~Location: City Streets - Paris, France~
~Date/Time: Present Day (Seven Months Since Sly Disappeared), Mid-Afternoon~

Despite having just rescued Sly, the ride home was quiet. Maybe Murray was focused on driving and Bentley was occupied with urging Murray to not run red lights. That still left Sly and Carmelita sitting across each other in the back of the van. Not a word was traded between them.

There might be a reason why they were silent. Carmelita was worrying about the conflict with her job and her love-life. The peaceful days between the two of them would pass quicker than ever before the new law is put into effect. She almost couldn't look at him right now, the raccoon with his unknowingly content smile. How could she ever think about telling him? First, she'll leave the force so they won't see each other on missions anymore. Next, the Felon's Law will be enacted meaning that Sly can't be in an officer's line of sight without being killed. If he managed to avoid the use of deadly force and surrender to imprisonment, he'd be diverted to death row. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she couldn't bear it. Even if no one told her or if she wasn't present for his death, she'd know.

Sly, on the other hand, was happy as can be. Back home to where he belonged with friends and family. He was silent because he was overly excited about what he wanted to do first. Should he eat some pizza? Left-over or not, he really began to miss it. Maybe since he had spent some time in such a humid and dry place, he could drink a whole gallon of water or just splash himself with it. Oh, now he got a great idea... He can shower! Wash all the dirt and sand out of his hair and fur while also cooling himself off. That's what he can do first. However, Sly's mind did change over to Carmelita. God, she was stunning. Neither of them had changed from the Egyptian fashion trend and Sly was simply struck by how beautiful she was. Sly made up his mind right then and there what he wanted to do.

"Date me."

The fox snapped out of her trance and into a stupor. "W-What?"

"You heard me. Go out on a date with me."

"S-Sly... I... Can we?"

"Why can't we? No one has to know who we are. Can't hurt, right?"

Carmelita thought things over and figured that a date should be harmless. "When?"

"Umm... Tonight?"

"Tonight? Sly, neither of us are ready for it, but... Let's do it!"

"Yeah?! Okay, um... How about a steak dinner and a romance movie. You know, like those cliché dates?"

"Sounds perfect. Give me a little time to freshen up and you should do the same. Can I pick you up at eight?"

Sly nodded eagerly and wondered if Bentley and Murray heard any of what had just happened. The Cooper gang dropped Carmelita off at her house first before taking Sly home.

The door of the Cooper hideout swung open as Sly rushed to gather and tend to things. Bentley and Murray entered more slowly; the turtle could never roll slower than he was now even if he tried.

"Bentley... I don't want to tell him. He's really happy right now."

Bentley sighed and rubbed his eyes, the raccoon practically bouncing all over the place. "I'll tell him."

Sly finally stopped and paused, half-dressed in casual clothes with a toothbrush in his mouth. "Tell me what?"

"Sly... Inspector Fox is leaving Interpol."

"Wait, what?"

"Before you think about that, I have to tell you why. There's a law being put into effect that makes it so that wanted criminals, like the Cooper Gang, won't face jail time if we get caught."

"So... We'd be set free?" Sly stood still, listening to his friend's words.

"Well... No. The law is enacting the death penalty."

Sly's eyes grew wide and the raccoon stumbled back into the sofa. "That's... Can they do that?"

"They can. Inspector Fox says that it goes above her superior's influence. There's nothing that anyone at Interpol can do. Inspector Fox has decided that it would be best to be out of Interpol so that news of your death won't reach her."

"But... You wouldn't let me walk into my own grave right? What if we're careful with missions?"

"How long can you expect that to work? It'll only be a matter of time before something goes wrong. Somehow, I know that I'd slip up if our lives were on the line."

"What if I just quit? Could Carmelita and I be together for real?"

"Sly, she says that you wouldn't give up a life a crime because you didn't do it right the first time. I think she's right and I bet you do too."

"I bet I can do it and I bet I can prove it. I just have to show her that I can choose her over stealing and we can be together?"

"That seems to be the only way."

"Then I have one more job for us to pull off. I need you two to help me do it. We're actually going to need a lot of help."

Sly proposed a plan that Bentley was rather fond of and gave kudos on how effective the plan can be if it all succeeded. Amongst the beginning stages of planning the mission, Sly remembered that he had a date later that evening and hurried to get ready.

Carmelita arrived in her red sports car to pick up her date for the evening. She decided if there were to be last moments with Sly; then those moments should be treasured. She wore a casual black dress and heels. Her weapon was purposely left at home because she had a notion that Sly actually wanted a legitimate date to take place. Sly had dressed casually, but he still looked handsome to her.

Things were changing that Carmelita took notice of. First of all, her date offered to pay for the meal and the movie tickets if she managed to pay for popcorn. During their dinner, they were actually conversing. The whole night felt like a dream to her. It was all too perfect how he acted. He focused his attention on making her laugh and only touched someone else's purse when he was returning it to the proper owner. She was alert these certain things before she simply learned to relax and enjoy it. They did have similar tastes in recreation like literature, music, and art. It felt natural to talk about these things with him and they cracked a few jokes about Sly stealing Carmelita's musical idol or at least tickets to a live concert. Sly said he couldn't make promises yet, but did mention giving away some albums in his collection.

