Thieves United

Summary: Now a cop, Sly is finding his new chosen life to be quite enjoyable. He has a beautiful working partner, the lovely Carmelita, has the freedom to roam around... the only downside is that Bentley and Murray, his life long friends, weren't there. And when Dimitri shows up at the Louvre museum, and Sly has to take him down, he realizes how much he misses his life with his friends.

Then, a female thief shows up carrying Sly's old cane and wearing his costume. Thinking that Bentley and Murray replaced him, he goes and tries to get some information out of her, only finding out that, yes, this new (beautiful) female thief knew Bentley. With the help of a fellow officer, Modesta Tavita, Sly and Carmelita try to figure out information about this thief.

Meanwhile, Bentley and Penelope know of a dangerous object that could possible destroy the world ifpaired with the 'elements', and a black cat thief is trying to get a hold of it.

Disclaimer: Yeah. No, I don't own Sly Cooper.

If I did, you wouldn't even have read my last story...

PARIS, FRANCE: 2:34 AM
The alarm faded into the distance as the agile Sly Cooper made his way expertly through the dark halls of the Louvre museum. He jumped up onto a railing going down a set of stairs, and did a perfect rail-slide to give him more speed. Landing on the floor, he sprinted quickly. He saw his objective directly in front of him. Smiling, he ran a little faster, and before it could get away, he jumped, and…

WHAM!

Tackled it to the ground. The lizard who had tried to steal a painting was laying on his front on the tiled-floor with Sly sitting on his back. Pulling out a pair of handcuffs, the newly-recruited Constable Cooper slapped them onto the lizard's wrists. The lizard was in fact Dimitri, a previous member of the Cooper Gang, but of course, Sly didn't 'remember' that.

"Nice try, Dimitri," Sly said as he heard the sound of footsteps coming down the echoing hall. "You put up a good fight."

"This doesn't seem at all like you, bro," Dimitri said. "What happened to springin' a brother out of jail, eh? We used to be team-mates."

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," Sly replied, though this was a lie. He felt bad for sacking Dimitri after he had helped so much with recovering the Cooper vault. But he was a cop now.

"Ah," Dimitri said, sounding disheartened. "What the pretty Penelope says is true; the Amnesia has suffered your mind, bro! Suffered your mind!"

"Cooper!" A voice called, and Sly looked up to see Carmelita standing there with two other officers, her shock-pistol in hand. The light on top of the barrel was shining down on Sly and Dimitri. She looked somewhat surprised to see her partner sitting on the back of the slimy-looking lizard.

"No problem, Carmelita," Sly said with a dashing grin. IT always made him smile to see her. "I saved you the trouble of tiring yourself out. He's ready to be hauled away."

"Cooper…" Carmelita started, sounding… well, shocked. Then she smiled. "Great work! Take him away, boys."

"Free your mind, bro," Dimitri said as Sly got off of him so the other cops could carry him off. "It suffers. Free your mind!"

"Stop talking crazy, Dimitri," Sly answered, and followed the other cops as he was dragged away. Carmelita fell into step next to him, and she gave him a smile.

"You did well today," She said to him. He smiled back at her.

"I had an excellent trainer," He replied, winking, and together, they exited the Louvre. Once outside, something caught his attention down the street. It was a van, hidden by the shadows, though Sly could still make out the interesting paint job. Flames were painted along the sides and on the hood of it, and on the side, he managed to make out the symbol of the Cooper Clan painted on its side before it disappeared, turning sharply around a corner out of sight.

Well, I'm still here. Ex-thief, Sly Cooper. I'm Constable Cooper, now, and partners with Carmelita Fox. Things couldn't be better. We've been together for a while. As partners, not as a couple, though we have been getting a lot closer lately. She just can't resist my charm.

Being a cop isn't actually as bad as most thieves would think. You get great perks; like going to free shows, and parties. You get to park anywhere. I actually really like it. I can relate to arresting people with taking out thieves that have stood in my way on missions in the past. I feel bad for some of the guys, but I'm a cop now. It's my job.

