Summary: The aftermath of the events of Sly 3, which was the heist. Sly thinks about everything he's done, both with his friends and Carmelita.

Looking back on it now, Sly wondered if it were in fact possible for something to go right and wrong at the same time, if it were possible for something to be so good and yet so bad.

Everything was going so smoothly up until she'd shown up.

Sly knew Carmelita was going to be on Kaine Island. It was to be expected from the Inspector, to say the least. To be honest, he was shocked she wasn't there sooner. Sly could remember a smile on his face, and a scowl on hers, as she brandished that shock pistol of hers.

What he hadn't expected, however, was that she would be in the line of fire. Dr. M, who had been trying to break into the vault for perhaps years, would have shot the vixen. The mandrill had an extensive knowledge on Sly's family, which was because he was a member of his own father's gang. And he took a shot at her only because he knew it would hurt Sly.

It did hurt, because Sly willingly took he shot for her. He wasn't going to let her get hurt, especially not because she was chasing the raccoon. He'd blacked out for a moment after taking the hit, but when he came to, his beloved was standing above him, gingerly looking over. He remembered the whole exchange afterwards, for the words they'd chosen resulted in a decision that completely changed the thief's life.

His head hurt terribly as he looked up. He groaned in pain. "What happened...?" he'd asked.

She was scared that he wasn't going to wake up. "Sly?" she'd quietly questioned. She kind of wanted to tell him how she'd beaten the bastard who'd shot him, but that was a story for another time, when he wasn't laying on the ground of his collapsing vault.

He had moved his head around, getting full view of the cavern that was the vault. He had an idea. "Where are we? What is this place?"

"Sly?" she'd said again. The idea that he was messing with her passed through her, before it began to make sense. He had amnesia. The shot had messed with his head, and now he didn't know what was going on. "Can you remember anything?"

"...No." he'd responded with a shake of his head. He looked up into her eyes, eyes that were crying out to him, and desperately wanted to tell her the truth, to sweep her off of her feet and carry her home, but what he'd had in mind was going to be so much sweeter. "Who're you? You look...familiar."

She'd almost had a panic attack. He didn't remember her. But maybe she could trigger something. maybe it would come back to him. "I'm Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox." she had told him hopefully.

He knew, of course, but he had to put on a show, somehow make her believe he didn't know. "And...who am I?"

"You..." she said, letting it trail off. She had an idea of her own. "You're my partner, Constable Cooper." If she'd had more time with him, she could get his memory back.

It was everything he could do to stop himself from smiling. She was just as crafty as he was. He stood up, gritting his teeth at how much it hurt. "Well, partner, we'd better get out of here." He looked up. "The ceiling's gonna go. We haven't got much time."

She nodded, a smile on her face to match his confusion. "Let's go."

He wasn't going to lie, he almost didn't regret anything. Certainly, it was going to come back to bite him that he was lying to her, but for now, everything was going wonderfully. Sly had left his cane, pouch, and a calling card inside the vault in the hopes that his gang would find it. They'd left in an Interpol helicopter, where Carmelita sat right by his side and explained to her what had happened on the island. They were there to take down a criminal who'd been hiding out there, which he knew she meant to be Dr. M. She told him that he was about to get him, when he'd gotten shot and blacked out. Carmelita had finished him off, cuffed him, and helped Sly to his feet.

When they made it back to Paris, Carmelita made certain that Sly got excellent medical attention, and the doctors tended to his wound and examined him after Carmelita told them that he had amnesia. They couldn't find anything wrong upstairs, thankfully, so they told Carmelita that he may or may not remember whatever it was that he forgot, and to simply hope for the best.

The best definitely was what followed. Interpol actually decided to play along, giving Sly a position in their ranks. It was most likely so that they could keep an eye on him, to make sure he'd had amnesia, and that was a fair thing to wonder about. He was grateful for his knew life, but there was something eating at him on the inside, and it was something he'd never had before.

Guilt. He felt guilty for lying so much, the lies stacking with almost everything he said to Carmelita. Not so much for lying to Interpol. He was deceiving them, after all, but it wasn't them he was trying to convince that he had changed.

It was her.

