DiScLaImEr: I do not by any was own any of these characters except Monique Devereaux. The others belong to Suckerpunch Inc.

Chapter 7

Sly was happy, scratch that, estatic. He was just dancing with the most beautiful girl in the world and she just told him to follow her out into the hallway. He watched her drift away in a dress that made her look amazingly gorgeous and almost uncontrollably sexy, almost, he still had his control. She looked back to see him about 20 feet behind her, a goofy smile on his face. She ran back, grabbed his hand and they started making their way through the crowd. They finally left the huge tiled ballroom and were now in a dark hallway. She put her back against the wall and grabbed both of his hands. She looked up at Sly and saw he had a questioning look. She smiled and put his hands on her hips and kissed him. And that's what made Sly happy. They started kissing, actually, they started making out. They heard footsteps behind them but they didn't care and they didn't stop until they heard, "Cooper, put up your hands!" He recognized the voice as Carmelitas and spun around instantly. He saw her holding up her signature shock pistol too his chest. She was wearing a stunning black dress. An akward moment passed. Carmelita thought the annoyed girl looked familiar. "Excuse me? Did you just say Cooper?" Moique said, she looked very mad. She started fiddling with her diamond necklace.

"Yes, Sylvester Cooper. Leader of the Cooper Gang. World-famous theif." Carmelita started listing his stats.

"Carmelita, what are you doing here?" Sly said, trying to change the subject and shed some light as to why she was here. "I'm friends with Lucy Scattini." She said bluntly. "And, to you I'm Inspector Fox." It was silent once again, no one knew how to carry on from there. Sly glanced over at Monique, he hands still raised. She looked enraged, and she was still fiddling with her diamond necklace, irritatedly. "Sly, you son of a bitch. You lied to me and you're cheating on me." Monique finally said. That caught both Sly and Carmelita off gaurd. "No, Ma'am. I'm the Inspector who's been tracking his ringtailed bottom all over the world." Carmelita said at the same time Cooper said, "No, baby, I'd never cheat on you. She's just some crazy cop." Monique shook her head and said threateningly, "You lied to me, Sly." She then jumped forward and grabbed Carmelita's shock gun. She forced them both to so there backs were against the wall. "Ma'am, please, remain calm. Put my gun down and I'll let you go, scott-free. Cooper is the one I want here."

"Don't worry, I can see how much you want him." Monique said and with a quiet blast she shot Carmelita with her own shock pistol. Carmelita slupped over, unconscious. Sly eyes widened, what had he got himself into? "Monique, Beautiful-" He started but was interupted by her. "That's what they call me," She said snidely, and then with one more quiet blast Sly was knocked out.

Carmelita woke up first. She felt fine except for a bad headache. She was handcuffed to a bar in what looked like a dance studio. It was a large room with bars on all four sides. One wall was covered in broken glass. She looked around and saw Sly, he was handcuffed on the wall next to hers, and since she was on a bar she slid her handcuffs down and when she was close enough to Sly she gasped. There was blood caked on his head. She tried to shake him with her foot and after a moment he opened his eyes just barely. His head hurt very badly and his arms ached. He opened his heavy eyes to see Carmelita, handcuffed right next to him, her face full of concern. "Carmelita..." He said softly and hoarsely. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, chico... it's not your fault." She said sternly. He closed his eyes, he hurt. He kept his eyes closed for a few moments until he heard Carmelita say, "Beautiful girls are deceptive, aren't they?" He opened one eye and searched her face and knew she was talking about Neyla, her partner who betrayed and framed her. "You never betrayed me." He said, closing his eyes again. She was glad he couldn't see her face because she smiled. She knew he was being honest. Her happiness only lasted a few seconds because it was soon replaced with worry that he'd fall asleep and slip into a coma. She tried to think of something. "What's you favorite color?" She blurted out. 'Smooth, muchacha.' She thought and was suprised to hear him say, "Brown."

"Why?" She said. Thinking about her favorite color was navy blue.

"Because I fell in love with a brown eyed girl awhile ago." Sly whispered. Carmelita began going through the facts and statistic she had memorized about Monique Devereaux. Her eyes were hazel. She gasped when she realized she had brown eyes. She saw him smile at her reaction. "How about you?" She told him it was navy blue.

"Why?" He asked her.

"Well, when I was little, when my dad was an officer he always said that whenever you see navy it means that a police officer is watching you. When he would go away I would always draw and write in navy blue. I fell in love with the color."

"Cute." Sly said, trying to keep the conversation going. "My turn."

