YAY! I'm back! Sorry for the long wait, y'all. A lot happened my senior semester that required me to take a break and just focus on me for awhile. On a brighter note, home girl finally graduated with a BA in English. WOOOOOOOOOO!

Anyway, I'll keep this short. Since it's been long since I've written this story, I need to spend some time re-familiarizing myself with it all. So, that means going back to the beginning and reading. This chapter was already written and plotted out, so that's why it's being uploaded. I know it sucks, but it might be a few weeks before the next chapter is up and I apologize for that. But, thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed or fave'd this story. I'm not going to give up on it because I love these characters too much to do so.

Enjoy the chapter!

~Delyth

Chapter Fourteen

The Ruins

Her fur was matted from the amount of sweat that flowed from her pores in a vain attempt to keep her cool as they trekked through the jungle. So far, they'd barely made it past the three-mile mark in under five hours. If it wasn't for the perilous journey to the temple—meaning the random patches of quick sand that nearly swallowed Murray, thick foliage that their machete had difficulty cutting, and the various obstacles they had to lift the makeshift wagon Bentley made through together to carry their equipment—they probably would've been to the temple already. Jazlyn growled as another branch caught in her thick fur and she cursed inelegantly under her breath as she slashed the branch in two with her claws. Screw the machete—she had sharper knives than that damn thing.

The last two hours of walking was spent in darkness and Jazlyn leading the way as her eyes were much more accustomed to pitch blackness than the others. She was ready to curse every god she could think of for creating the tropical rainforest and humidity, but paused on the edge of the underbrush, her ears perking up as she caught an unfamiliar sound from the forest. Behind her, the Cooper gang stopped just at her back, their murmuring voices dying as they took in her alert stance. She tilted her head, trying to hear better, and when that didn't work, she took a cautious step forward.

Heavy stomps and grunts from elephants were the first thing she was able to identify as she drew closer. Peering through the underbrush separating her from the patrolling rhino guards and the working elephants, she noticed that the temple ruins were a lot bigger than she initially thought and a majority of the ancient structures were pretty much intact. That probably had more to do with Rajan using this place as his spice operation Bentley had explained the day before while they travelled via van. She also noticed a giant makeshift satellite created from bamboo, wood, and stone from the surrounding ruins and the elephant that was currently making all of the noise as it walked in a circle.

Narrowing her eyes, she surveyed the surrounding area for a possible hideout for them. They'd need to be able to sneak in and out while making trips from the cart for their equipment without attracting too much attention. She saw an old and magnificent building in the far distance that was balanced precariously on a tree and knew without having to ask the others that wouldn't be a great place to plan. To her right was what appeared to be an ancient snake head carved from the stone and attached to a sturdy tree. It was high up in the air, away from the ground and any guards who might want to investigate if they saw any lights illuminating the snake's eyes. The only problem now was how to get not only Bentley and Murray up there, but the rest of the equipment.

She saw a stone structure that must've been a part of an old building and there looked to be a large mushroom at the base of both the slab and again at the top of it where they could reach the snake head's platform. Now, she just needed to test her theory and see if the mushrooms would catapult them up if they jumped on it.

The snow leopardess turned to explain what she was seeing to the Cooper gang and the potential hideout. Bentley walked beside her and pulled out his binocucom to assess the situation as well. After several minutes of observing the surrounding area, he nodded. "Those giant mushrooms look like they'll serve as trampolines for us to reach that platform. We'll need to be careful of the foot patrol guards during the transport."

"Piece of cake," Sly said, stretching his arms over his head and smirking.

Jazlyn rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the guards making their rounds for the night. "This place is crawling with more guards than his palace estate. So far, I can see about twenty to twenty-five guards patrolling this one area—they're a lot closer together than before. Rajan's not taking any chances this time, it seems."

Murray smashed his fist into his palm, clearly excited by those odds while Bentley listened intently to her assessment. Her eyes noted the pattern of walking guards and how long it took for them to complete a full circuit of the area. She glanced down at their cart then to Murray with a calculating eye, and Sly caught her stare and raised an eyebrow as he watched her. Then, he understood what she had circling around in her head.

"Hey, pal," Sly clapped the pink hippo on the arm. "Think you could carry this cart and save us the trip?"

Jazlyn snickered quietly as Murray rubbed his hands together and proceeded to lift the wagon that held all of Bentley's precious gadgets and electronics like they weighed nothing. Despite his spectacular lift, she could see his arms quiver at the strain and she turned to look at the rhinos again. Her muscles tensed in anticipation as she waited patiently for the perfect gap between guards, then she whispered, "Go."