She'd been there for him every step of the way, and they'd even let the pair work together on some occasions. Since Sly had nowhere else to go, Carm had offered to let him stay with her. Sly knew for a fact that she didn't approve of what he did, and that what he did was what kept them from truly being an item. So he devised a plan to leave his old life behind, and turn over a new leaf.

And with that, their relationship picked up right where it left off. He'd gathered up the courage to ask if she'd like to go out with him. He didn't think she'd want to be with him now that he'd forgotten their past, he was thinking, but thankfully for him, she'd smiled and agreed. They'd been out to a few different places, but one that stuck with him was how the first place they went was where they'd gone on their first date when he'd asked when their relationship was secret, with a wall that kept them from getting too close. It was complicated then, because they couldn't be very open about it. The only person that knew besides the participants was Bentley, and he only found out because he made it his mission to do so.

But now, it was significantly less complicated, now that they could tell people. Of course, Carmelita knew that some people didn't approve of it. Some even suspected it as having been going on for longer than they said it had. She'd denied so, of course, and so had Sly, but that wasn't going to stop it. She didn't care, and neither did he. They had each other now, and that was all that mattered.

Carmelita did make Sly finish what he had started that night with the stars looking down upon them, but there was something different now. There was a closeness that wasn't there before. A closeness that came with their fresh start, with a new beginning that was certain to lead to something wonderful.

As he stood there on the balcony he had scaled so many times to get to her, holding her hands, he thought about all of that. He looked back on what he had done, wondering if the choice he had made was for the better. It was obvious once he looked at her in the moonlight, the blueness of her hair contrasting with the blue of her dress. She definitely remembered it was his favorite color. Her eyes were filled with nothing but adoration, and love. Sly felt like he could drown in them. They were in love, it was plain to see.

They said nothing to one another. There wasn't anything to be said. He was content with the atmosphere as it was, and so was she. Something caught Sly's eye, though, in his peripheral vision. A glint. Something metallic. He momentarily averted his eyes, and he saw him.

Bentley. He had a feeling his turtle friend knew where he was from the start. The brains of his operation probably had his binocucom, that communicator/binoculars thing that he had invented for their heists, so that they could get in contact easier. He was probably concerned about Sly, which was why he was checking in on him. But if he knew where Sly was, why hadn't he made an attempt to get in contact with him? Perhaps he was content with a life of his own without Sly and Murray. Maybe he was involved with Penelope, that mouse girl that they'd recruited for the Cooper Vault heist.

The turtle was worried now that Sly had seen him. He didn't know what his raccoon friend would do, give away his position, ignore him, what? But then Sly just smirked at Bentley, and winked. A wink. It told him a lot. Told him that he was fine, that he knew he was there, and that he should probably get out of there before he found some way to get away from his girlfriend and hunt him down.

He was probably imagining that last one, though. Regardless, he sighed, and put his binocucom down. With a shake of his head, he said to himself one last thing before heading back to their old hideout. He couldn't help but chuckle as he did.

"That sneaky devil..."

If Sly could have heard that, he would have most certainly agreed. He was being sneaky, but that was what he did. He was a Cooper. His whole family was sneaky. He was pretty sure one of the synonyms for sneaky was sly, after all. Right now, though, that wasn't what he was doing.

If he was being sneaky, it was only because he loved Carmelita, and wanted to keep the two of them safe. Being a thief wasn't exactly the safest profession, after all. His parents had died, after all, because his dad hadn't left the game behind. He couldn't do that if he wanted his family with Carmelita. He had to call it quits at some point or another, and he figured, now was better than later.

"Carm, don't you think it's about time we go back inside? It's cold out here," he said.

She smiled at him. "Alright, Ringtail."

Hands still clasped together, they went back inside of Carmelita's apartment, and Sly made certain to close the door behind him this time, and lock it. He wasn't going to be going back out, after all.

A/N: I'm going to start doing these now. Anyhow, thanks for reading, and supporting me in your reviews. It's always nice to know I'm writing something other people are enjoying. Definitely leave any questions, comments, or concerns in there. I'm always open to ideas, or anything of that nature. Have a good one!

- FlareGun343