There is one downside to being a cop, though. Even though I have a beautiful and strong working partner, good perks, and the right to walk around Paris without having the cops called on me, I still can't help but feel a little lonely. All this time, I've faked having amnesia just so I could get closer to Carmelita on new terms. But… I've also betrayed my friends in a way. The guys who have stood by me for years and have helped me loyally and faithfully through everything. I kind of let them down. I left them behind. All because I wanted a chance to be with Carmelita. I can't feel any worse about myself. They were willing to do anything for me; even get hurt in the process like Bentley did. And I thanked them by leaving the team.

It's been almost a year since those events on the island. I still remember them clearly. And after coming back to Paris to be a cop alongside Carmelita, I haven't seen or spoken to Bentley, Murray, Penelope, or any of the other guys since. Arresting Dimitri tonight was the only encounter I've had with any of my former team-mates for months, and I had to pretend like I didn't know them.

If my Dad were alive, would he be proud of me for my choice? Would have supported me? Maybe if he was alive, all of this would be different… don't get me wrong, I love my time with Carmelita. But… I dunno, there's still something missing.

Seeing that van tonight made me realize how much I missed being a thief. The thrill of the heists, the thrill of stealing, the thrill of outrunning the cops. I missed everything about it. And most of all, I missed being with my friends. I shouldn't have cut them out from my life like I did. They probably all hate me for it.

I hope I'll get the chance to see them again sometime. And hopefully not behind bars like Dimitri's ended up.

Sly Cooper In:

New Criminal, New Case

Sly kept looking at the spot where the old team van had been before, and then he sighed, and followed Carmelita to her car. It had been a long night. Every since they got the call to track Dimitri, the two of them had done nothing but work all day. Actually, it had been mostly work ever since he recruited as Constable.

'At least when I was a thief I could pick my vacations,' Sly thought, crossing his arms over his chest, and looking back over to where the van had been a few moments earlier.

"Something wrong, Sly?" Carmelita asked, cutting through his thoughts. He looked back at her, and pasted one of his trademark smiles on his face.

"Nothing at all, Gorgeous," He said charmingly. Carmelita smiled at him, a flirty look in her beautiful brown eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but a crackle from her radio made her stop.

"Inspector Fox!" An alarmed voice said on the other end. The voice had a slight Latin accent to it. It belonged to a woman named Modesta Tavita, a fellow officer Sly had come to know and like very much as a friend. Carmelita pulled open the driver's side door, and took the radio in her hand, holding it up to her mouth so she could speak into it.

"What is it, Constable Tavita?" Carmelita asked.

"A thief has just been spotted escaping the Louvre through an upper window. I don't know what item they took, but I thought it would be best to tell you." Modesta explained hurriedly.

"Which way did they go?" Carmelita demanded.

"Due east, Inspector," Modesta replied.

"I'll go after them," Sly said to Carmelita, and before she had a chance to say otherwise, Sly took off running, headed east where Modesta had seen the thief go. Since he still remembered all of his thieving moves, he found it faster an easier to get around on foot.

Once out of sight from the other cops, Sly found a lamp post, and climbed his way up, jumping onto a rooftop nearby, and running along those. What better way to catch a thief than to think like a thief, right? This criminal would undoubtedly stick to the rooftops, for most cops just didn't seem to know that. Well, Sly would certainly surprise them.

After about twenty minutes, Sly caught sight of them, jumping from roof to roof with ease. Speeding up to catch up with them, he did a Ninja-Spire jump on a lamp post, and jumped onto the next roof. He was nearing them, now, and as he got closer, he thought he was looking at himself. It was definitely another raccoon, and they seemed to be holding something long in their hand, with a hook on the end… could it possibly be his cane? He had left it behind with a calling card on Dr. M's island for Bentley and Murray to find. Would they have possibly given it to another raccoon thief?

To his utter surprise, the thief slowed to a stop, and looked back out to where the Louvre had been. But then they caught sight to Sly, and high-tailed it away again. Sly picked up his own pace. Man, this guy was fast!

