Chapter -25-

Sire, again for the first time

"I don't think I've properly introduced myself, Mister Sly Cooper," Said Sire, not yet engaging his powerful aura. "I'm not just the man to whom you may address as Sire, my dear boy; I'm the man you may consider 'undefeatable' by every means of the word." He approached Sly just as the group of guards dashed into the hallway from the other end of the room. He put one paw up, signaling them to hold off their attack. They came to a stop and waited, weapons ready. The effeminate lion then placed an arm around Sly Cooper's shoulders and began to walk with him. "Sly, you're an important man to me and I brought you here for many reasons."

"What's making you act so buddy-buddy to me?" Sly asked, being led away from the door he wanted desperately to utilize. "I've stolen nothing from you that you haven't already gotten back. From me, you've stolen a blood sample and you've stolen a piece of my pride and ego and then you tried to take my girl away. So, tell me Mister Sire, why are we being chums all of a sudden?"

"You have a pendant that I want to use in my personal affairs," Sire said, guiding Sly down the hallway, slowly. The guards separated, making a space for the two to pass through. The lion continued, adding, "It guarantees that the woman who possesses it will be fertile and give birth to a child, no matter who the woman is. The desire I have is simple: I want one of my super natural associates to experience the joy of birth. We'd even consider returning it once she delivers, do you understand my situation?"

"Well," Sly said, knowing exactly where this was going after the team had been briefed by the future version of Carmelita. "I'll make a trade for it," He said, just playing the game with grace and tact. "You hand over the man who is rebuilding Clockwerk so that I can hang him by his toes for a few weeks and then you hand over the parts being manufactured to make this new Clockwerk. Then, you walk away and give me A) space, and…then you give me: B) Carmelita. Even after you've given me all these things, you then give me: C) let my gang head home. After that, I'll express-ship the amulet to you and you can use it on loan."

"Not good enough Sly," Sire said, still repressing his temper. "Steven is a special friend of mine. I can't hand him over to you and, if you must know, part of him disagrees with the Clockwerk project any how." Sire didn't want to reveal his intentions for the new Clockwerk body, but he wasn't going to give up the parts or the builder, who happened to be a clone of the real Steven. His plan went beyond Sly's comprehension. Sire continued the explanation, saying, "I need the Clockwerk parts for another project but I'm not dispatching him to kill you or your future family unless you try to stop us.

"See Sly, it's like this: I have the power to take your life, the life of your family and the life of your future family. I've done it before, I could easily do it again. I deployed him to take your father to the grave and bring me back anything the Cooper clan holds sacred because I wanted that pendant. I sent Doctor Mobius to obtain the pendant and so-too did Doctor M. fail me horribly. Now I'm trying it the peaceful and diplomatic way… I'm asking you, please, hand it over so we can all walk away from this."

Sly didn't know what to think. His heart began to beat faster and his racing pulse caused him to struggle with breathing properly. He attempted to remain passive and calm but this man just openly admitted to sending Clockwerk out to kill his father. Sire continued speaking. He told the raccoon, "I would hate for another episode to happen where another Cooper dies just because I lose my temper. I've tried to obtain this pendant for a very long time, Sly. Simply handing it over will end your family curse of being haunted by Clockwerk and other such evils. It will be over. You'll be free to live your life; you can even resume your relationship with Carmelita Fox, if you wish. You give me what I want and I'll make it all stop."

Sly blinked, turning to Sire with semi-narrowed eyes. "The Cooper line has always glanced up at the sky on clear nights, just to make sure there weren't a set of talons and wings silhouetted against the moon. It's been something we've done for generations and you're telling me that every single occurrence led back to your whim?"

"Every single time, Sly." Sire smiled, keeping his arm around the raccoon. Sly was trying his hardest not to shake on the inside but it was difficult not to contain himself. He was walking with the man who admitted guilt to the murder of countless Cooper thieves. This man was in desperate need of punishment and here he was. The two exited the hallway on the far end, taking the door to the stairwell. They went down the steps, one at a time, heading away from the guards. "Are you going to help me or am I going to kill you and penetrate your family's vault for myself?"

"You can't," Sly said, coldly. "Bentley and Penelope designed the perfect vault. Even a Cooper can't crack that safe; we can only open it the proper way. If you kill me, you don't get your heirloom. If you want one, buy a knockoff at the gift shop."

