Chapter 5:
The flight was quite long and crowded, it didn't help that they were all scrunched into such a small van. Bonnie kept getting tossed around in the back and smacking against the walls. "Think you could go easy up there." She said gripping the back of the driver's seat to regain balance. Morgan was fast asleep in the passenger side with her laptop and tech materials covering her legs like a blanket should. Bonnie brought her gaze to Seth's in the rearview mirror.
"Shut it Bonnie," he whispered rudely, "Morgan is asleep."
Bonnie's eyebrows sagged down as an annoyed and angered expression sneaked across her face. "All I'm asking!" She said in a loud whisper, "Is that you drive more CAREFULLY!" Her voice got louder with each word and she immediately regretted screaming the carefully part out loud as Morgan shook awake.
Seth rolled his eyes, "Smooth." He relayed to Bonnie. Morgan rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms out. She shook her head at the miscommunication she sensed between Bonnie and Seth.
She looked at Bonnie with annoyance, "There's no need to be loud Bonnie!" Seth tightened his grip on the wheel and let out a smile. "Don't think you're off the hook either. Whatever you two so clearly don't like each other for it's time to put it aside. If we want this to work, we've got to be a team!"
Seth looked out the window, it seemed like they'd been traveling in the daylight for days on end. They'd only been traveling for about 10 hours, but the sun was with them the whole trip west. They had a solid ten hours left considering they flew the long way. He stayed silent to allow himself to think. As annoyed as he was by her statement though Morgan had a point. They were a band of thieves now and there would be no team if they couldn't cooperate. He just couldn't figure out why he felt so closed off to this Bonnie. Could it be because he'd never heard of her before yesterday, and now Morgan was suddenly all on board for her being this 'New Legacy's' leader? It didn't make sense to him, then again nothing really did anymore. Why did he just betray his father? He didn't know, he was so confused, but most of all tired. "Is it possible to land Morgan, I've been driving for hours?"
She returned her gaze to her computer and clicked a few times, "Affirmative, we are directly above Mauritania, Africa. It's primarily desert land but I've found a place with some forest coverage we could land for a few hours. It's just a few more miles that way. Seth turned the vehicle and they headed there fast. Again Bonnie fell backward and banged into something. She let out an angered grunt and Seth felt satisfied.
"Take it easy princess we'll be landed soon." He said.
Bonnie bit her tongue. She had had enough of this guy. She'd grown particularly fond of Morgan but this Seth character was making it obvious that her presence was clearly unwanted. She had figured once they landed, she'd find a way to peel out on her own. It's been fun and they've definitely saved her tail more than once, but she couldn't work with someone who treated her like she was the bane of his existence. She didn't want to drag them down with her more than she already has.
Seth began to land the Van in the coverage of the trees, he brought her down gently and upon reaching the ground he jumped out and stretched his limbs to his heart's content. "Good golly Morgan that was so long. I'm gonna take a nap." He headed around to the trunk and opened the doors. "Come on out princess the air is fine." Bonnie crawled out without making a noise or even meeting Seth's gaze.
He reached in one of the boxes and pulled out a bottle of water and grabbed a pillow. He laid flat on in the bed of the van as he heard Morgan tinkering on the roof. "Rest up in there," she said giving a few kicks to the hood so he'd hear her from above. "I'm wiring the car so that it runs on solar power since it's been running low on fuel, I've had the plates charging this whole trip and I'm installing them now. I'd say you've got five or so hours before we take to the skies again."
Seth called up in acknowledgement and let his eyes fall shut, not five minutes later he was kicked awake by Morgan. He rolled over and shook his head. "What Morgan I said okay?"
She looked frantic. "That's not it Seth. Bonnie is gone."
He shoved his face back in the pillow. "She's probably gone to go to the bathroom in the woods or something."
Morgan ripped the pillow out from under him and pulled him by his legs out the back of the van. "She didn't tell me she was leaving, and I doubt she told you. We've got to find her."
Seth stood up brushing the dirt out of his hair. "Relax Morgan, she couldn't be far. Besides all her stuff is." He made a jester toward the van, the spot where the Thievius Raccoonus and her cane were, only now noticing that they were gone. "Oh." He said clearly understanding Morgan's frantic attitude.
"Seth I've got to get her, I don't know why she left. I had a tracking chip inside of the book so since she took it I could find her with my wrist watch but that would put back the project I need to finish on the van, we could be idle for hours more than I had calculated for. It means we're vulnerable and we are stuck."
