A/N: Thanks for reading, everyone! This is the final chapter of Spy Cooper! I appreciate you reading this trilogy and I hope that you enjoy the sequel, story number three, which I call, "Dawn of Progeny", which I also named this 27th chapter after. You'll see why. OKAY! Thanks again for reading and I hope you continue to enjoy the trilogy through to its conclusion!

Chapter –TWENTY-SEVEN-
"Dawn of Progeny"

Several months ago…

Carmelita Fox looked into the mirror and focused only on the reflection of her doe-like amber-hued eyes. She took a deep breath to keep herself calm and licked her lips as if to attempt to dispel the apprehension and fear gnawing at her heart. "Penelope, I know we're not exactly from the same world, here… but am I a stupid girl?"

"Stupid no… but you are being silly right now."

Fox sighed. She pursed her lips together then said, "Jing?" A brief pause, then, "Ironically, I was your stand in at your wedding. What do you think? That was planned… this …this sorta' isn't."

Jing King approached Carmelita Fox in a flattering blue gown. "Ma'am, if I may be frank." She waited for a nod of the vixen's head then placed her paws on Carmelita's shoulders, looking the woman in the eye. "You're young. You have your whole life ahead of you and, whether or not you decide to go through with this today, the fact remains that going through with this will bring peace and happiness to your heart and spirit. Deny it in public if you wish, but you are deeply in love. Perhaps your worries are because this isn't happening the way it happens in fantasy books. Your maid of honor is someone you once wished to arrest because she had a record of theft by means of using remote controlled gadgets. None of that matters right now. Look passed what is awkward about this ceremony. Look beyond how your father has made you feel about going through with this. You're not doing this for anyone else. You're not doing it for what few friends will attend today. You're not doing this for the small amount of family members will be attending this enormous day to show support. All of those distractions aside, you're truly doing this for yourself and for Sly Cooper. And at the end of the day, it's about creating a link of unity that transcends life and death with the man that your heart yearns to love forever. It's about taking the next step forward on the first day towards growing old with your future husband. If you choose to do this, you'll be appeasing your desire to make all of this come true. If you walk away, your heart will be left incomplete only to save face with a handful of others. Would you… could you disrespect yourself so greatly as to walk away now? Now? When you're this close to finally realizing your happiness? And what of the baby?" Jing brought her right palm to Carmelita's tummy firmly. "The beautiful life that you've created together? You're a family now, whether or not you marry the father. But the fact of the matter is, you're not getting married today for this baby… you're getting married today because you're in love with the man you've chosen as the father of this child. Today, you should embrace your love for your partner. Today, you should stand proud and enjoy your special day, creating a symbolic unity."

Carmelita was silent, her lower lip trembling between her teeth. Penelope had nothing to say. Jing shook her head, reached for Carmelita's paws and began jumping like a giggly American. "Miss Fox, you're GETTING MARRIED! YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED!"

It worked better than the speech and was what Carmelita needed. She jumped with Jing and Penelope joined in. The three girls screamed, getting out their pent up energy. Fox drew both girls into a hug and, even though it was a little out of character, they took a moment to pray together. With that finished, Jing took up the train behind Carmelita's dress. Penelope hurried out the side door to head up to the alter and wait in position as the maid of honor.

From the staging room, Carmelita heard the rented organist begin to play the infamous wedding music. She moved into position at the door, seeing her father in a tuxedo on the other side of the tinted glass door. She sighed in relief, seeing that he attended and stood in place to give her away in proper fashion. Even though she knew he had reservations about doing this… the fact that he showed up, dressed to do this duty for his daughter was enough to help all of her past worries dissolve. A mere four foxes populated one side of the small church. Sly Cooper's friends populated the other side of the church, including some of the more notorious villains she'd ever booked.

Awkward but amusing, Dimitri, Panda King, Big Jim McSweeny and his personal prison guard were in attendance, as well as a few other shady characters. Standing there at the door, waiting for her cue, she also noticed someone else… someone she didn't recognize. Her eyes lifted to the rafters of the church where a shadowy figure loomed above. Beneath him hung a raccoon tail. She tried to remember the long-lost brother of Conner Cooper, who disappeared to delve into cyber space. Was he a hacker like Bentley or some sort of computer thief or was he an honest member who had little ties with the family? Bruce o'Coop? She couldn't recall. However, the man in the rafters was wearing a tuxedo as his coattails hung down on either side of his gray ringed tail. She wondered if Sly had seen him.

