Well...That was a bit more feedback then I expected. Truly surprised me. Thank you for all the reviews, and all the alerts and the faves. Hopefully I can keep you all with me in this tale I'm weaving. With that, I'll leave you with...

/-/ Sly Cooper: Betrayal of the Heart /-/ Chapter 2: Dancing with the Devil /-/

Carmelita placed the headset down on the table, her last thought still running through her head. She glanced away from the mirror and down at herself. Wondering if she should change her clothes. She immediately cursed herself for thinking along those lines. If Sly didn't like how she looked, well...too bad.

She stood up and stretched lightly, moving to another mirror in her living room that was full length and allowed her to take in her full frame. Her long dark blue hair was loose and flowed over her shoulders in a cascading waterfall of indigo blue. She was dressed in a loose black t-shirt that ran down to touch on the brown shorts she wore, the color matching her fur and almost blending in. She currently didn't have any boots on, but she had on long white socks anyway that she had been padding around her apartment all day in.

Carmelita was still staring at the mirror ten minutes later when she heard a car door close down on the street. Startled from her thoughts she walked over to the window and leaned out to look down. Her gaze quickly found a new car parked across the street, a compact pitch black Jaguar. She frowned at the car before pulling herself back into her apartment. She kept her gaze to the roof tops, watching for his familiar shadow. She was so focused on the skyline that she jumped slightly when somebody knocked on her door.

She walked quickly to the door, smoothing down her fur as she looked through the peephole. She narrowed her eyes when she saw Sly Cooper standing on the other side of the door. She undid her dead bolt and pulled open the door, crossing her arms and frowning as she leaned on the door frame.

Sly was dressed in dark blue polo, tucked into dark slacks that was bound tight around his waist with a white belt of all things. His mask was nowhere to be seen, and he had slicked his hair down so that it was laying flat against his head.

Sly just smiled at her frown. "Ah, why the long face Carmelita? You called me after all."

Carmelita glanced away from Sly before she turned and walked back into her apartment, Sly following her in. She walked over and sat down at the table again, Sly follow her over and took a quick glance at all the bills that were spread out in front of her. He sat down on the edge of the table and took her muzzle gently in his hands, forcing her to meet his gaze. "I can't help if you don't talk to me."

Carmelita closed her eyes and took a deep breathing before swallowing her pride. "I need your help Ringtail. I'm going to be kicked out soon if I don't find a job to earn some money. Not to mention I have no idea what I'm going to do about food or drink or even basic things lik-"

Sly shrugged "If you need money, its no problem, I can-"

Carmelita slashed her hand through the air above the table "I'm not taking any of your stolen thief money Cooper. I don't want that type of help."

Sly blinked and canted his head, confused "Then, how can I help? I mean if you're talking about getting evicted from your apartment, the only other thing I can think of is staying with me."

Carmelita was quiet, staring at the table in front of her.

"Oh." he said softly as he moved off the table and sat down on the chair next to her, glad when she didn't growl at him this time. He thought for a moment. "You don't want any of my 'thief' money as you put it, but you wouldn't mind living with me and the gang? Isn't that a little..." Sly trailed off, waving his hand through the air as he thought.

"I know Cooper, I know it sounds contradictory. But, if I live with you, and try to contribute in some way, its different then just holding out my hand and asking for stolen money." Carmelita frowned "Even if it irks me to be helping you."

Sly grinned "Carmelita, I don't think there is anything in the whole world that doesn't irk you."

Carmelita glanced over at him. "Catching criminals. That doesn't irk me, that feels right."

Sly nodded his head with a small chuckle "You have a point there, of course that goes for me too. The catching criminals part anyway."

Carmelita sighed and leaned back in her chair "If only I could have caught you, I wouldn't be in this mess."

She glanced at Sly when he took her paw gently in his own. "You did catch me Carmelita, you caught my heart the very first time I laid eyes on you."

Carmelita jerked her paw out of his with a groan. "Not now Cooper, I don't want to go down that road right now."

Sly frowned "What road?"

Carmelita lifted her gaze to the ceiling "You're flirty talk and all that. If we start that now, I'll start yelling at you for leaving again, and I'll just end up angry at you, and, and..." she sighed, bringing her view back to the table. "I just am not up for that tonight, I'm too drained."

She watched from the corner of her eye as Sly got up from his chair and moved around behind her. She felt him tentatively put his paw on her shoulders, and when she didn't protest, he started working his fingers into her muscles of her shoulders.

"Geez, you're so tight back here Carmelita. Has this whole situation gotten you the stressed out?"

