Thieves United

Disclaimer: Sadly, no. I don't own Sly Cooper.

Though, I wish I did...

PARIS, FRANCE: 6:30 AM
The next morning, Sly paced anxiously around his kitchen, waiting for Carmelita. He heard a horn beep outside the building, and he looked out his kitchen window and saw her car parked outside. Grabbing his badge and his keys, Sly pulled open his apartment door, locked it behind him, and then sprinted down the hallway to the elevator. Once he was outside the building, he pulled open the passenger side door of the car, and scrambled in.

"You're fairly awake this morning," Carmelita observed as Sly pulled on his seat belt. "What happened to the bed-head guy I knew before last night?"

"I'm just… excited, that's all," Sly said, giving the vixen a smile. "We found Ringo! Now all we have to do is ask Robin why he was with her last night."

"Why didn't we just arrest her?" Carmelita asked as she pulled the car into the traffic.

"I didn't want to make a scene," Sly explained.

"Oh, okay." Carmelita replied, giving a little laugh. They drove on towards the Interpol Headquarters.

Penelope was sitting on the couch in the hideout, mulling over Bentley's plan. Why did he keep calling Ringo back? She was…. So annoying! She was rude, arrogant, coincided… Penelope didn't see why Bentley thought she proved to be such a help to the gang. So, sure, she was a very skilled thief, especially now since Bentley let her read the Thievius Raccoonus. But Penelope still didn't like her.

"The Diamond is still there," Bentley said, sounding cheerful. "My cameras show me that all the security around it is still active. And Sly should be meeting us tomorrow afternoon."

"Providing Merah Ringo actually gave him the message," Penelope muttered. Bentley frowned and wheeled his way over to her.

"What's the matter, Penelope?" Bentley asked, sounding like he was really concerned. Penelope glanced at him over her glasses, and she took them off, cleaning them with the sleeve of her yellow shirt before putting them back on.

"I don't know, I just don't think Ringo is… going to go through with this." Penelope said. "I mean, how do we know she isn't the thief who wants to steal the Diamond?"

"If she was, she would have tried to already, and I would have seen her on my cameras," Bentley said reassuringly, taking Penelope's hand and smiling at her. She just sighed, and Bentley tried to cheer her up. "Don't worry, Penelope. Merah will get this done. Sly will meet us tomorrow afternoon, and he'll be back in the gang."

Penelope gave him a smile, and then leaned in to kiss the turtle on the cheek. "Alright. I trust ya."

No sooner than Sly and Carmelita stepped off the elevator had Modesta come running up to them, looking a little frantic.

"Hombre…" She breathed in Spanish, taking a deep breath.

"What's the matter, Modesta?" Carmelita asked.

"Robin asked me to give you this note, Sly," Modesta said to the raccoon, handing him a slip of paper. "Ringo gave it to him, and she asked him to give it to you."

"Why would Ringo want to give me a note?" Sly asked.

"I don't know," The cat replied, her tail swishing back and forth anxiously. "But the Chief found out about Robin hanging around with her last night, and he's furious. He's talking to Robin now, and I've already been yelled at."

"Why did he yell at you?" Carmelita asked. Modesta pressed her ears back.

"He yelled at me because I was one of the officers trying to get Ringo's file." She said. "He knows you two were trying to get it, too. He's mad at us because we were trying to get the file for a case that wasn't ours. And he knows you were out clubbing last night at the same place Robin was with Ringo."

"How did he –" Sly started, but Modesta cut him off.

"Robin told him he saw you there together," She said.

"Is he going to get fired for hanging around with a criminal?" Sly asked in a hushed voice. He didn't want Robin to get fired. Modesta just continued to swish her tail.

"He told the Chief he was trying to catch her off guard to arrest her, but she figured him out and got away before he could," She said. "Why didn't you arrest her when you saw her?"

"I didn't want to make a scene," Sly said, repeating what he had told Carmelita earlier. "And it's Robin's case."

"Well, the Chief is angry at you for two reasons," Modesta said warningly. "One, for butting into a case that didn't belong to us, and two, for not taking a race of action when the opportunity to arrest said case arose."

Sly sighed. "I'll deal with him. Thanks for the note."

