Yes, it was Carmelita!
Now, I know I don't really give you a lot of time to make this guess as I am posting this chapters in second's work, but I just had to open this chapter with that sentence. I couldn't help myself and I have no intention of taking it back. It's just too catchy a chapter-starter, sue me! Not really, you know I'm joking, right?
RIGHT?

Venquine1990

Sly's POV

The last few days have been nothing short of hell. I was able to get to Reolu Island, get to a pawn shop and that was pretty much where everything went downhill. The pawnshop was actually owned by my old enemy, Mugshot, and while he was willing to sell me a car in trade for some of my treasure, did the good times end there.
Getting to Reulo Island should have meant the end of all of my troubles, yet it only took me a few hours to discover that I couldn't be more wrong. My ancestors have not visited Reolu Island in over 150 years and in that time, did a different family of gangsters decide that they would become the new powerhouses in town.
Now this didn't seem like a problem to me at first and I had actually reveled in the chance to prove to the people of this community that the Cooper Family was back in action, yet in my need to do so, had I overlooked one very vital step of action; I had forgotten to do reconnaissance and find out the level of influence my enemy had on town.

And that influence was more than I had anticipated, making it so that when I confronted the big man and told him that this town belonged to the Cooper Gang, he had only laughed and asked me where this so-called Gang was at. That had struck me emotionally and it had been enough for the bastard to take me out.
The worst part of it all, he had not done so single-handedly. He had actually heard – ahead of time – of my arrival to town and had even threatened the police of town to send their buffest most fierce looking agents his way or there would be hell to pay. And those agents had gone down on me alongside all of the bastard's little lackeys.
And those lackeys were anything but little and in the end, I had been beaten, tasered, my ribs broken, my lunges punched a good 4 dozen times, several parts of my fur pulled forcefully from my skin and the rest of my body punched into a mangled bunch of ribs, bones, intestines and blood, coughing more than breathing.

The crime lord had then even worsened my state, telling me I could keep my car and my life if I agreed to come working for him. I had asked him why and he had told me: "Because I have new plans for the Cooper tricks." And while I had silently sworn to one day use those tricks against him, had I agreed to his terms.
Great Gods, do I wish I had not done so. The crime lord had definitely come true to his word and while the agents that worked for the police offered me both small bits of food as well as a large clothe with which I could cover myself and my car during the night, had they also been sworn into silence about my identity by the crime lord.
He had then plastered posters of what he wanted me to do all over the plaza where the police station was located and while his thugs kept guard at every entrance street to the plaza, was I used as local entertainment, my tricks and techniques now nothing more than a show to entertain those walking across the plaza.

Yet, while I had felt humiliated, while I had felt hurt, starved and had often returned to my car trembling in hunger and exhaustion, had I been constantly waking up the next morning, feeling just that little bit stronger both physically as well as mentally and that made me know that my secret plan was working after all.
Sure, last night I had fallen asleep in my car, the clothe covering the vehicle being the only thing that actually kept my dry from the raging storm that had decided to cross the island and the darkness of the night actually making me wonder if I wouldn't be dead before I got stronger, yet I had shaken this thought away and had fallen asleep.

That had been last night and this morning, while performing some of my – by now – more usual tricks and stunts had I been shocked to near death when I suddenly saw those stunning brown eyes looking at me, me actually spotting Carmelita long before I made the jump that made her capable of recognizing me as well.
The sight of the amazing vixen had startled me and almost made me lose focus, yet I had been able to save myself and had felt horrible when suddenly two bulldogs – which I recognized from my fight – stepped in to block the vixen on her path. At this I had wanted to turn around and continue my act when suddenly they parted.
The shock and fear that was on their faces had startled me and when I looked past them, had I felt as if I was in Déjà vu. Carmelita Montoya Fox stood before me, her shock pistol aimed at the crowds keeping us apart and her brown eyes shining with a fire of determination, her angelic voice strong and professional as she said:
"Sly Cooper, you may have escaped to Reolu Island, but even the police here can't clear your record. Care to take the hit for your team a 2nd time? If so, come with me and come with me now." The thought of my gang having already been caught by the fox had made me cringe and, because of the night before, had I given in.