"You disappoint me," Sire said, shaking his head. The two arrived on the first floor, walking out into the lobby. Sly glanced around, seeing twenty guards lined against the left, right, front and rear wall. Twenty men in total, five against each wall, with automatic weapons trained on Cooper's head. Tiny red dots danced above his brow as every one of them were locked onto him from the moment they left the stairwell. "I've given Slick Cooper your staff. He'll figure out how to open the vault and you will die, my friend. If you try to escape, my men will remove your head. If you change your mind at any time, please let me know."

"What if they miss and hit you?" Sly asked with a smirk.

"I'm a supernatural, Sly," Sire replied with a pleasant tone. "I won't die. It will sting a bit, but in a few days, you wouldn't even know I'd been shot."

"Lucky you," Sly muttered, still bottling the boiling rage in his gut over the fact that he now had a face and a name with which he could place in conjunction to the Cooper Curse of Clockwerk. He then stopped walking, putting out one paw, across Sire's chest, to stop the lion. Sire turned to face him and Sly, in turn, did the same. He put his paws on the Sire's blazer, using his fingertips to fix a wrinkle he left in the man's satin shirt. He then ran his paws over the collar of the blazer, making it nice and neat. "Listen, we don't need to have any animosity between us, over this little 'oops'; it's in the past, what's done is done, right? We're amigos, here; it's all been one big misunderstanding and we can certainly work this out with an admirable ending, right?"

"Indeed," Sire said, placing his paws behind his back, his left wrist snug in his right palm. "There must be a way we can solve this entire situation and settle my little obsession without killing the last member of the line."

"Agreed," Sly said, attempting to stifle the intense emotion that was welling up in his chest. It was difficult but he also didn't want to be killed for making a stupid act. It would be a very dismal and ugly ending to a line of people who swore by grace, agility and tact. "So what is your super power, Sire?" Without skipping a beat, Sly pat the man's chest as if to indicate that the suit was now picture perfect, then drew his paws back, folding them behind his back the exact same way that Sire had done.

"You don't want to see me use my abilities," Sire said with an air of promise. "Let's just say that no other super natural being has been able to stand up to me or my power and that is why I am their leader."

"I'm very impressed," Sly noted casually. In the paws, behind his back, he was now holding a wallet, two rings, a necklace and a pendant of unidentified origin. He kept them hidden but it didn't last long.

"Sire!" one of the guards cried, "He has something in his paws, behind his back!" The man snitched.

"It's a bad reflexive habit," Sly said with a corny smile. "I heard it was important!" he added, suddenly drawing his paws forward, tossing only the wallet back at the lion. The rings were now on his fingers, along with the necklace and pendant which were wrapped around his left and right wrist, respectively. The lion's eyes widened and he suddenly threw the powerful aura into full swing, radiating with intense beauty and demanding incredible awe from everyone in the room.

Sly balled his paws into fists, squinting as if bright lights were being shined into his face. The world around him began to distort like being on a bad drug trip but the power of the pendant he'd swiped kept him from dropping to his belly like a mere worm. The guards were unable to fire, blinded by the incredible charisma and the intensity of Sire's commanding and authoritative majesty.

It took every fiber of his being to keep from lying down. Unfortunately for Sly, that meant he was no longer able to channel his will into retaining his temper. His first instinct was to lunge for the condescendingly patrician cat. His eyes seemed to melt into a leering gaze, locked onto Sire's aristocratic features. He wanted to snap the man's neck and now only had the will to either stay standing or release the bottled up rage.

"Kneel before me," Sire whispered softly. His tone was tender and pleasant but it only enraged the raccoon further. Seeing that Sly was able to resist, now having stolen the pendant of willpower, he knew that his only other option was to have the raccoon executed. The powerful aura suddenly dissipated and the Bishonen raised his voice to the room. "FIRE UPON THE TARGET!" The twenty guards scrambled to their feet, locked on and opened fire.

Cooper's only chance at survival was a powerful Cooper ability handed down the line by his ancestors: The ultra-sneaky, mind boggling ability to slow down time. It was simulated, really. Everything happened in Sly Cooper's mind; his focus was increased by a great deal and his concentration skills were put to rigorous use. He became aware of every thing around him. Without his cane, he was helpless to defend himself against incoming bullets, but he still had the ability to evade them and so he began to bend his knees… slowly, the raccoon crouched to the ground. Scrambling soldiers on all sides were aiming their weapons and at almost all the same time, the front of their weapons flashed into a cascade of twinkling lights that surrounded the Master Thief from every direction. His body began to rise, slowly launching himself upwards.

