Hey everyone,
Well, this chapter isn't going to be as pleasant as the last, but then that was bound to happen. Though the start is going to be downright hilarious. Also, expect a bit of a recap of the previous chapter to happen twice sometime soon. In this chapter it will be from Carmelita's POV at some point and sometime later, I am going to do the same in probably Bentley's POV, maybe even the POV of a few others as well.
We'll see,

Venquine1990

Chapter 07
The Truth Comes Out

23rd of June 2007
Urmila's Boutique
Sly's POV

A cough is heard from beside me as I am kissing the statue that represents the love of my life and I turn my head. I raise an eyebrow and ask: "Hey guys, my hour's not up, is it?" And Bentley confuses me as he says: "No Sly, you still had a few minutes left. I just couldn't take it anymore." I stare at him and Urmila says: "We had a Binocucom close to the tablet, Sly. You missed it, but it has been connected to Bentley's computer this whole time."
I wince at this as I realize that the four of them must have heard my whole speech just now. I then notice that Bentley is looking at the statue with a strange and confusing look of pride and admiration on his face. "I just cannot believe her." I grin at the turtle and say: "I know, right? She really did an amazing job. It looks and feels so lifelike." But Bentley shakes his head and I notice that Urmila seems to try and hold back on giggling for some reason.

"I wasn't talking about Urmila, Sly. I was talking about her. I was sure she would crack, especially when you were dancing or while you were singing to her like you were. But the fact that even your speech didn't make her break – I don't know whether to be scared or impressed." The words of my brother in all but blood confuse me, but then something happens that I really never would have expected to happen.
The statue that I am still holding onto starts to move and the torso and head lean forward, the hair now moving along to slide over the head. And the angelic, sexy, beautiful voice of my beloved inspector actually comes from the form as she sighs: "I'll tell you this, Bentley, he really didn't make it easy on me." And as the body moves back up, the realization hits me. "This isn't a statue. This is the real deal. I am holding the real Carmelita Montoya Fox." And I can only gape at this thought.

Carmelita's POV

I thought I knew what I signed up for when I decided on this, but after the last 40 minutes, I seriously disagree with my earlier thoughts. Oh, I knew that Sly would lavish me, care for me and tell me all kinds of sweet little things, just like he always does. And I definitely remembered Urmila's words that Sly would do much more than he usually did if he was given the chance. Yet even this just didn't prepare me for what I had just been through.
I have never, in all my life, heard more genuine emotion come from a man's voice as he talked. I have never felt safer and more loved than I did when I was being held by Sly as we danced to Beauty and the Beast and partially to What Makes You Beautiful. And I have never felt more like a goddess or a queen than when Sly undid the braid in my hair and then caressed and brushed it before reapplying the previous hairstyle.
Even when Sly was just circling me, I felt his appreciation and his love, not like he was looking at me like a predator looks at a piece of meat. And his speech and explanation on why he does what he does had made me clamp down hard on all my emotions and glad for Michael's little tip from a few weeks ago. I hadn't felt very proud of it, but I had focused on both his voice and words and on the image of what he might look like when he finds out.

Both times Sly had kissed me it had taken everything I had not to break character and just kiss him back, but that was because I told myself I could just do that once the charade was over. And more often than not I would count down the seconds and minutes in my mind while focusing on the task at hand, even if that just meant keeping my every limb in place. Luckily enough Sly believed me to be a statue, so the Raccoon hadn't even questioned the tenseness of my muscles.
A small part of me feels like reprimanding Sly for being so gullible and for not suspecting anything, even when he first took note of my perfume and shampoo. But the look of utter astonishment on his face is just too adorable for me to be angry with him. And the memory of the last forty minutes makes me feel too warm and loved to really care. Then Sly seems to have recovered a little, probably because Urmila is now giggling loudly, and he mutters:

"You're real." I nod at him and he proves that he is still having trouble properly processing the situation as he dumbly states: "You're here." I really want to giggle just like Urmila, but instead a sudden bout of inspiration hits me and I decide to just prove him how real I actually am. I still have his arms around me and happily wrap my arms around his neck as well. And while I'm sure that the Binocucom is still recording, I just don't care.
I press my lips against those grey furred lips of the one who, over the last forty minutes, truly, utterly and completely stole my heart. Sly tenses up, but I don't care. I keep my hold on his neck strong and use the wheels he put under my shoes to turn us around. And because I already know that there is a wall behind the string of pictures, I use pressure and my whole body to push my Ringtail against the wall. And the contact of this stone building against his back and my clothed form against his front seem to properly pull Sly from his funk.

The Ringtail pulls me even closer, his hands still wrapped around my torso, yet he also lifts me up. He pushes himself off the wall just slightly and I instinctively react to his actions and wrap my legs around his hips. I expect Sly to wrap his arms around my hips or even my rear to help support me, but the Raccoon keeps his arms firmly at my waist. Instead, he fully turns us around and pushes me against the wall instead.
I move my torso just a little and find a bit of wall that sticks out just enough I can lean on it and use that as leverage to press myself ever closer to the Ringtail that is now worshipping my lips with his own. Sly is obviously determined to just continue where he left off before Bentley interrupted, to pretend as if he never believed my form to be just a statue. And thanks to the strength of the emotions I feel he conveys with his kiss, I am only too happy to go along with this.

I can feel his love and passion in the kiss, his care and respect in the way he holds me around the waist and his need to be there for me, to be my rock in the way he holds me up against the wall. I do also feel his manhood coming up and pressing against my thigh, but the fact that Sly doesn't do anything to further prove this to me just brings tears to my eyes. Tears as I have no doubt that, if this had been Barkley instead of Sly, it wouldn't have been lips I would be kissing right now.
I squeeze my eyelids together as best I can, not just to suppress the tears but in an attempt to push away the image in my head and mentally scream at myself: "NO! THIS IS SLY! WHY ARE YOU COMPARING THE TWO! WHY ARE YOU REMINDING YOURSELF OF YOUR MISERY WHEN YOU HAVE THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF YOUR HAPPINESS PROVING TO YOU WHY YOU BELONG WITH HIM?" And yet I know why.

Because of this, as much as it pains me, I pull my lips away from Sly's and move my head down, laying my forehead on top of his chest and panting. Sly still holds me close, but he also steps away from the wall and gently nudges me. I take the silent hint and, as much I want to keep holding on, I release my legs from his waist and stand down again. Yet I still keep my eyes closed and keep my arms around his neck as I don't yet feel ready to let go of him that much.
"Carmelita, I love that you're this close to me, but – you're worrying me. Is something wrong? Did I offend you? Was any of this against your consent?" Sly asks me, even though I can hear his own disbelief in the last question as he – like me – knows that Bentley and Murray would never make me do something against my will. I shake my head to prove that this is indeed not the case and Sly asks: "Then what's going on?"

I release a breath as part of me doesn't want this. Part of me wants to ask Sly to just forget it, to ignore his concerns for me and just enjoy the time we have together, to remember that it's his birthday and that he should be enjoying himself. But I know that Urmila made a promise to Bentley and Murray and the turtle proves that he can be as much my hero as Sly often is. "Sly, Urmila told us that something is wrong with Carmelita's work situation.
That it's causing her a lot of stress and that that's why she agreed to this. That she agreed to come to your birthday and – even be your birthday gift. Because she was really craving for the adoration you always bestow upon her, but then for longer than just a few minutes." Sly looks from his best friend back to me and while I have my head down, I know that the look in his eyes is one of deep concern. I look back up at him and whimper: "I just wanted a repeat of the chopper."

