A/N and Disclaimer: Hello again! Next update! I don't know how long this will be, so we might be near the middle of the story, or this might be the last chapter, but I hope not! Anyway, I do not own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Bentley, Murray, or Ms Puffin, who is in the Sly 2 comic. Anyway, the story…

Carmelita opened her eyes to the early morning on a bare mattress with a blanket draped loosely around her. She was confused for a moment, but then remembered that she wasn't sleeping on the couch anymore. She regretted it as she smelt breakfast in the kitchen. Her stomach rumbled, and she brushed her short hair out of her eyes, got up and made the walk down the corridor to the other rooms, where breakfast was being served.

'And I thought I'd gotten up early today!' she joked as she entered the room. The Cooper gang looked over to her, and greeted her kindly.

'Morning Carmen!' Murray said cheerfully, handing her a plate. 'Help yourself to breakfast, 'The Murray' has made rice with chicken. Totally healthier than the pizza Sly was going to order.' He said, looking over at Sly and trying to look scolding, before breaking out into laughter at the look on Carmelita's face.

She had stuck her tongue out and wrinkled her nose at the thought of having something fattening like pizza as the first meal of the day. Murray had seen her pull this face, which was why he was laughing now. Sly and Bentley saw it too, and grinned. Sly attempted to look hurt by it.

'Don't you like my suggestion, Carmen?' he said in a high voice, supposed to sound upset, while Bentley scoffed. Carmelita grinned at him, then shook her head fiercely.

'I'd much rather have Murray's arroz con pollo than fattening pizza!' she stated firmly. Sly just grinned.

'And you said what?' he asked, hiding a curious tone from her. Carmelita blinked.

'Oh,' she said when she realised it. 'I just said what Murray had cooked. Rice with chicken. Arroz con pollo.' She said simply, shrugging. Sly nodded.

'And where'd you learn Spanish so fluently?' he asked, scooping up some rice with his fork and looking at her intently. Carmelita looked down at her breakfast.

'I was b- uh, was working in Spain, not long ago. I guess I picked up a lot there.' She said modestly, before eating a mouthful of rice. Sly swallowed and persisted asking questions as everyone ate their delicious breakfast.

'Working? Your foster parents let you travel to a different country to work? What did you do?' Sly asked, clearly surprised. Carmelita tried to look non-complacent as she answered his unexpected questions as best she could.

'Oh, they don't really care where I go, as long as they don't get a visit from the cops, and I pay for whatever I buy.' she said, trying to look hardened to all of this. 'I was working as a… uh, as a…' she paused, trying to think of something that would pay fair, but still have her in contact with lots of people.

'A waiter.' she finally said hurriedly. Bentley stared at her, one eyebrow raised. She instantly went on the defensive, yelling. 'What? I can be a waiter, you know!'

Once again, Sly had to calm the young fox down before things got ugly. 'Alright Carmen, no one thinks you can't be,' he said slowly, patting her gently on the shoulder. 'Bentley means no harm.'

Carmelita stopped instantly, realising she'd taken it too far again. 'Sorry Bentley,' she apologised, one hand rubbing the back of her neck like she'd seen Sly do once when he was nervous. 'I seem to keep doing that.' she said, grinning nervously.

Bentley accepted her apology straight away. 'Ah, forget it, I kinda did doubt you for a bit. I mean, going into a country where you can't speak the language, only to wait on people. You gotta admit it sounds odd.'

Carmelita smiled, raising her hands to the sky. 'Haven't I already warned you about that?' she joked. Bentley chuckled, nodding. Sly smiled, glad that his friends got along so well. Murray, who had finished his breakfast long ago, piped up now.

'Hey Bentley,' he almost whined, but not annoyingly. 'What are we doing today?'

Bentley cleared his throat. 'Well actually, there's a greengrocer close by whose prices are so high it's criminal.' He said, smirking at his play on words. Sly, used to these messages, winked at his small green friend.

'Well,' he replied. 'We should relieve this crook from some of his stock, since we're running low on our own.'

Carmelita had finally cut through all of this descriptive talk. 'You're going to rob a greengrocer's?' she said, shocked. 'But, apart from food, why!'

Bentley spoke up, it being his idea and all. 'You don't know this greengrocer's, Carmen,' he reasoned. 'They charge the poor folk around here $20 for a head of lettuce! And he's making a fortune in profit because the people around here can't afford the travel to inner Paris, or other towns around Paris. It's only fair that we take some cash from his substantial profit.'