His eyes reflected the bright flashes, bullets began to fly forth, and he could even see the incredibly slight distortion of wake behind each round. His clothing was skin-tight so as not to collect air or billow up as he ducked into a somersault. The delicate ballet was a lethal dance that needed to be picture-perfect or he would die very quickly as a crumpled bloody pulp on the floor. Bullets lanced out and one even managed to pass through his blue sweater, half of a millimeter from his left hip. A sharp pain followed the mere paper cut-like wound but it wasn't over yet. His legs were inverted, opposite from his head, and his body flip-flopped in mid air. The world slowly rotated around him and he craned his head just an inch to see where there would be an open space. He saw two passing bullets and began to extend his legs, effectively ending the somersault while aiming to stay between the two rounds, parallel to one another in course.

As soon as he hit the floor, he bounced upwards again but it seemed like several minutes before he was airborne once more. Cooper bounded towards the door with a dull, resonant roar in the background; Sire was shouting to stop the raccoon but his words came out as a deep, slow, resonating noise with no definition or meaning. Sly reached his paws out, pushing them against centrifugal force as he spun through the air. His padded palms touched upon the shoulders of a guard at the other end of the room and he began the ridiculously tedious dissention maneuver. There, suspended on the guard's shoulders, doing a handstand in slow motion, bullets ripped through the air, piercing that soldier's bulletproof vest, his neck, his head and tearing through the thin space between Cooper's arms and the Rhino's ears.

Sly arched his back and came down to his feet, facing the wall, behind the soldier. The weight of the man could be felt as he toppled back against Sly, back to back, shoulder to shoulder for an instant. Sly then put his left foot out against the wall he was facing and began to walk up it, his shoulders still against the shoulders of the dying soldier behind him. The world continued on in slow motion, demanding Sly's intense concentration. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold up as the demand of focus was a draining need.

If he'd had his cane, he would have performed the good ole' smoke trick then vanished along the ceiling or something. He didn't have that luxury and yet the thought of Slick Cooper having obtained his staff was almost humiliating. Bullets riddled the walls on all sides of the room and yet their expert marksmanship made Sire the safest person, standing in the center of the room.

Sly bounded back over the guard, throwing his body into a half-twist so that he landed on his feet, now facing the center of the room. He looked back at Sire from about 10 feet away. A bullet approached the raccoon's face but continued to slow until it came to a complete stop, only three inches from his nose. His eyes reflected the object and he simply stared at it in disbelief. Everything in the room had come to a complete and total stop.

"Aw, you've just made a fatal error, Amigo!" Called out a voice. "You landed in front of the guard, si? Now you take a bullet to the face, muchacho; it's not pretty, Senor. The thing is, if you died, Carmelita Fox would be pretty pissed off, no?" A man stepped, literally, from the folds of space and time, bringing himself into full view of Sly Cooper. The Spanish-looking gentleman placed his paws upon his hips and shook his head slowly. "Look at you; slyer than a fox and sleeker than a stealth jet… and yet here you are, about to take a bullet into your fuzzy little Cabeza; it's not fitting of an ending for the likes of you, Senor."

"Who… are you?" Sly asked, his eyes still on the bullet that would spell out his death faster than a heartbeat could occur… had it not been frozen in time, that is. The man approached Sly, plucking the bullet out of mid air. He strained his arm, turning the tiny dome-shaped shell about in his fingertips.

The Hispanic gentleman smiled a bit. "I don't see your name on it, or is that just a figure of speech?"

"You've got me," Sly said with a nervous chuckle. "So who are you?"

"Here," said Poliandro, tossing the shell at Sly. Cooper caught it, grunting in surprise at the weight of the round, which still held every pound of momentum and inertia. "Could you imagine it, Senor Cooper? Penetrating your nose, Si? It passes through your nasal cavity, continues to burrow deep into the flesh and sinew and cartilage and all that gooey stuff; I'm not a doctor, am I saying it right?"

"Uh…" Sly's jaw dropped just slightly. The Spanish man simply continued with a shrug.

"Then it goes deep, breaking through your skull and blasting through the soft gray matter of your brain, muchacho. It rips out through the back of your head and hits the wall, splattering the slumping guard, behind you, and the wall behind him, with a just… freakin'… macabre display of rojo, Amigo! It splatters in gooey chunks of meat and …just wow, man. Every-t'ing you know, Senor! Just little giblets of flesh, blasted all over the wall of a bank, man! All because of a nine millimeter parabellum round from a light weight submachine gun, my friend! Look at this! MP5, great gun!" The man said, pointing at one of the nearby guards who were holding their weapons, 19 remaining guns aimed directly at Sly Cooper.