Sly's concerns vanish and a wondrous, adoring smile adorns his face as he asks: "You think back on that often?" I nod and push myself forward until our lips are only an inch apart. "Whenever possible. It was the best date of my entire life. Until today, that is." And before the Racoon can reply, I kiss him once again. Sly happily wraps his arms around my waist, yet he also cuts the kiss short this time. "I love this, Carmelita, I really do. But –."
The Ringtail stops here, but I know why and what he wants. I sigh, even though I already figured that my attempt to just take his mind off of his concerns wouldn't work for very long. Yet then another thought occurs to me and I look back at him as I say: "Before I can tell you, you need to know something. I'm not the only officer not on duty here today. My family's here too and so is my own brother in all but blood."

I then grin impishly and jest: "You know the one. He called out to his old friend the other day and waved in such a way, you were easily able to see his wedding ring and hear him talk about his wife and daughter." Sly's eyes widen when he hears about my parents, yet he impishly grins back at me. And then he makes my day all over again as he says: "I'm glad that he's married, gorgeous. Because whether you like it or not, I don't like to share what I consider mine."
I still feel impish and pretend to pout at him as I say: "No, I don't like it." Sly frowns, but before he can apologize, I whisper in his ear: "I love it." And he happily pulls me closer in response. "So, can we come in?" Another voice asks and I can't help but groan and think: "What is with the men in my life and interrupting the best moments of my day today?" And while I really don't want to, I pull away from Sly, fully this time.

And when Sly turns around and sees my parents in the doorway, he tenses up immensely. I wonder if this is because papa is built like Muggshot, but then with the body of a fox or if it's because he, Cheren and Helena are cops that Sly has never met before. But then papa walks over and his words amaze me, fill me with incredible glee and explain everything. He puts his hands on top of Sly's shoulders and, like a father would a son, tells him:
"You, young man, are everything I ever wanted for my little girl. Keep up the great work." Sly's mouth actually drops and I can't help but giggle softly as I think: "Sly tensed up because he realized that, like Bentley and Murray, papa had seen everything Sly did with me these past few minutes. He tensed because he was afraid that papa would disagree or think that Sly had gone too far or something." And Urmila, Helena and mama giggle alongside me.

Yet then I notice something and ask: "Michael, where are Melanie and Angela?" And the black leopard answers: "My wife decided to stay in the other room with our little girl. You know, because of what we need to explain to the Cooper gang." And instantly I wish I hadn't asked. Sly comes to stand next to me and wraps his arm around my waist. Instantly I move my body closer against his, instinctively craving his comfort and his support.
Sly looks at me worriedly, but he keeps quiet and guides me over to the far right of the room, where a circle of couches, sofas, recliners, chairs and loveseats are set. Yet when Sly lets go of me as he wants to sit down, I wrap my own arm around him and, in a need to show him how I feel, I sit us both down in one of the loveseats. Sly's eyes widen when he realizes this, but I just cuddle closer against his form, needing all the strength I can get for this.

"Okay, I know my sister, so I know how much she's against this. Not just because it bothers her, but because she cares for you, Cooper, and doesn't want to ruin your birthday bash with something like this. So, I'll just start for her and explain you bits that I know about all this." Helena is like my guardian angel as she says this and while concerned, Sly nods at her. "First off, my name is Helena. This is my brother Cheren, our father Marcus and our mother, Carmen."
Sly nods in greeting, but then turns to his friends. Bentley says: "We met when we arrived." Sly nods and then turns back to Helena. And the 28 year old doesn't waste any time as she says: "Long story short, Cooper. Thanks to forces beyond my control and that of my baby sister, we haven't seen each other in over 2 ½ years. And then I'm including the months that she was considered a fugitive." Sly's eyes widen and he turns to the others.

"Two years, same as Helena." Cheren tells him. "Almost 3 years give or take a few months." Papa tells him. "A year and a half. But that is only because I work for a hospital close to Interpol and we used to ride to work together. She would ride over to my house, I would get in my car and we'd ride side by side or back to back all the way to Interpol. But then, for a few months, my shifts started three hours sooner and ended two hours before hers.
Then she had a mission that took her to Africa and by the time she came back, I had gotten back to my usual schedule, but we had both just stopped. I had started getting to work early and so, we stopped driving to work together." Mum's voice is clearly full of regret and pain and this makes me speak up. "But it wasn't just inconvenient circumstances and busy schedules. Like Helena said, there were outside forces at work."