Bentley finished, pushing his glasses up his nose. Carmelita scowled slightly. 'Maybe their prices are high because they keep losing all their stock to people like you!' she grumbled, her anger flaring up for a moment. Sly raised an eyebrow.

''People like you'?' he queried, repeating her words back to her. Carmelita grimaced inwardly. That was not a good choice of words. She tried to play off the meanness of their plan.

'Yeah,' she defended herself. 'you guys are so mean to the poor guy, stealing his stuff because he put his prices up. What if he gives his profits to charity?'

'He doesn't.' Sly said flatly. Before Carmelita could respond, Sly continued. 'Bentley was curious when we arrived here as to where he spent his money if he charged so much, and with a little digging, we found he keeps it to himself. It's not as bad as some people we've had to deal with in the past, but it's still greedy and dishonourable, taking money from people who can't afford it, so we decide not to 'contribute' to his pay check.'

Carmelita paused, thinking, and then nodded, despite herself. 'Okay, I get you. I guess I jumped to the wrong conclusion.' She admitted, but she was too proud to apologise again.

But the gang didn't mind. Murray and Bentley were over it already. 'Don't worry about it.' they told her. Sly looked at her a moment longer, an odd glint in his eyes. But before Carmelita could truly turn this over in her mind, Sly smiled at her and turned to Bentley.

'The same usual plan then?' he asked. Bentley nodded.

'No need to fix what works already.' he said wisely. Sly went to grab his cane, and Murray left to warm up the van. Bentley turned to Carmelita, asking. 'You want to come as well, Carmen?'

Carmelita shrugged. 'Sure, why not?' and followed Bentley to the van, where Murray and Sly were already inside waiting. Soon they were all in and heading to the other side of the small neighbourhood, a place Carmelita had never been to before.

Sly gave her a brief idea of what they'd be doing. 'Okay Carmen, it's pretty much just in and out, not enough to call it a heist, really. We park the van outside the back where their loading dock is, Bentley hooks up to the security systems (almost laughable, it's only three cameras) and takes 'em down, then I (and you too, if you want to) will grab some uniform overalls, go in, fill a trolley full of stuff, and come out the way we came. We put everything back the way we found it, and drive off. Sound good?' he asked, grinning at her look of confusion as she slowly absorbed what he said. After a second, her expression hardened, and she nodded.

'Got it.' she said sharply.

'Hey, and one other thing,' Sly added, waiting for Carmelita to look at him. 'It's just a greengrocer's, so if you screw up, it doesn't matter. The trick is to play it cool.' He said, deepening his voice at the end. Carmelita stifled a laugh.

'I think he's ready, fellas,' Sly called to his best buddies. Murray stopped the van outside the loading dock, and Bentley began hacking the well known codes for the high priced grocery store. After only a minute or two, he stopped, a triumphant look on his face.

'Best time yet!' he beamed, puffing out his chest. Sly smiled.

'Well done pal!' he said, clapping him on the shoulder. 'Great work! Be back soon!' and he, and Carmelita, jumped out of the van while Murray congratulated his small green friend with a crushing, enthusiastic handshake.

Sly and Carmelita had already made it to the back of the store, and were now donning overalls with the groceries logo printed on it. Casually, the pair walked through the back to the shops front, where Carmelita grabbed a trolley, and Sly began loading it with all the fruits and vegetables they needed. Nobody gave them a second glance, except one elderly bird, who walked up to Carmelita and tapped her on the shoulder.

'Excuse me, young man,' she said, with her beak in the air. 'What are you doing with all those vegetables?'

'Special deliv'ry,' Carmelita said gruffly, trying to deepen her voice. 'Bringin' 'em to a sick customer.' The bird huffed, obviously not pleased with the answer she'd gotten. But Carmelita kept going, and the bird stuck her nose up further and walked off. Carmelita shrugged and turned to Sly, who was trying extremely hard not to laugh out loud. His shoulders shook silently, and Carmelita gave him a shove, trying to knock some sense into him.

'C'mon, get back down to earth, man!' she said, gruffly repeating a saying definitely not her own. Sly finally got the message, and regained his composure.

In no time, they had loaded the trolley, and wheeled it out to the loading dock. Murray came out from the driver's seat and lifted the whole trolley into the back. Carmelita was surprised at his strength, but Sly quickly changed out of his disguise and whispered for Carmelita to do the same, which she quickly complied to. In a moment, Murray had returned to the driver's seat, and Sly and Carmelita had slipped into the back of the van. They were gone in a flash.

