Chapter 3

Several days had passed by for the Cooper gang since they got their newest member. And so far, Bentley and Murray were relieved that Interpol hadn't found them by now. It wasn't so much that they didn't believe Carmelita's story about being fired, which they knew was true after Bentley sifted through the employee list where she worked. But it was more that they didn't know how much she'd take to being a thief when she actually got started. However, they soon found out after a couple days.

Or at least Murray did when he walked into the dining room, "Uh Sly?"

"Yeah big guy?" Sly asked before looking at the dining room table, "Oh."

In the dining room was Carmelita asleep at the table. Currently being used as a pillow was the Thieveous Raccoonus laying on the table under her head. It explained why Sly's bed, which was being shared with Carmelita, was empty once again. While Sly was pleased that she was ready to get started, he was worried that she was probably getting too invested. Especially since this wasn't the first time the gang woke to find Carmelita in that state.

A fact that Bentley pointed out as he made his way into the room as well, "Did she stay up all night reading that thing again?"

"I got this," Sly said as he walked over towards his napping girlfriend.

"Good. Because I'm starving," Murray said as he got to cooking in the kitchen.

To Sly, Carmelita always looked so pretty when she was asleep. It was a rare occurrence when he got to watch her sleep especially when he was her partner in Interpol. He almost revealed the fact that he lied about the amnesia when she 'made him think' that they live in the same apartment. And whenever he did see her asleep, he almost wanted to grab a camera but he assumed that if he did that again, she'd kill him. But he knew that he needed to wake her up, and got started to do so, "Carm? Time to get-"

Carmelita's eyes opened on high alert as she grabbed Sly's hand which was currently nudging her awake, and pinned him to the table. However, her little arm bar lock didn't last once she saw that it was Sly waking her. She released him as she said, "Oh Sly, it's you. Sorry about that."

Sly held his shoulder in pain as he replied, "That can happen when you're lacking sleep. I feel like I should've learned my lesson by now."

There were many times when Sly woke Carmelita from slumber, and ended up suffering for it. Not that he blamed her for injuring him. It was completely out of reflex after all, and it was a habit she got into when she was in the bad parts of the world. He was just grateful that she didn't always act so defensively when she was being woken up. However, he decided to change the topic, "Enjoying the book?"

Carmelita smiled in response, "Yeah. I think I'm almost at the good part."

Sly began looking a little concerned, "You know…you don't need to have the book memorized."

Carmelita gave an apologetic look, "I know. I'm just so excited that I lost track of things."

Sly couldn't help but laugh a little at the fact, "Were you this excited when you joined Interpol?"

"Yeah," Carmelita answered as she remembered her first week, "It didn't end well."

Carmelita's first month at Interpol was less than ideal, and it was t because she struggled. Actually she got really into her training a bit too much and almost crippled herself. One thing that she received heavy commendation For was her determination for sure. Her only issue was knowing when to stop, and in her mind, that included knowing when to stop chasing Sly. But she learned her lesson a few of those times, though it was only before she ended up forgetting what she learned.

Sly started to get to his point more thoroughly, "Well you have been at this pretty hard for a couple of weeks. Good thing is that it's paying off. Your hand-to-hand is killer. Literally. You're improving on your lock picking skills, and you're the only one of the team that I've seen pull off some of my family's signature moves."

Carmelita smiled at the compliments, "Part of it came from actually seeing them being used by their creators."

"I think you deserve a break," Sly suggested as he put an arm around her shoulders, "Overworking yourself is never a good idea."

Carmelita sighed in response, "You're Probably Right."

Before long Murray entered the dining room with his breakfast. Meanwhile Bentley followed behind with his plate in his lap. The robotic arms attached to his chair were holding two other plates. Once Bentley rolled up to the table, he set the plates of food down in front of Sly, and Carmelita with the former taking the book, and setting it aside. Carmelita turned towards the turtle, and said, "Thanks Bentley."

"You're welcome," Bentley said, "Hope you enjoy because Murray is actually a decent cook when he puts in effort."

The crew began eating their food. However, part way into the meal, it became clear that there were questions that the two boys wanted to ask Carmelita. Both looked at each other from time to time with non verbal communication. Eventually they realized that someone had to start talking before there becomes an awkward silence. Which led to Murray speaking first, "So do you mind if I ask a personal question?"

Carmelita paused her eating so she could answer, "Sure, go ahead."

"What made you decide to join Interpol?" Murray asked.

