Another update people! Now that I've written some of it, I'm actually getting biased toward Bentley/You just a little bit. However, the pairing has yet to be decided. I still need to get a few more chapters into before I decide just the main pairing will be.

Your POV:

You're waiting patiently for Sly. You proved to be invaluable today. No one knows about you yet, so you simply headed in and looked around (staying away from the Clockwerk parts to avoid suspicion) and then hid past after hours to leave the door open for Sly. Sure, you had to… "persuade" the guard (who's currently unconscious and tied up in the closet) to give you the keys, but you did an awesome job. "Sly," You call out. "Hurry up." You mutter. After last night's close call, you just want to grab the Clockwerk parts and go.

There's a little creak, and you turn around expecting to see Sly, but there's nobody there. You shrug it off. Your nerves are acting up on you.

There's a grab at your waist. Shrieking a bit, you turn around and see Sly standing there with a victorious smirk. You glare at him, furious and embarrassed. "You do that again, and I'll fucking skin you!"

Sly's POV:

Cerlie's going to be a lot of fun to be around. The look on her face was priceless. She's going to be enjoyable to mess with.

But man, you must've pissed her off. She looks like she's going to kill you. "You do that again, and I'll fucking skin you!" She snaps.

You just laugh a bit in response. "Just seeing how you would do if the enemy snuck up on you."

"Don't say a damn word."

"Yes Your Majesty."

Your POV:

There's one word on your mind right now. What is it? It's on the tip of your tongue. It begins with an "A" and you can't say if there are preschoolers present… oh yeah, that's right.

ASSHOLE!

You're on a mission here. You need to get the Clockwerk parts out of here, and with the little "stunt" last night, they've gone all out on security. You roll your eyes. "Take this seriously, please." You said, turning on the little ear piece since Bentley hasn't had time to make your binocucom yet. "Bentley, do you copy?" You ask.

"Breaker Alpha Foxtrot, this is the Wizard. Do you read me, Sitting Duck and Agent Dormouse?"

"This is Peking Duck and Agent Louse. We heard you, Blizzard." You suddenly want to smack him. You're the louse? But regardless, you'll get him back at some point. And when you do, it's going to be almost as amazing as you are.

"No Sly, I'm 'The Wizard', you're 'Sitting Duck', and Cerlie is 'Agent Dormouse'."

"We read you loud and clear, Lizard."

"No, I'm…forget it, you're not taking this seriously."

"No, he's not." You snap. "Anyway Bentley, we read you. What's first?"

Sly nodded. "She's right, I'm not. And Bentley, I get this is like your second time out in the field and all, but you gotta loosen up. If we're going to get at those Clockwerk parts, we need you on your toes. So in plain talk, what's your status?" Finally, you can get down to business. You just want to get out of here, as fast as possible. The last thing you want is to be thrown in jail.

"Okay, okay." Bentley takes a deep breathe. "I've established myself in the basement and I'm pretty sure I can rewire the service elevator if you can power it up from that security station."

Looking at that switch in the corner, you groan. You wish you had your bow and arrows, because then you'd be able to pin a rope to the wall for you and Sly to climb on. But that ledge is too high to jump on. Sly seemed confident enough, though. "Hang tough, pal. Might take some time, but we'll figure a way up there."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" You ask, giving him your usual look "I-think-you're-a-fucking-moron-who's-wasting-my-time" that you give to Raphael. Or maybe it could be described as, "I-hate-everything-and-you-all-suck".

"See that drum-looking thing right there? It's made of a material that's great for getting some air."

You look down, and indeed, there is what looks like a drum and appears to be made out of tarp. "I'll find out for myself." You said, tapping it with your foot. It bounces up and down before settling again. You jump onto the tarp and find yourself on top of the dinosaur skeleton's head. You shriek again, grabbing onto the ropes keeping it up in the air and you hear Sly laughing at you. Flipping him off, you proceed with Sly close behind. You flip the switch.

