When Sly had finally arrived back at the Safe House, he was greeted by a frowning Bentley, who was tapping his foot against the floor annoyingly with his arms folded across his shell, giving Sly an unpleasant look. "So, care to explain why Rai came back to the hideout in tears?" He asked.

Sly sighed. "Look, all I did was kiss her neck so Carmelita wouldn't find us, that's all."

"Uh-huh..." Bentley replied, unconvinced.

"It's true!" Sly defended himself. "This time, I'm actually telling the truth!"

Bentley stared at Sly, and just from the look in his eyes, he could see that, for once, Sly was actually telling him the truth, causing the turtle to sigh. "Alright, fine, I believe you, this time." He said.

Sly sighed in relief. "Thank God..."

"Now then, feel free to try and fix your mistake." Bentley gestured towards Rai's room.

"Where is she?" Sly asked.

"She locked herself in the bathroom and has been crying in there ever since her return. Neither Murray nor myself have been able to coax her into coming out since she got back, so you're free to try your luck."

"I'll see what I can do..." Sly said before heading into Rai's room.

Meanwhile, Rai was sat on the floor in her bathroom, her back pressed against the locked door with her arms wrapped around herself. She just sat there, her knees tucked into her chest as her tears stained her fur, sniffling a bit. As Rai sat on the floor, the images of her and Sly flashed in her mind again, the fox flinching as she unconsciously clamped her hand over her neck, as she had done earlier before running off. Rai could still feel that sensation of Sly's lips, his tongue, his teeth, even his breath against her neck, her hand clenching a bit around that spot. She knew full well that Sly was a different person, but even so, that didn't excuse what he did to her, and without her permission on top of that. Rai tensed up as those memories she tried so desperately to forget about flashed in her mind again, slamming her eyes shut.

"Please...! Just let this torment end...!" She begged in a hushed, yet trembling voice. "I just want to forget, forget it all..."

Knock, knock, knock

Rai visibly jumped when she heard knocking on the bathroom door, glancing back toward the door with caution. "Wh-who...?"

"Hey, Rai?"

The fox had settled a bit upon realizing that it was only Sly at the door, but still turned away, pressing her back against the door once again. "Go away..." She said in a saddened voice.

"Look, I just wanna talk." Sly tried to reason.

"I have nothing more I want to say to you, Sly... You knew what you did and knew full well that wasn't the best course of action, so leave me alone." Rai said, sniffling softly.

"Then you don't have to talk, just listen." He replied, sighing. "Look, I didn't know, okay? But in my defense, you didn't say much about yourself to begin with, so how was I supposed to know that what we did would set you off?"

"You still don't just do that to someone, Sly, that's what you're not getting." Rai retorted. "I know I didn't tell you much about myself, and for good reason, because in case you haven't noticed, I'm not just some open book for you to flip through."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that, but I—"

"Don't try to justify what you did! You knew that was wrong!" Rai cut him off.

"I'm not, but in the heat of the moment, I just acted. I wasn't thinking because I didn't want us to get caught by Carmelita, so I just acted on a whim, I guess you could call that."

Rai was silent for a moment, sniffling again. "You could've at least warned me..." She then said. "What you did, it..." Rai tensed up. "...it really freaked me out."

"Yeah, I know, and I'm sorry... I honestly didn't know that it would affect you like this. I wouldn't have done it otherwise had I known this would be the outcome of my actions..."