Carmelita sighed as she felt her muscles loosen from his quick fingers. She leaned forward in her chair to give him easier access to her back as she started talking "Its not the stress of getting kicked out of my apartment that has me...ah..." she trailed off for a moment as Sly found a really tight group of muscles and worked his fingers in deep. She continued a moment later, her voice much more relaxed then before. "...Stressed out...its having to call you for help."

Sly paused and pulled his hands from her back and she had to fight ever instinct in her body not to groan in frustration or tell him to keep going. "Do you really hate me that much Carmelita?" his voice was quiet, and hurt.

Carmelita sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, this was not how she wanted her night to go so far. "I didn't mean it that way Ringtail."

Sly walked over to the counter and sat down on the counter, his feet pressed against the cabinet below him. "Oh, how did you mean it then Carmelita?"

Carmelita turned about in her chair, tucking her legs around the back and laying an arm across the top to rest her head on. "I meant asking for help at all Cooper." She met his eyes "It's not something I do easily." she paused again "Especially when the only one I can ask for help is a wanted Master Thief." Her eyes hardened slightly "A Master Thief who has lied to me countless times, including one massive lie just so that he could live in my apartment with me."

Sly glanced away from her accusing glare, it wasn't long before he brought his gaze up to hers again. "A Master Thief who, although it breaks pretty much every cardinal rule for thieves out there. Is deeply in love with an Ex-Interpol officer." he paused like she did "And even though it went against his entire nature, a Master Thief who gave up everything about his thieving ways so that he could actually live with the girl he loves." he waited a moment. "I've never lied about loving you Carmelita. Never once."

Carmelita held up her free hand "Cooper, just stop. This is what I was talking about before. I'm not in the mood for it."

Sly rolled his eyes "Very well my dear. So, what do you propose as the solution to your current predicament?"

Carmelita stared at Sly for a full minute. "If you have space, moving in with you."

Sly chuckled softly "Oh we have space Carm. Don't you fret about that."

Carmelita narrowed her eyes at Sly. "Don't laugh at me Cooper, I can still beat you into the dirt."

This caused Sly to go from chuckles to full laughs, at least until Carmelita kept glaring at him. His laughed died out to the chuckles he started with, then that he ended with a rough cough. "Right...I have no doubt that you could. But lets not get into a fist fight on the day we decide to start dating again."

Carmelita turned around in her seat, facing back towards the table. "I never said anything about dating you again Cooper."

Sly slid off the counter and turned towards Carmelita's stove. "I dunno how I feel about that Ms. Fox, I'm a proper gentlemen you know, I feel like its only proper for us to share living arrangements if we're dating."

Carmelita sighed as she heard Sly take a pot and fill it with water before dropping it on the hot coils of her stove. "Do I have any choice in the matter?" she said, glancing over her shoulder at Sly, her face half hidden by her loose hair.

Sly glanced at her and smiled at the look she was giving him through her hair. He didn't dare mention how beautiful it made her look to him. Instead he leaned back against the counter and tapped his chin as if deep in thought. After a moment he grinned at her "Nope, doesn't look like it."

Carmelita rolled her eyes as she turned back to the table. "What are you making anyway?"

Sly turned back to the stove as the pot started to whistle. "Seems a little late for hot chocolate or coffee, so I figured some tea might help." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple of tea bags and placed them in a few mugs that were out by the sink. He then took the pot and quickly poured the steaming water into the mugs and let the tea bags seep their flavor into the water.

He brought the cups back to the table and took a seat across from Carmelita, sliding a mug towards her. "So, how are we going to get all your stuff out? I assume we can just load some stuff into that near little car of yours."

Carmelita shook her head as she grabbed the warm mug and held it for a moment. "Can't. Sold the car after I quit to pay the rent for this month."

Sly winced "Ouch, sorry to hear that. I know how much you loved the car."

Carmelita took a cautious sniff of the cup in front of her. "Yeah...What's in this tea? It smells, not...bad, but odd, in a good way."

Sly laughed softly "Dunno, you'll have to ask Bentley, hes the one who made them."

Carmelita raised an eyebrow as she brought the mug to muzzle. "Bentley? The turtle? He made these?"

Sly nodded, taking a sip of his own tea. "He's a turtle of many talents, at least according to Penelope."

Carmelita took a cautious sip of the tea in her mug and sighed softly as she felt the warm liquid move down her throat and start to warm her from the inside out. "Well, you'll have to pass on my compliments, this tea is delicious." Carmelita paused as she took another sip. "Penelope, that's the mouse that your gang picked up for your little romp on Kaine Island right?"