Something magical was happening between the two of them. The boundary draw by the law was non-existent. This same thing happened once before when Sly offered himself into her custody after Clockwerk's defeat. What would happen if their titles as cop and criminal were stripped, even for a few hours? Sly noticed that Carmelita was relaxing and enjoying herself and his company, what remained between the two of them was naturally connecting.

Some personal topics did come up. Sly mentioned that he could try a whole new field of parenting if given the chance to settle down. Carmelita gave up a little fact that she was saving herself for marriage before she would even get that far.

With a steak dinner lasting about three hours, they both decided it was time to move to the next planned activity of the night. Carmelita did notice that Sly dropped some cash for the meal and even added a tip, but it was simply played off as a normal thing to do on a date. As they left the restaurant, Sly found himself itching and scratching all over his body. He hoped that it was merely dandruff or he hoped that Carmelita wouldn't notice it if it was something else.

She noticed and was genuinely concerned. "Sly? Were you allergic to something?"

"No... I don't think so." Come to think of it, was he allergic to anything? He didn't really know.

"Oh, well I might have an idea as to what's wrong."

"I'm all ears..." With that, Carmelita turned him to face her and gently reached up to an overhanging lock of hair on his head. Her hand felt as smooth as silk as it brushed his scalp and loosened some grains of sand from his hair.

"You're still covered in sand, silly."

"Yikes... I'm lucky that it didn't fall in the food."

"Wanna take care of it?"

"Nah, I promised dinner and movie, right? That's what you do on a first date or something like that..."

"I doubt you'll be willing to sit still for two hours. Worried about getting sand in the popcorn... and on me..."

"Yeesh... So does that mean the date ends here?" Sly was looking a bit distraught, but she was right about it as he pretended to brush his hair straight and actually check for more sand.

"Well... Doesn't have to... Can we take the movie... to my place? Just pick up a spare set of clothes from the hideout and you can use my shower."

"I'd love that!" Sly was initially happy about the opportunity to wash out the pesky sand before her offer completely clicked into his reasoning. "Wait, can I spend the night?"

"I see no reason why you can't..."

Sly was indeed in a hurry to get home and didn't waste much time as he grabbed a set of light, casual clothes.

"Hey Sly, how was the date?"

"Date's not over. Grabbing stuff... Might be home late... Bye!"

Sly left as abruptly as he arrived, leaving Bentley to crack a wise remark. "I guess the date turned out well after all..."

"Bentley, do you know something I don't know?"

"More than likely... But what would I happen to know about this...?"

###

"Take as much time as you need. I'll set up the movie." Carmelita said, leading Sly to her bathroom. "And I mean it... get as clean as you can."

"Alright, I get it. I know how..." He playfully teased as he stepped in and she closed the door.

Sly disrobed and stepped into the shower, turning the water on. He let the water relax him and sooth him before he started to think about cleaning himself.

And it was at this point, that he felt something soft tracing up his back. It felt like one of the mesh bathing loofahs that she had hanging in the shower, but none of them had moved. He also smelled the foamy body-wash that was on it and found it to be a less of a floral scent than her regular body-wash.

Sly was speechless until Carmelita spoke for him. "I couldn't resist... I brought you the soap and sponge, but you were already in the shower..."

"I see..." was Sly's only response.

"If it disturbs you, I can leave you to bathe yourself."

"I don't remember saying something like that, do you? Please let me turn around..."

"How else am I supposed to wash your front?" She playfully purred at him.

Now, Carmelita was raised to go steady and save herself until she found her Mr. Right, but this was an opportunity she couldn't pass up. Nothing really happened because Carmelita still kept control. She let him look at her in the nude and Sly did the same. He tried to touch her body and she denied, saying that she was just cleaning his body for him. When Sly tried to return the favor, she stopped him before she lost herself and gave a stern warning.

"Sly... I can't... Not yet... I'm sorry."

"I promise. I won't go too far. At least let me wash you."

She nodded and complied, still in control as he was true to his word and innocently washed her as well. When he finished, she had him turn around so that she can get his hair completely clean and wash down his back for him.

As the water flowed down the drain and became silent, Carmelita stepped out and wrapped a towel around herself, looking back at Sly who had collapsed breathlessly on the shower floor.

"Heh. Too much? Take a moment to collect yourself, Stud. I'll be on the couch." She left to dress in her room and Sly was now panting heavily.

"What a woman... If only..." He might've made a decision earlier, but it's more likely that he's wishing that he had made the decision sooner.

Sly dressed in the t-shirt and sweatpants that he picked up from home before he joined on her on the couch a few minutes later and found her dressed in a comfortable nightie. She patted the couch next to her and he sat down without a second notion. She pressed play on the movie and he snuggled up to her, draping a blanket over the two of them. The two of them sat there for a moment on her couch, neither of them speaking as the movie played on.

