House of Cards Chapter 11: Crash My Car Through Your Window, a sly cooper fanfic

A Dangerous Enterprise
Sly 2: Band of Thieves

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Summary: Jenna Sheppard is going into her second year college and has an extensive interest in traveling, however, when she decides to visit her cousin in Cairo, Egypt she finds herself woven into a surprisingly dark web. Stockholm Syndrome has nothing to do with how Jenna feels about her captors, being the infamous Copper Gang, rather quite the opposite. But when she finds out a dark secret about her family and herself will she be willing to put aside what she believes to help aid the Gang in their conquest for the greater good?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Sly Cooper series…all rights are reserved to Sucker Punch Productions™. I'm a poor college student, I wouldn't be a poor college student (or a student at all quite frankly) if I had made this wonderful game-play. I do, however, own Jenna Sheppard and Lawrence Sheppard :)

Story Type: OC Insert

Pairing: Sly Copper/OFC

Other Pairings: TBA

Rating: T

Warnings: Thieveous Raccoons, Turtles, Hippos and crazy Cops with shock pistols o.O;

Author's Note: Hi everyone, I know this was a really fast update, but I definitely wanted to make up for how sloppy the last chapter was as far as my grammatical work as well as the structure itself. I apologize for that, but I promise that this chapter was gone through a few times to catch mistakes, but I'm positive I missed a few…Ah well. Let's move on to the stories you all NEED to read and my reviewers ;)

Just a side note:

- If any of you are looking for an AMAZING Pirates of the Caribbean series, Why Fireflies Flash has an amazing Jack/OC pairing that completely blew my mind! If you're interested go check her out! It's a story that'll leave you wanting more for sure!

- If anyone is interested in a wicked Young Justice story, GraNNIeShufflez03 has one that's just simply amazing – no pairings, but defiantly lives up to the original show ;)

- If you want a really interesting Sly Cooper story, I've actually just stumbled upon one while looking through the archive and Deags has an awesome beginnings of a post-Sly 3 story that so far seems to trickle into the anticipated Sly 4: Thieves in Time plotline. It has an amazing plot so far and I highly recommend it :) go and check it out!

- If you really want another really interesting Sly Cooper story, BananaB0mb has a well written Carmelita x Sly pairing that covers the very end of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves and into post-Sly 3. Very interesting! She also has a one-shot that covers Carmelita and Sly's father's relationship….REALLY brilliant…I suggest reading her stories – they're really good!

- I have recently read another Sly Cooper story by ForeverFreelancer and it's very well written. It's only two chapters and a Sly/OC and a Carmelita/OC and is very good so far. Go and check it out and leave her some feedback. It's co-written with Deags and it's definitely a fiction to keep your eye out for :)

- GO READ THIS STORY NOW:A Little Thieving Magic by wingedknightzero. This is a Sly x OC pairing and it's absolutely brilliant! I just read it and I fell in love with it. It's centered mostly in Sly 3: Band of Thieves, but it's very well written and I feel it deserves more reviews than it has! Please, go check it out and leave a review for this author! It's an awesome story :D

As I come through good stories I'll post them in my chapters so that you can go and check them out…for serious lol. Any of these stories can be accessed through my homepage via the Favorite Authors or Favorite Stories hyperlinks :) if you want the titles of the stories PM me and I'll let'cha know :D

A special thanks to all of my reviewers for chapter 10: OceanFlower, Razor of DOOM, BananaB0mb, Papercut, Why Fireflies Flash, Guest and raginrad77:

OceanFlower: Haha a pleasure to make your acquaintance :D I'm glad you liked the last chapter and yeah, I decided to integrate her feelings…FINALLY lol. I was going to do it a little later, but given that it's chapter 11 now, I feel as if it's appropriate lol. Thank you for your review and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

Razor of DOOM: Yeah, that's what I meant lol. It was almost 4am where I was when I finished doing the end of that chapter so I may have gotten a little mixed up. And yes, it was fast, but I promise I'll make up for it haha. Keep in mind that originally wasn't supposed to happen…later on I'll discuss what was really meant to go down and by later I mean maybe after the story is complete lmao. Anyway thanks for your review and I hope you enjoy this next chapter as well!

BananaB0mb: Oh that's just the very tip of the iceberg to come. I legitimately had to map out the entire thing so that I remembered how it worked because it's confusing even to me…but with any hope it'll clear up with time and Jenna learning more about herself throughout the series. And hee hee, I'm glad to hear that you're getting suspicious and you should be ;) And don't worry…you'll see how that pans out next chapter…the beginning of it all is right here in this chapter though :) And that's so cool! I would ask where you're from, but I feel as if that may or may not make you uncomfortable. I love meeting new people so excuse my excitement at that lol :) Anyways, thanks so much for your review and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

Papercut: LMFAO! There are no words other than LMFAO…thanks for the review and the laugh, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

Why Fireflies Flash: I started out saying "Oh I'm so happy you went on vacation" but then soon saw (rather read) how miserable you were and decided to change my mind. Lol, anyway I'm glad that you were able to get out for a bit, but I'm so sorry you had a terrible time and got sick on top of it! That's the worst :( In regards to your reviews (before I start rambling lol!) I'm so happy you enjoyed that moment! I HAD to throw that in there because I was getting tired of writing Bentley as a suspicious character – he's reasonable at least lol. And I loved that part too…it was nice to see how friendly they had gotten and then I had to ruin it (blushes sheepishly). I'm the same way when I get up…I have full length conversations with people when I'm being woken up and then don't remember them…it's a freaky thing. And your nerd-dom is shared by me as well lol :D And it was really confusing for me to write too…I had to go back a few times and double check the notes I had made – it was a terror and still is, but hopefully as the remainder of the story goes on and as it continues into the next story (yes there's a sequel :D) it'll get a lot clearer. And he is :( I hate writing Sly like that, but after the shot Jenna took at him I would be kinda hurt too. Anyway Kurt and Stevie are my favorite characters and are based off of my best friend and his partner (of course names changed and all), and I think they're adorable :D And no worries I loved reading this review! It was so good hearing from you again and I hope you feel better soon! Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