Sly flinched slightly, his mind drifting back to how close he had come to being monster chow. "Yeah, that's her. After all of that, and well, when I moved in with you. She and Bentley hit it off really well."

Carmelita frowned, "When you lied to me you mean."

Sly rubbed the back of his head. "Yea, that." he set his mug down and ran his gaze over everything in Carmelita's kitchen before returning his gaze to the vixen. She was still frowning at him and Sly sighed softly and glanced down at his mug, running his fingers along the side. "You know, when ever you stare at me like that, it just makes me want to apologize again." Sly brought his gaze back to her eyes. "So, since you want to avoid that, I suggest you stop looking at me like that, or I'll be forced to beg your forgiveness again, and again, and again, until you accept." Sly finished his sentence with a tilt of his head and small grin.

After a moment Carmelita snorted softly and against her better judgment smiled softly while she shook her head slowly. "Your a goof Cooper."

Sly looked affronted "A goof?! I'm insulted at such a claim." he leaned across the table and whispered in a soft voice. "No...I'm a romantic. As you no doubt remember."

Carmelita felt warmth in her cheeks as she blushed with a coy smile, she did indeed remember. Sly sat up straight in his chair with a grin. "There we go, there's that beautiful little smile of yours."

Carmelita frowned when she realized she was smiling, but before she could respond Sly continued "So, What exactly do you want to bring with you?"

Carmelita blinked at the sudden change of topics. "Uh...Well, I'll need my clothes of course, and my-"

Sly cut her off with an airy wave of his hand "I'm not talking about that stuff Carm. I mean personal things that you've collected over the years." he lifted the mug he held. "Any dishes or anything like that?"

Carmelita leaned back in her chair "What, you don't have dishes at your place?"

Sly grinned "Of course we do, but we're always looking to expand our collection."

Carmelita glanced away from Sly as she thought. "Well, I suppose there are a few things."

Sly slid his chair back and stood up with a clap of his hands. "Excellent, let me run down to my car, I've got a few boxes there that we can use to pack it all up."

Carmelita stood as well and eyed Sly with suspicion. "You brought moving boxes?"

Sly shrugged with another grin. "Sure, you never know when you might need to box something up to keep it hidden away from prying eyes."

Carmelita stared at him for a moment. "Okay...Go get them then."

Sly bowed deeply, his noes almost touching the floor. "As you wish, my queen."

Carmelita raised her eye brows as Sly backed away with a grin. She followed him as he kept backing away until he reached her door which he opened and vanished through without ever breaking eye contact with her.

He returned just a few minutes later with several small boxes folded up under his arm. He glanced around the empty entrance to Carmelita's apartment as he unfolded one of the boxes and set it on the ground. "Carmelita?" he called out as he worked on assembling another box, locking the flaps together so things wouldn't fall out.

"In my bedroom." her soft voice called out from the hallway.

Sly nodded and grabbed another collapsed box, while balancing an assembled box in one hand, he worked his way down the hallway to Carmelita's room. As he walked in he found Carmelita sitting cross legged on her bed, staring at a small wooden box sitting in her lap. Protective wrapping laid on the bed spread next to her, allowing the decorated box to still shine like new.

"Carmelita?" Sly asked cautiously, as he stepped slowly into the room, something about the way she was staring at the box worrying him.

She glanced up at him then, and Sly saw the tears in her eyes. He quickly set down his boxes and walked over to Carmelita, sitting down on the bed next to her. Not touching, but close enough to offer support. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Carmelita had gone back to starting at the box and Sly watched as a tear dropped off her muzzle to dampen her shorts. She said nothing, just sniffed slightly and continued to stare at the box.

Sly tried again. "Carm, what's wrong?"

Carmelita glanced at Sly before running a finger across the top of the brown box. Inscribed into the lid of the box was a golden five point star with the name 'Fox' carved into the wood with graceful flowing letters, along the edge next to the clasp the kept it closed. Around each of the points of the star, somebody had drawn beautiful Spanish bluebell flowers, each stem hanging off the point of the star to point the bell shaped flowers towards one of the edges of the box.

Sly took in the design of the box and the name inscribed into the wood. He canted his head to look at her from the corner of his eye. "What's in the box Carm? What's in there that has you so upset?"

Carmelita flicked her thumb across the lock and catch snapped open on its well oiled springs. Taking the lid in a two handed grip and cautiously lifting it up, she revealed to Sly what the box contained.

Inside the box sitting on a pillow of dark blue satin, sat a sleek black shock pistol, a gold star on it side. The gun had a reflective sheen to it, as if had been polished repeatedly. Sly saw his own face reflected along the barrel while Carmelita's was bounced back from the grip of the weapon. Sly ran his eyes over the pistol and he noticed that right along the bottom side of the grip of the weapon the name "Carlos Fox" was carved into the base right next to the empty battery slot.

