A/N and Disclaimer: Okay, I know the other one had no Sly in it, and I don't know if this one will, since it's mostly background. We shall see… And once more, I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Bentley, or any buses. I did make up the hideout's design (what it looks like) and Carmelita's disguise, and I figure I should say so this time :D Anywho, enjoy….

Two days since the 'meeting', and Carmelita was ready, so to speak. In those two days since Detectives Green, Leaf and Tea had shown up and told her the new plan, her mind had been in turmoil. How could Interpol do this? Help that blasted raccoon by giving him another member? Although, her cop side reasoned, they were getting desperate, after four years of having to admit that they couldn't put Cooper behind bars, and now this radical plan was the best they could come up with.

And Cooper didn't suspect anything, since Carmelita had been chasing him, as herself, last night. Although he escaped with Zanzibar's largest emerald, Interpol did trace where his hideout was. Sly had taken the jewel from a curator (who it had been discovered was corrupt and money-grabbing, Carmelita's heart reminded her), and, after flirting with her, escaped and dashed off to his hideout.

Carmelita suggested they just bust in and nab him now they knew where he was, but the Detectives had disagreed, stating that this would not solve the problem, just 'delay' it. Which was just another way of saying 'even if you do catch him, which we doubt, you won't be able to hold him and when he escapes, so the problem will return'. But Carmelita suspected they didn't want to throw away all their hard work. Although it was excruciating to just stand there as Interpol FINALLY found out where Sly Cooper was, and just do NOTHING! Oooh, she was ropeable then.

But what work it was! After the meeting, she had gone to Floor Five with the Detectives, where she was informed that she would have to know the following like her own history if she was going to pass this off properly:

1) Her name was Carmen Socks (she was also warned that laughing at her own name would almost certainly cause suspicion, so please refrain yourself from doing it again, Ms. Fox). It was the closest name (phonetically, but still not too obvious) to her own, so she should be able to recognise it fairly well.

2) She was a 16 year old boy. They had deduced that Sly was most likely to trust someone his junior, and he wouldn't be distracted by a boy (Carmelita tried not to blush as she remembered that they had heard Sly flirting with her when they were tracking him to his hideout last night). She was also an orphan, as her parents had died in a car-crash when she was eight.

3) Carmelita had to be very careful in dealing with her disguise when any member of the gang was near her, lest she be caught.

4) No one else at Interpol were aware of this change, they would be informed that she had gone on a vacation indefinitely (in case there was something-or someone- inside the building that would leak to Cooper or his gang that something was going on), but this meant that if she got caught, she wouldn't be able to tell them who she was.

Carmelita had taken all of this in. She wasn't about to be caught by anyone, least of all by the likes of Cooper. And certainly because she wasn't careful with her disguise.

And her disguise was one of Interpol's finest. They had considered cutting off the Inspector's long braid for this mission, but couldn't get near the fuming fox with the scissors, so they hid her long hair in a tight cap, like a swimmer's cap, but with a wig attached to the top. The artificial hair was much like her own in colour and style (kind of curly) but much shorter, only long enough for perhaps one small curl on each lock.

She had dark contacts on, to hide her amber eyes, with spares 'just in case'. She had asked what the 'just in case' was, and got a superior look, as if it was obvious. She withheld the urge to scream at them, and kept her pride.

Her orange fur was dyed a blackish grey colour. She had refused vehemently when they intended to put permanent dye in her fur, but they had explained to the fiery vixen that if she only used a washout dye, her chances of getting caught would increase tenfold. So, after much persuasion and a lot of yelling, they finally got the reluctant Inspector to dye her sunset orange fur to the colour of night. The positive side was that it hid her beauty spot nicely.But her hips and chest were harder to hide. Her chest was held back with an all-over-corset type of thing, which she was assured wouldn't leave any permanent effects. Her hips were disguised by widening her waist with new technology that felt, and even bled, like real flesh, but was attached like jelly to her sides.

They couldn't, try as they might, change the Inspector's voice, so the story was that young Carmen's voice had not yet broken (which is why she had to look young). She was also clothed in loose, faded denim jeans, T-shirt and a baggy jumper, of darkish blue colour.

