Chapter -2-
2007

Carmelita Fox slumped against the backrest of her sofa. She lifted her right paw, pointed the remote at her television and powered it off. "Another Christmas program," she muttered. She cut her gaze to the elegantly decorated tree in the corner of her living room – something that a certain gray-furred trespasser had erected the other day while she was at work. She narrowed her gaze at it then tossed the remote at the unwanted decoration. "It's just an over commercialized holiday for the retail industry."

Each day she came home from work, she found yet another ornamental object in her home. Last Tuesday, he left Poinsettias on her kitchen table. On Wednesday, she came home to a hallway decked with boughs of holly. Carmelita had off on Thursday but several times during the evening, she found mistletoe in the arch of every doorway, leading her to believe he might have been there. When she came home Friday, the tree was erected and decorated with care and on Saturday, it was dressed in a string of soft white lights.

Carmelita Fox grew less spirited by the day. It seemed as though the Holidays became a reminder that she lost her prize catch last year on Christmas Eve. However, she had to admit that his Valentine's Day gift was actually sweet. The vixen ran her fingers back through her dark hair and cast another glare at the tree. Yesterday, she went to a Sunday afternoon brunch with the Chief and several other Interpol agents. When she came home, stockings hung over the mantle above her gas-powered fireplace. One had her name on it in neat stitching, the other had his scrawled out but was less than elegant. He'd put a candy cane in each.

She came home earlier this evening and found a wreath on every door in the flat. Her eyes cut to an advent calendar on the wall. She pulled a microcassette recorder from her pocket and thumbed a button on it. She clinched her jaw and grinded her teeth then grumbled, "Monday, December Twenty-Fourth. Every trap I've set has been avoided for a straight week. It's quarter of and I've still not caught him. Today, I came home and found that he had decorated again. At first, I thought he was doing it to gloat over last year's escape but today… he did my laundry. He ironed my clothes and hung them up in the closet. If he wasn't such a little creep, he'd make a great housewife. Also, he left a small portion Christmas meal in the fridge with a card that read, 'Last week, Bentley referred to me as 'lugubrious'. Murray suggested that I decorate in order to find a bit of joie de vivre and bring a little Christmas cheer into my life. I hope my attempt to decorate has, at the very least, brought a smile to your face. Getting to see you every day for a week has put me in a festive mood and I've been lighter on my feet. Merry Christmas… Sly. PS: I'm sorry I left last year. I should have stayed a little longer. Guess I owe you, this year.' If anything, it's a strong reminder of how easy it was to evade me yet again. But why keep coming back? That raccoon has moxy, coming in here day after day… but it's also a sign of disrespect to keep sneaking in here behind my back. Psht… Merry Christmas indeed." She clicked the 'stop' button then rewound the tape.

Carmelita clicked play and listened to the entire entry. When it reached the end of her monologue, the tape hissed in protest then burst into Christmas Carols. Her eyes widened. Sly, Murray, Bentley and Penelope left a quartet harmony on her tape. They were half-way through 'White Christmas' at this point. After a moment, the song ended and a raccoon rendition of Elvis' 'Blue Christmas' began. She froze, horrified at first. However, her expression changed as she continued to listen. She rubbed her chin with her left paw then whispered, "He's not half bad."

"Thanks. I rehearsed all day to get it right." The masculine voice startled Carmelita Fox. She lifted her head and her eyes widened, facing Cooper. He sat on the floor on the other side of her coffee table. Her jaw dropped and she blinked at him with a blank expression. She blinked again then reached for the pistol she kept on her hip.

"Before you reach for that…" Sly lifted his paws defensively. "It's almost midnight – can't we just have Peace on Earth for one night?" he reasoned. "Please?"

The voice on the tape recorder continued singing. Halfway into the second verse, his voice cracked and went slightly flat. She noted the raccoon winced with embarrassment from where he sat and, for some reason, seeing his reaction amused her. She tilted her head, relaxed her posture and grinned at him. "And this was your best take?" asked the vixen, shaking the tape recorder. "Besides that one little mess up, it's actually pretty good. I used to love 'Blue Christmas'."

