I braved the Cooper gauntlet, taking care not to miss a single step. Halfway through, the place began to shake and crumble around me. Bentley quickly caught up to me.

"What's happening?" I asked him as he followed me through.

"Dr. M and Sly must doing a duel to the death," he replied grimly. "We have to hurry."

We quickly made it to the inner sanctum and found no trace of Sly. Only Dr. M was there, fighting to stay there even when the place was crumbling around him.

"Sly!" I cried out, hoping that he was still here. "Sly! Where are you?"

"He's not here," Bentley said as he tugged on my arm. "We have to leave!"

"But Sly-"

"There's no time! If he's here he'll make it out!"

We left M to himself and Murray had come in to get Bentley, Penelope and I out before we could be crushed. We watched as the vault and everything on the island fell apart. The vault was gone for good. No one would be able to see its riches ever again. It was bittersweet and I couldn't believe that the job was done. Sly had disappeared without a trace and I wasn't sure if Kaylita and Carmelita were safe or not. I didn't know how or what to feel.

Dimitri, the Guru and the Panda King met up with us in the trees. I looked frantically for Sly, hoping to find something, anything.

Bentley had called out to let us know that he had found something. As soon as I got to him, in between two rocks were Sly's cane and a calling card. It was evident that he didn't want to be found. Which, ultimately, broke me in two. He told me that he would be back and yet, as before, somehow I knew he decided otherwise. I guess that I would have to tell him everything when I saw him again. If I ever saw him again…

I stayed with the gang for awhile, hoping to find a trace of Sly or hoping that he would show up. I had even tried to make a few phone calls to Kaylita. She never took or replied to any of them. I finally gave up on it and just waited.

Months went by without hearing anything. So, the gang went separate ways. Murray went back to Australia with the Guru to complete his training. He and Bentley still keep in touch to this day.

When it came time for me to go, I had packed what few things I had with me and pinpointed Bill's address. I wanted to surprise him. Bentley and Penelope saw me off.

"Where will you go now?" Bentley asked me.

"I'm going to take Bill up on his offer. I'm going to take the job he's so graciously saved just for me. There's no way the Chief will take me back again." I turned to my turtle friend. "Bentley, you'll tell me if you find Sly, right? Please? I have to know if he's okay at least. If anything, you'll give me that, right?"

Bentley hesitated a moment then finally nodded. "Sure thing. I will keep in touch."

Penelope stepped up to hug me. "You take care, Annika. I sure hope we find Sly soon. For your sake. I know you care about him."

I smiled at her. "Thanks, Penelope. You're amazing." I picked up my one bag and waved to them. "I'll see you guys later. I better get a call if you guys are expecting." I winked.

They both had to laugh at that. They waved me off and I went to catch a bus to Bill's.

Bill lived out in New Orleans in an old antebellum mansion. The yard was enormous and was very well taken care of. The mansion itself was probably almost as big as Interpol headquarters. Okay, I'm probably exaggerating but, it was pretty huge.

I got out of my cab and walked up to the front door. I sat my bag down and took a deep breath before I rang the doorbell. I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew from his voice over the phone that he had to be big but… Other than that, I had no clue. I just hoped I had lived up to his expectations…

Instead of Bill answering the door, a female rabbit did.

"May I help you, miss?" she asked.

I pulled out my piece of paper with Bill's supposed address on it.

"Actually, I think you can. I'm looking for Bill Hastings. He used to know my mother."

"Who is it, Tia?" said a deep voice from far away. I recognized it right away. I was at the right place.

"A young woman, sir," the rabbit replied to the voice. "She says that you knew her mother."

"Let her in, Tia."

The rabbit, Tia, led me inside. I was in awe of just the foyer. On either side of me, two rooms flanked the entrance. In front of me was a spiral staircase leading to the second floor. It was gorgeous.

In one of the rooms beside us was a hefty wooden desk and getting up from the chair behind it was a very tall and built Tauren, setting down his glasses as he tried to straighten his desk. He hadn't seen me yet. My heart pounded from the anxiousness of finally meeting him.

He walked out with a stack of papers then caught a glimpse of me. He immediately dropped them to the ground as he stared in wonder at me. I struggled to find the right words for this exact moment. It was surreal finally meeting him after all this time. I couldn't imagine how he felt right now.

"Scarlett…?" He asked quietly as he reached for me. "Is it really you, little Scarlett?"

I smiled at him. "Hello Bill. It's incredible to finally get to see you."

He cupped my face as a few tears escaped him. He gently pulled me into a hug.

"I can't believe it… You're so grown up and beautiful Scarlett… Your mother would be so proud…" He pulled away from me just enough to look at me again. "It's really you. I'm really looking at you… I guess my first question would be how you found me. How did you know where to look?"

I giggled. "Bentley found you actually. I can't take the credit for that. I just simply followed the crumbs."

He smiled at me then turned to Tia. "Tia, this is Scarlett. Crim's daughter."

"You've told me endless stories sir," Tia said, smiling prettily.

"Scarlett, this is Tia. She is my partner in my business and my housemaid," Bill said. "If you need anything, Tia or I would be glad to do anything for you."

"Well… I was actually wondering if I could stay with you, Bill. If that's alright of course."

Bill's face lit up at that. "Scarlett, I couldn't be happier to hear you say that. Of course you can stay with us. In fact…" He cast a glance to Tia.