"I don't get it, why not just go on without her? We don't need her Morgan."
Morgan looked let down, "I don't understand why you are so against her Seth, she is just like us in the sense that all her life she's felt expendable. In this band of misfits we all belonged together, you did the one thing that she won't tolerate anymore, you made her feel expendable again Seth. She was the spark both of us needed to be free of the lives we'd so dreadfully lived so far. We need her or we might as well just surrender and go home. Do you see now? We can't leave without Bonnie, surely some part of you must know that."
He let out a sigh and held out a hand to Morgan, here she was again, having points that changed his thought process. "Give me the watch, I'll track her and be back within the five hour span. You just get those panels on the van and keep them in the sun so they charge longer, Bonnie can't be too far."
Morgan let out a relieved sigh and handed him her watch, the book is the blinking dot. I doubt she'll part from it, so it's safe to assume that she is the blinking dot. I'll take your com watch," She said taking his off and strapping it on, "Just so we won't lose contact."
Seth began to walk away, "Oh and Seth, you know how it feels to be expendable. Don't make her feel the same way, again."
He shook his head and started following the blinking dot through the woods.
*Kaine Island*
"How could they just slip out of our grasps, we had them right there! On the ropes! We're losing our touch." Bently said slamming his head into his hands as he propped his elbows on his lab desk. "It's hopeless!"
Penelope rubbed his back to comfort him, she herself had been feeling kind of down but she needed to be strong, for Bently's sake. Murray strolled over to him and placed a hand on his left shoulder. "They slipped through our grasp cause they've got our wit and skill. We'll find'em Bently, make no mistake of that, The Murray is back and I won't rest until we have them.
The gang sat around contemplating ideas as to how to track the kids. Sly sat on a computer browsing thiefnet for possible sightings. He was clearly agitated and couldn't think straight. It was the first time in a long time he didn't exactly know what to say. His quick wit was failing him because he was so utterly betrayed by someone he loved so much, but at the same time had such profound hatred for. Penelope noticed him scrolling intently and zoning out at the screen. She strolled over to him.
"Find anything interesting?" She asked.
"Yeah looks like Clockwerk is back." He said sarcastically rolling his eyes.
Penelope's expression didn't change as she sat in the computer chair next to him. "Listen Sly, you're hurting, it's clear as the day is bright, and it's written all over your face. Now I don't want you to think I'm undermining your feelings because you are most certainly allowed to feel betrayed and hurt. All I ask is that you take note of the fact that we've all lost something yesterday."
Sly stopped scrolling and crossed his arms. "It's not the something that I'm so worried about. It's the someone, it's Bonnie. I never knew I was a father, I mean before Clyde. She was ten years old when Clyde came along. She is my daughter, the original next generation Cooper, and I didn't know it. I don't so much care about the Thievius Raccoonus anymore Penelope, if she's got it with her, she's going to do what I'd want her to."
Penelope was confused, "Which is what exactly?"
He turned to meet her eyes. "She's going to read it, and hopefully study it. She's going to be the protégé child, simply because she's done all of this, without even reading the damn book. Imagine how talented my daughter will be once she does."
Penelope huffed slightly, "You know Bonnie didn't exactly do it alone, we've all got some outstandingly great kids. They've learned our trade so well they're practically better than us at it."
Sly smirked slightly, "Yeah well they're still a hostile force and we've got to find them." He looked around the lab for the first time in a few hours. Murray was trying to help Bently do something technologically based while Penelope simply sat adjacent to him. This was the first time he noticed both Clyde and Carmelita's absence, without thinking he jumped up immediately. "Where is Clyde?"
Everyone looked at him, Bently raised an eyebrow. "Sly he told you he wanted to go to the beach with Carmelita, you shook your head yes?"
Unbelievable, he was so out of it that his son was able to slip his sight even when inadvertently trying to. He swiftly headed for the lab exit and stormed through Bently's house toward the back door leading to the beach. He'd be dammed if he let Carmelita make sure her vow on taking the kids back was kept. He was relieved to see them playing in the waves and running around playing. Considering his thought was that she'd be building a raft for the two of them to sail away on.
He strolled down the beach and right up to Carmelita, she said nothing as he approached her. She was dripping because of the way the waves knocked her down several times, she looked exhausted but she had a fake smile on for Clyde, Sly saw through it instantly, he was inches from her face when he called over to Clyde, not losing her eye contact for a second. "Clyde, inside now!"
