Disclaimer: Sly Cooper and the Cooper gang are property of Sucker Punch and I am just using them to entertain the masses with a good story. I only own the character Todd and the other elements of the story I have created my self.

Chapter 4

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Once the gang was outside of the Interpol building they waited for Todd to arrive from parking his truck in the employee parking. He then motioned for them to follow him and they entered enemy territory, with failure not being an option. Todd then pulled Sly off to the side and said, "Okay, the Archives are on the 5th floor, and the chief is due to arrive there in an hour. That is how long you have to find the negatives and the prints. Bentley is going to come with me, and help me look for the wireless security camera. When you have the photo, you are to come to my office directly." Sly began to walk away before Todd caught up to him again and whispered, "Oh, and if you see Carmelita don't talk to her. She may not recognize you by your looks, but she will recognize your voice."

Sly smiled his usual, trust me, smile and then walked off, leaving Todd very worried that the next time he would see him, is in hand cuffs and being hauled off to a high security prison. He was brought back to reality by Bentley who had nudged him slightly. He then led Bentley to the elevator that went down to his office, so they could search for the essential wireless security camera. On the opposite side of the atrium Sly was entering an elevator and was heading up to the fifth floor. Once he arrived he followed the signs posted on the wall. In a few minutes he found a door that had the word Archives printed on it. He entered the door and found a security gate with a guard sitting on the opposite side. He tapped on the clear glass barrier and alerted the guard to his presence. The germen shepherd walked up to the intercom on his side of the wall and pressed the button to activate it. He then spoke into it and asked, "Who are you, and what is your business."

Sly disguised his voice slightly and said, "Inspector Edward Stevens. Transfer from the Interpol office in Denver Colorado. This is my first time to Archives. I need to take a look at an old case; I think it may tie into the one I am working on." The guard nodded, accepting the response and pressed the button that released the lock on the glass door. Sly walked in and walked into the massive Archives area. He guessed that it took up at least half of the floor if not more. He then suddenly realized that he had no clue where the negatives and prints could be. He walked back up to the German shepherd on duty, which was now reading the paper and asked, "I'm sorry to bother you, but do you have a directory or something." The Shepherd looked up from his paper and then pointed to a small computer sitting a few yards away. Sly thanked him and went over to the computer. He started up the program that kept track of the stuff in the Archives and entered Carmelita's name into the search engine. He was about to click search when something popped up on the screen.

Sly glanced at it a second and saw it was an e-mail from Todd. It said, "Sly, I know it's you because of the search. You have to get that picture now. I just intercepted an e-mail from the chief to his secretary that he is heading down there right now. You have 10 minutes tops to get the picture and get out. HURRY!" Sly quickly closed the e-mail window and searched the asset program. It showed only one case that had Carmelita as the subject of, and it was one located in the very back of the archive office. He quickly turned and head toward the left corner of the room. When he got there he began to search for the box that contained the items he needed, but found the box in question was gone.

That is when he realized that the German shepherd had a box sitting beside his chair that look quite dusty. Sly knew instantly that it had to be the box he was looking for. Sly knew he was running out of time, but then he got an idea. He walked over to a particularly wobbly set of shelves and then pushed it with all his might. That caused the shelves to fall over, and start a domino effect taking out the entire row of shelves. Sly could hear the guard running toward where he was. He quickly ducked into a space between a set of shelves and the nearby wall.

He waited there until he saw the guard run by his spot and continue heading toward the commotion Sly had created. Once he sure the guard was gone he rushed back to where the door was, and when he arrived he saw the box was still sitting beside the guards chair. He quickly check the outside to make sure it was the right box, and then picked it up and was out the door and heading for the elevator. Sly looked around as he pressed the call button and got on an elevator bound for the ground floor. With another elevator opening a few seconds later, the chief stepping out and heading toward the archives.

As Sly stepped out of the elevator on the main floor of Interpol he looked around to make sure no one would notice him taking this case box down to Todd's office, and he then made his way coolly to the elevator and pressed the call button. The elevator had arrived, Sly had stepped in, and the doors were about to close when he heard a familiar female voice call out to hold the elevator. Against his better judgment he did stop the elevator doors from closing and a in a few seconds who should come walking into the elevator but Carmelita.

Carmelita thanked the stranger for holding the door and pressed the button that sent the elevator going down to the Todd's office. During the short elevator ride Carmelita couldn't shake the feeling that she knew this guy from some where. She couldn't dwell on the thought for to long though because the elevator doors soon opened and the pair could see Todd tinkering with something on his work bench.

When Todd heard the elevator doors close he turned and said, "Hello Inspector Fox and Inspector Stevens." Sly, to Todd's relief just waved and walked back to the door beside Todd's desk and into the back room. Todd watched Sly leave and then turned to Carmelita and said, "Now, to what do I owe the honor Inspector Fox."