"I will get right on it, sir," she said, as if reading his mind. She made her way up the stairs.

"Come on, sweetie," Bill said as he took my hand. "You have to tell me what happened on your most recent adventure."

He led me into a sitting room in front of a fireplace. Bill sat in his chair while I sat in the chaise across from him.

"So, did everything end okay? Everyone is safe?"

I nodded. "Yes. At least… For the ones that we found…"

He looked concerned. "What do you mean?"

I sighed. "Sly disappeared on us. It's been months since we did the job and even Bentley hasn't heard from him. He said he would let me know when he's heard something."

"I'm sorry, Scarlett. I know that you have deep feelings for him…"

I shook my head. "I do but… I don't think he feels the same for me. And, I'm sure I may never see him again." Talking about it made my heart fall to pieces. "In fact, I think I'd rather never see him again."

"Scarlett, you can't really-"

"Oh but I do," I interrupted quietly. "The fact that he said he would come back and never did… It's hard enough on me as it is."

He nodded and let it go. "Tell me everything. I want to know every detail that you can recall."

We sat for hours, mostly from me telling him about what had happened up to now. I told him about what I remembered about the day my mother died and I told him of my life with Tyga. I recalled as much as I could of going into the Police Force and Carmelita calling me to Interpol after Archimedes's first capture. I remembered my first encounter with Sly Cooper and all he had done for me… He just sat quietly and listened to my story. It was hard to read him.

When I had finished, he simply sighed.

"It's incredible," he said. "Your journey has been interesting. So you had received your mother's diary?"

I nodded. "Yes. I learned a lot from it. I read every page as well as the letter that she left for me. She mentioned you quite often in those pages. She even said that you used to put flowers over my crib when I was a baby."

He smiled at that. "I did. Between me, Crim and Tyga, you were everything that was precious to us. And you brought us closer. You were our reason to be. That, alone, was why we fought so hard to protect you. Even though what happened to Tyga was an accident, from what you told me, he did everything he could to hide you and keep you safe. I'm surprised Archimedes waited as long as he did…"

"You're telling me," I agreed. "I think we all were shocked. He could've came for me sooner but decided otherwise… It makes me wonder…"

"You mentioned that Archimedes was related to Clockwerk, the Cooper family's nemesis. How uncanny…"

"Very much so…" I agreed.

"It's not surprising that I never knew that you were still alive. I am honestly a little miffed that Tyga didn't bother to call or anything."

I giggled. "The only other person who knew of me had died the same night as my mother. No one knew where you had gone otherwise. Had Tyga known, I have no doubt that he would have brought me to you without question."

He covered my hand with his and smiled. "I know that deep in my heart. I'm just beyond happy that you're here now."

I smiled at him then paused as I heard sweet humming from the kitchen. Knowing immediately that it was Tia, I turned back to Bill with a sly grin.

"So… You and Tia…?"

He got flustered at my question. It was so adorable.

"No! It's not like that at all! She's just my housemaid and my partner! That's all!" He got up from his chair to try and hide his blush from me.

"That is all?" I pressured.

He stopped and turned to me. "Tia has been with me for a long time. In fact, she was the one who comforted me when I found out about your mother. She has kept a close watch on me ever since and has never really left me alone for too long. Today, in fact, is the longest she's been out of the room."

"I'm sorry, Bill… I didn't mean to cause so much grief…"

"Please, don't be."

Just then, Tia stepped into the room. "Dinner is served sir."

He gave me his hand and I took it without question. The three of us sat down for dinner and I got to hear much about Bill's catering business. He assured me that I would be able to run it should something happen to him and Tia. He also told me about some of the things that he would ask me to do on the job. Luckily, I would mostly be bartending and talking to people.

After we had dinner, Bill retired for the night and went to bed. Tia led me to the bedroom that I would be borrowing for the time I stayed with them. As Tia went to getting my bed ready for me, I went and sat at the window seat.

"I think it's right that I should thank you Tia," I said. "You've done so much for Bill."

"Please," she smiled. "There's no thanks needed. I only did what I could for him. In the end, I still couldn't erase his pain. Not until now anyway." She stopped what she was doing then turned to me. "You can't imagine how much he was tormented after your mother died. He took it so hard and not knowing whether you were alive or not made it so much worse on him. He would wake up at all hours of the night screaming at the top of his lungs from horrible nightmares. After your first phone call, for days he wept with joy at finally knowing, after so long, that you were alive. Of course, once we heard about Archimedes, it kind of clued us in. But, to hear your voice over the phone… I had never seen him so happy. He's been in the best of moods ever since. The business has even picked up quite a bit and he's kept the same employees for more than two months. It was quite a turn-around. One I'm very glad for." She came over to me and knelt down to take my hand. "I should be the one thanking you Scarlett. You've given Bill a reason to live again. I couldn't ask for more than that."

Her story made me tear up a little. My disappearance… My mother's death… I never knew those things could hurt a person as much as it did Bill. But now… I'm here now. I would make up for all those dark years for him.

"I swear to you, Tia. I will make sure to give him more happy memories," I said.

She smiled. "I believe you. I know you will. In the meantime…" She got to her feet. "Your bed is ready. You should get some sleep. It's been a long day."

I nodded and crawled into the large bed.

"Goodnight Scarlett," she said as she dimmed the lights.

"Goodnight," I replied softly. Then I fell into a fitful sleep, thankful that I was in loving and open arms again. Thankful that I was with family…