A signal was given, causing her attention to become redirected. She began to push forward through the tinted glass door and her father turned towards her, reaching a paw for hers. Their eyes met and he nodded to his daughter, acknowledging that he was, in fact, ready to walk his daughter down that aisle. Her heart fluttered with anticipation. Together, they marched to the beat of a song that every woman secretly wished to hear one day… For Carmelita Fox, that day was today…

X

Presently…

Voices came from all sides, muddled together as Carmelita Cooper groaned in confusion. As she came out of the dazed dream, she felt pain in her forehead and tasted the salty, metallic flavor of blood on her tongue tip. She felt a guiding paw, strong, gentle and loving, on the backside of her paw. It guided her fingers to a control handle and that's when everything began to clear.

A droning alarm faded in, ringing in the background. Everything else slid into focus and the shouting of a man and a woman became sharp and enunciated. Eleven and Erik – they sounded as though they were speaking in panic.

Then she heard a soothing man's voice in her ear. "Snap out of it, baby. You hit your head and we need you to pull it together. You were thrown from your seat. You're the pilot of this sub. Come on, angel. Come back to me and shake it off. You're tough. You're my wife and soon to be the mother of our child. Come on, Carmelita."

She groaned and closed her fingers around the controls. Her mind snapped back into place and she gasped as if coming out of deep water all at once. She reached for the throttle bar and shoved it forward again, pushing her feet into the steering rudder pedals. "I… I'm okay!" she told them, shaking her head quickly to get at herself. Her senses returned to the here-and-now and she blinked a few times. "Sly, I'm sorry… That last depth charge was awfully close. How's the hull?"

He spoke calmly to her. "The computer says it's exceeded the maximum stress test limits. We can't take another zinger like that again. I'm not sure it was a depth charge. I think the concussion of the exploding boat, or maybe some of the debris may have clipped us. I had Bentley walk me through the active camo bit… we're now cloaked but we have three boats left to take down. You okay?"

She nodded and leaned forward in her seat. She swallowed back the blood from having bit her tongue tip; she ignored the bump on her forehead and nodded firmly. "I'm okay. I was a little shaken there but I'm fine."

Sly hurried back to the aft, sliding into the gunner body once more. He heard Erik speaking from behind. "Just get in the zone and shoot down all those guided bombs before they hit us. You're lucky the one that knocked our Mrs. Cooper didn't actually hit us. It must have been only ten feet away when it exploded. You better be glad she bought that bit about debris – she doesn't need to be worried about this nonsense. The fact I'm back here worrying with you is…"

"Shh." Sly chuckled. "Okay, I'll get in my zone. Let me think happy thoughts, okay? Just… shh. I need to focus. We almost died a minute ago from an explosion that was only ten feet away… but at least I shot it before it hit us." He calmed himself and wrapped his paws around the control stick again, searching the area for anymore incoming targets. His mind began to wonder, doing exactly what he said he'd do… he thought 'happy thoughts.'

X

Four and a half months ago…

Sly Cooper paused in front of a bridal shop. His ears flickered, hearing hearty laughter from Bentley. "Oh, ho ho ho, my friend… I've known you almost my entire life and I've never seen you stop in front of a place like this. What is going on with you?"

Cooper stared at the gown for a moment. "It's… nothing really, I just… I was walking down this street with Carmelita a week ago. And we passed by this store and her head turned as we walked by as if she couldn't take her eyes off of this dress. I just… A man isn't supposed to buy his woman a wedding dress. She's supposed to go to the store with her best female friends and get all sorts of silly over that stuff. But man, I bet she'd look great in that thing."

"Holy smokes, where in the world did all this come from? When were you going to tell me that you're considering actually going through with it?"

The raccoon shook his head. "I've just considered it, now, for the first time. Right here, as we walked by this store with the dress in the window. It reminded me of walking by with her. It reminded me of when I saw her turn her head."

Bentley's bionic leg attachments offered a rhythmic cadence of soft hydraulic whirring as the two walked together through the quiet street of the French Riviera. "Sly, buddy, pal… what in the world has changed to make you think about actually doing the deed? I'm not against it, I'm just… you've been in a pretty weird daze over the last few days. You didn't even try during out last multiplayer hacking games we do once a week. You wanna tell me what's going on?"