"And I'm guessing your boss is one such outside force? Urmila told us that he was one of the sources that cause you a lot of stress the last few months. Enough that, when you met her you broke down due to this very offer. That your stress was why you so readily agreed to all this." Bentley tells me and while this makes Sly pull me even closer against him as his concern must grow tenfold upon hearing this, I nod to confirm his words.
"What exactly is Barkley doing to cause you so much stress, gorgeous? Other than, apparently working way too hard to keep your family apart no matter what." Sly's little compliment takes away some of the tension I feel returning to my body. Yet this time it's Michael that comes to my rescue as I really don't feel like parroting Barkley's words, especially not here and now. "I can show you that. I got a recording of what he does to her on the daily.
Though I'm sorry, Sly. I know Carmelita and, through her, I feel like I've come to know you as well. I definitely know how protective you are of her and I'm sure that, if you were to hear this, you would ruin your own birthday party, just to teach Barkley a lesson. So I'll just give this stick to Bentley and let him hear it. You can judge how bad it is off his reaction, alright?" Sly nods while his eyes are glued to the little flash drive that Michael holds up.

Bentley takes the stick from the leopard and plugs it in. He seems to be working hard on the computer that is now build into his wheelchair and mutters: "Sorry, but I always need to circumvent several of my firewalls and virtual protection systems before I can gain access to newly acquired data. Unless it comes off of the Binocucoms as those are already set into my security system." Michael nods and then Bentley pulls a pair of earphones from his pocket and plugs them in.
We all wait and watch as the turtle apparently listens to the recording that Michael provided him. I myself turn to Michael shortly and he motions with his head for Urmila. I grimace as that means that the recording is of the day I retrieved her collection, but Barkley threw several insults and even a serious threat my way. The badger hadn't even been subtle about his opinion of me or of his word choice and I silently thank Michael and Bentley for their decisions.

I notice that Bentley's face had first slowly started to look deeply shocked before the shock gets replaced by a growing sense of anger. It may have only lasted less than ten minutes, but Bentley pulls his earphones from his ears and mutters: "Excuse me a moment." And while Sly and Murray share a worried look, he rolls out. For a moment I fear that Bentley might just go and do what Michael didn't want Sly to do, but I get proven wrong.
The door closes behind Bentley and a minute later several explosions are heard coming from the hallway. My eyes widen and yet, over the sound of the explosions, I can hear Bentley screaming. He doesn't really seem to be able to put his anger into words and when he does, the explosions make his words sound incomprehensible. "Is he trying to blow us all up?" Mama asks worriedly, but Sly shakes his head and says: "Bentley's clearly angry, but he's not that angry."
But then another explosion is heard and Sly winces as he says: "Yet, I think." And yet again I notice that Murray is staring at me, those soulful eyes of his so full of care and concern that I can't help but smile gratefully back at him. After another minute or so, Bentley wheels back into the room, his whole body shaking with the exertion of how much he had been screaming. Sly looks from his best friend to the others and back as he says:

"You're letting me hear that recording first thing tomorrow." And while I feel glad that Sly is still willing to be patient a little while longer, Bentley mutters: "Done." And Murray quickly rushes over to wheel his wheelchair back to us, this allowing Bentley to recover and not have to wheel himself over. Bentley gives the other guy a grateful smile and Murray retakes his seat. Then Bentley turns to me and asks: "And he treats you like that all the time?"
I sigh and while I'm sure that I am not making this easier for Sly or his strong curiosity, I tell Bentley: "He was definitely more vocal and direct that time than he normally is and he usually doesn't make such threats, but – I do get rants similar to that on an almost daily basis.""Regardless of everything you have done? The Fiendish Five, the Klaww Gang? Clock-La? Octavio!" Bentley counts down all my accomplishments and this again helps me to smile.

