Since I feel bad I made you guys wait all weekend, here's the following chapter too:

Chapter 13 But We Just Got Back!

The next Monday, everyone had returned to their beloved Safe House. Bentley, Penelope, and Murray all greeted Sly and Carmelita as they walked in. The both looked blissful and happy.

Bentley looked over his shoulder at the two. "Hey it's the happy couple! Nice to see you two," he said.

"Likewise, Bentley," Sly replied. "How was the convention?"

"Great!" Penelope answered. "A whole group of conventioneers participated in this giant laser tag battle underneath a recreation of authentic constellations and asteroids. We were invited. It was so much fun!"

Sly chuckled. "Sounds like a day in paradise for you two."

Bentley nodded. "I'm conjecturing that your weekend was just as splendid?"

Sly and Carmelita looked at each other, exchanging grins.

"It was a weekend I'll never forget, that's for sure," Sly said.

Carmelita nodded with a smile. "Me either. Hey honey," she said, "I'm gonna go upstairs to unpack. And maybe rest, since I'm feeling a little queasy."

"Why I am not surprised?" Sly asked.

She smiled, narrowing her eyes.

He hugged her from behind. "Be up in a minute," he said.

"Alright." She took her bags upstairs and shut the door.

Sly leaped across the room and landed on the couch, settling in next to his hippo friend. "Hey there Murray. How's my main man?" he joked with a toothy grin.

"Pretty good, buddy," Murray answered, holding the remote up to the TV. "I'd be a lot better if I could find something interesting to watch though."

Sly smiled, kicking back on the sofa. "We'll see some excitement when we raid De Luca's place of establishment. Don't worry pal."

Murray flipped hastily through the channels, passing boring soap operas and kiddy cartoons, hoping to come across a monster truck rally.

"Wait, stop!" Bentley said, holding his hand up. "Murray! Go back to that last channel!"

Murray gave him a baffled look as he pressed the channel button. "What, you wanna watch the game show?"

"No! No, the one right before that!" Bentley answered.

Murray complied and flipped back one more. It was the local news channel. Newscasters were discussing an event in the studio. Pictures of familiar Interpol officers could be seen in the top right corner of the screen along with the phrase "Unleashed Beast Murders Officers in Outskirts of Paris"

"Well, if you haven't already heard about this quite horrifying incident," a wallaby reporter said, "here is the live report from about three and a half weeks ago. Take a look."

The shot changed to a striking female squirrel reporter. The scene behind her resembled a bloodbath. Blood was splashed about the ground like paint on a canvas. Trees were scattered, as if a wild tornado had been through the area. An armadillo EMT and his team scurried around, helping the few survivors that were still breathing into ambulances.

"Yes, it's not a very bright and sunny day for everyone in Paris today," the squirrel spoke. She lightly shook her crimped red hair about as it blew in the wind. "Apparently, there was a dangerous creature on the loose. The ruthless being slaughtered a poor group of Interpol officers. Four were found dead at the scene, and the remaining seven were seriously injured. The EMTs and paramedics are now helping the survivors and transporting them to the hospital."

The four had their eyes glued to the TV. Sly sat up, now paying full attention.

This villain meant business.

"We won't show you the horrifying images of the deceased," the squirrel continued, "but the slaughtered bodies have been identified as belonging to a skunk named Marty Phillips, a polecat named Tricia Robbins, and Scott Richardson, a porcupine" Their pictures appeared on screen once more as she spoke their names. "They were mauled mercilessly by some sort of exceptionally dangerous being. According to reports by investigators on the scene, it appeared that the last body was butchered much more maliciously, and we can only determine that the murderer had a much more targeted hatred for this individual, as it is reported that he had in fact called for backup. Authorities have finally been able to identify that the body belonged to one Tony Fox." Tony's friendly smile appeared in a photo on screen. "These four officers gave their lives to ensure our safety and well-being, and we will never forget the sacrifice they made."

"My God," Sly whispered, his hand over his mouth.

"That's terrible," Penelope squeaked.

The screen flashed to a view of one of the critically wounded victims. He barely moved as EMTs lifted him onto a stretcher. Blood oozed from his open gashes, decorating his uniform dark red.

The mongoose shuddered as he spoke into the microphone that was shoved in his face. "W-we was just coming to help, cuz Officer Fox called us, saying he really needed assistance. A-a-and when we got here, he was already dead! There was this giant…thing! Standing over his body. He looked like a lion, but he was all different colors, and h-he had a gator tail and wings, and these sharp claws. We tried to fight him off, but…" he broke into tears. "I'm so-or-rry…"

The female squirrel waited a moment before asking. "Sir, what happened to this creature? Where did he go?"

