Museum, 3:00 a.m.
Loud grunting and ruffled clothing can be heard, as two pig police officers try to shove the old rat thief into the back of their squad car. A few meters away near the museum's entrance stood our favorite crime fighting duo. With them stood a male skunk wearing an odd yellow jumpsuit with a scarf around his neck. He has black fur and hair with a white streak going down both, typical for his species and a thick curling mustache.
"Thank you for allowing Interpol to use your museum for this operation, Mr. Le Paradox." Carmelia extended her arm out for a handshake.
"Yes well, I was simply doing my civic duty as a law abiding citizen." He proclaims in a very posh french accent. But then a light frown migrates onto his face. "I am expecting some form of compensation for all the collateral damages. I was led to believe that this would be a simple and quiet excursion."
The skunk turns to the front entrance and sees one of the officers taking away the sword in an evidence bag. And other officers surrounding the whale skeleton with yellow police tape.
"Though it is sad to say such, these things do tend to happen. But I'm sure that Interpol and your insurance provider will offer you fair enough compensation." Sly explains in a cool and matter of fact way. He knows very well that it won't nearly be enough, but there is nothing he can really do about it.
Not legally anyway.
Le Paradox turns away from the raccoon, giving him the side eye. "I was also assured by commissioner Barkley that he was sending his best officers for this particular operation. With all the destruction it's going to take months if not more, to fix and/or replace the artifacts destroyed in your partner's little shootout."
A cold fury swept over the vixen, she never liked it when her ability of being a competent police officer was called into question.
Brought up too many bad memories.
Sensing the rising hostility from his girlfriend, Sly places a hand on her shoulder. Hoping to stop a confrontation before it even has a chance to start.
Too bad this guy doesn't know when to stop talking. That or he has no self-preservation whatsoever.
Le Paradox eyes Carmelita up and down. "I would think they'd keep someone like you behind the desk." He spoke softly as they're trying to hide it under his breath.
She had a look of murder in her eyes and was ready to lunge forward. To try and salvage the situation Sly stepped in between them. Blocking her view of the skunk with a death wish.
"h-Hey Carmelita! It's getting pretty late and we still have a grumpy Grandpa to check in. I don't know about you, but I would like all of our paperwork done before the sun comes up."
Carmelita looked at her partner for a moment then turns back only to see Le Paradox already walking away, having already said what he needed to say. She stands there growling for a moment watching him walk away. Debating whether or not she should go after him, she decides not to and leaves in a huff.
"¡Pequeño perro!"
The partners in crime fighting make their way off the museum property and into a narrow Street way. Because of the secrecy of the mission and to not scare away the thief, they couldn't Park their police vehicle in the museum parking lot. So the duo had to walk a few blocks.
And tucked away in a crammed alleyway, was a bright red convertible with police lights and the Interpol sigil plastered on the hood. It was a tight squeeze but the fox and raccoon pair were both lengthy enough to make the fit. They both buckled up and pulled out, off to police headquarters.
Carmelita was behind the wheel, focusing on the road and going the exact speed limit. Sly was in the passenger side, his arm propped against the window. The raccoon stared out onto the passing streets, his face forelonged. Something was bothering him but he didn't know how to put his concerns into words yet.
The vixen saw this expression out of the corner of her eye, but didn't make a comment about it. She trusted her partner enough to know that whatever is bugging him, he will come and talk to her about it when he is ready. Plus she's never really been good at bringing up and handling, sensitive and emotional topics.
It's just not her skill set.
The ride to the police station was pretty quick about a 30 minute drive. After making sure that the sword was secure in the evidence locker, and the old thief was put away into the holding cell to await questioning later. The duo made their way upstairs to fill in their field report.
3 years have passed since the Cooper vault job. And 3 years since Sly had to hang up his mask and cane, and fake being an amnesiac. It was a little touch and go in the first year. It took everything that Carmelita had to stop Barkley from throwing the book at him. But the fox finally managed to convince the old badger that Sly can be a valuable asset to them.
