So, I've recently been on a Sly Cooper binge and I wanted to write a fun little tidbit about what if Sly had met Carmelita in high school but she didn't know it and this is kinda what I came up with. Also, Bentley hasn't invented the binocucom yet and Sly hasn't really gotten used to using his cane on a regular basis and this is pretty much how he first figures out its potential. Also, Jack is a horse cuz my thought process what jock, jockey, horse... Jack! He's pretty much a bully to Bentley and Murray and kinda Sly because they are orphans and Bentley's a nerd and Murray's a gluten. He bully's sly cuz he hangs out with them, but Sly doesn't let it get to him and he also fights back with his snarly attitude and quick wit.

Hope you guys like my one shot.

The night air was cool. There was a slight breeze that blew through the trees that lined the quiet street of the suburban neighborhood. A few cars could be heard driving in the distance and the bass of someone's radio vibrating on the pavement the young raccoon was standing on. He could feel the vibrations in his blue boots and fixed his matching blue hoodie as another breeze rushed up his back and even under his yellow t-shirt. He anxiously leaned against a telephone pole and stared at a house across the street, readjusting his blue hat as he waiting for his walkie-talkie to spout Bentley's familiar nasally voice.

"Sly, you there buddy?" the turtle's voice crackled through the talkie.

"Yup. Just waiting for your signal to go," he said back, holding the talkie to his lips.

"Okay, so, there should be a little wire wrapped around your walkie-talkie. You need to plug it into the side and put the other end in your ear. I don't want you to get discovered by accident," he instructed.

"Got it," Sly acknowledged as he followed his friend's instructions. "Anything I should be wary about in there?"

"I've just about hacked into their security system, so when I tell you to go, you won't set off any alarms," his voice said in his ear. "Also, you're going to need to enter in the second floor."

"Shortest distance between two points is a straight line, right Bentley?" Sly grinned.

"Yeah, sure. You do remember what it looks like right?" Bentley asked, his fraying nerves clearly being heard through the earpiece.

"How could I forget?" Sly chuckled. "You've been using that computer for the past four years. I doubt there's another one like it, with all the gadgets you've added to it."

"As long as you remember what it looks like, that's all I'm concerned about. I'm surprised I'm able to get anything done on the one I borrowed from you. Alright, the system's down. You've got thirty seconds before it comes online again. I'll shut it down again when you're ready to leave."

"Sounds like a plan," Sly said and pounced into motion.

He shimmied up to telephone pole he was leaning against and once on top, grabbed one of the wires and flung himself on top the roof of his target's house. His feet ground against the shingles, but no other noise was made by his impact. He quickly slunk over to the window sill and silently slid the window open, jumping in and closing the window again before his thirty seconds were up.

"Okay, Bentley, I'm in. Not exactly sure what room I'm in though," Sly whispered into the talkie.

"You are in the upstairs office. You need to make you way into the hall and to the last door on the left, that's Jack's room," Bentley explained, his finger tapping wildly on the computer.

"And you're sure that's where your computer will be?"

"He isn't exactly a genius, Sly. He's a mindless brute who won't think about hiding it," Bentley sighed sarcastically. "Especially if doesn't think anyone will break into his house and steal it back."

"True. Alright, I'm heading into the hall," Sly said and crept into the dark hall. However, there was a soft light coming from the bottom of the stairs and he carefully moved to peak around the wall. What he saw mildly shocking. "Bentley, we've got a bit of a problem. Jack's still here and he's got company."

"What!? Sly, abort mission! Abort mission! It's too risky. Get out of there, Sly."

"It's fine," Sly whispered with a grin. "They're just watching TV. Although, I think that's his girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Murray's rough voice suddenly came on the talkie. "How can Jack have a girlfriend? He's too mean."

"Jack the jerk-face jock might have a soft side or…" Sly chuckled just as the girl cuddling with the larger horse turned her head and Sly could see her face. She was a beautiful fox with thick curly blue hair and the most amazing eyes he had ever seen. Sly was speechless for several seconds, but he finally whispered, "Wow. She's beautiful."

"Sly? I didn't copy that. What did you say?" Bentley asked.

"Nothing. I'm heading to Jack's room now," Sly stated, but not before taking a last glance at the gorgeous fox sitting on the couch. He snuck into the last room on the left and silently closed the door. "Okay, Bentley. I'm in. I'll get your computer and be out in just a minute."