To be honest, it was actually a question that played on the minds of all Cooper gang members. They always wanted to know more about Carmelita, including Sly, but every time they tried, other interruptions come up. At least that was Bentley's excuse while Sly's was that he was worried that she would hate him for trying. Murray's only excuse was that by the time he remembered the question, it was too late. Thankfully they got to ask it now.

And Carmelita was happy to answer, "Well I Come from a long line of cops, and law enforcement officials."

"So like the opposite of my family," Sly chimed in.

"Right," Carmelita replied before giving a light chuckle, "My dad was proud when my brother and I both joined."

"You have a brother?" Bentley asked, prompting Carmelita to explain her whole family.

"I have more than a brother. But that's a story for another time. Anyway, I was always fascinated by his stories that I decided to be like him and become a cop. So I trained my ass off for the job. Almost literally."

"Not doubting that at all," Sly said as he felt something pop in his arm from when Carmelita pinned him earlier.

"Yeah," Carmelita said with an apologetic glance at her boyfriend, "Too bad it didn't work out."

"Sorry about that," Sly put an arm around Carmelita since he still felt guilty about her being fired.

Carmelita never really blamed Sly for her career coming to an end. If ending, she was happy that Sly was involved in her life since he was the reason she was able to get past being fired. She actually blamed herself for a while until she remembered that she will have a new career to look forward to. So she just smiled and leaned into Sly as if to say that he didn't need to apologize. Murray broke the moment unfortunately by asking, "What did your dad say about you getting fired?"

"I don't know," Carmelita answered honestly, "Neither of us brought it up."

The vixen then explained how her mindset was actually because of everything that her father taught her about the law. Such as how she always viewed what the Cooper Gang did as still criminal since while they fight other criminals, it was still done outside of the law. And he was retired from Interpol anyway so he couldn't really do much to fix the termination anyway, nor would he even be aware that it happened. Though she was confident that he'd take her side in the matter.

That was when Bentley asked another question, "Does he know that you're dating Sly Cooper?"

Carmelita paled at the realization that no one else, even her closest relatives knew about her relationship, "I hope not. He's really protective of his family. Chances are Sly wouldn't last long if he knew."

"Wait a minute," Sly began to ask, "Did he know that we were dating when you thought I had amnesia?"

"Yeah, But I didn't really tell him the name he would know you as," Carmelita answered honestly, "By the way, he said that if you ever broke my heart, he'd break your everything. Of course he would start with taking away what makes you a guy most likely."

Sly gulped at the thought as he crossed his legs, "Dios mio."

"Don't worry. I told him that you were once a criminal who changed his ways, and I didn't tell him about how you went back to thieving," Carmelita said reassuringly, "And he's retired so he probably hasn't heard it himself yet."

Sly sighed as he relaxed a little, "So I'm safe."

"Actually I would estimate that you have up to a month to live," Bentley said lightly teasing his brother.

"I'd give it 2," Murray said, joining in on the teasing.

Bentley gave a littl laugh, "If he's lucky."

Murray smiled, "How about we place a bet on that?"

"Fine," Bentley extended a robotic hand to the pink hippo, "10 euros to the winner."

While Murray shook the hand, Sly complained, "You guys really aren't helping."

Murray simply shrugged after releasing the hand, "Sorry Sly."

Bentley just pushed up his glasses as he looked to Sly, "By the way, when he kills you who leads the gang?"

Sly groaned in response, "Really?"

Murray came to the turtle's defense, "I mean we do need to know."

Sly growled before answering, "Carmelita is in charge."

Both boys looked at Carmelita with disappointment, before Carmelita grabbed the book, and pulled Sly from his seat saying, "Okay I think that's enough of that."

Carmelita then dragged Sly off to the shared bedroom. She figured that Sly was joking when he said that she'd be the new leader of the gang, but she could tell that they thought he was serious for a second. And to be honest, she thought the same thing briefly. But thankfully she realized that Sly wouldn't do that, though he would hope that the three would get along well. Once she was sure that they were alone, she let out a relieved sigh that the awkward moment was gone, "Sorry. Just didn't want to cause an issue there."

Sly nodded, "Yeah. Just don't overwork yourself babe."

"Thanks Sly," Carmelita smiled with genuine gratitude, "I'm just still struggling in some parts."

Sly nodded again, "Okay. Tell me where you need help."

The rest of the day was spent with Sly helping Carmelita better understand other parts of being a thief. When he was done, it was already night time. So they decided to take a break with Carmelita heading off to bed, or at least being forced to by Sly this time. When he was sure that she was asleep this time, he went down to check with Bentley on how their gift for Carmelita was turning out. Just a little while longer.