Sly opened his mouth and said the first thing to come to his mind. "You've a real talent for descriptions; have you considered a career as a horror writer?" He glanced back to the bullet in his paw then turned around and placed it onto the nose of the guard that was slumping to the ground, behind him. "Freaky."

"I cannot tell you who I am," said the man. "I've done too much by showing myself to you. I'm a guardian who stops people from going through time and rewriting important segments of the past. What would happen if Britain won the revolutionary war against America? Who knows, but I can't let anyone find out. The last two people to pass through the gates of time are now dead, Amigo. They died trying to save you, did you know that?"

"Bentley and Carmelita?" Sly asked, blinking rapidly.

"Dios Mio!" Said Raul, throwing his paws into the air. "I asked them not to tell you but, sheesh, I guess you were going to figure it out when there were two of them, Si? Anyway, that was a pretty fancy little run you had, evading all these bullets for as long as you did. Very impressive but you made a wrong step in your dance and if you die, Carmelita would have a cow. Now, she is dead, so technically, she wouldn't come after me and shout; aye-yie-yie, what a temperamental vixen but she is one hot, foxy momma!"

"Yeah," Sly agreed with a casual nod, still a little freaked out by the fact that there were multiple bullets flying through the air and most of them were bearing on him as their target. "So did I lose? Am I dead and this is what happens in the afterlife? Someone comes up and shows you how stupid your last step looked?"

"Nah," Said the man. "You're not dead, Amigo. I might get into trouble for helping you but hey, my job gives me the prerogative, Si? I'm down for saving the world, too! If they succeed, time ends. If there is no one left to measure linier time, then it doesn't necessarily exist. I'd be out of a job, Amigo. If you have the power to stop all of this crazy nonsense then I have got to give you at least one chance. But remember! I gave your two buddies one chance and they fowled it all up, Senor Cooper. They're dead, man. They're nothing but cold corpses on a floor, hombre, so here is your one chance. Don't screw up, eh?"

"Th-thanks," Sly said, cocking his brow. "So you're just going to move this one bullet and let me make a break for the door?"

"Heck no," Raul chuckled. "You'd never make it. The second you got through the door, The Sire would throw his power back on you and pick up a gun to do the deed himself. His mistake was trusting his guards to do the dirty work when he was fully capable of doing it himself, Si? Si! No, Senor, I'm going to do much better," he said, waving his paw at Sly. "C'mon, Amigo!" He walked back towards the other end of the Lobby, where the main exit was located. He turned the knob and opened the door where suspended flakes of snow were trapped in mid air, just beyond the opened arch. "Stand out here and I'll restart the clock. Make your escape but don't mess up again, buddy. I got my tail reamed by the big boss for helping your two friends. I don't give second chances, comprende? Here's a suggestion!" He said, giving Sly a manly slap on the shoulder. "Don't go up against this man ever again, especially if he has a room full of guards! He outsmarted you! But hey, at least you got his pendant and walked away, Si? Now, get going!"

Sly stepped through the door and as soon as the cold hit him, the room behind him came to life. An explosion of sound was heard from behind and the flakes of snow began to fall again. Sire caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned his head just in time to see Sly magically teleport from one end of the room to the other, stepping through the door with ease and disappearing into the streets of Prague by night. Sire balled up his fists, knowing of only one individual capable of teleporting a person to safety. The word blasted from his throat, screaming the name in anger. "KARLA!" While his assumption was misplaced, he knew that she was still attempting to seduce the raccoon.

Carmelita, an Ex-Inspector for the International Police force, lay in a hospital bed. Her eyes were vertical slits, leering into the dim illumination of her room, to better gaze at her enemy. Slick Cooper was leaning on the cane of his 'twin', his chin on his wrist, supported by the tip of the cane. He simply smiled at her for a few minutes before saying, "Gosh, you're beautiful, lady. At least, you are to me."

"How frickin' flattering you are," Carmelita muttered, keeping her paws balled into fists. His very presence was an insult to her. "I know who you are and when I get out of this bed, I'll kill you with my own paws. Who knows, maybe it'll feel really good."

"Promises, promises," Slick chided, chittering his soft laughter in a way slightly different from Sly. "It's a shame I promised myself to Karla. She has you beat in physical perfection but not every man wants too perfect of a woman. Now, see, you are right down my alley. I could totally go for a lady like yourself," He told her with a smirk.