"Good luck with the chief," Modesta said, and she slunk away to her office. Carmelita sighed, and shook her head.

"The Chief shouldn't be getting angry at us," She said.

"I agree," Sly replied, looking at the slip of paper in his hand.

"But I guess he has his reasons. Modesta's right, butting into a case that didn't belong to us was pretty unacceptable, especially since we didn't ask Robin's permission first." Carmelita said.

"But it's not like he refused to tell us anything when we asked, right?" Sly said, looking at the vixen.

"True," Carmelita said. "We'll just have to tell the Chief everything. Sly nodded, and then looked down at the slip of paper in his hand again. He unfolded it, and saw it was written in a neat script. It read:

Sly,

Bentley and the others want to meet you tomorrow night at a café called 'La Café Petite'. Come alone. This is very important, so don't let them down. They really need your help.

I'll come and beat you myself if you don't show up for them.

Truly,

M. Ringo

Receiving the note from Merah was really strange. Especially since it said 'This is very important, so don't let them down'. Why would Merah care so much about what Bentley and the gang wanted? It didn't make sense. But this was the perfect opportunity for me to see the guys again. I've really missed them for a while. I'd just have to find a way to go without Carmelita, or any other cops, finding me out. I'm supposed to have amnesia, remember?

I really wish I knew what was going on with all of this…

Sly Cooper In:

Former Friends, Former Life

Sly reread the note a few times. So… Bentley wanted to meet him at La Café Petite tomorrow? Sly smiled to himself. Good. He could ask the turtle questions about Merah.

"Bentley…?" Carmelita's voice muttered in his ear, and Sly jumped in surprise, crumpling the note into a ball, stuffing it into his pocket, and turning around to face her, all in one fast movement. She looked at him in puzzlement for a minute, and then she realized how quickly he had hid the note. He didn't have amnesia! Her eyes grew as wide as teacup saucers, and then they narrowed in anger.

"SLY!" She yelled, putting her hands on her hips.

"COOPER!" The Chief's voice roared from his office, right after Carmelita had yelled his name.

"You lied to me!" Carmelita yelled again, getting right in a very nervous Sly's face.

"You're in big trouble, raccoon!" The Chief roared again. It was weird. It almost seemed like the Chief was saying the words Carmelita was thinking. By the icy glare she was giving him, he was in big trouble with her, too.

"We'll talk about this later," Sly said to her quietly, trying to his voice down so no one would hear, but everyone in the office was already watching him from Carmelita's and the Chief's yells.

"No kidding!" Carmelita snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. Sly winced. He hated seeing her angry like this, especially at him. Giving her an apologetic look, Sly made his way to the Chief's office.

"Step inside, Cooper," The Chief said gruffly, holding the door open for Sly. He stepped into the office reluctantly, and the Chief slammed it closed behind him.

Chief Jacey Callum Ralston was a portly dog. His fur was a light brown with graying fur around the muzzle, giving him a moustache. His ears were pointed, and stuck up, like his nephew J.R.'s, and he held a cigar between his teeth. Sly could see flakes of ashes littered around the Chief's desk and ashtray. One thing everyone should know about the Chief is that he never heard anything unless it was what he wanted to hear. Meaning, for example, if Sly were to say at that very moment, "I hate your nephew's guts!" the Chief would reply with, "Yes, Cooper, you are in trouble."

"Constable Cooper, I understand that recently, as of two nights ago, you've been trying to find out information about a thief, is that correct?" Chief Jacey asked.

"Yes, sir, it is correct," Sly answered, standing up strait.

"And you continued to try and find out information about said thief, even after you knew another officer already had their case, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then tell me why, Cooper," Chief Jacey said, taking a huge puff on his cigar before stubbing it out in his ashtray. "You didn't drop the matter after you found out Detective Mace was already on the case?"

"It was… merely a personal issue, sir." Sly replied slowly. Chief Jacey raised a bushy eyebrow.

"Interpol Officers don't chase thieves or criminals for 'Personal Issues', Constable Cooper." He said curtly. Then he sighed, and lit his cigar again, obviously not remembering he had just put it out. "Tell me exactly what happened after you got the call to track this thief."