He started walking toward them just to get knocked over by another wave and laugh. "But daddy I was playing with mommy." Sly's muscles tensed as he had to look away from her for a moment.
"Clyde, it's important, daddy has to talk to 'Mommy' real quick." He spit the word out as if it tasted bitter or perhaps salty to say. He hung his head in sorrow and headed up the path that lead back to the base. Sly felt bad for ruining his fun, but he had to protect him from this so called "Mommy" of his.
He pulled his gaze back to Carmelita, "Let's get one thing straight here Fox, you do not take my son anywhere without someone supervising. You will not have him call you mommy. Lastly, you are not taking him, he is my son and deserves to be loved the way you so obviously couldn't love your Bonnie."
She stepped back jaw gaping open. Her heart shattered. She wanted to cry and punch him in that face at the same time, but she had to use all her strength to fight the tears back. Instead she let it formulate and turn into anger. "You monster," she said as Sly turned away from her. "How dare you tell me that I've no right to my son! I brought him into this world and have done everything I could have to get him back, to get him to come home with me without raising suspicion. I may have missed all those years but I finally found him with you, and I'll be dammed if you try to keep him from me."
Sly stopped in his tracks. He felt her anger emanating off of her, but his was a bit stronger at the moment. "Oh I'm sorry." He said turning his head back to face her with a sarcastic smile. "Would it hurt if I took him away from you and didn't tell you of his life, or how he was doing?" He strolled toward her again and stopped an inch from her face, close enough to see the pain in her eyes. "Look on the bright side Fox, at least you know he exists."
Carmelita's expression turned dark and cold. "You're the one who left me Sly Cooper! You came back to Paris all those years ago to find me. You told me that in your 'final moments' you thought of me. How our careers separated us." His hardened eyes softened as he watched a tear roll down her face. "You spent that night with me, and you told me that I meant something to you. Through all of our games and our chases and sheer hatred, you told me that you loved me." Sly turned away being hurt almost as much as she was by the memory of that night.
"I thought you had changed, I honestly did. But then I wake up the next day to your calling card on my nightstand, and I was cuffed to my own bed. The master thief did it; he stole my heart and then left me alone and cold." She sat on the ground and buried her head in her knees. "I've never been so weak. I've never been so vulnerable." Tears streamed down her snout. "I didn't plan on Bonnie happening, but she did."
Sly turned to face her again and sat with her on the sand, trying to feel what she was saying, trying to understand what he had put her through. "I wanted to tell you, I spent the better half of my daughter's life looking for you. But you were always one step ahead of me. First I wanted to bring you to justice, watch you rot behind bars for the crimes you've committed over all the years, including the pain you've cause me, but the more I realized I was missing of my daughter's life, the more I realized I wanted you to be there, to see how wonderful our little girl was.
"Years passed and then I found you and Clyde came along, again not something I had planned but you do something to me Sly Cooper that both infuriates and captivates me. I was going back to get her. I was going to bring her to you. It wasn't something that could just be said, you had to physically see her. I was willing to sacrifice my life, my job, and everything I had for Bonnie and Clyde. So do not presume to tell me that I have no right to my son. Because you're the one who walked away from your daughter, I didn't keep her from you."
Sly felt pained, he didn't realize all those years back, as much as he knew he felt something for Carmelita back then, he wasn't ready to settle down yet and give up doing what he enjoyed so much. He had thought he was, but when he had her that one night so long ago. He had felt her and taken her. He knew it was blind hope and wishful thinking. She was right in the sense that he was wrong, but she could have just told him when she's met up with him six years ago. It would have been easier. As much resentment as he felt about it, he didn't allow it to deter what she'd said, because he had if not an equal share definitely more of the blame in this situation.
She picked her head up and stared at the ocean. Clouds were rolling in and the breeze was picking up. She saw some flashes of lightning and stood to head back inside. Sly stood as well and they were eye to eye once more. She felt tense, her emotions were all over the place and she didn't know how to feel. She was the strongest woman she knew, with everything except things that involved him. She reached her right arm over and grabbed hold of the left one as she drew her face toward the sand to avoid his eyes. "We should get inside it looks like it's going to rain soon."
She began to move around him and back up the beach where the lab's entrance was. She just barely made it passed him when he grabbed her free hand. Her gaze was brought back to his and she felt her heart shatter. He didn't particularly know what he was going to say. How could he? "I am sorry Carmelita, for everything that I've done."
