Author's Note: Welcome to my very first fanfiction ever written. And first story with an actual plotline. I suppose I should put that little disclaimer here now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper or anything associated with the character or fantastic video game series. Sly Cooper and friends are owned by Sucker Punch Productions and Sanzaru.

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1 Apologies

It was a night just like any other night. And yet so different than any night before it at the same time.

It was midnight in Paris, but this was no romantic rendezvous in the city of love.

No, this was a robbery. Pure and simple. Initiated by the most formidable team in history, combining an intuitive genius, a robust brawler, and one very smooth criminal. With a cane.

The night air was thick with adventure and anticipation. The rustling wind felt amazing to the lithe raccoon as he leaped fluidly from rooftop to rooftop. He could hear the guard hogs a good distance behind him, puzzled as to his current whereabouts. The raccoon snickered as he leaped off a fire escape and scampered swiftly down an alleyway.

"I think I heard him go this way!" one of the gruff boars growled. The lumbering guards began to catch up with him. Well he couldn't let that continue. With the bag of jewels slung over his shoulder, he jumped to a low windowsill of a timeworn apartment complex and began to scale to the top, sneaking past unsuspecting residents with his agile feet and silent stealth. In one rapid move, he somersaulted onto an awning of a nearby restaurant, catapulting himself to the roof of the one of the highest buildings in Paris. He smiled and shook his head as he watched the bumbling guards search the streets below for him, scratching their heads, perplexed.

"He got away again! Damn it! How does he always do that?" the taller one snarled. "That thievin' little rat thinks he can get away with robbin' the boss like that!"

The shorter one snorted in exasperation and motioned to another alley. "Not this time he won't! Come on, this way!"

After he watched the guards disappear into the distance, the nimble raccoon took a deep breath, taking in the appealing smells of the night. Little did the burly but dimwitted guard hogs know that he would indeed be getting away with 'robbin' the boss' tonight. He sighed, admiring the Eiffel tower in the radiant moonlight. The rush he felt could not be compared to anything else in the world.

His communicator on his wrist suddenly crackled, shattering the peaceful moment.

"Sly! Sly! Do you read me?" came a nasally voice.

Sly smiled. "Yea Bentley, I read ya. Loud and clear."

The turtle on screen sighed. "I thought those guards caught up to you!"

"Doubting me again, Bentley?" Sly asked in his most debonair voice.

"Well…it has been a while since you've been out on a 'mission'," Bentley said with a troubled expression.

"And it feels great!" Sly replied.

Bentley adjusted his thick glasses and tapped on his keyboard. "Just…don't get caught!"

"Relax, Bentley, thieving comes naturally to me. I've got this under control. Trust me."

Bentley still looked uncertain. "Well…alright. Did you retrieve the valuables from the Pristine Palace?"

With a smug grin, Sly held his wrist up to show Bentley the large bag filled with gold and jewels.

"Ok, you ready to initiate phase two?" Bentley asked.

"Affirmative, pal." Sly's ringed tail whipped about in excitement.

"Alright, Murray is already in position at Fortissimo Ferret's mansion. He's disguised as a guard, inside the ballroom. Sneak into the mansion and meet up with him. I'm staying here in the van; sneaking is more your style."

Sly smirked. "Of course. Be there in no time."

The communicator clicked off and Sly took a graceful leap onto an electrical wire nearby.

Once Sly arrived on Fortissimo's manor grounds, he snuck past the oblivious but menacing guards who were standing by the large mansion entrance gates. Cane in hand, he swung expertly from looming tree branches in the lush garden. He studied the extravagant location as he maneuvered through the treetops. The mansion resembled a gargantuan castle, flags and banners adorning its exterior structure, a velvet carpet lining the walkway leading to the front door, upscale topiary figures spread throughout the ornate yard.

This guy spared no expenses of his stolen riches. Talk about your lavish party location. Sly thought to himself.

Stealthily, Sly crept to the far side of the manor, staying out of view of scouting lookouts, and spotted a hole on the side of an extravagant turret wall, just big enough for him to squeeze through.

Once inside, he crept quietly but dexterously through the elaborately decorated hallways and elegant foyers.

Everything looked good enough to swipe, but he had a much bigger prize in mind.

