A/N and Disclaimer: Ah! So sorry it took this long to update, but you wouldn't believe school lately. Anyway, I left you on a cliff hanger, didn't I? Oops, I am so dead. Okay, just read, and don't hate me, I'll write faster, honest! No, I don't own Sly Cooper, Carmelita, Bentley, Murray or green spaghetti. Now, story time!
Carmelita and Sly burst through the back door. Murray had raced into the room at Bentley's yell, and stood, fists raised, glaring at the intruder. Bentley was frozen to his chair behind the computer, a gun aimed at his head. Holding the handle of the weapon stood a young, tall wolf.
'Bentley, you alright?' Sly asked in a steady tone. However, his voice was tense at the trouble his friend was in. Carmelita glanced briefly at the raccoon beside her. Her heart raced, but this time it was sending adrenaline to her body, and she was sure Sly would have been the same. But even under this tension, his first thoughts were for his friends. Quietly, Carmelita respected this, but the wolf scoffed.
'He won't be if you don't do what I say.' A high voice demanded. Carmelita looked curiously at the black-clad wolf. Then the gun.
Wait a minute…
'My gun!' Carmelita exclaimed, shocked. That was her Shock Pistol! She didn't notice Sly's odd look directed at her, instead focusing intently on the criminal in front of her. Even with a black balaclava, black pants and black polo shirt (all of which Carmelita noticed were a tight fit, especially the top), Carmelita had a strong feeling that she knew who this culprit was. Anyway, the tight top showed she was female, and even though only her eyes showed from behind the balaclava, Carmelita had only ever met one wolf who wore that much mascara and eyeliner. She gave the wolf a knowing, mischievous grin.
'Officer Lax.' she stated triumphantly. Sly blinked, looking at Bentley's captor. Bentley didn't move. Murray was shocked, to say the least.
'An Interpol officer?' he asked, his eyes wide in surprise. 'But, what…she's going to arrest us!' he gasped, panicking.
'No she's not.' Carmelita said firmly, looking the officer in the eye. 'She has no 'cuffs, no badge, and no support.' she pointed out. She paused, thinking. 'Actually, this looks more like a robbery.'
The wolf smiled. 'Clever boy, as well as cute.' she said smugly. Carmelita frowned. 'Yes, this is a robbery, and if you don't hand over all your valuables, the turtle's brains will be nothing but electrified goo.'
She cocked the gun.
Carmelita began to sweat, but she didn't show it. Sly stood stiffly beside her, the cogs and gears in his mind whirring at top speed. Bentley had suppressed a squeal as the gun clicked, and Murray bared his teeth. Carmelita looked around the room. If only they had time to think up something…perhaps she could buy them some time…
'Why are you robbing us?' she asked innocently, trying to act like the confused 16 year old she was supposed to be. 'Aren't you a cop?'
'Of course I'm a cop!' the wolf stated, almost proudly. Well, at least she's proud of it, Carmelita thought. Officer Lax put her unused hand to her hip. 'But the pay is awful, so I decided to get a pay rise from those who have tonnes to spare.' she said in a manner of fact tone.
Carmelita had an idea, and she slowly shuffled sideways. She kept talking.
'But you're an officer of the law, doesn't that mean you shouldn't break the law?' she continued, trying to keep the would-be robber thinking as she inched sideways. By the time Officer Lax had come up with an answer, Carmelita was standing in front of Sly, blocking him from her view. The officer was speaking, but Carmelita was only half listening as she waited for Sly to catch on to her idea.
'Well, technically I should…' the corrupt officer said slowly, as if choosing her words carefully so as no to incriminate herself.
Carmelita heard mumbling behind her.
'…but I need the money for this pair of shoes I really want…'
She felt a whisper of air against her neck, as though something had passed her. She had a feeling Sly knew what he was doing.
'…and they're only on sale this weekend, so I just HAD to rob you for more money.' Officer Lax concluded, as if it was obvious.
Carmelita nodded, but before she could say anything, the ditzy officer looked around the room. She had caught on to what was happening. A little.