"Okay, I splice the wires…OUCH!" Behind Bentley's words, you can hear a faint buzzing noise.

"Bentley," You ask. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, hang on…there it is." The elevator rode up to your level, and you greeted Bentley. "Okay, let me at that security computer." His fingers fly over the keyboard, and each level of security soon goes down. The security gate was the last to go. "Alright, all clear."

Sly smiled. "Thanks pal. You did pretty well."

You nodded. Bentley certainly did better than you on your first heist. Then again, he's been doing this a long time. You have not. "Okay, so what do we do next?"

"Now that the spotlights and lasers are offline, Murray should be moving into position for your rendezvous. I'll stay here and provide computer support while you guys go on ahead."

You nodded. "Alright. Let's move."

Sly's POV:

Somebody's all business. It must've been that close call; for first-timers, that must be pretty nerve wrecking. But the chase is the fun part! You need to show her that she can relax. With Bentley and Murray, there's nothing to worry about. Unless…

Your POV:

Going down the hallway, you saw paintings of the Fiendish Five. There's Mz. Ruby, Muggshot, the Panda King, and Sir Raleigh. The museum seems to be very interested in the Fiendish Five. Next to the paintings, there are little plagues with information on the painting's subject. They really did their research. The Clockwerk parts must've been quite the acquisition. You wonder what the museum went through to get them.

Trying to keep as quiet as possible, you headed up the staircase. You heard Bentley explain the shut-down of security to the hog guards. Damn, those guys were massive. No wonder Bentley didn't want you and Sly going through the garden. You needed to be careful, because if you got into a fight with those guys, there's no way you could win without Murray's help. Where was Murray? You were waiting at the rendezvous, but there was no sign of your hippo friend. "Bentley," You said quickly. "Where's Murray?"

Bentley sighed. "He must've gotten lost along the way…try pressing on without him?"

Looking at the gate and seeing that there was just no way to get past it without Murray, you were about to inform Bentley when Sly tapped you on the shoulder. He had that smirk on his face. "You might wanna take a couple steps back."

You could hear heavy breathing and thumping footsteps on the skylight above you. You did as Sly said and took a few steps backwards as you a "THUNDER FLOP!" and Murray crashed in through the glass. Murray's skin must be really thick, because he doesn't look injured at all. There's no glass stuck in his belly. "Greetings citizens!" Yeah, he's fine. "I hope you weren't harmed by my meteoropic entrance."

Sly laughs. "No Murray. We kept at a safe distance…though this one had a bit of a close call."

"Yes, I've been having a lot of those lately." Ever since you met the Cooper gang, your life has been in danger many, many times.

Murray seemed rather…well, you didn't actually know the word. "Good, good…the Thunder Flop knows neither friend nor foe, only destruction!" Mhmm…

Sly points to the gate with his cane. "Um, yeah, can you maybe channel some of that 'raw energy' into the security gate?"

"Of course! It is nothing before 'The Murray'!" "The Murray"? Since when did he start calling himself that? In the first game, the only time you ever really saw him was when you had to race somebody to get a key, and in the van before each mission he was really quiet. Murray only has a little bit of difficulty before he manages to open the gate for you. "There you go." Murray followed you and Sly out to the balcony, and looking out to the next one, you see another gate. "Another barrier stands before you-fear not, I shall bend it like the truth." Oh, what, is Murray a liar now? He picks up a little horse statue that resembled a knight from a chess set, and tossed it over 20 feet. The gate shatters. Fortunately, no alarm goes off. Wow. Note to self: do not piss off Murray for risk of death.

Sly seems so…used to it though. Hopefully, you'll be too soon. "Solid work Murray! You're really in the zone." You only nodded in response.

Murray goes back to Bentley's plan. "My hulking frame is too much for that puny rope. You guys go ahead and unlock the doors from the inside; I'll be waiting in the hallway to help you carry out the Clockwerk Parts."

You nodded. "Understood." You chose to climb on the ropes, and Sly was careful to avoid your feet, knowing you'd probably let go if he stepped on one of your paws.

