Summary: Sly surprises Carmelita on her birthday.

True to his word, Sly had in fact marked mentally Carmelita's birthday. He had done it a few years ago, out of some kind of spite because he didn't really appreciate the idea that someone knew so much about him and had made it his own mission to learn everything he could about the hot-tempered vixen that had shot at him so many times. But, things were different now. In the past he had discreetly left gifts in her office or at her house, little things that weren't too noteworthy. The raccoon couldn't really remember what those things were, in all honesty, but this time he was determined to make Carm remember this time.

A week or two had passed since their first date. He had prepared himself quite a bit. Thankfully, her birthday was on a Tuesday, which meant not only that she was at work for most of the day so that he could do his work, but that it was going to be a surprise, too. He had already picked out a gift for her, which he had carefully wrapped in an orange-and-blue paper he had found, before putting a little red bow on top. As he set out that night to start the preparations, he decided at the last minute to put one of his calling cards beside the bow. He grabbed his cane, straightened his hat, and was on his way out when he looked back into the rest of the hideout. This time, it was almost broad daylight, which sort of helped in not making the place look as desolate as it usually did.

He thought forlornly about Bentley, who had actually finished that wheelchair he had been working on. He was still trying to get used to not able to walk, but Sly remembered just how smart the turtle was. Bentley would figure it out. He didn't need to worry about him, but he couldn't stop himself. It was a sort of brotherly instinct that had come from growing up with him. He hoped things were alright with him. Don't you have somewhere to be?, he suddenly thought, and the thief nodded to himself a bit before leaving.

It would be somewhere around three hours before the Inspector was home from work, and Sly was going to make full use of that time. He had made it to the complex, and opened the back door. Except, this time, it was locked, so the thief had to pick the lock with the tip of the cane, which he hadn't done for quite some time. He could only remember one other time that he had done that with his cane, but that wasn't what was important. What he was here for was important. He closed the door behind him, and rubbed his hands together mischievously. This was going to be awesome.

It was nighttime now, and Sly had just about worn himself out running back and forth getting all of the things he had needed to decorate the rooms. He had even left a cake on her dining room table, his little present next to it. But, now, it was about time for Carmelita to be coming home. Sly was going to have to make himself scarce for the moment. He had hidden behind an ornate clock, which was in a hallway connecting to the door. Carmelita would be coming through the door, she'd turn on the light, and then he'd lean out and yell "Surprise!" and then she'd probably hit him a few times or something like that before they had their own little party together. She doesn't like to be kept waiting, after all, the raccoon had thought with a smile on his face as he heard her approaching.

Carmelita Fox was, for once, a bit sad she'd had to come home at the end of her shift. She'd had such a great time at the HQ today. They'd thrown her a a party, and for most of the day they'd ate, drank, and laughed, all in celebration of her. It was always nice to have fun like that, every once in a while, before going back to the everyday routine. She got her keys out of her bag, and opened the door. She could have sworn something moved as soon as the door closed with its creaking noise. She leaned over and flicked the light switch before gasping.

Her whole apartment was covered in balloons, streamers, sparkles, confetti, and some other decorations that she couldn't even remember the names to. There was a banner stretching across her living room hallway that had "Happy Birthday" on it, but, the A wasn't a letter. It was Sly's little calling card symbol. And just before she could put two and two together, and tell who had done all of this, someone behind her did it for her.

"Surprise," Sly whispered from behind her.

Carmelita yelped in surprise, and turned around, pointing her shock pistol.

"Woah, woah, easy there, girl. It's just me," Sly said, hands raised, his right hand closed around his cane.

She sighed, and lowered her weapon. "You scared the hell out of me, Ringtail," she breathed.

"Hey, is that not the point of a surprise party?" he asked, lowering his hands and going to lean against his cane.

She looked over everything once more. It was all so elegant, so well put together, it was almost impossible to believe Sly had done all of it by himself.

"I hate surprises," she growled.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that. I worked really hard on this, you know," he retorted, trying to slip in a bit of mock sadness in that statement.

"I can tell." She moved towards the kitchen, which was adjacent from the door, which was also where Sly had left her present. There was a little cake next to it, too, one of those circle ones they sell in department store bakeries, white frosted with balloons on the sides. Sly had put a few candles in it that he hadn't lit yet, since he had wanted Carmelita to be there first.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't remember how old you were turning, so I couldn't get those candles with the numbers on them," he apologized.

"24." She smirked. "I think those number ones look stupid anyways."

"Ah." Sly walked forward. "I suppose it's about time we light them, then, huh?"

"Go ahead. Try not to burn my apartment down," she responded.

Sly had taken a lighter from Carmelita's room while he was setting everything up, and used that to light one candle, before lighting the others with that candle. The pair smiled at each other.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." Sly sang quietly, as they stood there. Sly would have finished, but, Carmelita had ever so rudely leaned forward and blown the candles out mid-song.

The raccoon chuckled a bit, and thought about how she didn't like to be kept waiting. "So, Miss Fox, what did you wish for?"

Carmelita turned to look at him. "I think you already knew I was going to say that it wouldn't come true if I told you."

"I did." he replied coyly.

