We're at the last chapter! It's been a pleasure enjoying this story with you all! I'll let you get on to reading it, then give some updates at the end.

Enjoy!

It was a trap.

Sly knew it was a trap long before he reached the unguarded utility hatch on the underside of the blimp, but that was the final nail in the coffin. It didn't matter, though. He needed to be there, trap or no trap.

Even if the lack of security hadn't given it away, the fact that he emerged into a room that was pitch black except for a spotlight focused on an unmoving Kaia (his heart lurched) would have been the equivalent of a neon sign.

Still, no need to completely shoot himself in the foot.

"Okay Bentley, I'm in. I can see Kaia."

"Just hold on, Sly! We're almost there! You know it's a setup!"

He did, but 'almost' wasn't enough. "I know, pal, but I don't have a choice. Just get here as fast as you can."

There was the distinct danger of this trap being one of those that dangled his goal in front of him before yanking it out of his reach, like a carrot on a stick. For once, though, he caught a break, reaching the platform and dropping to his knees, seizing Kaia's shoulders, "Kaia!"

She shifted, then looked up at him, seeming a little dazed. Her eyes sharpened, then widened, "Sly, what-"

Something released overhead and he just barely had time to drag his tail in before a glass bulb dropped over them, sealing them inside. A light came on, illuminating the room, but he didn't get much of a chance to look around before Le Paradox dropped down, manning a tangle of robot arms, and seized the impromptu cage.

"Two rats in one trap! I knew you could not resist, Cooper. You are so predictable!"

"Well, how's this for a prediction?" he surged to his feet, "I'm going to kick that stripe right off your tail!"

"Yes, yes," Le Paradox nodded, "And now come the big threats from the little man. As I said, predictable."

Kaia, meanwhile, had braced her back against one side of the glass tube and was kicking out with her legs, probably because her arms were still bound. "Did you seriously trap us in glass? Dramatic, but idiotic. Sly, give me your cane, I wanna smash this thing."

"No, no, no, I don't think so," Le Paradox smirked. "I have something special planned for you two. It is, how do you say? A 'going away party'."

Le Paradox's machine whirled and Sly quickly threw out his arms to brace himself as they were whisked out of the room.

Bentley wasn't one to feel confident, usually. Especially not in the heart of the enemy's lair when said enemy had captured two of his best friends.

However, he also didn't usually have a small army at his back.

"Okay, listen up!" He said as Coopers and Interpol officers alike began to gather around, "You all know why you're here. Coopers, we have to find your canes and get you back where you belong now. Inspectors, we need to take down Le Paradox before he does anything else to the timeline. If we don't, we'll never be able to repair the damage he's done."

"What about Sly? And Kaia?" Murray asked worriedly.

"They're on their own for now. But I'm sure they'll be fine. Putting the two of them in an enclosed space was probably Le Paradox's worst idea yet." Quickly looking at a readout on his wheelchair, Bentley nodded to himself, "Rioichi, you're up first. My readings show your cane is somewhere in this room."

Closing his eyes, Rioichi inhaled deeply, "I can sense it too, Bentley-san."

"Time travel," said Inspector Jenks, over Bentley's shoulder. "No wonder Kaia stayed with you all. No one else would have believed it."

"Of all the things I've seen when chasing the Cooper gang, this is probably the least unbelievable," Carmelita put in, checking the sights on her shock pistol as Rioichi took off across the levels.

Kristian shifted at Bentley's side, silent. Newfound amicability with Sly or not, he seemed unwilling to voice anything that might be taken as a positive attitude toward the gang when in front of other members of Interpol, even if they were doing the same.

Whether or not that ever changed, Bentley was just glad to see the understanding in Inspector Jenks's eyes. Hopefully, that would make things a little easier on Kaia.

"Why can't these things ever be easy?!" I punctuated each word with a kick to the thick glass wall that kept Sly and I trapped. Not even so much as a fissure had appeared in the surface. What was it, super glass?

Le Paradox had left us somewhere inside the depths of his blimp while he went off to 'set up the party'. I had no idea what he meant and didn't want to know. I just wanted to get out before I learned.

Hands on my shoulders pulled me to my feet and held tight until I found myself looking up at Sly. "You okay?"

God, I'd missed that face. I usually preferred it when it wasn't all worried-looking, but I'd take what I could get. "Yeah, I'm fine. A little tied up at the moment, but, y'know... fine."

He snorted, but took the hint. The close quarters meant he had to reach around me to get at the knot, but I wasn't exactly complaining. "How long has it been for you?"