"I just wanted to come see if you were all right. I was surprised to hear you had come back to work today." Carmelita said as she walked over and sat down on Todd's work bench.

Todd just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, time and work wait for no man. I just got to much stuff to work on today, and if I don't keep up the whole building could suffer."

Todd and Carmelita continued to talk while Sly made his way through rows of shelves in Todd's back room. The items on the shelves and floor seemed to be anything and everything that Interpol refuse to sell or just throw away. Sly saw old type writers down there that could be dated back to his grandfather's prime. Sly finally found where Bentley, and to his surprise Murray were searching the shelves for the last part Todd needed to make the wireless security camera work. He walked up to Bentley and said, "Here, I think I got the negatives and prints of the dance I had with Carmelita at Rajan's party."

Bentley turned from the shelf he was searching and said, "To be on the safe side lets open the box here and make sure we have the negatives and prints." Sly nodded his head in agreement and set the box nearby slightly cluttered table. He opened the box and began to rummage through the box. Among the thing he found were at least a dozen of his calling cards, a few meaning less police reports, and finally, at the bottom of the box, the negatives and prints of the incriminating photo. He pulled the prints out of the box and handed the pair to Bentley and Murray. While Sly was examining the strip of negative photos, trying to find the right one Bentley and Murray got to see the photo of the dance for the first time. Bentley and Murray were both surprised at how much Sly and Carmelita appeared to be enjoying the dance. Like they could only be happy if in each others company. Bentley and Murray had joked over the past few months how Sly should try to get a date with Carmelita, and how she would enjoy it so much. Now, after seeing this photo, they realized that their joke may not be as far fetched as they thought.

They were both brought back to reality when the case box fell off the table it had been placed on, producing a loud crash. They turned to see Sly had gone to leaning against the table. He had been putting too much of his weight on the table, and that caused it to slid out from under him suddenly. If it had not been for Sly's thieving reflexes he would have been on his back right beside the box on the floor. Sly had already begun picking up the box and praying to god that Carmelita hadn't heard the crash.

Unfortunately Carmelita and Todd did hear the crash, and before Todd could stop her Carmelita had gone through the door into the back room. She was jogging at a decent pace, wondering if the guy she had met in the elevator was okay when she turned a corner and saw Sly, Bentley and Murray. Even though Sly was still in his disguise the presence of Bentley and Murray helped Carmelita realized why this stranger was so familiar to her. This Inspector Stevens was none other then Sly Cooper, and before Sly, Bentley or Murray could react she had her shock pistol out and pointed right at the thieving raccoon.

Todd didn't have to wait more then ten minutes before he saw Sly, Bentley, and Murray being lead out of his back room at the other end of Carmelita's shock pistol. Carmelita had completely forgotten about Todd, and was completely focused on Sly and his cohorts. She lead them toward the elevator and said, "Okay Ringtail, push the call button on the elevator."

Sly only smiled as he said, "Your wish is my command my fair Carmelita."

Carmelita said, in a now slightly irritated voice, "Kill the flirty chit chat Cooper, and just press the button." Sly just shrugged his shoulder in defeat and pushed the button to call the elevator, but something was wrong. The power seemed to be out on the elevator, and even though Sly pressed the button ten times over the elevator doors remain shut. Carmelita got feed up with Cooper, and went up and firmly pressed the button for herself, but she to could not get the elevator to move. Carmelita turned and that is when she realized that Todd had taken out his set of keys and inserted one into a key hole beside his desk, a keyhole that was labeled in big black letters "ELEVATOR POWER CONTROL".

Todd then slowly removed his glasses and said, "I'm sorry Inspector Fox, but I can't let you take Sly into custody just yet." Carmelita's eyes widened as she realized that Todd was a cohort of Sly Cooper. She quickly turned her shock pistol on him and said in a very firm voice, "Unlock the elevator right now, or I'll stun you and do it my self."

Even with Carmelita glaring Todd down if powerful eyes he just shook his head. Carmelita then got the hint Todd could not be convinced to unlock the elevator so she pulled the trigger on the shock pistol. Todd just raised his palm and watched as the shock blast suddenly stopped moving a few inches in front of his hand, he then slowly closed his hand into a fist and the shock blast seemed to just implode on itself. Carmelita stared in disbelief as Todd slowly stood up and walked toward Carmelita. He then placed his hand on Carmelita's shock pistol. A few seconds after Todd had placed his hand on the shock pistol it started to shoot of sparks, and a stream of smoke began to escape from the gun's barrel. Carmelita instinctively pulled the trigger, but got no response from the shock pistol. She kept pulling the trigger, trying to fire of a shoot as Todd walked back to his work bench and opened up a word document on his computer. He then turned to Carmelita and said, "You can stop pulling the trigger now. I just short circuited the whole gun so all you are going right now is making it worse."

