"Hey, Bentley, ya got anything for us to do?" Sly asked when him and Rai had finally joined the rest of the team again.

"Ah, well, I need the two of you to go out and get me some recon photos of Rajan's secret lair and the Clockwerk Heart." Bentley replied.

"Where are we going to get these photos exactly?" Rai then asked.

"I've left a waypoint for you, but since you asked, I've discovered a secret entrance behind the nearby waterfall, so you'll use that to find your way inside and get the photos I need. Make sense?"

Rai nodded. "Yeah, I guess so..."

"Alright, then we'll be back soon. Come on, Rai." Sly motioned as she placed her mask on her face before the two exited the Safe House, heading off for their assignment.

As the two made their way around the area, Rai began to survey their surroundings, soon approaching a wobbly tower that appeared as if it could come crashing down if it was even slightly moved wrong. Rai carefully peered around the corner, one of the smaller guards walking away with Sly close behind her. When the coast was clear, she crept along the wall to see if there was some kind of entranceway or something for them to slip through. However, up in doing so, one of them unconsciously pressed their hand against a brick that was then pushed inwards. Upon pushing in this brick, that seemed to be some kind of trigger without even realizing it, the wall behind Rai had abruptly slid open, causing her to suddenly fall backwards. In that moment, Rai was already too late to realize her mistake and wasn't able to recover, falling in through the secret opening she had found by sheer accident. Sly immediately gasped and quickly reached out for her, his hand just narrowly missing Rai's as she fell down into that dark hole.

"RAI!"

"SLY!"

It felt like forever as she was falling, like there was no end... Was this it? Was this how she was going to die? Rai began to brace herself for the impact as she assumed she was probably nearing the bottom of the chasm, ready to accept her eminent death. But suddenly, upon landing, Rai had instead hit something soft, causing her to spring back up. Rai gasped just before she had stopped bouncing, scanning around the darkened space, until she realized what it was as she found herself on some sort of bed, managing to use her night vision to scan around her.

"A room?" She wondered out loud, though quietly.

Suddenly though, before Rai could really process her surroundings, she heard faint footsteps heading towards the room she was in and began to panic, hastily scanning the area once again. It was then that Rai had noticed what seemed to be some kind of wardrobe closet or something along those lines as she promptly hurried inside of it, closing the doors behind herself, but managed to leave them open just enough to see who was to enter said room. The seconds ticked by agonizingly slow, Rai letting out shaky breaths in an attempt to calm herself, only to give a startled flinch when the door was violently flung open and a light flicked on, Rai's eyes suddenly widening. She quickly removed her mask from her face in an attempt to get a better look at who had entered the room, clipping it to her belt. The person who entered the room, however, just so happened to be none other than the spice lord himself, Rajan.

"Rai? Hey, Rai, are you there? Are you okay?" Came Bentley's voice in her earpiece.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but...I'm in some kind of room, and Rajan's here too." She whispered just loud enough for Bentley to hear and not alert Rajan of her presence. "Oh God... I can't stop shaking..."

"Yeah, Sly contacted me and told me what happened, but are you able to get out of there at all?" Bentley then asked.

"Not yet... When he leaves, then I can get outta here. Just...standby."

"Just hang in there, okay, Rai?" The fox suddenly felt a small sense of relief when she heard Sly's voice on the other line.

"I'll just come out the way I fell." Rai told the two.

"Then I'll wait for you here." Sly acknowledged. "Just hang in there, Rai. You can do this." He reassured her before disconnecting.

Rai closed her eyes as she drew in another shaky breath, slowly and quietly letting it out in an attempt to try and keep herself calm; she was determined to not only to get out of here, but to keep herself from breaking down because of that bastard. When Rai opened her eyes, it was there that she saw Rajan grab a picture frame that was sitting on the nightstand as he gazed at the photo, glaring. "Such a pretty little rose. It will be quite the pleasure when I finally finish the job that blasted cat couldn't even accomplish..." He growled, throwing the photo as the glass shattered against the wall, Rai flinching slightly. He then began to walk away, until he stopped right in front of the closet Rai was hiding in, her whole body suddenly tensing. Slowly, he reached for the closet while she tried to tuck herself into the corner, her hands clasped tightly over her mouth. Rai could feel her heart going a thousand miles an hour, fear sinking in as Rajan got ready to grab the handles to the wardrobe, until—

"My lord!" Called a womanly voice in the distance.

