"Bye Carm; good luck with the case! I'll keep the bed warm for you!" Sly yelled after his girlfriend, the woman who over the course of the past year since he lost his memory had become his entire world.

He watched, grinning, as she turned back to him just before getting into the taxi to head off to the "Stop gloating about your vacation Ringtail!" she yelled back, a grinning good-naturedly back.

"I earned it, and you know it!" he replied as he thought: 'It really does help to save Barkley from embarrassment.'

"Yeah; yeah, I know." she said before stepping into the Taxi closing the door behind her.

Sly continued waving until the Taxi drove out of sight, then he immediately got to work, after all he only had a week to plan and he wanted everything to be perfect next Sunday when he proposed.

In the taxi Carmelita felt a bit uneasy about leaving Sly alone... he had been acting so... weird this past week. She hadn't been able shake the feeling that his amnesia was faked... and the way he had been acting for the past week only made it harder to convince herself that he didn't remember anything from before she pulled him out of Dr. M's lab.

She promptly shook her head to clear it of those thoughts 'I need to focus on the case this Le Paradox guy's operation is sketchy to say the least... besides Sly would never do that right? He loves me too much to break my heart like that... Right?'

Over the following couple of days while Carmelita was out on assignment Sly visited all of the Jewelry stores in Paris, looking for just the right ring, finally at a place called 'Dior Joaillerie' he found it, A double banded ring with a simple square cut diamond, while it may not have been the best ring out there it was near perfect, even better was he could afford it (barely... being a constable does not pay very well)

Having found the ring he opted to take a taxi back to the flat he and the vixen shared. As the taxi drove through the streets of Paris he happened to look up as the taxi drove past a nondescript building, it didn't seem to be anything special really... just a building with three large windows over a plastered brick wall that needed a fresh coat of plaster... but it felt so familiar...

"Hey you alright back there?" the taxi driver called back to him.

"It's nothing to worry about... just a headache." Sly assured him.

"If you're sure..." the river replied before going back to driving.

"That'll be 40 coins sir." the river told him as he pulled to a stop before Sly and Carmelita's share flat. Sly handed the coins over before getting out and heading into the flat.

Sly placed he box containing the precious piece of Jewelry on his nightstand before collapsing onto his bed as the images from his past flooded over him, seeing his parents murdered at 8, stealing from other criminals, a great metallic owl and his quest to wipe out the Cooper clan, defeating Clockwerk, his first kiss with Carmelita... and more all of it spilling as though a dam had just broken in his mind.

An hour later Sly shakily rose from the bed with one question in mind:

WHY?

Or more specifically:

WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME CARMELITA?

It was with this question in mind that Sly made a decision that would alter the course of his life; he would break into Carmelita's office and open her safe to find whatever he could in it.

Later that night after sneaking past the night watch... his colleagues, he supposed... Sly picked the lock to Carmelita's office entering the office with ease; putting his ear up against the safe and listening to the tumblers as he worked out the combination; sly then opened the safe being careful not to disturb its content too much he quickly found the rather fat case file on him and his gang. he flipped through the documentation of the various heists he and the gang had pulled off until he ran across something that made his hear run cold. A letter from Chief Barkley...

Dear Inspector Fox,

Regarding your request, I forwarded it to my superiors at Headquarters and though they have deliberated it for a week they have decided that it is a prudent plan to instate Mr. Cooper as a constable. As per your request Sly Cooper will serve as bait until such time as INTERPOL has captured the entirety of the Cooper gang, at said time he with the rest of his gang will be brought to trial and sentenced for their crimes.

Sincerely

-Chief Barkley

Having read the letter Sly let it fall out of his hands as he was struck by the betrayal of the woman he loved, he then quickly bolted for the window hastily opening it and dashing off into the night, as though trying to flee from the pain. For whatever reason the first place he ran to was his and... no he ran to Carmelita's flat. once inside he started ransacking the place, destroying the TV, the cups, pretty much anything fragile he could find, finally he made it to her room where he spotted the box containing the engagement ring atop the stack of proposal ideas and threw it in the process damaging the box before ripping the sheets with the proposal ideas on them in two. having done that he left a note on her dresser before heading to the afehouse for asylum.

I can't believe that I actually thought you cared about me Inspector Fox; I leave you with this one bit of advice: People are NEVER BAIT, even if they have broken the law, criminals are still people... though I doubt a MONSTER like you could ever understand that.

Goodbye Inspector Fox,

-Sly.

Elsewhere Carmelita felt as though a shadow had just been cast over her whole life, A life that so recently seemed so bright.

A/N: So what do you think of the first chapter? I know it may be shorter than many of you expected but to be honest this is more of a prologue anyway... Future chapters will be longer I promise I was going to continue longer with this chapter but this seemed like such a good place to stop. Anyway please review