Chapter 6: I Am Jack's Immaculate Memory
"Hey Sly, we're here,"
Murray nudged the raccoon awake as he pulled into the lot. Sly had only nodded off for a little while on the ride over, as the clock displayed that it was a few minutes before midnight. Naturally it was dark at this time, but the thick black clouds that obscured any shred of moonlight made it even darker. He was normally wide awake at this time of night, but waking up early that morning played hell with his system. It was clear he needed more time to adjust.
"Alright, I'm up," he yawned audibly. "Thanks for bringing me over, Murray,"
The two of them had come alone that night. Bentley decided to remain at the hideout, and rest up from his long day of research. That was what he said, but Sly thought that it might have been he wasn't too eager to see Athena again.
"…And, sorry about our guy's night, man," he added.
"No worries, buddy," Murray replied. "We'll just do it another time, right? Well, have fun in there,"
"You aren't coming in, Murray?" Sly asked, exiting the van and touching down on the pavement.
"No thanks. She's your sister, Sly. I wouldn't have anything to say to her. Besides, with Carmelita there, I'd really feel like a fourth wheel,"
"Actually, that's…never mind. You'll be alright out here by yourself?" the raccoon said, standing outside with the passenger door ajar. After receiving a nod of approval from Murray, he shut the door and proceeded to the front of the hospital. After he took about ten steps away from the van, an explosion of noise behind him made his breath stop briefly and his heart jump a little bit. Quickly, he turned back to see his crew's van, pulsating with the blare of the radio. Sly shook his head and laughed to himself, turning again to approach the building.
He came upon three people standing by a large garage door, engaged in some conversation. By their attire, Sly could tell that two of them were hospital security, and they were the first to acknowledge him by gazing in his direction. The third person, standing closest to him, turned to face him. The dim light of the hospital's exterior only highlighted a few parts of her figure, but Sly knew those curves so well, he could see them in the dark. She slowly took up the wide brim of the black felt hat she'd been wearing, and flashed him a calm grin.
"Right on time, just like always. Very nice," she addressed him with an unusually bright tone.
"Carmelita…uh, hi. You…look different," Sly replied, suddenly very tense. She was truly a stunning individual. Tonight she had opted against her traditional police wear, and was sporting a fine red satin dress (perfect match to her lipstick, Sly noticed) and a matching black jacket. A shimmering black leather handbag draped her shoulder, and a stately diamond pendant hung on a gold chain around her neck. She was so positively radiant, it took Sly several seconds before he realized he'd been staring at her. He chuckled oddly, and turned his gaze down, scratching at the back of his head.
"I feel different, thank you," she smirked, stepping forward with light clicks of her high-heeled shoes. The vixen lifted his head with her right hand, and circled him a few times. "You know, you didn't have to get so dressed up just for me,"
Suddenly, Sly realized what she had meant. He also was not wearing his usual attire, but instead was wearing an understated black denim getup. A simple jacket and jeans combo, one without all the pointless zippers and chains that seemed to fly off the racks in town, something that he never really understood. He couldn't help but feel a little ashamed. Compared to her, he looked like some common street punk.
"I'm trying out a new look," he said in his defense, looking down at himself. She had gotten back to her original position and appeared to be thinking something over. "It doesn't work?" he asked hesitantly.
"Well, I can't really say. We don't see too much of each other…outside of work. Now that I think of it, I don't really think I've seen you wearing anything else,"
"It's not like I wear that all the time," Sly remarked on his thieving clothes. "Sure, it gives a freedom of movement I don't get from regular clothes, but it doesn't breathe very well. And after a while, it chafes like you wouldn't believe,"
"And thank you for that charming image. That one's going right in the scrapbook," she rolled her eyes in mock disgust.
They laughed together. It had been ages since they'd done that, Sly thought to himself. He released a long sigh and looked up into her deep brown eyes.
"Hey Carmelita…it's really good to see you again,"
"Yeah, yeah…you, too," she responded grudgingly. "So how's the arm?"
Sly pulled up his sleeve to reveal the cast. "Still not quite there. The bones were set a while ago, we're just waiting for them to fuse. How about yours? I notice you aren't wearing your sling,"
She lifted her left arm slowly. "I don't have to wear it for casual encounters, only at the office, to avoid using it too much. They stitched up all the wounds, but there's still some partial numbness, because of all the nerve damage. It's been an issue…"
"Because you're left-handed?" he asked.
"Because I've been restricted to paperwork," she answered sharply. "How did you know I was left-handed?"