"So help me, if I have to get out of this bed, I'll break your neck with my own bare paws, this very instant," She said with a hint of promise in her voice. "My suggestion is that you go the hell away… Quickly."

"Oh but Inspector Fox," Slick said, approaching her bed with a devious sort of draw to his step, slow and steady in his movement. He drew into proximity of her body and leaned over her like a lone rainy cloud, his teeth sparkling with the whitest smile possible. "I'll still think of you when I go to bed with Karla. Does that make you jealous? Knowing that I'll be pressed firmly to another woman? That I'll have my paws exploring her body and that I'll draw in her scent as I take her in my arms in a way you can't possibly fathom?"

Carmelita felt awkward. "Get the hell away from me," She groused softly. "It's really amusing that you're going out of your way to stifle your own jealousy knowing that I was once the mate of Sly Cooper. Oh, wait, you didn't know? We had a relationship over a year ago, shortly after he gave up his thieving ways for me. I suppose you'll never know what it's like to have my head nuzzling into that special little spot of your chest, just beneath your arm. I guess you'll never learn what it feels like to have my tail coiled around your ankles to keep them warm on a winter's night, watching the hearth dance before our eyes. What a shame, hmm? You're so young, it's something you couldn't possibly fathom," She replied. Carmelita was quick witted and ready to play this game in reply. Her awkwardness melted away as Slick was put into his place. It may have been true that she was a virgin, as was Sly Cooper, but it was obvious that this man was a Virgin too, especially since he'd only been alive for so many hours beyond a single day. She gave an innocent looking smile.

Now it was the clone's turn to feel somewhat awkward. He'd been programmed to speak, read and write. He'd been artificially loaded with his intelligence and a lifetime-worth of knowledge. The problem was, he had never experienced affection and had no pre-fabricated memories of it and so he was curious of such. Also, the idea appealed to him and it made him lust for that everyday sort of love… even more. Suddenly, the cellular telephone on Slick's hip went off. He lifted his right paw, extending a single index digit to silence her, then flipped the phone off of his hip with his right paw, bringing it to his ear.

"Yes?" Slick asked, waiting for the reply on the other end. After a few minutes of listening, Slick face-faulted then drew the cellphone back into his palm, gave it a fancy twirl and replaced it within the holster on his hip. "I've got to go, Mon Ami! But I shall leave you with a palindrome that will give you just a hint of what is to come, as I love giving the huntress a clue!"

"Oh?" Carmelita asked, narrowing her eyes.

"But it's up to you to solve the rest!" Slick chuckled. "A man, a plan, a …something that begins with a letter … as in… see you later! That is your hint; good luck my dear! That little bit should tell you what will happen, to what, in where! I'm off to rescue my mate, as I am her new knight in shining….fur!" He backed his way towards the hospital window, reaching his cane over his shoulder to open it… He then used his free paw to blow a kiss at Carmelita then back-flipped out the window, which flopped shut behind him, with a thud. There were no fingerprints; he was gone just like that.

"A man, a plan, A… something that begins with 'see'," She repeated to herself, quietly. "All right, easy enough: The letter 'C'. But what begins with the letter 'c' that tells me the rest of this hint?" She asked aloud. Her head was cloudy from the pain medication that was given to her to keep her from hurting after the surgery. Her paw reached down, beneath the sheets and drew out her Binoc-u-com and opened a frequency that connected her with Bentley, who helped lead her into the Bank yesterday. (A/N: Remember when she broke into the bank way back the first time around?)

Bentley, on the other end of the unit, was quick to pick up, the glassy reflection in his glasses keeping her from actually seeing the pupils of his eyes. "Normally I wouldn't call to ask your help," She began, adding, "But you got me into the bank yesterday without getting killed; I think I'm just going to ask your help again… just this once. This clone of Sly just gave me a clue he called a palindrome. The clue is, 'A man, a plan, a C…' where 'C' is the first letter of a word that finishes the palindrome. I'm doped up on a pain medication and can't think clearly. Can you figure it out for me?"

Bentley nodded and said, "Yes ma'am, Miss Fox but if we're working together again, this means we're on the same side, right?"

"If you guys can go one 'caper' without breaking the law, then we'll be in good shape," Carmelita replied. "Now, how does this thing work?"