'Hey, where'd Cooper go?' the officer asked. Her hands had fallen to her sides, and she scratched her head comically with her free hand. Bentley and Murray had also looked around the room, confused. Carmelita looked behind her, and saw nothing. She smiled.
A scream caught Murray and Carmelita's attention, and they whirled back to Bentley's captor (Carmelita noticed Bentley had clamped his hands over his ears at the woman's scream). The Shock Pistol was floating just out of her reach, and pointed at her. Bentley noticed a split second later, and scrambled out of his chair to the side of the room. The gun moved to levitate beside the scared officer's head.
'This is Casper the Ghost,' a voice wavered, attempting to intimidate the rattled woman. It worked.
'Wh-wh-what d-do you-u w-w-want?' Officer Lax stuttered, her hands held up defensively in front of her face. Carmelita looked to the others, wondering what their reaction was. She was surprised.
Bentley had hidden a snicker, and Murray was grinning. Confused, she turned back to the confrontation and listened carefully as the 'ghost' spoke again.
'I want you to leave this house now. And never return to these people again.' the voice (which Carmelita noticed sounded quite familiar) demanded, waving the gun around. The officer gulped, visibly paling. She raised her hands as if under arrest herself, and slowly walked down the corridor, and out the door. There was a pause, then Carmelita snatched the gun from the air (surprising the ghost) and rushed down the corridor, fiddling with the Shock Pistol as she moved. She found what she was looking for, a little pad with some numbers and a security lock on it. She smiled, locking the gun with her password. Opening the door, she saw the officer, still pale and with her hands in the air.
'Hey, Officer Lax!' she called out in her most boyish voice. The woman turned around. 'Don't worry about Casper, he's just messing with you. Here you go,' she said, tossing her the Shock Pistol. The surprised officer tried to catch it, but fumbled and it dropped to the ground. Carmelita winced. The officer picked it up, dusting it off. She looked up at Carmelita, a small smile on her face.
'Thanks sweetie.' she said, and Carmelita had to work hard not to pull a face. She raised a hand in farewell and walked inside. Closing the door, she saw the officer blow a kiss, and she shut the door and poked her tongue out.
'Eew,' she whispered childishly. She walked back to the lounge room, where she saw the Cooper gang beaming at her. There was silence for a moment, then Bentley spoke.
'Carmen, thank you so much!' he said grabbing her hand in a firm handshake and shaking vigorously. Carmelita's whole arm shook up and down at the force. Murray beamed at her.
'Wow, Carmen you were really clever. Awesome!' he said excitedly, grabbing her other hand and crushing her fingers in an enthusiastic handshake. Sly walked up to her, giving her one of his most charming grins.
'Great thinking Carmen, I'm proud of you boy.' he said proudly, ruffling her hair and clapping her on the back. Carmelita beamed back at all of them, almost crying in happiness. This was what real happiness was. Every time she thought she was happy, or proud, or glad because she had caught another criminal, she had thought that it was the best feeling. It was nothing compared to what she was feeling now.
Carmelita's stomach rumbled, and Murray finally let go of her hand. 'Let's have dinner, I'm starving!'
The others nodded, and Carmelita's other hand was freed, and her hair was left alone. This is when she noticed the long lock of hair in front of her face. Oh no! She tried walking calmly out of the lounge towards the bathroom, calling out behind her, 'I'll be back in a minute!' then she power-walked into the small room.
Standing in front of the mirror, Carmelita looked in panic at her reflection. Did anyone notice it? Did Sly? A long lock of her real hair had escaped from under her wig, twirling down past her chin to stop at her stomach. She quickly took the wig off and tied her hair closely. A knock at the door startled the young fox, almost causing her to jump out of her fur.
'Carmen?' Sly asked.
Carmelita panicked. 'Yes?' she replied in a squeaky voice.
Sly paused, then asked. 'Are you alright? You sound kinda odd.'
'I've got something in my throat.' she said, coughing.
'Okay, well, Murray wants to know if you want spices in the spaghetti he's gonna cook.'