"So..." After a while, Sly spoke softly, nudging Carmelita's shoulder and enticing a questioning smirk from her. "Are we over?"

"What would give you that idea?" She asked, raising a brow and perking her ears.

"You're leaving, right?"

Carmelita sighed softly and nodded before she spoke again. The smirk had fallen from the fox's face. "I couldn't let you-"

"You don't have to tell me... Bentley kind of briefed me." Sly interrupted, expecting her to get mad anyway.

The fox just sighed. "I thought he would. You guys are brothers. I leave at the end of the week. I've discussed it with my boss already."

"Yeah we are!" Sly nudged her again. "What will you do for money?"

"My job paid well... It'll be several years before I have to think about that."

"What will you do after that?"

"I... I don't know."

"Will I ever see you again?"

"I suppose you can... As long as no one sees you, not even me."

"That's no fun..."

"This isn't a game anymore, Sly. It's our lives. I needed to make a choice and I wanted nothing to do with you if you were killed."

"But you're regretting that choice right now, right?"

"Of course I am... What else is there, though?"

Sly was silent for a moment before his ears perked up and he smiled wide. "I want to do something for you, but I need to ask you something."

"What would that be?"

"Would it be too much to have an official second date?"

Carmelita laughed and shook her head. "What's so special about the second date?"

"Well, if I have things right, it goes like this: On the first date, you're not supposed to kiss much. Like; a kiss on the cheek good-night and nothing else. On the second date is a first full passionate kiss, so it means a little more."

"You want a kiss after all the times we already did?" Carmelita was laughing about it now, but Sly was not really joking.

"Aww come on... After you leave, I could never do it again without sneaking into your apartment."

"That won't be wise... Do it too often and we both get caught, right?"

"Yeah. Not good. Are you doing anything Friday night?"

"Well, I was going to finish cleaning out my office so I can officially leave on Saturday. Why?"

"I'm gonna make Friday a special night for you. I promise. It'll be a way of saying goodbye to our life as a cop and robber. Give me Friday with you and you can forget all about a shaky relationship with a wanted criminal by Saturday."

Carmelita thought it over and smirked along with a cheerful reply "Alright. You want that Second-Date-Kiss so badly, then you can have it. What do you want to for the rest of our first date?"

"Something I really have wanted to do..."

"But...?"

"But you said that you can't do it yet."

Carmelita blushed and laughed again. "You... Well, I don't have to take you home yet..."

"Does that mean-" Sly's tail was swaying back and forth quite rapidly and his ears perked up.

But Carmelita stopped him again. "Hold your horses, Sparky. I meant what I said back there. You had me in the shower with you. I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm afraid I'm not letting you get farther than that."

"Ah, don't be sorry. I'm still satisfied at the moment."

Carmelita blushed again Sly simply chuckled at her "Good to know... Can we do something I've really wanted to do?"

"What would that be, Carm?"

"Lay down with me? I just want to know something..."

Sly nodded and complied. Carmelita slowly lowered her head towards the arm of the couch and Sly slowly did the same. She let him lay down on his side behind her and facing her back. She was midway between lying on her side and lying on her back, pressing her some of her weight into his and looking up at him with an almost shy smile. Sly hesitated to her doing something at first, but he relaxed and let her take his arm and drape it over her stomach.

They were like that for a few more hours in the same position before Sly heard her slow steady breathing indicating that she had fallen asleep like this.

He almost didn't want to move and disturb her, but his years of stealth would pay off as he slipped away and let her gently roll onto her back. He quickly laced up his shoes and was about to go before he realized he missed something. Quiet as ever, he approached her slowly and gently kissed her cheek, whispering a soft 'I love you' before he pulled up the blanket and left his Sleeping Beauty as she was.

His friends wanted to all about hear about how the date went and he laughed and said that it was a nice, quiet date. Bentley understood and made it clear to Murray that it was for Sly to tell at a time of his choosing.

"So Sly... Are you ready for the biggest mission of your life?"

"Ready? I mean, Bentley... You have a plan?"

"Not quite, I just wanted to show you what you'd be picking up on Friday." Bentley pulled up a few photos and showed Sly one of a diamond that made Sly's eyes light up in excitement.

This is big... The job itself is huge... I mean, that rock is just... huge!"

"I figured it should be a big one... And then the Cooper Gang will disappear off the map..."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Absolutely. It's perfect. As long as Inspector Fox doesn't become too hysterical..."

"Not that. I mean, are you alright with the Cooper Gang disappearing?"

"We'll be fine, Sly, I promise. It'll take a lot of stress off of Inspector Fox. Hopefully, the decision that she would be forced to make would yield a definite answer.

"I'm crossing my fingers, Bentley. I want things to go right."

"Well, we better start planning the job, then."

"Yes, let's do that!"

"Oh, and Sly?"

"Hmm?"

"Welcome home."

###