Carmelita looked up at Todd, a confused, irritated, and slightly scared look on her face. Todd just stared at his computer monitor a second, and then turned to face Carmelita. He then turned his head to look at Sly, Bentley, and Murray who were still in hand cuffs. Todd brought his hand in up and with a snap of his fingers the hand cuffs flew open and landed on the floor. Todd then opened his palm wide and the three hand cuffs flew into his hands. Carmelita had watched all this, and was fighting a growing sense of fear. She then gasped as Todd raised his arm up and pointed at her. Before she could do anything he had snapped his fingers, and Carmelita had shut her eyes fearing the worse. After a few moments of silence she opened her eyes to see that a chair had risen out of the floor. She turned back to Todd and he motioned for her to sit. He then snapped his fingers again and three more chairs appeared, allowing Sly, Bentley, and Murray to sit down. He then also took a seat and began to clean his glass with a cloth he had kept in his shirts chest pocket.

After a few moments of silence Todd put his glass back on and said, "So, I guess you have some questions you would like to ask us. Well, go right ahead Inspector Fox."

Carmelita stayed silent a few second and then finally said, "How did you just do all that?"

Todd smiled slightly and sighed as he said, "My best kept secret, the only ones who knew anything about it was Sly, Bentley, Murray and myself. You see I am a sort of sorcerer. I can cast the spells written in books and I can make things move, appear, or disappear with the snap of my figures. I am also the only person who has ever mastered the forces of nature."

"The forces of nature?" Carmelita asked with a bit calmer voice.

"Yes. I can control Light, Shadow, Fire, Ice, Water, Lightning, Air and Earth. The earth element encompassing anything that can be found in the ground or growing from it." Todd answered.

"Okay, I guess I can accept that answer, but why in the world are you helping the Cooper gang?"

Todd chuckled as if just told a good joke. He then smiled as he said, "I helped them because I am the Cooper Gang's mystic. When fighting people like Miss Rudy you have to know some one who can remove curses and other spells. I am the last piece that makes the Cooper gang a ready for anything. Sly it the master thief, Murray is the Muscle, Bentley is planner and tech brain, and I protect and help the gang with Magic."

"Okay, but why would Cooper here come to Interpol in the middle of the afternoon, when the place is crawling with officers?" Carmelita asked as she turned her head to shoot a glare at Sly, who was sitting back enjoying the show.

Todd pointed to the computer monitor and said, "He would come here because of that and what is enclosed on that document. You see Inspector Fox; this is your performance report straight from the chief's personal files. I will explain how I came across it later, but you seem to be a module officer Inspector."

Carmelita wondered why this blue fox was talking about her reputation in Interpol. The whole building knew she was the best Inspector on the force; that was no secret. After a few seconds she said, "So, why tell me what I already know."

Todd smile suddenly disappeared as he said, "It seems Carmelita that the chief is getting a lot of heat from the higher ups for not getting Sly behind bars, and rather then take the blame himself he is going to blame you."

"So, the chief comes into my office every Monday to chew me out about it." Carmelita said as she noticed that Sly, who had been watching her the entire time, had now taken his eyes off her. As if he couldn't stand to look at her.

Todd paused a second to gather his thoughts before he said, "If it was only that Carmelita, but I am afraid it gets worse then the chief shouting at you on a weekly bases. You see he must have been telling this same story to the higher up for few years now, because next Monday they are going to start an investigation into the matter. They are putting you on suspension so they investigate the possibility of you being a secret member of the Cooper gang." Todd winced as he said the last part, afraid that Carmelita would explode and he would have to use some of his magic to restrain her. He waited several minutes, but Carmelita didn't go into a rage. She didn't start cussing in both Spanish and English at anything she could find. All she did was sit there as her eyes slowly became distant. Todd was about to ask if she was okay when Carmelita suddenly started to sway and she began to fall off the chair. Luckily for her Sly's fast reflexes allowed him to catch her before she could hit the floor. He slowly brought her up into his arms like a groom would carry his bride and turned to look at Todd.

Todd just sighed and began to rummage in his desk for something as he said, "I was afraid of this. I expected Carmelita to do one of two things if I ever had to tell her about this. One was she would go into a rage and start cursing at the world in general. The other was what has happened. She has gone into a form of emotional shock, she'll be fine in a few hours, but I think she'll have to spend the night with us."