The chase continued for a good fifteen minutes before two of the buildings were too far apart to jump because of a street below with cars passing by. This new thief, instead, found the electrical wire going between the two buildings, and started to do a rail-walk over to the other side, but slipped, and used the hook of their cane to grab hold of the wire to keep from falling to the ground. Sly stopped, and looked over the edge of the building. The thief was using their cane as a rope, and trying to climb up.

"Well," Sly said. "This is certainly interesting. I didn't think there were any other raccoon thieves around."

The thief looked up at him, but he couldn't see their eyes because of the hat they wore. It was incredibly similar to the hat he had worn while he was a thief… could it possibly be the same one? No… the color was darker.

"Well," the thief said, a smile spreading across their hidden features. "The world is just full of surprises, isn't it?"

Sly was a little surprised. Listening to the voice, he realized for the first time the thief was female. She didn't have any noticeable accent, but her voice was smooth and cunning, almost hypnotizing. She finally managed to grab hold of the electrical wire, and she pulled herself up onto it, going slow so she could keep her balance. Sly put a hand on his side instinctively, ready to pull out the gun in his holster if needed. Yeah, he carried a gun now; it was a job requirement, but it was more like a kind of tranquilizer, and didn't kill.

Tipping her hat by pushing the rim up with her thumb, he twirled her cane in her hand, and took off across the wire to the other roof again. Sly followed quickly after, and managed to just grab the end of her cane, making her stop. He didn't let go.

"So, are you the new officer on my case?" She asked innocently. "Too bad… I'm going to miss Macey, he was a cute guy."

"No, I'm just the officer who was told you track you down." Sly replied. "What did you steal?"

"Surprisingly, nothing." She said, giving her cane a little tug against his grip, but it was obvious he wasn't letting go. Sly just tightened his grip on the handle, and pulled her a little closer so he could slap the cuffs on her quickly.

"Then why were you at the Louvre?" Sly demanded. Then he looked at her clothes, and noticed that, yes, it was like looking at a mirror of himself. From the past, anyway. She was wearing his thieving outfit! "And why are you wearing my clothes?" The girl just laughed a little.

"Man, oh man, you're totally clueless, aren't you?" She asked. Then she started to giggle again. Sly was getting aggravated. With a sneaky swipe, he pulled her hat off her head with his free hand. Her silverish-blue eyes, which he could now see, twinkled in amusement, and the corner of her mouth was turned up in a sly little smile. She was really quite beautiful with long, strait, lustrous dark hair that fell half way down her back, and it was parted on the side. The classical black 'mask' like markings were around her eyes in the traditional raccoon fashion, and her ringed tailed swished about lazily. Just as quickly as Sly had pulled her hat off her head and got a good look at her, she swiped it back and managed to pull her cane out his slackened grip with ease. He made a futile grab for it, but she danced out of his reach before he could even come close to touching her. Sly gritted his teeth, his normal casual and relaxed demeanor totally replaced with one of irritation and anger. Had his months working as a cop made him lose all of the sneaky thieving ways he had once been a master at?

"I'll give you one thing," The girl said, tucking her hair back up into her hat, and pulling the rim low so her eyes were slightly hidden. "You don't give up. Bentley said you wouldn't."

"Bentley?" Sly asked in surprise, his head snapping up at the sound of his friend's name. "How do you know Bentley?"

"He gave you a little too much credit, though," She said, crossing her arms and surveying him with a doubtful expression. "I thought this would be obvious to you."

"What was obvious?" Sly asked slowly.

"Dimitri at the Louvre?" She said in a question, as if asking if he was getting it. "Me, dressed like you? C'mon, Cooper, think about it. Think like Bentley. Or have you really suffered from amnesia all this time?"

"Look, I don't know what you're –" Sly started, but the girl cut him off with a sigh.

"I guess if it's not clicking, it never will," She said, sounding a little sad. "Too bad. Bentley and Murray were counting on me to get you back after you arrested Dimitri. They miss you a lot. I'll just have to tell them you don't feel the same."

And, with a little salute, she literally did a back flip off the roof, and fell to the streets below. Sly ran to the edge, and looked over to see her gliding away on none other than a Paraglider. He smiled in spite of himself. If that girl was trying to imitate him as a thief, she was definitely doing a good job.