Sly turned his gaze to her when she spoke in a soft voice. "It was my fathers. Given to us after..."

Sly glanced down at the ground "What happened?" he asked, his voice just as soft as hers.

Carmelita wiped her eyes gently, she would not cry anymore in front of Cooper! "He was on a patrol, going after some guy involved in a horrible murder, and they got the drop on him. My mother and I were out on a walk that night when we heard the gun shot. My mother and I ran towards the sound to see if there was somebody injured, and..." Carmelita trailed off and Sly slipped a hand into hers. He felt her give his hand a quick squeeze before she continued. "...There he was, just laying there in a growing pool of red. I don't think I really understood then what was happening. But my mother did, she ran over to dad, and tried to stop the bleeding. She tired to call the police, but her phone wasn't working." Carmelita paused again "So, she had me put pressure on the wound while she ran off to get help." Carmelita closed her eyes and slipped her hand out Sly's paw as she turned her head away from him. "I was holding him when he died Sly. He whispered that he loved me, right before...he just stopped breathing...My mother came back with help a few minutes later. I don't remember much after that, Mother always told me that it was my brains way or protecting me." Carmelita closed the lid of the box without looking at it. "I wish I couldn't remember that. I had thought that I had finally moved on, then I found this." she gestured at the box with her hand. She made to draw her hand back but stopped when she felt Sly's warm paw close around it again.

She tried to pull her paw free again, but Sly tightened his grip. "Carmelita..." he started softly "You can't keep that bottled up. It's not healthy." Carmelita said nothing, so Sly continued. "Please, trust me on this, something like that? It needs to be shared, its the only way to heal it." he paused "Let me in, let me help you." Carmelita gave another tug on her paw, but Sly still held it locked in his own. He tugged softly as her paw and she glanced back over at Sly, still sitting on the bed next to her, his gaze full of worry. "I...I can't Sly...Not after what you did."

Sly bowed his head, hurt written across his face. "I suppose I can't blame you for that." he paused. "I hope that I can repair that bond someday Carmelita, I love you too much to give up on you this easily. But I will give you space for now." Sly kissed the paw he held before he stood up and let her paw drop gently. "I'll be in your living room when you're ready." he said softly as he walked out the doorway, leaving Carmelita to her memories.

She watched him go and as soon as she was sure he had left she blinked and let the tears fall.

Sly was just starting to box up some of the stuff from her living room, when Carmelita came out of her room, looking much like herself. She glanced briefly at Sly before she walked over to the kitchen and got a glass of water. Sly said nothing as she drank, and she walked over to him and paused behind him as he wrapped a fragile picture in paper to help protect it.

"Thanks Ringtail, for understanding." she said softly.

Sly smiled into the box. "Not a problem, everybody needs to be left alone sometimes." he turned to gaze up at her. "So, what all needs to be packed?"

An hour later found Sly and Carmelita stacking the last of her boxes against the wall next to the door. Carmelita wiped her forehead and glanced around at her now empty apartment. "It feels so weird."

Sly glanced over at her. "Isn't this how it looked when you first started living here?"

She nodded "Si, but, that was a long time ago, and it feels...odd...to be leaving it." she stifled a yawn as she finished her sentence.

Sly glanced around at the empty floor space and a grin crept across his muzzle. Carmelita saw it out of the corner of her eye and turned to face him. "What?"

Sly just turned around and reached for the small boombox that didn't fit in any of the boxes that Sly had brought. He double checked the CD that he put in there earlier before hitting the play button and turning back to Carmelita as tango music started to play softly. Carmelita raised an eyebrow at Sly as he held a hand out to her. "May I have this dance Senorita?"

Carmelita fought the urge to yawn as she spoke. "You're kidding right? Here? With you?"

Sly shook his head. "No, I'm not kidding, and yes here, with your furniture against the wall and stacked up. We've got enough room. As for with me, well two things, who else would you dance with right now? Second, lets just say this is one of the conditions of you coming to live with me."

Carmelita sighed heavily. "Fine." she said roughly as she reached out and took his hand. She gasped softly as he pulled her too him, his free hand drifting down to her hip as he led them into the center of the room. He waited for the next beat in the song before he started leading her around the room in a flowing tango. It wasn't long before Carmelita lost herself to the dance, gliding around her apartment with Sly while the music flowed through the background.

Eventually though, she yawned again, and as if by magic, the tango music ended and a slow and gentle song started. Sly held her close to his body while he turned them in a slow circle in the middle of her living room. Carmelita blinked and found herself staring at Sly's eyes.