"A few weeks. It felt longer, though. I have never been so bored. I didn't have any of my stuff-" as the ropes fell away, I felt a weight on my back. A familiar one. Frowning, I grabbed the straps on my shoulders, then shrugged off my backpack. "Why'd he give this back...?" I checked my belt and found my baton, knife, and binocucom. "Why'd he give these back?"

"He said something about a 'going away party'." Sly's voice was contemplative and worried.

Biting my lip, I looked up at him. Yeah, this probably wasn't going to end well. We couldn't get out, weren't exactly sure where we were, and Le Paradox, while melodramatic and narcissistic, had planned and manipulated his way through the ages until he'd gotten us exactly where he wanted us.

I pulled back on my backpack and opened my baton. "Well, on the plus side, he most likely doesn't know how to confront a threat directly." Frowning, I asked, "Come to think of it, when did I become a threat? That's new. I blame you for that."

Sly let out an amused breath and flicked my ear, "Better to be a threat than a victim."

"True. I'd rather have the advantage." I nudged him, looking out at the machinery that made up the inside of the blimp. "We've got this, right?"

He nudged me right back and I heard him grin, "We've always got this."

Yeah. We really did.

"More vermin, dead ahead!"

The rat troopers just kept coming. "If this keeps up," Kristian shouted to the others, smacking aside a rat with the butt of his tonfa, "Our path out of here is going to be swarmed before we get back to it."

"We'll keep it clear!" Carmelita shouted, sending a burst of shock pistol bolts into a cluster of rat troopers, "Just stop Le Paradox before he finished his plan! I'm going to strangle that ringtail myself!"

Jenks seemed to have gotten his hands on one of the departments experimental shock shotguns at one point (presumably Carmelita could not be convinced to part with her shock pistol to participate in its testing), and was alternately using it for its intended purpose and as a bludgeon. "Just get my daughter back!"

Right, so if they failed, Kristian would be murdered by the person he respected most in the world and the one he feared most in the world. Excellent.

A sharp jerk on his sleeve pulled him out of his thoughts and toward barely-stabilized platforms.

"C'mon!" Tennessee shouted, "We gotta move!"

The moving platforms weren't inclined to wait and nearly dumped them all out the bottom of the blimp before they managed to cross. From the way they'd come, the sounds of fighting continued without a second's lapse.

Gritting his teeth Kristian ran onto the bridge.

"Ah, alone at last!" Le Paradox gloated, spreading his hands to show off the machine behind him. Sly didn't like the looks of that thing one bit. "How cozy."

"If you want cozy, why don't we switch places? I'm sure you'll find this cage much more accommodating," Jinx commented, examining her nails. She refused to so much as look at Le Paradox.

"Ah, but no. It is the two of you of whom I am thinking. To be together! Forever. Just think of it as the most romantic coffin ever!"

Sly looked over and saw Kaia looking his way and, yeah, neither of them liked Le Paradox's tone or the evil laugh following his declaration. "Don't count on it, Le Paradox! We've beaten all your other plans!"

That didn't faze the skunk at all, "Ah, but not this time I think! Look at this!" He gestured at the machine. "My marvelous contraption- the time tunnel. Something else I had your little friend Penelope develop before her... unfortunate failure. It's very much like the time machine, no? With one important difference: From here, I have the control over where you go. And it's programmed to send you and your mongrel shrew on an endless honeymoon. Free of charge! Bouncing through time, for all eternity. That's if you survive the trip. But either way, I will never have to see your irritating faces again!"

"You think that'll be the end of it?" Kaia asked, incredulous. "Seriously? Do you have any idea how many people you've pissed off?"

"Why'd you do it, Le Paradox? Why the ancestors? Why not just come after me?" Sly ignored the look Kaia shot him, "What's the deal?"

"The 'deal'?" anger started to take over the skunk's features, "The 'deal' is you Coopers! You destroyed my father and you almost got me! But not quite. And when I rebuilt myself, I swore I would erase the Cooper name from history! And so today, my revenge will be complete!" The anger fled, replaced again by a maniacal glee, "It is time for you to go now. Bon voyage!"

With the press of a button, the capsule they were in began to move toward the time tunnel. Bracing himself with one arm, Sly extended his hand toward Kaia, only to find her reaching for him as well. No way was it going to end like-

A shot rang through the chamber just before the glass around them shattered, pitching them to the floor in front of the time tunnel.

"Cooper, you filthy vermin!"