'Oh, yes please.' Carmelita answered, smiling. She was panicking for no reason, and now she was going to have spaghetti for dinner. She never had the time for decent meals usually, chasing Cooper had meant she worked from dawn to dusk. So she was grateful that she was having healthy food here. In fact, living here had meant she had a great diet.
'Alright, I'll go tell him.' Sly said, and Carmelita listened for the footsteps that accompanied his departure. Calming down, she put all her hair into place, securely putting the wig back on, and walked back out into the kitchen. Dinner would be a while, Murray informed her, so she would have some spare time. She asked if she could help, but he dismissed her with a wave of his hand, telling her he had it all under control.
She wandered over to Bentley, who had recovered from his bout with danger, and was back on the computer planning the next heist. Carmelita tried to ask him what it was, but he was so absorbed in his work he could hardly string together two words. Carmelita looked over at Sly, reading from his famous heirloom. She walked over to the table he was sitting at and pulled up a chair. She looked closely at the book. It was very tattered, and the pages were heavily dog-eared. The leather binding was worn and faded, but the script on the front stood out clearly.
'Thievius Raccoonus.' Carmelita read in a whisper. But it was enough to alert Sly that he had company, and he quickly shut the book and put it in his leg pouch. Carmelita quickly sat up. They sat like that for a moment, before Sly relaxed.
'You did well to think up that plan of yours before,' he said casually. Carmelita shrugged, but she couldn't stop the smile that came to her face.
'Well, I was lucky you knew what to do as well.' she said truthfully. Sly grinned. Carmelita couldn't quite make eye contact when he was looking at her like that (she got all flustered) so instead she turned to look out the window. Sly looked too.
Carmelita saw the guttering and remembered that night they had sat on the roof, talking. She realised she needed to learn how to jump properly in this costume without hurting herself. During the first and only real heist she'd been on, she had performed a jump she could do in her usual gear, but her disguise, the coset especially, cut into her side sharply, and she didn't want to do that again.
'Sly,' she asked slowly. He looked back at her, motioning for her to continue. She breathed deeply and said. 'Will you teach me how to do some moves from the Thievius Raccoonus?'
He looked at her seriously, and she almost withered under that intent gaze. But she stood her ground, looking him in the eye. He considered this a moment.
'I suppose,' he said slowly, looking out the window again. 'I could teach you some things.' He looked back at her. 'What did you want to learn?'
Carmelita gave him one of her stunning smiles in gratitude. Then she compiled a short list of the basic things she'd need if they were taking her on another heist again. 'Well, jumping on or off high things,' she said first off. 'Uh, running quietly, or with a weapon. Even if it is pretend,' she said, smiling at her joke. Sly grinned at her, and her heart warmed. 'Um, swinging on things, and using the weapon for some basic stuff.' She was counting on her fingers, and she looked at her hand. 'That's all I can think of for now.'
Sly looked back out the window, contemplating her requests. She watched the small smile that crept on his face. Still holding her breath, she watched as Sly turned to face her once more
'Alright Carmen,' he said, his smile spreading across his face. 'I'll teach you a little bit.' He stood up, and she quickly followed suit as he walked outside to stand beside the familiar pillars that held up the roof over the veranda. Then he turned, and they stood face-to-face in the slowly dimming light.
'Well, you already know how to climb,' he joked, grinning at her. She grinned back (she always enjoyed it when he gave her that look!), and he continued. 'So perhaps we'll try landing properly. Okay, first thing you need to know are the three different ways you can stop yourself from hurting if you fall.'
He lead her out to where the grass was growing most (there were four clumps of grass there!) and explained them. 'First, which I think is a self-defence move, is to slap the ground if you fall. It'll absorb some of the pain when you land.'
He showed her some examples, and she tried it out. After a couple of tries, Sly moved on to the next one.
'Right, the next technique is if you're falling sideways or forwards, like if you were pushed to one side or in the back. Then you roll. That kind of spreads the shock out so you can almost 'roll it off'.' he said, grinning, at Carmelita, who was slightly dusty. They practiced that for a while, and when Carmelita seemed to get the knack of it, Sly moved on to the final falling skill.