"Did you enjoy the dance?" he asked softly.

Carmelita yawned again, and thought about being crass, but instead, she just leaned her head forward and snuggled her muzzle into the side of his neck. A moment later she whispered quietly as Sly stopped moving. "Yes, I enjoyed it Ringtail...even if it felt like I was dancing with the devil..."

Sly snorted softly "Me, corrupt your soul?" he paused and grinned "Perish the thought."

But Carmelita was already fast asleep in his arms, and Sly smiled fully as he held her against him. He moved them both over to the couch and laid her down gently on the cushions there. He stared at Carmelita with a silly smile still on his face, he was just considering laying down next to her when he heard a voice in his ear.

"Sly, are you there?"

Sly brought his hand to his ear. "Yeah Bentley, I'm here."

"According to my calculations from when you sent the alert. Carmelita should be fast asleep, right?"

Sly nodded absentmindedly as he watched Carmelita breath deeply in her sleep. "Yeah, your tea worked like a charm Bentley, she's out cold. You really need to show my how you make your sleeping stuff someday."

"No way Sly, no telling what trouble you would get into with it."

Sly chuckled softly "True. Anyway, how long should she be out?"

"A few hours easily, but considering how late it is, the drug should also have sent her into normal REM sleep."

Sly nodded again "Which means?"

Bentley sigh crackled as it came through the speakers. "It means that even after the drug is out of her system, as long as nothing disturbs her too much, she should stay asleep until morning."

Sly pulled out the small phone in his pocket, checking the time. "It's 2:30 am Bentley."

"Fine! Mid-Afternoon then! Look, are we ready for Phase 2?"

Sly turned back towards the entrance of the apartment and the stack of boxes. "Yea Bentley, we're set here. I've got all the boxes stacked by the door, Murray should be able to get them loaded easily into the van. How did things go on your end?"

"I've set up a call forwarding system through several off site servers and even through some that are out of the country. If anybody tries to call her old number, she'll still get the call, and it should be almost untraceable. I've also set up a delayed email to send to her land lord telling her that shes moving out, I even transferred a bonus to the land lords account to apologize for the sudden leave." Bentley paused "I think we should be ready here, I've got the room set up as close as I could to the photos you took last time you were there. You just need to get her here and in the bed before she wakes up."

Sly turned back to Carmelita "Can do bud. I'll see you in a bit."

"Hey Sly?"

Sly had just grabbed Carmelita and was carrying her in his arms, his voice was a little strained as he spoke up. "Yeah bud?"

"How did you know she would call you, and that she would want to move in with us?"

Sly grinned as he worked his way out the doorway, catching the door with his foot so that it closed behind him. "Call it instinct Bentley. I'm glad it took her a few weeks though, took that long just to convince you on it."

"Yeah, I'm still not fully convinced. I stand by what I told you when you first came to me with this crazy idea of yours. This is going to end badly, Ex-Interpol or not, Carmelita is not going to be happy."

"It'll all be worth it Bentley, I promise." Sly spoke as he pressed a button on the small fob in his hand and the passenger door to his car slid up and into the air.

"Uh-Huh, just...be careful Sly."

Sly lowered Carmelita into the passenger seat and buckled her up, closing the door softly before moving around to the drivers side. "Please Bentley, I'm always careful." Sly grinned as he slid down into the Jaguar and pulled his door down, starting the car with the key. Normally it would have roared to life, but since the car belong to a Master Thief, the car just hummed to life, thanks to some modifications by Murray. "Look, I'm going to focus on driving now, I'll see you soon Bud."

"Alright Sly, see you soon."

Right, go ahead and click the little review button, feedback is what will keep this story going, so if you didn't like something let me know, it you enjoyed it, let me know. The more feedback I get, the more inspired I get to write.

I know I said I was going to start this chapter from the Cooper Gangs point of view, but, eh, it just worked better this way for me. I'll be jumping back into Carmelita's POV for the next chapter as it was requested by a reader. I'm honestly excited for that, I had a lot of fun writing the first chapter that way. It's not a way I normally write, so its a neat bit of practice for me.

Well, I think that its...Oh wait, duh, GUEST REVIEWS!

SnowyDusk: It is a common Idea, and I hope to add my own little flair to it as the story progresses. Thanks for the Review!

Miriam: Exactly, and just wait until she wakes up at the start of the next chapter...oh I'm going to have fun with that.

Okay, last thing, I have a link on my profile page to my facebook account, go there and like my page if you want to stay up to date on what I'm working on.

Till next time,

Peace,

- Emile