"You're the best, Sly."

"What are friends for, buddy?"

Sly crept further into the room and headed to the jock's desk, where he was sure to find his friend's stolen computer. After a few seconds of lifting trash and papers, he found the one of a kind computer and snatched it up.

"Got it. Heading back to the office window," Sly whispered just as the handle on the door wiggled.

"Sorry, babe, but my dad says it's an emergency. I'll be back in a few," Jack said and Sly was barely able to slide under the bed before the door opened.

"He knew we were spending the night together," the fox fumed as she followed the horse into the room. "Can't this wait till tomorrow?"

"He said if I didn't, he'd cut my allowance, then I wouldn't be able to buy you all those pretty things, like your bracelet," Jack said, lifting her hand to show her the bracelet.

Sly shook his head and muttered under his breath, "The bracelet you stole from Sasha, you lying sack of…"

"Ugh, cuz you think that's all I care about," she grumbled and crossed her arms. "I just want to spend some time with my boyfriend, is that too much to ask?"

"Of course it isn't, babe," he cooed, placing his hands on her arms reassuringly. "I won't be long, I swear. You can stay here and hold down to fort for a bit, can't you? Just this one little thing, for me? Please?"

She looked at him sternly for a few seconds then finally giving in, sighing, "Yeah, fine, I guess I could do that. Just as long as you are sure it won't be for very long."

"Promise," he smiled and grabbed his jacket. He kissed her on the forehead and, before rushing out, said, "Love you babe."

"Love you, too," she smiled, only for it to fade the second he left.

She then moved to the bed and plopped down, right above Sly. Her feet were right in front of him and if he so much as breathed too hard, she'd know he was there. He quickly turned off the walkie-talkie just in case Bentley saying something would be too loud and she'd hear. Just as he did, she fell back onto the bed with a sigh, causing Sly to freeze once again.

"Ugh, this sucks," she said, staring at the ceiling.

"Tell me about it," Sly thought to himself. "How did Jack land a girl like you?"

After a minute or two of silence, something started ringing and Sly nearly flipped thinking it was the computer or the talkie. It was, in fact, the fox's phone and she promptly answered it.

"Yeah," she murmured. "Check your computer? For what? Uh-huh, I see. Hold on. Let me find it."

"Oh, no," Sly thought. "Is he talking about Bentley's computer? I'm in trouble."

She got up and headed to the desk, searching under the papers only to sigh into the phone, "It's not here. Yeah, I'm in your room. Why in the world is it downstairs? Alright, I'll go get it."

She walked out of the room and sly made his move. He turned on the walkie-talkie as he snuck back to the office and stood in front of the window. "Bentley, I'm ready to go. Turn off the alarms."

"Give me a second, Sly."

Sly stood anxiously in the dark room, waiting for Bentley's voice tell him it was okay to open the window and get out when he heard the fox's footsteps coming up the hall, her voice slightly muffled by the walls.

"Why in the world is your charger in your dad's office? You are so unorganized, I'm amazed you can even find your feet," she snapped sarcastically.

"She's awesome," Sly muttered star struck, only to suddenly realize she was coming into the room and Bentley still hadn't shut down the alarm yet. "Bentley!" he whispered harshly. "She coming in here."

"Alright, I've just about… Got it! Go! Get out of there!"

He opened the window, and not a minute too late. Just as he jumped from the window, the fox walked into the room and turned on the lights. She saw just his tail flash by before he was gone from the window and running along the rooftops across the street. She practically dropped the computer as she rushed to the window.

"Jack, I'm gonna have to call you back," she practically snarled as she hung up the phone and raced out of the house, having quickly grabbed a flashlight from the kitchen.

She raced across the street and followed the direction she saw the thief run, ending up in an empty park. She shined her flashlight everywhere as she marched through the park.

"I know you're out here, thief! I demand you return what you stole from my boyfriend!"

Sly paused just as he was about to get into the old beaten up van where his pals, Bentley and Murray the hippo sat, ready to leave. The raccoon's ears twitched at the sound of the fox's voice and he turned, surprised she would chase after him instead of calling the police. He grinned a little. She had guts. Certainly something that shouldn't be taken lightly.

"Sly, come on. Why are you stopping?" Bentley asked, only to get a grin from the raccoon.

"She followed me."