Bentley was out of his chair and almost yelling, "What? Are you insane? We can't take Carmelita to the house, it is the only hide out we have right now." Todd ignored that rest of Bentley's rant as he pulled a small blue book out of his desk drawer and began to flip through the pages. He then found what he was looking for. He turned to face Sly, and after shutting Bentley up with a quick silencing spell he said, "We can't take her out the front door, so I am going to use this spell to teleport you to the house. Bentley will ride home with Murray in the van, and I'll be home after I tell the people at the front desk that Carmelita has left for the day. Keep her at the house until I get home from work. Unfortunately now that I am here I can't leave until five so I'll stay and finish that wireless security camera for Carmelita's office. So, you ready to be teleported."

Sly looked down at Carmelita, and thought to himself, "She looks so beautiful right now. I can't let them fire her. Thieving wouldn't be any fun with out her always on my tail." He was then pulled out of his thoughts by Todd who had asked him again if he was ready. Sly nodded and gripped Carmelita tighter, not knowing what to expect when Todd cast the spell.

Todd took a few steps away from Sly. He then lifted his arm in Sly and Carmelita's direction and prepared to snap his fingers as he said,

We require transport this instant

To transport us across a great distance

Take these two from here to there

From my office to the Cooper Gangs lair

Take them with the speed of light

But let them be like shadows in the night

Hidden and concealed from sight

With that Todd snapped his fingers. Sly and Carmelita seamed to become mere silhouettes of their usual selves, and they disappeared in a small puff of smoke. Todd then closed his little self made spell book a walked back to his desk. He used his key to turn the elevator back on and then motioned for Bentley and Murray to leave as he said, "You should get home. I don't know how long Carmelita will be out, but if she wakes up and Sly is the only one there, Sly will probably be in for a world of hurt." Bentley and Murray both nodded there head and got into the elevator when it arrived. Todd watched as the door closed and then he turned back to his most recent project.

It was 4:15 when Todd finally finished making the needed modifications to the wireless security camera. He had to rewire it to both broadcast to the department in Interpol responsible for the buildings security, but to also broadcast to Todd's office where it would be first recorded on his computer, and then sent back to Bentley's computer over a direct satellite link. Once it reached Bentley's computer it would be recorded two more times. One of the copies would be a digital file on Bentley's computer and the other a good old VHS tape as a form of hard copy.

Todd gave his work one more look over to make sure it was working and once he was sure it was wired correctly he picked up the light bulb sized camera and headed for Carmelita's office. It didn't take him long to get up to the right floor due to the low level of traffic on the elevator. He was walking down the hallway that lead to Carmelita's office, and was about to open the red door with Carmelita's name on it. He was about to open the door when he heard some one walking around in Carmelita's office. He leaned his head against the door and listened closely to the quite foot steps and slight noises of someone rummaging through stuff in Carmelita's office. Todd didn't know who it was, so he backed away from the door and closed his eyes. Suddenly his shadow separated from his body and slipped under the door. His shadow slid across the floor, and walls until it reached a corner of the wall and ceiling. It didn't move for a second and then two small slights of bright white energy formed in the shadow, and they flew open as if they were the eyes of the shadow. These eyes look around the room a second and the closed. The shadow then shoot across that wall and back out under the door. It reattached to Todd, and after a few moments he opened his eyes.

He had seen what his shadow had seen, and it was the chief rummaging around Carmelita's office. Todd reached forward and grabbed the door handle. He opened the office door and said, "Excuse me Chief, what are you doing?"

The chief turned to see who had interrupted his ransacking of Carmelita's office. He suddenly got the deer in the head lights look and started to stumble with words. He finally just took a deep breath, regained his composure, and said, "I was looking for a file Carmelita promised me she would have on to me over and hour ago. Do you know where she is?"

Todd could tell the chief was lying, but he replied, "Sorry, I don't know where any of Carmelita's files are, and I do believe she has gone home. Got food poisoning of something to that effect. She was looking really pale when I saw here leave."

The Chief nodded his head and said, "Fine, but could you pass a message on to her for me."

Todd nodded his head and said, "Sure, I got to call and tell her I installed the security camera she had asked for. Wanted to catch Sly is the act of leaving his stolen items in her office."

"That sounds like a good idea. It's about time we got some hard evidence on the Cooper Gang, but the message I need you to pass on to Carmelita is contained in the envelope. It is very important and time sensitive so it must be delivered today, got that." Todd nodded as he took the envelope and placed it gently in his shirt pocket. He then went about installing the wireless security camera as the chief left the office. He listened closely and could hear the chief cursing quietly as he walked down the wall toward the elevator.

Todd finished installing the camera and used a quick clean up spell to undo the damage the chief had done. He walked out the door, and was a few feet from the door when he got an idea. He walked back to the door and placed his hand around the door knob. He then muttered a few things under his breath and used his magic to lock the door until Carmelita used her key to unlock it. Making any future attempts of the chief's to find incriminating evidence a useless. Satisfied he checked his watch and noticed it was now 4:55, and with that he walked down the hall, heading home to where his best friends waited, and one fox who he hoped was back to her old self.