Author's Note: Whaaaat? What is this? Another submission, and it hasn't been years? What is happening?!

If you're a reader wanting an explanation, feel free to check out my bio. If I'm picking up any new readers, hello! Thanks so much for popping in!

I've gotten several requests for a prequel to my Fine Line series. And I really want to write it. So, let's just see where it goes, yea?

Disclaimer: I don't own Sly Cooper and friends. They are copyright of Sucker Punch Productions and Sanzaru Games.


Chapter 1 A Ringtail Reformed?


"...and who am I?"

"You? You're…my partner. Constable Cooper."

"Well partner, we'd better get outta here. The ceiling's gonna go. We haven't got much time."

"Let's go."

Reaching down, Inspector Fox helped the raccoon to his unsteady feet, gripping one shoulder to help him regain balance.

As the cavern began to collapse, she held tight to his hand, and together, they hightailed it out. All the while, the logical side of her mind screamed 'What am I doing? What am I doing?!'

And in answer, she told herself: 'Seizing an opportunity! Getting what you always wanted!'

'I don't want this! I just told him the biggest lie I've ever told anyone!'

'Not exactly. If he really doesn't remember, is it so bad to paint a new picture for him?'

'YES!'

'But if this works, you can turn him into an upstanding citizen. One of the good guys! You can start over. You've always worked together, joined forces to take down the true threats of the world, but now you can do it on the same side of the law! Yes it's dishonest, but if one dishonest statement can help a wandering soul get a second chance, then is it really that bad?'

"…Ins-spector?"

Carmelita looked up at Sly, ears falling in concern at the way he winced and held his head. "I…I don't—" he tried, but the rest of his statement never surfaced.

Her eyes widened as she saw him begin to stumble again and she rushed to his side, supporting him with one arm. "Sly? You okay?" She made quick work of studying his face, noting his unfocused gaze and hearing him groan. "Are you going to be sick?" she asked.

He didn't say anything at first, giving himself a chance to get his bearings, as best he could, eyes still tightly shut. Then, slowly, he opened them again and blinked a few times. "I…I don't think so. Just…dizzy. Head…hurts…bad."

Nodding grimly, she walked with him down to the edge of the shoreline, guiding him to one of the boats that would transport them back. "Sounds like you might have a concussion. I'll get you to the hospital as soon as we reach the mainland." They were a good ways away from Paris. In fact, their current location in the South Pacific, the closest continent was Australia.

"Captain, take us to Sydney," Carmelita ordered.

"Yes ma'am," the captain responded, giving the Inspector a salute.

Wasting no time, the vixen pulled back a sleeve of her jacket, exposing her wrist communicator. She punched in a series of numbers, waiting for her gruff superior's answer.

"Barkley."

"Chief, Inspector Fox here. I have Sly Cooper. He's suffered a head injury that's causing him to have memory loss. I'm going to Sydney to seek medical attention for him."

There was a confused grumbling from the badger's end. "Memory loss? Why is this relevant? Elaborate, Inspector."

"Well sir, when he came to, he didn't know where he was or even who he was."

There was a pause, and then an annoyed growl. "How do you know he isn't faking? W—"

Carmelita cut him off before he could go on about how it would be just like a low life thief to feign injury to escape being booked. "He's not. Believe me, I'm looking at him right now. He's dizzy and disoriented. I know what signs of a concussion look like, and he's definitely not faking." When her boss didn't immediately start yelling, she went on. "And I promise, the moment he gets discharged, we'll be headed straight for HQ."

"You'd better be," was all he answered with. "The moment he's released."

"Yes sir." She pressed the button on her communicator, huffing out a sharp exhale once the call had ended. She was off the hook for now, but she'd get an earful back at the office. Luckily she had an idea of how to explain the situation. But that could wait. Right now, Sly needed help.