"Sly!" Carmelita said urgently into the radio attached to his belt. "Sly, come in! Did you get the thief?"

"No," Sly answered into the radio after he had pulled it from his belt, still watching the girl as she flew away. "I saw her face, though. A raccoon thief."

"It… was a girl?" Carmelita asked.

"Yeah," He answered, finally tearing his eyes away from where that thief had gone, and scanning the ground below for Carmelita. "Where are you? I'm going to head back, now."

"I can see you on the roof now," She said. "I've just turned a corner."

Sure enough, Sly saw the police car they shared for work, and finding a drain pipe that went down the side of the building, he climbed down, heading for the car. Carmelita got out, and climbing out of the passenger side was Modesta Tavita. She was a pretty girl, a cream-colored Persian cat with a curly, shoulder-length blonde hair and golden-green eyes. She was sweet, police and caring, and always had a kind word or a friendly smile for anyone in the office. But right now, she wasn't smiling. Sly gave her a little wave.

"Lost them?" Modesta asked, her fluffy tail swishing from side to side in irritation. She rarely ever got like this, except when she was working.

"Yeah," He answered. "I managed to see the thief, though. We can look through the files tomorrow at work and see if we can dig up a picture, and possibly a name."

"Sorry I called you guys so late," Modesta apologized, bowing her head in shame.

"Nonsense," Carmelita said in surprise. "You were a great help. Come on, we'll give you a ride home."

"That'd be helpful," The cat said, finally showing a pretty smile. Letting Modesta climb into the back first, Sly sat in the front passenger side, and Carmelita in the driver side. Then, all tired and wanting to be in bed, they rode home. As Carmelita drove, however, Sly couldn't get out of his mind what that female raccoon thief had said about Bentley. How did she know him? And Dimitri? Had they planned something to get him back in the old gang?

'Sorry, guys.' Sly thought sadly, staring out the window and watching the buildings go by. 'But this is my life now…'

Meanwhile, back in the van Sly had seen earlier, Bentley Turtle sat at his computer, monitoring the actions of the female thief he had hired to impersonate Sly. His plan had been for Sly to see her in his costume, and make him realize just how much he missed being a thief. Because Bentley knew thieving was important to him. If it wasn't, why would he keep using the moves he had learned from the Thievius Raccoonus? But that was only his plan B. Plan A was with Dimitri. If Sly caught up to Dimitri and recognized how much he had helped Sly with opening his family's vault, then maybe he'd consider talking. But that was no go, and now a team member was in jail.

Sighing when he watched on the screen the car carrying Sly drive away, Bentley rubbed his eyes tiredly behind his glasses. His girlfriend, Penelope, came up, and planted a kiss on his cheek, trying to make him feel better. She knew he was disappointed Sly didn't come running.

"She lost him," Bentley said flatly.

"Well, didja really expect for her to actually get him to come and look for us?" Penelope asked. Then she glowered at the screen, watching as the girl dressed like Sly made her way back to the van. "She spoke in riddles to him, no wonder why he didn't get it."

There was a knock at the van's bar doors, and the female raccoon let herself in. She removed her hat as she walked into the van, letting her beautiful hair cascade down her back, and going behind a screen that had been set up so she could change out of her copy of Sly's costume.

"You lost him," Bentley accused, and Penelope glared at the shapely figure behind the screen. She hated this raccoon girl.

"Hey," The thief shot back in a sharp tone. "I did my best, okay? Maybe he doesn't want to come back, did you ever consider that?"

"Listen, this is important!" Bentley protested, trying not to watch the shadow behind the screen. "We need Sly's help with this. If you would have told his strait out that we needed him, he could have come running right away."

"You told me my job was to present myself to him as himself." She said, and Bentley could see her shadow pulling her long hair back into a casual pony tail. "You never told me I had to lead him like a dog to you."

Bentley didn't say anything, and the raccoon thief peeked from behind the screen.

"If he wanted to come back, he would have run off to look for you as soon as I uttered your name." She said pointedly before drawing her head out of view again.

"Saying my name wasn't enough," Bentley snapped. "If you would have told him strait up that we needed his help, instead of talking in riddles, he'd be here!"