"Well," Sly started, taking a deep breath. "Inspector Fox and I were just leaving the Louvre museum when Constable Tavita called us, reporting a thief. We were closer to the area of the thief at the time. I went after the criminal on foot, and chased her, noticing that…"

"Noticing what?" The Chief snapped.

"Noticing that she was carrying a cane." Sly said, figuring it was better not to lie. Well… he wouldn't tell the whole truth, either. "The cane looked familiar to me, sir, so I wished to figure out more about the thief to find who she was. She asked me if I was a new officer on her case, and then she remarked that she would miss 'Macey'. I didn't know who Macey was, so I asked for Inspector Fox and Constable Tavita to help me figure it out. We found Macey was Detective Mace, so we went to ask him about the thief. He told us her name, and a few of her personality traits, but that was all."

"Did you stop looking for information after that?" Chief Jacey asked.

"Not… exactly, sir." Sly replied. "Inspector Fox helped me with her computer to see if we could find out a little bit more, now that we knew her name. Then we made plans for dinner, and I took her dancing –"

"Need I remind you, Cooper, that Interpol Officers do not support 'Personal Issues'?"

"It… wasn't for work, sir," Sly said. "Inspector Fox and I just wanted… an outing together, that's all."

"Then why was Robin Mace at the same club you and Inspector Fox were?"

"It wasn't just Detective Mace, Chief." The raccoon said, feeling a little bit of happiness swell up inside of him. If the Chief didn't support 'Personal Issues', then he wouldn't support his nephew being at the club, either. "Inspector Ralston was there, too, with another officer from America. Westwood, I think his name was."

The Chief didn't say anything about this matter, so Sly scratched his head, and kept going.

"Anyway, Inspector Ralston and Westwood were there, and it wasn't until later we saw Detective Mace with his date for the evening."

"Describe her," Chief Jacey ordered.

"Uh… about…" He held his hand up to his chin, like he did two days ago when describing Merah Ringo to Carmelita and Modesta. "This tall. Slender, a little on the skinny side. Beautiful, charming. She was a raccoon…"

"His date was the thief Merah Ringo, was it not?" Chief Jacey asked. Sly nodded.

"Yes, sir," He said.

"Did you talk to Robin at all yesterday evening while on your 'outing'?"

Sly hesitated. He didn't want to get Robin into trouble… He was a good guy. Sly thought back on Robin's lie, wanting to catch Ringo off guard to arrest her. Sly shook his head in response to the Chief's question.

"No, Chief," He said. "I didn't speak to Detective Mace at all last night. We waved to each other, that was all."

The Chief sighed. "Very well. Thank you, Cooper. You're cut from whatever part you had in Merah Ringo's case, however. Stick to your own cases, hm?"

"Of course, sir," Sly said, and he turned to leave the office. Chief Jacey didn't stop him, so Sly opened the door, and let himself out. Carmelita was pacing in front of the door, waiting for him. When she saw him, she snorted, grabbed him by the wrist, and dragged him down the hallway to her own office.

She shoved him inside with great force she had always used when they were on opposite sides of the law, and slammed the door closed behind her. Sly's tail twitched about anxiously.

"You… have got… a lot of explaining to do." Carmelita said with forced calm, but Sly could still pick out the anger in every word she spoke. "I… I don't get it, Sly. Why?"

"Carmelita –" Sly started softly, trying to put a hand on her shoulder to calm her, but she whacked it away.

"You lied to me, Cooper!" She snapped, blowing up, and Sly winced. The way she had said his name with such detest was… painful. "You lied; you told me you couldn't remember anything!"

"I was going to tell you sometime," Sly said softly.

"When?" Carmelita yelled, sounding almost frantic. "When were you going to tell me? When I was on my deathbed? How can I trust you, now?"

"Hey, you trusted me last night," Sly pointed out, letting a little anger creep into his voice.

"Last night, I didn't know you were still a thief!" Carmelita countered. "Once a thief, always a thief!"

"Then explain to me, Carmelita, why I've been by your side for all these months?" Sly asked quietly. "Explain to me why nothing has been stolen, except for petty thefts by teenaged kids? Explain to me why I haven't committed one single act of theft this whole time since Dr. M's island? Tell me why, Carmelita."

