Chapter 3

Carmelita tossed and turned in her sleep. She awoke when that tossing and turning became markedly more severe. She cracked open one brown eye to see Sly Cooper gently rocking her awake.

"That's right," Sly said in a soothing soft voice. "C'mon, time to wake up, Ms. Sleepyhead…"

Carmelita groaned, closed her eye, and mumbled in Spanish, "Déjele me solo raccoon loco!" She pulled her pillow up and put it over her head.

Sly smiled, feeling a thrill from her speaking her native Spanish, especially since he knew a little of the language himself. He gently pulled the pillow off of her head, which made her turn away and groan. "Hey, good day, Sunshine!" he laughed, as Carmelita scowled at him and yawned hugely. "I'd say more, but I'm afraid that I'm not all that fluent in gibberish, my dear."

"Gibberish?" Carmelita answered, glaring at Sly for calling her native language gibberish. "It's not gibberish, Cooper…it's Spanish, you dimwit! And, for your information, what I said was 'Leave me alone, you crazy raccoon!'" She grinned when she saw him blink at that. However, much as she thought, there wasn't much that could keep Sly Cooper down for long.

"Crazy? Me?" Sly intoned, indicating himself with a touch of a finger to his own chest. "Never, Carmelita! Now, a thief, yes. But crazy? Never!"

Carmelita just shook her dark-haired head. She was really too tired to continue to argue with this rascal of a raccoon. "Whatever. So, why did you decide to wake me up anyway, Ringtail? No, wait! Let me guess! Interpol's here and you just stopped by to say good-bye before they haul you off to the hoosegow? Am I right?" She grinned cleverly at him.

Sly slowly shook his head, chuckling at Carmelita. "Really, my dear! What an imagination you have!" He pretended to dry his eyes from his laughter, his grin contagious. He saw that Carmelita was ready to roll over and go back to sleep, despite his being there, so he reached out to hold her shoulder gently down. "Okay, I really woke you because of Bentley. You see, while you slept, he had himself a little look at that old IronJaws 590…well, okay, what parts of it that were still intact after Murray had finished with his 'fun', and...well..." Sly informed her, then paused, not really wanting to tell her the rest of what he was going to say.

"Yes?" Carmelita replied, not liking the fact that he'd turned so quiet. "C'mon, Cooper…out with it!"

"Well," he continued. "That trap was pretty rusted, so..." Sly paused again, then blurted out the rest. "Um, Ms. Fox? Er, when exactly did you have your last tetanus shot?"

Carmelita blinked her lovely eyes, clearly surprised and at a loss. A few moment later, she answered. "Well, I never did, really. That day, I was at home, sick with the flu, when my classmates received theirs. Why do you ask anyway?"

"Well," Sly said, still uncomfortable. "Since that trap was so dirty and rusty, and the fact that you haven't had a tetanus shot, Bentleyand I, for that matterthink it best for you have such a shot…as soon as possible. Just to be on the safe side, you understand."

Carmelita paled at that news…for she hated needles, of any kind! "But… why? I feel fine! Really!" she assured him.

Sly smiled and laid a hand on her lovely knee. "Yes, you feel fine now, beautiful. But, if you don't get that shot, you just might contract lock-jaw," Sly warned, then smiled confidently at her. "And, you have far too lovely a face, my dear, to risk anything like that happening."

Carmelita winced and swallowed hard, not liking the sound of that malady at all. "All right," she responded, taking a moment to remove Sly's hand from atop her knee, and gave him a glare at his sly boldness. "But, Cooper…just where am I supposed to get that inoculation from out here? Like you said…we are too far away from the hospital, yes?"

Sly smiled and pulled out a syringe, filled with the tetanus vaccine, from behind his back. "Um, let's say, I 'borrowed' this particular medication from a local pharmacy. While I was at it, I also managed to scrounge up some antibiotics, just to be on the safe side…"

Carmelita groaned.

Sly looked up, surprised. "What?" he asked, assuming she'd be pleased.

"Let me get this straight, Cooper. You robbed a law-abiding drugstore… for me? Aw, that's just great," Carmelita lowered her head into her hands, murmuring to herself.

"Come now, Inspector, I left the poor pharmacist a hundred francs to cover the inconvenience," Sly told her with a smile, enjoying her reaction. He then sat down on the side of her bed. "Now, my lovely Carmelita, it's time for you to be a very good girl, sit up, and let your new friend, Sly, administer this much-needed injection, okay? Hey, look at it this way, the faster you get this shot, the sooner you can be back on those lovely feet of yours again, chasing yours truly here." He waggled his eyebrows at her, looking down so he could flash those handsome brown eyes of his at her.

Carmelita smiled, thought a moment, then nodded. "You're right. There is always that now, isn't there?" She sighed, gathered the covers around herself, and sat up. "Say, Cooper…remind me again why I shouldn't arrest you all right now? Because you know, one simple call to Interpol, and they'll be here to haul you three off to jail, right where you belong…" she mused, her face paling as he raised the syringe and flicked out any bubbles with the tip of his finger. Carmelita gulped at the sight of the syringe, not liking the shiver she experienced from it.

Sly smiled at the nervous vixen, then looked her in the eye to distract her momentarily as he inserted the syringe in, and depressed the plunger quickly, and removed it from her arm. Carmelita reached up to softly rub the back of her arm, even though it hadn't hurt all that much. "So, you'd like to know why, would you? Hmm, fair question, I suppose that would be. Well…first off, you won't turn us all in because of the simple fact that you owe all of us…big time!"