"Who? Who followed you, Sly?" Murray asked from behind the wheel.

"Jack's girlfriend," Sly chuckled. "You guys go ahead and take the computer. I'll distract her so you can get away."

"Why? She won't know we're with you," Bentley said.

"Yeah, but this is like the only car out here and a thief just left her boyfriend's house. She could put the pieces together and we don't want Murray's car to be the most recognizable thing for her."

"You don't want her to see you, though," Bentley explained. "She could describe you to Jack and he'll come after us at school. Then all of this would have been for nothing."

"Do you think she goes to our school? I haven't seen her before," Sly muttered thoughtfully, practically ignoring what Bentley had just said.

"Sly! This is serious! I don't want to be shoved in a locker again," Bentley whined.

"I know. I won't let her see me. Just head back to the orphanage. I'll be there in a bit. Ooh, hand me my cane," Sly said, reaching over the turtle for his golden hooked staff. "Never know when I'll need this."

"But, Sly, you still don't know how to use it," Murray chimed in worriedly.

"I just feel better when I have it. Doubt I'll actually use it for anything," he grinned. "See you guys later. Don't do anything I would do."

"How could we? You're the one whose entire family line is nothing but risk taking thieves," Bentley grumble.

"Lighten up, Bentley," Sly laughed. "I was just kidding."

"See ya later Sly," Murray said as the van drove off.

As it turned the corner, the fox's flashlight hit the side and she called out, "Hey! Stop!"

Sly swiftly swung into the tree tops just above her and smiled. "Why are you telling them to stop? Was that your boyfriend's van?"

She gasped and turned around. "Whose there? Show yourself. You're the thief, aren't you? My dad's a cop so don't get any ideas."

"Ideas? Like what kind of ideas?" he smirked.

"Like hurting me or… something. He'll find you and destroy you," she growled, her flashlight darting from place to place trying to find the voice's owner.

"Well, I don't exactly hurt people, so I think you're are."

"So, you admit it? You're a thief?"

"I never denied it."

"So, what did you steal from my boyfriend?" she asked, shining the light into the tree, just missing his ringtail as he jumped to another tree.

"You're accusing me of stealing something before you even know what I stole? Seems a bit… lacking in the evidence department."

"Then why are you hiding? And why did you run from the house if you didn't steal something? I know for a fact Jack's has alarms on his windows, so the fact that no alarm was triggered means that you being in the house was premeditated," she stated, still looking in the trees for the voice.

"You sure seem to have gotten your dad's talent for the art of deduction. Tell me, do you plan on being a cop in the future cuz you sure have a knack for it," he smiled down at her, his chin resting in his hand.

"I was thinking about it, but I think that I will seriously consider it, so I can throw petty crooks like you in jail," she sneered. "But, what did you steal anyway?"

"A computer he stole from a classmate of mine," Sly said, quickly hitting himself in the head for being so stupid and letting that slip.

"Classmate? You're in high school? I should have known an annoying crook like you would start in high school."

"I could have been in college, but yeah, I'm in high school, and so are you," he grinned again. "I don't supposed there could be a chance I could ask you out, is there? I'd really like to get to know you. Maybe we could start with a name?"

"Despicable. A thief flirting with me," she groaned in annoyance. "How pathetic."

"Well, you can't say I didn't try," he shrugged. "I guess I'll be seeing you around foxy lady. Oh, and tell your boyfriend to stop being a bully. Stealing nerd's computers is just lame."

"My boyfriend is not a bully! If anyone is a bully, it's you," she yelled up at the trees.

"Taking back something that he stole is being a bully? I'm a bit confused."

"I'm not surprised it's that easy to confuse a criminal like you," she grinned confidently. "You have to be an idiot to think stealing is a good lifestyle. And just because you stole back something that someone else stole still makes it stealing."

"I'll keep that in mind. You might want to get back to your perfect boyfriend. He said he was only going to be gone for a little bit, didn't he?"

Her face froze in horror as she realized he must have been in the house when Jack left. The things this creep could have done to her without anyone even knowing. She grew angry once again and was about to shine her light into the tree once again only for him to have jumped out and start racing across the park, jumping and flipping over rocks and onto a telephone pole on the other side of the park. He was silhouetted against the sky and just looked back at her, squatting on the top of the pole, ready to leap again at any minute.

