The War Rooms, Interpol HQ, Lyon, France. 10:35am 28th July 2013

"First of all, he didn't hire me out. I did it by myself. Secondly." She pauses as she turns to Sly. "I didn't want you to find out this way but I'm sorry for it and thirdly." She explains now facing the blue raccoon. "Stop being so vile towards your own son."

Sly doesn't have the reaction that Penelope has been expecting for all of these hours, combined with the fact that his father hasn't been what they call the nicest guy you would ever meet. There is nothing evident on his face to suggest an imminent attack on her. She thinks that she worried too much about it to justify all of these previous precautions that she took. There is no time to concentrate on that for now, she focuses on protecting Sly from his own father. That's something she didn't think would happen when she first got him.

"I see you have a cane with you, did you get that from the local gift shop or something?" He jokingly asks Sly but at this moment the momentum is definitely with Sly and Penelope at the moment and Connor knows it. His attention seeking has definitely quelled down for now. Physically he may be larger than Sly and slightly taller but he is not the one who is on top here. Penelope walks back out of the room to let them sort out whatever they need to do in this newly lit room. There is nowhere for them to hide, just an empty room full of lasers.

"So," Connor begins, coming to conclusions. "You are my son then, that must mean I'm 20 maybe even 30 years in the future. Is that mouse your girlfriend? Because she, she has what takes to be a Cooper. I mean, if she got me, then she is definitely good enough."

"She is." Sly flatly states. There is a long pause as Sly sees his father's reaction of confusion turn quickly to project a confident visage to his face.

"I don't know what drugs you've been taking in this world but that is definitely false. She isn't even a raccoon." Connor explains.

"That's what I thought as well, but that what it is and you have to accept that if you want to get back to your own time. For now, let's just find a way out of here." Sly calmly explains.

"That's not going to happen any time soon you see, because, I think I like it here with all this advanced technology surrounding me. One of those tiny computers out there is more powerful than the most powerful computer I own in 1981. You have hard drives that go into the terabytes!" He explains. Sly doesn't want this to turn into another 'Otto' type incident with the ancestor begging for future technology to be taken back with them. That the problem with all these needy thieves, they want it all and they want it now.

"If you don't go back then I won't exist." Sly warns.

"A minor inconvenience for you then." Connor answers. What does one say to that? A tiny thought creeps up on him, the realisation that he might have been better off that his dad was dead. It is an awful thought for one to have about one's father but in all possibility it could be true. Sly didn't want to grow up like his father, being so ruthless and violent. It's not what he as thinking when he was listening to stories about all the thefts he had undertaken in his glory days as they were. Sitting on his lap in that armchair he always saw him sit in at that farm made him idolise his fathers efforts to steal items without a price tag, but time changes everything.

"Just come on dad, we are going to get you out of here."

"I'm staying and that's final." He reasserts.

"Is this something to do with me? Do you always have to think that you are better than everyone else?" Sly finally asks.

"It's because I am." The arrogance of this statement only infuriates Sly, how could his father be so selfish and arrogant, that's not what he thought of him.

"You see? This is why Dr. M will fall out with you after your separation." Sly explains.

"That's completely false, they love me. They would die for me and we are the best gang in all of history, which includes the now."

"This is not about being better than anyone else." Sly asserts.

"Are you so sure? Without that attitude, our family would not be in the position that we are in right now in 1981, I can't speak for you because who knows what you have done with this great name." He says. Sly just wants to walk out on his father but he can't. He has to break this personality that he has put towards him and set him straight so his own future can be assured of.

"Do you have no honour? No respect? No love for anyone?"

"It's called getting the job done, it's called being ruthless and if you truly want to know why I do this is because of one person, well they aren't a person anymore. I guess he'll come for you at some point through your life seeking to end it but when he comes for me I will be ready and defeat that mechanical monstrosity and become the more revered Cooper in all of history."

"Clockwerk is dead." Sly says.

"Do I defeat him the future?" He asks, awaiting his claim to be processed by Sly.

"Nope." Sly rebuts, not wanting to take any glory from the occasion. There was no glory in defeating Clockwerk. Nor any sort of pride that Sly took for himself. He was more focused on his own gang, particularly Bentley after his tragic loss and not the dissolving Clockwerk parts.

"So I guess it was your friend that did it." He clutches at this last final hope to keep on denying it.

"Me and my gang did it. I'm not gloating about it. To be honest, I'm glad that it was done."

"Your gang? I see no gang with you, where are they this gang you claim to have?"

"I'd say we are having a rough patch at the moment." Sly honestly responds. Now that he thinks about it. He wonders how Bentley is right now; does he really want revenge that much that he would stop at nothing? He can't look back on that right now, he can only wait for them to meet again. He hopes that they can still be together and this is just a hiccup in their relationship, could Penelope really be the one to separate the gang like a hot knife through butter.

"You see, I have the better gang." He says, finally he thinks he has one better area than Sly. The complete pettiness of it all only makes Sly feel a bit sorry for his dad on the inside. His complete obsession with being the best is his attempt to drown out the one quality in him that all Cooper are said to posses. The one that caused Sly to be in Egypt in the first place. Empathy.

"Can't you just try to relate to me here. I'm trying to save my gang from the director the building you are trapped in right now from tearing apart everything that I know and love about being a thief. Surely you've had troubles that you had to face and overcome. You don't have to act like you're invincible when you are around me, I know you are not like that." Sly says, trying to get that intrinsic empathy to peep out of his hard shell in order to see who he really is. There is a moment of mental battle inside of Connor's head as he tries to continue with this adopted persona. It is like watching a kettle with pressure building up inside and waiting for the release. The look on his face as he does this is like he is choking on something. Sly becomes a bit concerned for his welfare but he manages to speak.

"Why must it be so? That we have this, trait, if you can call it that. It makes thieving so difficult." He finally pours it out. "I can't just do something without this moral baggage that hangs over me like a raincloud, constantly dampening me with its barrage of thoughts and obligations I have to follow. Why can't I be more ruthless so that I can acquire more loot and wealth? And above all, why can't I stand on lasers instead of having to slide on them?" Sly doesn't have the answer for that last question. But he does know what he feels like right now. At times Sly would have wanted to be more ruthless and finish off certain things. None more so than when he could have sent Le Paradox falling to his death and he could have saved himself and he wouldn't have to be in this position he is now. But while empathy has been said to be the downfall of the Coopers. It can also be their greatest strength.

"Come here dad." Sly asks with his arms out wide ready to embrace for a hug. His dad willingly comes forward and they come together, Sly can't remember ever having done this as a child. Even though he is 29 years old, it still has the same effect as if he was 8. There are no tears, it is only quiet as this hug tries and succeeds in making up between them.