Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN SLY COOPER! NOPE NO OWNAGE NOPE!

My head hit the desk so many times this chapter! I'm so sorry it took so long to update!

Note: An apology for any and all missed spelling or grammatical errors I may have missed during my editing!

Paris, France

10:23 PM

Jewelry Exhibition

He yanked at the tie around his neck and stood stiffly in front of the staircase as he took in his surroundings. Around him were other officers, some dressed in their typical security guard uniforms while others wearing suits to blend in with the party goers. He on the other hand while in a suit had traded the blazer for his trade mark duster, though he couldn't escape the requirement that he needed to wear a tie.

Emilio was never one for large fancy events, that was why he was often found far away from the bustle of high class guest and overly too bright lights from the chandeliers that hung from the ceiling on certain assignments. He rather work in the shadows than be out in the open where he could socialize...The fox tugged at his tie again and let out a sigh as he lifted up his walkie talkie from his pocket, "Inspector Blake?"

There was a cackle of static before Susannah's voice spoke up, "Yes Inspector Fox? I've just checked the second floor again, so far nothing to report."

"Good to hear...Now save me."

There was a pause before he could hear her snickering on her end and he let out a low groan, "No, seriously. Save me. I can't stand staying in one spot alone in a place like this."

"Roger that, I'll be down in a second. Stay strong...Emilio."

The fox blinked in surprise at how she spoke his name, but he quietly chuckled as he pocketed his walkie talkie. It felt good to hear her say his first name again, though it didn't make his heartbeat as fast as it used to...Either way he was glad she and him were on track on being friends again. He let out a sigh of relief to know she would be coming down soon before jolting up a bit upon hearing someone call out to him.

"Inspector Fox! Just the man I wanted to see!"

Emilio turned around to see a black hare walking towards him, a large tiger in a black suit trailing after him making the fox's shoulders tense up as he stared at the two. The hare was Kaitou Hare who was in charge of the jewelry exhibition.

While his work did put him under INTERPOL's radar, but Emilio could not pursue after the other with the amount of protection the other had acquired from his adoptive family. That, and at the moment this job was to protect the jewels of the party...He could not attempt to stray from his position and forced a smile upon his face as the other offered him his hand to shake. "I take it there's nothing wrong yet?" he questioned as he allowed his hand to grasp the other's and gave a firm hand shake.

"Oh no, no!" Kaitou laughed and lightly patted the inspector on the shoulder, "I just wanted to be certain that you're alright. I understand keeping guard might be a little bit boring."

"Not at all," Emilio politely replied with a wide grin, "I'm only doing my job."

"No, no my dear inspector! You and your men are doing good work for me. It's only right that I extend a hand and offer you perhaps a break," the hare happily chuckled. Emilio continued to keep his smile up though he felt a very uncomfortable feeling deep in his stomach. Considering how Kaitou had failed to also address Susannah who had introduced herself alongside him at the very start of their assignment.

The hare kept all his focus on him despite her presence and Emilio felt a heavier guilt press down upon him for his earlier treatment towards her back at headquarters and from the last assignment at the gallery. His fellow INTERPOL officer only had took the lack of recognition with a small smile and nod before departing off to the second floor to handle their officers stationed up. Emilio honestly felt that her leave was more of a means to escape the awkward conversation he was then forced to endure with Kaitou and wished he had spoke up.

Kaitou had obviously seemed to only view him as the prime head of his security operations and completely ignored Susannah despite the female raccoon openly displaying acts of leadership among the officers as well as attempting to question Kaitou a few times about certain spots in the building which the hare ignored. Emilio was forced to ask for her and he had been surprised at how Susannah for the most part did not complain. It was as if she had been prepared for Kaitou's actions towards her and merely kept herself in check.

He on the other hand was desperately trying not to growl at the hare as he was forced to once again listen to the hare go on and on about jewelry.

"I don't need a break sir," the fox finally spoke up at last before nodding towards the crowd, "Mingling isn't quite my thing. I'll keep myself right here thank you."

"Nonsense! Surely you enjoy a sip of wine now and again."

"While off duty," Emilio nearly snarled out the words, but kept his mouth as closed as possible to allow the words out, "Now if you don't mind sir...I would like to keep an eye out still. You may enjoy yourself, it is your event after all."

"Peh, I cannot really enjoy myself with the very thought someone would think to steal these precious heirlooms!"

Emilio refrained himself from rolling his eyes as the hare took a long sip of his red wine before handing it off to his bodyguard. "With all due respect sir...We never did quite say they would be stolen. Just the possibility."

