AN: I do something in my spare time called 'iPodding' (made that up on the spot!). Basically, I put my music on shuffle, and write a one-shot for each song. I have a whole document devoted to little ficlets and one-shots.

This one became so long that I gave it its own document. 'Round sixteen pages. For posting, I'm dividing it into three chapters. It was inspried by 'Run' by Jennifer Nettles and Matt Nathanson - - or, rather, one line in 'Run'. The whole 'running into you' part of it.

You shall understand upon reading.

Warning: MAJOR spoilers for Sly 4: Thieves in Time! If you have not finished game and seen secret message movie, then BEWARE! Read at your own risk!

You have been warned.


Running Into You
By: C.L.

"COOPER!"

"Hey, Carmelita!" Ringtail greeted her with an inviting smirk and cock of his head, as usual. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox narrowed her eyes menacingly at Sly Cooper, cocking her shock pistol. You'd think a no-good thief would be a little less pleased to have an Interpol agent at his front and the edge of a tall building at his back, but that was the annoying thing about Sly—he wasn't a normal no-good thief. And now, in the face of her primed gun and dagger-shooting glare, he only leaned casually on that cane he was so fond of carrying around, cool and confident. It was infuriating.

"Really?" she shot back, voice sharp. "Funny—I wasn't expecting to see you, either, but somehow I am not surprised."

Sly chuckled. "Funny how that works."

"Drop the merchandise, Cooper."

"What, this old thing?" Sly twirled the solid gold tiara nonchalantly around his finger. "Well, I can't do that—I need this for a friend of mine—but what do you say, instead of a crown, we strike a different bargain? You, me, tomorrow night? I know a great place downtown."

Carmelita scoffed. "We are not playing this game again, Cooper."

"Aw, sick of it already? You'd think, by how much we run into each other, that you'd enjoy my company!"

Carmelita growled low in her throat, but Sly had just struck the pin right on the head. That was the problem—they kept running into each other. And it wasn't even on purpose, most of the time!

"Not a chance, Ringtail," she growled. "Hands in the air, and drop the crown."

At this, Sly rolled his eyes. "Uh—it's not a crown. It's a tiara." And, with that last parting line, he turned and leapt off the building.

Despite herself, Carmelita couldn't help a gasp of surprise and, though she denied it vehemently later, concern. She rushed to the edge and peered over, already fearing what she would see.

Her worried look melted into a snarl of frustration as she witnessed Sly parachuting easily to the ground several stories below and disappearing around the corner. She'd forgotten he had that—blast!

xXx

Sly chuckled to himself as he nimbly scaled the security fence surrounding the museum and disappeared into the city, running a complicated route up poles and around corners and over rooftops and power lines until he was sure that even Inspector Carmelita Fox didn't have a bead on him.

Finally, he took a moment to pause and look around for his destination—his team's hideout. Perching on the tip of a flagpole, he pulled out his binocucom and swept the surrounding city, looking for the telltale yellow marker that Bentley that programmed into it, which would mark the location of their newest base of operations.

The device also allowed him and his team to communicate.

"That was a close one, Bentley," Sly admitted. "You didn't tell me she'd be there."

"Sorry, Sly, but she came in absolutely last-minute. I didn't find out until you did!"

"Yeah, yeah, okay, well, I got away, so no biggie. I have the crown-thing, so what next?"

"IT'S A TIARA!"

Sly rolled his eyes but couldn't help smirking. "Uh…right. Whatever."

Bentley scowled. "Sometimes, I think you do this just to annoy me."

"Now, why would I do that?"

sSsSsSs

Carmelita remembered that moment now, as she sat alone in the dead of night in her little police boat. She remembered glowering at Sly, remembered pointing a gun at him, remembered being frustrated that they were always running into each other.

And she sobbed.

Ever since The Night, when he'd disappeared to who-knows-when, she'd been searching, searching, searching for some sign of him, anything at all to give her a clue to finding him! That evening, she'd been searching the river with her boat and flashlight…and she'd finally found something.

A sparkling teardrop fell from her cheek and landed on the scorched photo in her hand.

She remembered this photo.

She remembered when it had been taken. She and Sly had been undercover together during his stint as an Interpol officer, investigating a baroness. They'd been at a dinner party thrown by the suspect, searching for evidence, for clues. One of the guests—an old friend of theirs, unaware of their assignment—had insisted on getting a picture of them. Carmelita had posed for the camera, smiling prettily while inwardly seething at the delay—

And then Sly—the charming, conniving old flirt—had turned and planted a soft kiss right on her cheek. She'd been shocked, and the picture had captured the moment perfectly—him leaning in, her lips a perfect O of surprise.

She remembered the picture later. Somehow Sly had managed to obtain a copy of the image, and had put it in his wallet. Wherever he went, it was there in his back pocket—"So that I can still look at your pretty face even when you're not with me. I still prefer the original, though." Oh, the way he'd winked at her…

And then, even later, when they'd been on that stupid time-traveling adventure. It had been clipped to the visor of the passenger seat—Sly's normal seat. Bentley had confided in her that Sly had made a habit of taking it down and looking at it while they were barreling through the vortex of time.

Now…now the picture was scorched and soaked and the image was faded. But Carmelita clutched it like a lifeline and held it close to her heart, bowing her head in despair.

Though she remained unflappable and composed in public, she allowed herself to cry now, silent tears running down her cheeks as she gripped the only connection to Sly she had.

Sly…where are you?

xXx

Far, far away, a young raccoon stood perched on the tip of the largest pyramid, gazing out over Old Egypt. He hated this—the blazing sun, the gritty sand, the ancientness of it all. But he couldn't leave.

He was trapped. Trapped several hundred years before his time.

Out of habit, he reached for his satchel, but it wasn't until he had absently rummaged around in it for a second that he remembered, and withdrew his hand with a sigh.

He kept reaching for that picture, kept longing to see her face again, only to remember that it was gone—lost in that final battle with Le Paradox. It was probably burned to a cinder now, up in flames with the rest of the blimp he'd crashed in.

He sighed mournfully and looked away from the view that most people would have thought amazing. Sure, it was awe-inspiring—but it was little more than a gilded cage. This whole world was his prison, because it wasn't his. He lived in a world of cops and robbers, of gadgets and teamwork and stealth. This was a world of…of gods and pharaohs and olden days!

He didn't belong here, but at this rate, he would never leave. He would never see Bentley or Murray again, never pull off another heist with them…never see Carmelita again.

Sly Cooper began to pick his way down the pyramid, leaping and gliding lightly where others would've stumbled and held on for dear life. He wished he could enjoy it—he was climbing the Great Pyramid of Giza, after all, and that didn't happen every day. But the feat had a hollow feel to it, and he knew why.

He needed to find a way out of this place!

He needed to find a way back to his friends.

He needed to find a way back to Carmelita.


AN: This is a reunion fic, so there will be time-travelling fun soon! This is just me setting up the pieces for what will be a simple but fluffy and satisfying chess game! Hoep y'all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Please review if you can, but if you can't, click the follow button, and I'll get it! :) This will be updated regularly; no month-long hiatuses here!