Running Like Clockwerk
By Airo Smicktor
I do not own Sly Cooper or the other Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus characters. I do own Douglas Smicktor, he's my fan-character so hands off!
Chapter 3 – Reality Check
Location: A Temporary Office for the World Police Force, Moscow Police HQ, Moscow, Russia
Time: 17:34
Weather Conditions: Light snowfall, cold.
A stale, bored yawn filled the mediocre office. It summed up the mood of its occupant perfectly. The sound emanated from the mouth of the feline in the large chair behind the mahogany work desk. She turned the chair slightly to look out the window was her tail dangled lazily off the back of the seat. Through the dull glaze and slightly frozen exterior of the glass, she saw the same icy view of the snow-capped buildings of the Moscow skyline, and the same snowfall that had made up the weather forecast of the last two days.
The ginger cat let out a sigh. She was bored. Not surprising really, considering her lifestyle and work. Turning her chair back around, the cat leaned forward and rested her left elbow on the desk. Allowing her left hand to cup outwards, she rested her hand into the palm, before pouting her lips to the empty room.
'How long does a 'plane take these days?' She thought to herself, rolling her eyes.
BRING-BRINNG!
The shrill call of the telephone caught her off guard, as her arm flinched in a reflex movement, sending an unprepared head crashing to the desk.
"OW!" She half-stated, half-swore, steadying herself and regaining her composure.
BRING-BRINNG!
The 'phone continued to call out as the cat rubbed her jaw with her right hand, whilst casting a look of loathing towards the communications device.
"Stupid 'phone…" She cursed, before picking up the receiver. "What?!??" She called angrily down the line.
"Uh… Miss Palace?" A worried sounding Russian accent asked back.
"Of course it is! What do you want??"
"You… You told me to inform you when the flight carrying Miss Fox was coming in to…"
"Ah, I see!" A more pleased sounding Miss Palace interrupted "Excellent, thank you, and carry on with whatever you were doing." She finished, before putting the 'phone back down before the other voice could reply.
No sooner after putting the 'phone down was it picked back up again though, as the ginger cat clad in an important and influential looking international policewomen's uniform dialled a code into the number pad. The cat waited more patently than she been doing only a minute or so before as she heard the device ring.
"… …Hello, this is Veronica… …Yes, it's coming into land… Yes, I know! It won't matter… Just make sure he gets to the hotel without any trouble… I'm just saying that…! Whatever, it's in your hands right now, just get on with it."
And with that, the conversation ended. Veronica hung up the 'phone, and rested back into her chair with a broad smile on her face.
"Just like the boss says: 'You can never know too many experts'!"
Location: Vnukovo Airport, Moscow, Russia.
Time: 17:40
'Bloody baggage handlers…' Douglas thought to himself, sidestepping another trolley full of suitcases, holding up his suitcase to his chest. 'What the heck is up with these people anyway??'
The purple fox shook his head, looking up at the signs full of different languages. 'Jezz… Where's the exit?!?'
"A little lost?" A familiar female voice asked from behind him.
"Just a tad" Douglas responded, looking over his shoulder.
"Let's see…" Carmelita moved beside him. "…Hmmm, this way…" She pointed off towards a doorway beyond a sea of humanity.
"How do you…"
"This isn't my first time in Russia, you know." She flashed the fellow fox a smile, before strutting off towards the exit.
'…Ah.' Douglas thought, following her. 'She must mean the 'Cold Heart of Hate' battle, that must have been a year ago…'
Carmelita stepped out of the relative warmth of the airport onto the crunching over the layer of snow on the ground. She shivered a little, pulling her jacket closer into herself with her freehand while the other gripped onto the handle of her suitcase. She looked up at the sky, watching the light snow fall from the clouds above.