The girl came out from behind the screen wearing a black t-shirt and a comfortable yet stylish pair of jeans and a blue jacket. She gave Bentley a sad, apologetic look.

"I'm sorry," She said, sounding honest. "I did all I could. He could have figured my 'riddles' out on his own, though, right?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Bentley said. Then he sighed. "You did… fine."

"Call me up any time you need more help, okay?" The girl said.

"Yeah, sure," The turtle answered. Then he pulled a roll of cash from a pocket on his chair, and handed it to her. "Here; the money we owe."

She took it, counting a thousand dollars. Then, she counted five hundred, and handed it back to Bentley.

"I didn't get done what you needed me to do," She explained. "So I can't take all your money."

'What a fake," Penelope thought bitterly, crossing her arms over her chest. Bentley took back the money she handed him, and gave a weak smile.

"Take care," He said to the raccoon girl.

"See ya," She said, and let herself out of the van, and closing it shut, she left. Penelope grunted.

"I hate her." She said flatly.

"Well, as much as you detest her, Penelope, she's helped us at least a little bit," Bentley said, wheeling back over to his computer. "She helped us let Sly know we miss him. That's a start at least."

Murray, who hadn't said anything while the thief was there, piped up. "So what now, Bentley?"

"We'll head back to the hideout," Bentley ordered. "And we'll figure something out from there. Once we spring Dimitri free of jail, we'll make another plan to get Sly back. We really need his help…"

The next morning, Sly and Carmelita rode in the car together to work, stopping at Starbucks to get a coffee. Sly didn't like coffee all that much, but it helped him wake up, as when he was a thief, he'd normally be asleep at this hour. Once on their way again, Sly yawned widely.

"Am I keeping you awake, Sly?" Carmelita asked, flashing him a smile. He chuckled softly, stretching a little.

"Sadly yes," He replied, returning her grin. He checked his watch, the smile falling from his face, and sighed. "It's only seven thirty… Why did I suggest coming to work early today?"

"You didn't suggest it," Carmelita pointed out. "It's the requirement for our job."

"I hate getting up early," Sly grumbled, slouching in his seat. He sipped his coffee out of the Styrofoam cup he was holding, and winced at the horrible flavor. "Carmelita, why do you drink coffee? It's bad for you, it tastes awful, and smells worse."

"It keeps me awake during the day when I only get a couple hours of sleep," She explained, smiling slightly. "I just don't even taste it anymore."

"Probably because the caffeine killed your taste buds." Sly shot back with perfect timing. She just laughed. Sly smiled. He liked to hear her laugh.

"'Morning, James," Carmelita said lazily to a guy walking down the hall. He gave both Sly and Carmelita a wave as they walked down the hallway to her office. They shared it now, as Sly's office wasn't finished going through renovations.

The sound of beeping telephones, the constant typing of computer keyboards and the babble of fellow officers talking with one another filled the whole office. The centre of the large office was taken up by many computer desks, each officer having his or her own little space thanks to the wonder of cubicle dividers. Only a few lucky and top officers managed to get a whole office to themselves.

"Oh, Sly!" A voice called, and the raccoon turned to see Modesta hurrying up to him. She looked nice today; her curly blonde hair was pulled back into a casual pony-tail with her bangs left hanging down, framing her face. Her white V-neck shirt complimented her willowy shape, and she wore a flowing, knee-length black skirt with inch-high heeled sandals.

"'Morning, Carmelita," She added to the vixen who was standing next to Sly. Carmelita gave a wave as she took a drink of her coffee.

"Find anything out on our thief yet, Modesta?" Sly asked. Modesta's black-tipped ears went back, and she looked a little nervous suddenly.

"Well… no." She said finally after a moment's hesitation. "I looked though. Through the computer files, through the hard files, and I even asked the Chief if he had any files, but… nothing."

"Step into my office," Sly said with a British accent in a business like voice, throwing an arm over her shoulders like a big brother, and leading her along. "We'll talk and figure something out."

Carmelita unlocked the office door, and after stepping inside first, let Sly and Modesta enter. Taking a seat at her desk and Sly taking his usual position leaning up against the desk, Modesta made herself comfortable in the wooden chair facing Carmelita.