While the captain set a course for the mainland, Carmelita sat next to the pained raccoon. The whipping wind was making a mess of her hair, blue flyaway strands constantly brushing against her face, and the small waves created as the boat sped across the water was causing salty droplets to pelt her in the face. But none of that seemed to bother her. Brown eyes that normally looked upon the thief in frustration and rage now gazed down at him with deep concern and worry. His eyes were closed, and he still held the side of his head, breathing in shallow, ragged breaths.

She gently laid a palm against his forehead. "How are you feeling now?" she asked.

It took him a moment to answer. "About the same." He tilted his head back, using one arm to brace himself against the side of the boat. "S-sounds like someone's excited for you to get back," said Sly, voice slurring somewhat as he gazed up at the stunning blue-haired vixen. "Can't s—say I blame 'im."

Carmelita shook her head. "That's how he is with everyone, don't take it personally. He isn't the best at showing compassion."

"So…why do we work for him?"

A sad smile crept across her lips. "Because we have a thirst for justice and a passion for keeping the everyday evil that plagues our world at bay, no matter the cost."

"Hmmm," the raccoon hummed. "Eloquent and beautiful. Know I'm not dreaming, 'cause my head's killing me. Man if you're seriously my partner, then I'm one lucky guy."

The vixen's cheeks burned a brilliant red from his words. Ever the silver-tongue, that ringtail. But this time, it really felt like it came from a place of true candor.

With her fingers she combed back her hair, but alas, it didn't stand a chance against the wind. "Well it wasn't so lucky that you hit your head." Maybe it was, in a way, but the intense pain and slurred speech part, not so much. "But don't worry, I'll make sure you get the help you need."

Though his eyes were half-closed and a little unfocused, they harbored unmistakable warmth as he smiled at her. "Thanks, Inspector."

"You can just call me Carmelita."

"Carmelita…" He nodded. "And…who am I again?"

"You're Sly Cooper. A very brave and revered Constable working for Interpol. You've dedicated your life to putting the most elusive of criminals in prison, where they belong." She gave herself a mental slap for laying it on a little thick like that. But she had to sell it.

"Wow…so I'm really good at what I do?"

Carmelita smiled. "The best in your league."

This had Sly smiling too, until he realized…

"But I…don't remember how to do my job."

Carmelita's lips pressed together in thought. "I can help with that," she finally said. "But don't worry about any of that right now. You need to relax." She removed her uniform jacket. Though spattered with mud, it was still better than nothing. She folded it and gently tucked it under his head. "Lie back and rest."

She kept watch over him until they docked at Sydney. And all the while, her mind battled over whether she was doing the right thing, or if she was making a huge mistake.

[][][]

Sly stared up at the boring white ceiling tiles as he lay in a small bed in the emergency room. If the lumpy rectangle could even be considered a bed. One leg dangled over the side, bushy ringed tail draping itself over the bedside in a similar fashion.

He overheard bits and pieces of a hushed conversation Carmelita was having with someone out in the hall. One of the doctors perhaps? He heard phrases like 'strictly confidential' and 'sensitive situation' and something about adhering to HIPPA laws.

Before long, the doctor entered, followed closely by Carmelita.

The aging shrew walked in. In his hands were images taken from routine CT scans. "Alright, got some pictures of your brain. Wanna see?"

The raccoon perked up. "Sure. Do they look cool?"

The physician shrugged. "I've been practicing for so long that all brains have begun to look the same to me. Four lobes, grooves, sulci, basilar artery foramen, corpus callosum…but uh, to a pair of fresh eyes, it probably looks pretty neat." He held up the films to the light as he pointed out various areas and lobes. Sly couldn't make any sense of what the guy was saying, but he nodded anyways whenever he felt it was appropriate to. And it did look really interesting; he'd never seen the inside of his own head before!

Carmelita studied the films too, looking over the doctor's shoulder curiously.

"So there's impaired functioning in the areas responsible for memories stored up until your injury. How long it will be like that, I couldn't tell you. The mind is complex and everyone's is different. But you definitely suffered a pretty nasty concussion. I'd like you to stay overnight for observation. Just to ensure no secondary issues arise."