She nodded. She was tempted again, the same way she used to be when she was near him. It would be so easy to sink back into that hurricane known as Sly Cooper, but she'd pushed him aside for the sake of her daughter, and that's what she was just going to have to keep doing for the sake of her daughter. "It's done with Cooper. Just don't get in the way of me and my children anymore, please, I'm asking now as the mother I never got the chance to be before."
He stood there baffled as she pulled away, she had changed so much. Normally he could just pull her back to him and without a moment's hesitation she would be his again. She would give in to his charm. However it wasn't just about the two of them anymore, two other Coopers were involved now, and it was obvious that he was no longer the top priority of her life. It hit him kind of hard and it broke a piece of him. However he knew that maybe she had a point, it was time for change. If he couldn't win her back with an apology, he would let her win after all these years and let her take the kids, assuming they could actually find Bonnie. He didn't exactly want to, but he knew that she wouldn't stop searching if he didn't let her and his heart shook at the idea that she would no longer be looking for him.
He loved her, and he was so annoyed that he waited so long to admit it to himself. He had run so long ago because he was so scared of her in her entirety, he didn't think they could make it work. But now they were parents together and he had to think about his kids now, what would be best for them. Carmelita was, and he knew it because he loved her, so he had to let her go.
Bently wheeled out onto the beach, the rain had started coming down and Sly didn't even realize. The thunder roared overhead and the lightning lit up the dark sky. "Sly! Come in Sly! Do you Read me."
He smiled pushing aside his thoughts. Now where has he hear that before. "Loud and clear Bently, what's going on?"
Bently's voice came through kind of muffled as Sly turned to face him, the wind picked up and he headed up the beach to meet him. "We might have found something that could help us find them." Together they heading inside to seek shelter from the rain and look at their potential lead.
*A Small village in Mauritania Africa*
Seth tracked the blinking red dot into some small and rundown village. He knew he must have been getting closer because the dot didn't move toward the edges of the com watch's screen anymore. He turned a couple of corners and ducked into some adobe alleyways to avoid the looks of the natives, until he saw a girl draped in a cloak walking toward a fruit stand. He noticed how whenever she moved, it correlated with the dot on his watch. Gotcha. He thought to himself.
He approached her silently and grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the alleyway that she'd just walked out of. However she wasn't completely defenseless. She swung her Cooper cane out from under her cloak and knocked him off his feet. He fell down with a really loud crash and knocked over a couple of baskets that were lying against the adobe wall. Only when he was rubbing his head and trying to sit up did she realize who it was.
Bonnie flipped off the hood of her cloak and kneeled by his side. "Gosh are you okay Seth?"
He shook his head and blinked his eyes a little. "Yeah, I guess I deserved that. Remind me not to sneak up on you ever again."
Bonnie turned her head away from him, "You won't have to worry about it, I don't know how you found me, probably Morgan I'm assuming, but still I don't belong with you two. I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused." She pulled her cloak back up and rose to her feet. She turned to walk away. "Forget that you found me, I'll just go solo from now on."
As she took her first step toward the fruit stand, Seth began to speak. From the heart, she knows how it feels. He thought. "You know you're something else."
She stopped and turned toward him once more as he continued. "Your whole life you didn't know who your dad was. You find out and in the same span of twenty four hours, you've managed to attract global attention. Become the most wanted thief on thiefnet. Unite all our parents against us. And lastly, you've managed to unite us under the most bizarre circumstances."
She hung her head down, "Look I said I was sorry, I'm leaving now you don't have to make me feel worse."
Seth stood up and brushed the dirt off of his hands. "You didn't let me finish." He walked toward her again. "Someone with that much capability, that much potential, could never be expendable. I know how that feels Bonnie. My whole life my father traveled the world for his racing derbies and I was left under the care of my mom, that part wasn't so bad. But she passed away when I was merely nine, and I was always left in the care of some guru guy that once mentored my dad. I never felt like I had any value to my dad, I was expendable."
She looked down, "I don't understand why you're telling me this."
He hung his head in shame, "I just want you to see that sometimes knowing your who your parents are, doesn't always mean you matter to them."
"I still don't understand, why does that make you hate me."