He tiptoed past the bustling ballroom gala, full of sophisticated, richly dressed debutantes. He rolled his eyes at the way all their noses seemed to naturally point upwards as they sipped their expensive wine.

"Sly," Bentley's voice sounded again. "According to the map layout of Fortissimo's manor I've been studying, the room where the red diamond is held is just up ahead at the bottom of the left grand staircase there."

"Roger that," Sly whispered. He made his way to the staircase, staying low to ground and ducking behind potted plants and under tables when those pesky guards walked by. Once he reached the bottom, a shadowed figure reached out and grabbed his wrist.

Sly's heart stopped and he froze, thinking he'd been caught by a guard. He was relieved to see a large pink hippo dressed as a security guard step into the light.

Sly smiled, putting a hand to his chest. "You ready Murray?"

"Always ready, Sly!" Murray whispered roughly.

"Let's do this then!"

Sly and Murray stepped into the large room lined with golden columns and towering statues. In the center, the enormous red diamond gleamed, its intricate facets reflecting light upon the case it was contained in.

"We're in Bentley," Sly informed him.

"Ok," Bentley answered. "I've hacked into the system mainframe and shut down a majority of the infrared lasers. Unfortunately I couldn't take out the video cams, so make yourselves scarce!"

Sly and Murray nodded, and headed for the diamond, dodging lasers and cameras as they ran. Sly scaled one of the enormous columns and Murray followed behind, but not as gracefully, inching up towards the higher level of the room. Once there, the two edged around until they were crouching several feet above the valuable red gem.

Sly pulled a rope out of the red pounch on his leg and after tying part of it around his waist, threw the remaining length to Murray, who gave him a thumbs up when he had a good grip on it. Then in one quick move, Sly dove adroitly, lowering himself onto the case, and slowly lifting the glass off the top. Narrowing his eyes, the skilled raccoon thief carefully reached for the jewel, mindful of the plethora of red lasers surrounding it, his heart pounding with excitement he hadn't felt in a long time. When he finally grasped the gleaming gemstone, he carefully placed the lid back on the case, untied himself, and jumped to the marble floor below, landing lightly on his feet.

Murray jumped to the floor as well, making a much louder thud, landing face first; he jumped up straight away and dusted himself off.

Sly tossed the jewels from the previous heist to Murray. "Good job pal, now let's get outta here."

"Right," Murray agreed.

They'd only made it halfway when the giant entrance door opened, flooding the room with light.

"Freeze crooks!" a tough male voice ordered. "Interpol police!"

Two foxes brandishing shock pistols stepped into view. The male fox had all his attention on his target, aiming the pistol carefully, but Sly's attention was on the female vixen. His eyes grew wide as he realized who she was.

Carmelita.

To say she was beautiful was an understatement. The Spanish-American red fox was slender and had tempting curves any girl would kill for. Her chocolate brown eyes were mesmerizing, hypnotizing features. Her curly locks contained in her usual braid shined dark cobalt. She wore her regular blue midriff top with her yellow Interpol jacket, sporting her tight jeans and lace up heeled boots. She was dressed for just another ordinary bust, but it was anything but ordinary. At least now.

The fierce look in Carmelita's eyes vanished and her expression turned into one of sheer shock, as she stared at her partner, Constable Cooper, with the coveted red diamond in his hands.

Caught red-handed, quite literally.

"Sly…?" was all she could manage to whisper.

Sly stared at her, his mouth agape. His breathing grew shallow. No, no no! he screamed in his mind. This was the one thing that was not part of the plan. This was not supposed to happen. The one cop who he feared would catch him more than anyone was face to face with him this very moment.

The vixen he was madly in love with.

They were both speechless at first.

"C-C-Car-Carmelita! What are you doing here?" Sly stammered incredulously.

"That doesn't concern you, low life bandit!" the male fox barked.

"Wait, Tony," Carmelita spoke softly to the muscular fox who was still aiming his pistol. Her eyes still burning on her raccoon lover and partner, who stood next to his shocked hippo friend, both looking ridiculously guilty.

"I…I was told that a robber was on the loose…stealing jewels…so I was assigned to be on lookout at the gala…" her voice was faint, still in disbelief. "It…it was you?"

"Carm, I—"

"Tell me!" she yelled.

Tony glanced at her with a look of concern.