'The last one, you'll be glad to know,' he said to the now much dustier Carmelita. 'Is very simple really, and it's more for small jumps, like of rooves.' he grinned. 'You pretty much just absorb the shock in your legs, bending them when you land so you don't jar anything.' And he showed her how to do these, practicing some more. By the end of these simple skill training exercises, Carmelita was breathing heavily. Sly noticed.
'What?' he exclaimed, smiling. 'You're not completely puffed out? Better move on to sneaking.' he joked.
By the time the sun had well and truly set, Sly had taught Carmelita how to land, sneak and block attacks with her wooden cane (they hadn't been able to practice swinging on anything for lack of things to swing on). Both were well and truly puffed, although they would have dug up something and kept practicing. But Murray had announced that if they didn't come in for dinner now, then he'd eat it all and they would have to go hungry. They decided to go inside.
After the Cooper gang plus Carmelita had finished their delicious meal of spaghetti with spice and bolognaise sauce (Murray had tampered with the noodles and made them green with food colouring) the group sat contently at the table, enjoying the warm meal in their bellies and the general comfort they were in.
After a while, Bentley interrupted their quiet with a reluctant cough. They all looked over at their small green friend as he straightened himself in his chair. 'Well guys,' he said in a business-like tone. 'We haven't pulled off a heist in a while, and I've found a pretty decent spot.'
Everyone's ears perked up, and Bentley continued. 'You know the petrol station by the side of the Baston Highway,' he said, looking as they all nodded their heads. 'It looks small and meek, doesn't it? Well, the real deal with that place, and its owner, Mia Felon, is a counterfeiting operation right under the station.'
As Bentley explained the details of the story and the plan, using his projector and a yellow marker, Carmelita became really keen on this heist. Not only were they bringing in a crook, which was always a great thing to do, but by the sounds of it, she'd have a big part in this heist. She wouldn't just be the decoy, she'd actually help the others out. Her cop side, who Carmelita had thought had disappeared when she admitted she loved Cooper, found its way to the front of her mind.
YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK INTO A BUILDING! it screamed at her. You do KNOW that's a class 3 crime, don't you!
Carmelita panicked. Would she be able to forgive herself if she played a truly active part in this type of break-in? Perhaps she should refuse to do it? But that would raise more suspicion, and not only that but Bentley, Murray and even Sly would feel she wasn't pulling her weight in the gang.
'What's wrong Carmen?' Sly asked, surprising Carmelita out of her internal argument. She looked away.
'It's a battle with m conscience is all.' she mumbled truthfully. She looked up and saw Sly thinking, then look at Bentley. The small turtle looked at the worry in Carmen's expression.
'Don't worry so much Carmen,' he assured her. 'You'll still only do the decoy bit for the most half, and a little recon work. Just taking pictures and running.'
Carmelita calmed down. That didn't sound so bad, did it? She wasn't breaking in, or hurting any innocent people. And she wasn't robbing anyone of anything either. Her conscience settled down, but her cop side wouldn't leave without a fight.
You're still assisting a criminal! it raged. How can you live with yourself? Don't you feel guilty, because you should!
But calmly, and truthfully, her heart replied, I live with myself perfectly fine, because these people do not steal from the needy, or pick on the weak. They do the right thing in their own way, and I want to help them.
You wa-, her cop side began angrily, but she focussed back on what Sly was asking Bentley, and ignored it.
'…be a quick heist right?' the Master thief asked. Bentley nodded in the affirmative, and Murray asked whether there'd be any fast food stands nearby. Bentley scolded him for that, and told him to pack some food from the hideout.
'No further questions?' asked Bentley, looking at all of them. Carmelita shook her head. Nope, she knew what she was doing. Sly asked when they'd be pulling off the heist, to which Bentley answered that it would be tomorrow night and if Sly was listening properly he would have known that already and have no need to ask such a pointless question. Carmelita stifled a giggle as Sly told their small friend that he already knew and just felt like rattling his shell a little. Bentley sighed, and left to do some last minute tweaking to his plan.
'Whose turn to do the dishes tonight?' Murray asked Sly. Sly turned to Carmelita.