She didn't say anything. So, Sly continued.

"I gave it up." He said. "I gave it up because of you."

"Why?" She asked finally.

"Before I 'lost my memories', Dr. M was crushing me to death with one his genetics experiments gone wrong. I thought I was going to die, then. And all I could think about was you." Sly said, his voice still quiet. Carmelita was just staring at him, her face expressionless. "I was a coward towards you all the years you chased me. I was manipulative, and I used you so many times. The thing I wanted most at that moment, when I thought I was at the end, was to put our professional differences aside, and come out and tell you how I felt. I never got the chance. When Dr. M threatened to hurt you, and I took the blast, I honestly thought that was the end of me. But I woke up, and I saw you. I decided then it was time to take the next step. I faked loosing my memories. And you told me a fake story."

Carmelita opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out, so she closed it again. Sly watched her for a minute, and he smiled, laughing softly.

"If you think about it," He said. "You kind of lied to me, too."

"How did I lie to you?" Carmelita demanded.

"You thought I actually had lot my memories," Sly said, grinning at her. "When I asked who I was, you told me I was your partner. So, in a way, you lied to me, too."

"I…" Carmelita said hesitantly. Then she sighed, and muttered, "I didn't want to arrest you. I never wanted to arrest you. I just…"

She made an irritated noise, and went over to the window, gazing out of it. Sly watched her, a small smile playing on his lips. He had known it all along. Carmelita loved him. He had known it ever since the beginning, when he had kissed her all those years ago in Russia after the Clockwerk fiasco. Walking up to stand next to her, he looked out of the window, too. A young couple was strolling down the street, holding hands, and laughing together.

"Remember the ten second head-start you gave me?" He asked softly.

"When you handcuffed me to the railing?" She asked darkly. Sly chuckled.

"I felt bad for leaving you there."

"Bull."

"I did," Sly said seriously. When she didn't look at him, or say anything, Sly sighed, and hung his head for a minute before looking at her again. "I'm sorry I pretend to have amnesia, Carmelita. I wanted to get closer to you, on new terms. I wanted a relationship between us to start, but… I'm just sorry. For everything I've done to mess it all up between us."

Carmelita finally looked at him then. Her eyes were still narrowed in anger, but it wasn't as strong as it had been before.

"Apology accepted." She said, and walked towards her desk.

"So… I'm still your partner, right?" Sly asked hopefully. Carmelita sniffed.

"Yeah," She said flatly. "You are. This has to be kept a secret, though, if anyone finds out you still remember everything, you'll be arrested in two seconds."

"I wouldn't dream of telling anyone," Sly said. "So, now that we have this cleared up, I think I should tell you that I've decided to go meet Bentley tomorrow evening at eight PM."

"If I catch wind of you stealing anything…" Carmelita warned, her eyes narrowing at him again.

"I won't," He said. "I promise. I'm not a thief anymore. I'm a cop."

"Fine." Carmelita said, and sat down in her computer chair. Sly went over to her then, and took her hands like he'd done the day before, pulling her to her feet, and putting his arms around her waist. Carmelita had just let him control her until he slipped his arms around, and she pushed against his chest. "What are you doing?"

Sly leaned in, and kissed her. Carmelita was so shocked; she thought her heart had stopped beating. But after the initial shock wore off, she relaxed in Sly's embrace, and kissed him back. She felt Sly's hand come up, and he gently stroked her curly hair. After a minute, Sly pulled away from her, and he just smiled.

"That was to make up for all the trouble I've caused you," He said, letting her go. He started to go and sit in his usual spot in the wooden chair across from her desk, but she grabbed his arm, making him look at her sharply. To his surprise, Carmelita was smiling. In a rather… oddly, cunning way.

"One kiss won't be enough to make up for all the trouble you've caused me over the years, Sly," She said softly. Sly was a little shocked at her reaction, but then found himself smiling.

"So, would another kiss do?" He asked, letting his arms slip around her waist again.

"I'll decide later," She said. Then, chuckling softly, Sly leaned in, and kissed her again.

A/N: Aww… how cute! Sly and Carmelita. I love this couple. They were just made for each other.

Aaaanyway, I hoped you liked this chapter. Next one coming soon!

R&R!