The gang got back to the hideout just in time for brunch. Murray grabbed the trolley out of the back after Sly and Carmelita got out, and Bentley unlocked the security and let them into the hideout. Everyone made their way to the kitchen, where they had a quick snack of sandwiches (which they ate inside this time).

'What was so funny in the greengrocer's, Sly?' Carmelita asked, her mouth half full of food. Sly changed instantly. He began laughing again, and Bentley and Murray looked over at him, confused. Carmelita couldn't help the grin that came to her face, Sly's mirth had spread to her, but she asked again. 'What? What's so funny?'

He was red in the face from laughter, but he managed to grab a few gasps of air, which helped him calm down. His eyes were watering as he managed to get out. 'Ms. Puffin!'

'What about her?' Bentley asked, still confused. Murray was the same, scratching his head. Sly had calmed down enough to breath properly. He wiped the tears from his eyes, and he smiled a huge smile at his life-long friends.

'She was at the greengrocer's, telling off Carmen for taking the vegetables she wanted!' Sly told them, fighting hard to stop himself from bursting with laughter. The others were shocked.

'But our orphanage is on the other side of town!' Bentley said. 'I made sure of it!'

'Guess she moved.' Sly said, grinning. 'But oh man, you should have been there! She came up to Carmen and was like 'exCUSe ME, young man, WHAT are YOU doing with aLL THOse VEGEtables?'' he said, imitating his old orphanage headmistress with a hand regally on his chest, and Murray and Bentley cracked up. Carmelita smiled at his antics. He continued.

'And then,' he said breathlessly. 'after Carmen gave her some story about a sick customer, she stuck her beak in the air and waltzed off, and she was glaring at Carmen for the rest of the time!' he finished, and they all burst into laughter. Eventually they calmed down. Murray was the first to break the contented silence.

'Hey, we still haven't seen that movie we worked for the other day!' he exclaimed loudly, slapping his palms on the dining table in surprise. The table buckled slightly. Sly smiled, looking over at Carmelita briefly.

'Yeah, we should do something as a gang!' he said cheerfully, now turning to Bentley. He decided these things, and planned them, after all. Murray looked at him too, and Carmelita turned to look questioningly at the turtle. Bentley grimaced, thinking of all the work they would have to go through to disguise the group at such short notice, and with no materials. He spoke slowly, trying to break it gently to the eager group looking at him.

'Well,' he began. 'the thing with going to see a movie is the work we have to put into it. Disguises for everyone, you too Carmen, quick cash, making sure it's inconspicuous, no leaks to the police, no witnesses, no record of us going. There's a lot to do in such short notice.' He justified. Sly stopped grinning, but he nodded, understanding. Even Murray understood, after all, it was an all too familiar situation for the trio. Carmelita was shocked. They certainly were careful, she thought. No wonder Interpol gets no word of them until their heists begin! It's a shame though, she thought, they can't even to the cinemas without hours of work and preparation…

She had frozen temporarily, deep in thought, and Sly waved a hand in front of her face jokingly. 'Carmen…?' he said slowly, dragging out her false name. She snapped out of it and spun quickly towards him.

'What? What is it?' she said, panicking briefly. They all grinned at her reaction.

'Gee, someone had their head in the clouds.' Sly smiled. 'What was so captivating, then?'

'Oh, nothing much,' she said, dismissing her thoughts with a wave of her hand. 'Just thinking.'

Sly put an arm around her shoulders, pretending to whisper in her ear. 'Don't worry buddy, you can tell me. What was it you were thinking about? A girl?' he winked at her. 'A boy?' he raised his eyebrow quizzically.

'NO!' she said indignantly (or so she hoped), pushing off his warm arm from around her and stepping back so she could see him clearly. 'I was thinking about the work you have to go through to go out, if you must know.' She admitted.

'Well that's a relief.' Sly joked. Carmelita grinned and gave him a hard shove towards the couch. She laughed as his arms flailed comically, trying not to fall over onto the couch, which he did. Carmelita laughed even harder, and even Bentley and Murray joined in. Sly looked almost embarrassed as he got up, but he grinned it away.

'Gee, thanks for defending me, guys,' he mock-accused Bentley and Murray. They just laughed. Sly turned to Carmelita. 'And you!' he said, a frown on his face and a smile in his eyes. Carmelita stopped laughing out loud, and settled for smiling. Sly walked over purposely, placing an outstretched finger square on her chest. Carmelita looked down, making sure he didn't do anything dodgy.