Carmelita turned toward him, disbelief written in her expression. "Excuse me? I beg your pardon, Cooper, but I don't really think I heard you correctly."

"Yes, you did," Sly replied. "And, you know I'm right, gorgeous! In case you doubt me…do you remember back when you were nearly brainwashed by the charming Countessa?" Sly raised one brow, eyeing her pointedly.

Carmelita shivered, hugging herself. "How could I not remember that, Cooper?" she said. "But, what's that got to"

Sly cut her off before she could add any momentum to her inevitable argument. "Well, Ms. Fox, then you've got my friend Bentley to thank for that. Bentley, as you well know, is considered a computer genius, and he proved that by hacking into her computer, the very same one that held your restraints closed, by the way. He reprogrammed the computer in a jiff, releasing you from that old, but still very serviceable IronTec 250…and you know all the rest, of course. Why, if it hadn't of been for ol' Bentley, you would of been the brainwashed slave of the Countessa, my dear girl…and you know it."

Carmelita looked away from him, hating that he was right.

"And," Sly continued, driving his points home, "if that weren't reason enough, maybe you remember, oh…say, back about two years ago, when you were almost killed by Clockwerk's rather intimidating Death Ray, perhaps?" He regarded the vixen, who now refused to even look his way. "Oh, kindly remind me, Inspector Fox…just who was that heroic chap that saved your bacon that time, hmm?"

"You did," Carmelita murmured in a barely audible voice, frowning. She closed her eyes a moment, then turned and pointed an accusing finger at him. "All right, maybe you've got a point or two, Cooper…but maybe I should remind you of the time I gave you that ten second head start, remember?"

Sly did indeed! He smiled a pleased smile, remembering the taste of Carmelita's sweet lips. "Oh, yes…how could I ever forget, my sweet?" he returned.

Carmelita blushed softly, looking away a moment, to compose herself. Damn that raccoon, always doing that to her! But, she was not to be daunted, and continued on stubbornly, "And…what did you do with that gift of mine? You kissed me, that's what!" She growled, and punched him in the arm. She saw Cooper rub his arm a moment, then grin and open his mouth to speak. She cut him off before he could even start. "Shut it, Cooper! Before you even start, it wasn't all that great of a kiss, so keep your ego in check. Besides, you only kissed me to distract me, so you could handcuff me to that railing, allowing you to escape. Where I come from, Ringtail, that's not exactly what I would call 'gentlemanly' behavior."

Sly smiled at that, still remembering. To him, it had been one spectacular kiss…one that haunted him still to this day! But, now wasn't the time to discuss that with the lovely Inspector. "Perhaps you have a point, sweetheart," Sly admitted, grinning when he saw her glorious brown eyes flare with fury at his calling her 'sweetheart'. "Now, my last point," he continued as she'd not said a word. "If it hadn't been for my friend Murrayyou remember him, right?you, my dear Inspector, would still be lying out in those woods, with that IronJaw clamped securely to that lovely foot of yours." He then leaned in close to her, causing Carmelita to retreat a bit before her pride forced her to meet his bluff. He smiled into her breathtaking, yet very irate, face, while his hand reached down to pluck the handset of the nearby phone from its cradle. "So, still going to make that call to Interpol, Ms. Fox?"

Carmelita momentarily considered doing just that! Blasted Ringtail! Wretched raccoon! But, she couldn't…and she knew it. Her sense of fair play knew that all of the rogue's arguments were spot on…much as it pained her to acknowledge it. She looked down, realizing that Cooper had her dead to rights…but that didn't mean she had to like it! And, she didn't…not one little bit! She hated owing him and his gang her life…several times over apparently. Thieves, criminals, they might be, but that did not change the fact that they had saved her life, her soul, and now if it hadn't of been for them, she would undoubtedly been bereft of her foot. She sighed, closed her eyes, and screwed up her courage, repressing her anger for once. "All right, Cooper...much as it pains me to admit it, I'll not file charges against you three...at least this time."

Sly smiled his most charming smile (which only irked Carmelita more, as she found her heart beat faster from that smile!), then he got to his feet, and gracefully bowed to her. "Thank you, Carmelita. Now that we've gotten ourselves past that…and since I have you awake, do you think you might like to come downstairs for a little while? We all would be blessed by your fair company." He then added, as an enticement, "We have cable TV, if you like?"

Carmelita smiled smugly at that, feeling much more comfortable with where the conversation had gone to now. "That wouldn't be illegal cable now, would it, Ringtail?"

Sly looked away a bit, trying to appear ashamed, but his smirk gave his true feelings away. "Guilty as charged, lovely lady," he admitted with a grin.

Carmelita shook her head. "Should of known…" she replied, sighing. Then she shrugged. "What the heck? All right, Ringtail. Some TV actually sounds pretty good to me…trust me, I need some sort of diversion from talking with the likes of you."

Sly grinned, but then placed an seemingly aggrieved hand over his chest. "I'm hurt," he told her in an melodramatic voice. "Really, I'm crushed. Can't you tell?" he said, then winked at her.

Carmelita had to work hard not to snort with laughter at the crazy raccoon. "Yeah, cut to the quick you are, I can tell," she replied sarcastically. "Somehow, I'm sure you'll manage to survive, Cooper."

"Alas," Sly told her, moving beside where she sat. "The sacrifices I make for you, O Fairest of the Fair," he bemoaned, even as she looped her hands around his neck, even as he slid his hands under her knees and back.

"Geez," Carmelita groaned as she let him lift her up in his arms, "Spare me the dramatics, Cooper…"

Sly only chuckled, carrying his unwilling, yet ever so lovely houseguest downstairs to the living room of the house.