Following closely behind her, Bentley and Murray hurried across the empty space from the tree line to the first mushroom. Sly took the rear in case he needed to provide a distraction while Bentley and Murray reached the stone slab. Jazlyn motioned for Murray to go first and prayed that the mushroom would be able to lift his heavier frame and the cart's weight without much trouble. Thankfully, the hippo launched into the air and landed somewhat loudly on the former stone home. Bentley was next, and the turtle gasped as he was thrusted upward so quickly and high that Murray had to put the cart down in order to catch him. She tried to control her giggle as she jumped and pulled herself up onto the stone slab, Sly not a second behind her as a rhino rounded the corner where they just were.

"Cutting it close, eh, Cooper?" She grinned, punching his shoulder lightly.

He chuckled, "I live for the danger."

"Oh, we know." Jazlyn followed after Bentley and Murray as they prepared for the next jump.

Before the master thief could retort, the turtle said, "Sly, while we're setting up the hideout, go take a few recon photos. Especially of that satellite array."

With a cheeky salute, Sly headed for taller position to take a photo of the satellite while they worked on their safehouse.

~o~

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

"Spots—"

"Don't you fucking dare, Sly Cooper." Jazlyn snarled, rounding on him with such fire in her eyes that the green had almost been completely overwhelmed by it. Immediately, the raccoon put his hands up in the air, valuing his life more than protecting Bentley from her ire. Murray, the largest amongst them, tucked himself into the smallest corner and tried to avoid the snow leopardess's wrath.

Bentley stood his ground, albeit a little shakily considering the rage in her face as she returned her attention to him. "Until we know where Slicer is, we can't risk you getting caught alone with him."

She gritted her teeth, trying (and failing) to bite back the guttural growl from echoing around the small space in the serpent's head. "You need me out there, Bentley. Slicer or no Slicer."

"And if you face him again—can you handle the emotional upheaval his presence will bring?"

Low blow, she thought inwardly. Her eyes narrowed into near slits and her paws fisted at her sides. "I am not going to just twiddle my thumbs while the rest of you risk your lives."

"It's still too big of a risk, Jazlyn. I'm sorry, but you should stay out of sight until we find him."

Jazlyn prided herself for not having that big of a temper, but damn it, she deserved a good tantrum after hearing the turtle tell her she wasn't going to go on any jobs until Slicer was in their sights or they were out of the jungle. Her teeth flashed in the poor lighting and before she said something she'd regret later, Jazlyn turned on her heel and headed out of the safehouse with a slam of the makeshift door. She felt the fury in her blood reach its crest as she thought about how fucking right the infuriating turtle was, and she slammed her claws deep into the bark of the tree holding a part of their safehouse in the air.

Did she understand their concerns? Yes, of course, she fucking did. She'd be a damn idiot if she rushed off into the vast unknown of these temple ruins and ran into Slicer by herself again. The only reason why she hadn't lost herself to his presence was the adrenaline of the heist and ensuring that they pulled it off without the panther destroying everything. Did she honestly believe that she'd be able to handle another encounter with the panther by herself? No, she'd probably break a little more trying to keep the pieces of her soul together.

Taking deep breaths to quell the raging inferno, she ignored the door opening and closing again. Her fiery greens glared into the dreary darkness as she braced her hands against the hand-made railing of bone and stone shaped like teeth. Her long, fluffy tail jerked back and forth in rhythm with her anger as she watched the beginning of another tropical rain shower.

"Say what you want, Sly," Jazlyn said, not looking behind her. The minute he closed the door, she recognized his soft steps and the rush of cinnamon entered her nose as the wind shifted its direction.

Ignoring her huffy attitude, the master thief leaned against the railing beside her and waited calmly until she finally turned to look at him. His eyes were deep as his gaze peered into her soul, piercing her with those dark orbs until she nearly lost herself in them. She shook her head clear and looked away again with a frustrated sigh.

"Bentley has good intentions, Ravana," he said after another minute of silence, using her true name once again. The only time he'd use it—whenever they were alone and living in their own little world. "I know we can't keep you from completing jobs in the future—not that I'd want to keep you cooped up either—but you heard him. We're almost two-hundred miles away from the nearest hospital. If any of us get seriously injured, there's no guarantee that we'll make it this time."

"I know that," she sighed, rubbing her face as the anger in her slowly dissipated. "Excuse me if I hate being on the sidelines, and I highly doubt Slicer will just assume I'm not here. Who's to say he won't come searching for me?"

Before Sly could argue, she interrupted, "Look, I won't go out until we know where he is, but there's nothing to stop him from searching for me and finding our safehouse."