"All the same...It would break my heart to see these wonderful gems taken right under our noses," Kaitou continued as he adjusted his tie, "Well, if you must continue on guard Inspector Fox please be assured if you wish for a rest you are welcomed to take part in the festivities."

The fox gave the hare a nod and watched as he went away, an exhale escaping him as soon as the other was out of earshot. At this point he had actually hoped Cooper would have made an entrance while he was conversating with the hare.

"I'm surprised you didn't bare your teeth at him."

"Oh that certainly did cross my mind, but you know professionalism," Emilio chuckled as he felt himself become more relaxed at Susannah's arrival, "So I take it you weren't having trouble with the second floor?"

"Not at all," the female raccoon smiled as she looked over at party, "I have to say, I've never saw a party this grand in a while."

"Get used to it," Emilio sighed as he tugged at his tie again, "Whenever there's a party like this you can guarantee that Cooper and his buddies will show up. Especially if it's being hosted by someone as shady as Kaitou." Susannah raised an eyebrow at him before letting out a sigh as she watched him struggle with his tie that was now far too loose than it had before.

"You still hate to wear those? How can anyone take you seriously?" she questioned as he angrily began to untie the darn thing and tried to hastily redo it, "Inspector Fox-"

"No, no I got it," he quickly hissed as he began to painfully become aware he had looped it the wrong way and was forced to start over again.

"This is getting too painful to watch, let me do it."

Emilio once again held up his hand, but sighed as he could feel Susannah merely shove it aside and grabbed hold of the dark navy blue fabric in her fingers. He remained silent as she went to work occasionally glancing down at her as she concentrated on his tie. "A few years go by and you still haven't learned to do these things yourself," she lightly scolded him and patted him hard on the chest as she finished, "Just how did you get by?"

"Avoid all social gatherings and be a hermit," he answered and flinched as she punched him on the arm, "Ow!"

"Chin up Fox, what would headquarters say if they saw you like this?" Susannah laughed as she took a quick glance out through the party, "I have to say...I'm surprised you actually let me cover more than the gallery assignment."

Emilio nervously let out a chuckle at her words before sighing, "I...Apologize for my earlier treatment to you Susannah."

A quiet chuckle and another punch to his arm, this one lighter, as Susannah gives him a sad grin, "No...I probably made you uncomfortable now that I think about it. My transfer was sudden and...When we left off, I have to say it wasn't the best so..." A hand is offered to him and his mouth twitches as he allows his fingers to wrap around her own and they shake, "Let's get Cooper together...Alright?"

"Right," he breathes out a sigh of relief as he glances at his watch and frowns.

Nothing had happened in account to disturbances, so what was Cooper doing right now?

The bright lights, the glamorous patrons...Ah.

This was indeed a high class event for only the right high class people.

Connor grinned from his perch as he balanced himself against one of the building's tall window's sill as he studied the party below him. He let out a slight scoff as his eyes trained on every piece of jewelry shining underneath the crystal chandeliers. Any other night he wouldn't mind snagging a few, but he didn't miss the obvious uniformed INTERPOL agents stationed alongside the walls of the ballroom. It wouldn't surprise him to know there were a few other agents around only in disguise.

An old trick of Inspector Fox's, but Connor already knew how the fox played.

His target wouldn't be the jewelry on the models though.

Stepping back a bit Connor pressed himself against the wall before changing his position onto the next window sill and pressed his finger against his ear piece as he heard static, "M? You there?"

"All settled," the mandrill replied and Connor could faintly hear the sounds of keys on a keyboard being pressed, "How do things look on your end?"

"The party is in full swing," Connor answered as he carefully crouched down and peered through the window glass, "I spot a few of our favorite law enforcers hanging around the walls and you can bet there's a few of them being guest."

"Not surprising considering how Fox plays," M sighed before another set of keys were pressed loudly, "It wouldn't quite be a party without them being invited. Is there a way for you to go inside?"

The raccoon continued to study the room in silence.

The windows just behind the main staircase seemed to be his ticket inside and by the looks of it, he could easily slip out of sight and into the basement if he was careful.

Connor opened his mouth to inform his friend, but stopped as he notice two figures in front of the stairs. Despite the tie on him, Connor could easily see Inspector Fox in the front of the staircase along with Inspector Blake, no, Susannah.

The raccoon was wearing all black compared to her much lighter grey attire from the park that late afternoon. It really didn't surprise him that she had worn a pantsuit then and even now in a pair of black slacks with tucked in black dress shirt, it didn't take away any of her femininity and actually looked rather attractive on her. The only article of clothing that had color was her tie which was a dark teal blue shade. Her usual braid was resting over her left shoulder as the sleeves of her black leather jacket creased as she placed her hands on her hips as she spoke to Inspector Fox.