Rai just sat there on the floor, her back still pressed against the door as she listened to Sly's apology, and even though she couldn't see it, she could definitely hear the truth he spoke in that sorrowful tone of his. The fox thought to herself for a moment, knowing that had she told Sly more about herself, maybe then he wouldn't have done what he did to scare her like that. Still though, he was a ladies man, that much she was still very aware of, so if he had the chance to pull a stunt like that, then why wouldn't he? Although, at the very least, now knowing her reasoning behind it, Sly didn't mean to scare Rai on purpose, so she had to give him the benefit of the doubt if anything... And so, with a heavy sigh, Rai dropped her hand from her neck as she grabbed onto the counter, getting back on her feet. The fox then turned toward the mirror, gazing at her reflection. Her eyes were a bit red and puffy from her crying, as well as her tears staining her scarlet colored fur. Rai lifted a hand and sloppily rubbed her fur with the back of her hand before giving a small sniffle. After clapping her hands against her cheeks and letting out another sigh to calm herself down, Rai finally unlocked the door, pulling it open to see the worried expression displayed on Sly's face. Once the door was open and the two were face to face, there was a long moment of silence between them, Rai avoiding Sly's gaze as she kept her eyes trailed on the floor whilst nervously fumbling with her fingers.

Finally though, Rai draw in a breath, breaking the silence between them. "Don't you ever pull a stunt like that again without saying something first, got it?"

Sly sighed a bit in relief, giving a nod. "Yeah, alright, I get it, message received."

"Good." Rai replied.

There was another moment of silence between them, neither of them meeting the other's gaze this time. The air between the two just seemed so thick that you could almost cut it with a knife as neither of them dared to say a word. It was then though that, almost out of the blue, Rai practically fell against Sly's chest, pressing her hands against his torso, which obviously surprised the raccoon greatly.

"Whoa! Hey, Rai, are you okay?" He asked worriedly, placing his hands against Rai's arms, almost as if to steady her.

"I'm alright, just...a little tired, that's all." She replied. "Would it be alright if I stayed right here for just a little bit? I've been feeling very fatigued ever since we arrived..."

"Um, yeah, okay, I guess..." Sly hesitantly replied, swallowing the lump in his throat.

As Rai stood there, her head pressed against Sly's chest, she allowed her eyes to flutter closed, listening to Sly's heart quietly beating. For some reason, he feels different then... Rai paused for a brief moment. Sly feels more...gentle, and warm.

After a few more moments, Rai pushed away from Sly. "I think I'm going to lay down..."

"Uh, yeah, sure, okay. It's been a long day anyway..." Sly nervously agreed. "I'll, uh... I'll just...go." He then turned and made a hasty retreat.

"Hey, Sly?" Rai called after him.

Sly paused just as he reached to door, glancing back toward the fox. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry...about earlier."

"Yeah, I'm...I'm sorry too." Sly then said. "Just...get some rest, okay?"

Rai gave a small nod before Sly finally exited the room, closing the door behind himself.

Once Sly was gone, Rai let out a sigh as she made her way over toward her bed. She reached over and grabbed her backpack, pulling the zipper open as she began to dig around in her bag, until she finally pulled out her tank top, night shorts, and a pair of clean underwear, tossing them on the bed. "I should just shower and get some rest..." She said aloud, grabbing her clothes as she went back into the bathroom.

Once Rai had closed the door, she set her clothes down on the counter and grabbed a set of towels, setting them down as well. Rai then turned on the water for the shower, and while it was heating up, she stripped out of her thief outfit, haphazardly tossing her clothes onto the floor before stepping into the shower, not even turning to see her own reflection this time. When the fox was in the shower, she exhaled through her nose, rolling her neck while rubbing her tense shoulders.

It doesn't feel like I'm getting better, it feels like I'm only getting worse the longer I'm here, trying to fix this mess... I just can't understand why the things Sly did affected me the way they did... I understand that he doesn't intend to hurt me, I get that, but still... Has what happened back then really damaged me that much?

Rai shook her head. "I shouldn't be letting this bother me so much... It happened years ago, so I should be over this by now, and yet..."