'I'd never thought that I'd be back here… But business is business I guess…' She thought, looking around her. 'Hmmm… Where'd that Taylor guy go…'
Carmelita saw 'Markus Taylor' as he struggled through a collection of excited looked tourists, all with cameras around their necks while pointing at random things in the distance and chattering in a very fast foreign language. She giggled at the sight at the confused looking fox as he escaped the crowd. She was about to call out to him, but his attention seemed to be caught by something else now…
"…You're me cab driver?" Douglas said, pointing at a man holding a sign with the words 'M. Taylor'.
"…Of course? How else could it be?" The black-furred rat replied with a smirk. "Come on, let's get out of here."
'Hmmm… Guess he was prepared against the weather…' Carmelita reasoned, watching the fox getting into the taxi cab. 'Speaking of which, there should be some 'police escort' if that Miss Palace was right…'
"Excuse me Miss." A Russian accent enquired from behind her.
Carmelita turned to face the voice, and looked down upon a bulldog dressed in a Russian Police Uniform (she remembered the uniform from her previous mission here).
"There is car waiting to take you to Station."
"Of course, lead the way please…"
"Where'd you get this car anyway?" Douglas said, looking over at Jason.
"Well, you'll be able to figure everything out after this mission my friend…"
"Oh yes, how can I forget…" The fox replied ironically.
"In time, all will become clear, then we will all be friends."
"We?" Douglas raised an eye brow.
"Oops, I've said too much again…" A strange smile came over the rat's face. "I'm always doing that…"
"Whatever."
"So 'Markus', I hope you weren't bored on the your flight here."
"Oh not at all." This time it was Douglas' time to smile.
"Really?"
"It's amazing what information you can pick up from the people, even in first class…"
Location: Outside the Royal Central Hotel, Moscow, Russia.
Time: 17:53
"Well, here we are, your temporary abode Sir!" Jason said, pulling up to the front of an expensive looking hotel.
Douglas whistled. "Damn… A guy could get wayyyy too used to this lifestyle…"
"Perhaps…" Jason mused.
"Well, I guess I'd better check-in… God knows what the hell the rest of this 'mission' is like…"
"Perhaps…" Jason deliberately repeated, but Douglas just shrugged it off as the black rat's usual weirdness.
Douglas opened the passenger's door, and stepped out of the taxi, closing the door again. Looking around quickly, he ran, briefcase in hand, across the road and into the hotel.
"Good afternoon Sir, can I help you?" A helpful voice of a female badger asked.
"Why yes…" Douglas said. "…I'm here to check in, my name is Markus Taylor."
"Let me see…" She said, taking her eyes off the fox to look at the computer screen on the desk she was behind.
'Funny, I'm feeling a sense of deja-vu here…' Douglas thought.
"…Ah yes, here we are!" She confirmed, opening a drawer in the desk. "Room 302. Your luggage is already there for you."
"Ah yes…" Douglas said, while mentally remembering the letter from 'R'. "Thank you very much."
"I hope you enjoy your stay here."
"Oh, I'm sure I will…" Douglas said, smiling. "…Thanks to you." He added, before turning away and heading towards the nearby elevator.
'…Now I've defiantly used that line before I'm sure.' He thought, pressing the button to call the elevator. Just to check, he looked over his shoulder back to the welcome desk. She was looking back at him, resting her head on her hand in an almost dream-like fashion.
TING!
The elevator bell sounded out, and the doors slid open, as Douglas stepped inside, but not before sending a wink over to the badger.
'Oh that's always a winner.' Douglas joked to himself, pressing the button for level three.
Author notes: Wow! I finally updated something! Damn real life... Not much to say here, but the next chapter will be longer (time-scale wise) and speed the plot along alot. As I like to say, stay tuned.
Thanks to Pharaoh Man, Shady Fetish, Noalyn, and RandomFerret for reviewing. I lovez you all. In response to what 'paring' I'm going to use, I do have one that I plan to use, but that doesn't mean that I won't use others... There will be Sly/Carmelita stuff happening, that's for sure. Right, now to work on the next chapter... Woe is me...