Seth rolled his eyes and brought his gaze back up to hers. He finally figured it out, "I do not hate you Bonnie. Am I a big fan of how you basically flipped the world upside down and put a big target on not only yours, but Morgan's and now my back as well? No not necessarily, however, I admire the fact that you took a stand against the grain. It's something neither me nor Morgan could ever do. So I guess I envy you, for trying to find who you are and doing what you wanted. All I did was spend my life in the confines of our small house in Australia."
Bonnie reached out and touched his shoulder. "Seth I'm so sorry that you feel that way. But I didn't put targets on either of your backs. Morgan sought me out and helped me escape Paris; she chose that on her own. She flew us to get you, placing a similar choice in your hands. You chose to save us from being caught. You got us here. So it's unfair to say that I am the only one who took a stand for myself, because you did the same thing, and so did she." She removed the cloak from her head and met his gaze again, "I guess you could say we all were tired of feeling like nobodies, and we came together to collectively become more than we ever thought we could. Maybe knowing your father left you feeling easily forgotten, but I could never forget a guy who flipped his own world upside down for the sake of a stranger. That's not expendable, that's courage."
Seth looked down, "I'm sorry for making you feel like you didn't belong with us Bonnie. This whole leaving home with a sort of stranger and living on my own is somewhat new to me."
She shrugged, "As long as you can forgive me for being small minded, and leaving without trying to understand your reasoning first."
He extended a hand "friends?" He asked.
She smiled, "master thieves." She said shaking it.
He laughed, "Come on, Morgan is attaching solar panels on the van so we won't have to stop and filler up every so often."
Bonnie's eyes widened, "That girl can do anything I swear."
Seth programmed his watch's coordinates into Morgan's and another blinking dot appeared. It should take them about an hour to find her, and he'd still have some time to sleep before they took to the skies again, "You sell yourself short Cooper."
They raced through the back alleyways of the adobe village toward the woods again, "I think we all do," she said. Before they knew it they were under the cover of the trees and she shed her cloak and the two of them trekked through the woods together to find Morgan and the van, and to finally head for Utah."
*Kaine Island*
Sly stood watch over the screen, still not completely sure as to what was happening. "So one of these five places, you're sure of it."
Bently had a huge map on the smartboard projector aimed at the huge whiteboard along the back wall. "If my calculations are correct, which they most certainly always are, then the kids are definitely going to one of these five places." He marked five small circles on the map. All places Sly knew too well. "Back when the fiendish five had the Thievius Raccoonus, they were all hiding out in these locations across the globe. I've recently intercepted a signal that was expressing interest in these locations, they were patterned searches on thiefnet and I'm thinking it could be Morgan; it's too coincidental to search each location all at once. They could be looking for a place to lay low. We're going to have to check each map. It could take a month to extensively search all these places."
Murray smiled, "Just like old times huh sly?"
"Back to basics with Sly and the gang? Let's go find us some conniving kids."
They all made their way to the hangar with haste. Sly suited up as Bently readied the jet they'd be taking to their first stop. Russia, the original location of Clockwerk. It made sense to look there, it was his biggest enemy. She could be training on the lands with his families book. Part of him silently hoped she was.
Bently kissed Penelope goodbye then headed to the cockpit with Murray. Carmelita came into the hangar holding Clyde's hand. "I'm coming with you."
Sly looked at her and felt guilty all over again, he knew the smart thing to do. "No, you've missed enough time with your son as it is." He said as he walked over to her. "Spend time with him and make sure he's okay for me, it's dangerous to bring him along."
She raised an eyebrow as Sly kneeled to say goodbye to his son. "Be good for mommy okay?" Clyde shook his head in agreement and latched onto Carmelita's leg. Sly rose to meet Carmelita's gaze again. "I've got some things I need to make up for." He said scratching the back of his head. "Fear not Carmelita, I will find our daughter, and for your sake, I'll bring her back to you. I'll disappear again and you can go about your life. I just need to be the one to find her, for my sake. You've got to trust me."
She was skeptical but she looked down at her son, "Mark my words Cooper, if you so much as think about fleeing with her, I will find you. I will not rest until you are either behind bars or dead, and I won't care which one happens first. I will not lose her again."
Clearly taken aback by her response. "Yeah love you too sweetheart, see you in a month or maybe sooner if we find her." On that not he pulled her in and kissed her so sweetly then jumped on board the plane.
She stood there shocked and mouth open in awe as Clyde waved to the plane, she watched the hatch open and saw them fly off into the stormy night. Curse that Raccoon. She thought as she allowed a real smile to form across her face for the first time in the last two days.