And so the commissioner pulled a few strings, and got Sly enrolled in the academy to help him 'relearn' all the skills he had lost. Cooper passed the physical requirements no problem, it was memorizing all of those rules and regulations that got him. Not to mention all of the psychoanalyzing making sure that he was mentally sound for this line work.
Sly was never good at school.
It was a grueling six months but with some hard work (and help from Carmelita), he managed to pass with flying colors. When he graduated and finally started working he started off at the bottom, just a cop on the beat. But Sly proved himself to be a competent officer of the law. Praised for his stellar instincts and ability to think like a criminal.
But it wasn't until he pretty much single-handedly stopped a bank robbery that he was promoted to constable. Sly even earned himself a metal for his heroic deed. A Cooper actually being acknowledged by society that they did something good, can you believe it?
When Sly was first 'officially' assigned to Carmelita as her partner, she requested a larger office space to accommodate them both. Carmelita's tiny corner office just wasn't going to cut it. Now Sly and Carmelita share office room in the middle of the third floor. The duo walked into the room sitting down their stuff and firing up their desktops to start writing their report.
Cop shows make the occupation look so glamorous from the outside. That it's all about shootouts and solving mysteries and catching the bad guy. And to be sure being an Interpol agent does have its fair share of excitement. But it's overshadowed by the mountain of paperwork TV never tells you about.
Sly is about halfway through his report when his fingers stopped moving. He had gotten to the part where after making sure backup was coming. He turned only to find that Carmelita had gone in without him and gotten trapped. Now normally this wouldn't bother him as much if it was just a one-time thing. But she's done this three times since becoming her partner, this being the fourth.
It was starting to worry him.
Sly knows that before becoming her partner Carmelita was used to doing things solo. But they've been partners for quite a while now, and it's starting to offend him. "You know, it was pretty reckless what you did back in the museum." From across the room Carmelita seized typing on her keyboard and looked straight at Sly with a raised brow. "You couldn't have waited at least a minute so we could have taken him down together, you know like we planned."
Sly knows he's letting his emotions get the better of him in the moment. But this has been a long time coming and he can't ignore it now that it's been brought up. "In a minute the perp would have already gotten sword and left by the time that you or backup would have arrived. Going after him by myself was our best bet of catching him, so I took it. Sorry if you missed most of the action but you got to be the hero in the end, so it evens out."
"That is not why I'm bringing this up. The Mortar case, The Clearwolf stake out, The Peacock case and now this. What has gotten into you where you think it's okay to throw yourself head first into danger like this!?" Sly's voice raised a bit at the end there, his fist clenched on the desk looking very upset.
Carmelita glares from her desk, "Well I'm sorry that I have faith in my partner to always have my back. Even when he has very little in me when I'm only up against one perp!"
"This isn't about faith it's about respect! You're still treating me like I'm the rookie you need to look out for. All you're doing is taking needless risk by going in like that, when I'm literally right outside the door!" Sly abruptly stood up and walked around his desk. Carmelita (never wanted to back down from a fight) followed suit and met him halfway.
"So what did you want me to do?! Just let him get away and never find out who's behind the smuggling ring we've been chasing for a month now! Get real Sly, the risk was worth a reward." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared even harder, if that was possible. "You probably would have come sooner but you just had to make your dramatic entrance. I'm not going to stop everything just so you have time to look pretty!"
OH! The nerve of this woman!
"I'm not asking you to stop, I'm asking you to slow down so I can keep up!" Both had reached their boiling point, and one was about to tip over. "Well you never needed to keep up before..."
Carmelita managed to stop herself but the damage has already been done. And just like that all of Sly's anger disappeared and all that was left was guilty sadness. The room was plagued with a suffocating silence.
Sly lamenting on the fact that, yes he was finally with the one who had stolen his heart, what seemed like so long ago now. But can't be happy with her because their entire relationship is based on a selfish lie.
Guess you can't have everything in the end.
AN: Jesus this took forever to write. and even longer to put down in a document. don't know when chapter 3 will be up but I'll try my best.Resa out.