"Well, it's just something I picked up on while we were…working together?" Sly commented, drawing a mean look from Carmelita. "You don't like the term, I know. But we did help each other out a lot back then,"
"That's a different conversation. Please continue,"
"Well, back when you first started chasing me, you used to hold your shock pistol in your right hand. And, forgive me for saying, but you didn't have a chance of hitting me back then. At first I thought you were just a bad shot. But later on, you surprised me. You started getting a lot closer, when you shot at me with your left hand,"
"I'm surprised you noticed," she stated calmly. "Yes, I am naturally left-handed. But I've trained myself to shoot with both hands, in case one of my hands becomes incapacitated. It's a standard police technique. I only lose a little bit of my accuracy when I shoot from the right side,"
"How about that," he whistled in admiration. "And here I was thinking you were never that serious about catching me,"
"Well, you can just drop that little fantasy right now, Cooper," Carmelita glared with her arms partially folded.
"That's fine. I have others," he suggested with a wry smirk. That look prompted Carmelita to glance aimlessly around the parking lot, drawing a curious look from Sly. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for a shovel," Carmelita replied. "You seem so intent on digging your own grave, I thought it would come in handy,"
"Oh my goodness," the raccoon exclaimed. "Carmelita Fox, was that a joke? That was pretty good,"
"Well…I guess we've both done a lot of changing lately," she sighed off-handedly. Almost immediately after, the skies opened up and released a light battery of rain onto them. She reached up and felt the moisture against her hand, and glanced back to the doors. "We should go inside, Sly. It'll get worse out here before it gets better,"
They began to walk side by side to the entrance of the hospital, with Sly walking a few steps ahead upon reaching the door. He swiftly pulled it open, and ushered Carmelita inside. It was just as they entered the lobby that the rain started coming down in full force.
"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Sly distantly pondered. "It was raining that night, too. Just like this,"
The Paris Chief of Police had largely ignored his reminiscing, and proceeded to the front desk. She placed her hand down on the counter, loud enough to get the young clerk's attention, but not so loud as to cause a disturbance.
"Oh! Inspector…I mean, Chief! Good to see you again. You're here to see Miss Athena, right?" the desk attendant asked brightly. After receiving a quiet nod, she retrieved her phone and dialed up a number. "Dr. Spice?" she said once the line connected. "Chief Fox is here to see Athena…okay…yes, I see…I'll let her know, Doctor,"
"What's going on, Jen? They can't see us right now?" Carmelita queried. The young golden lioness behind the desk hung up her phone again and began straightening some files laying in front of her.
"Sorry. Miss Athena's in a counseling session with Dr. McSpeedy right now. It may be a while before they finish,"
"I don't know any Dr. McSpeedy. Is he new?"
"Oh, yes. Just joined Dr. Spice's staff last week. Tom is a very bright young man, and dead handsome to boot. Miss Athena's really taken a liking to him,"
"Is that right?" Sly inquired, who had been listening in for a little while. "I think I want to meet this guy, too,"
"And you are?" Jen asked in response. "I don't think I've seen you around here,"
"Sly, you haven't been to see her yet?" Carmelita asked in disbelief.
"'Sly?' You're Sly Cooper, the world famous raccoon thief?" the receptionist asked, her eyes lighting brightly.
"No, that's not me. You must be thinking of someone else," he grumbled under his breath, hiding his face by pretending to brush the hair from his eyes.
"This is a mental hospital, Sly," the policewoman reminded him. "For criminals? They know who you are. You don't have to do that here,"
The desk clerk passed them a ledger, which they both quickly signed. Pulling it back to her side, she folded it shut and pointed to a door to the right of her desk. "Waiting area is through there. Make yourself at home. We'll notify you when Miss Athena is ready,"
Sly nodded in appreciation as he headed for the next room. Carmelita closely followed, adjusting her leather bag's strap on her shoulder. The double doors swung open loosely, revealing a multitude of chairs and couches, low tables filled with old magazines, and office-style water coolers situated in the corners of the room. The furniture in the room was all by itself; there were absolutely no other people anywhere. Sly looked up at a corner of the room and spied a small security camera.
"I'm guessing these cameras are visual-only?" asked the raccoon as he took a seat on one of the couches in the middle of the room.
"So you know, then," Carmelita responded, sitting down on a small cushioned seat directly across from him. "I asked you here at midnight because there wouldn't be anyone else here,"
"You want to talk to me about something," he stated flatly, putting up his feet on the table.
"That's right," she nodded. "I have to ask you something important,"
She pulled the bag she'd been carrying off her shoulder and laid it down on the table. "Sly," she began, "when Jen asked you if you were Sly Cooper, you denied it. That doesn't seem like you,"
"Something on your mind, Carmelita?" he blinked slowly, unbuttoning the top clasps on his jacket.
"Why are you acting like you aren't who you actually are?" she stumbled through the question she wanted to ask, and afterward gave a look like she wasn't satisfied with it.
"Well…it's kinda hard to explain," Sly responded, reclining back into the couch cushion. "Whenever people hear the name 'Cooper', they think of the family of raccoon thieves who only steal from other criminals. That's all our name means to them. For a long time, I was okay with that. But lately I've been thinking: is that all we're meant to be? I mean, my destiny was etched in stone the minute I was born into the Cooper bloodline. Can you imagine what that's like? To know exactly what you're going to be before you even learn to speak?"