The fox sighed, irritably grabbing the shampoo bottle as she proceeded to wash her hair. After Rai had frustratingly washed both her hair and body, she turned the water off, pushing the curtain back. Rai gathered up all of her long, thick hair and squeezed as much water out of it as she could before giving her body a quick shimmy, thereby shaking off a good portion of the water from her fur. Once her body was fairly damp, Rai grabbed one of the towels and wrapped it around her hair, using the other to wrap around her body. She then used her towel to rub away all the water from her body, shaking one more time just for good measure before she began to dress herself. When the fox was dressed, she removed the towel from her hair before grabbing some detangling spray and spritzing it into her long locks, running her fingers through it a couple of times. Once the fox was finally dressed and her damp hair was left out to dry, she exited the bathroom, heading over to the bed. Rai took her backpack and put her thief outfit back into it before setting the bag down on the floor. With that, the fox pulled the covers on the bed back and climbed into bed, exhaling through her nose.

These past couple of days have been stressful... Maybe getting some sleep will help to clear my mind... She thought to herself hopefully as her eyes slid closed.

"Kisara, where are we going?" Rai asked impatiently as Kisara was pulling her by the arm. "I seriously don't have time for games, I've got a job I need to finish."

"Come on, this won't take long, I promise!" Kisara reassured.

Rai sighed irritably. "Well, hurry up, because I don't have all day..."

Kisara gave an enthusiastic nod whilst still dragging Rai along. Soon enough though, the two reached a room, the black cat pushing open the door to reveal a large bedroom before them, of which, Rai just raised an eyebrow. "Umm, Kisara? Isn't this Rajan's room?" She asked concerningly.

Kisara nodded with a smile. "Yup! Nice, huh? Man, India has some pretty sweet duds, don't ya think?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever, but I think we should go before we're caught in here." Rai rushed, turning to leave the room.

"No, wait!" Kisara quickly grabbed Rai's wrist as she pulled the fox back into the room.

Rai groaned irritably. "Kisara, I don't have time for these games right now. I have a job that I need to finish, and on top of that, I'm pretty certain that we're not supposed to be in this room, now let go of me so I can go get my stuff done." She said, tugging her wrist away.

"Ahem..."

"Ugh...?!" Rai suddenly gasped, glancing back to see someone standing at the door.

Crap! When the hell did Rajan get here?! Rai thought in a panic, hastily fumbling to put her mask on before her face was seen.

"Ah, Rajan! There you are!" Kisara smiled as if it were nothing.

"What is it you want with me, Kisara?" Rajan asked, almost impatiently.

Rai then paused, still turned away from the tiger who was leaned against the door frame of the room, his arms crossed. Wait... Kisara asked him to come here? Then why did she bring me as well if she wanted to talk with Rajan? She thought confusingly.

"Impatient as ever, I see... Well, no matter, because I have something for you that should make your trip worth your while."

"Hm? What are you going on about?" Rajan questioned, unconvinced of what Kisara promised.

It was then though that the mischievous kitty smirked, quickly grabbing Rai by the wrist as she spun her around, only to pin her arm behind her back in between her shoulder blades, the fox grimacing. "U-ugh?! Kisara! What are you...doing?!"

"I present to you, Rajan, the Scarlet Rose herself." Kisara gestured.

Rai's eyes suddenly widened. Wh...what!?

Rajan then smirked. "Oh? Well, I must say, this certainly is a pleasant surprise, especially coming from you, Kisara."

Kisara chuckled. "Well, I do tend to keep my promises when it comes to certain agreements, so this was no different. The only condition I have for this arrangement is that I ask for you to, at the very least, treat her nicely, alright?"

Rai then began to struggle. "Kisara, you damn traitor! Let go of me!" She shouted.

Kisara chuckled again. "Ooh~ You got feisty all of a sudden. Well, let's fix that, shall we?"

Suddenly, without warning, Kisara had swiped her leg over, kicking Rai's feet out from under her, but before she could fall, Kisara quickly threw the fox onto the nearby bed, pinning her hands above her head. Rai growled, beginning to struggle in another feeble attempt to free herself. "Goddamn you, Kisara, get off me!" She hissed.

