Author's Note: Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, the events concerned, and the characters are all copyright of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., Sucker Punch Productions 2005, and any other groups/people who deserve the credit. This is a non-profit work of fanfiction.

And here we are. The fourth chapter. Admitedly, things have been going a bit slow, but I've had a lot of real-life stuff on my hands lately.

Don't worry, though; I've got every intent of finishing this fic--both for my own fulfillment, and for the sake of those who are following this story. :) This is a labor of love for me...ever since I saw the end of Sly 3, I've been dying to do my own version of the ending. Don't get me wrong, the ending that Sucker Punch came up with was pretty good...but I have my own vision of how the adventure could have ended. A finale where...ah, but I won't spoil it for you. :)

IMPORTANT UPDATE Since some of those who viewed this fic feel that Carmelita was rather callous in this chapter, I revised it a little to better show her growing feelings and inner conflict, while trying to remain true to our favorite vixen's character. I do hope that I succeeded—please let me know if I did; I'm always open to comments, positive or negative. :)

But anyway, let's move on...What will Carmelita's (revised) reaction to Sly's confession of love be?


Chapter Four: On Equal Ground, Part Two

"Because I love you, Carmelita Fox."

Over the years, Carmelita had built a wall of reinforced iron around her heart, so that she wouldn't be affected by the charming words that her most elusive quarry was fond of using with her. She had thought that wall impenetrable.

And yet, despite all her efforts to make it so, gaps had appeared in it all the same.

Their cause wasn't so much from the flirty chit-chat that Sly had shared with her (though it had surely had some effect, minor as it was), but rather from the things he'd done that challenged Carmelita's black-and-white view of the law. Every time he had risked his life for her, been particularly romantic in his flirtations, or had shown some sign that he might honestly care about her, those walls had been weakened. Even after Carmelita reinforced those walls after such encounters and convinced herself that Sly was nothing but a clever thief who knew how to get under her fur, those feelings had remained, and changed her opinion of him—even if she would only admit it to herself, and no one else.

And now, this. Just six words. So simple, really.

And yet, combined with the things Sly had said leading up to them, they had the power to penetrate that iron wall like it was thin air, and touch the vixen's heart. Not so much because of the words themselves, but rather because of the meaning behind them.

All her years of training in the police academy, coupled with her experiences in the field, had left Carmelita with a rather acute sense of cop's intuition. It was this intuition, this gut feeling, that made Carmelita realize that Sly hadn't said all of this because he was injured and at her mercy—if their positions had been reversed, he wouldn't have done anything different.

He had said it because he had meant it.

Every word.

With that realization, the iron wall around her heart buckled dangerously. For a moment, she didn't trust herself to speak; her emotions were warring within her. Part of her, that rational cop side, was telling her to pull herself together and arrest Sly. But another part of her, an instinctive, primal side, wanted nothing more than to pull the raccoon into her arms and kiss him senseless, despite their opposite positions on the law. And in the face of Sly's sincere confession of his feelings, the latter side was winning the internal struggle.

And now that the wall around her heart was crumbling, she understood what she was feeling for Sly right now. And those feelings definitely had nothing to do with her professional interests. He was everything she could have asked for—clever, brave, loyal to those he cared about, dependable when you needed him…and so charming. So handsome. It was as if he'd stepped out of one of the old James bond films, he was such a talented, silver-tongued rogue. Just as Sly had said that things wouldn't mean as much to him if she weren't around, Carmelita knew that life without Sly Cooper wouldn't be the same for her.

And yet, for all this, there was one important detail that made her heart ache as her cop side pointed it out…

Damn it all, she thought wistfully, a strong surge of regret surging through her as she averted her gaze from Sly. Why does he have to be a thief? If he were a cop, like me—or at least a law-abiding citizen—things would be just perfect…

Then inspiration hit. As if some part of her subconscious had been listening to her lament and decided to offer a solution, the Interpol detective suddenly found herself recalling a half-formed idea that she had sometimes considered after a particularly long day, or late at night when she was browsing through the files she had on Sly. She had never taken it too far, though, always stopping herself before she gave it too much consideration and dismissing it as being impossible beyond being a mere fantasy—after all, she had reasoned, Sly was just a criminal who was playing with her feelings.