"So," Carmelita said, signing into her computer. She moved some papers around on her desk to find a place to put her coffee while it booted up. "What did this thief look like, anyway?"

"She was…" Sly held up a hand near his nose, measuring mentally how tall the thief must've been compared to him. He moved it to his chin, and then said, "About this tall. Skinny, but not anorexic. Nice body; she looked like an athlete."

Carmelita cleared her throat irritably. Sly looked back at her, and smiled.

"Don't worry, Carmelita," He said casually. Then he went back to his description. "Long dark hair… brown, I think, I'm not sure, it was dark. Her eyes were… kinda silverish-blue, and she had a mischievous smile. Generally pretty. Smooth talker, she was, she knew her way with words."

"Clothing description?" Carmelita asked, and Sly could hear a bite of anger in her voice. She was totally jealous. He would make it up to her once Modesta left.

"She was wearing… navy blue. A hat, gloves, knee-high boots, and she carried a cane with a golden hook on the end."

Carmelita stopped typing on her computer and looked up at Sly sharply. He had just basically described what he used to wear while he was a thief. Was this some sort of strange coincidence? Sly looked at her curiously, though he knew perfectly well why she appeared so shocked.

"What's the matter?" He asked. She cleared her throat, and went back to her computer.

"Nothing, nothing…" She said. She hit the enter key, and only came up with one file match, and that was Sly's criminal file. But she definitely knew Sly wasn't this new thief, because he had been chasing them. Besides, he had said the thief was female. "There's nothing here."

"Even with a description?" Modesta asked, her ears pushing back again. "I was just looking through all the records of raccoon thieves, but I didn't find anything on a female thief."

"Wait a second," Sly said suddenly. "When I managed to catch her for a second, she asked if I was the new officer on her case. Then she said she was gonna miss… Macey, I think she said. She said he was a cute guy."

"Macey?" Carmelita asked. "There's no Macey in this branch of Interpol. At least not any male Macey's, anyway."

"Unless it's a nick name." Sly said. Carmelita typed a bit on her computer, and shook her head slightly.

"I don't have police records on my computer," She said. "We'd have to go see the secretary for those."

"I have them on my computer," Modesta said, getting to her feet. "The secretary let me copy them into my hard drive because I did a lot of work on police history."

"Show us," Carmelita said, getting up, and, pilling out of her office again, they all went to Modesta's cubicle. On the way down the hall, they heard some kind of commotion come from an office next to the Chief's. Sly heard Carmelita give a snort.

"J.R. is making a big deal about something again," She said flatly, clearly showing her dislike for Inspector Ralston, but Modesta turned to his door hopefully, her eyes bright.

"Modesta…?" Sly asked curiously. J.R. burst out of his office them, obviously mad. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and really quite handsome, but totally arrogant. Sly didn't much like him, either; he was a bully, and acted like he was the king of Interpol. He was a black and white malamute, and usually walked with his chest puffed out proudly. His hazel eyes made most of the women in the office melt, and Modesta was one of those women. She was so infatuated with J.R., she couldn't string two short words together whenever he was around.

"Stupid idiot Westwood…" J.R. grumbled, storming past Modesta without even seeing her. He saw Carmelita, though, and much to Sly's utmost annoyance, pasted a charming grin on his face. She just raised a brown, and gave him a 'what-the-heck-do-you-want?' look.

"Carmelita," J.R. said in a low voice.

"Hello, Jamison," Carmelita said airily, staring to walk away, but J.R. caught her arm.

"Listen, Fox, I was thinking... maybe you and I could get together this Friday night and… get to know each other better?" He started to drape an arm around Carmelita's shoulders, but Sly stepped in between them, trying to make himself look taller and bigger compared to J.R.

"Sorry," Sly said, trying to keep the annoyance and anger out of his voice. "But she has other plans."

"Hey," J.R. said, looking down at Sly like he was a worm. "Move it, Witt."

"It's Sly," The raccoon snapped, folding his arms across his chest. "And I'm not going to 'move it' until you leave Inspector Fox alone. Obviously she's not interested."