"We can handle that when and if it happens."

Jazlyn rolled her eyes but didn't argue back. She knew how hard-headed all three males were and once they rallied together, there was nothing to convince them. "Well, Sly, get going. You heard Bentley, we need to get rid of the satellite array before we do anything else."

He flashed a smirk in her direction and cupped her cheek, his eyes softening. The master thief leaned forward and placed a peck to her forehead. "I'll be back soon. Try not to break anything else, okay?"

Swatting at him with sheathed paws, she kept the blood from rushing to her cheeks at the claw marks etched into the bark beside her. Laughing, Sly jumped down from the platform and made his way to an old, tall tree that had long ago lost its leaves for the spice plant he needed to place in the elephant's feedbag. As per usual, the gang was starting things off with a bang.

She watched him climb up the tree to grab the plant until he disappeared from her line of sight. The rain helped relax her tense muscles as she watched the elephant attached to Rajan's satellite array continue to go round and round. She felt a little bad for the poor creature, being tied up then being fed a bunch of spice plants that would make it go mad.

With that happy thought, Jazlyn decided to go back inside and apologize to the turtle. It wasn't fair to take out all of her frustration and anger on him.

Needless to say, Bentley wasn't all that upset at her after she came back inside to apologize. He simply shrugged the entire ordeal off with little fanfare and told her to help setup the rest of their gear while he communicated with Sly. Between her and Murray, their safehouse was looking more like a step-up from their cave near Rajan's palace city. She'd been busy arranging the rather small living quarters to suit all of them and, with very little ventilation in the serpent's head, Jazlyn felt like she was melting from the outside-in she was so hot. Despite her tank and shorts, she was contemplating just walking around in her sports bra and a pair of thin, flimsy pajama shorts since she was bound to the safehouse for a while.

She sighed, still mulling over the pros and cons when she heard, "Hey, pal? Think I just saw Neyla nearby."

"What? Where?"

Jazlyn meandered over to the table and hovered by Bentley's shoulder, a scowl pulling at her muzzle as she listened to the rain and static filter through Sly's mic. "It was brief but looked like she headed to the north of the ruins. Should I follow her?"

Bentley bit his lip, thinking. She was becoming a little antsy the longer he remained silent until he shook his head. "No, stick to the original plan for the satellite array."

"Got it." And without another word, Sly ended the transmission and headed to the next spot Bentley created a waypoint to.

"Jazlyn, what're you thinking?"

She raised an eyebrow at the green turtle as he swiveled a little in his chair to look at her. It was obvious to all of them that she didn't trust the Constable not to mention that the snow leopardess didn't like her one bit. Maybe it had a lot to do with the way the tigress had dismissed her too easily at the ball and ogled Sly like he was a piece of meat, but more than that, there was nothing about Neyla that signaled that she could be trusted (at least to her and she was not only biased but she didn't trust easily in the first place). There was also the fact that Neyla's eyes were full of cunning and intelligence—the kind of intelligence not many people would notice at first glance, not until it was too late and they were caught in her trap.

"Other than the fact that I'm glad I don't have to deal with that bitch right now?" Bentley's lips quirked a little and he waited for her to continue. She looked away from his thoughtful gaze and stared out the built-in windows. "There's no way she could find out where Rajan's spice operation is this quickly. It took us almost two weeks before we found anything—and that's with Reinhart's help. Not to mention, Neyla should still be busy dealing with the hordes of corrupted businessmen Interpol caught at Rajan's ball. How could she even get here without Carmelita knowing or Interpol, for that matter? It's fishy and I'll say it again: I don't trust her."

Murray swallowed the fistful of chips he'd gotten from their snack bin. "D'you really think she's just leading us on?"

Jazlyn nodded, "Don't have any proof other than my own suspicions and observations, but it's still something to think about."

"I agree with you, Jazlyn, but she has helped us in the past—twice." Bentley returned to his laptop, monitoring Sly's progress.

"To gain your trust," she argued. "Just because she leads Sly to a back entrance with the key and helped us out with Carmelita at the ball, doesn't mean shit. She could be plotting how to take credit for the capture of Sly Cooper and his gang and move up the ranks." When Bentley opened his mouth to rebuke her, she added, "Look, all I'm sayin' is y'all should be more careful about blindly trusting her. She's still an Interpol agent—no matter how differently she sees and interprets the law."

The turtle grew silent, mulling over what she said while Murray continued to snack. When neither one said anything more, she sat at the table across from Bentley and picked at her claws with growing boredom.