However, getting across, you found a room and something…just wasn't right. On the wall, there were screens with details of the Clockwerk parts-so you knew you had the right room-but the parts themselves were nowhere to be found. In addition, two Egyptian sarcophaguses stood at the opposite end of the room, and your brain seemed to be trying to tell you something. "Bentley, we've got a situation." You said quickly into your ear piece.

"I know, I see. But I don't get it-" Bentley's voice was getting higher and more panicky. "The Clockwerk parts should be here! This is all wrong-we need to pull the plug on this operation right now!"

"I get you. We'll head back to Murray right now." Turning around, you were ready to get the hell out of there when there was a loud creak.

It's Carmelita! Inspector is armed and ready with her bazooka or shock pistol or whatever it is and…someone else. The other woman seems to be a purple tiger. "Freeze Cooper!" What the…what happened to her voice? She sounds so…American now. What the hell?

"Ah, Carmelita…as beautiful and unpredictable as ever." Oh yeah. You forgot about Sly's crush on Carmelita too.

Yeah, it's still gross.

She rolls her eyes. "Whereas you crooks are so predictable. You always return to the scene of the crime."

"Crime?" You said, since she seemed to be completely ignoring you. "Excuse me for saying so, but we just arrived here a little while ago."

"She's right. We haven't stolen anything…yet."

She doesn't seem to believe the two of you. She only looks at you for a split second. "Oh really? Then who broke in last night and made off with all the Clockwerk parts? You've got the motive."

"Last night?" You shout.

"Somebody already stole the parts!"

"Don't play dumb with me!" That's the worst part about Carmelita. She's so obsessed with capturing Sly, that she's completely blind to everything else around her.

However, the woman next to her didn't seem so bad. "It might not have been them, Carmelita." So, she's choosing to actually acknowledge your prescence. "The method of entry and guard casualties all point to this being a Klaww gang job."

"The Klaww gang?" Sly asked, mostly to himself.

Carmelita looks annoyed-probably because the rookie cop has a better idea of what she's doing than Carmelita does. "Constable Neyla, I allowed you to sit in on this stakeout as a favor to the Contessa…I really don't need any help."

"Oh, I think you might. Look at the facts."

"Facts! Sly Cooper's right here. I caught him red-handed!" …What? How the hell did she catch Sly stealing the Clockwerk parts?

Watching the two women argue back and forth, Sly tapped your shoulder and gestured toward the crate staircase. The last things you heard were:

"I'm just saying there are other criminals in the world other than-"

"Sly Cooper! After him!"

Oh. Fuck. You were really hoping to get away clean.

Running down the hallway with Carmelita just on the opposite side, you sprinted as fast as you could. Murray come out from another room, probably to investigate the noise. As usual, Carmelita had total disregard for property if it meant capturing Sly. "Oh jeez-wait up guys!"

"Shake a leg Murray!" Sly shouted. "It's time to go!"

Bentley soon joined you. "This wasn't part of the plan!"

"Of course it fucking wasn't!" You snapped, trying really hard to breathe. You tripped, and fell to your knees. The next thing you knew, Murray had you on his back. "Murray!"

"Hold on tight!" He said quickly.

Sly had decided to take some action. "This is getting a little hot; you guys go warm up the van. I'll keep Carmelita busy. Pick me up at the rendezvous."

"You're all going to jail!"

Murray and Bentley nodded while you hung on for dear life on Murray's neck, being careful not to strangle him by accident. You hopped into the van, still trying to catch your breath, and you slammed the van's doors behind you. Murray climbed into the driver's seat. You sped around a corner. Carmelita had summoned the local cops. "God fucking damn it!" You shout, holding on to whatever was around as Murray tried to lose the police.

Finally, after a few minutes of chaos, the police cars were gone. You saw Sly making his way towards the van. Murray backed up, stopped, and you opened the doors so Sly could jump in. You sped off with Carmelita cursing and shouting at you the entire time.