"Well," Bentley began, doing something with his hands just off the small screen. She could hear the tapping of keys as he typed the words out. "C-a-n-a-l-p-a-n-a-m-a" is what I get if I spell it backwards, from what he's given us so far. Ca, nalp, a, nam A is how it goes, exactly backwards. A palindrome is simply a word or phrase that is exactly the same, backwards or frontward, like the word RACECAR or BOB."

"I'm an international Inspector, Bentley," She snapped, adding, "I know what a palindrome is. I am just too doped up on pain medications to think clearly right now."

Bentley then snapped his fingers and chuckled, "This was an easy one; Slick made it too easy! I hope he's not trying to throw you off track, Inspector."

"Solve it," She muttered.

Bentley shrugged, causing his shell to rise and fall with the gesture. "A man, a plan, a Canal: Panama!"

"So they may have plans to head to the Panama Canal next," Carmelita said. "However, you're telling me that it could be disinformation on his part and to back off of that lead?"

"Call Interpol about it," Bentley suggested. "Have them look into the area."

Carmelita shook her head slowly. "I'm not exactly on best terms with them right now. They won't even pay the insurance for my medical bill, today. Right now, we're on our own. If we ignore it and he was just having fun by making sure I show up to his next gig, we could be losing a huge lead."

"It's difficult to say, for sure," Bentley agreed. "I'm going to cut this conversation short, Miss Fox. If you'll excuse me, we just found my future-self dead and I'm a little rattled by it. We're over here preparing for the worst. Also, I heard you… shot yourself to stop your future doppelganger from being taken over by Karla Chintzy?"

"…Yes," Carmelita muttered softly. "She'd been injured and worn down; I drained enough blood from my body with a gunshot that I might be able to pull through but she'd already lost plenty in prior battles and that extra two pints caused my future body to shut down. She passed away, quietly, on a floor back at the bank. Not exactly where I plan to spend eternity when I kick the bucket so we'd better change history, Bentley. Going back in time and both of us still get killed. This is it, we have no other choice; for ourselves, for Sly and the rest of your gang. We have to succeed."

Bentley nodded slowly and said, "I agree wholeheartedly. I'll see what I can find out about Panama to see if it's dis-info, or not."

"Do that. Carmelita-out." She closed the communicator and laid back in her bed with a sigh. "I can't believe I'm working with criminals just to save my job. What did I do to get caught up with these scoundrels?" She muttered aloud.

"It's because you still love me," Came a voice from off to the rear left. Sly Cooper was sitting, perched, on a hat rack off to the left side of her bed. She craned her head to look up at him, blinking in surprise. Her heart nearly jumped free of her chest and part of her wondered if Sly may have overheard her bragging about her romance with him to Slick.

"How long have you been here?" She exclaimed, glaring at him.

"A few seconds. I've come to report a thief, Officer. The man is carrying a cane that belongs to me; he stole it and I would like to enlist your help in retrieving this family heirloom."

"Oh? Someone talented enough to steal from you?" She asked, her interest piqued. Sly, in defense, held up his paws to show her that he'd taken Sire's rings. She simply rolled her eyes and said, "They're not your style, Cooper. I didn't know you were one to wear jewelry, anyhow. But I'm still shocked that someone stole something from you. What good is it to be a master thief if someone can steal from ya?"

"Well, I was attacked and it was taken; so I guess I should report an assault and battery in conjunction to a theft," Sly said, allowing his lingo to return to the way she'd taught him to speak when he was working under her as Constable Cooper, just a year or so in the past. "I want that really beautiful, intelligent Inspector to work my case. I've worked with that one before and she seems like the kind of person who works the case until the job is done."

"Oh? I'm sorry but I can't honor your request, Mister," Carmelita said, lightly flirting in reply. "She has been suspended from Interpol. Her badge has been revoked. Is there anyone else who can solve your problems?"

"Hmm," Sly said, tapping his chin with a paw. "I wonder if she works alone as a Private Investigator for hire…"

"It's possible," Carmelita replied, watching him. He was a beautiful man. She knew he was doing what he did to punish other criminals but he still broke the law just often enough that she always saw him as a target. But now, he was the victim. He was bending the law to survive but not breaking it for his own desire. For once, she saw him as a victim and almost felt sorry for him. He'd been abducted, had his family cane stolen from him and didn't ask to be a part of any of this. Of course, she also didn't know that he had stolen a chip from a computer terminal in Lyon, France. She also didn't know that it was to become the future Hate-Chip of the new Clockwerk, currently in construction. However, she could smell a crime a mile a way.