Before she realised she had fallen for a trick, Sly quickly lifted up his finger and flicked her nose. Bentley and Murray laughed again as Carmelita blinked and scrunched her nose, rubbing it with her hand, and Sly gave her a mischievous grin.

'Gotcha.' he whispered below the laughter, his chocolate eyes glimmering with that odd look again. But Carmelita didn't panic like she might have a few days ago. She remained calm, almost captivated, and then gave him a scowl, but there was no heart in it.

After a while, the laughter died down, and there was a pleasant silence. Sly sighed, and clapped his hands in a businesslike way. 'Okay,' he said sharply, smiling as everyone jumped, just a little. 'It's not even lunchtime yet, and we've only done one interesting thing today. And a lot of laughing.' He grinned. 'So Bentley, am I safe to assume that there's nothing to do today?' he said, looking at Bentley.

Bentley smiled. 'Yep, that's right Sly. But tomorrow we'll get back into it, alright?'

Sly nodded. 'Sure. But Bentley, if you've got any spare time on your Internet surfing, could you check Carmelita's Interpol file?'

Murray had walked off to his room to listen to his stereo. Carmelita stiffened, but tried to hide it, busying herself by sitting down on the couch and turning the television on. However, she didn't notice what was playing. Her ears had perked and swivelled as she listened to Sly and Bentley's conversation.

'What am I searching for this time?' Bentley asked. He seemed to be used to these requests.

'Just when she'll be back.' Sly said casually. Bentley paused, and Carmelita guessed he was pulling a face at Sly.

'Sly,' he said, as though he was speaking to a five year old. 'You already know the file said she would be gone indefinitely. Why do you want me to check again?

'I… I miss her.' he said softly. 'And-'

But something stopped him suddenly. The pause lengthened, and Carmelita almost turned around to see what happened. She was debating whether to or not, when Sly called out, almost giving her heart failure.

'LOOK AT THAT NEWS REPORT!' he yelled. Carmelita jumped and snapped her head up and focused her eyes on the television in front of her. It was a cartoon of a yellow sponge talking to a purple starfish with board shorts on. Carmelita frowned.

'So, eavesdropping were we Carmen?' a silken voice asked softly in her ear. Carmelita shivered inwardly at Sly's smooth voice, and the warmth of his breath against such sensitive fur. But she froze at being caught, and tried not to seem guilty (much).

'Me?' she asked innocently, turning to look at Sly and Bentley. Bentley looked at her disapprovingly, but with a touch of humour in his eyes. Sly grinned at her, but he had a look in his eyes that Carmelita couldn't place.

'Yes you!' Bentley said. 'Look, busybody, I have a job for you out the back.'

That caught her attention. Her ears perked up and she asked cheerfully. 'What do you want me to do?'

Bentley pointed outside, saying. 'There is a metal spade leaning against the fence outside. I would appreciate your assistance in excavating a square metre of earth in the far corner of the lawn out yonder.'

Carmelita's ears drooped. 'You want me to dig a hole in the backyard?' she said bluntly, giving him a look. Bentley gave a nervous chuckle.

'Hehe, well, yes.' He said, and then composed himself, standing straighter. 'Go on, go!' he said, shooing her outside. She was about to laugh, but Bentley looked serious, and whatever it was meant she had to leave the room, so she grumbled and went outside.

Carmelita picked up the shovel and walked over to the far corner of the garden. She looked at the soil, and slammed the shovel into it with one hand. Then she just looked at it. Carmelita hated doing something pointless for no reason. She stared angrily at the ground, as if it was all its fault. Her hand still rested on the shovel, and she whacked the handle half-heartedly with it.

She wondered, well, almost began panicking, if Sly and Bentley had discovered who she was, on that high-speed computer in the corner of the room. She almost looked around in fear waiting to see if they would march outside and demand her to tell them who she really was. She imagined Sly never talking to her again, not even flirting with her during a heist, and an acid fear burned in her gut.

'The dirt getting on your nerves, Carmen?' A familiar voice asked from behind her shoulder. Carmelita's heart stopped for a moment, but she didn't jump, getting used to Sly sneaking up on her randomly. She didn't turn around, but pointed with her hand to the soil beneath her.

'I hate doing pointless stuff!' she stated angrily, taking her pointing hand and slamming it on the spade handle. She heard Sly chuckle behind her, and step to stand beside her, looking down at the soil. Carmelita glanced at him and saw he was smiling. Her heart beat a little faster as she felt his closeness.

