Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine.

Chapter 7

An overcast sky dimmed the rising of the new day sun, but the weak rays of light were still enough to wake Carmelita from her sleep. She'd always been a light sleeper, and today was no different. Sitting up with her back to the headboard, she thought about the events of last night, still fresh in her mind. Turning to stare out the windows, she saw the endless expanse of Beijing's industrial sector beginning to sputter to life under the downcast light of the new day. She gave an exasperated sigh, turning her thoughts to Cooper.

Personal life later. Right now, I've got a job to do, the vixen thought. Still weary from being attacked, the vixen slid out from under the covers, placing a foot on the hardwood floor. Pushing herself upwards, she felt a stab of pain from her left foot, and fell back onto the bed with a frustrated grunt. Not one to be defeated by something as trivial as an injured leg, the vixen pushed herself up once more, this time leaning against the wall for support. Invigorated by this small step forward, she hobbled towards the door, eager to get to work.

The hallway into which she walked bore all the signs of age imaginable. Dust coated the floorboards, cobwebs hung in the corners, and the walls had long lost any color, having become a dull grey. The only light came from a window at the end of the hall, which allowed a few meager shafts of light to reign in.

The vixen stumbled along, making considerable process until she reached the stairs. Even though there were less than ten steps, it was would still be difficult. Sly's bed room had actually been part of a separate apartment, as there were only two beds in the other. Muttering a curse at the new obstacle, she gently put her good foot down on the first stair, being careful not to put any pressure on her injured limb. Having conquered the first stair, Carmelita continued down to the first floor, where the Cooper gang was already planning their first strike. As she descended, she could hear Bentley discussing what sounded like an infiltration operation. Even though they were supposed to be working together, Carmelita decided to stay out of sight, only peaking around the corner enough to see what was happening.

"To sum it up, Sly, you'll locate one of the gang's members, and track his activities. Once he's led you to the hideout, Murray and I will infiltrate and bug their headquarters. Remember, this specific gang is a just a small branch of the overall group. We won't be making any big progress today," Bentley said, wrapping up his instructions. Sly had seated himself in the easy-chair, gloved hands folded in contemplative thought. Murray was reclining on the sofa, and Bentley was standing in the front, facing the other two, hands folded behind his back, standing as straight as he could, in an attempt to make himself look large and important. Carmelita had to suppress a chuckle at the diminutive turtle.

"Hey Bent, what about Carmelita?" Sly asked, still sitting, "You think she'll be okay on her own?"

"She's not a child. She'll be fine. But that's not our top priority right now. Let's just get moving," the turtle replied. He collected what looked to be communication headsets, and instructed his two companions to follow him. The three thieves walked over to the door, which lead to stairwell for the entire building. Before leaving, Sly turned, picked up a pen and paper, and scribbled something, which he left in plain sight on dulled countertop.

"Whatcha doin?" Bentley asked.

"Just leaving a note for Carmelita. I let her know well be back around midnight," he answered, finishing his writing. "Let's get the show on the road," the thief said, turning to his friends standing in the hallway. The infamous gang left, leaving the apartment silent.

Coming down the last few steps into the main living area, gazing to where her current companions had left. She hobbled across the small room, picking up the small note that the ambiguous thief had left her.

Carmelita,

Sorry to leave you so early. The gang and I are doing a little recon. Be back around midnight. There's food in the cupboards.

Sly

P.S. I'll get you some crutches on the way back.

The vixen put the note back down. Looking around the spartan apartment, she saw that it housed no refrigerator. While they were fantastic thieves, Bentley, Murray, and Sly were clearly not good housekeepers. She sighed, seeing nothing ahead of her but a long day doing whatever was possible to stave of boredom. Then, it struck her that all her luggage was in the hotel she was supposed to have stayed in. Now, not only was she prevented from doing her job, but she didn't even have a book to read.

"Well, maybe Cooper or one of his buddies has something worth reading," she said to herself. However, she was interrupted in her search for suitable literature when her stomach gave a deep growl, and it was then that she realized she was ravenously hungry. She'd barely even eaten anything the night before. After finding a bowl, spoon and some dry cereal, she sat down at the table, munching on the chocolaty substance.

"I'll have to contact Interpol at some point," she muttered to herself. "God, how easy it would be to just find a phone and lead them straight to Cooper. But, he did save me. I guess I owe him that much." Other officers had told her that talking to yourself was a manifestation of insanity, but for her, it just seemed to help.

"Nothing's ever easy, is it?" she asked no-one, looking out of the dirty window over the city.

"Hey Bent, you think Carmelita will be okay?" Sly asked through his communicator, looking through his binoccucom at the massive crowd across the street, looking for two individuals that were confirmed members of the gang. Bentley's information had led them to believe this street was a place frequented by their targets. As a fellow criminal, Sly could tell why it would be a good place to hang around. There were alleys, low rooftops, and little shops that all probably had either a backdoor or a basement; a thief's playground.

