Three Little Words

A little one-shot because I'm still in denial of the events of Thieves in Time (it's been five years jeez). Any constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated, especially as I don't really do oneshots all that often (to date, as of 17/05/2018, I've only done one for Ratchet & Clank, which I think was alright)!

Cheers!

~TWRSB

It had been six months since the Cooper Vault job, and life was good for Penelope. Although her time in the Cooper Gang had been brief, it had been fun. In the space of a few short weeks, she'd been attacked by a dragon, kidnapped by a pirate, and had fallen in love. It was very eventful few weeks for the eighteen-year-old, and she would give anything to relive that all over again. She was disappointed Sly had run out on them, as she wanted to pull many more heists with the gang, but she wished him all the best with his new life.

Bentley had managed to find Sly a few months ago. That sneaky devil ran off to be with Carmelita Fox, a woman he had been in love with for years. A police officer and a master thief; Bentley wondered what trick he had pulled to convince her to not arrest him, considering she had made it her life's work to do so. He chuckled to himself, and hoped that whatever he was doing would work out for him. After all, Carmelita wouldn't hesitate to use her shock pistol if she thought someone was trying to screw her over.

"What's so funny?" Penelope asked as she looked up from her computer, where she had been working on the operating software for the time machine they were building. This was only the first version of the software, and Penelope had a strong suspicion that there would be many more versions to follow. It would probably be years before the final thing would be finished.

"Oh, nothing," he replied, quickly glancing up from the conversion cube he had been working on. After having difficulty building the first, the next few were a breeze in comparison. He spun his wheelchair around and wheeled across the lab, which was part of the new house they had bought together. "How is the OS coming along?" he asked as he wheeled up beside her.

"Not too bad," she replied confidently, "but I'm having some issues with the software when I try to theoretically open a portal. The portal status HUD remains unchanged. No matter what I do, it doesn't respond. It's as if I never gave it a command." She looked up at the turtle, and felt a smile play across her lips as she admired his looks. It was a cute, geeky look, but she found him incredibly handsome.

"Hm..." he murmured as he peered over her shoulder. He scanned the lines of code, and then saw the issue. "You've got a feedback loop... here," he said as he pointed at the monitor. "You should try changing it so it the software reads the open portal before the HUD changes," he offered.

"Of course!" she exclaimed, hitting her forehead. It was such a small detail, and she couldn't believe she missed it. Then again, Bentley was just that little bit better than her at this sort of thing, and she was glad he was around to pick up on her little mistakes. There was plenty they could learn from each other; she was the better RC pilot after all. "I was trying to get it to change as soon as the 'open' command was triggered," she continued, "and it's so obvious now!" Her hands quickly rattled across the keyboard as she quickly rectified her error. "Thanks, Bentley!" she said before quickly kissing him on the cheek. The turtle was taken aback by the sudden display of affection, turning bright red. He still wasn't used to having a girlfriend, and was rather uncertain of how to act sometimes. Their first kiss resulted in Bentley turning bright red and staying that way for six hours straight. It looked like he had gotten badly sunburnt.

"Uh... n-no problem..." he stammered, before quickly wheeling back to his workspace.

"Bentley," Penelope called as she rotated on her swivel chair. There was something she wanted to say to him, and felt like now what the right time. She wanted to express exactly how she felt when she was with the turtle. She wanted to let him know how she adored being with him, how he made her feel special and significant. She wanted to show how much she cared, and how right everything felt when she was working at his side. And to do so was as simple as saying a simple sentence.

"Yes?" he pressed, wondering what she had to say. Penelope's typically self-assured nature meant that she never hesistated when she wanted to speak her mind. The fact that she seemed reluctant raised Bentley's suspicions.

"Well..." she started, wringing her hands nervously, summoning the courage to speak. All you've gotta say is 'I love you', she thought, now say it!

Bentley watched the apprehensive mouse take a deep breath, as if she was preparing to make a grand speech. He wondered what she had to say. The build-up approach she was taking was very unlike her.

She said, gently, "You don't need to act so bashful around me, we have been together for a little while now."

Bentley gave a nervous grin, and said, "I'm sorry Penelope, I'm just really happy with you. I can't help it." He gave a little shrug, to which Penelope giggled at his response. She wanted to help Bentley overcome his nervousness, because she didn't want him to feel awkward around her. Yet it was apparent from his reactions that he valued her. "I'm going to get a coffee, do you want anything?" he asked, stretching his arms above his head. Sitting slumped over a desk was starting to take its toll on his back. For a split second, he wished he could stand again, knowing it would make stretching much easier. Alas, things are what they are.