Getting another water bottle, you collapse, trying to get your heart to not explode. How do they do this? You know for a fact this is not the first time Bentley's plans have gone awry because of Carmelita. Standing up to the seat, you leaned over the others. "Bentley," You gasp, still trying to get your regular breathing back. "Somebody's already stolen the Clockwerk parts."

Bentley nodded. "Yes, I know. I heard."

"So, what do we do now?"

"First things first. We need to find out all of the information about the Klaww gang-we'll probably have to call in a few favors, but we'll get the info we need."

You only nodded. Things have gotten so much harder since the first game. You suddenly find yourself wishing you had played the second and third. You'd have a lot of explaining to do as to how you knew everything, but it would defiantly make this so much easier. The characters have changed a bit too, except for Sly. He's still a dick, just like in the first game.

"And then I'm assuming we need to steal the Clockwerk parts back and destroy them?"

Bentley and Sly nodded. Sly looks pretty grim. "Two years ago, I thought I ended this. How naïve to think I could so easily put an end to that kind of hatred…" You feel a bit of guilt and pity for him. He did have his entire family wiped out by a demented bird. And now you've been dropped on them. But you're here to help. Bentley did say your skills would come in handy. "Murray," You said. "Thanks for saving me back there."

Murray smiles and nods. "Oh yeah, sure, no problem!"

It's about another week as you head back to Paris.

Heading back into the hideout, you're happy to stretch your legs and be out of that cramped van. "Argh, you guys need to get more seats for the van. It's massively uncomfortable sitting back there." You're really starting to hate long car trips. One or two days, fine, but not a week. Stupid tiny van.

You reach for an energy drink from the fridge, and soon empty it. It's after one in the morning. "Hey, Cerlie," Bentley calls. "Your bow and arrow came in." You smile and retrieve it from the turtle. "Can you show us something?"

You grin and nod. You place your empty can on the window sill, and a full one next to it. Damn, it feels good to be back with a bow. You load it, and shut one eye to lock onto your target. Bam. It's punctured. You target the second one, and there's a big hole in it and green liquid is pouring out. You smirk and drink from the hole you made. "Refreshing." You said with a smile.

"Good job. Let's see you try that at a greater distance." Bentley's challenging you. What's with his attitude? Must be his paranoia. He doesn't trust you yet.

"Alright." You rip out the arrows from the empty can, and make a mental note to wash them off later. You go back about five feet first, then decide to go another six. You're now eleven feet from the window. Loading your bow, you shoot and there's a loud bend of metal. Perfect. "Face it Bentley, I'm amazing."

"Hm." He looks disappointed, for some reason. Yep, he doesn't like you. In fact, he probably wants you as far away from here as possible. You can't blame him. He's only doing it because he cares.

"Okay, I'm wide-awake. Now that I've got my quiver, my bow, and arrows, I'm ready to roll."

"Are you sure about that?" Sly asks, mocking you with his lack of confidence in your abilities. "I certainly don't want to have to come rescue you if you get yourself captured."

You roll your eyes, taking another shot at the wall. "I'm positive. Lose the armor, Sly. I'm not Snow White."

"Hm, you're right. With your eyes and fur color, you look more like Cinderella."

I wrote the final two pages of this on the bus on the way home. Right when my battery was about to die. It's a good thing I remembered to save. Also, before I posted this, I had to make sure to finish the update for Born This Way first. I want both always updated at almost exactly the same time so they'll have the same number of chapters until one is finished before the other. At the end of each story, they'll be an epilogue and credits and the name for the sequel will be posted in the credits. There will also be an alternative ending to Born This Way, which does NOT have to be read, and is not tied to the main plot.

Wow, this is eight pages when you include this long author's note. I feel accomplished. I think it makes up for how bloody short the last chapter was.

Anyway, time to close this up. And it's the weekend, but I may or may not be able to update. I've got midterms next week, which means I need to do a lot of studying and preparing this weekend.

See you (hopefully) soon!

~Mimi