'Carmen hasn't done them all week, having guest status and all,' he said, grinning mischievously. Carmelita sighed, walking over to the pile of dishes that wasn't really so big, but seemed to have grown when she realised she'd be cleaning them. The other two smiled and Murray put on a wrestling video, while sly went to his room to read.
Carmelita ran some water and scrubbed at the plates. She wasn't used to cleaning up after four people. It was almost like a family.
Family. Her own would be shocked that she was working with the thief she had spent so long trying to put behind bars. And she knew her father would be almost horrified if she told him she loved that scoundrel.
Carmelita smiled. It was so much easier to accept that she loved Sly now, she almost enjoyed saying it, just for the thrill of it. She wondered if he'd ever give up thieving, because she knew that as long as he followed his family's legacy, she could never be with him. Even if she wanted to.
She sighed. Why was her life never easy? Or straight-forward? It seemed like every time she thought she knew just what was happening or where she stood, things would spin and she was left searching for her footing again. That ten-second incident at the Krac Karov volcano was the perfect example. Blast that raccoon! She was so close to catching him, and he goes and pulls a stunt like that!
And began changing her black and white view of him and his gang, her heart mentioned. Carmelita shook he head, trying to get rid of the pesky thoughts clouding her mind. She focused back on the dishes and scrubbed earnestly at the dishes and cutlery, cleaning the rest of the dishes and cutlery.
She was just finishing up when she felt the back of her neck prickle slightly, and she knew someone was watching her. She looked up at the back wall, a reflection in the windows showing a sneaky raccoon leaning against the archway behind her, his arms crossed and some kind of look on his smug but handsome face.
'How long have you been there, Cooper?' she asked gruffly, trying to hide the embarrassment she felt, and grateful she hadn't started talking to herself like she usually did. Phew! Grinning, Sly pushed off the wall with his back, and walked over to stand, at conversation distance, next to the young vixen. She drained the water and grabbed a towel, drying her hands, still questioning him with her eyes.
Sly uncrossed his arms to raise his palms in innocence. 'No need to get icy,' he joked. 'Only long enough to see you start scratching at the dishes like they had bitten you.' Carmelita grinned, still slightly embarrassed. She put the towel back on the bench. She put her hands to her hips, but once again felt that odd texture underneath her jumper, and quickly moved them to put her hands in her pockets.
'Why were you there?' she asked. Sly shrugged.
'Just wondering if you wanted to go somewhere with me tomorrow.' he said casually. Carmelita's ever-hopeful heart saw this as a date, but she shushed it before she started grinning like a madwomen. She took a breath to calm herself.
'Sure,' she said calmly. 'Where to?'
Sly seemed to shuffle a bit. Carmelita wondered what the sudden case of nerves was for. But then he said it. 'Carmelita's apartment.'
She was shocked. 'What? Why?' she asked in a high voice. After another breath, she asked steadily. 'I mean, why do you want to go somewhere you can't get into?'
He hadn't been there before, right?
Sly grinned sneakily at her again. 'I'm just going to do some housecleaning for her. Goodness knows she hasn't had time for that in ages.'
Carmelita blushed beneath her dyed fur at Sly's observation. True, she hadn't had time to clean up her apartment in a while, but she didn't realise it was that noticeable.
'Still want to come?' he asked. Carmelita smiled at him, looking the raccoon in the eye.
'Sure.'
With that settled, the rest of the night passed quickly, and soon Carmelita was resting her head on her pillow on the bare mattress in the smaller lounge. She made a mental note to remember to get a sheet for it. And perhaps a doona (or bedspread), not that she wasn't grateful for the blanket Sly had given her. She just needed something warmer, she thought as she wrapped the material around her tightly. Maybe tomorrow I'll find one. Yes, I'll do it tomorrow…
And with that, Carmelita drifted off to sleep, waiting for tomorrow.
A/N: This might be a weird chapter, I got stuck halfway through. Anyway, I know you all have different ideas on what's happening, so I'm trying not to be too specific, because it could be ANY of them (dramatic music). Okay, I've wasted enough time, so please tell me what you think. Until the next chapter!