Whipping his head around, Sly spotted Tennessee stalking in through an opening door, the barrel of his gun still smoking. He must have aimed and fired the second the door opened wide enough for him to see through.

"Hoo-wee! Cut that closer than a ten-dollar shave!" He began to glow and tipped his hat toward them, "Reckon my time here is up!"

As the sharpshooter vanished, Bentley shouted after him, "Take care, Tennessee!"

Next to him, Kaia pushed some of her hair out of her face, "What are his bullets made out of!? Adamantium!?"

Sly didn't get to indulge that train of thought because, overhead, Le Paradox started shouting.

"I will crush you!" A robotic arm came shooting toward them, forcing them to dodge out of the way. It hit the side of the time tunnel with the loud screech of metal against metal, sending sparks flying through the air. The machine activated, sucking in the arm and making Le Paradox's machine go haywire. "Noooo!"

When the platform started to break up, Sly leapt onto the railing, checked to make sure Kaia was right on his tail, and took off toward his friends. He knew it wouldn't be as easy as making a quick getaway, not this time. Le Paradox had to be stopped. The madman had enough technology, influence, and wealth to just start over if he survived. No, they had to stop him here.

He skidded to a stop in front of Bentley, Murray, and Kristian. "Take Kaia and get off this thing!"

"What?"

Even if Kaia hadn't protested, Bentley didn't seem inclined to listen, "We need to leave right now!" He insisted, shoving a finger in the direction of the time tunnel and the vortex it contained. "That maniac just tore a hole in time space!"

"I need to finish this fight here and now. For the whole Cooper clan!" Past and future. "And I'm the only one who can glide out of here!"

"This whole blimp could disappear any second!" Bentley argued.

"Right, so there's no time to argue! Just go!"

Kaia's claws dug into his arm, "You're not supposed to run off again, you said!" She looked furious and terrified. Her grip was strong, but he could feel her shaking.

She was right, he had said that, but, "Remember the exception to that rule?"

Her claws dug farther in, "Sly!"

He just had to look Kristian's way to get the cougar to act. They'd never understood each other so clearly.

"Come on." Garter reached out, clamping a hand around Kaia's arm and lifting her clear off her feet. Even with the help, Sly had to pull her fingers free one at a time to get her to actually let go.

She struggled, because of course she did, beating her fists against Kristian's shoulder as she was hauled up and over. "Sly, don't you dare do this!"

"I'm coming back!" He promised as they ran off. He could do that for her, at least. He could make a promise. "I swear, I'm coming back!"

The platform was still breaking up, but they'd have time. Just enough time, he was sure. They always did.

That in mind, he clutched his cane tightly and turned to face his foe.

Stupid, lying, thieving raccoon!

The blimp was shuddering and shaking and clearly descending far too quickly to be safe (a blimp about to crash into the Seine River, it wouldn't be the first time), all of which would normal have scared me, but I was too busy being in the middle of a murderous frenzy.

Getting free was easier said than done, though there was a remarkable sense of déjà vu to not only the crashing ship, but the way I was being forcibly removed from the area. The difference was, this time I actually wanted to fight back. Too bad Kristian had one hell of a grip.

Kristian was at the tail of the group, leaping across timed platforms that were activated by shooting one of the triggers I recognized from the Old West. Unsurprising, considering Le Paradox must have been the one to provide them to Toothpick in the first place. Still, it gave me an idea.

It was a good thing that Kristian wasn't wearing his suit jacket and, therefore, that his gun holster was completely exposed.

I lunged, pulled the gun from the holster, then, while he was trying to adjust his hold to compensate for the lunge, I twisted my hips and slipped out of Kristian's grasp. I fell behind him, rolled, and twisted to bring the gun up before he could grab me again.

He skidded to a stop, froze, then glared, "You're not actually going to shoot me."

Pointing the gun deliberately at his leg, I agreed, "Not anywhere lethal."

"Kaia!" Murray shouted in surprise. Bentley was the only one who seemed to take the fact that I was pointing a gun at Kristian in stride, but that was because Bentley was the smart one.

"It's suicide!" Kristian shouted, "You don't have a paraglider!"

"Sly's can carry two!"

"This is crazy!" Great, Carmelita was here too, it was a party.

Clutching tightly to the gun, I struggled not to stay calm, to not get frustrated. I needed them to go, I had to get to Sly, we were running out of time! "When Sly fights alone, the rules change! He needs someone to be there!"

"Why does that someone have to be you?!"