Now that she knew that he truly loved her, however, it didn't seem like such a bad idea at all…

Snapping out of her reverie, she looked back at Sly. "Cooper…I have a question for you," she said quietly, trying to keep her voice calm and professional. "What if…" She hesitated. "…What if you could come with me?"

Sly looked at her, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Carmelita turned her gaze to the night sky. "It's something I've been thinking about for a while, now," she admitted. "You're talented, Ringtail—there's no denying that. Agile, clever, resourceful, daring…you've got all that going for you, and then some." Then she paused, looking hesitant—what she was going to say next was something she'd only admitted to herself, and even then infrequently.

And yet, Sly had proved that he truly fit this description.

"And there's more to it," she finally continued, her voice softening. "You're no ordinary thief, either—you've done things that most lawbreakers wouldn't have even thought of doing. You've taken down wanted criminals who've kept out of Interpol's reach for years. You've helped me out several times in the past, even after I've kept chasing you. You were even willing to give yourself up for your friends after the whole Klaww Gang incident…a lot of guys wouldn't do that."

Another pause, and then Carmelita looked back at him. "You've got promise, Sly…I—that is, Interpol—could use someone like you." She paused, looking apologetic. "You'd have to serve time in jail, of course, but I think I might be able to convince the top brass of Interpol to make some kind of deal with you…"

Sly blinked at this, looking as surprised as the vixen detective had ever seen him. "Carmelita," he asked slowly, as if making sure that she was being serious, "Are you asking me if I'd like to be your partner?"

At this, Carmelita found herself on the spot—she hadn't quite considered that he might actually ask her this straight out. Suddenly, she found herself very interested in looking at the night sky. "I…well…" she stammered. Looking down, she finally let out a sigh. "Si," she admitted softly, feeling a strong heat rise to her ears.

Damn it, was she blushing?

Still, she didn't mind as much as she would have a while ago—back when she didn't know that Sly's feelings for her were genuine. But her emotions were still a jumble—after looking at Sly as a thief for so long, with that iron wall around her heart, she wasn't used to openly voicing what she felt deep down.

"Like I said, you've got a lot of potential, Ringtail," she added hastily, trying to justify herself to her cop side. "It's a shame to see it wasted on thievery, and, well…"

You love him, the instinctive side of her chimed in silently. Admit it. You're flattered by what he said about you, and you've got feelings for him, too. Why don't you just admit it to him?

Shaking her head in an attempt to quiet that subtle, sensuous voice, Carmelita tried to slip back into the role of an Interpol detective, reminding herself that he was still a thief, and she was still a cop—she had to at least act like it mattered. "Look, I'm just trying to do us both a favor," she snapped, though there was no force to her words, and she knew that he knew it. "Or do you want me to just slap the cuffs on you right now? I can, you know!"

When there was no answer after a few seconds, Carmelita looked back at Sly in mild surprise—instead of making some kind of witty reply like he usually did, the ring-tailed thief had turned his gaze skyward, his expression thoughtful. Just like in the Cooper Vault's Inner Sanctum, the vixen found herself looking at a side of Sly that she had rarely seen before, but now knew existed.

"You partner, huh?" Sly mused quietly, almost to himself. "I'm a thief, through and through…but still, it certainly sounds interesting."

Carmelita huffed. "Oh, you can act as tough as you want, Cooper, but don't forget that I've got the upper…" Then she blinked in surprise as the last part sank in. "Wait, what?" she asked with minor disbelief. Instantly, everything changed. Looking at Sly, she leaned forward so that she could meet him eye-to-eye. "Are you serious, Ringtail?" she asked, sudden hope flooding through her. "Would you like to be my partner?"