"Why are you speaking for her?" J.R. demanded, getting right in Sly's face. His hazel eyes were full of hatred for Sly. "Afraid you'll lose to me?"

"I don't have anything to lose when it comes to you, Ralston." Sly said smugly. J.R. gritted his teeth.

"You little punk!" He yelled, and made to punch Sly, but he dodged it easily.

"J.R., stop it!" Carmelita yelled, pushing him away from Sly. "I'm already doing something this Friday. So, I'll have to pass, thanks."

"Alright, then," J.R. said, completely forgetting Sly, and turning to gaze at Carmelita with a devilish smirk. "Some other time, then."

'Whatever." Carmelita thought, but she nodded, and said without a hint of enthusiasm, "Some other time."

Giving Carmelita a smile, and then turning to Sly, who was still glaring at him, J.R. snarled, and snapped, "I'll beat you to a pulp some other time, Witt."

"Yeah, hopefully I won't hurt you too bad. I wouldn't want such a stupid idiot like yourself to get brain damage." Sly replied. "And it's Sly."

J.R. walked away without another word. Both Carmelita and Sly heard Modesta give a tiny yet really miserable Sly behind them.

"He didn't even notice me…" She said sadly.

"Believe me, Modesta," Sly said, glaring at J.R. retreating back. He put an arm around Modesta in that big brother way again, and let her on to her cubicle. "You can do so much better than Jamison Ralston. He's a jerk."

"But a really, really hot jerk," Modesta said, a small smile forming on her lips. Sly sighed, but smiled at her.

"Okay," He said. "I'm gonna set you up. Anyone other guy in this office would be perfect for you. They'll treat you properly, unlike J.R."

"And besides," Carmelita added, having completely let stray from her mind that J.R. had just hit on her. "If you go out with J.R., you'll have to tolerate the Chief. J.R.'s his nephew, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Modesta said. "But –"

"No," Sly cut her off. "Trust us, Modesta; we're doing you a favor."

It was a few hours later, and Sly was pacing the floor restlessly behind Modesta's computer chair. Carmelita was looking over the cat's shoulder, looking over the files.

"Macey Cook…" Modesta read aloud. "Macey Robertson… Macey Grey… there's no male Macey's! You're sure this thief said Macey was a guy, right?"

"Yeah, and she said he was cute," Sly said. He stopped his pacing, and tapped the side on his mouth, thinking. Then he gave an aggravated grumble, and messed up his own hair. "I can't think of anything anymore!"

"Try Mace," Carmelita suggested, sitting on Modesta's desk. "Like Sly said earlier, Macey might just be a nickname."

"Okay…" Modesta said, and typed it into the file search, hitting enter. She read off some of the names. "There's a few, but none of these Mace's are in the Paris branch."

"Maybe it's a last name, then," Sly mused, looking over Modesta's shoulder. She tried again, and came up with a few names.

"Alan Mace," She said. "Liam Mace. Lukas Mace. James and Jamie mace."

"No, they're all from different branches," Sly said. He shook his head slightly. "Look for any Mace in Pairs."

"R.H. Mace?" Modesta asked.

"Rob?" Carmelita questioned. "He's a Detective. He should be on big, huge murder cases, not doing Inspector work like tracking a thief."

"Robin H. Mace, eh?" Sly said. "Office 203. That's next to J.R.'s office."

"Well, at least we don't have to hunt around the entire building for him, then, do we?" Carmelita said, sliding off Modesta's desk. "Come, Modesta. We're going to talk to Robin."

Sly lead the way to Robin's office, and he knocked politely on the door. Rob wasn't a really well-known officer because he was out of the office so much. Sly was worried today would be like every day. But he sighed in relief when he heard a British voice from behind the door call, "It's open!"

Sly pushed his way inside. The guy who he suspected to be Robin was sitting at his desk, ruffling through some files.

"Robin Mace?" Sly asked. The guy looked up.

"Yeah, that's me," He said, his English accent obvious. Robin was a red fox, his fur a little darker than Carmelita's. He had deep brown eyes, and a kind smile. He was still wearing his long, worn, brown trench coat. He was leaning back in his chair, looking fairly relaxed, though there was a bemused expression as to why three officers, two of them being beautiful women, were standing in his doorway.