Kisara just smirked, shifting her grip so that she was holding onto Rai's wrist with one hand as she reached for her belt. It was then though that Kisara pulled out a set of handcuffs, which she then proceeded to use to shackle Rai's wrist around one of the bed rails. Once her wrists were clasped in place, Kisara drew back, chuckling sinisterly as she gazed down at the struggling fox for a moment. "Well, now that you're not going anywhere, I think it's time I made my leave and let the two of you have some fun. Although, just one more thing is missing, or...should be missing."

Kisara then smirked sinisterly as she reached down, only to remove Rai's mask from her face as she tossed it to the floor, the fox struggling. "Kisara! Damn you! Give me back my mask!" Rai growled.

The cat merely smirked climbing off of the fox. "Why would I do that when it's much more fun to see that look of fear in your eyes as you scream? But try not to fret, love. Soon enough, you'll have your precious mask back, once Rajan allows it, I mean." She chuckled. "Well then, my work here is done, so I'll leave the two of you for some quality "alone time." Ciao, darling~" Kisara winked as she head for the door.

"KISARA!" Rai screamed, yanking on the cuffs binding her.

Just before Kisara exited the room, she stopped just next to Rajan, glancing back at Rai as she spoke. "Just try not to treat her too roughly, alright? I mean, this is going to be her first time, after all, so be gentle." And with that, Kisara left the room without another room.

Meanwhile, Rai was tugging and pulling on the cuffs that were shackling her to the bed, growling in pure rage. That backstabbing bitch! I swear on my parent's grave that once I get out of here, that damn cat is going to know pain so horrible, she'll beg me for death! I swear it!

"Well now, shall we get started, my lovely rose."

Rai gasped, freezing in place as the realization of her situation suddenly hit her. Rai's gaze quickly flicked over toward Rajan, who was making his way towards her with a lustful smirk plastered on his face as he eagerly began to lick his lips. In that moment, fear began to set in, Rai beginning to struggle harder. "N-no! Stay away from me! Don't come any closer!" She exclaimed in panic.

Rajan climbed onto the bed, hovering above the fox. He gave a delighted growl as he leaned in towards her, grabbing onto her face, which caused Rai to flinch slightly. "My, my, how that mischievous little cat has managed to bless me with such a treasure." He purred.

Rai just glared. "Get away from me..." She hissed.

It was then though that Rai felt his clawed hand press against her waist, causing her to flinch again as it slid up her stomach until it was right under her top, quickly pulling it over her head to reveal her voluptuous chest and black bra. Rai grit her teeth, tugging her face away from Rajan's hand to turn toward the side, almost as if to look away from the scene she was forced to endure. She then felt her belt being removed next along with her pants being unbuttoned, squirming as the zipper was slowly pulled down. "Stop it!" She pleaded. "Don't touch me!"

Rajan gave a pleased growl as he ripped her pants from her legs, her boots joining them as well to reveal Rai's matching black panties. She quickly pressed her thighs together tightly, trying to bury her face into her shoulder. "Please, stop...!" She begged, her voice breaking.

It was then though that Rai's eyes snapped open when she felt Rajan roughly grab onto the front of her bra, causing her to gasp when it was yanked upwards to join her top, fully revealing her breasts. "Stop it!" Rai pleaded again, tears burning in her eyes as her dignity was slowly and painfully being stripped away from her.

Rai then gasped when she felt Rajan grip onto one of her exposed breasts, roughly fondling it as he began to leave aggressive kisses all along her body. In that moment, Rai couldn't stop the tears that filled her eyes, clenching her teeth together until they began to grind a bit. This bastard was really about to take advantage of Rai, literally giving her no means of escaping, and all because she trusted Kisara, again... Rai cringed when she felt Rajan kissing up her body until he reached her ear, giving it a quick nip, which caused her to visibly flinch.

"So beautiful..." Rajan purred. "Do not worry, my precious little flower, I won't hurt you too much."

