Okay, so this might be a couple of days late, but you'll forgive me right? ... right?

Okay, so I just found out that Sly 4 is being developed by a team other than Sucker Punch. The actual name of the group escapes me at the moment, I just hope they do a good job with the characters. If they don't, I think I'll just ignore Sly 4 in its entirety and write the third story in this series about something I make up.

Anyways, now that that's out of the way, on with the chapter!

I hummed a happy little tune as I helped Bentley carry some of his delicate computer equipment into our new Safehouse in the side of a cliff, just outside the palace grounds.

After two straight days of travel (which I only survived because I was nice and doped up on motion-sickness tablets that we'd picked up along the way), I was more than happy to stretch my legs and work my neglected muscles. Murray was carrying the heaviest stuff, Bentley was inside, instructing us on where to put everything, and Sly was dead asleep in the front of the van. I couldn't really blame him, he was still nocturnal and that evening he was going to sneak into the ball to take reconnaissance photos. The ball was only going to last two days, so he needed to be ready and well-rested.

Not that they would actually get an opportunity to follow through with the heist. I tried and failed to hold back a bout of evil laughter.

"Well, that was creepy."

I yelped and jumped, causing various cords to fall from my arms. I lunged to catch them, but a grey hand beat me to it. I lost my balance and another steadied me. Thoroughly flustered, I snatched the cords from Cooper's hand, ignoring the smirk on his face, "That was uncalled for!"

"Yes, because the bout of evil laughter made complete sense. You're plotting something aren't you?" Sly's tone was joking, but his eyes were serious, "Should I be afraid?"

I smirked, "You should always be afraid." Let him chew on that for awhile, "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping anyhow?"

He pointed to where the sun was sinking behind the trees, "It's about time to get started." He stretched and cracked his neck a few times, "Get those cords to Bentley; I'm going to get into position. I'll be waiting for his instructions." And with that, he took off for the waterfall. Apparently his fear of water didn't affect him when he was on the job. That was weird.

I huffed and hurried up the stairs into a large, cave-like room that Bentley had managed to turn into a monitoring station. I helped him plug in the last few cords and Sly's binocucom station lit up. At that point, he was evidently studying some conical rocks poking out of the river.

"This calls for the Ninja Spire jump," I heard Bentley say into the microphone on his laptop, "Sly, do you remember it?"

"How could I forget one of the Cooper clan's greatest thieving moves?" Sly said, pride clear in his voice.

The Ninja Spire jump? I hadn't read that far in the Thievius Raccoonus… at least, not yet. I gave Bentley and Murray sidelong looks. Bentley was completely absorbed in giving Sly directions, Murray in a new coloring book. They wouldn't mind if I slipped out for a moment.

So I did. I made my way to the van, where everything but Bentley's equipment was still packed. Apparently they were aiming for a quick getaway. It didn't take me long to find Sly's family tome. I quickly flipped through to the place I'd stopped reading and turned the page. Lo and behold, there was the Ninja Spire jump.

I settled in and started reading aloud to myself, "The Ninja Spire Jump and Landing were developed by Rioichi Cooper as a method to sneak into the heavily fortified feudal castles of Japan…"

I gnawed on my thumbnail as I continued to read. I was on the last technique in the book, the one Sly's grandfather developed, about a thief's reflexes being sharpened to the point that time appears to slow.

"So, this is what you've been doing."

I yelped and dropped the book on the floor of the van, scrambling back like a demented crab. I glared when Sly started laughing at me, "Stop doing that!"

He picked up the Thievius Raccoonus, closing it, then dusting off the cover. He looked at me with a wicked twinkle in his eye, "I would have let you read it if you were that curious."

I glared, feeling my face heat up for the nth time, "I was not curious! I just… wanted to know how you walked on wires without electrocuting yourself!"

He bonked me on the head lightly with the book, "That is curiosity. Besides, if that's all you wanted to know, why did you read the whole thing?"

"How do you know I read the whole thing?" I asked impertinently, crossing my arms and looking pointedly away from him.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand, dragging me back towards the Safehouse, "C'mon, we need you at the briefing."