Rajan froze until he heard the voice call again, letting out a short growl as he stomped away. "Once I get my hands on that vixen, I will put an end to her like we should've done all those years ago..." Rajan growled. "I will find you, Scarlet Rose, and when I do, I will be the one to end you..." He growled before slamming the door shut, Rai visibly flinching again.

When she knew it was safe, the fox let out the breath she had been holding before slowly crawling out of the closet, quietly closing the doors back. She then took out her binocucom and snapped some pictures of the room before heading for the hole she fell through, until she stopped. Rai glanced over at the picture frame Rajan had thrown, shattered glass all around. She slowly went over it the photograph, picking up the broken frame as a few glass shards fell on the floor, staring at a picture of her and Rajan. She didn't have her mask at the time, his arm around her shoulder, both grinning. She couldn't help but clench the frame in her hand as she was reminded of what he had done to her father as a child, not to mention the torment he put her through all thanks to Talia. However, Rai just set the broken photograph back down where she had found it before grabbing her grappling hook and firing it off through the hole she had fallen through. She was yanked upwards as wind rushed in her face, but when she reached the hook, she quickly grabbed onto a rugged edge, strapping the gun back onto her belt and climbing the rest of the way up. When she saw light just up ahead, Rai reached her hand out to grab onto something that she could use to pull herself up, until her wrist was suddenly snatched instead. Rai gasped as she was yanked out of the hole and into a pair of strong arms, only to quickly realize that they belonged to Sly, which made her relax a bit as she leaned into him.

"I'm so glad that you're alright..." Sly uttered, holding onto the fox tightly.

Rai clenched onto Sly's shirt, exhaling through her nose. "He almost found me..." She muttered in a soft voice. "Just a second more, and he would've...oh God..." Rai tensed up, clutching into Sly tighter.

"It's alright, you're safe now..." Sly pulled away, pushing her chin up as his chocolate brown eyes met her emerald green ones.

Their lips were inches from touching as they gazed deeply into one another's eyes. Slowly, the two began to lean in towards one another, until they heard crackling coming from their earpieces, both flinching. "Sly, are you there? Is Rai with you?" Bentley had abruptly cut in.

"Yeah, she's with me and she's fine." Sly replied. "We're gonna go get those recon photos then head back to the hideout."

"Alright, just be careful out there, and please don't get caught." Bentley said before disconnecting, Sly's eyes settling back on Rai again, who seemed to be avoiding his gaze now.

"Heh, Bentley sure knows how to cut in at the most inconvenient of times, huh?" Sly said, chuckling lightly.

"I guess..." Rai muttered.

"Well, don't you worry, because..." Sly leaned into the fox, just barely nudging her ear with his nose, causing it to twitch ever so slightly. "...I'm sure there will be more opportunities." He said in a soft, but husky tone, which caused Rai to tense up a bit.

"You're so embarrassing..." Rai blushed slightly.

Sly chuckled softly. "You get flustered so easily, you know." He said, nudging her ear again.

Rai's ear twitched again, trying to turn away from the sly raccoon. "Because you say such weird things..."

"Come on, don't deny that you love it." Sly purred.

Rai blushed slightly. "Shut up... Let's just...go get the photos before we get yelled at..." She rushed.

Sly chuckled again. "Alright, fine, have it your way." He said, drawing away. "Come on, let's get going." The raccoon motioned with a small tilt of his head, Rai giving a slight nod as she followed after Sly.

Why is it when Sly teases me and acts so cunning, it doesn't bother me? Rai wondered. He's so frustrating at times, and yet, somehow...he doesn't go too far either. He's...more tender, you could say. Not really sure what I should make of this sly raccoon at this point...

Zzz! Zzz! Zzz!

"Ugh...?!" Rai gasped softly when she felt a strange vibration coming from within her pouch. She quickly reached into her pouch, only to pull out the phone Kisara had given her, but her eyes narrowed when she realized that ebony viper herself was trying to contact her.