Sly shrugged indifferently. "Fine by me." It wasn't like he had other plans. Not that he could remember, anyways.

The shrew nodded, turning to Carmelita. "He's going to need plenty of rest until he's made a full recovery. And physical activity should be kept to a minimum. If he gets headaches, Tylenol is fine, but stay away from anything that thins the blood. Now then, I assume one of your officers will be keeping watch during his stay?"

"I'll be staying with him," she answered, resolve thick in her tone.

Brows lifted over the coon's tired eyes. "Carmelita, you don't have to—"

"I know," she quickly cut him off, voice softening when she continued. "I want to."

Sly frowned. "I'm sure you have more important matters on your plate, Inspector."

"More important than making sure my partner is okay? I don't think so." She crossed her arms, auburn tail weaving left and right. "I'm staying and that's final."

The doctor placed the images back safely in a manila folder. "Doesn't matter who, just as long as someone's here to keep an eye on you."

When the doctor had finished conversing with his ringtailed patient, he left to continue on his rounds. Carmelita, however, stayed put. She only left once to make a call, and when she returned, Sly offered a small smile, too weak to give much more than a lift of his hand in greeting before letting it flop back down at his side.

"You're still awake, I see," she said, stepping back into the room with a look that was stern but somehow a bit concerned as well.

"You were only gone for like, five minutes," he replied, tail flicking idly.

"Oh…right. Sorry," she murmured, ears lowered in apology.

Sly titled his head. "Talking to the chief?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, I was. I was just telling him that I'm staying here overnight with you and that we'll both report back in when you're well enough to leave."

He nodded. "You really didn't have to. You look pretty beat as it is."

She shook her head and smiled. "I can sleep later. Right now, I need to look out for my partner."

He pulled at the starchy hospital blanket, trying to get comfortable on the intensely uncomfortable bed. At least the blankets were warm here.

"Besides," she went on. "It's kind of my fault that you're hurt, so I feel I owe it to you."

"Your fault? What'd you do? Hit me?"

A sound that was part laugh, part scoff fell off her lips. "No, you numbskull." Probably a poor choice of words, considering the matter. "You got hit by the guy we were after tonight. The shot was actually meant for me, but you jumped in front and saved me."

"Whoa, really?" He stared at her a moment before a smirk began to tug at his grey muzzle. "We must be pretty close then."

Carmelita stared right back, speechless at first. "Well, we do work together quite often."

She wasn't lying about that.

He nodded again, satisfied with that. So he'd thrown himself in the line of fire to save her. Either he was the most selfless guy on earth, or something deeper ran between them. Too bad he couldn't piece together that connection right now.

Half an hour later, Sly had upgraded to an actual room outside the ER, complete with a bathroom, TV, an armchair that Carmelita already claimed, and a slightly softer bed with real sheets. Score!

The vixen removed the hairtie from her thick blue braid, setting her curly locks free to fall across her shoulders as she took seat in the armchair.

"You gonna spend your night watching me sleep?"

"That's the idea."

"I'm just saying…that doesn't sound like a fun way to spend your night. 'M sure you got a guy waiting for you to come back home to."

"I don't, actually."

"No?"

She shook her head. "No. I live alone."

"'S beautiful as you are? Find that pretty hard to believe. Even if my head is all banged up."

She scoffed again, but the sound was light and void of harshness. "You need to get some rest. You had a long day."

He nodded, masked caramel eyes gradually closing. "Mkay. Good night, Inspector."

"Good night…Constable," she whispered back. There was no way she was about to join him in the land of slumber. Way too many thoughts ricocheted around in her mind. The only thing she could be absolutely certain of? Reporting back in to work was going to prove quite interesting.

[][][]

The next morning, Sly was released from the hospital. And then it was straight to the airport to board a plane to take them all the way back to Paris, which took another whole day in itself. Oh the perks of a job involving international criminal pursuit.