Sly sighed, his head dropping gradually. "Yes. I…I'm out with my gang."

"Your gang? So…so that means…" she never finished. She turned to Tony with sorrow and disbelief in her eyes.

"He faked it. The whole amnesia thing. He never had it. He's been conning us this whole time. He lied to us. Lied to you." Tony spat out each sentence in disgust.

Sly glared at the male fox.

Carmelita gasped softly, holding her pistol limply in her hands. "Is…that true Sly?" It was a stupid question and she knew it. The evidence was laid out right in front of her. But still she asked.

Sly held up his hands and stepped towards his lover, wanting desperately for her to understand and listen to him. "Please, Carmelita, let me explain, I—"

"Just answer the question, raccoon!" Tony shouted, his finger firmly on the trigger.

Sly could feel his heart begin to shatter. His eyes locked on the stunning vixen's own, hers began to water. She stared at him, waiting for his reply with baited breath, and he knew he couldn't lie his way out of this one.

Slowly, acquiescingly, Sly nodded. Murray just stood there beside him, at a loss of what to do or say.

Carmelita slowly closed her eyes as she sucked in a ragged breath, lowering her head. She shook her head minutely, her ears folded down pathetically, and her trembling lips formed a tight line as she began to sniffle.

Tony lowered his weapon and put a comforting hand on the vixen's shoulder as it hitched softly.

Sly stepped towards her. It killed him to see her cry, knowing he was the one who caused her sadness. "Carmelita…please…I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't fix what you've done," Tony snarled in anger, his words echoing through the room.

Sly moved closer to Carmelita. "Baby," he pleaded softly.

Her eyes still closed and head down, she whispered, "I think you need to leave."

The shattered pieces of his heart began to feel like sharp shards of ice in his chest. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He wanted to run to her and hold her, to tell her that he had faked his amnesia so they could be together, so he could stay with her, with the fox he loved. He just had a moment of weakness. He wanted to do absolutely anything except what she was telling him to do.

A tear dropped from one of her stunning eyes and she swiftly whipped her pistol back up, one finger on the trigger. "Leave now Sly Cooper!" she yelled angrily. "And don't come home tonight!"

Frightened, Sly and Murray darted out the door behind Inspector Carmelita and Tony, making their escape.

When they were out of sight, Carmelita stared sadly up at Tony. She dropped her weapon and hugged him, burying her face in the chest of her trusted fox friend.

Tony dropped his pistol as well and embraced her warmly. "I'm so sorry Carm," he whispered.

She sniffled. "I…I can't believe this. I thought he'd changed..."

"You can't trust former thieves, Carmelita. Especially raccoon thieves. Criminals are always prone to relapse. I just hate you had to find out this way." He rubbed her back, attempting to console her.

The vixen said nothing as she continued to embrace Tony, for fear she would collapse if she didn't have him there to hold her. Tony took this silent opportunity to comfort his beautiful, heartbroken vixen companion.

Carmelita told Tony to inform Chief Barkley that she was taking the rest of her shift off. She could barely pay attention to the road on the way to her apartment, how could she handle a new assignment? So many things were flying through her mind at once.

She trudged up the steps to her door, as if in a trance. Once she reached her room, she slipped her jacket off, letting it fall to the floor and sluggishly crawled into her bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Ohhhh Sly!" she sobbed, gasping for breath. "I-I always had a feeling!" Tears fell down in a torrent. "Why did I ever try to change you? Why did I have to go and believe you lost your memory? I'm so stupid!" She buried her face in her hands. Her head began to throb as she sobbed and she felt her heart cracking apart in her chest.

"Why couldn't you change for us?" she whispered. "We could've been a family."

Outside, on her balcony, an equally distraught Sly watched her from the railing. His insides twisted up, and his brown eyes were full of despair. A single tear dropped and trailed down his gray muzzle before he turned and leaped off into the night.

Before Carmelita cried herself fully to sleep, her hands dropped to her stomach, rubbing it tenderly, stroking the tiny little life held within.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to it tearfully as she drifted into a fitful sleep.

Thanks for reading the first chapter! Please feel free to review and tell me what you think. I'm having lots of fun constructing this story, and, as many writers say, I hope you enjoy reading as much as I'm enjoying writing it for you.