From his perch he couldn't quite make out the words exchanged between the two INTERPOL inspectors, but whatever they were talking about had the two smiling and laughing.

Connor frowned a bit as he watched Susannah lightly pat the fox on the shoulder before nodding her head towards the stairs and felt his shoulders twitch as Inspector Fox shook his head, but gave Susannah a smile that the thief had rarely seen on the INTERPOL officer before as she went up the stairs. Something was different between the two of them and compared to how the inspector was at the art museum, Inspector Fox seemed much more relaxed and Susannah seemed to be getting along just fine with her ex-partner.

Had something happen?

Connor had been certain there had been some sort of tension between the two with how Inspector Fox had been that night at the art museum and how Susannah's records over their separation detailed how it was so sudden.

For some reason seeing the two being chummy made him uncomfortable as odd as it was.

His fingers tightened around his cane as he stared at Inspector Fox and could feel his teeth grind lightly as he took in the fox's smile after the female raccoon had left him. Just what happened?

"Connor? Connor? Hello?!"

"Huh? What?"

He nearly forgot about M after staring at the two inspectors and cleared his throat, "Sorry M I was scanning the room to see if there's a way I can get in. It looks like I can slide in through one of the windows behind the main staircase and make it to the basement door that should be hidden behind. I just spotted Inspector Fox though by it, along with the other inspector. I think you remember her? The one that chased me all the way to the truck at the gallery?"

"Oh yes, I do remember her," M groaned and Connor could just picture his teammate shuddering, "Gave us quite a scare..."

"I wouldn't say that exactly," Connor protested lightly as he managed to hold back a sigh of relief that M hadn't noticed his little white lie. The last thing he needed was a scolding from the other right now and blinked when he realized that Inspector Fox hadn't walked away from the stairs after Susannah had left him. Never had the raccoon saw the fox remain in one position and lightly hit himself on the forehead to be certain his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

"Uh M, Fox isn't moving from the first floor, but the other inspector did..."

"Wait what?" M's tone went a bit higher in pitch making Connor wince at the sound, "Easy there buddy, hearing..."

"B-But that fox never stays in one spot, does that mean..."

"It looks like that other inspector's got more ground than last time," Connor couldn't hold back a chuckle as he wondered if he would have the lovely chance to run into her tonight, "Can't believe he gave someone more power over an assignment like this. It's a miracle and pretty refreshing."

On the other end he could hear M let out a whine and something lightly hitting something hard, most likely M's forehead to the keyboard. Connor rolled his eyes as he once again stepped away from the window and began to slowly move towards the next, "Don't be so dramatic M. C'mon live a little, it's never fun when it's always Fox chasing us."

It was never fun just to have Fox on their case all the time.

The many past agents that had went after them didn't last so long and while Connor applauded Fox for staying on his tail for so long it had gotten a little boring having him be the cat in their little game. Susannah was just what was needed to spice things up and Connor wasn't exactly complaining as M was about this. She had an obviously good sense of justice as he had seen earlier that day in the park as she confronted the kids for their bullying. There was a gentleness in her through that tough cop facade and he wondered just how many other expressions and emotions he would see in her.

His lips twitched a bit now that the possibility of running into the female raccoon was higher than before. He wouldn't mind having behind chased by her with that angry look on her face, not to say her smile wasn't as charming.

"Well, yes...I guess," M's voice interrupted his thoughts again as he agreed with Connor's earlier statement though the raccoon could tell he was partly amused, "At least we don't need to worry about Fox being our main target of concern. This new inspector though uh...She's that raccoon with that flare gun wasn't she?"

"The very same one," Connor held back a chuckle as he continued to slide across the wall, "Don't worry about me running into her M, I can handle her just fine. She barely even got a good shot at me the last time we encountered and we did give her the slip."

"I wouldn't be calling it that Connor. It was more like a close call and has been a nightmare of mine since that heist. Jim and I were having instant heart attacks upon seeing a feral she-raccoon with a gun firing right at you as you jumped into the truck," M replied to which Connor rolled his eyes.

By now he was just a few feet away from the windows and he stopped for a moment to pick out the right window to go through. "Well while you keep worrying over that," he spoke up as he positioned himself in just the right spot, "When's that distraction coming in? I can't exactly slip inside without someone noticing with the lights are still on."

"Ah yes, Jim should be getting into position quite soon," M replied and the pressing of keys returned, "Just stay put and be ready for action when its time."