"What? What'dya mean, your turn?" Carmelita asked him. Cooper was getting into his mysterious ways. "We're playing truth. Aren't we?" Sly tried to chuckle but stopped. His ribs hurt too. He wanted to take off his shirt so he could examine the damage. He looked at his hands, they were in handcuffs. "Okay, like I was saying, my turn. Which kiss did you like more, the one on the volcano

or the one at the police station?" He grinned looking at her embarrassment. He put his attention back on his handcuffs. "Um, i guess i'd have to say the one at the police station. At least you didn't lock me up." She said truthfully, watching him fiddle with the handcuffs. After a moment of silence, he pulled one hand free. He shouted involuntarily with pain as his arms dropped onto the ground. He closed his eyes because they started to water. "I'm okay." He said quickly. He added arms to his list of things that hurt. She watched him in quiet fascination as he slowly moved his hands to the lapels of his jacket. He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes in pain as he removed his jacket. Once his jacket was off, he began to untie his tie. Carmelita watch helplessly and transfixed by his determination. "What are you doing?" She finally asked. "I'm taking off my shirt." he replied no-nonsense-like. "Oh." She said. He finally got his tie off and he flung it in the pile he was making. His hand traveled to the top of the shirt and he closed his eyes in pain. Blindly, he slowly but steadily began to unbutton his shirt. Once it was off Carmelita gasped. Sly opened his eyes. His gray fur was matted with blood in certain places and he became suddenly light-headed. "This couldn't have been just from falling to the ground, some one beat me." He said angrily. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. Things were looking grim. He wasn't bound anymore but he could barely move. If he tried to stand up then he'd probably pass out. On top of that Inspector Fox was right next to him. She would haul him off to jail the second she could.

Carmelita could see he had been drawn into a world of his own. She started to become concerned after a few minutes. "Did you love her?" She suddenly asked. Her plan worked, his eyes snapped open. He looked at Carmelita for a few minutes. "Ya know, I have no idea." Sly admitted.

"I thought I was, I mean, I was so happy with her. But there were times I wanted to just stop and walk away. Most of the time she was happy and nice but sometimes she would say something really crazy or do something really weird. I doubted it for sure but, she made me the happiest i'd been in a really, really long time." Sly told her. She was very suprised by how open he was. They thought about that for a minute when she broke the silence again. "Sorry to be demanding, but, can you get me out of these things?" She said, jangling the hadcuffs.

"No." Sly said, one word. No. "You'll cart me to jail and i'm in no shape to make a getaway. I'll probably keep you there for an hour or two until I can think of something."

Carmelita's mouth fell open in disbelief. "You're an honest thing, aren't you?"

"Always have been, always will be." Sly said suavely. It grew quiet again. Sly was still thinking about how to get out of here but was making no progress. "How's the planning going, ringtail?" Carmelita said.

"A pet name, hm? I like it." He said, smiling at the police officer. She didn't even bother to rebuke, she just let it slide. She smiled. 'Even with his head all bloody and his ego bruised he really is handsome.' She thought.

Sly smiled even larger at her smile. She was so beautiful when she smiled. All the feelings he used to hold for her seem to flood back into his heart. "The planning isn't going anywhere though," He finished.

"I have an idea." She said. "You let me go and i'll take you to your home and then in three weeks I'll resume my search on you." Carmelita liked the idea. She knew he would be up and running in three weeks.

"Thats a good plan, gorgeous." He said to her, "But there're three flaws. One: even if I did let you go then how would I get out? Two: if I come back to the safe house like this i'll have to explain what happened to the guys and they'll become paranoid and want to move. And last, but not least," he paused and winked at her. "If you took me home you'd know where I live and then we'd have to leave for sure." Carmelita thought about how to fix the three flaws and when she figured it out she said, "Okay, ringtail, i'll take you to my house and once your healthy ill give you a day to get home and then we'll resume our chasing." She smiled, she was proud of herself for figuring it out.

Sly thought a moment. "I like it." He said, "But, how am I gonna get out of here?" Carmelita laughed. "I can carry you." Sly looked bewildered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course. You can't be a Inspector at Interpol without being in good condition."

"Okay, fine." Sly said, won over by her arguments. He slunk his way over the few feet between them. He reached his hand up to her hair, and, for a second, Carmelita thought he was gonna run his hand through it. She was suprised when he pulled his hand back and in his palm was a bobby pin. He picked the lock and once she was free, she shook her wrists. She stood up and made sure her body was okay. "Okay, Sly, this is gonna hurt." She said. She gasped as she realized she just called him by his first name. Sly chuckled, "Getting a little friendly are we, Carm?"

"My name's Carmelita." She said stubbornly. He opened his mouth to say something but she

said, "And that doesn't give you permission to call me that. I'm still Inspector Fox."

"Okay, Inspector Fox. I can handle pain." She shrugged and took both of his hands. A spark of feeling spread through both of their bodies at the touch. She ignored it and heaved him up in her arms. He grunted in pain. She smiled down at him in her arms. "Now this is kinda akward." He said. They both started laughing and they walked out the door of what was sure to be a broken down dance studio in Paris.

THE END