Wait a minute… My Something's Screwy Senses ™ are tingling. I tried to yank my hand back with no effect, "Why do you need me at the briefing?"

He gave me a grin over his shoulder, "Oh, you'll see."

Up the cave steps we went. Inside, a table and three folding chairs were arranged around a crudely thrown together projector system. Bentley was standing next to his laptop, which was hooked up to said projector system. Murray was already seated in the chair farthest to the left.

"Oh, good, you found her. Take a seat you two."

I found myself sitting in the middle, stuck between Sly and Murray when the slideshow began. A picture of a tiger sitting in a throne before a four-armed statue with steel wings behind it came up.

"Stealing the Clockwerk Wings in the middle of a crowded ballroom is going to take some serious misdirection. The squad of undercover cops just makes things even more difficult."

I smirked at that, apparently Dad had gotten my message. A picture of a purple tiger came up, followed by a picture of a giant spider, then one of Carmelita Fox, one of few cops with a completed case record of 99%. Sly Cooper was the one percent she was without, so she was currently pursuing him with everything she had.

The next picture was of a dark grey husky in a tuxedo, looking sidelong at Rajan as he sipped from a glass of red wine.

I flinched and fell out of my seat, hitting my head hard on the leg of Murray's chair.

"Ow!"

"Are you okay?" Murray helped me sit back while I rubbed my head, combing my hair over the impact site when I felt blood.

I stood shakily, "Yeah, fine. Let's get on with it." I sat back in my chair, not missing the look that passed between Sly and Bentley.

The rest of the slideshow spoke of the security and defenses of the palace. I honestly wasn't paying attention for much of it, too busy contemplating what I had seen.

"Okay…" I said when it was over. "So, why am I here again?"

Cooper looked at me, the smirk was back, "Remember the misdirection Bentley was talking about?"

"Yeah…?" I gave him a suspicious look.

Bentley took over the explanation, "I am going to have Sly dance with Carmelita, but he can't get into the ball with just a tux."

I rolled my eyes, "Oh, the irony. But what does that have to do with me?"

"Sly would look much more… respectable… if he were escorting someone."

… Oh.

"No."

"Hey, hear us out!"

"Hell no. Escort Neyla she helped you in Paris, right?" I asked. Unlike Murray, Bentley's diary was a good source of information.

"Too many people would wonder where Neyla picked up a beau." Bentley continued, "And by himself Sly looks… like someone trying to steal something. You look respectable. You know how to dance too, which will be useful."

"What part of 'no' don't you understand?" How did he know I knew how to dance?

A thin, white box was placed on my lap. I blinked and gave Sly a look. He tapped the lid.

"One of the guests was yelling at her sister that she'd got a dress a size too small. I took the liberty of… borrowing it. But, hey, if you don't want it…" He made to take it back; I yanked it out of his reach.

"I never said that!" I opened the box and stood as I grasped the straps of the dress, letting gravity unfold the cloth. It was sheer, silvery white satin, throwing off the light in a simple, but elegant way. The neck was cut like a halter, and, unfortunately, it looked like it was just my size, if a bit long. Nothing high-heels couldn't fix.

I stared at Bentley and Sly for a long moment. I had a distinct weakness for bribery and it sucked that they'd stumbled upon it. I sighed, "If you can get shoes to match it, you have a deal."

I grumbled as I tugged straps over my ankles. How Sly had managed it I'll never know, but somehow he had and I was going to the ball.

Life officially sucked.

The worst part was who was at the ball. If he recognized me, he would go for Cooper right then and there, then Bentley and Murray would get away. If that happened I had no delusions that within a week of returning home that news wouldn't eventually get out that Sly had been busted out of jail. It would be useless unless all three were caught at the same time.

Sly came over to me, dressed in tux and smiling a victorious smile, "Ready?" He offered his hand.

I used it to steady myself as I stood (I was always initially awkward on heels, especially ones this tall), before dropping it like it was acid, "You can still back out of this you know. There's a whole lot of cops at the party. A whispered word to one and boom! You're hauled off in chains and a SWAT team is descending on the Safehouse."