So there she was, a completely different person, on a worn out bus, heading to the outer suburbs of Paris, to try and befriend the criminal she had been chasing for four long years. The one she had vowed to put behind bars. But she knew that to get inside, she had to act civil to him. After all, her heart reasoned subtly, he does the same to you. Well, perhaps more than civil…

And they were off again. Her heart versus her head. Her thoughts flew back and forth, some making her growl in anger (like that time that damned raccoon betrayed me and handcuffed me to that railing in Russia! her mind thought angrily), and some made her shiver with a denied pleasure (like what he did before that, whispered her heart). She shook her head, trying to clear the confusing thoughts from her mind. She could debate Cooper and his morals later, but right now she had a mission to do. She set her face, and tuned back in to reality.

The bus, now almost vacant of passengers, stopped at a dilapidated shelter, and Carmelita jumped off and followed the shaky directions to the Cooper hideout. After a couple of wrong turns, Carmelita finally made it to the hideout, just as the sun was sending gold and orange streaks across the sky.

Looking at it, Carmelita found she was surprised that the infamous Cooper gang would hide out in an old weatherboard house in a rundown suburb. She'd always imagined it to be some abandoned warehouse at the Paris docks. This place looked almost…cosy. C'mon girl, snap out of it, she scolded herself. Taking a breath, she walked up the gravel path to the house, and knocked on the door.

No one opened the door, but a voice spoke (well, boomed would be a better word) from an unknown source. 'What do you want?'

If it was supposed to be intimidating, it certainly worked on Carmelita. But she hid it under a mask of confidence (and black fur dye) and replied. 'My name is Carmen Socks, and-'

She was cut off as she heard an odd sound, and then realised the speaker was laughing at her! 'HEY! Don't laugh at my name!' she yelled, defending her false name from the voice, then continued. 'I've heard about your gang and I'd like to join.'

The voice seemed to splutter for a moment, then yelled. 'How did YOU find out about our gang?'

Carmelita froze. Oh no, quick, think fast, girl…ah ha! She turned to point down the street at a random house. 'My foster dad's good friend's husband's son's co-worker's brother lives there.' She rattled out quickly. 'And he's noticed a hippo, a turtle and a raccoon coming in and out of this house at all hours. And a van too! I just put two and two together. Although they haven't!' she quickly added, assuring the voice that she was the only one who knew of their hideout.

The voice was silent. She continued very cautiously. 'So, I was wondering, uh, that is, I'd like to join you.'

There was silence. She could almost see the person behind the voice thinking, the gears in their head whirring at this odd situation. Carmelita's sensitive ears heard a click, then the door in front of her slowly opened to reveal…

A short green turtle. Not exactly what she was expecting from the booming voice she had heard. Her surprise must have shown on her face, and the turtle explained. 'It's a voice intensifier, it makes the speaker sound large and threatening.' He grinned. 'Something that really helps scare away those nosey girl scouts.'

Carmelita smiled (and her cop side cringed at her. You're being nice to a criminal! it admonished, but she shushed it). The turtle broke the brief silence.

'You may as well come in so we can figure out what to do in comfort.' he said, motioning for her to come inside. She stepped inside the small hallway, looking around. The bedrooms were to her right, a largish room to her left, a bathroom at the end of the hall, and a small archway down the hall on the left. The turtle took her this way, calling over his shoulder. 'I'm Bentley, by the way. Sly and Murray are over here.'

He walked into the next room, which Carmelita soon found to be a kitchen. Lovely colours, a pale orange and yellow blended in the tiles, and pleasant wooden cabinet doors. She was disrupted from her colour schemes as she heard a familiar voice call out. 'So Bent, did you deal with the 'intruder'?'

'Well that's what I wanted to talk to you guys about…so could you pause the Wrestling DVD for just a second!' Bentley said, slightly peeved that they were only half listening.

Carmelita peered from behind Bentley to see what the rest of the house looked like. It was like one large room, dining table on the left and couches and a TV on the right. There were other entertainment features too, like a stereo and computer. Large curtains covered tall windows that ran along the length of the far wall. The dining and coffee table were covered with coffee mugs, piles of paper and blueprints. A familiar cane leant against the wall, and there were a couple of dishes lying in the sink.