She scoffed. "You're so ridiculous."

"I am, but, enough about me, it's your day, after all," he smirked.

She looked back at the cake, and noticed the little present there. The vixen picked it up gingerly, and looked it over. "Is this for me?"

"Of course. Open it."

She was one of those people that carefully took apart the wrapping around presents before getting to the actual gift. Sly was a bit anxious there, leaned against his cane, waiting for her response. She didn't expect what it was. It was Sly's paperback copy of his favorite book, Catch-22. It was worn a bit on the front and back, the blue cover fading. She opened the cover, and on the title page was a little bit of writing in slightly messy blue ink.

Do I love you because I'm crazy, or am I crazy because I love you? It's a catch-22, isn't it?

I'll let you decide, Carmelita.

-Sly Cooper

She was...surprised, to say the least. She hadn't expected something this heartfelt to come from the thief. Most shocking of all, was that he had written that he loved her. She turned to look at him, and he nervously grinned. He hadn't known whether or not it was a good idea to write that on the inside.

"You told me you'd never read it, so I thought...you know," he mumbled. It wasn't like him to be embarrassed like this for anything. But this was different, wasn't it? He truly, and honestly, loved Carmelita with all of his heart. And that love was bound to make him do some things that were kind of dumb, he thought, but that wasn't really dumb, was it? Just kind of...cheesy, he supposed.

"Ringtail..." She stopped herself. "Sly...it's wonderful. Thank you."

He didn't respond for a while. He didn't know what to say in response. "You're welcome."

"Well, at least now I can read it, right?" she said, trying to lighten the mood.

He shrugged. "It's a bit confusing at parts, but, yeah, it's a great book." He stopped leaning against his cane, setting it against a wall so that he could move his hands easier. "You know, I carried that cake for what I think was a mile until I got here. I'm gonna eat it."

And with that, Sly did help himself to the silverware in Carmelita's kitchen, amid her protests, until she finally gave in an asked for a piece herself. The raccoon smiled, and brought her a piece along with his own. It was vanilla, she noticed, with icing separating the cake in the middle. That was her favorite kind of cake. How did he know that? she wondered, because something told her Sly did that because he somehow knew.

"Sly, did you steal this cake?" she found herself asking.

There was a pause. "Maybe," he said, a smirk on his face.

She sighed. "I could arrest you for that, you know."

"But you wouldn't."

"You don't know that."

"I do, as a matter of fact."

Damn. He wasn't wrong. She wouldn't. "You're lucky this is my favorite, otherwise I would be arresting you," she shot back, picking up her fork to take a bite of the cake. She closed her eyes for a moment as she took the bite. It was wonderful, just as she had predicted it would be.

"That good?" he asked. She just nodded in reply. Sly shrugged, and took a bite of his own. He blinked a few times. "Wow."

"I know."

They sat there for the rest of the night, talking, and eating that seemingly heavenly cake. Sly listened to Carmelita tell him about her day, what had happened at the HQ, and even complain a bit about some of the other people she worked with. Surprisingly, Sly found himself unable not to listen, considering he really was interested, even stopping her to ask questions every once and again.

She had stopped ranting about her coworkers long enough to ask Sly how he'd been recently. He shrugged, and told her he was fine, that he wasn't planning any heists for a while, that sort of thing. She asked why not, for some reason, and he brought up that his best friend's legs had been irreparably broken because of Clock-La. Carmelita could sense a bit of hurt in his eyes. He thought that it was his fault it had happened. The fox found herself trying to console him, and Sly simply nodded.

Carmelita checked her watch a while in. It was midnight. They'd been at that table for hours.

"Sly, it's getting kind of late. I think maybe it's about time you leave," she said.

The raccoon did get up, and amble over to his cane, asking her, "Oh, Miss Fox, do you really want me to leave?" He picked it up, and twirled it a bit.

"Yeah, kinda."

"Really, now?" he asked. He was approaching her, that cane brandished in one hand. "I think, deep down inside you..." He swung the cane outward, with the intent of pulling her to him. Carm saw this coming, and caught the gold head of the cane, and pulled. Sly's iron grip on the hilt of his cane pulled him towards Carmelita, and she smiled. She'd won this time.

"...that I don't? You'd be right," she said softly, and embraced Sly. His cane clattered to the ground, and they kissed, the atmosphere becoming one of affection and frenzy. They stood like that for a while, before Sly opened one of his eyes, and without breaking away from Carmelita, led them into her bedroom. The pair had lay there, holding one another, locked together in an unbelievable combination of love and lust. It was as if pent up emotions spanning several years had chosen then and there to let themselves go.

When it was over, they curled up underneath the covers, Sly holding Carmelita close to him. They had been remarkably quiet, considering both of them had been rather loud in their act just moments ago. They were drifting off to sleep, but Sly had one last thing to say before hand.

"...Carm?" he asked quietly.

"Mhm?" she mumbled.

"I love you," he said into her ear.

"Love you too, Ringtail. Now let me sleep," she muttered back to him.

He was content with the answer. He closed his eyes, and beside his lover, drifted to sleep with the knowledge that everything was going to be alright.

Happy birthday, Carmelita Fox.