Guest: You know I didn't make that comparison at all…in fact, I forgot that it even existed…awww I miss One Piece :( Sad fest over, sorry about that lol. Anyway thanks for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you enjoy this one as well :D

raginrad77: Thank you so much :) And I'm sorry about the teasing :P I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

And another thank you to all who have subscribed or favorited this story :D You're all amazing!

Without further delay…on with the fiction!

Much Love,
timexgone23

P.S. If you're a guest just leave me a name to call you by…it can be Bob, Larry, Moe, Curley, Spongebob…whatever you'd like so that I can answer you a little easier :)

A Dangerous Enterprise
Sly 2: Band of Thieves
11

Bentley stared, flabbergasted, as Interpol officers descended upon Sly, Murray and Rajan. Every fiber of his being wanted to race out there and save his friends as cuffs were placed around their wrists and around their necks. His eyes didn't even fall to Carmelita who was being arrested as well, his eyes trained only on his friends as Neyla smirked at them almost wickedly. By the trembling lip and the dark scowl on the hippo and raccoon's faces, respectfully, he could tell that the tigress's betrayal was surprise enough to them as well. The next thing he felt was anger. A deep and intense rage that began in his stomach and raced through his veins almost as if a wildfire and he vaguely thought of the contradiction; being a cold-blooded creature by nature. His mind raced with possibilities and as much as he didn't want to admit it, his mind pointed to the only person who wasn't there to defend themselves: Jenna.

Sly glared at Neyla, his brows pinched tightly as the tigress smirked at him. "Why Neyla?"

"Naturally you didn't think a cop would help a thief did you?" She whispered to him, approaching him closely and holding the front of his shirt in place as he attempted to jerk away from her, but given his restraints there wasn't much wiggle room. "I am rather disheartened to not have found Jenna with you, but then again, she always was the perfect informant."

"She's not even here, why would she help you?"

"I gave her something none of you could." Neyla smirked at him, "I gave her an identity…a life that was so much better than the one she had before." Grabbing his lapel in her claws she leaned into his ear, her lips grazing the appendage and causing the male's ear to twitch slightly. "Her allegiance would be to the one that gave her the best deal…after all, she's so incredibly naïve." Sly couldn't believe what she was saying. A part of him fought violently against the notion of the wolf betraying them, but the other part of him – the part of him that was scorned – fed off of the words coming from the tigress's mouth. However, his mind quickly concluded that Neyla had betrayed them, why would she be so gracious to give the name of their betrayer when she had done so herself. Sly chose not to voice this, ignoring as Neyla removed herself from his proximity, his cane slung over her shoulder before grinning at him wickedly. "Alright Contessa."

"And what do you plan to do with Cooper's weapon?" The widow inquired with an arched brow over a thick crimson orb, her pincers crossing over her chest and a hidden smirk on her thin lips, "Surely you don't plan on bringing it with us." Neyla turned her eyes to meet the tawny of Sly's irises before smirking again and glancing at the crook almost in admiration.

"Seems such a shame to get rid of such a nice looking tool," The tigress began before her fist clenched around it and with a great lunge of her nimble body she threw the cane into the dense forest as hard as she could, turning her cool eyes to the raccoon only to smirk. Sly had visibly wretched at the loss of his family heirloom, the fight and anger that had originally been in his eyes now sobering as his capture seemed to set in and though one couldn't tell through the darkness of his fur, he had paled as he watched the last remaining piece of his family fly through the air and disappear into the thick forest. Turning to the Contessa, Neyla nodded. "Take them and the traitor away."

As Sly was being moved into the armed vehicle he glanced over his shoulder to see Sam making his way over to the tigress, the frown on his face a dull comparison to the light in his blue eyes. His eyes then looked passed them to see the face of his seeming betrayer looking on the scene in horror and his brow furrowed. Why was she here and why wasn't she speaking to her accomplices as Neyla had been so gracious to point out? He turned back around as the vulture forced him into the van with Murray slowly walking in behind him.

Neyla watched the raccoon and hippo with a frown on her face, something inside of her didn't sit right, but she knew it was too late now to fully change what she had done. She ignored the wolf beside her as he looked down at her, "That was rather cruel, even by my own standards." The tigress scoffed, her hand resting on her whip.

"I needed a scapegoat," She shrugged. "What better person to use than one that isn't around to defend herself?"

Sam looked down at the tigress to examine her facial features. Neyla, he knew, was a very good liar and had a very good skill when it came to persuasion, being a hidden member of the Klaww gang like the Contessa was no surprise for even he had a double agenda as well. Finding no dishonesty in her face he shrugged. "Sounds fair, but using it to the guy that likes her and she the same…that sounds like something I would do."