When they landed, it was late afternoon. And they were both positively worn out. Carmelita had only gotten snatches of sleep here and there, the stress of the situation getting to her. She caught a few extra hours on the plane, but when she wasn't sleeping, she was keeping an eye on Sly. Per doctor's orders, and also out of concern. What she was doing was positively insane. Taking him away from the life he'd always known. From the friends he'd made, from his home…wherever it was that he happened to live.

But…that part of him could be gone forever. And besides, she was saving his life too. If she could take a world-renowned thief who spent his days, and nights, running from the law and turn him into an honest member of society, help him see the light when he wasn't hiding out in the shadows, was that really so bad? How could it be bad, to help someone become 'good'?

Her meeting with the chief didn't grant her much time to deliberate that matter.

She was a good three feet taller than him and was fearless in the face of crime lord brutes, but he could still intimidate her like no one else.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" the stout badger roared, practically snarling up at her, slamming both hands on his desk, papers scattering to the floor.

"Sir," she attempted, holding a hand up in surrender, pointed ears falling back. In the other, she held images of Sly's brain scans. "I have actual proof that his memory is impaired! He knows his name and thinks he's a Constable, and that's it!"

"Because YOU TOLD HIM he was!"

She could only flinch in response at his thundering voice.

He growled and covered his face with both hands in frustration before snatching the images out of her hand to have a look at them. While he looked them over, she took the opportunity to plead her case.

"Look, I think we could really utilize his abilities. He doesn't know he was a criminal. I say we jump at this chance and show him the ropes. It's a two for one shot. We remove one of our targets, and then gain another officer at the same time. And then we don't have to worry about chasing him and putting him in jail. We can convince him that he's a good guy!"

Barkley was silent for several moments, his gruff expression never changing. He took a long pull from the cigar in his hands, smoke puffing out as he exhaled. Then he finally looked up at the vixen through narrowed eyes.

"Bring him in here. Let me talk to him."

"Yes sir."

Carmelita was gone in a flash, reappearing minutes later with Sly, a very calm, unassuming look on his face.

"Sly Cooper."

"Hello Chief."

He pointed at one of the empty chairs in an aggressive jabbing motion. "Have a seat."

He sank down into the chair nearest him, quirking a brow at the badger, wondering why he seemed so angry. After all, all they'd done was show back up to work.

"So," Barkley began. "I'm told you suffered a concussion and now everything's a little fuzzy."

"That's a good way to describe it," the coon answered, tone honest and tired. "I just know my name, and that I work with Inspector Fox."

Barkley grumbled under his breath. "You really can't remember anything else?"

Brown eyes stared off into space as he tried to sift through the dark void that was now his mind. "Erm…" He brought a hand up to rub at the back of his neck. "I remember coming to and seeing Carmelita. We left the island we were on and we took a boat to Sydney. Before that…I'm drawing a blank…sorry."

"So you don't know what you were doing there?" the badger asked.

Brow quirked, Sly looked to the vixen. "I was working with Inspector Fox on a bust or something, right? Did we catch the guy?"

Barkley slowly nodded, eyes still narrowed as the gears in his head began to turn. "We did."

Sly nodded back. "That's good, then. The doctor said I could come back to work as long as my symptoms don't flare up again, and I take it easy."

The chief got out of his chair and stalked over to the much taller male, looking him up and down. "You know that working in law enforcement involves taking down thieves and anyone who works alongside them, don't you, Mr. Cooper?" he baited.

Sly blinked. "Err, yes sir. But I don't think it'll be hard. I don't remember any cases you had me working on, but with a little refresher, I'll probably be good to go."

Barkley stayed silent in contemplation, and to Carmelita, the seconds that ticked by felt like hours.

"Okay," he said, his voice a pinprick that burst the bubble of tense silence. "I'll give you the weekend to recover. And then I want to see you here Monday morning, 7 AM. Sharp. Got it, Constable?"

"Yes sir," he replied.

They shook hands and Sly turned to leave. That is until Carmelita placed a hand on his arm to stop him. "Um, wait for me out in the hall, okay?"

"Okay."