But Carmelita was observing the two other people getting up from the couch. A pink (or purple, Carmelita couldn't tell in the dim light) hippo was walking heavily to the kitchen. He seems friendly enough, her heart thought, I don't think I'll have any trouble being friends with him. Carmelita smiled, and returned the wave he gave her. But she didn't want to look at the raccoon she knew was coming around the other side of the couch. Unfortunately for her cop side, her curiosity surpassed her, and she looked over to the leader of the infamous Cooper Gang.

Sly smiled over at her, and her breath caught. The same blasted raccoon she'd been chasing for years. She almost started cursing at him, but caught herself before she gave the game away, and forced a smile to her face. She decided that to do this properly, she would have to suspend the fact that she was Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox, and try to be Carmen Socks, orphaned boy trying to fit into the Cooper Gang. That wasn't so hard, was it? her heart chimed in, but she pushed it away, and listened as Bentley spoke.

'This guy found out about our gang, and want's to join us.' Bentley said bluntly. Carmelita was shocked at his rashness, and watched for any reaction from the other two members. The hippo shrugged, and said. ''The Murray' doesn't mind. His looks like a good kid, someone we can trust. What do you think, Sly?'

Sly had a neutral look on his face, and he eyed Carmelita closely. She could feel his eyes scrutinize her every move. Carmelita felt uneasy, and very hard to keep eye contact with him. His eyes were something she didn't see much of when she was chasing him. Normally she just saw his silhouette, and his calling card. She boldly stared into them from behind her disguise. His eyes were a deep chocolate, calming her, but still holding back his thoughts from her gaze, like they were behind a cover. This reminded her that she was also disguised, and none of these criminals knew who she was. She was anonymous. She smiled, liking this freedom, and began to introduce herself. 'My name is Carmen Socks. I'm 16 and I was asking Seňor Bent-'

She was interrupted by a loud bout of laughing from the pink/purple hippo. 'HAHAHAHAHAHA!'

'HEY! Don't laugh at my name!' Carmelita defended her fake name for the second time today. She put her hands on her hips, but she felt the jelly beneath them, and quickly lowered her hands. However, the hippo shook his head as he held his hands to his stomach, trying to stop his sides from splitting.

'Nonono,' he said, quite out of breath. ''The Murray' wasn't laughing at you. Pfft-HAHAHA!' He burst out into laughter again. 'Can you imagine 'Seňor Bentley' in one of those massive Mexican hats, with a poncho-heheheHAHAHAHA!'

His mirth was contagious, and soon everyone was laughing, even Bentley. The atmosphere was warm and pleasant, and everyone had sore cheeks by the time they had calmed down. Carmelita felt much more calm, feeling like she could feely pull this off if she could fit in like this.

'So,' Sly said conversationally, after they had caught their breath. 'What were you saying?' Carmelita had to think for a moment before she remembered.

'Oh yeah,' she said, very relaxed now after having laughed all her tension off. 'I was wondering if I could join your gang.' But she held her breath as Sly paused once again. After what she thought felt like ages, he spoke

'Well,' he said slowly. 'Is this going to be permanent or temporary? What are you skilled at? How could you help us? Have you had any experience?'

Carmelita felt like she was at a job interview, and she tried to stay calm and answer him the best she could. 'Well,' she started. 'So far, I think this will be a permanent thing, for now, although I'm not exactly sure. I figured it would be up to you if I was going to stay a long time or whether you'd send me packing before then.' She smiled at her joke, and was strangely relieved when Sly smiled back. 'I'm good at-' she froze. Oh No! she thought, I didn't think of a skill! She almost panicked and did some serious quick thinking to try and find something not to far from the truth to say. The pause had made Sly suspicious, a small frown on his face. She needed a distraction to buy her some time…

Wait a moment…

'A distraction!' she blurted. The gang looked surprised, and Murray was confused. 'What I mean is, uh, if you are really close to getting caught by the police, I can distract them, or at least lead them away by having them follow me instead of you. And they won't be able to see the difference, because they'll only see a silhouette, uh, because it'll be night.'