The mongoose shook his head but then cried out in pain, as he'd gotten severe whiplash during the encounter. "I-I dunno. We all shot him countless times, but he's…too strong. Eventually, though, we wore him down, and he roared something about that Cooper thief guy and needing to return for revenge when he regained strength. And th-th-then he disappeared into this weird green light. Like teleportation or somethin'."

The paramedics began loading him onto the ambulance.

The squirrel nodded. "Thank you sir." She faced the camera. "That's all for us in the field. Back to you, Dave."

Murray clicked the TV off and the whole room became silent.

Finally Bentley looked over to Sly. "Does Carmelita know?" he asked.

Sly shook his head solemnly. "No."

"Are you gonna tell her?"

Sly shot the turtle an alarmed look. "No! I mean, not right now," he spoke softly so she wouldn't hear. "I can't. The doctor told us to keep Carmelita from getting too stressed or upset, because she could miscarry. She's been through way too much lately; I can't throw this on her now."

Bentley nodded.

"How are you gonna keep her from finding out though?" Murray asked. "This'll be on the news here for weeks."

Sly stood up. "We're just gonna make our little trip to Sicily earlier than we'd planned. We need to get out of here before he finds out where we're hiding out. Besides, it's about time we got to see some action. And while we're there, we can strategize how to take this guy down. Once and for all."

Penelope looked over at him. "So, does that mean Carmelita is going to join us on a heist for the very first time?"

"Most definitely," Sly answered. "I wouldn't dream of leaving her here with that monster prowling around. What say we leave in the morning?"

The others nodded.

"Can't wait to steal from that little Italian punk!" Murray exclaimed.

Bentley closed his computer. "Yes…well, we need to get everything ready for the trip. We'll have to find a temporary place to stay at while we plan the raid."

Sly nodded. "Shouldn't be too much trouble for you, Bentley."

Bentley shook his head and sighed. "Why am I always the one who has to make the living arrangements?"

"Because you're the best at it," Sly answered with a grin. "Our personal computer whiz and room booker extraordinaire."

"Oh is that all I am to you guys?" Bentley jabbed.

The others laughed lightly.

"You're much more than that to me," Penelope said, hugging him around his neck.

Penelope and Bentley gazed at each other, holding hands.

Murray rolled his eyes. "C'mon! Can't you two take that lovey-dovey garbage somewhere else? I'm trying to keep my lunch down."

"Would be kinda hard, seeing as you ate about four sandwiches," the mouse quipped with a smile.

Murray smirked. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that, you puny little rodent," he said in a light tone.

Penelope giggled.

Murray then stood up. "If you need me, I'll be outside, lifting weights. Gotta work on my hulking frame."

The mouse and turtle didn't seem to notice their hippo friend as he exited.

Sly scratched his head, turning to leave the two alone as well. "And I'm gonna go tell Carm about the trip." He scampered up the stairs, leaving the geeky soulmates alone.

He entered to see Carmelita, reading a book in bed. He could tell by the cover that it wasn't one of his own. The only book he'd ever read for pleasure was put away for safe keeping.

She was all snuggled up in the covers, wearing her reading glasses.

She looked so adorable to him, all engrossed in her own little story. Sly slipped in beside her, tickling her cheek with his nose.

She jumped and giggled. "That's one way to greet me," she said.

"Hey gorgeous," he crooned in his silky smooth voice.

"Hello there mi amore," she murmured.

"Did I ever tell you how cute you look when you wear your glasses?"

She looked at him, cocking her head to one side. "Mmm, not that I know of. But it's not really a fashion statement. I can't read without them."

He leaned in to look over the small text. "And what is it that's got you so immersed in the reading world?"

"This would be my favorite novel," she answered. "It's about a couple who fall in love but the guy must overcome his superiority and the girl her unfair judgment of him."

"Hmm," he said. "That sounds kind of familiar."

"The guy acting superior part? Yes, it's quite familiar." She grinned.

He rolled his eyes and inched closer to her. "I've got something more exciting than some old novel," he said.

She closed her book, knowing he wasn't going to allow her to continue any time soon. "And what would that be?"

"Well…we're going on a little trip."

Her two-toned ears perked. "A trip? Where are we going?"

"Sicily," he answered.

She smiled, raising her eyebrows. "Ooh that sounds lovely. The whole gang going?"

"Mhm. That's where we're pulling off our next grand heist. And you get to join us!"

She looked at him excitedly. "Oh that's awesome! Finally, a little adventure. When are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow?" she repeated with less enthusiasm.

Sly paused, looking at her. "…Is that alright?"

She removed her glasses and looked off into space, thinking. "Well…it's just that that's…kind of sudden."

"I know, but we really need to stop this De Luca guy before he swindles everyone in Italy."

