An enormous shadow loomed over us. I turned to see the gargantuan owl that was Archimedes staring down at us with glowing red eyes. Sly and I took a step back.

"And so, we meet once again, Police Girl. How delightful."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," came my retort. "You're going back to jail where you belong."

He laughed at that. "Then I'll be taking you down with me. Just as I killed your mother."

"Why wait?" I questioned. "All these years, you could've broken out of jail and came to finish the job. Why keep me alive as long as you did?"

"I wanted to savor the moment," he replied. "My ancestors, for generations, failed to catch your thieving family. Once I kill you, they will be able to rest in peace. And I will forever be known as the one who diminished the Reeves Family!"

Sly moved to stand beside me. "Archimedes, is it possible that you were related to Clockwerk?"

Archimedes flinched in surprise. I was kind of shocked myself. Sly's arch-nemesis and mine… Are connected?

"How perceptive, Cooper. But unlike Clockwerk, I will be victorious. Clockwerk made himself out of metal just to kill off the Cooper Clan. Even he didn't finish the job." He grinned. "But just think… I have the last descendents of both clans right here…"

I pulled out my whip. "You will pay for what you've done." I lashed Archimedes around the neck.

He pulled and snapped my whip in two with ease.

He laughed. "You've got to do better than that, Police Girl."

He took to the air in seconds.

"Run!" Sly cried.

I did as I was told and dashed across the rooftops, dodging Archimedes as much as I could. Then, I tripped on one of the shingles on a roof. Archimedes cornered me.

"Is that all you've got, Police Girl?" He sneered.

He pinned me down with one of his talons, cutting my arms and legs. I screamed out in pain and struggled to get away from him. He laughed at me.

"You're pathetic! I expected more of the daughter of Crimson Reeves!" He picked me up and threw me into the next building.

He moved to get me again. Before he could grab me, Sly got in front of me and used his cane to push Archimedes back.

"What are you doing?" I cried. "Sly stop! This is my fight, not yours!"

He completely ignored me. "Bentley! Now!"

Suddenly, everything around us began to explode. While Archimedes was distracted, Sly grabbed me and ran for it. We made it to the docks in one piece. He let me go and looked at me. He frantically tried to help me with my wounds.

"There's no point," I said as I pushed him away. "It's not over yet."

"You've lost a lot of blood."

"I'll be fine!" I thought for a moment. "We need a plan… He's got the advantage no matter how I look at it…" I looked to the river behind us. I struggled to get to my feet. "We have to lure him to the river."

Sly nodded. "Understood."

Then we heard the sirens.

"Oh no…" I murmured. "Kaylita…"

"I'll see what I can do. No promises." Sly dashed off at that.

As soon as he left me, I froze at the sound of heavy footsteps and angry breathing.

"You wretch!" Archimedes screeched then kicked me aside.

Bloody feathers were everywhere.

"My wings! You destroyed my wings! You will pay for this!"

I ran to the dock that jutted out into the middle of the river. He chased me down and cornered me again. Behind me was the rushing water and in front of me was the huge, bloody Owl. It seemed so helpless…

"What now, Police Girl? No more tricks?"

"Quit talking and just be done with it already," I spat. "I'm tired of this cat and mouse crap."

"With pleasure."

He raised his talon to strike me down once and for all. As soon as his talon came down on me, I grabbed a wooden board and braced his talon against it.

"You're wasting your time! You will die!"

"Not this time windbag!"

I put my feet against the board and used all of the strength I could muster to throw him into the water. He fought against the current trying his best to swim.

I left him to his own devices. Whether he ended up alive or dead, right then, I was too exhausted to care. I had lost so much blood… I was beginning to feel light-headed and weak. I laid down on the wood and stayed there. I slowly closed my eyes and listened. And then I just lost consciousness completely…

~Sly

I had managed to pull Kaylita aside and explain to her the situation. She was surprised to find out that Annika was the new thief. At the same time, she kind of knew deep down who Annika was. I made it to the dock to see if she was still there. Annika was unconscious on the dock. I ran over and picked her up.

"Cooper!" Kaylita called from the alley.

I took Annika to Kaylita. She looked Annika over.

"I've never seen her so bad… She needs a blood transfusion right away." She pulled out a case with a bunch of medical supplies in it. "Please tell me that you're willing to be the donor. You're the only match we have right now."

I rolled up my sleeve. "Have at it."

She quickly got work. In no time, Annika was all bandaged up and she got some of her color back in her face. I was just thankful that she was alive.

"What should we do now?" Kaylita asked. "If Carm catches her…"

I pulled her into my arms and held her for a moment.

"I'll take her with me for awhile. I could probably try to take her home but…"

"Don't take chances, Cooper. Just take her where you think she will be safe and can recover under the radar." She got to her feet. "I'll do what I can to find Archimedes and placate Carmelita. Just… Please take care of her…"

"I will," I assured her. "She'll be just fine."