He rolled his eyes, "Come on, you know if you did that then the cover of every cop at the party would be blown."

I grumbled to myself, "They have to be blown at some point." Nonetheless, I allowed myself to be led out of the Safehouse and down the path toward the ball.

"Yes, but Rajan would get away with the Clockwerk Wings." Sly had started the sentence lighthearted, but his tone turned grave as he continued.

Not wanting to go into an awkward silence like that, I asked instead, "What's so prestigious about the Clockwerk Wings?"

"They're the symbol of my enemy," Sly said, all serious now, "If you saw the Wings silhouetted against the night sky, it was already too late for you. Especially if your name was Cooper."

"Why'd Clockwerk have it out for your family?" I asked after Sly had shown his (forged) invitation to the guards at the bridge.

"Well," he began as we started out again, "The best I can figure, my ancestors bested him in a thieving contest of some kind and he couldn't admit defeat. Over time his hatred for my family grew, he replaced his mortal body with soulless machinery so he wouldn't die until he'd fulfilled his 'life purpose', to wipe out my family's line."

Sly gave a bitter smile as he continued, absently running his fingers over a place on his right shoulder, "He nearly succeeded too, when the gang and I caught up to him two years ago. In fact, if it hadn't been for Carmelita, he probably would have."

I tripped and would have busted my head open on the stairs we were climbing if I hadn't caught myself at the last second, "Inspector Fox?" I asked in a hushed whisper, wary of the guards patrolling the streets nearby.

Cooper grinned at my obvious surprise, "Yup, she helped us after we helped her and gave me a ten second head start once Clockwerk was defeated." He chuckled, "I think she's still mad at me for that."

"I heard about that." I said, now giving the raccoon to my right a wary stare, "The report says that she hadn't caught you because through certain events she had been handcuffed to a rail and by the time she dug out her keys and unlocked herself, your gang was long gone." I smiled at the guards, who bowed slightly as we passed towards the entrance to the ball, "How the hell did you manage that?"

Since I wasn't facing him at the time, I missed his maniacal grin, "Oh no, that's privileged information right there. You'd have to tell me a secret of yours if I told you that."

"Shoot, I don't have many secrets." Complete lie.

"Oh," He dropped his voice to a conspiratory whisper, "I'm sure there's something worth telling."

I swallowed, "Nope, nothing comes to mind."

Sly rolled his eyes at me, "Everyone has a secret-"

"Shh," I shushed him as a slat in the door we had just come to opened. Two beady little eyes looked out at us and zeroed in on Sly.

"You got an invite, 'sir'?" The man behind the door asked in a mocking tone.

"Of course," Sly answered smoothly, producing the piece of paper from some secret pocket inside his tux, "We're here for the dance."

"Come on in," the door swung open after the guard had examined the paper, "The dancing just started."

The party was fairly ritzy, I could tell that at a glance.

People were dancing on the floor, a tango coming to an end. Waiters were everywhere, offering drinks and hors d'oeuvres to any guest they passed.

The undercover officers Bentley had identified were good at their jobs. I spotted the spider mingling with a few of the other guests, Neyla was engaged in small talk with Rajan (he was really, really, really, big once I saw him in person), Inspector Fox and the husky were out on the dance floor, stepping easily in time with the music.

The dance came to a close and everyone applauded, the band immediately striking up a waltz.

Cooper turned to me and offered his arm, "May I have this dance?"

I rolled my eyes at the cheesiness, but took his arm anyway. Off to the dance floor we went.

"So," he began as we started through the first steps of the dance, "You ever going to tell me?"

"I'll write it down. In my will." I stated stubbornly, "You know, I'm surprised you can actually dance."

"You wound my ego," he said, leading expertly, "There are far too many heists that couldn't be pulled off without inside information. Most of those heists happen to be at nice balls."

I rolled my eyes, "Excuse my ignorance, your worship." Ah, sarcasm.

Thus, sarcastic and witty quips continued throughout the entire waltz, which quickly came to an end. I went off to observe as Sly went to find Neyla, needing to dance with one more person to impress Carmelita.