The fox had cuffed my undamaged hand and had wanted to leave with me, before being stopped by a little girl. I had been unable to stand hearing the begging tone in her voice and had, afterwards, felt as if I had missed something important as Carmelita had spoken to the little girl before she had guided me over to my team.
There I had seen the evidence of her words as all of them were chained up, even Guru and Panda King, who I thought had been out of the country and unable to be found by the Inspector and while the fox holding the chain attached to my friends had looked familiar, had the beating of the week before made me unwilling to take another fight.
I had followed the fox and her unfamiliar co-workers, not even feeling strong enough to look at my friends or feeling the need to silently message them with just glances, not feeling strong enough to encourage them that things would be alright or mentally stable enough to tell them to come up with a plan of escape.
Instead of that had I kept my face to the ground, not wanting to look at anything as I just didn't feel worthy of it anymore. Some hotshot crime lord had taken over the one country where my family had found a welcome home in the hands of the community, I had failed to beat him and now my friends were arrested.

Because of all these depressing thoughts had I been beyond shocked and confused when, instead of taking us to the police station like I had expected, Carmelita had instead taken me and my friends to a very, very familiar blue van, Murray actually willingly giving her the key and her opening the back door for us all.
The whole gang and the mysterious companions of my dearest beloved had all gotten onto the van and Carmelita had aided me as we were still chained together before Bentley had shocked me dearly by actually undoing the chains from himself and the others, causing for Carmelita to smile in relief before the turtle said:
"Good thing Dimitri has some weird party ideas sometimes. What were you planning with those chains anyway?" And while I barely hear the Iguana Party Master defend his chains with some comment about decorations, does the lovely voice of my beautiful ex-partner warm my weary heart as she cleverly asks:

"You think that crime lord will believe you to be imprisoned after the whole walk we just took, Ringtail?" And while the thought of the crime lord and facing him again scares me like crazy, do I not let this show as I feel just too shocked at hearing the worrying care in her voice before Bentley interrupts my thoughts and says:
"He better, I'm almost in need of new wheelchair tires after that long trek." And while normally this would have made me laugh at my friend, can I still not fathom the idea that they are actually all here and while using what little I have left of my voice, do I ask: "What are you guys even doing here? And – and how did you find me?"
And Panda King answers: "When a team disbands it is only because all members agree it to be the right decision. We agreed that all of us, including you, were better off where we were, but that was a mistake on our part, not yours. You should not suffer because we misjudged the happiness we believed you had found with your partner."

And while part of me wonders if they know anything of what I've been through the last week do I suddenly feel as I am walking on clouds of heaven as I feel Carmelita touching me again, first undoing the chain that was still around my wrist – the one the crime lord didn't break during our fight – before focusing on the other.
This alone makes me wince as I really don't want the beautiful delicate mind of my beloved scarred by the sight of my paw, a sight that almost made me faint when I first saw it myself after my fight and while I feel like tearing myself a new one at how her hands start to tremble after undoing the bandage do I suddenly feel something.
A pair of hands, not quite as gentle as Carmelita's, are trying to undo the bandage around my leg and while I wish she would stop as Penelope's hands are constantly pressing against very painful points of my skin and still frayed nerves, do I instead with my gaze try and fail to keep Carmelita from looking down at my leg.

The fox looks down, sees how I had to shave off the fur of my leg if only to get to the cuts the brutes working for the crime lord caused me that day as they had been only too happy to cut my leg with various blunt knifes while one of them sat on me to keep me from fighting them or the pain and the fur has yet to grow back.
Not only that, but there are also parts of one of my old hip pouch, which I had used to stem any unnecessary bleeding, stuck to various parts of my leg and just the sight of how my appendage looks doesn't make Carmelita turn around or attempt to keep in her most recent meal; instead it makes her hug me with strength and care.
The feeling of those caring arms around my neck once again, to feel Carmelita trying to encase me with her body as if silently telling me that I'm safe and that she'll protect me are feelings I just don't want to believe are real, but then her voice breaks through me again as she says: "I am never letting you out of my sight again."