When Sly was out of earshot, Carmelita rushed over to her hotheaded boss. "Chief, I think this is a really good thing we're doing. And I just wanted to thank you for giving him the opportunity."

Barkley pulled a lighter from his pocket, lit his cigar and took another pull. "We have a lot of paperwork to add to our already massive stacks. And you do realize if this goes awry in any way, it's your hide that'll be on the line."

Her stomach felt like it had frozen into a block of ice, but she nodded calmly on the outside. "Of course."

He nodded, gesturing to the door in a shooing motion. "Alright. Dismissed, Inspector."

She left his office, quickly rejoining her now partner. He was staring through the glass window into a room down the hall that was filled with enormous screens displaying maps and video surveillance clips, and about a dozen officers tapping away at computers.

When Carmelita approached, he looked her way and offered a small smile. Not a trace of deceit to be found in his expression.

"Glad the Chief's giving you the weekend off to recuperate," Carmelita said. "Give you the time you need to heal before reporting back in to this madhouse."

Sly looked from her beautiful vulpine face, to her uniform and the pistol in her holster, to the room full of officers. Down the hall, he could hear a meeting being conducted by a male with a loud, booming voice. Then his eyes met Carmelita's again, and he frowned in unease.

"Inspector—"

"Sly, we're partners. Just call me Carmelita."

"Okay…Carmelita…I don't remember anything involved with my job."

Her expression softened in sympathy. "Don't worry. I doubt he'll put you on a new case right after a major head injury."

"I feel fine…I just can't remember—"

She held a hand up to stop him. "I know, I know. But there's no need to stress. Like I said, I'll help you. Tomorrow, we can visit the on-site training facility. You're not ready for combat but we can definitely get some target practice in."

"No combat? I thought I was the best in my league."

There was a nervous twitch to the vixen's tail. "You are! But you don't need to push yourself until you've fully healed. Best to play it safe."

"What if I get an assignment next week?"

"I'll make sure any assignment you're given is one that I oversee. If you're out in the field, I'll be there to take the lead. Until you're ready to take flight, you'll stay right under my wing, partner."

He smiled that same small, innocent smile. "Another stroke of luck. I certainly look forward to that."

A surge of warmth bloomed deep within the vixen, but she ignored it, pushing her bangs out of her eyes as she cleared her throat. "Me too. But now it's probably best that you get home so you can rest up before 're-training.'"

He stared at her in awkward confusion for several seconds before the reality of the situation smacked her square in the face.

"You…you don't remember where you live, do you?"

He shook his head.

She crossed her arms, pacing a bit as she tried to come up with a solution. No way was she getting in contact with his gang members. Maybe she could put him up in a motel room? No, that would get expensive fast. And though the job was noble, it didn't provide substantial pay. Her apartment was proof of that.

Her apartment…

No. That was a terrible idea. There was no way in hell that would work. That was just asking for trouble!

The words came out before she could stop herself.

"Why don't you stay at my place? Until we can find you in the system and figure out where it is that you actually live."

He looked rather intrigued by the idea. "I...I really appreciate the offer. But that's not necessary. Besides...I can't impose on you like that."

"It's no imposition. I have a spare room."

Idiot! a voice in her head shouted. You just wait, this is all gonna blow up in your face!

She blocked it out, deciding, for once in her life, to listen to her heart.

"Please. I feel I owe you this at least, after risking your life for me."

A grin broke out on his muzzle. "Well now, how could I refuse a lovely lady twice?"

She smirked in return, tossing a thumb over her shoulder. "Come on. I'll drive you."


Sweet inspiration, how I've missed you! Maybe I'll update Tennessee's story next! Who knows...who knows.

Very excited to share this with you though. It's so good to be back. :)

To my guest reviewer, I was waiting for someone to mention that. I hoped no one would be too mad about it, even though it's not technically breaking canon. See, in my mind, there's no way he'd get hired as a cop if they didn't have some foundation of proof that he's telling the truth. It's law enforcement, after all. Buuuut, later, he'll have his memory back, and he will be faking. It'll all come together, you'll see. :)