'Hmm,' Sly pondered, and Carmelita held her breath once more. After a moment, he smiled. 'Gee, we've never had this chance before. What do you think, Bentley?' He turned to his brainy friend, a smirk upon his handsome face. 'Do you think we should accept this fella?'

'Aww, c'mon Sly, don't toy with the poor kid anymore.' Bentley said. 'He's had enough stress for one day. Give him a straight answer.'

'Alright, mother,' Sly mocked. Then he turned to Carmelita and imitated an army soldier. 'Okay Carmen, here's the deal. First of all, yes, you're sticking with us now, kiddo.' He paused and Carmelita smiled her most brilliant smile at him. He gave her an odd look, so she regained her composure. He continued. 'Secondly, we've got a spare room, so we'll allow you to stay here the night, which also means that you won't go telling your friends where our hideout is. Oh, what are you going to do about your foster parents, and school?'

Carmelita tried to look as if she was thinking of how to tell her foster family, while she quickly schemed up an excuse not to. 'Uh, my foster parents don't really care about where I go. I was away for a month just recently, working in Spain, and they didn't say anything when I came back. And they don't send me to school.' She explained with a hardened expression, as if she was holding back her well-hidden emotion, instead of trying not to get caught.

'Oh,' Sly said, reading her pretend expression and sympathizing with the orphan. 'You don't have any parents. I understand.' He looked sad, and she felt an odd sympathy for him, even though hers was just a story. She shook her head, trying to feel distanced from it like a good police officer should. But she couldn't hold onto that weak feeling inside her. Through this short time, she felt as if she was truly becoming friends with these people. They weren't just criminals, like she'd been training herself to think. They were people, who had their own history, most of which was sad, or heartbreaking. She felt bad for lying to them. But Murray broke her out of her soul searching.

'Hey guys?' he said. 'It's already 11 o'clock, and I don't know about you guys, but 'The Murray' is tired.' And as if to prove it, he yawned a massive yawn, reaching to the ceiling with his arms out and stretching his jaw wide. It was infectious, and soon everyone was yawning.

'Maybe you're right Murray,' Bentley yawned. 'We can discuss this tomorrow. But for now, let's get some shuteye.'

Stretching as well, Bentley yawned once more. Then he pointed to the couch. 'You can sleep there for tonight, and we'll set up proper accommodation tomorrow. That all right?'

'Yeah, it's good.' Carmelita said, knowing full well that it was either this or on the street. They bade each other good night, all the lights were switched off, and Carmelita rested her tired and confused head on a cushion.

Then her wars began again.

You shouldn't feel this comfortable around thieves and criminals, her cop side growled angrily, making her feel guilty.

But they're nice people, even Sly, despite his reputation, her heart said.

No! her cop side rebutted, he's untrustworthy, he could be trying to kill you right now!

Sly's not like that, her heart reasoned, and you know it. He wouldn't kill someone unless it was absolutely necessary.

You can't trust their type, her cop side told her.

I trust them, her heart admitted.

I trust them? Carmelita thought. Yes, now that she thought about it, she did trust Sly and his gang. She'd known them only a small time, and she already trusted them to still be here the next morning, to not harm her while she slept, and to keep her in their gang like they promised. She trusted them with a lot.

Carmelita turned over, trying to get some sleep. But, her heart piped up again.

If you trust him with this much, maybe you could trust him with more?

She tried not to question it, and rolled over again. But you can't control your thoughts, and she found herself asking, 'like what?'

Your heart, it replied.

'No.' she whispered softly, more out of habit than because she actually meant it. And she knew it.

She rolled over once more, and tried to get to sleep. She could feel she was sleepy, but there were so many thoughts zooming around her head.

I'll deal with it all tomorrow, she decided. Feeling more relaxed, Carmelita snuggled into the couch, and her thoughts finally let her get some sleep.

She drifted off, her heart and conscience letting her dream. But her last thought, before she began to dream was …

He is very handsome, though…

A/N: Wow, a bit longer than the other one! Okay, so it might not seem like much to you, but to me I put two chapters in one here, so I'm tired. I wonder if all that yawning made anyone else yawn? Oh well, you can tell me if you like! And my chapters are getting longer, yay! Although the last bit didn't make as much sense as I'd like it to… oh well. Until next time!