'Carmelita is exactly the same.' He said fondly, his eyes glazing over as he smiled at whatever he was reliving in his mind. 'I think that's why she hates chasing me.' He turned to her and saw her looking his way. He caught her gaze and kept it, a serious expression on his face. But he was silent. Carmelita felt her mouth go dry, and she swallowed. Sly misread this nervousness and laughed.

'I'm not going to tell you off for eavesdropping, Carmen!' he laughed, patting her shoulder and resting his hand there. A tingle spread from Carmelita's shoulder to her heart, and Sly kept speaking, becoming serious once more. 'Can I talk to you about something?'

Carmelita shrugged, trying to hide her immense worry from the mysterious thief so close to her. Sly walked to the fence, his hand slipping off her shoulder, and he turned, motioning for her to follow him. Sly sat down with his back resting on the fence, and Carmelita sat beside him. But not too close. They paused. It lengthened. Finally Carmelita's patience gave in.

'Are you going to tell me what you wanted to talk about, you're making me nervous!' she exclaimed, but couldn't help smiling at him. He grinned at her.

'Okay, keep your pants on, Carmen.' he joked, and Carmelita flushed briefly, once again grateful that he couldn't see it behind her dyed fur. 'I want to talk to you about love.'

Carmelita stiffened.

Sly looked up to the sky. 'I think I love Carmelita.' He confessed. 'I think about her all the time, and I can't find anything bad about her. She's just so…perfect.'

Carmelita recognised her thoughts about Sly being twisted against her (or about her), and she looked at the crafty raccoon once again to try and she what he knew. But it was hidden behind that chocolate cover, and after a moment she looked back down at the clumps of grass. She had a bout of self-doubt, and said. 'But she's a cop. She's out to catch you, as a thief.'

'It doesn't matter,' Sly reasoned. 'As long as the gang's safe, and she knows how I feel, I don't care if she catches me.'

A part of Carmelita, most likely her cop side, noted that this might be why he was so reckless, and also how he might get in half the trouble he does. If he was working for the wrong people, he might even be dangerous. She calmed herself down, reminding herself that he worked against the world's worst. Just like her, her heart added, but she shushed it, continued with her self-analysis. 'Carmelita seems to have an awful temper.' She said cautiously.

'But she's so cute when she's angry.' he said, grinning. 'And most of it's because of me, or my 'profession'. If we were together…' he faded off, smiling at the thought. Carmelita tried to suppress her delight.

'She's very stubborn.' Carmelita warned bluntly. Sly was too absorbed in his imagination to notice the frankness in her voice.

'It's more like dogged determination.' he defended. 'Always good in a partner. Or wife.' Carmelita's spine tingled with Sly's suggestion. She persisted.

'She can be very emotional.' she said, confessing some of her worse points to him. But Sly just shrugged.

'Aren't all women like that?'

'She's not the easiest person to get along with.'

'Not everyone is. It's part of who she is.'

'Her family won't like it.'

'I'll convince them. I'll find a way.'

Sly suddenly turned to her, fixing her with a mischievous, but curious look. 'How do you know so much about this, Carmen? Have you ever loved someone?

And now it was Carmelita's turn to look away, thinking carefully about her answers. 'I have, yes.' She said quietly.

'And did she return your affection?' he asked.

'I- I wasn't sure.' she said, slightly stretching the truth. She knew Sly really liked Carmelita, but she was speaking as Carmen, so that was a no. Sly continued.

'What was she like?' he asked.

'Uh, well, she was a bit like you, actually.' Carmelita said, and Sly raised an eyebrow. Carmelita fidgeted, shifting around on the ground.

'Well, she was about your age.' she explained. Sly had turned to face her, and nodded for her to continue, grinning slightly. Carmelita did.

'And, well, I suppose she was about your height.' she said, vaguely waving a hand around Sly's head. He smiled, an odd glint in his eyes, and Carmelita looked away again.

'Did you tell her?'

'No.'

'Will you?'

'I- I-uh…'

Sly had an odd look in his eyes, and was it her imagination, or was he leaning slightly towards her…

'SLY!' Bentley yelled from the house. They both sprang to their feet, turning towards the house. Shadows were moving inside. They ran inside, not thinking, just making sure they'd get there in time…

A/N: Aah, sorry it took so long to update, I'll try to be quicker next time! It's just that I've started school again, after a two week break, and that's thrown me right off. But anyway, hope you like it!