"She'll be fine, Sly. She's not four. Just keep looking. Remember, both have Chinese calligraphy tattooed on their arms. They shouldn't be hard to spot."

"Give me a minute," Sly answered, making yet another sweep of the hundreds of people streaming across the busy thoroughfare. 'If they found her apartment, they track her to our safehouse,' Cooper thought. 'No. There's no way they could. Not this fast. She'll be safe, for now.' He had to lock those thoughts out of his mind. If he wasn't focused, he'd get caught. "Oh, wait, I see them," Sly said, finally spotting his targets on the opposite side of street. One was a muscular snow leopard, and the other a tall, lanky tiger, both looking about their twenties. As Bentley said, both had Chinese characters tattooed on their arms, revealed by the sleeveless, black shirts worn by both. The snow leopard had a poorly concealed firearm beneath a thick black vest.

The agile thief leapt down from his perch in favor of the cover of a shady back alley fire escape. Operating in broad daylight put Sly on edge. As a naturally nocturnal animal, the sun made him feel open and vulnerable. Gazing across the street, he saw the two gangsters walk into the alley directly across from where he was standing. Focusing the binocucom, he saw the leopard knock on what had appeared to be part of the building. He began to speak with someone who must've been inside and, having been allowed entrance, he and his companion walked in.

"Okay, Bentley, they've gone into a building, which looks like their headquarters. I'm gonna get close and check it out," Sly said.

"Understood. Just don't be stupid,".

"It's me, why are you worried?" Sly asked with an unseen smile before closing the channel. "Okay, looks like I'll just jump this," the thief said to himself. He turned to walk to the other end of the fire escape, before turning around and sprinting as fast as possible. Stepping up onto the railing, the raccoon leapt into the air, sailing over the crowded street for a split second, before landing in a roll on a rooftop on the opposite side of the street.

Opening up a channel on the communicator, Sly spoke to his friend on the other end, "Bentley, I'm on the building. Can you give me the layout?" he asked.

"Sure thing Sly. Just give me a minute… Okay, here it is. Looks like you have two entry options. You could either go through the ventilation shaft from the side of the building, or you could just break down the door and go in the way the targets went through."

"Which is better?" the thief asked.

"Well, if you break down the door, there'll almost certainly be guards waiting, but the room isn't too big, so don't expect much resistance. If you go through the ventilation shaft, you'll be able to navigate the entire building without resistance."

"Well, the ventilation shaft it is."

"Hold on. There's a catch. Our goal here is to gather info on the higher ups in Killer. There's a room that looks like an office on the third floor. Only problem is that the shaft entrance is on the second floor, so you would have to climb straight up and some point."

"Understood. I'll take the vent shaft." Sly decided.

"Okay. The shaft ends in the office room. Once you're there, make sure there's no one around, and plant the bug in your pouch in the office in a cabinet or something. Then search the place for any useful documents, take a photo of them, and get out of the building. Murray will pick you up in a civilian van, license plate CAW-3115."

"Alright Bent, I'll get on that. Sly out," the master thief said, safely packing his communicator in his pouch. "Now, to find that entrance," he muttered to himself as he walked over to the edge of the roof and carefully looked over, scanning the wall for one of the heating and cooling units. He spotted it one story down from where he stood, only about half as wide and as tall as himself. The thief swung over the edge of the roof, sliding down a pipe before landing gracefully atop the small machine. "So how do I get in?" he wondered aloud to himself, "Well, this thing will just have to go. Guess there's only one way to do that."

The thief leapt into the air, smashing his feet down as hard as he could on the aged machinery. It easily gave way, as he'd hoped, and fell from beneath his feet. As the broken unit fell to the ground, the agile raccoon grasped the now open edge of the ventilation shaft with one paw, his cane in his other screeching against the metal as he hooked it on the edge. With a grunt he pulled himself into the narrow shaft, his shoulders, slender as they were, barely fitting past the cold metal walls.

"It's chilly in here," Sly muttered as he crawled down the shaft, searching for a way up to the office. Several minutes spent vainly searching the maze of shafts found Sly with bruised elbows and knees, frustrated, and now completely loss in a dangerous building. The raccoon cursed beneath his breath, angry at his inability to navigate a building. He started down another shaft that didn't look quite as grey as the others.

"Finally!" Sly nearly shouted with joy, finding the vertical shaft. The agile raccoon pushed himself into the tight shaft, placing his paws on either side of the duct. Sly grunted as he pushed onto the walls and pulled himself out. Sly pressed his back into the wall, shifting his feet to apply pressure to the opposite wall. The muscles in his legs tensed as he slid upward, his shirt being pulled down from the friction. The front of the thief's collar strained up against his neck. He pulled it back down to avoid being strangled. Inch by inch, foot by foot, Sly pulled himself closer and closer to the floor above him.

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(A/N: I know not a lot happened in this chapter, but I wanted to get this posted. As always, please review)