I shrug and mutter: "I don't get why either, Bentley. For some reason Barkley is more obsessed with me catching Sly than I ever was. It really doesn't matter to him what I do. I either catch Sly or – I might as well let him come true on his word.""NEVER!" Bentley roars and while it shocks me to hear such a loud voice come from such a small creature, I smile gratefully. Then Sly sighs and says: "Okay, I may not know the details, but – I think I've heard more than enough."
He turns to me and says: "This Barkley is bad news and I'm guessing he's not the only one." I shake my head and Michael again helps me out. "Our whole floor is just like him, Sly. I am the only one who still has their door open, just so I can know when I need to come over and give Carmelita a shoulder to support her. The others, however, keep their door open, because they enjoy it when Barkley rants at her. They revel in it."

Michael turns to Bentley and says: "My wife has several files with recordings and photos on her phone. She gave it to me, so I could let you take them off her phone and use them as evidence. I know that Urmila plans to help us raze Interpol to the ground, but we will need evidence to have Barkley and his men arrested. Even if that does mean that we're basically up against 70 to 80% of the whole building." The Cooper Gang looks shocked and Michael sighs as he says:
"Now normally, I would just go to Barkley's boss with this or even higher if I feel that's necessary. But I already did my research and it turns out that Barkley uses a redirect to pay his men for their dirty work within Interpol. You know, to keep the Foxes apart and whatnot. And that redirect goes through the bank account of Chief Roland Cheswick, the Top dog of the French division of Interpol. And I am almost 90% sure that he's aware of this redirect too."

The leopard sighs and says: "Another reason I'm not openly standing up against all of this is Barkley himself. The guy's not just a bastard; he's stupid smart and cunning as well. You all remember Emanuel Levarence, right? That famous singer that disappeared after Interpol had a protection detail case with her? That disappearance and the cause behind it was all Barkley. And all because she stood up for female rights within her protection detail."
Most of us grimace at this and Michael himself is no different. "Now I can handle a bit of blackmail and bad PR. But I have a wife, a child and a little one on the way. So, as much as it pains me, my hands are tied, emotionally at least." Yet all Cooper Gang members nod in empathy and understanding with the leopard and his words. And Sly makes everything even better as he says: "I'm just glad that you did what you could, for Carmelita especially."

Michael smiles back at him as he says: "Hey, Carmelita and I might always get jobs in different parts of the world, but I was often her mentor besides Barkley and she grew on me as a feisty little sister. And trust me, I may let Barkley think that I am letting him get away with his crap and garbage, but I've really just been waiting for a moment like this." The leopard then stares down the racoon, which worries me, but then Michael says:
"Sly, come next Monday, I am going to deliver every last bit of evidence I have to the International Division of Interpol as well as all of the police departments across Paris and its surrounding neighboring towns, if this proves necessary. When that happens, there will probably be riots and tons of angry French who will be furious at how our own national heroin is being treated by her own boss. When that happens, I need you – to keep Carmelita safe. Keep her in your own Hide Out if you need to, but don't let her out of your sight.

I know Barkley and if he's driven in a corner, he might just decide to go down while fulfilling his sick personal desires. I do not want to give him that chance. Will you help me in this?" Sly gives Michael a solemn nod, the nod a silent promise that he will do as asked. Yet my best friend's words make me share a shocked look with my family as I think: "This is my chance." I quickly send Michael a huge grateful smile and then turn to Sly.
"You know, I know a pretty good reason as to why I should be at your Hide out on Monday. And I don't mean what Michael has planned or what he fears might happen." Sly turns to me and I decide to be bold. I climb over him and park my legs on both sides of his form. Sly's eyes widen at this and I gently, lovingly take the fur on his cheeks in my hands as I press my forehead against his. I close my eyes and enjoy the closeness between us, use it to gather myself and my strength.
"Sly, I've been toying with the idea of quitting my job for almost a year now. There have just always been three reasons why I kept it to just toying with the thought. One, I didn't want to anger or disappoint my family." Sly nods his head slightly in understanding at this. "Two, I couldn't stand the thought of one of those brutes of Barkley taking your case from me." I receive an impish grin from the racoon at this and grin back at him.