"Nice to meet you, Detective Mace," Sly said politely, walking into the office to shake hands. Robin shook his hand with a firm grip. "I'm Constable Cooper."

"Ah, yes," Robin said, getting to his feet, a big smile on his face. "Inspector Fox's partner. Great work, by the way, Miss Fox, I admire your dedication to your job."

"Thank you, Detective," Carmelita said in slight surprise, but she masked it quickly.

"Why aren't you out of the office today?" Modesta asked.

"No dirty work to put a stop to, I guess," Robin said airily, flashing a friendly smile her way. "Chief hasn't sent me out on a case in a while. This seems kind of odd to me."

"We were meaning to ask you," Sly said suddenly. "It's why we're here, actually… do you have a file on a female raccoon thief?"

Robin laughed at this, and flopped back into his computer chair. "Ringo, you mean?"

"I don't know her name," Sly said. "Modesta saw her leave the Louvre museum last night, and I followed her. It took us a while to figure out who the officer on her case usually was, because she referred to you as 'Macey'."

"Oh, that Ringo, always making jokes and talking in riddles," Robin said, settling back into his chair, and pulling his arms behind his head. "She's quite crafty."

"I know, she out ran me pretty easily, and that doesn't always happen," Sly said, grinning at how relaxed Robin seemed to be about this whole thing. He liked this guy. He obvious knew where his head was, didn't stress over things and didn't think he was higher than anyone else, unlike J.R. who marched around like he owned the place.

"We wanted her file, if possible," Carmelita said. Robin smiled at her.

"I don't have a file on her." He said simply. "I prefer to keep everything in memory. Even after all the years I've pursued Miss Ringo, there's not really much I know about her. So little, in fact, that having a file at this point in time useless."

"Well, could you tell us about her?" Modesta asked.

"She's good at impersonating other people," Robin said. "She likes disguises, and she's good at making herself look like someone else. She's really quite cunning, witty, charming. She certainly knows her way with the opposite sex."

"Ah, a flirty one, is she?" Sly asked, grinning. Yeah, he definitely liked Robin and his view on this Ringo girl.

"A total flirt," Robin said, smiling back. "I'm afraid that's all I have, though."

"Well, it's better than nothing," Carmelita said.

"Thanks for your help, Detective," Sly said, holding his hand out to the fox.

"Call me Robin," He said, giving Sly's had a squeeze before letting go.

"Sly," the raccoon said, and gave a little salute to the fox. "We should work together sometime."

"I'd enjoy that," Robin said. "The isolation with my position is, frankly, quite annoying. It'll be nice having other officers around."

"Just give us a call whenever you need us," Sly said, grinning at him. "See you."

As Sly closed the office door, Carmelita gave it a dirty look.

"He doesn't keep any files on her?" She questioned irritably. "What kind of detective is he? Detectives are supposed to have mountains of files!"

"Relax, Carmelita," Sly said. "It wasn't completely useless. We know her name now."

"I know, but… we don't know where she came from, or… or… anything! Except what she's like." Carmelita complained.

"It's better than nothing," Sly said. Then he turned to Modesta. "Thanks for your help, Modesta. We really needed it."

"No problem," She said with a grin, smoothing her white V-neck shirt. "Just call me whenever you need me, okay?"

"Sure thing," Sly said, and together, he and an irritated Carmelita walked back to their shared office.

Meanwhile, back in Robin's office, once Sly had closed the door, he pulled out a folder from his desk, and flipped it open. There, on the top, was a picture of the thief Sly had seen the night before, paper clipped to all the information he knew of her. Taking the picture, Robin looked at it for a long time, and then whispered, "They're onto you, my darling… what are you doing that's causing other officers to want to track you down?"

A/N: W00t! W00t! W00t! New story!

Wow, okay, this one, I have a HUGE plan for. It's really twisted and full of a whole bunch of little stories… yeah, I like this one, and I think you all will, too. Please tell me what you think, and R&R!

Mishi