"G-get away from me..." Rai said in a trembling voice, but there was just no anger left in her to back up her words, only fear - pure, unadulterated terror...

Rajan smirked. "So, you still have a bit of fight left in you, is that right? Well then, perhaps then it's time that this rose...get clipped."

Her tears burned, Rai slamming her eyes shut as those hot tears slipped down her cheeks. "NOOOO!" She screamed.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Rai's eyes shot open, bolting upright as she screamed at the top of her lungs. She was beginning to hyperventilate, her body completely shook with fear. Rai quickly scanned around her while wildly touching her body, only to find that she was still in her room in India in the cave her and the gang found, still dressed in her pajamas. She began to relax a little upon that realization, but that fear never left her body. Rai couldn't help but wrap her arms around herself, her body trembling violently as she sat there in the darkness. That horrid dream - no, that nightmare she had just felt so damn real, and that's what scared her the most.

Damn it! That damn nightmare again! Goddamn it! She cursed herself. When will these horrible memories stop haunting me? How long...? How do I have to suffer before I'll finally be set free from this eternal hell? Just how long will these memories continue to torment me?

"Rai! Hey, what's the matter?!"

"Ugh?!" Rai quickly lifted her gaze, only to see Sly had suddenly burst into her room in a panic, worry clearly etched onto his face. "S-Sly...?"

"Hey, I heard you scream. Is something wrong? What happened? Are you alright?" He rambled off questions in his concern.

Rai stared at Sly for a long moment, until tears filled her eyes, quickly turning away from him. "Please, just...just go. I'll...I'll be fine." She replied, her voice trembling.

Sly could clearly tell just by Rai's breaking voice that she was definitely not alright, seeming on the verge of collapse. Slowly, Sly began to approach the fox, carefully seating himself on her bed. He then cautiously reached out towards her, Rai visibly flinching when Sly's fingertips gently grazed her cheek. "Hey, Rai... Come on, look at me..." He gently urged.

Slowly and hesitantly, Rai turned her gaze toward Sly, revealing her teary emerald eyes, but he could clearly see the fear displayed behind those tears of hers. "What happened?" He then asked.

Rai shook her head, closing her eyes. "I-I can't...!"

"Hey, hey, calm down, it's alright." Sly cooed, gently placing his hands against her cheeks. "It's okay, you don't have to be afraid. I won't hurt or judge you, I promise, just tell me what happened, alright?"

Rai slowly opened her eyes, her gaze meeting those hazel colored hues of Sly's, finding a sort of gentleness behind them. She gazed into Sly's eyes for a moment before sniffing, lowering her head a bit. "I-it's just...I had a nightmare."

"What happened?" Sly asked gently.

"It was about Kisara and...Rajan." Rai tensed up, gripping onto her arms tighter. "I...I don't wanna say anything more. It's just...too painful to even think about - what he...what he did to me...!" More tears began to fill Rai's eyes again.

Sly's eyes widened. "Hey, it's okay, just calm down." He cooed again, quickly pulling Rai into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, placing a hand on the back of her head. "It's alright... You don't have to say anything else, I understand..."

Rai sniffled, wrapping her arms around Sly as she clutched onto the back of his shirt, burying her face into his shoulder. "I just..." She hiccupped. "I just want these nightmares to end..."

"Shhh..." Sly hushed, gently stroking her hair. "It'll be alright... I'll stay here as long as you need me to, alright? Just try to calm down..."

Rai gave a shaky nod, gripping into Sly tighter.

Meanwhile, as Sly held onto Rai, he couldn't help but feel his anger begin to burn inside of him. Just how long has she had to live with this fear? What caused her to feel this way, and what does it have to do with Rajan and Kisara? Sly wondered, holding onto Rai tighter. Well, whatever it is, I'll make sure that she doesn't have to keep living in fear like this. I'll be the one to set her free from the shackles binding her...