And just by the determined, caring tone of her voice, do I finally – truly – realize that my friends are really here, that Carmelita is really here. At this I do the only thing I can in order for me not to burst out in tears of joyous pain and guilty relief; I wrap my trembling arms around the one fox that has always had my heart.
Carmelita apparently feels how badly I'm trembling and takes it the wrong way, believing me to be in pain as she turns to Murray and mutters: "Take us somewhere safe." But just when the Big Guy has sat himself behind the steering wheel, do I realize that everything I have ever loved materially is in my car and I whisper hoarsely:
"My car – my stuff – the Raccoonus." At this Murray stops as quickly as he had started driving and while part of me wants to get to my car and away from my friends before they can get hurt by the crime lord, does Dimitri take this thought out of my mind as he speaks with the voice of a leader and says: "Keys, Main Man."
At this I take the only thing I had dared to put on me before leaving for my new job out of my shirt pocket and hand it over, not even caring for how Carmelita is glaring at the old forger as he jumps out of the van and hides in the shadows, the last thing I get to see of him before the van doors close again and Murray rides off.

Fearing for how, by now, those thugs that were guarding the street exits must have already found and raided my car – maybe even destroyed it – do I barely realize that we continue driving all over the island as all I can think of is in what state we will find either Dimitri or my car – if the crime lord even allows us to find them.
These thoughts worry and terrify me and while I don't, at first, realize that we have stopped driving and started walking again, does the soft tissue of an old couch under my legs and ass make me realize that we must have found some kind of safe house. This, however, scares me as I am fairly certain that he knows of all safe houses around town.
This makes me think of new scenarios, but then ones where the crime lord sends his lackeys not to destroy my car, but to attack my friends and loved ones and the images of what could happen to them spur through my mind, making me feel the same kind of mental, emotional pain I have only felt once before in my life.
Realizing when that was scares me even more, but before I can do anymore than stroke the fur of my tail and widen my eyes, do I suddenly feel something hitting me in the shoulder, some kind of substance mixing itself with my blood and while silently thanking my friend, do I allow for sleep to befall me at long last.

I could stop here, you know?
I mean, this sounds like a pretty good explanation of everything Sly has been through since he reached the island, so ending it here would sound reasonable, right? Well, I won't. Why, you ask? Because of the AN at the top of this chapter. It speaks of what happens when Sly wakes, so we will continue here with his waking.
Enjoy,

I feel myself waking up again, the emotions I had been feeling before somehow having fought off the substance of Bentley's sleep darts and making me wake long before I know Bentley had planned for me to wake up and while, at my senses waking up, I can also feel my emotions starting to rage through me again, do I also feel something else.
Something soft, something feminine, something that feels so divine to my touch, I can barely resist the need to cuddle up to whatever it is, to wrap my whole body around the delicious form of warmth and purr as if to express how happy I am to have this source of feminine power and divine softness so close to my form.
Instead of that, do I open my eyes and instantly upon doing so, do I realize with a shock what it is that I am lying against, or better said, who's lap I am lying on. Dark azure blue hair that looks black in the right kind of light, chocolate brown eyes, a fair orange colored fur, the sweetest little nose that moves as she looks down at me.

Carmelita Montoya Fox. The inspector that has, for so long, attempted to capture me. The woman that gave me a chance I have, before, only been able to dream of. The goddess I have dishonored by lying to her for a full month before deciding I just didn't deserve a chance by her side. The sweetest princess of my dreams looks down upon me.
To see that beauty, that divine gorgeousness look down on me from atop those perfectly toned and still slim-looking shoulders and that firm neck makes me almost lose control of the emotions inside of me and yet, when our eyes meet, can I feel all of my fear, all of my worry and all of my guilt actually ebb away from me.
Instead of that do new thoughts enter my mind. "She's here. She's gorgeous. She came back to me. She came to find me. Her eyes. Is – is that love?" This last thought confuses and shocks me and while I link my amber brown eyes with her chocolate brown ones, do I realize with a start that my thoughts are right.

Love. Such a simple yet powerful emotion that makes Carmelita's eyes shine like the finest of chocolate, one that is just being made and of which the cacao is still fluid and shiny, shines down at me from those deep, gorgeous irises and while feeling all of my other feelings ebb away, am I unable to resist my instincts.
Instincts driven by the thought process my mind just went through. Instincts inspired by the emotion I see flowing in those dark, delicious depths. Instincts that just make me reach up, make my hands curl themselves around the fur of Carmelita's cheeks and makes me pull her lips close to mine, kissing her with all that I am.
All the love I have felt for her since I first met her. All of the devotion I felt every time where either her life was in peril or where she just needed the help of either me or my gang. All of the loyalty I have felt for her whenever I had a chance to meet her. All these emotions I try to convey to the fox through this one single kiss.