I had selected some weird cracker and cheese contraption that looked far too fancy for its own good and nibbled on it tentatively as I swept my gaze around the room. Sly had found Neyla and they were heading for the dance floor as a tango started up. Carmelita was watching them, as planned, talking to the Contessa at the same time. I couldn't see the husky, though.

There was a tap on my shoulder.

I turned around and came nose to chest with someone. I looked up slowly, and who should be looking down at me but the very husky I'd looked for? He offered his hand and, just as Sly had, and asked for the dance.

I took it, feeling my heart try to force its way through my chest. Out onto the dance floor yet again, cue inevitable conversation.

"What the hell, Kaia?"

"Was it really that easy to tell it was me?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm the one who taught you how to dance after all; you're still horribly unbalanced on heels."

"Well, nobody else can tell!"

"You mean except Cooper. What were you thinking? If your dad had come like he requested, Cooper's brains would be splattered on the wall in six different directions. You are sooooo lucky the higher ups sent me instead."

"Aw, shut up Uncle John, I already know that. Do the other cops know it's me?"

"No, but unless you give me a very good reason not to say something, Cooper is getting arrested the second this dance ends."

"You'll blow your cover. Besides, if you arrest him now, the others are going to get away and break him out within the week."

"He won't if he's in the Contessa's prison."

"Oh, my bad, he'll be out within a month. You try having a conversation with Bentley, you'll be just as convinced."

"On a first name basis with the kidnappers? Ever heard of-"

"If you say Stockholm Syndrome, I will strangle you with your tie."

"Someone's defensive."

"Uncle John…."

"If you don't want to arrest him now, then when?"

"They're planning something tomorrow, I'll find out what, but I do know that Cooper's going to try to dance with Carmelita as a distraction, but don't tell her it's him or she'll try to arrest him on the spot. You'll have to wait until they've done whatever they're planning and catch them on the getaway."

He stared down at me. He looked just like my dad, if a bit younger. He was also in the FBI, my dad's kid brother. He'd been around so much when I was little, he was more like an older sibling than anything else.

"Okay, I'll trust you to tell me when, but be careful Kaia. Even if they seem nice, all of the Cooper gang are criminals."

I flushed angrily, "I know that!"

He held up his hands in surrender as he dropped me off near the entrance at the end of the song, "All right, I believe you." With the speed that had earned him many an award in chasing down runners, he used sleight of hand to put a bobby pin behind my right ear that had a tiny speaker attached. It looked like he was merely putting a stray strand of hair back in place, "You're wired. Let me know when."

I nodded, smiling up at him. "I will. Thanks Uncle John."

He waved and faded back into the crowd. I composed myself as Cooper came up to me, thinly veiled suspicion in his eyes.

"What did he want?" he asked, nodding toward the direction Uncle John had retreated.

I shrugged, fabricating a lie quickly, "I dunno. He just asked small talk questions. Who I was, who you were, why we were here. By the way, you're the CEO of a lesser known but very successful import-export business and I'm your cousin. It would've been more believable to say wife, given our lack of resemblance, but the absence of a wedding ring and my age makes that difficult."

Sly stared, then shook his head with a tiny smile as if to say 'of course'. "You came up with all that at the drop of a hat? Bentley's right, you're a good liar."

I raised an eyebrow, "I'll take that as a compliment… I think. Can we go now?"

We slipped out unseen, Cooper wanted to leave an air of 'mysterious allure' behind him. Ego much?

Anyway, the walk back to the Safehouse was a fairly quiet affair. I was lost in my thoughts of having to come up with the opportune moment for the police to strike and Sly was also being suspiciously silent. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and saw that his brow was wrinkled in thought as well.

That was a bad sign.

I sighed as we started to cross the bridge the guards let down for us over the moat and looked up, smiling at the moon and the stars. Life's simple pleasures.

Then white exploded behind my eyes and my legs buckled.

I tried to catch myself with just a stumble, but I heard something crack and my right leg folded underneath me and I fell with it.

Wind whistled through my hair and roaring filled my ears, then it just… stopped.