"You would." Neyla agreed, her eyes turning up to meet the wolf's. "The way you treat her says as much." She walked away before the larger wolf could reply, the feeling beginning to crawl under her skin and she recognized it vaguely as being her conscious. She knew she had done wrong, but a part of her didn't care. She was promised a much higher prize than the meaningless feelings of a few pawns on the chessboard. Shrugging her thoughts she climbed into the squad car that she and Carmelita had taken, now her squad car and before anyone could question her she hit the gas, leaving the scene behind and returning to where she would be stationed until she could get back to France. Sam was an unnerving character and she actually felt bad for the raccoon and hippo, especially if he was going to be their interrogator.

Shaking this thought as well she returned to where she was staying and sighed, fingering the hotel's key card in her fingers and frowning. A part of her was incredibly angry that she had torn apart such a well knit group, but the thought of Jenna's disappearance was odd. She had used it to her advantage, sure, but something about it was unsettling. Deciding that this was merely a coincidence she closed the door to her room, flicking on the lights and removing the hood of her scarf from her head, her dark locks tumbling across her shoulders. Suddenly her guard as up as she noticed a slight breeze coming in through the sliding door of her room, the curtains that were meant to cover the glass blowing slightly in the breeze from outside. With a frown on her face she grasped her whip, allowing the length to fall to the floor in preparation to attack, however, she was not expecting the attack that came.

Dodging the curved blade that was swung her way she rolled forward, returning to her feet only to dodge once more. Her attacker was garbed in dark clothes and so she couldn't discern them amongst the slight shadows in the room and from the speed of which they moved. Her attacker soon returned up close and she was forced to dodge backwards, albeit clumsily, swinging her whip in defense and smirking as the figure blocked, the length of the whip wrapping around their arm. With a hard tug, she pulled her attacker forward and quickly brought her knee up, catching the figure in the stomach and swinging her other hand forward with an uppercut, catching the figure in the side of the face. This, however, did not seem to bother the figure as they rolled with her punch, throwing a punch of her own aimed at the tigress's chest, the feline gasping at the power behind it before the figure continued with their combo swinging their other hand in a short jab to the constable's stomach and finishing it with a vicious push kick. Neyla was sent into the wall and immediately she brought her arms up to block her face as the figure jumped at her once more. Finding an opening the tigress threw an open palm forward and sending the figure backwards a few paces before moving forward with a series of punches and kicks, successfully knocking the figure onto their back as they fell over the bed. Quickly she raced over to the side of the bed the figure had fallen behind only to frown as they were no longer there. Suddenly she felt pressure on her neck and noticed the gleam of metal and she gasped as she felt something tighten around her throat and she struggled against the figure as she tried to release herself. Through her quick and panicked gasps she managed to squeeze out an inquiry: "Who are you?"

"A scapegoat huh?" The figure asked breathily, obviously struggling as hard as the tigress was as the figure aimed the blade at the tigress's throat, the point held straight. "Isn't it interesting when karma strikes back faster than you realize."

"Jenna?"

"Oh so now I have a name?" The wolf inquired breathily as she jerked the chain she had managed to loop around the tigress's throat if only to keep her still long enough to have her questions answered. "Funny, how you bring people in that can't defend themselves…and to think I actually trusted you."

"That was your own fault," The tigress snapped, her one hand pulling the chain off of her neck enough to breathe and holding Jenna's striking arm at bay, though she realized that the wolf wasn't placing as much force into it as she should have if she was intending to kill her. "What do you want?"

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Betray the Cooper gang?" She inquired calmly and in a sickingly sweet voice, her tone almost mocking, "What are they offering you that you would betray a band of thieves who are trying to rid the world of evil in a more effective way than law enforcement?"

"Oh so a decorated military officer's daughter hates the law?" Neyla almost choked when Jenna jerked the chain around her neck almost violently, reminding the feline who had the upper hand in this situation.

"I'll ask you again," she frowned, a growl surfacing in her alto as she placed emphasis on each and every word and syllable. "What. Are. They. Offering. You?"

"Nothing that's worth you knowing," Neyla snapped with a growl of her own, her eyes searching for a way out of her current situation. Jenna sighed behind her.

"You know, this would go a lot easier if you just give me the answers that I want." She reminded the feline, putting more pressure on her bladed hand her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Now, is Sam in on it?"

"Pft," The cat scoffed, "No. He has his own agenda."

Jenna leaned forward, her lips resting against the cat's flattened ears, "Good, now, who is he working for?"

"How should I know?"

"You work with him, you're obviously hiding something otherwise you wouldn't have tried to get into Contessa's good graces, nor would you have put away Carmelita. What's your gain?"

With a jerk of the chain once more Neyla winced, she had to give it to the wolf, she was almost as intimidating as her brother. It was clear to her that the wolf was not going to release her unless she got answers and while Neyla was stubborn, she wasn't stupid. Sighing slightly she raised her chin in order to supply more air into her lungs and to attempt at more comfort against the pressure on her neck. "Carmelita was a wrench in my success, she was obsessed with the Cooper gang and Sly especially. Is it wrong for me to be spiteful of a woman as well decorated as that fox with that well of a track record and get treated like dirt? Like I said to you back in Paris, I'm not as black and white. Crime exists in this world and I'll do whatever it takes to bring justice to that world."

"A world where you just put away a group of honest thieves?" Jenna snapped, "You failed to answer my other two questions. I'm not a killer, but I will hurt you if you don't give me the answers I want."

"So you really did take to your assassin blood?" Neyla grunted. She was going to bide as much time as she could. The tigress knew that the wolf would grow tired eventually and would release her if only to focus on something else; it was all part of the breed's psychological profile, but as Jenna's bladed arm tensed she suddenly realized that Jenna was more patient than others of her breed.