Sly, however, stopped when he saw Rai had paused, glancing back at the fox. "Hey, what's up, Rai?"

"Huh?" She lifted her gaze to meet Sly's, pressing the phone against her chest. "Oh, it's nothing. I've just got a call I need to take, so you go on ahead to the Safe House and I'll meet you there, okay?"

"You sure?" Sly asked.

Rai nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. Go on, I'll be there before you even know I'm gone." She tried to joke.

The raccoon stared at Rai for a moment, clearly suspicious of her strange behavior all of a sudden, but just decided that he wouldn't press on the issue as he gave a small nod. "Alright, just don't take too long, okay?"

"Like I said, I'll be there before you even know I'm gone." She forced a grin.

Sly gave Rai one last glance before turning and continuing on toward the Safe House, though he couldn't help but still be a little wary. However, once Rai was certain that Sly was out of earshot, she quickly turned, answering the call as she pressed the phone to her ear. "What do you want?" She hissed.

Rai heard an amused chuckle on the other end. "Well, I can see that you managed to stumble upon a secret room of sorts, hm?" Kisara mused.

The fox growled. "That damn tiger almost found me, so I suggest you quite joking around and shut your damn mouth before I decide to do it for you."

"I was only making a statement, there's no need to get so hostile."

Rai sighed. "Just tell me what you want and why you're calling me before I hang up."

Kisara chuckled. "I was only wondering if you were ready to try and find out where that first half of the Clockwerk Heart is."

"I already know where it is, I just don't know how to get to it. As for Rajan's half, that's not really much of a challenge to deal with."

"Well, what would you say then if I told you I knew exactly how to get to that first half of the heart, hm? Would that just so happen to peak your interest?" Kisara inquired, clearly amused.

Rai clenched the phone in her hand, her eyes narrowing again. "Not now... I still have to think about it..."

"Well, then I'd best hurry if I were you. Oh, and if you wouldn't mind, try to keep this between us, yeah? I don't really find it very appealing when that turtle starts digging and that sneaky ringtail gets snooping." Kisara warned.

"What we do together stays between us, as it always has. You should know that by now, Kisara." Rai replied. "Besides, I don't want them even associating with you to begin with, because let's be honest here – I should be the one telling you to keep this between us since you can't seem to keep a secret to save your damn life."

The feline chuckled. "Wow, cold much?"

"I have my reasons, so I'll only say this once and only once: Stay away from Sly and the others, and I won't tell you twice." Rai warned this time.

Kisara let out another amused chuckle. "Oh, fret not, Little Miss Rai, I won't go near your little boyfriend and his pals."

Rai suddenly growled. "He's not my boyfriend!" She snapped.

"Heh, really? Because that's what it looked like to me."

"You're just blind." Rai retorted in a harsh tone. "Now, our business together stays between us. Don't go spreading this around, or getting that Neyla involved either, because that's seriously the last thing I want right now."

"You have my word then, thief's honor." Kisara replied.

Rai just scoffed. ""Thief's honor"? Yeah, and since when have you ever abided by that rule?"

"Well—"

"The answer is never, so don't go throwing that term around when all you know how to do is lie and stab others in the back." Rai cut her off.

"Heh... Says the one not even going by her real name, and I don't mean your alias either." Kisara replied in a smug tone.

Rai growled again. "You know my reasons for changing my name..."

"What, so you didn't have to associate with your past anymore? And look at where that's gotten you, Rai, because here you are, dealing with the one thing you tried so hard to get away from. You won't even go by your real name all because you're too scared to—"

"Shut your damn mouth!" Rai snapped. "What I do with my name and my life is none of your concern, Kisara, so stay out of my business!"

Beep!

And with that, Rai immediately ended the call between her and the traitorous feline, clutching the phone in her hand as she began to pant softly. She doesn't understand a damn thing about me if she thinks for one second I did all of this just for my own benefit! Everything I've done up until this point involving myself and the Klaww Gang was to try and erase my past, erase the person they nearly killed that day... And now, all I want to do is finally put an end to the eternal suffering I've had to endure for too many years, even if it means going against myself and working with that damn cat one last time...