I took off at that. When I got back to the hideout, Bentley met us at the door.

"Welcome back Sly. How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright but…" I looked down at Annika. "Only time will tell for her."

Bentley nodded. "We'll make something for her to lay in. It won't be the most comfortable but… At least she'll be able to heal."

We got to work on making a bed for her to lay in and in no time she was resting peacefully. I sat against the wall beside her then drifted to sleep.

~Annika

I came to slowly and with a horrible, pounding headache. My body ached in so many places. I could hardly remember what had happened. I looked around where I had wound up. It was a small place and somehow oddly familiar. I shifted a little then a gentle hand lay on my shoulder.

"Don't move too much."

I looked above me to see Sly Cooper. He sat against the wall comfortably.

"How long have I been here?"

"Three days," he replied. "I was afraid that you weren't going to wake up."

"Was it that bad?"

He nodded. "I'm glad you're alive. Otherwise, that whole endeavor would have been for nothing."

I looked up at him. "Thank you Sly, for coming back for me. I… If there's anything that I can do…"

He shook his head. "Don't even worry about it. I just want you to recover. By the way, how are you feeling?"

I grimaced at that question. "Do you really have to ask? I feel like I've been hit by a truck full of cement blocks."

He laughed at that. "I'll get Bentley in a little bit to give you some pain meds. Unless you want them now."

"No no. I'm good for now. I just… What happened to Archimedes?"

"The sisters found him in the river. I assure you, you won't ever have to worry about him again."

"So he's dead…"

Sly nodded.

Well, I suppose that was one less thing to worry about. My mother's death wasn't in vain after all. I was happy it was finally over. One less shadow to haunt me and any loved ones I would gain in the future.

Sly moved to sit beside me. "I have a few questions of my own that I want to ask you if you're up to it."

"Of course. Anything," I told him. "It's only fair since you saved my life."

He took a deep breath. "I know now that Archimedes killed your mother. And, now that he is dead, your mother is now avenged and everything in your life should go back to normal. I guess what I really want to know is how you got to this point. What made you decide to become a thief in order to accomplish all of this?"

It was a tough question to answer. There was so much to tell him and I truly believed that Sly, of all people, deserved to know. I looked up at him.

"Six months ago, while I was packing to go back to the States, someone had delivered a package to my door. Inside was my mother's diary and a letter from Tyga."

"Tyga?" Sly asked. "But I thought-"

I nodded. "He is. Apparently, my mother had it planned to send that package to me at a certain time. When she died, it fell to Tyga to make sure it was there on time. Tyga's letter explained a lot about my family heritage and what my role would be. He, and my mother before me, knew that I would be the one to arrest Archimedes and when he would be out of jail. How they knew, I would never guess.

"After reading through my mother's diary, I found that Tyga was actually my Godfather. And the reason that he put me in boys' clothing was to hide me from Archimedes, not everyone else. He also put me through school for criminal justice so Archimedes would be none the wiser. Needless to say, it worked. Bill, my mother's partner, was not to be contacted until either Archimedes was dead or something had happened to Tyga."

"But, Tyga was dead. No one would be able to reach Bill," Sly said.

"And the only other person who knew of my existence was also murdered shortly after my mother was. To this day, Bill still has no idea that I'm alive. By now, I'm sure he's heard that my enemy is dead and only come to one conclusion. So, we'll see if he comes looking for me. Otherwise, I'll have to hunt him down myself."

Sly sat in silence for a moment then looked back to me.

"Your name was also changed, wasn't it? In order for them to effectively hide you, your name would have to be changed."

I smiled. "You're very right. I'm glad that you noticed that little tidbit. My real name is Scarlett Reeves. My mother is the famous Crimson Reeves or Crim, for short. It was Tyga who renamed me Annika when he found me."

Sly looked as if he had an epiphany.

"I seem to have unlocked a memory," I said jokingly.

"Annika… I was supposed to meet you that night. You and Crim were supposed to come to our house. It was all planned… Father showed me the Thievious Raccoonous and we were waiting for you. But you never came… And the Fiendish Five-"

"Killed your parents and left you to an orphanage," I answered for him. "That whole attack was planned as well. My mother and your family were all killed on the same night. In fact, your father was the only other person who knew who I was."

I sat up slowly and looked at Sly. "We were meant to meet each other Sly Cooper, believe or not. You and I are the last descendents of two great thieving families. My mother and your father planned for us to meet. Granted, it wasn't the way they had originally planned but… We still met somehow. Don't you think that means something?"

Sly was silent, most likely in shock from the whole thing.

"I… I don't know what to say…" He finally murmured. He turned to me. "You should get some more rest. Do you hurt?"

I laid down and nodded. "Yeah…"

Sly got to his feet. "I'll get Bentley to give you some meds. Get some rest Annika. I'll be back to check on you in a bit."

As soon as he left, I fell straight to sleep.