Yet when I don't feel her tense in anger, feel her hand rushing out to slap me away or feel her body trembling in boiling rage, do I wonder if perhaps I stunned the beautiful fox and while trying to gather enough energy within me to go back to my old self, do I pull away from the fox of my dreams and ask her smoothly:
"Am I dreaming or are you just too gorgeous to be real?" And while I am actually waiting for a rage, a shout or a slap, does the reaction of the fox startle me as instead of any of the above, she actually shouts: "SLY!" And wraps her arms around me, hugging me close to her beautiful form and cradling me in her arms.
Wondering if, by any chance, my beloved has lost her memory of my past instead of me, do I ask: "Is everything alright, Inspector?" And just that one last word seems to make Bentley, who is apparently sitting in his wheelchair quite close to the couch I am in, sigh in relief, does Carmelita worry me as she whispers in response:

"Not yet, Sly, but they will be. They will be." And while her tone is soft, caring, warm and heartfelt, can I not help the shiver of fear for her life and those of my friends to run through me as I have no doubt I already know what Carmelita means; things won't be alright until we have taken Reolu Island back from the Crime Lord.
But then the lovely fox proves me wrong yet again as, instead of that, she tells me softly: "Let's just get you better and healed up and then things will be alright once again." And while I look at her as she actually lies me back down so I am again lying with my head on her lap, does she look up at my team and happily say: "For all of us."
And just by looking at how confident, strong and self-assured my friends are as they either stand beside my couch or sit close to my couch, do I feel the confidence I lost after my fight with the crime lord return and do I feel myself actually coming back to who I was before the events on Kaine Island went worse than wrong.

Feeling this inner strength return to me, do I take a deep breath as I – reluctantly – pull myself off of Carmelita's lap and while moving my painful limbs, do I not wince as I sit my foot down on the floor, but do I instead smirk at my team, causing for their smiles to widen in return as I take another deep breath and say:
"Right. Let me catch you up." But then Murray stops me and says: "Water first." And he quickly runs for a small tab against one of the walls of the room. He grabs a glass stationed there and fills it with water before running back, one of his hands making sure the water doesn't splash as he runs and he hands me the glass.
I smile gratefully at my friend and the water he gives me feels like heaven to my unused throat. It cools down the pained, frayed, still softly burning muscles within me and I let out another relieved breath after gulping down the entire glass, setting it down on the shabby table in front of me and say: "Right – the crime lord."

And with that do I tell them everything. About the old lady I met that led me to the pawn shop. How I met Mugshot there and how he sold me a car in return for some of my treasure. How I discovered from townsfolk how there was a crime lord that was suddenly the boss around town, regardless of the Cooper Fame on Reolu Island.
I then wince as I reluctantly tell them how my arrogance and strength got the better of me, how I went to confront the guy without doing recon. How I discovered just how strong his influence in town was as I had actually been expected by the man, who had both buffed up police men and his own lackeys backing him the whole time.
"But we went to the police station and they told us that you had yet to do anything that warranted an arrest. Wouldn't such an attack against the crime lord warrant that?" The mysterious woman that had accompanied us asks in shock and I shake my head as I say: "The bastard threatened them to silence after I met with him."

Then I growl as – now that the fear is gone – my confidence feels as if it has taken the same blow all over again and while feeling hurt, humiliated and stupid, do I say: "The worst of it all? He expected me, sat on his little throne and let all of his gathered lackeys do the beating – and they were both professional and imaginative."
At this everyone looks from my hand to my leg and I nod, telling them silently that all of that was indeed done by those bastards before I rectify myself and say: "Except the shaving. I had to do that myself to stop most of the bleeding caused there. The parts you see on my leg are a torn up hip pouch I used as medical aid."
My friends cringe at seeing this and then suddenly a loud CRASH is heard, the sound alone making me feel terrified over the fact that my earlier thoughts were right and instantly I reach for Bentley, who has my cane lying on his desk part of his wheelchair. I cartwheel over the Turtle and grab my cane as I look around frantically.

And THERE I end it!
Oh-oh, has the crime lord found the Cooper Gang? Was Sly indeed correct? Is there really no house safe for the Cooper Gang to hide out at? Sorry, I won't spoil too much. Heck, I'm not even saying the crappy crime lord's name. Yet, his name will definitely be revealed and after this chapter, things will definitely look up.
This I promise,

Venquine1990