I blinked to clear my vision and found myself staring down at the water rushing under the moat. I was somehow being suspended over it by something around my waist. Whatever the something was yanked me back and suddenly I was sitting on the wood of the bridge, looking into brown eyes.

"Hey! Everything alright down there?"

Sly looked up at one of the guards on the wall who had shouted down at us, "Yeah, this klutz here just tripped, don't worry."

"Hey!" I knocked him on the head, "Who's a klutz?"

He caught my hand, "You. You even broke your shoes."

"Huh?" I looked down at my foot and saw that he was right, the heel on my right shoe was broken nearly clean off, only dangling by a little piece of fabric. "Well, by Jove, would you look at that?" Huh, my ankle kind of hurt, and was the world spinning or was that just me?

The next thing I knew, the world was moving in a totally different way.

"Hey! Put me down!" I smacked Cooper's shoulder with a lot less force than I would have if the world would just stop moving.

"Not a chance," He had a weird expression on his face. "You can't walk with just one shoe and if I'm not mistaken you twisted your ankle, didn't you?"

"Um…" Was that why it hurt so bad? It was difficult to tell.

He looked down at me now, "Okay, now I know something's wrong with you. Where's your snippy comeback?"

I smacked him again, I couldn't really think of anything else to do. "Shut up, I'm tired." I kind of was. And Cooper was really warm. I could probably just doze off right then and…

Sly shook me, "None of that." Somehow we'd gotten to the Safehouse and he dumped me in one of those fold up chairs, "Hey, Bentley!"

Bentley emerged from one of the little tunnels in the cave, "Yeah, Sly?"

Sly indicated me with his thumb, "Jinx here has more bad luck than we realized; she fainted, twisted her ankle, and almost fell into the moat in the space of two seconds."

"Hey, don't call me that!" Huh, this room was spinning too, "And I didn't faint!" Bentley came over and started poking around on my head. He poked where I'd hit my head on Murray's chair earlier and I flinched, "Ow!"

"You hit your head harder than you said, didn't you?" Sly accused.

"Nooo…"

"Is this dried blood?" Bentley asked, combing through my hair with his fingers and seeing little red flakes fall out. Thanks a lot Bentley, see if I send you a Christmas card, "It's a miracle you were able to dance without losing your balance if you hit it that hard."

I rolled my eyes, "I am fine. Mind over matter is a proven concept."

"Not when you have a concussion," Sly countered.

"I don't have a concussion!" I snapped, losing my patience.

We argued for a bit until Bentley told us to shut up, sent the raccoon out on his next mission and me to bed with an ice pack. Just perfect.

While lying awake, I came to a conclusion that I really wish I'd never had. From what I could piece together, I'd come close to losing consciousness on the bridge and had fallen. I'd tried to catch myself, but broke the heel off my shoe in the process. I would have fallen into the moat and drowned, but I'd been caught.

All this to realize… Sly Cooper had saved my life.

The next morning, when I woke up, Sly, Bentley, and Murray were all asleep in the main room of the cave. Yay me.

I snuck out quietly, my ankle barely hurt and my head was fairly clear. I could do this.

The drawbridge was up, so I went to the edge of the waterfall. After an adrenaline pumping encounter with a snake, I found myself staring at the conical rocks Bentley had said could be crossed using the Ninja Spire Jump.

I swallowed hard, braced myself, and jumped. The theory behind the Ninja Spire Jump was to curl your feet around whatever sharp point you were trying to land on and balance yourself with your legs, which was easier said than done.

I managed to cross, but my feet cramped on the last rock and I almost fell. How Sly managed to do it with shoes on was beyond me, I had to cross barefoot and wasn't looking forward to the return trip.

The guards weren't out in such force during the day, so I only had to duck around corners a few times to avoid being caught on my way to the guest house. When I arrived, I prowled along the edge of the roof, trying to decide which balcony belonged to my uncle.

God was smiling on me; Uncle John was out on his balcony, smoking a cigarette.

I landed behind him, making a small thud, "Smoking is bad for you, y'know."

He whirled around, pulling his gun out of his jacket, thumbing off the safety, and taking aim all in one movement so smooth it had to be practiced. I froze and, when he realized it was me, he sighed in exasperation and put his gun away again.