"Got it, hopefully this new gizmo of yours was worth the wait," Connor lightly chuckled and focused his attention back out towards the ballroom, his eyes trained on the back of Inspector Fox as he waited for his next course of action.

Susannah sighed to herself as she glanced at her wristwatch as she went down the second floor hall for the tenth time that night. While she had expected Emilio to gain attention from their current client it still slightly annoyed her just at how the hare had barely even given her a glance.

It wasn't the first time she had been openly ignored and she merely went about her business in hopes that maybe Kaitou would at least notice she was also partnered up with Emilio to handle security. Just meeting the hare in person after reading his file back in her office sent her on edge. She didn't like him and she couldn't blame Emilio either when she saw how tense he had become as he was forced to talk with the hare.

For goodness sake, she sighed again before taking a quick glance down the end corridor before turning on her heel and marching back towards the other end. If she had met the hare any other time, Susannah would certainly like to dirty that ridiculously frilly suit of his by dragging him to the dirt.

Her face quickly shifted from annoyance to amuse at that thought as a quiet chuckle left her lips. Ah...That would be nice. Especially considering how she felt the hare was hiding something...

She stopped her train of thoughts in time as she passed a few officers and quickly waved at them as they strolled through the halls with precision in a way a tinker toy moved. At least those on assignment with her were much more polite and considerate to her than how she first started.

Emilio had gone out of his way enough to ensure that she felt like a part of his team and the raccoon lightly chuckled while shaking her head.

It was nice at least and Emilio was definitely communicating better with her now. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear she slowly halted to a stop again to glance at her watch only to freeze as a soft whooshing sound was heard and suddenly, darkness.

From the first floor she could hear panic and immediately made a grab for her walkie talkie just in time as Emilio's voice came up on the other end.

"Black out!"

Her tail sprung up as she heard a few of her officers further down the hallway yelling before taking off in that direction, "We got trouble up on the second floor Inspector Fox!" she yelled as she watched a few INTERPOL officers run ahead of her, "What's going on downstairs?!"

"Everyone's in a panic, we're trying to control the situation here," Emilio replied, "Inspector Blake, what's going on upstairs?"

"That's what I'm about to find out," Susannah answered as she skidded to a stop and grabbed an arm of another fellow officer, "What's going on?"

"Inspector Blake," the badger saluted to her before pointing down the hall he was heading towards, "Someone tempered with the building's fuse box. The main power has been cut off and apparently it seems that walrus from the Cooper Gang might have been the cause of it."

Susannah's breath went up a hitch as she slowly brought a hand to her face and groaned, of course! The darn source of energy was on the second floor!

The night had been way too easy and she should have seen this coming...

Quickly she patted the other on the shoulder, "The only way to get the power back on is going down to the basement, can I allow you to handle the situation up here while I go and inform Inspector Fox what's going on. I want all officers to try and catch that walrus. He can't get too far on this floor."

"Ma'am yes ma'am!"

She saluted the other before running off towards the stairs all the while fumbling in the dark for her flare gun before stopping on the first few steps going down.

The moonlight illuminated the staircase well, but not too much allowing her to faintly notice the figure opening one of the windows overlooking the ballroom. She squinted before noticing the cane in the figures hand as it jumped from the window into the darkness behind the staircase.

Her lips pulled back as she fought back a need to snarl as she realized just who had slipped into the building before storming down the steps and quickly caught Emilio by his arm as he started to leave his post, "Black out is Cooper's distraction," she hissed as she nodded towards the staircase, "He went to the door leading down to the basement, his lackey is upstairs and shouldn't be trouble to catch."

"Which lackey is it?" Emilio questioned as he took out his shock pistol as Susannah tried to tune out the party goers who were being way over dramatic with their crying and frantic questions on how the lights were off, "It's the walrus," she replied as she began to make her way towards the basement, "I'm going to get him. Do-"

"I'll handle the situation upstairs and here," Emilio quickly spoke up and patted her on the shoulder, "Be sure to get in a few good shots for me...Will ya Susannah?"

She stared at him, even in the darkness she could make out a grin as she gently squeezed his shoulder in response, "Keep it under control Emilio."

"Don't I always?" Susannah just laughed as she took off, "If anyone gives you trouble, give 'em hell."

Again, I hit my head a number of times before I posted this. I had a lot of difficulty in this chapter in terms of setting up. I hope you all enjoyed this long awaited update! Again I apologize!

Well the stage is set, let's see how this heist goes!

Until then~! Thank you all for reading and I hoped you enjoy!