"Sly, how did you wind up in this mess?" She tilted her head, pointing to the bed. He dropped from the hat rack and approached her, sitting down on the mattress besides her legs. "Please, be honest. I need to put all the pieces together."

"You're not going to like the answer," he told her with a frown. The raccoon settled on the bed, placing a paw on her right knee. She smiled just slightly but lowered her face, so that he couldn't see it as well. He then said, "It all ties in to the reason I left you." Her face faulted and she gazed back up, frowning at him. Maybe it was the pain medication, but she'd forgotten about the humiliation and shame of that incident for just a moment. Now he threw it back in her face but she let him continued. "Well," Sly continued, looking down at his paw on her leg. "I wanted to start by apologizing to you for that."

"Whatever," She replied, using her left paw to motion for him to continue.

"Yeah, so," Sly shrugged slightly and went into his explanation. "I found out through the grapevine that another Clockwerk was under construction. Clockwerk has always been used to terrorize my family and their loved ones. Being in a relationship with you meant that he would come for you and kill you and our future children, if that were to happen."

"I… see," Carmelita said, feeling awkward knowing that he actually thought their past relationship through to a level that was deeper than she'd thought he was capable of. "Go on. What've you done, Sly."

"I found out that the badguys were using Interpol to keep the new Clockwerk HateChip from being found or destroyed. It was used to power some sort of computer server that would tie Interpol's field agents together with an information service previously unavailable to the cops in the field. The plan was for the bad guys to give the server a trial run then swap the chips when it was moved out of Lyon and the bad guys would take the chip and put it into the new Clockwerk. However, Bentley helped me to steal it and swap the chip for a dummy that Bentley designed. They would steal the dummy and not know it… and that dummy chip would be placed into the new Clockwerk and would have a special virus encoded into it. The new Clockwerk would destroy himself and it would be over before it even got started."

"So you stole from Interpol," Carmelita replied with a sigh.

"…Yes." Sly was concise and honest with her.

"Goddammit," She muttered. Theft was theft; reporting that information to her was what he should have done, but she didn't fault him for trying to protect her. She could tell he was being honest by the expression on his face and the look in his eyes. "Why didn't you just tell me so I could have gone in there, taken the chip and filed a report to hold it as evidence? It would have stalled the bad guys; we could have replaced the chip and let the paperwork bog it down until an investigation could be completed."

"I'm sure they thought of that," Sly said, shaking his head slowly.

"Oh yeah?" Carmelita challenged him, folding her arms. "What makes you think that?"

"You were suddenly and mysteriously suspended?" Sly reminded her, folding his arms in reply, copying her. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. It all made sense now; she was suspended so that she couldn't stop this from happening, should Sly go directly to her and tell her what he'd learned. These bad guys knew that Sly had found out and so they were covering their bases. It all made sense, now. The attack on the café where here and Sly fought side by side the other day… that was their way of trying to silence Sly Cooper before he could tell Carmelita or try to steal the chip, himself. They attacked her because they were trying to score a two-for-one special and silence both Sly and her. The epiphany made her gasp, even though she was particularly foggy from the pain medication. It was just that cut and dry that, even doped up, she was able to put all the pieces together like simple arithmetic.

"Oh… my… Goodness," She muttered softly.

"Yeah, pretty deep huh? We were at the center of someone else's conspiracy and we didn't even ask for any of this to happen. WE were the victims here, Carmelita. They went out of their way to keep us apart, to keep us from communicating and working together and then they even went so far as to try and kill us so they could continue with their plans without any 'hiccups' but… we survived this far and now we're going to give them more than just a hiccup; we're going to give them indigestion from hell."

"You once said you loved me, a few weeks after we beat Doctor M. together. Was it a lie, like your loss of memory?"

"No, I did that because I was afraid you wouldn't accept me any other way," Sly replied. "Yes, it was hard to put down my family heritage but I did it for you because you're all I could think of when I was seconds from death in the claws of Doctor M's beast."

"That's… Carmelita looked away, mumbling the word, "Sweet, Sly. It really is, but you did lie to me. And you did steal again. This time, I'm going to demand a solemn vow from you that you won't steal again, if we decided to rekindle this relationship."

Cooper gave it a moment of thought then smiled a bit with a slow nod. "I can make that promise if you can admit to me that you've been in love with me for a long time," Sly replied.

"Don't push your luck," Carmelita snapped, frowning fiercely. "One thing at a time, Mister. And you've still lied and stolen. That's worse than cheating, if you ask me."