She sighed, resting her hands on her belly, which had now overtaken her whole torso. "I don't know, Sly. That's kind of far from here. And it's getting pretty close to time for the baby to be born. I've got a few more weeks, but still."

He put an arm around her soothingly. "Well, until this…Mélange creature is dead and gone, I think it might be best to steer clear of Paris for a while anyway."

She nodded, remembering the dreaded hodgepodge of a beast. "Ok. You're right." She smiled. "Guess we better start repacking."

He drew her close to him. "In a minute…" He took this time to hold his beautiful wife, knowing that thanks to her fox friend who was no longer living, he might not have her there to hold at that moment. He nestled his head up close to hers and lay there cuddling her.

Carmelita looked at him, slightly baffled, wondering why he was being so affectionate with her, but she finally decided to just enjoy it instead of question it.

He inhaled her feminine scent as he rooted his nose through the auburn fur on her shoulder. "Today, France, tomorrow, Italy," he said to her. "And then the world!"

Carmelita laughed sweetly. "I'll follow you anywhere, Sly Cooper."

Early the next morning, they all set out for beautiful Italy.

It goes without saying that there simply wasn't enough room for everyone in the van, so they would all have to take a different form of transportation until Murray could add more seating room to his beloved vehicle.

And since Carmelita was too far along in her pregnancy to travel by plane, they all had to board a train. The entire crew entered the train car wearing partial disguises. Even Carmelita had to alter her appearance now that she was associated with this clan of crooks.

Murray sauntered in first. He was donning a puffy black down jacket, and bulky black boots. His aviator snow hat completed his ensemble.

Following him, Bentley and Penelope stepped in, sporting very posh looking winter fashion, which looked hilarious on them, since they never dressed so snobbishly. Bentley wore a short black hairpiece, and Penelope a sleek brunette wig. They both wore heavy coats and mittens. But everyone's attire was sort of reasonable, as they happened to be venturing off to Sicily during the chilly season.

Carmelita wore a wavy blonde wig, kept in place under a cream-colored beret, and a stylish red coat she owned that barely fit her, since she hadn't had much time to shop for a new one before leaving town.

She was accompanied by a simpler dressed Sly, who just decided on a long sleeved shirt, brown jacket and jeans.

The other passengers barely noticed the odd group of friends as they all dispersed to empty seats. To the unsuspecting public, they were just tourists or travelers like everyone else.

Bentley and Penelope found seats near a friendly rabbit family.

Sly and Carmelita spotted two empty seats near the middle. Being the gentleman he was, while also secretly trying to keep her from getting carsick…ok trainsick…Sly offered his lady the window seat, and she gladly accepted. Once they were both sitting, Sly wrapped his arm around her, and she laid her head on his shoulder happily.

This left poor Murray as the odd one out once again. He sighed as he shuffled around to find a seat by someone who didn't mind the company of a large pink hippo. As he scanned the rows, he spotted an empty seat by a warthog girl near the back of the car. The girl was peeking at him from behind her magazine but then hastily returned to reading, knowing she'd been spotted.

Slowly, Murray made his way to her row, and she put her magazine down once more, managing a timid smile at him.

"Hi," he said. "You, uh, mind if I sit next to you?" Murray asked.

Her smile brightened a little. "Oh, not at all," she spoke shyly.

"Thanks." Murray smiled back at the warthog as he sat. Despite her tusks, Murray thought she had quite a lovely smile. And her blue eyes were sort of pretty to him as well.

"My name's Murray," he finally said.

"Hi, I'm Tabitha," she said warmly. "But my friends call me Tabby."

As they began to strike up awkward conversation that two normally engage in when first meeting, Sly peered around his seat to notice his friend warming up to the female warthog, and he smiled. Perhaps there was hope for Murray yet.

Sly turned back around as Carmelita stirred. Disoriented, she leaned over and rested her head on his lap, grabbing one of his hands and holding it in both of hers, her tail drooping over the edge of the seat. Sly couldn't help but smile even more as he looked down at her. She was so endearing to him, all snuggled up on his lap in her cutesy little disguise.

Sly decided that maybe it was time he took a little catnap as well. He stretched and leaned his head back against the headrest, closing his eyes...

Sometime later, Sly and Carmelita awoke to the booming voice of a gruff male.

"Alright folks!" he hollered. "This is a stickup! We got this whole train under our control! Hands up where I can see 'em! Right NOW!"

I know you're all thinking it so I'm writing it:

"And then the world!"

OF COURSE!

And see, the fate of some characters really is in your hands!

I'm trying my hardest not to make it such a predictable love story.

I forgot to mention this, but in case you didn't catch the reference, the book Carmelita was reading is called "Pride and Prejudice".

Uh oh, sweet moment over. Cue the action once more! How is the gang gonna get outta this one?

Find out next chapter!