"Kaia, don't do stupid things. I almost shot you." He flicked his cigarette into the river, which ran almost directly under his balcony.

"I know, I'm sorry." I walked over to him, "Uncle John, we have a slight snag."

His eyes narrowed, "What do you mean, 'snag'?"

I fidgeted, I hadn't been looking forward to this, "Cooper saved my life last night, I can't help you catch him. At least, not tonight. I owe him that much at least."

He took a deep breath, held it, then let it out slowly, his favorite method of controlling his anger. I walked over to him and leaned on his shoulder.

"Sorry."

He sighed and gave me a half-hug, "No, you're right. He saved you, we return the favor by not arresting him tonight, we'll get him next time." He gave me a stern look, "Even if I don't actively go after him, if Carmelita or Neyla or the Contessa get him, I'm not going to set him free."

"I didn't expect you to." I hugged him as tightly as I could, "Thanks, Uncle John. I have to go before they wake up. Oh," I fished the bobby pin out from behind my ear, "Here, you'll need this back."

He shook his head, "No, keep it." He showed me a little button on it, "If you need to turn it off or on, you can press that, I want you to have it in case of an emergency."

I shrugged, conceding, and turned it off, putting it back in my hair. "Kay. I love you." I waved and took off for the Safehouse.

Murray was awake when I got back, but the other two were, thankfully, still asleep, "Hey, Kaia! Where'd you go?"

Silently offering a prayer of thanks that it wasn't Bentley or Sly, I answered, "I went for some fresh air and came back because there were so many snakes. I never thought I'd see a cobra outside the Discovery channel."

"Ha! The villainous snakes do not scare, 'The Murray'!"

Yes, I thought to myself as I listened to Murray prattle on, I'm very thankful it wasn't Bentley or Sly.

Later that night, I was shaken awake by Sly once again, "Rise and shine, beautiful. Time to wow the guests."

I glared, ignoring the 'beautiful' comment, and pried myself out of bed, combing my fingers through my hair, "Sly, my shoes broke."

A pair of silver ballet slippers was dropped into my lap, "I know."

I glared again and shoved my blankets back. So much for getting sleep, "Alright, alright, I'm coming."

I got dressed, tamed my hair, and tried on the slippers, which, of course, fit perfectly. Either Bentley had found my shoe size, or Cooper was just freaking weird.

Personally, I opted for the latter.

I stepped into the main chamber, yawning and found Bentley hard at work on his computer. Sly was looking over something in the Thievius Raccoonus and Murray was pulling on his gloves.

"Heist time already?" I asked, incredulously.

Bentley nodded, "It was a rush to put together, but I feel mostly confident about it. Murray, Sly, you ready?"

"Let's rock!"

"Let's roll."

I rolled my eyes, "Let's go."

"Just stay here," Sly told me. We were near a side door of the ball room, the heist had already begun, I could even feel the beginning of Bentley's bridge blasts through the thin dance slippers, "Once you see Murray come down on the winch, get out of here before things get crazy. But if my distraction isn't doing the job, drop a couple of these in the punch bowl on your way out." He dropped a couple of little firecrackers into my hands.

I gaped at him, "Are you serious?"

He grinned, making exploding gestures with his hands, "It would be a shame if the only thing that went 'boom' was Bentley's bridge."

I tried to hold back giggles as he slipped away to the dance floor. Devious raccoon.

I was pacing around, engaging in a little small talk when I couldn't avoid it, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around… and promptly used all of my self control to keep my jaw from dropping. Rajan was standing behind me.

"Are you enjoying the party, Miss?" he asked, every inch the gracious host.

I managed to twist my facial expression into a demure smile, inwardly reciting "The Raven" to keep myself calm, "Very much, Lord Rajan. Your palace is magnificent!" I really, really, hoped I had gotten the honorific right.

From the smile on his face, I had, "I'm glad to hear it. I saw you dancing with that husky fellow yesterday. If you don't mind my saying so, you're quite graceful."

Mentally, I'd moved on to listing all the presidents in order, "You flatter me, Lord Rajan."

