Hello again everyone, Sephiroth 200 here and back with another chapter! Also Happy belated New Year! I meant to have this out on New Year's day or eve, but that didn't quite pan out ^^'. But yes, today's chapters a bit shorter than normal, but I'm getting the ball rolling for Holland. Also, I'm super happy Chronas name was so well received! Anywho, onto today's chapter!

Disclaimer: Sly Cooper is the property (begrudgingly) of Sanzaru games.

Chapter 26: Another Angle

"No no no no!" Bentley said as he crumpled another copy of the Kaine Island specs. It had been a good two months since Australia and the gang took some time to recover. Well, most of them at least. In that time, Bentley devoted his time to cracking Dr. Ms defenses. But as time went on, Bentley soon saw the doctor left almost nothing to chance. And as days quickly turned to weeks, it became an obsession.

His workshop was a complete mess. The floor was completely littered with crumpled blueprints, instant noodle cups, and a sizable pile of energy drink cans. On his workstation a smaller, but still considerable, pile of nubbed pencils could be seen.

As for Bentley himself, the drapes matched the carpet. His eyes had bags from lack of sleep, his usually tidy bow tie was undone, all capped off with a shadow of a beard. And his obsession certainly wasn't doing favors for his mental health, and it was starting to worry the others.

'Gah… there has to be a way… there just has to be…' he thought as he rubbed his head.

"Bentley?" his thoughts were interrupted as he turned to find Neyla standing at the door.

"Go away Neyla, can't you see I'm busy?" he said pulling a fresh copy of the blueprints from the pile. Though this didn't deter the tigress as she approached him. Taking a closer look, she saw him drawing on the schematics. Circling possible entry points, drawing arrows towards weakpoints, and a few seconds later scratching it all out and crumpling it up in frustration.

"This really has your mind by the bollocks doesn't it?" she asked to the turtles annoyance. Though despite this, he let out a deep sigh as he scooted his chair back to face her.

"Like you wouldn't believe… this guy really knew what he was doing." he said rubbing his temples. After a moment he turned his spectacled eyes to her. "So, what brings you here Neyla?" he asked as Neyla closed the door behind her.

"To check on you, and possibly talk some sense into you." she said as she took a seat on Bentleys bed. The turtle softly sighed as he rolled over to her. Once he was close enough, he spoke to her.

"Neyla, do you fully understand what this vault means to Sly?" he asked her, his face taking on its trademark stoicism.

"Of course I do, it means Sly recovers a huge part of his heritage, as well as the biggest payoff in Cooper history." she responded, meeting his gaze. "But I'm sure he doesn't want one of his best friends to go mad in the process" she continued earning a sigh from him.

"What do you want me to do? Just… give up?" he said his reserved tone starting to shatter. Neyla suspected this was something Bentley needed off his chest, so she let him talk while she listened. "Ever since we were little, there's never been anything I couldn't solve." he said as he started letting his frustrations out. "Up to now, there's never been anything I couldn't handle through proper planning. From hacking the most aggressive code, to taking out key targets nothing was ever too much for me!" As he spoke, his walls started to crumble.

Then Neyla saw something she didn't expect. Bentley had started to cry. Bentley did show emotion a great deal of the time, but it was very rare to see him so… vulnerable.

"I need to plan this perfectly…" he said his voice starting to crack. "Because if I make even the tiniest miscalculation… it could cost me the only family I've ever known!" he said as he put his head in his hands. Neyla, however, was stunned by this revelation. She always wondered why Bentleys plans were so carefully prepared, and now she knew why.

Standing up, she walked to him, and gave him a hug. This caught him by surprise, but he offered no resistance. Neyla knew he was right, she had been a prime example of such miscalculations. A few moments later, Bentley returned the hug before they released one another.

"Feel better Bentley?" she asked him, earning a slow nod as he removed his spectacles to clean them.

"I think so." he said putting them back on.

"Good, now it's my turn. Are you willing to listen?" She asked earning a sigh from the turtle.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt, what do you have to say?" he asked, as Neyla took a breath for her talk.

"Well, if the past two months are anything to go by, I'd say this guys as smart if not smarter than you." She said earning a slight frown from him. "I'm just saying, that's not easy to do." She clarified before continuing. "Now then, the way I see it, we just need to find some extra brain power." She finished putting Bentley into deep thought. "You're skills are incredible Bentley, but there's only so much you can do on your own."

After a few minutes Bentley wheeled back to his desk retrieving a new copy of the blueprints and making some notes. Neyla looked at the sight in worry, fearful that she didn't reach him when suddenly.

"That's it!" he said excitedly as he wheeled back to Neyla and handed her the specs he'd been working on. Looking at it she saw several circles, arrows, and various words that were gobbledy gook to her. But most noticeable she saw a series of hand drawn controllers around various areas of the island.

"It… looks great?" Neyla says clearly lost to what exactly she was looking at.

"Let me break it down for you. One of the things we desperately need is aerial support. I usually provide this via my RC chopper." he said motioning to the various defenses. "But despite my current skill, the defenses are too thick, even for me. And that's time that could be better spent with me coordinating the opetation." He continued. "Which means, to help out with aerial support..." he started hoping Neyla understood where he was going.

"We need someone dedicated to the craft." She said in realization, handing the plans back to him.

"Precisely." he continued as he pinned them on the wall above his desk. "It'll take some time, but if we can find a specialist of that caliber, it'll make planning this that much easier." he finished with a grin on his face. Neyla noticed that his mood seemed lighter, not as urgent as it had been before.

"Now then, if you'll excuse me… I need to clean up." he spoke now seemingly fully aware of the poor state his room was in.

"Of course, I'll be around if you need me." Neyla said as she walked towards the door.

"And Neyla?" Bentley spoke causing her to stop and turn to him. "Thanks for the talk, I know I can be as stubborn as Sly sometimes." he said smiling at her, earning him a smile in return.

"Anytime Bentley." she said as she exited the room and towards her own. Entering her room, she found Sly passed out on her bed, the Thievius Raccoonus open on his chest. She smiled giving a soft chuckle, as she walked to him and carefully took and closed the ancient tome.

Setting it on her desk, she got dressed into her night clothes and laid next to him. In seconds she felt her lovers arms wrap protectively around her waist. Letting off a soft giggle she looked at his face and smiled.

'he's so handsome when he's asleep.' she thought as she rested her head on his chest, letting loose a gentle sigh. 'I wonder if he knows how much Bentley cares for him… for all of us.' She continued. Holding her beloved close to her, she smiled.

'What did I do to deserve such a wonderful family?' she thought, as she kissed Slys cheek and closed her eyes to sleep.

And that wraps this chapter up. I REALLY wanted to bring the Story bit to my usual 2K but it sort of backfired on me. But I do have a lot of stuff planned for it this year! Also, in honor of the new year I updated my profile, with a hint towards my next project. Till then, I hope you guys enjoyed, please leave a review, and I'll see you guys next time!