"Carmelita," Sly said with a soft sigh and a frown. "I'm sorry I deceived you. Yes, I'm still in love with you and who knows, I may always be, even if you don't return it. I didn't mean to make you feel like I've handed back your feelings by leaving you without a word but I knew if I told you Clockwerk was involved, you'd come after me and we'd both get killed. Who knows, it's possible that in some other world or time, we did face him together… but I bet your bottom dollar that we both got smeared." (A/N: chapter 18)

"Sly," Carmelita sighed again, shaking her head slowly. "That's just silly. We beat him twice before and both times it had to be done together. That's your problem, Cooper… you have a hard time trusting others you care about."

"That's not true," Sly said defensively. "I trust Bentley and Murray and I couldn't have gotten through some of these jobs without their help. I know they're putting their lives on the line and yet I put my full and complete trust in them."

"Yeah well," Carmelita trailed off. She leaned up in bed, put her paw on his shoulder then gave him a shove. "We're arguing. What happened to your golden rule of dating? I'm always right, even when I'm wrong? Huh? Answer that one for me."

"Are we dating again?" Sly asked, unfolding then refolding his arms over his chest, trying not to smile at her playful shove. The serious look on his face made her suddenly chuckle. Sly cocked an eyebrow in confusion and Carmelita simply lost it. Silvery peels of beautiful laughter rang out, causing Sly to smile. He'd not heard her laughter in quite some time and it was a stunningly beautiful thing to his ears. In fact, it melted his heart and stole it right from his chest. "I'm going after Slick to get my cane back. Let's not die because we might not survive long enough to go back in time and fix it again. And… we'll do it your way: Together."

Carmelita's laughter came to a pause to hear him out then she smiled in reply to his words. "Together. It has a nice ring to it, ringtail. Don't screw this up; this is your last chance. Don't lie to me or steal anything else, unless it already belongs to you. Promise me."

"I… I promise," Sly said, offering his paw to her. She took his paw and what began as a shake turned into a light hug. He was careful not to hug her too tightly as she was bandaged up from a bullet hole in her torso. He concluded the gesture of trust by kissing her cheek then her paw. "And I won't argue with you anymore." He stood up from the bed and looked her over one last time.

"Why, are we dating again?" She asked, this time throwing Sly's words back at him with a devious smirk to remind him just how clever she could be. "We'll figure that out on another day. Let's live through this one, first."

"Fair enough," He replied.

"Slick left, he went out the window and he's off to find Karla Chintzy. Don't let them double-team you. Stay smart about it, one wrong move could kill you, Sly."

"Don't I know that," He replied, remembering how the Hispanic guardian of time was quick to flaunt it in his face that he nearly died to a bullet by simply making the wrong move. He then headed for the window, opened it and looked down into the alley. "No footprints; damn he's good. What thief would want to leave tracks in the snow, right? All right, I'm off; don't hurt yourself again… please?"

"I promise," She replied. "I won't go shooting myself again; we're going to make it through this, Sly. Keep your nose clean… Constable Cooper." To her words, Sly gave a half-smile then opened the window that Slick used for an escape.

"I have one more thing to admit to you, before I go," Sly told her.

She braced her heart and her temper and said, "Spit it out."

"This fight with the leader of the bad guys, he calls himself THE SIRE; don't go near him, he'll kill you quickly. My fight with him is very personal as he is the reason my mother and father were murdered. Please, I'm begging you, don't intervene with that one; it's between me and him and it's something I have to do alone. Please, just respect that about me; I have to take this guy out by myself. No help from you, Bentley, Murray; anyone. It's between me and him, that's it."

"…As you wish; I'll indulge you, just this once," Carmelita replied softly. Sly gave her another soft smile and hooked his thumb back at the window with a light, airy chuckle. He meandered towards it and hooked his thumb back at it once more with a light, almost nerdy chuckle. Cooper then dashed out through it. It was time to find his cane and take out the bad guys…

A/N: Wow, it was ALMOST a romantic scene but instead, it was just flirting on the edge of the line. Will Sly and Carmelita resume the relationship they began after Sly3: Honor Amongst Thieves concluded or will he do something to upset her and cause her to distrust him again? I won't tell you until near the end of the story! HAHA! Really, I don't KNOW yet… So that's why. ;) Let's hope he doesn't inadvertently break her trust in him again… and let's hope they don't die together, again! All right, I'm off! Take care! New chapter up when I can get it written! See ya soon!

-kit