"Maybe just a little bit," Carmelita remarked. "I'm not big believer in fate or anything, but I did discover my passion for law enforcement at an early age, even if I was…kind of forced into it by an abusive relative,"
"Sounds like a personal matter, and I won't force the issue, but that right there is my point," he announced while using his finger to trace a pattern of dots punched into the tiles on the ceiling. "We were forced into our own lives. I didn't want my life to be tethered to thievery just because of my last name. That's not fair to you or my friends, you know? That's why I choose not to recognize myself as a famous Master Thief. True as it may be, I'm trying to distance myself from that part of my life,"
"And that's just so obvious to me when you pull stunts like this," Carmelita retrieved a folded sheet of paper from her bag and handed it across the table to Sly. He glanced down from his drawing on the ceiling, and took the paper out of her hand. Folding it open, he began to read the text, immediately recognizing it as a news story detailing his appearance at the Takinahara Art Museum in Japan.
"Huh, I didn't think it would be this publicized," he shrugged as he tossed the paper onto the table.
"This came to me from the Director of Interpol himself. Did you think I wasn't going to find out?" she sneered menacingly.
"Hey, come on now," Sly put up his hands in defense. "You're acting like I did something wrong,"
"Trespassing, B and E, impersonating an officer," the Chief counted off the offenses on her fingers. "Far less serious crimes than your usual grand theft, mind you, but crimes nonetheless,"
"First off, I identified myself to Mr. Hakari, so I wasn't 'impersonating' anything. And breaking and entering? He let me into his office,"
"After he found you hanging by one hand outside his window," she scoffed. "That constitutes conspiracy to commit burglary, Cooper. Yeah, it's really clear that you mean to give this whole 'giving up crime' thing your best effort,"
"Would you stop it with the theatrics, please?" he sighed loudly. "I think the important thing here is that I'm trying, and I think you of all people could acknowledge that,"
Carmelita expressed her annoyance by snatching up the paper and crumpling it into a small ball. "Fine," she growled. "Don't even think about how all this is affecting me,"
"What do you mean?" Sly asked, taking down his feet.
"You're trying so hard to forget about your past…are you trying to forget me, too? All the work I did, and all the time I spent trying to catch you…for you to just forget all about it, is that how much respect you have for me?"
"That's just amazing, Carmelita. Here I am, at the greatest turning point of my life, and all you can think about is yourself. I have a life outside of you, you know!"
"Now who's being theatrical? I'm sorry if you think I'm being selfish, but it's just the way I feel,"
"Look, I know I can't change what happened in the past. I'm not so foolish as to think I can just forget about all of it, either. I know it'll always be there. But putting the past behind you and moving on with your life, and just forgetting it altogether…those are two very different things. I promise I'll always remember the things we went through together, okay?" he said, placing his plaster-casted hand over his heart. "So, don't worry about it. As long as I have you to remind me, I'm never going to forget. What do you say? Friends?"
Carmelita, who had listened absorbedly to Sly's detailed explanations, balked slightly at this proposition. "Friends? Isn't that going to be just a little bit difficult?"
"I like to think we always got along really well, so why not?" he said, holding his hands out in an inviting gesture.
"Goodness, do all your friends shoot at you whenever they see you?"
"Just the ones that really like me,"
His final comment drew a charming laugh from Carmelita's lips. Once again, he found himself mesmerized by her. He cleared his throat to get her attention, and spoke to her again.
"I always thought you were beautiful when you were angry...but you know, you're even prettier when you smile,"
"Take it easy, Speedy Gonzales. Why don't we start with 'friends', first?" she laughed.
"Well, I…"
He was about to answer, when the vixen across from him jumped a little bit in her seat, and reached for a side pocket in her jacket.
"Hold on, Sly. That's my phone," she stated, flipping open the handheld device. "This is Fox…oh, hello Ronnie…"
Sly opened his mouth to say something, but Carmelita silenced him with one finger and continued talking on the phone.
"Yes, I'm still at the hospital…yeah, she's in counseling, might be a while…Really?…Isn't that something you can take care of yourself?…That big, huh? Heh, sounds like fun…Okay, I'm on my way. Don't start without me!…Alright…You, too," she snapped the phone shut with one hand, and addressed Sly's current wide-mouth gape.
"Sorry, but I have to get going. Some genius tried to break into a car right across the street from the station. He's making a big fuss in the interrogation room, and I want to get back before the other officers take all the good parts,"
"And who is this Ronnie?" Sly asked with an unusually stark tone.
Carmelita smirked brightly in response. "I have a life outside of you," she said, standing up and moving to the exit. "Stay out of trouble, ringtail. We'll be in touch,"
With that, she pushed open the door and disappeared into the lobby, leaving Sly by himself in the lounge area with his thoughts. Or more like, it was a single thought.
What the hell was that?
