5 minutes later, Sly came out onto the building's balcony. He was refreshed but struggling to relax. Carmelita had her back turned to him and it appeared as if she was looking out into the night sky. Her scarlet dress flowed softly in the wind. As soon as Sly was close enough, she spun around to face him.

At this point, Sly would've taken any response from her as a sign of reassurance. What he didn't expect was to be reunited with the barrel of her loaded shock pistol. She simply stood there, her pistol targeted directly at the raccoon. Sly froze, frantically thinking of what to do next. The two of them stood for several minutes in a standoff, the sounds of the party fading to the painful silence surrounding them. Sly noticed that in all that time, Carmelita never called for backup or raised an alarm. Finally, after about ten long minutes, Carmelita spoke.

"Alright Ringtail," She began, "What are you trying to steal this time?"

For some reason, the best thing that Sly can think of was a corny pickup line.

"The only thing here to steal is your heart."

Carmelita was not amused. "Can it, Cooper. There must be some reason you-"

She paused as she thought over his actions. It had been a month since he supposedly lost his memory. All this time the two would appear as the perfect couple. Was it all a lie? Was it a scam? A sudden realization occurred. If it was a lie after all, she had been his cover story. She told everyone that he had amnesia. And now, she had been an accomplice. This was the chance that they had to be together. Was all of the romance fake as well? Carmelita chest felt heavy and she suddenly felt sick. She had just played victim to a month-long scam by a thief. What did he really want?

While Carmelita was busy putting pieces together, Sly saw that her stance faltered. Her pistol was still aimed at him, but she wobbled as if she would soon faint. A single tear left her eye and ran down her cheek. Sly made a move to comfort her but his quick action snapped her out of her trance. She now stared at him coldly, her eyes-although red and teary-burned with anger and hate. He felt a strong sense of guilt as she now only thought of him as a criminal.

"Carmelita, I-" Sly started to say, but he was interrupted.

"You still haven't answered my question... Why are you doing this? Why spend a month to deceive me like the no-good thief that you are? Do you get some thrill out of this? You act like you would kill for a date, and when you get one, it's meant as a diversion so that you and your friends can slip away under my nose."

"I didn't think that..."

"What? Didn't think that I'd be smart enough to catch you? You thought you could keep it up forever?" What did you think would happen?"

Sly remained speechless.

Carmelita took a moment to recall the night that he had lost his memory. "So how did you bribe the doctor who examined you? Or did one of your friends put on a disguise?"

Sly also recalled moments after the collapse of the Cooper vault. His cover-story was amnesia from a shot by Dr. M. Following suit, he would've been taken to a doctor to be properly examined. His body had been battered and bruised due to a large monster nearly crushing him to death. The doctor said that he would have to be severely lucky to be alive, let alone remember anything about the ordeal. He hadn't received enough head trauma to cause amnesia, but the doctor suggested that was the events that happened that night that caused it. He would recover from physical injuries, but he had to live the rest of his life as Constable Cooper.

"I don't believe it... You trick me into loving you and I fell for it..." She sighed heavily as the realization set it. "That's real a harsh move, even for you Cooper."

Sly remained silent.

"Excuse me Madam..." Winthrop stumbled out onto the balcony.

"What is it now?"

"There has been a murder here and- oh, it seems that you already know who the killer is."

"And who would that be?"

"Him," Winthrop stammered as he slowly raised an accusing finger directly at Sly.