"And three, I didn't want to waste months of time looking for a new job, especially because I did want to continue fighting criminals and protecting the innocent and I knew that, if I resigned, Barkley would make that almost impossible for me, regardless of whether or not I would try it in Paris, Luxemburg or even Lima in Peru. But – there was always this little voice in my head that told me I had a chance for that, that it was right in front of me waiting for me to grab and take it."
I sigh and release the breath through my nose before I open my eyes again and stare deep into Sly's own. I draw strength and love from the care in his eyes and say: "I'm a proud fox, Sly. I admit it. And my pride has left me where I am today. My pride allowed Barkley to go so far as to treat me as he did on that recording. But, now that I have finally put my pride to the side and just acknowledged how much it has been hurting me, emotionally, it got me here.

And – I'm ready. I'm ready to listen to that little voice inside my head. I'm ready to just – do what's right, what I now realize I should have done a long time ago. I'm ready to take the next step in my life, a step that has been on the backburner for longer than I care to admit. What I'm trying to say, Sly, is that I'm ready to, if you'll have me, join the Cooper gang." Sly's eyes widen and I hear gasps coming from Bentley and Murray.
"You're – you're not just saying that because of Barkley, are you? Because – I don't want you to second guess yourself once Interpol got the cleansing it needs. I wouldn't want you to doubt yourself once that has happened." Sly tells me and I give him a deep, warm and grateful smile as I say: "No Sly, it's not just because of Barkley. I won't deny he plays a huge role, but – you play an even larger role. I'm doing this more for you than because of him. And for me."

Sly grins at me and then, with his hands on my waist, helps me turn around before he parks me down on his lap. "In that case, I believe it's time for a vote. We of the Cooper Gang hardly ever do anything that affects the team this massively unless we vote and the majority accepts. Yes, usually it's unanimous, but still." Yet before the other members can voice their thoughts, Cheren says: "Then you should know one thing, Cooper."
Sly turns to my brother and he leans back in his seat with his arms crossed: "We're quite done being apart from each other and we have no interest in losing even more contact with our little sister because she's constantly in hiding from the new Interpol or whatever. So sorry, Cooper, but if you want to accept one of us, you'll have to accept us all. We're a package deal – well, bar mum, but her work as a nurse could still benefit you while she keeps her job."

Sly and the others seem genuinely surprised about this, but then Bentley hums and mutters: "It would definitely decrease our time and effort in searching for new members in order to get into the Cooper Vault. We'd have to exchange that for time meant to train them in the art of being a Master Thief instead, but – if they're anything like Carmelita – that time will be much shorter than us traveling the globe looking for other additions to the team."
All of us smile at his little moment of vocalizing his thoughts and Sly asks: "So that's your vote they've got, Bentley?" The turtle nods and Murray says: "Inspect – Carmelita has always been a great help to us and the Murray would love it if he could help her reunite with her family in return for that. They have my vote." Sly nods and turns to the Guru, who has a huge grin that almost looks too big for his small form as he says: "Habeba."
I'm guessing that that's his way of confirming his vote and Sly pulls me close against his form as he says: "And I would do absolutely anything if it meant more time with my gorgeous vixen, who is somehow still seated snuggly on my lap. They definitely have my vote." I giggle and Bentley laughs as he says: "It's official. Welcome to the Cooper Gang, Fox Family." At which Urmila raises her glass and says: "This calls for a toast." And we all follow her lead.

That went pretty well.
Yeah, Bentley broke a few of the support beams that hold up the ceiling of the hallway, but otherwise the whole building is still pretty fine. Next chapter is going to be a lot more pleasant. It will have moments where the whole Barkley thing is mentioned, but I'm mostly going to focus on Sly's birthday party and his relation with Carmelita. I'm also going to cover Barkley's orders and a quick moment between Sly and Marcus.
A good moment,

Venquine1990