"Have any more of that Eggnog?"

She shook her head slowly. "I haven't made it since last year. I remember you said you liked it that sweet."

Sly's ears perked and he sat up with his back straight. "If I stick around this time, will you make some?" His eyes flitted over her, taking in her stern facial features then he added, "Please?" again.

Carmelita's ears flattened, remembering last year, and her tail fluffed up. "That was a perfectly aged 1987 and I saved it for a very special occasion! You could have just stayed for the full forty-eight hours and appeased me, dammit."

Sly replied with his most honest and sincere expression and tone. "I only came so I could kiss you at Midnight on Christmas morning. What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic deep down inside."

His intense brown eyes caused her to blush beneath her fur. She lowered her gaze to the recorder in her left paw. The soft singing continued. She licked her lips then told him, "Shut up – this is the best part of the song." She wanted to be mean to him but found it difficult for some reason. After the song ended, another carol began to play. She looked up and asked, "What's 'lugubrious' mean?"

Cooper offered a goofy sort of half-smile. She could tell by his expression that he most likely had to ask Bentley the same thing at some point. The raccoon's right ear flickered. He cleared his throat then told her, "Sad, woeful and, uh …whiney."

"You…? Whiney?" She cocked a brow at him. "Over me? I doubt it."

Sly nodded emphatically. "According to the gang, I was. I see how happy Bentley is with Penelope and I remember how happy we were, after we left Kaine Island together… I miss that. Everyone noticed I was moping."

The vulpine inspector lifted her chin and looked away. "The only reason I'm not arresting you right now is because I would have to sedate you in order to keep you detained. It just so happens that I don't have any tranquilizers on me, right now. So, logically, there's no point in cuffing you right now, Houdini. Consider yourself lucky for the moment." She paused then added, "But don't try anything funny, mister. I mean it. What in the world possessed you to come here anyhow?"

"I came to visit and make up for last year." He reached into a satchel and withdrew a wine bottle wrapped in decorative paper. "And to make amends for letting you open that wine prematurely." He glanced over his shoulder at the clock on her VCR then grinned. "Six more minutes left; did you like my gift, last February? I never got the chance to ask you this year… where did the time go – it sure got away from us, didn't it?" His eyes cut back to the VCR again and he told her, "Five more minutes."

"Counting down to midnight is something y'do on New Year's Eve, Ringtail," she said, not yet realizing his intent. "Why? Do you plan on turning yourself in at midnight?"

"You'd really like that, wouldn't you?" Sly reached a paw for her cheek but she turned her chin from left to right to avoid his affectionate touch. "I know I have a lot to make up for."

"Yes, I liked the tape. It, uh… it was a sweet gesture. What's happening at midnight?"

Cooper grinned at her. "Wait and see, my turtledove." He paused then added, "And I think you'll enjoy this upcoming Valentine's Day, too."

"You're too much. Just turn yourself in – that would be a great gift. Something says you have something else in mind but don't try anything funny." She tilted her head and sighed then said, "Where've you been this winter?"

"Just wanted to get some personal and financial affairs in order. This year was a busy year…" He moved around the coffee table and said, "Murray said he thought you would like it if I got you a big flat-screen TV and a Playstation '3' but… you'd have questioned if I stole it or not and would probably work too much to really enjoy it. Something says you were tired of roses and chocolates. And y'know, I was hard pressed to figure out the perfect gift for you – four more minutes."

"You must be in a hurry or something," she retorted, trying not to get silly about his charms. She cleared her throat, keeping a professional tone.

"Oh, you know… I even thought about redoing your bathroom, since you like soaking in the bathtub and such. But I wanted to get you something that'll really remind you of how much I think of you throughout the year." His eyes cut back to the clock. "Almost time."

Carmelita quirked her brow. She glanced at the clock, folded her paws then waited until there was merely one minute remaining. "So, what is this huge surprise? I want to know."