"Not yet…I'd rather not have blood on my hands, even though I think it'd be rather fitting how you've wronged me." She remarked airily. Jenna was not naïve by any means. She knew enough from living with her brother and other police officers that word games only keep your target from backtracking to try and cover up a wrong that they've done and she knew especially well how to dance around a subject only to get back to her original point. Growing tired of the games, she tightened her hold on Neyla, her eyes narrowed into a glare and her lips curled in an angry snarl. "Now, answer my first two questions."

"Which ones?"

Jenna jerked the chain earning a hiss from the tigress, "Don't play games with me Neyla." The wolf snapped, her eyes turning a fierce green once more. "Now, who is my brother working for and why are you trying to get into good graces with the Contessa?"

Neyla swallowed thickly as the wolf placed more pressure on her neck. "Sam has been working for two brothers of your clan. He promised to cover me if I told him about you and your connection to the Auteri and the Genovese. He and I had worked out a deal and he agreed to help me with my own goals in Interpol if I got close to you. I was protecting my own hide." She ground out from behind clenched teeth. "And the Contessa is a secret member of the Klaww gang. She uses the spice that Rajan and the Klaww gang produces to help with her hypnosis and to force criminals to reveal the hold of their riches. She plans on doing that to Sly and Murray no doubt." Neyla grunted as the grip on Jenna's blade tightened. "I'm trying to bust her within Interpol."

"Where are they being held?"

"Probably the Contessa's rehabilitation center," The tigress answered quickly, her back arching as more pressure was put on her neck. Jenna's scowl deepened.

"Where?"

"The Czech Republic…Prague, I believe." Neyla gasped, taking in large and greedy gulps of oxygen as the pressure on her neck was removed and she was pushed forward, her hand nursing the sore appendage gingerly.

She turned green eyes to look at the wolf to see that all the confusion she had once had was gone and replaced by a deep fire and she winced as the wolf's glare was fixed on her. Neyla took in her dark garb, surprised to see she was wearing a hooded jacket with a dream catcher attached to the sleeve, her hair left down and braided back in a fishtail braid. In that moment, she looked so much different than the girl she had met in Paris and even more mature than the one she had seen at Rajan's ball only a week ago now. That guilt that she had at turning in the Cooper gang suddenly came back full force at the angry and betrayed look that crossed the wolf's features. Glancing at her weapon, Neyla could now see the tool of her capture – a whip chain. The crescent shaped blade was attached to a long and thin chain that the wolf was now wrapping into a loose loop, though her eyes remained on the tigress. She could vaguely make out the shape of the Cooper family's heirloom on the wolf's back and she frowned suddenly. "What do you plan on doing?"

"Fixing your screw up," Jenna remarked quickly, venom laced into her tone and earning a wince from the tigress.

"Alright I deserved that," The feline admitted, "But I was referring to your brother. He's undoubtedly in Prague as we speak."

Jenna frowned softly, her eyes trained on Neyla's form carefully, watching her for any sudden movements before answering her. "Then I face him head on…this game is going to stop. It's your skin, but I can tell you right now," Neyla quirked a brow at her, still leaning against her bed and rubbing her neck. "Get out of league with my brother…if you don't I may just have to take care of you as well."

"Are you threatening me?"

"It's not a threat Neyla," The wolf remarked slowly, her brows pinching tightly. "It's a promise." Jenna turned to the door of her room, her hand hovering on the handle to the sliding door, "Oh and Neyla?" She could hear the shifting of Neyla's weight as she stood straight from leaning on the bed. "I'm sorry this friendship couldn't have worked out…" She then turned and left. The feline rushed after her to see that the wolf was already taking off down the road on a speed bike, the engine roaring from underneath the wolf as she disappeared into the night. The tigress cursed to herself before looking back into the room to see on her dresser was a rose with a piece of parchment tied around its stem with a black ribbon:

207 546 9200.
This is the only chance I'm giving you to make things right.
- J.A.A.

Neyla looked back out of the sliding doors that Jenna had disappeared behind only moments before and allowed a small smile to twitch at her lips. The wolf was giving her a chance to redeem herself and she was going to take it. "Perhaps it's time to reconsider some choices I've made."

~Meanwhile~

Melissa thanked the delivery man and looked down at the package in her hands and frowned, pulling it open and calling to her husband. In her hands was Jenna's crook as well as a note. Tauwn smirked, glancing at the weapon to his wife.

"I knew she wasn't going to use it."

"What do you mean?" Melissa frowned, "This was her mother's."

"She wants to branch out on her own…" Tauwn explained, "I can understand that." He removed the letter in his wife's hands before glancing over it briefly.

Mel, Tauwn,

Thank you for the gifts my mother used, but I can't use this weapon for myself. If she's still around…wherever she is, then send this back to her. I have to make my own way with the only weapon I'll ever be comfortable using. Don't be offended guys I thank you for letting me in on everything and I hope you continue to keep me in the loop.

Before long,
Jenna
xoxo

"This kid is a pisser."

"She always was a smart ass wasn't she?" Melissa laughed when her husband only kissed her in response.

"You have no idea."

It had been about a week before Jenna made it into the Czech Republic and she sighed, making another pit stop to refill her motorcycle engine. She had not stopped the entire time, if only to refuel and to grab food. Now that she was in the city of Prague she deemed it necessary to find a place to stay and she soon found herself pulling up to a small motel. Checking her phone's GPS once more she sighed, turning the bike off and chaining it up to the side so that no one would steal it before making her way to the front desk. She had made sure to put all of her assassin gear that had been given to her away and she walked up to the front desk, smiling sweetly at the receptionist, a young rat. He was dressed in the typical uniform and he held a smile on his face when he saw her.

