Disclaimer: Two things from the established canon have been changed. First, Bentley is no longer wheelchair bound thanks to advances in medical science. Secondly, Carmelita was unable to reach the final room in the Cooper vault therefor Sly never goes the "I lost my memory route". He stayed with the gang. Please enjoy.

9:30 PM, New Orleans

"Bentley, I'm in position on the overpass with Murray, how are things going on your end?"

"Roger that Sly. Penelope says that the trucks carrying the cash from Ponzi's pyramid scheme should be arriving at your position any second now. I've hacked into the city's traffic light system so no other vehicles should pass through. Penelope's providing aerial reconnaissance so if anything suspicious happens we'll know."

"Got it. Murray's already blocked the street, once those trucks stop, I'll swoop in and get the money."

"Roger. Over and out."

The binocucom went silent. Sly turned his attention to the empty street below him. His focus was broken as Murray asked him a question regarding not the heist, but rather, some personal feelings about the past. "Hey um, Sly?"

"What is it big guy?" Sly responded.

"Do you ever wonder how things would have been had everyone stayed in the gang after the vault heist?"

"Well I have to admit, having Dimitri, the Guru and even the Panda King on the team would have allowed us to score much grander… scores. But I wouldn't say that I 'miss' working with them. I prefer the gang smaller. Besides, you, I and Bentley grew up together. I can't say the same about the other guys."

Their heart-to-heart conversation was interrupted as Penelope's voice rang through the binocucom.

"Sly do you read?"

"I read you, what's going on?"

"The trucks are almost on top of you but we might have a problem."

"What's wrong?"

"Multiple cars managed to slip through alongside the trucks. They look civilian but… I have a bad feeling about this one."

"What'd Bentley have to say about that?"

"He insisted that we can't abort now. It's very unlike him to be this reckless."

"Hmm… right. Look we likely don't have time to abort now. We'll go along with the plan. If someone's on to us, make sure you're not caught. With you on the outside our chances of escape will be better than ever."

"Roger that Sly. Be careful. Over and out."

As the raccoon stopped talking and turned his attention back to the street he saw the trucks turn the corner and move toward his direction. A black sedan was barely visible at the far end of the road. The pit bulls driving the trucks were fairly large and Sly knew for a fact that they were packing heat. Murray was here in case things got hairy but Sly was certain that the best approach was stealth. The trucks finally went underneath the overpass. Sly heard them pull the brakes. The time was now. He leapt off the overpass and landed gracefully and quietly behind the trucks. The pit bulls had gotten out of the two trucks and were staring at the roadblock Murray had set up. As Sly approached the back doors of the first truck he heard the wheels of the black sedan screech as the driver floored the pedal, causing the car to almost fly towards him. It was quickly followed by a second car, also screeching down the road and stopping right at the entrance of the overpass, blocking a potential escape route. As the goons turned their attention to the black sedans and not the roadblock, even more, similarly black, unmarked vehicles surrounded Sly. A paddy wagon disguised as a flower company van arrived at the overpass alongside four more black cars, surrounding Murray as well. Outside stepped alligators in body armor, armed to the teeth and bearing the FBI insignia, alongside a very familiar fox.

"Freeze! All of you are under arrest!"

"Inspector Fox! Fancy meeting you here." Replied Sly, not missing a beat.

"Quiet down Cooper. Men, grab the pit bulls, I'll handle the raccoon myself."

Sly glanced up above him, to see Murray leaning over the edge of the overpass, his hands cuffed behind his back. "Just run for it Sly! Don't worry about me!" shouted Murray as he was being taken away. Sly scanned the area around him but could see no escape route. Both the way in and out was blocked by cars and a wall of armed FBI gators. Sly smiled and put down his cane, acknowledging that he had been outplayed. This time. The pit bulls behind him didn't intend to go down as easily however. They tried reaching for their guns but the FBI agents quickly subdued them with some well-timed blasts from their own weapons. The goons fell dizzily on the street, allowing the gators to move in and cuff them. At the same time Carmelita cautiously approached Sly, then quickly slapped a pair of handcuffs around the raccoon's wrists. She then picked up Sly's cane and proceeded to her undercover police car with the raccoon in tow.

10:00 PM, New Orleans, police station.

The officer in charge of the interrogation stepped out of the room, feeling disappointed in himself. Carmelita turned and questioned him as soon as she noticed him coming out of the room. "Well?"

"I'm sorry inspector, he didn't buckle either." Responded the young officer.

"I see. I didn't really expect him to crack. But Bentley confessed, we should still have enough to put them away. For now I want you to send a message that all available resources are to be used to track down the last member of the gang, Penelope."

"Yes ma'am!" The officer quickly left to carry out his orders. Carmelita went inside the interrogation room to transfer Sly to the holding cell.

"We've got to stop meeting like this, eh inspector?" Sly smiled as he asked his sarcastic question. Carmelita sighed as she released Sly from the table and cuffed his hands behind his back once more. A sad expression crossed her face but quickly went away. She led the raccoon to his cell, inside of which were Bentley and Murray as well. As soon as the door shut Sly asked his friends the only question that was on his mind right now.

"What happened out there? How did they get us?"

Bentley hesitated as he replied. "I- I'm sorry Sly, Murray. It's my fault. They must have traced my hack back to its source because they busted down the door to the safe house and caught me red-handed. They got me just before you got into position at the overpass Sly."

Sly and Murray were both equally shocked to hear this. Murray responded first. "But… why didn't you try to tell us Bentley? We would've helped you!"

"They… they told me they caught Penelope and threatened to harm her if I didn't cooperate. I was afraid that they forced her to play along just like they forced me."

"What?! That's insane!" Sly yelled out in shock.

"How could inspector Fox do such a thing?" Murray asked.

"There's no way that was her. Carmelita wouldn't use such an underhanded tactic. Someone else must be pulling the strings here." Responded the raccoon.

"Who did it and why must wait. We need to find a way out of here first." Bentley continued.

"You're right. Look, Penelope isn't here so she must have gotten away, if we can find some way to contact her she might be able to help us break out of here." Sly concluded.

Sly, Bentley and Murray all tried to think of some way to contact Penelope or break out of the cell on their own. However, with their equipment confiscated, the double locked cell door and the lack of windows inside the cell, it made executing any plan difficult. Seconds quickly turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours. Eventually they were far too exhausted to keep going and they all fell asleep inside the cramped cell.