"Let's just say I've arranged my schedule to make you enjoy your holiday that much more." Sly walked over to her Police Scanner and activated it with his left paw while withdrawing a folded pamphlet with his right. "Merry Christmas, Carmelita."

She took the folded page into her paw then her ears perked. She walked to the window and peered out into the evening air. She squinted at first then reached for binoculars. Coming up the block was a red sled with gold-painted trim. It was pulled through the empty street by eight animatronic reindeer with Murray in the back, dressed as Saint Nicholas. Bentley and Penelope were dressed as elves, quickly running from the slow-moving sled to select homes of low-income families. With their trained thieving skills, they opened a window and tossed in small pouches of gold coins, funded from Sly Cooper's vault. Carmelita's eyes widened, watching them.

Sly approached her from behind and placed a paw against the small of her back. "In the third century, Agios Nikolaoswas a Bishop, who lived in modern-day Turkey. It was a Greek speaking Roman providence back then. But before he became a Bishop, he secretly snuck in through people's windows and put bags of gold into their shoes. That's where the tradition of "stocking stuffing" came from. It all started with a family whose children were about to be sold into slave labor because they were in serious debt. So Saint Nick – before he had a beard, a gut and his famous red Bishop robes – put coins into their shoe one night."

Carmelita kept her eyes on the sled coming up the street in silence. "And how do you know all this, Ringtail?"

"Hey, he's one of my heroes. My childhood heroes were men like Nicholas of Myra and Robin of Loxley."

The vixen snorted. "You really see yourself as Robin Hood, huh? And I'm assuming that Murray Clause is handing out gold coins, down there?"

Sly curled his fingers in, gently scritching his fingertips against the base of her spine. Her tail curled around his ankle. Sly leaned in a bit closer and said, "I had more gold coins in that vault than I knew what to do with, Carmelita. We melted a few of them down into gold squares and circular coins with no printing on either side. Then Bentley hacked in to a government computer that was used to keep statistics on the lower class families."

In the background, a clock on the wall struck midnight. The police scanner chirped, followed by a monotone-worded bulletin. "Seven-four to dispatch – we just received notification that Interpol Agent Inspector Carmelita Fox has placed Sly Cooper of the Cooper Gang into custody. I was looking for verification, Dispatch. Over?"

Carmelita blinked and turned to Cooper. "…What did they just say?" She glanced down at her left paw which was now connected to his right wrist. Her muzzle parted but she couldn't speak.

"I'm turning myself in to finish serving the last twenty-four hours of my sentence from last year. Unit 'Seven-Four' came on shift at midnight and I left a copy of the warrant, the arrest voucher and the paperwork you filled out last year but with this year's date on it. I put it on the top of his file folder, so that he would make that announcement at midnight. There's just one small problem."

She just gawked at the raccoon, surprised he would give her the one thing he valued more than anything else in the world… his freedom – even if it was only for one night. She tilted her head at his last statement then said, "It's the paperwork from last year, so that means there isn't an available holding cell for you." She blinked twice then added, "So you've not been processed – I can legally detain you for twenty-four hours, but I don't have a jail cell ready."

Sly grinned in spite of his pre-arranged loophole. He lifted his wrist and the handcuffs that attached their paws together. "But you have the lawful right to detain me, as an officer and legal representative of the legal system. That means you are my jail for up to twenty-four hours." He lowered his paw, which caused hers to drop. He smiled again then closed his paw around hers. "But, no matter what the circumstances are, I'm in your legal custody for up to twenty-four hours. Since tomorrow isn't a business day, I doubt the papers will go to processing unless you file them yourself. So, because of this loophole, I'm forced to spend Christmas under incarceration with my arresting officer."

Impressed with his knowledge of the legal system and its loopholes, she closed her paw around his with their forearms linked. She turned back to the window, watching Murray, Bentley and Penelope pass by on the street and continue down the block. As if on cue, or by some divine miracle, soft flakes of snow began to fall from the midnight sky. Carmelita offered a demure smile then said, "C'mon, Ringtail. Let's go make some of that Eggnog you like so much."

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Kit Karamak

December 25th 2007

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