She stared at the shadowed figured on the pole and started chasing after him, her teeth grinding with rage as he stood, bowed and in a flash, jumped to a rooftop and vanished on the other side. She stopped running, realizing she wouldn't be able to find him now and she stood there, glaring at the last place she had seen him before his tail slipped below the rooftop, mumbling profanities under her breath.

She gripped her flashlight tightly as she begrudgingly turned and headed back to Jack's house, unaware of a blue hat wearing raccoon peaking his head back over the top of the rooftop to watch as she left. He grinned in admiration and got comfortable on his stomach, resting his head in his hand again.

"Sly, are you on your way back yet?" Bentley's voice broke into his gaze.

"Huh? What? No, not yet," he said, completely forgetting he had the walkie-talkie still on.

"Are you serious!?" he cried into his ear. "What is taking so long?"

"She was actually really fun to talk to. I'll head over in a bit, okay. You don't have to wait up for me."

"You are going to be the death of me," Bentley murmured with a sigh. "I'm signing off. See you when you get here then."

"Night guys," Sly smiled and turned off his own walkie-talkie.

As he did so, he turned his attention back to the beautiful fox, who was now further away and angrily talking on the phone, probably to Jack, judging by her tone.

"You aren't home yet!?" she cried into the phone. "Well, some jerk just stole something from you, saying you stole it from some nerd. I could have been killed if he was a violent thief. I'm in the park right now. Well, you better hurry up and get me. I'm freezing. I forgot my jacket when I chased after the crook. Alright, I'll see you in a few minutes. Just hurry up. It's kind of creepy out here."

"Aw, how cute. Big tough girl is scared of the dark," he chuckled to himself.

After watching her for a few more seconds, he decided to head home, but just as he stepped down the roof a ways, he heard the girl scream. He rushed back to the peak and saw a group of really ugly characters holding onto her in a really bad way.

He knew he had to do something. He gripped his cane in his hand and raced across the roof jumping towards the telephone pole, only to be a foot too short. He reached his cane out in and attempt to grab on, and it worked. He was swinging from the wires and sliding closer to where the fox was being held. The raccoon jumped and spun and flipped with agility and silence towards the group and only stopped for a second to catch his breath. He looked down at the group from a nearby tree and tried to figure his odds. Two bulls, a monkey and a parrot had surrounded the fox and taunting her. The monkey seemed a bit too interested in her as he cupped her face and stepped far too close to the young girl.

"What's a pretty little fox like you doing out here all by yourself?" the monkey asked as the other three laughed. "You can get hurt."

"My boyfriend is coming to get me and if you don't let me go right now, my dad will have you behind bars before you can say 'what are those lights?'"

"Is that supposed to scare me, girly?"

Sly had seen enough. He moved slightly in the tree and decided to add to the conversation. "That's why she said it, genius."

It was enough of a distraction for him to knockout the two street lights that sat on either side of the street, making the group very nervous and the fox just flat out confused. Sly then jumped down from the second light and came up behind the parrot, figuring the best way to knock him out when he just swung his cane at him and flung him against a nearby tree. The other three turned to see the raccoon's silhouette and they all pounced at him, not expecting his speed or agility. As the three rubbed their heads in pain from their sudden collision, Sly took the opportunity to knock one of the bulls out then trip the monkey. Only one bull left and Sly knew he was much faster and clever than the larger man and he made his move, running towards a tree, using his cane to swing back around hit him so hard in the jaw, it knocked the bull out.

Sly paused again as he caught his breath, when he heard a whack come from behind him. He quickly turned to see the fox had taken a fallen branch and hit the monkey on the head before he could jump Sly from behind. She then looked to the raccoon, his face still in shadows, and he grinned sheepishly.

"Um… bye," he said and in what seemed like an instant was up the light pole and racing to another rooftop.

Just as he disappeared again behind the roof, a truck rolled up and Jack jumped out. "Carmelita, what the hell happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah…I'm fine," she whispered, staring at the roof where Sly was hiding on. "Why did he…"

"What, babe? I didn't hear you."

"It's nothing, let's just call my dad and get these thugs behind bars," she said, all the shock gone from her face and she put her hands on her hips again. "Scum like them shouldn't be on the street."

Sly slid down the other side of the roof and stared up at the stars, his hands behind his head as he let the name 'Carmelita' slip from his lips. He was never going to forget this chance encounter.