After another fifteen minutes spent in silence, Jazlyn sighed and pulled her own laptop out to dig through the files Enyd had sent her. If she was going to be stuck in the safehouse, she may as well do something useful in the long run.

In order to defeat your target, Enyd used to tell her, you must first learn every single bit of information about him.

She berated herself for the next fifteen minutes as her cursor hovered over the first file for her hesitancy. This wasn't the time to be scared of what she might learn about the panther that became obsessed with her and wanted to play mind games. Convincing herself that this was just like any other research she'd do before a heist on security procedures and the like, Jazlyn finally opened the first folder and began to read Enyd's notes on Darius Sinclair, a.k.a. Slicer.

As her eyes skimmed the first few paragraphs of his early childhood, she was somewhat disconcerted that not even Enyd had much information on Darius and his life before he turned thirteen. The only thing Enyd knew about his childhood was where he lived in Russia, the family dynamic (unstable and filled with abuse), and the massacre of the village not too long after the panther left. Perplexed by this, she continued to read over her mentor's notes about the village's untimely and bloody end. According to Enyd, the village came under fire, literally, by a mysterious gang of outsiders who decimated the town and its inhabitants by ransacking the merchant classes' homes while slaughtering every man, woman, and child until the icy snow was painted red with their blood.

She squinted as a particular note Enyd made caught her attention: The same mysterious massacre that befell the Alvah-Snowe clan of the Himalayans. Survivor reports tell of mysterious metal wings beating in the night as well as sightings of the Fiendish Five.

The Fiendish Five? Wasn't that…?

Jazlyn's eyes widened, and she reeled back until she almost fell out of her chair. Her mind whirred and grinded to a halt at the newfound information of that night her entire family was murdered. She hadn't expected to find any kind of hint from Enyd about her clan's mysterious death or that the ones behind it was the notorious group led and formed by Clockwerk himself. Why would the Fiendish Five destroy this village let alone her home and family? Was this the connection Slicer was talking about? She'd only expected to find his minimal history before he disappeared from the grid completely like she had—not this macabre connection that tied his village's massacre to her clan's mysterious death.

Her ears were roaring with noise and she shoved her laptop away—unwilling to look at it while her mind was being weighed down by confusion and memories of the worst night of her life. Memories that had long since been buried to the deepest depths in order to forget the horrors that she suffered.

"Jaz?" Murray asked, his hand touching her shoulder and causing her to jump a foot in the air. She'd been so engrossed in trying to keep herself together that she'd forgotten Murray and Bentley were still in the same room. "What's wrong?"

Instead of answering, she took a deep breath and tried to quiet the roaring sea of her mind at the unearthed truth she wasn't aware she'd be finding so soon. After a few minutes of silence and ignoring the concerned glances between the hippo and turtle, Jazlyn closed her eyes and rubbed her face. "I just…I found something I didn't expect is all."

"About Slicer?" Like her, Bentley and the guys couldn't say the panther's real name. Not only was it strange, but it made him seem more like them and none of them could come to terms with that yet.

"Both," she whispered.

Bentley paused in his typing and Murray took a seat beside her, grasping her quivering hand in his. By some miracle, she kept herself from freaking out anymore on the outside and kept the majority of her turmoil locked inside to tear and shred and burn and freeze every part of her mind and soul. She latched onto Murray's big fingers like a lifeline in the storm she'd willingly released inside.

"Do ya wanna talk about it?" The pink hippo asked, voice soft while his hand patted hers and squeezed back.

Did she ever want to talk about what Enyd had, undoubtedly, shared with her on purpose through this one out of who knows how many side-notes in the files? Maybe, but she needed to learn more than what she knew. She needed to thoroughly read each and every piece of Slicer's history before she started to make links with her own. For now, she'd store this piece of info into a box to deal with later, which meant waiting to tell them exactly what had set her off into a panic.

She lifted her head and stared at her laptop—the same file still leering at her from the screen and seemingly, laughing at her overreaction. When she finished this, and there was no doubt that she'd finish before the night ended, she was going to share what she'd learn and then chew Enyd out. Maybe. If she was willing to push the husky's buttons.

In the meantime, Jazlyn finally answered, "Not yet. I was just shocked was all." She paused, flicking her gaze to Murray's hand still holding hers. "But, um, Murray, could you…?"

He smiled and nodded without saying another word. Gratitude poured from her eyes as she smiled at him before pulling her laptop back toward her and telling Bentley she'd explain as soon as she had all the facts. The turtle watched her face for several minutes before returning to his own research while also checking on Sly. Boy, were the three boys going to be in for a shock when she told them what subtle hint Enyd slammed her with.