"Jak vám mohu pomoci?" Jenna scratched her cheek and shrugged at him slightly to show that she had no idea what he was saying and the rat smiled. "How can I help you?" He asked in English and she smiled nodding at him and looking behind him at the key rings.

"I'm looking for a place to spend the next few days…do you have any open rooms?"

The rat nodded and handed her a key ring with a tag on it. She looked down at it noticing a bold number ten and smiled at him once more. "Your room will be number ten and if you would like you could pay by the day – we don't really get much business." She smiled at him and nodded her thanks, placing down the asked upon coins and making her way to her room. Locking her door she tossed her duffle bag onto the chair in the side of the room and quickly got to work on locating Sly and Murray. She knew that Bentley wouldn't be far behind, but knowing that Neyla had used her as her scapegoat was going to definitely make things harder for her to regain the gang's trust. Shaking the thought for the time being she opened her computer and turned on Skype, having texted her cousin a few moments ago.

She heard the ringing a few moments later and accepted the call, now looking into the face of her cousin and her husband. "Good to see you made it okay. Where are you anyway?"

"I'm in Prague." Jenna answered as she removed her jacket and flopping lazily into the chair at the desk, her laptop perched on the desk itself. "Would either of you two have any info about the Contessa?"

Tauwn and Melissa looked at one another before frowning. "Why are you in Prague and why do you need to know about the Contessa?" The husky inquired as she scratched her cheek slightly. "I thought we dropped you off in India?"

"You did…" The wolf sighed, resting her head against her palm, "I got there too late – Neyla betrayed the gang and the Contessa carted Sly and Murray to her rehabilitation center here in Prague…Neyla was kind enough to give me the answers I wanted." Melissa and Tauwn shared a look, but otherwise didn't say anything before both shrugged and they returned their eyes to their younger cousin. "So what do you know about her?"

"Give me a little bit to crunch some data," Tauwn suggested as he got up from his seat and exiting the frame, leaving his wife to look at her cousin.

"You should do something different with your hair," Melissa commented. "Considering the whole new you thing you got going on, I think it's appropriate."

"Yeah and what do you suggest?" Jenna inquired with a quirk of her brows. Melissa only smiled.

"Well you want to catch the guy's eye right?" Jenna shook her head with a sigh.

"I have to get back into good graces with him first Mel." The husky only gave her a dark look and Jenna sighed before nodding slowly.

"Alright, do you have scissors in that bag of yours?" When Jenna nodded the husky's grin became giddy. "Great, now go get them and I'm going to send you a picture. You can cut your hair while you wait for Tauwn to get the data you need…trust me, not only will it draw attention to you, but it may help in keeping Sam off of your hide for a little while longer."

With a small sigh Jenna agreed and she looked at the photo that her cousin sent to her, shaking her head. Getting up from the chair she made her way into the bathroom, messing around with a few different ways she could cut her hair, brushing her bangs into her face and sighing to herself. While her hair wasn't everything to her, she did enjoy it's length and the different thing she could do with it, but her cousin's words rang true. If it would help change her appearance enough to keep Sam from noticing her she would do what she had to do. With a deep breath she began cutting her hair, her bangs were the first to go. Instead of her bangs being parted to the side as they had always been she brushed them in front of her face, cutting the dark brown tendrils straight across. Looking up she noticed they fell just under her eyebrows, now expressing the full exaggeration of her eyes, the stretched lid that was naturally outlined due to her breed. Measuring her long hair to her chest she began cutting, deciding it was best to layer it afterwards. She ignored the feeling of her once waist-length hair falling passed her and the lightness of her head, though she had to admit that it did feel good to have the extra weight cut off. Looking in the mirror she then decided to cut it at an angle and so she kept the length in the front and cut it around her shoulders so that the front was longer – her finished product was a long bob and she was content with the looks of it, layering the rest of it just as she had seen in the picture.

(A/N: IT. IS. SO hard to do this by yourself – I've always cut my hair when it was longer so I just went with what I remembered…I don't necessarily trust hairdressers all the time, but there, of course, was that ONE instance where I had to go and see a hairdresser and I've been going ever since…lol ^-^;)

"Alright Jen, I got specifics for ya!"

"Lemme see your hair!"

"Her hair? What'd she do to it?"

"Cut it, duh!"

Jenna sat back down in front of the screen, her brow quirked slightly after she had managed to pull it into a half-ponytail the tresses already beginning to adopt the wave that her hair normally took when not weight down and long. "What do you got for me Tauwn?"

"OH MY GOODNESS!" Melissa squealed, her grin wide, "I love it!"

"You look good kid."

"Thanks guys, now can we please move on?" The wolf sighed, ignoring the looks she received from her cousins.

Tauwn cleared his throat before looking down at the pad that rested on the desk, Melissa also looking over his neat script. "Okay basically I just dug up her file through our grapevine; our own informant happily gave us the info we needed. Her background is a little…backwards."

"It is not," Melissa argued with a roll of her eyes before looking up at her cousin. "This is important information that you're gonna need if you want to understand her."

"At the moment, your friends are the unwilling guests of Interpol's most renowned prison warden. While still a criminal psychology student, she entered into a whirlwind romance and married a wealthy aristocrat; sadly the union was short lived as the general suspiciously died a few weeks after the ceremony." The lab explained and Jenna rolled her eyes.