"I'm good," she replied with a small smile, and watched him wheel out of the lab. As soon as the doors closed behind him, she groaned loudly and buried her face into her arms, her head resting on the desk. "What on earth was that?" she scolded herself out loud. She sat up again and sank back into her chair, cursing herself for being such a wimp. "Get a grip girl, they're only words," she continued saying aloud. After all, how hard could it be to say them? Why would it be so hard to tell Bentley how she felt? And then she realised why it was so hard.

"They're three little words that can change everything," she muttered, removing her glasses and rubbing her tired eyes with her free hand. She took a moment to rest her eyes, the lab being nothing more than fuzzy outlines and blurry colours. What was there to worry about? She knew that Bentley wouldn't freak out and think that the relationship was progressing too quickly. Plus, she could tell that he loved her too. The way he looked at her, their conversations, the way he held her close. And Penelope felt that the biggest giveaway was the fact that Bentley would let her help him with any kind of mobility issues.

There were times where he needed help reaching something that was either too high for him or he had dropped on the floor, or, more annoyingly, down the back of a chest of drawers or his desk. Sometimes he needed help moving from his wheelchair to another seat, or a bed, and he would let Penelope hold his chair steady while he heaved himself out of it. One thing she had noticed when she first joined the Cooper Gang, is that Bentley would not let Sly or Murray help him with anything. He had to do it by himself, no matter what.

There was one secret incident that only Penelope was aware of. When they were alone in the safehouse while in Blood Bath Bay, Bentley tried to reach a bottle off the kitchen counter, only for his wheelchair to wheel back, throwing him off onto his stomach. The chair flew to the other side of the room, and the cacophony of sound caught Penelope's attention. As she hurried into the kitchen, she was surprised to see the turtle sprawled out on his stomach. The one thing that surprised her the most is that Bentley let her help him back into his chair. The gesture touched her because Bentley had let his pride go on this one occasion, and demonstrated that he trusted her a great deal. She wondered if this moment was when she fell in love with him. Maybe it was. Maybe it was when he saved her from that cutthroat LeFwee.

As she went to put her glasses back on, she noticed disgusting the lenses were. They were coated in grubby fingerprints, and she tried to futilely wipe them off with a cloth she had tucked away in the back pocket of her overalls. Instead she just smeared the grime, much to her annoyance. Defeated, she popped her glasses back on, and saw her environment snap back into a clear, crisp focus, albeit with some slight smudging. She decided she would clean them once she packed up her work for the night, and she decided that would be now. She saved her work, shut down her computer, and stood up from the small swivel chair she had spent way too much time sitting in for the last half a year. She decided she would see what Bentley was up to.

She found him in the kitchen, his chair position beside the table, drinking his coffee while he tapped away at his laptop.

"I'm done for the night," she declared as she sat down at the table in the single chair, opposite Bentley. "What are you doing?" she enquired sweetly.

"I'm ordering more parts for our project," he replied, not looking up. After a few clicks, he shut the lid on his laptop, indicating that he had placed the order. He gave Penelope a small smile and extended his hand across the table for hers to take. She accepted it eagerly, and gave his hand a small squeeze, which he returned. Perhaps now was the time to say it? Maybe she should leave it...

"Bentley," she said nervously, her eyes darting from their hands, to his laptop, back to their hands, and straight into his eyes. She could feel the words getting caught up in her throat. Like a car crash in a tunnel, every sound got piled up in her larynx. She swallowed hard in an attempt to clear her throat, and noticed that her mouth felt like cotton wool. She couldn't believe this was, or rather, wasn't happening! She had been so quick to hit on Sly in China, but now, in an established relationship, a man she had fallen for...

"I love you," she said automatically, feeling light-headed upon realising what she had done. She'd finally said it, but didn't dare relax. She watched the turtle's jaw drop in surprise, and his cheeks flush a bright crimson.

"I-I l-love you too," he stammered, unsure of whether he heard her correctly. He felt his heart do six simultaneous somersaults in his chest. He couldn't believe it! Someone actually loved him! Without hesitation, he let go of Penelope's hand, gripped his wheels, and skillfully scooted around the table to Penelope. She turned to face him. Much to her surprise, he leaned forward, meeting his lips with hers. She lifted her hands to his face, holding him closer. He gently pulled away and looked at her, to which she kissed him, albeit a much softer one. As they broke off again, they both looked at each other, not saying a word. They didn't need to, the silence was perfect. Everything was perfect. Bentley was perfect.

They were madly, madly in love, and Penelope loved the feeling. She knew she would never grow tired of it, and hoped it would never end.

I am so sorry for being so cruel with that final line, I am still in denial.

Anyway, I hope this was alright. Again, any pointers are welcome!

Until next time,

~TWRSB