I flinched at the familiar voice, but gripped the gun tighter and didn't look away from Kristian when I shouted toward my dad, ignoring his question. "Le Paradox is holding Mom one floor down, toward the back of the blimp. You don't have time to come after me, but you have time to find her!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his whole body tense. "Melissa," he breathed in realization.

Kristian glanced over at him and that was my chance.

I spun, thanking Tennessee across the centuries for his training as I fired at the first glimpse of the trigger. The platforms stabilized and I was off.

"Kaia!"

They didn't follow, which was good. It would have taken them too long and the platforms would have reset. I couldn't afford to look back, though, running and jumping and shooting until I reached the solid platform and landed heavily on it.

Hesitating, I looked back. They were all still standing there. Seriously, why was everyone I knew stubborn? "Get going!"

I turned my back and ran off. If I was there, they wouldn't leave.

Besides, I had a raccoon to murder.

Bentley had calculated a ninety-three percent chance that Kaia would chase after Sly the next time the raccoon ran off and, after she showed clear intent to do so, roughly estimated a seventy-five percent chance that her father would let her.

Over the course of the last two hours, a remarkable amount of changes had happened to Inspector Jenks's worldview, not the least of which included the true nature of the Cooper gang and the fact that his daughter knew her way around a gun (and, for that matter, when had that happened? Just how much time had she and Tennessee spent together?). It all helped to force the husky to decide, when given the option, to let Kaia take care of herself while they went after her mother.

That didn't mean he wasn't muttering to himself about stubbornness the whole time they ran, though.

Time wasn't on their side, so they knew they couldn't search for long. Fortunately, the door they needed was pretty easy to locate, given the fact that it was the only one with two rat troopers posted outside it.

Two rat troopers weren't nearly enough to stop them and, after rifling through the pockets of the unconscious rats and coming up with the key, Inspector Jenks was the one to throw open the door, "Melissa!"

It was empty. The cell was empty. All that was inside was a slightly mussed bed and... a pair of black high heels?

As Inspector Jenks moved forward to pick up the shoes in confusion, Bentley saw something out of the corner of his eye. Whipping his head around, he nearly jumped right out of his wheelchair when he saw someone standing next to him.

"Thanks for getting the door."

She was shorter than Kaia, barefoot, and wearing a rumpled pantsuit. Her hair was falling out of the clip that held it up, but she looked pleased with herself as she stared at her baffled ex-husband, like she'd played a particularly good joke. The look was so familiar that, physical differences aside, Bentley could have sworn he was looking at an older version of Kaia.

But how on earth had she slipped out the door without any of them noticing?

With quick steps, she hurried over to take the shoes from Jenks's hand, patting him on the cheek lightly, "Thank you, dear."

The husky reached out to steady her as she balanced on one foot rather than sitting down to pull on her shoes. "You know, I'd forgotten why I divorced you, but it's all coming back to me now."

Melissa flicked some of her loose hair over her shoulder, "You love me, admit it."

"I understand Kaia so much better now," Carmelita muttered reluctantly, staring as the pair interacted.

Kristian scoffed, "Yeah, don't let her hear you say that."

Frowning, Melissa looked over their group, "Where's Kaia?"

"She'll meet us on the ground," Bentley promised, hoping his words were true. "But we have to get out of here right now!"

"Come on, guys!" Murray said, taking off down the hall, "The van's this way!"

Le Paradox's sword was clearly for show, he definitely didn't know how to use the thing. It made fighting him satisfying, even if it felt like it was a little too easy.

The skunk may have been manipulative and smart, but he was also greedy and narcissistic. Sly guessed he should have counted himself lucky for that- otherwise Le Paradox never would have blown his own cover.

Then again, he might have anyway, given the fact that he'd needed Penelope's help to get his hands on Bentley's time machine plans. No way would he have been able to avoid a tangle with the Coopers then. It would have taken them longer to find him, though, if he hadn't left a trail through the ages a mile wide.

Anger buzzed at the back of Sly's mind, anger that Le Paradox would have ruined his entire family just to prove he was the greatest thief who ever lived. A true thief wouldn't do that. A true thief wouldn't have used agents to do his dirty work either.

Saying that out loud was enough to enrage Le Paradox to the point of making even more stupid mistakes on top of his terrible swordsmanship. The blimp was already going down in flames, literally, and Sly needed to end this fight as fast as possible if he was going to keep his promise.

Even when he was hanging by one hand from the blimp, dangling over open air, Le Paradox was shouting, "This is not right! My plan was perfect!"