"Not surprising…she's a spider for Christ's sakes."

"Yeah..." Melissa agreed, "But here's the part that's interesting. The widowed Contessa put her education and newly acquired estate to work by opening a criminal rehabilitation center. Her pioneering use of hypnotherapy has produced some good results, and subsequently earned her a prominent position within Interpol. Your friends are most likely locked somewhere in the clinic and are slated for the Contessa's "good samaritan" brainwashing. If you don't bust them out soon, they'll be working a nine to five job selling shoes…"

"Shoes?"

"Yeah what else?" Tauwn asked his wife with a pout, "An Interpol officer? Honey, don't make me laugh."

"Anyway, the most important part is that she's the prison warden so if you're going to get anywhere you're going to have to go through her."

"Yeah, but based off of the information that Neyla gave me she's a secret member of the Klaww gang…"

"Right," The husky nodded, "Your best bet is to get to her rehabilitation center and try to listen in on her or any of the guards conversations…I would say steal one of the guard uniforms, but with your luck she'd catch you." Jenna rolled her eyes slightly, knowing that her cousin was right. "But before you do that…our informant managed to dig up some more info for us."

Jenna's brow arched, "Yeah and what's that?"

"It's been all over the news that Constable Neyla has managed to arrest the Cooper gang and a cop-turned-crook Carmelita…I remember her from when Uncle Lawrence had to attend those formal parties and she's all he spoke about…no doubt if the Cooper gang is behind those walls, Carmelita must be too."

Jenna considered Tauwn's statement before nodding. "Okay, thanks for the help guys. I'm gonna head over to the rehabilitation center and see what I can do. I'll phone in the verdict."

"I've already programmed the center's GPS coordinates into your phone…it'll bring you right there. But Jenna, if she caught the Cooper gang wouldn't that mean you're going at this alone?"

"No," The wolf answered. "She only caught two members of the group. Bentley is still out there somewhere and if I play my cards right I should be able to win back his trust enough to help him break Sly and Murray out…but if not, then I'm going to have to figure it out as I go."

"Alright, just be careful of Sam." The husky warned, "You already know he's going to be there and has undoubtedly already got his hands on your friends there…just handle this with extreme caution."

"I will," Jenna nodded. "Thanks for the tips."

"Talk to ya soon sweetie," Melissa smiled, placing the hand she kissed on the lense, Tauwn doing the same.

"Keep your chin up kid…let us know how things go."

"You guys will be the first to know…Oh! Before I forget, can you apologize to Kurt and Stevie for me?" Jenna frowned, her brows pinching. "In everything that was going on, I completely forgot to go over and talk to them –"

"Already taken care of kid," Tauwn grinned. "They had no problem with it, they understood, but don't be surprised if your phone gets blown up at one point or another."

"I'll look forward to it." Jenna smiled for the first time in the last week, "Thanks guys. Love you."

"Love you too." The two canines chorused before Jenna disconnected the computer, returning it to the confines of her back and deciding to take a shower. Making the shower as quick as she could she allowed her tresses to curl slightly, a natural thing her hair did when wet before grabbing the leather jacket out of her bag and throwing it on and replacing the dream catcher emblem on her arm: the symbol of her clan she recently found out. Zipping up the front of her jacket she adjusted the pants at her hips as well as the belt before making her way out of the room. Returning to the main lobby she saw that the rat was no longer there so she jotted a quick note of thanks before leaving her key on the table with the note and walking out. It was going to be a long while before she made it to the Contessa's rehabilitation center, as per the coordinates and estimated time her phone was projecting it was going to take her a little over an hour.

As she adjusted her grip on the handle bars, her bike revving to life underneath her the wolf sighed. They better thank me for this when I'm done…first things first though: Break Sly and Murray out and then apologize…

~With Bentley~

The week had been hard on the turtle and it was apparent in his face, but he wouldn't sleep – he couldn't sleep. His top priority was breaking his friends out of jail and he was going to do it. He had spent the week sleepless, bent over his computer and crunching data like a Trojan virus to a hard drive and even after the three day drive he refused to sleep. Setting up the safe house had been an interesting feat for him as the turtle normally relied on Sly and Murray to carry the heavier items and even Jenna was helpful when bringing in the monitors for the binocucom station. Without the three of them the turtle was extremely lonely and even more of a neurotic mess than normal. Over the week he had had frequent asthma attacks and even had begun to have slight panic attacks – having returned to the safe house in France as quickly as possible. Surely if he wasn't caught for thieving with his friends he was going to be caught speeding across freeways at three o'clock in the morning. Shaking the thought the turtle wiped his brow of the perspiration, having finished setting up the binocucom station, taping down the wires, setting up his thief-net computer and at least filling the old and crooked cabinets with instant noodles.

Sighing to himself he replaced his safari hat on his bald head and grabbed his crossbow off of the table, deciding that he would try and gather information about the whereabouts of his friends before getting much needed rest. He knew that even if he tried, however, sleep would evade him. Shaking the thoughts in his head he suddenly wished that Jenna was there – granted he hadn't trusted her in the beginning but she always had a way of calming down any of the guys and offering words of both encouragement and an uncanny wisdom that managed to put even him at ease. Making his way through the city of Prague was scary enough during the day, but through the illumination of the street lamps being the only possible way one could see, the snow that fell softly to the ground but refused to stick and the patrolling guards that served the Contessa, at night no less, was incredibly daunting. Bentley found himself jumping at even the slightest of noises, almost terrified to shoot any guard with his sleep darts in fear of drawing attention and he needed to get to the Contessa's house before anything else happened.

