Midnight hadn't struck yet in the beautiful city of Paris and the cunning raccoon known as Sly Cooper already made another addition to his collection of stolen art. This time it was a closed helmet from the Army Museum of Les Invalides, which was decorated with gold patterns and, of course, was worth a fortune.
The thief put the helmet in the backpack he always carried and left the museum the same way he entered, without anyone noticing. Once he was out, the raccoon moved quickly through the Parisian rooftops, headed to the Cooper Gang hideout.
Since the police weren't in sight and he was not being followed by anyone, Sly decided to rest on one of the roofs. The raccoon sat behind a big chimney, left his reliable cane next to him, and took his newest acquisition out of his backpack to admire it under the moonlight.
"Such a nice piece you have there, ringtail" that unmistakable voice immediately drew a smirk on the raccoon's face.
It was none other than Inspector Carmelita Fox, Sly's nemesis. She was pointing her shock gun at the thief, as in most of their past encounters.
"You of all people should already know about my expensive taste, Inspector Fox" he slowly raised his hands while keeping the smile that made Carmelita grit her teeth.
"You're not getting away this time, Cooper, tonight you'll sleep behind bars" the fox slowly approached the criminal.
"Oh, you've said that way too many times, Carmelita"
"Well, this time I mean it...I'm gonna wipe that smirk off your face" she skillfully grabbed her handcuffs while still pointing at him with her gun.
Sly let Carmelita take the helmet, which she put in the raccoon's backpack before the fox cuffed him around a pipe so that he couldn't use his hands.
"Are you gonna take that back to that corrupt museum?... I thought you'd rather your favorite criminal keep it" he mocked the inspector while she was taking her phone out to call for backup.
"I don't have a favorite criminal, you're all the same scum"
"Well, I bet you don't go around giving nicknames to every bad guy you catch" murmured Sly.
"Cooper!" a distant voice interrupted them.
"Friend of yours?" asked Carmelita while putting away her phone and focusing on the grey wolf that was approaching them.
"Not really, he's the guy I stole the helmet from, well, he was the first one to steal it, then he did a shady deal with the museum's director for a ton of money, but I'm sure he's mad anyway" explained the thief.
As soon as Carmelita turned around and started walking towards the wolf, the raccoon managed to take the lock pick he had under his cap and started to free himself from the inspector's handcuffs.
Meanwhile, Carmelita tried to reason with the wolf.
"Cooper, I'm gonna kill you!" screamed the grey wolf.
"Sir, I'm Inspector Fox with the Interpol, Sly Cooper is in the custody of the Interpol so I advise you to not interfere"
"Get lost, cop lady" the wolf tried to shove Carmelita away, but she was quick enough to grab his arm behind his back, dodge an elbow, and punch him in the stomach, creating some separation between them.
While the fox and the wolf kept fighting, Sly had already freed himself. The thief grabbed his backpack and his cane and proceeded to leave, thinking that Carmelita would take care of the wolf, but when he turned around to take a last look he saw how a kick to the gut caused Carmelita to fall down the inclined rooftop and be left hanging from the edge of it.
"Carmelita" the raccoon didn't think twice, jumped, and hit the wolf with his cane.
Sly ran straight to help the inspector, but the wolf grabbed him by the jersey and pulled him back.
"Give me the helmet or say goodbye to the lady" the grey wolf threatened the raccoon while blocking his path.
The thief took off his backpack and threw it in a way that the wolf would have to move aside to catch it. He immediately slid down the rooftop to help Carmelita and let the wolf escape.
"I've got you, I've got you, Carmelita" Cooper smiled relieved after catching the fox right before she fell.
A few seconds passed as they both looked at each other while catching their breath.
"Cooper, help me up" Carmelita broke the silence.
"Oh, right" the thief helped the inspector get back on the rooftop.
Carmelita tried to put one of her feet on the edge of the roof but slipped. Luckily, Sly was quick enough to surround her with his arms and pull back, making them both fall on the rooftop, one on top of the other.
A mixed feeling of relief and safety that she hardly ever experienced when she was around the cunning criminal filled Carmelita's body as she felt the thief's arms surrounding her as his chest pressed against hers while they both calmed their agitated breathing.
"Are you okay?" asked Sly as he sat up.
"Yeah…" sighed the fox "...thanks, ringtail"
"You're welcome, Inspector, but after this, I hope you'll stop denying having a favorite criminal," said the raccoon with a charming tone of voice.
"Shut up" growled Carmelita as she looked away and covered part of her flustered face, which gave Sly a clever idea.
"Are you hurt?" the raccoon worried as he got close to the inspector and gently grabbed her face to examine it.
"I-I'm fine, don't-" said Carmelita before being interrupted by the thief, who softly shushed her.
"You know, Carmelita…" he began to delicately caress her face and run his hand through her hair "...I was thinking that after such a heroic act you would offer this ringtail some kind of reward" Sly managed to charm Carmelita with his voice and his deep brown eyes while slowly pulling her closer to him.
One of the thief's hands went down her arm and the other one surrounded her lower back before he smoothly kissed the fox, who unconsciously closed her eyes and let a sudden wave of heat overtake her body.
The kiss was abruptly interrupted by the sound of the handcuffs Sly had previously escaped from, which were now around Carmelita's wrists.
"I know you have the keys in your pocket, I just need a few seconds..." the thief smiled as he got up and grabbed his cane "...goodnight, Inspector Fox" Sly winked at Carmelita before leaving the rooftop.
The fox quickly took off the handcuffs, grabbed her gun, and went after the raccoon, but the thief had vanished in the darkness of the night.