Instead of answering, The master thief simply leaned back. "At any rate, it's out of my hands," he admitted. Seeing Carmelita's puzzled stare, he gestured to his bandages, adding, "Take a look, Inspector Fox—you've got me dead to rights. I'm in no condition to run anywhere right now…not with injuries like these. And even if I shout, there's not much chance that my friends will be able to get here in time—and something tells me that they won't be able to bust me out of an Interpol helicopter this time."

The ring-tailed thief spread his arms out to his sides, palms upturned—very much the image of someone who was unarmed and defenseless. "Like you said, Carmelita, you've got the upper hand—I'm completely at your mercy," he admitted. "It looks like you've finally caught me." Then, surprisingly enough, he chuckled softly. "Congratulations," he added with a slight, rueful smile. "I know you've been looking forward to this for a while, now."

Carmelita hadn't thought she could be surprised any further. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected something like this—she had always thought that she'd finally outsmart Sly, surpass him in terms of skill, or just get lucky. She had also thought that he'd be desolated—or at least disappointed—at the discovery that not even he could escape the long arm of the law.

Sly had just proven her wrong on both counts.

Unexpectedly, the Interpol detective felt a strong sense of déjà vu—at the end of the whole Klaww Gang incident, Sly had turned himself in to her custody so that his friends could get away, and had even taken his capture in good stride. Granted, he had wound up escaping again, but something told her that he had been just as surprised as she was by the opportunity that his friends had given him.

And the situation here and now was surprisingly similar—not only was he admitting that she had him right where she wanted him, but was all but surrendering to her! And instead of being upset, he was congratulating her on her success! Sure, he seemed a little put out at the prospect of finally being caught, but...

As she looked at Sly, Carmelita hesitated—despite herself, the vixen suddenly found herself very reluctant to carry through on her promise to arrest him. Maybe her sense of honor wasn't satisfied with catching him this way. Maybe the sight of the raccoon's injuries reminded her that he had suffered them on her behalf. Maybe some part of her felt bad about taking advantage of him in his weakened condition.

Or maybe…just maybe…it was because he had just admitted his feelings for her—and that he'd been telling the truth when he said it. And if he was giving himself up like this, then surely it meant…

It could even be possible that, deep down on some subconscious level, she didn't want the chase to end.

Then Carmelita shook her head mentally, her logical side fighting hard to regain control. Regardless of what had been said and done, Sly Cooper was still a thief, she was still a cop, and she still had a job to do.

At least, that's what she kept telling herself as she hefted her Shock Pistol and pointed it at the master thief.

"Oh, believe me, I have," she whispered softly in reply, tightening her grip on the imposing Interpol-issue weapon as she took steady aim at his half-prostrate form. "I've been looking forward to bringing you in for a long time. The one criminal who's always eluded me, one of the most cunning thieves of our time…and I'll be the one to catch you. I'll be the one to put an end to your thieving streak. And one way or another, I'll be the one to reform you, and make you into one of Interpol's best and brightest."

Keeping the Shock Pistol trained on Sly, trying to ignore the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, she reached into her jeans pocket and withdrew a pair of handcuffs, their polished steel glinting silver-white in the moonlight as she twirled them on one finger.

"It'll be the greatest triumph of my career," she added with a note of would-be pride in her voice as she clicked off the safety to her weapon.

But her voice still trembled.

To Be Continued…


Yes, I know it's STILLa bit of acliffhanger. Aren't I EVIL? (insert impish grin here)

What will happen next? Has Carmelita finally caught her most elusive quarry? Will the rest of the Cooper Gang show up in time to rescue their leader? Is the Cooper legacy lost for good? And what will happen between Sly and Carmelita now?

For these answers and more, stay tuned...

P.S. Si is Spanish for "yes." Given that some of theother good "Sly Cooper"ficsthat I've readhave given a nod to Carmelita's Latin background by occasionally having her use her second language, I thought I'd honor the tradition. Hope nobody minds. :)

As always, reader response is appreciated--it lets me know whether I'm doing a good job or not. See ya next chapter...