Taking a deep breath, the reptile began his accent along the side ramping of the house jumping when he heard the tank make a round near him, thankful that the search light had not hit him before quickly making his way to the top. Standing now on the dish at the top of the spider's house brought both relief and terror shooting through his veins and leaving the turtle cold with the feeling of unsettlement. If he was caught there would be no hope for the Cooper gang!

He placed his binocucom to his nose and looked through, thankful that the feeling of the device against his face brought him relief. It was now time for Bentley to summon his bravery – his mind quickly drew up the character from a children's book he had read as a hatchling "Winnie the Pooh" it had been entitled and he was the esteemed character of Piglet. His mind was brought from his thoughts when he noticed the prison warden herself walking along the prison wall with a familiar black wolf trailing besides her – the two in obvious conversation.

"Ah-ha! The Contessa is out making her rounds…with Sam no less. Wait a second, the feathers on my sleep darts vibrate near sounds. If I maintain my position on top of the parabolic dish I should be able to hear that frequency at a distance!" He grinned at his own genius as he replaced his binocucom to his eyes. "If I tag the Contessa with my darts I'll be able to listen in on whatever she says...I might even learn where she's locked up Sly and Murray!"

Taking careful aim with his crossbow, the turtle released his breath before pulling the trigger – the dart sailing across the distance and attaching itself to the Contessa's exoskeleton. "The Klaww gang is falling apart, spice shipments have all but stopped." She complained to the wolf walking besides her, "Argh! I never would have joined if I knew it would be this easy to disrupt the plan. At least the Cooper gang is under lock and key...their lopsided morality flies in the face of man's inherent selfishness. Ah well, they'll see it my way soon enough."

"You know Contessa," Sam remarked as he crossed his arms over his chest. "While having the Cooper gang under lock and key is quite the feat to be proud of, I would be more concerned about the absence of my younger sister."

"Oh and why is that?" The arachnid inquired, her brow arching as she looked down at the canine. "I thought she went back to the United States in order to cry over dear daddy Sheppard."

"Bastard," The wolf cursed, "She did, but I'm almost positive by now that she's heard the news and will come running here as soon as possible."

"Then we have a member of the Auteri as well," Contessa shrugged slightly. "What more do you want me to tell you Samuel?"

"I want her gone, easy as that." The wolf remarked, eyeing the larger spider besides him. He was vaguely reminded of "Little Miss Muffit" and immediately shook his head. "She's learning about her heritage too quickly…she could destroy the Klaww gang, you and I both know that and where would we be?" The wolf persuaded carefully, "We be left at the bottom of the food chain and naturally she'd try and uncover our secret identities…most likely turn us into Interpol."

"Bahhh!" She sneered, "Those fools at Interpol! They keep sending me criminals and I keep making money. How come no one ever thought of this before? Hypnotize criminals and force them to reveal where they've hidden their fortunes...I'm a genius! If only I had more spice to help me with the hypnosis..."

"Well you and I both know that will no longer happen," The wolf commented airily, "With Rajan's operation folded it's only a matter of time before you're going to actually have to work." The canine smirked with the spider hissed at him and he waved his hand. "I'm only joking Contessa, relax. As long as the Cooper gang is under surveillance and I get my time with that rat I couldn't care less what you do. Speaking of," Sam murmured, his blue eyes narrowing on the arachnid. "What do you plan to do with the two captured thieves?"

Contessa thought about it for a moment before scoffing, "That blasted Cooper gang," She murmured more to herself than to the wolf next to her. She was well aware that there were three members of the Cooper gang and not two, but she knew it wouldn't change anything as far as hypnotizing them. "The fat one...what's his name? Murray, yes, Murray, he'll be the first to break. I should spend a few sessions probing that feeble mind, I can only imagine the wealth that gang has accumulated over the years!"

"From what I managed to catch from the bug that I placed on Jenna back in India it's quite a bit. Though I've since lost contact…either she found it or it washed away."

Contessa grinned sinisterly before turning her attention to the wolf. "And have you made any break through with Cooper?"

"No." Sam growled, "He refuses to talk during our sessions – though he seems to have grown attached to Jenna…even after what lies Neyla fed him about Jenna helping in his capture, he still defends her. It's almost like he's in denial." A loud snort sounded from the wolf before he punched the nearest guard to him.

"Please do not take your own petty problems out on my guards," Contessa remarked icily earning another snort from the wolf as well as a muttered apology. "That Sly Cooper..." She cooed, drawling out his name as she cradled her pointed chin in her pincer, "such a complex and rebellious mind. A month or two in The Hole should break his spirit. Let him squat there week after week...he's seen that the guards along the walls all have motion detectors. There is no escape. Slowly the reality of his captivity will set in...and I'll get to work on his mind…you've already done a number on him physically after all, it's only a matter of time."

"Yeah and what of Jenna?"

"If she turns up then we will use her to get the information we need out of Sly…love certainly is an easy thing to play with after all."

"You would know wouldn't you?" Sam scoffed, his arms resting across his chest. "That's how you got this estate in the first place."

"Yes, but you'll see…we'll keep them both alive if only enough to get what we need," Contessa remarked, glancing down at the smirking wolf. "Then you can do whatever you please."

"That's a plan I can get behind…easily."