"Sorry, pal," Sly smirked, staying exactly where he was. "You just can't plan for a Cooper."

"Just... please. Help me..."

Unbelievable. "Why should I?" Why shouldn't he just let the guy fall? Put an end to all this?

Composure fracturing, Le Paradox begged, "I do not wish to die!"

But there'd be no honor in letting him fall. Sly could practically hear his father's voice telling him so. If you kill someone, it had better be because they were a threat. Looking down at Le Paradox, he wasn't a threat. He was loud, selfish, and petty, but no longer a threat.

"I guess you won't be doing any harm from a prison cell." Reluctantly holding out his cane, he pulled Le Paradox up.

Age or not, though, Le Paradox was fast. He took advantage of Sly's compromised balance and, before the raccoon knew it, he was one paraglider short.

"As I said," Le Paradox gloated, the paraglider straps hanging limp around his skinny shoulders, "so predictable."

Okay, clearly this guy was always going to be a threat. Well, that made things simpler. "You won't get away with this, I'll find you!" And he'd enjoy it.

Le Paradox just laughed, "Au contraire, Sly Cooper. I do not think we will meet again." With a mocking salute, the skunk jumped, continuing to laugh as he rode the paraglider... right into a passing plane.

Beautiful, beautiful justice, Sly thought as he threw a doubly mocking salute Le Paradox's way as the skunk plummeted into the ocean.

If you don't have a Plan B, you don't have a plan. He'd heard those words countless times, but he hadn't even had a chance to properly from Plan A before taking off after Le Paradox and, now-

"You know, as 'good guy' as giving him a hand up was, I wouldn't have judged you if you'd stepped on his fingers."

Sly felt his entire body slump at that voice. He couldn't even bring himself to be surprised as he turned to see Kaia clinging to the blimp, not daring to walk out onto the point where he stood. "And what would you have done if I'd taken off without you because I didn't know you were there?"

"I can swim." She held his gaze steadily. "But I don't know if I can support us both until someone finds us. And, if the water's cold enough, I doubt I'd be able to support even myself for long."

And even if she could, there was always that old promise of hypothermia waiting in the wings.

The blimp creaked and shuddered, almost making him lose his balance. Kaia lurched and took his hand even though she was hardly steady herself, as though she could keep him from falling through sheer willpower.

"I'm mad at you for sticking around," he said, because he thought it ought to be mentioned when they had only two options, both of which might end in them dying.

She smiled at that, because she knew what he meant. "And I'm mad at you for taking off. So, compromise, how about you don't be mad at me for sticking around and I won't be mad at you for running off?"

"Deal," he clutched her hand a little more tightly. "We have to use the time tunnel. It might not work, but-"

"It's our best chance." She squeezed his hand right back. "Just don't let go."

At least he wouldn't be alone this time. Neither of them would be.

That almost made it worth it.

...

Hey, I didn't separate them! Based on the amount of messages I got on that subject, that should keep at least a few of you happy.

Now, to head off the inevitable questions.

*clears throat*

YES

I WILL WRITE A SEQUEL

You shouldn't expect me to just pop that sequel out, though. I have to structure the entire freaking story before I start writing it. And I really want it to feel like it could be Sly 5, and that means a very specific structure. It's not going to be exactly like a Sly game, because I'm going to do what I think is best for the story, but I want it to be really close.

Also, as some of you may remember, I mentioned that I was writing another story for these crazies already. It's not a sequel to Nightingale Syndrome, but it is an entire story. I'm about 60% done with it, so I'm going to finish that first, hopefully before the New Year (it's really freaking short, it'll probably be ten chapters or less), but no promises.

On Christmas Day, I will announce the name of the next story on the blog. Unfortunately, the second project looks like it's going to take longer than I thought. My cat relapsed violently this past weekend and I spent a lot of today in the vet's office and I'll be chatting with them all week and my cat is going to need a bunch of tests done and that is going to drain my finances pretty considerably. I still want to do the second project, it just might take a while.

I want to take this moment to encourage you all to CHECK OUT THE BLOG. I know I plug it all the time, but people keep messaging me on this website and that makes it difficult to spread information amongst everyone. Plus, you know, you're missing out on when I ask you guys for prompts and write a bunch of drabbles in order to avoid my family over the holidays. You're also missing out on lovely fanart! Plus, you know, I love hearing what you guys have to say and I'm much more likely to see your messages on Tumblr. The link to the blog is in my profile!

Thanks for riding this out with me, friends. I'll see you in the EPILOGUE!