He extended a large hand, "It would be a pleasure to dance with you."

My inward list of the noble gases came to a screeching halt. Oh, dear. Several thoughts flew through my head in an instant. The first being, Murray was already on the winch, I could see the flash of pink from the corner of my eye. The second being that I couldn't refuse Rajan without making him suspicious. The third being that this could be a very beneficial distraction.

I put my hand in his, "The pleasure would be mine."

I caught both Cooper's eye and Uncle John's as I went out onto the dance floor. Cooper was shocked, Uncle John was outright horrified. I conveyed with my own glance to each that it was so not my idea.

I had thought it would be awkward, dancing with someone twice my size, but it really wasn't. It reminded me of dancing with Uncle John when I was little, which made me relax enough to dance easily. Rajan kept up conversation the entire time, which also gave help to the relaxation.

But all good things came to an end when he said, "By the way, my dear, have you seen my latest acquisition, the Clockwerk Wings? I assure you, they are truly…" Then he turned to look at the Wings, but only the statue that he had welded them onto remained. He squeezed the hand he held so hard I lost feeling in it, before dropping it and throwing his hands up in fury, "The Wings! They are gone!"

"Oh, my!" I covered my mouth with my hands, both to look appropriately shocked and to hide my ear-splitting grin.

"Cooper!" That was Carmelita.

As my best friend would say: Time to make like a tree and leaf.

I bolted for the side door, tossing the firecrackers into the punch bowl as I went. I heard a wet explosion behind me and a few female screams. Ah, mayhem.

SKREEE!

Thud!

"Murray! Is there any way you can get away and not kill us in the process?"

"Probably not!"

I have discovered that being in the back of the Cooper van, during the getaway process, with no seatbelt, is an effective way to commit suicide.

Now, you see, in the back of the van was all of Bentley's equipment (packed away in containers so they didn't get hurt even if I ran headfirst into them, which I did… often), the necessities to set up a Safehouse, the Clockwerk Tailfeathers, and now the Clockwerk Wings.

You can see where I might have a problem with Murray taking 5G turns while he and Bentley were safe up front, with seatbelts. At least Sly had to share in my misery.

Another turnabout flung me to the opposite side of the van, where I crashed into one of the Clockwerk Tailfeathers and probably lost half a kidney. Something heavy landed on top of me.

"We've got to stop meeting like this."

I barely had time to shove Sly off before having to grab tightly to the back of the only thing bolted to the floor of the van, the front seat, to avoid yet another contusion.

"Give yourselves up, you are surrounded. We are authorized to use lethal force. You hear that, Cooper? LETHAL FORCE!"

Sly leaned out the window and waved at the helicopter, "That Carmelita, such a sweet talker." He barely managed to pull his head in before a shock pistol bolt electrified him.

"Can you 'sweet talk' her out of shooting at us?" I demanded crossly, trying harder to anchor myself to the front seat.

"No," Bentley answered for him, tossing Sly a small canister, "But you might be able to."

"Close your eyes," Cooper said.

I barely managed to get out a 'Huh?' before he pulled the pin on the canister and steam blasted into my face. I coughed and shook my head as the steam dissipated, "What is your problem?"

"Hold your arms up."

Sensing that I'd get no other answers until we were out of this mess, I held my arms straight over my head and Sly pulled one of my shirts down to cover my dress.

"Just lean out the window."

"What? Going Mach 3? Not a chance!"

I don't even know how Sly managed to shove my head and shoulders through the window, but he did. I caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror and saw why.

My disguise had been steamed off my face, my fur was now just as white as it was supposed to be and the shirt made me look exactly as I had when I'd initially met the Cooper gang. I bristled, they were trying to get away by using me as a hostage!

I yelped when Sly shoved me forward from behind, even though he was still holding onto me to keep me from falling. I squinted up at the bright lights of the helicopter above us.

"Cease fire!"

I was yanked back into the van and turned around to see Sly's grinning face, "See? That wasn't so-"

I slapped him.

Mwaha, I have updated! Yaaaay! I hope everyone enjoys this somewhat mediocre chapter. Please review and God Bless!