Bentley's eyes widened at the conversation, removing his binocucom from his eyes in shock. "Inconceivable! She's no health care professional! Why that's the most heinous crime I've ever heard of! Putting inmates into hypnosis so they'll tell her where they've stashed their loot. It dishonors both law enforcement and thieves at the same time! And, and that no good, low down treacherous fiend! He's no brother, nor a law enforcer!" Bentley couldn't contain his anger as his blood boiled beneath his scales. "Jenna wasn't behind it at all! I knew they were up to something!" His mind then quickly began working a mile a minute and he cupped his chin in his gloved hand as he frowned, "I should get to work and figure out a way to get Sly out of The Hole."

On his way back to the safe house, Bentley tried to come up with a fast plan, if a plan at all in order to break Sly out. If what Sam and the Contessa had said was true, then he had to get the raccoon out as soon as possible. As he was running back he crashed headlong into a guard and knocked on his back. Now when any turtle is knocked on their back it takes a few minutes for them to get back up and Bentley now found himself in that position. The vulture loomed over him with a wide smirk on his face, picking the turtle up by the collar of his short and aiming his gun at him. "Now ain't this cute!" The guard sneered at the reptile. Bentley began to panic, surely if he placed a bomb near this guy then it would undoubtedly hurt him as well. "A little turtle out for a walk about the city?"

"U-um yes you could say that?" Bentley stuttered as he tried to come to a quick decision on a plan of action. He could feel his asthma beginning to kick in as well as the more recent panic attacks he had been having and he struggled in the bird's grip earning a dark chuckle.

"Don't you know to stay inside at night?"

"I-I!"

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

The vulture had only enough time to turn around and look to the new voice before he was punched in the beak, the bird dropping the turtle in the process – the reptile landing on his back and groaning. Looking through his glasses that had gone askew he could make out the image of a much smaller figure fighting with the vulture before taking something out of her pocket and hitting him over the head, effectively knocking him out. Ignoring the fact that he couldn't see straight, Bentley choosing to get on his feet instead – he didn't know if this figure was a friend or foe! He tried hitting the figure as it came closer to him before he heard a feminine sigh followed by a grip on his arm. He was then hoisted to his feet and he fixed his glasses quickly to see the face of his savior. "Jenna!"

"Hey Bentley," Jenna offered him a tentative smile, brushing off his back and looking him over. "You look terrible."

"Why thank you," The turtle remarked sarcastically, his brows pinching. "I just came from a beauty pageant."

"You almost sound like Sly," The wolf sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "Look Bentley, I know I'm not in any way, shape or form one to speak for what's undoubtedly happened to you in the last week or so, but I want you to know I had nothing to do with you guys getting ambushed."

"I know."

Jenna deadpanned slightly before quirking a brow at him, "You…you already knew?"

"Yeah." Bentley shrugged, "I just overheard a conversation with the Contessa and Sam –"

"So he's already here." Jenna frowned softly, "We don't have much time then."

"No we certainly don't." Bentley agreed, "I already have everything set up in the safe house…let's head back there and figure out what to do for the time being. I gathered a lot of information that could be useful." The wolf nodded slightly, looking passed the turtle as if making sure that they weren't overheard, nor about to be discovered. Bentley took in her form, noticing immediately the change in her appearance and he frowned, "Did you get your hair cut?"

"Yeah." Jenna blushed slightly, "I did it a few hours ago in order to keep Sam from recognizing me quicker…I have information for you guys too."

"Well let's walk and talk."

Jenna nodded again, falling into step next to the turtle as he began the explanation of what he had just overheard. By the end of it both he and Jenna were fired up enough to take on an army of vultures under the employment of the Contessa and the wolf snorted slightly. "Okay so what's the plan?"

Bentley contemplated this for a few moments before he noticed a computer resting by the train station, a light bulb going off in his head as an idea came to him. "Jenna…did you manage to get Sly's cane? I couldn't find it anywhere…"

"Yeah, I made sure to bring it." Jenna nodded, gesturing to her back where the cane's hook was covered in a black cloth. "I covered it to keep it from looking to conspicuous…why what do you have in mind?"

"I'm gonna hack into the train's terminals…the speed of the train and it's trajectory should made a hole big enough for Sly to crawl through…"

"But what about the motion sensing guards on the wall?" Jenna inquired after a moment of thought, "Wouldn't that alert them to the prison escape happening?"

"Well the second phase of the operation is to bomb them with my RC Chopper, so it doesn't really matter if they know or not."

"Okay…I think I see where you're going." The wolf frowned looking up at the rehabilitation center's walls. "I'll start climbing up there and wait for you to get that train going…I'll keep in contact as much as I can, I only hope that Sam doesn't show up while all of this is happening."

"Oh and Jenna…"

The wolf stopped from her stride away from the turtle, her brows arched slightly in questioning to the reptile. "Yeah?"

"Don't break his heart."

Jenna was taken aback by the statement, but noticing the deep furrow in the turtle's features she nodded slowly, her face softening. "Don't worry Bentley…I plan on making all of this right again…first we need to get a certain raccoon out of jail."

"I couldn't agree more!"

Yay Bentley took it well and even gave Jenna permission LE GASP!...now it's on to Sly's reaction. BOM BOM BOM...Sam reveals a LOT here, did you all catch it?

In other news I'll be waiting a while before the next update ;0 I think two right on top of each other is fair enough lol :D

Chapter title inspired by: "There's no truth in cliche" by Escape the Fate

As always - reviews are lovely and appreciated, but not mandatory for an update ;) Thanks for reading!

Much Love,
timexgone23

xoxo