Sly moved closer to Bentley and lowered his voice as the two walked away from the bridal shop. "I don't think Carmelita wants this kind of information to get out so let's keep it private. But… about five weeks ago, she decided it was time we take our relationship to the next level. It was a little premature, I agree. Well…" He turned his head, speaking directly into Bentley's ear. "We've started having sex. We, uh, gave our virginity to one another." Instead of letting Bentley take a minute to process what he'd just learned, Sly continued straight through the subject. "The first night was sweet. We did candles and flower petals and… she had wine and I was gentle. We slept in each other's arms… but the next day, she had off work and woke up wanting to try it again. The candles had all burned out and it was broad daylight coming in through the window. Then we had an afternoon delight. Then two more times that night. And again after she got home from work the next day. Now we can't keep our paws off of one another. Only two or three days have passed without making love in the past five weeks. Maybe it's been closer to six or seven at this point. I've not really kept close count."

Bentley swallowed, nervous to discuss the subject. "I, uh… well, it's very normal for a male our age to engage in such activity with a chosen mate. I'm surprised you guys didn't wait to get married or something."

"Well, it just… didn't happen in that order but… a month and a half ago, marriage was the last thing on my mind… but now I'm thinking about it. And I have no weird feelings about it. What's wrong with me?"

Bentley laughed. "Nothing is wrong with you, Sly! Not every guy is ready to settle down with a nice girl before the age of thirty… but sometimes, we guys know when we've found the right girl and that changes the game, so to speak. Irrefutably, you've fallen in love with Carmelita Fox. Question is… what's the next step? On a side note, I'm quite hopeful you're engaging in responsible mating practices."

Sly furrowed his brows with an amused look. "Bentley, dude, if you're asking if we used a condom…" he shrugged then shook his head. "No. She's got this weird latex thing, although truth-be-told, we didn't even think about it the first or second day, anyhow. I'm not concerned. Thanks for talking to me about this, though. Murray isn't quite… you know… good 'adult' conversation."

"No, no, I totally understand what you mean. I'm not exactly an expert in this subject, Sly. It's not easy to talk about this because, let's face it, I've not experienced such things quite yet. Also, the subject makes me nervous for reasons I don't quite understand yet. It's not easy to talk about… but, as your mature friend… I had to ask if you're considering a responsible course of action and if you've weighed the possible repercussions of what this could bring about…"

"If you mean a baby, then I'm fully prepared. Money isn't a concern and I'm good with kids. Heck I still am a kid as far as I'm concerned. We'd probably get along really well," he said with a chuckle.

"I have a feeling that you shouldn't say that to Carmelita… ever. She'd probably regret seeing you as an adult and arrest you under the twenty-four hour holding law just to be spiteful. A girl wants to hear that a man is mature enough to father a baby emotionally, not that he's going to play video games with the kid. Infants require a lot of supervision and work. You don't actually get to play with the kid until they're a toddler, at least."

Sly lifted his paws with a nod. "Okay, okay. But I still think having a baby would be pretty awesome."

"How, uh… how do you figure?"

"I don't know how to explain it. But I think it would be really cool. Plus, I'd be saving the Cooper family line."

"Unless it's a girl."

"Then I'll keep trying until it's a boy," laughed Sly.

Bentley deadpanned. "You're incorrigible. So, you're truly thinking about making Carmelita your wife?"

"Yeah, man, and that's why I asked you to go have lunch with me, today." Sly approached a street side café and pulled out a chair for his friend. He sat down across from the tortoise and flipped open a menu found on the table. "I want you to be my best man."

Bentley blinked and pointed to himself, mouthing the word, "Me?" He swallowed a lump in his throat and fidgeted with the other menu found on the table. "B-best man at your wedding? Sly… Sly I'd be honored."

Sly's cellphone went off. He lifted a paw with a raised finger then answered it. "Hey! Speak of my devilishly amazing fiancée …what's up?"

Carmelita's voice over the phone was just barely loud enough for Bentley to hear her speak. "Sly, baby… I uh… we need to talk."

"Okay. So talk."

"In person."

"Sure," he said in a good-natured way. "When and where? What's going on?"

"I'd rather wait until I'm with you in person. I took off work today and… I'm home."

Sly blinked. It wasn't like her to take off work, plus she'd never mentioned anything about it beforehand. Bentley gestured for Sly to go, whispering, "We can do lunch tomorrow. It's perfectly fine."

"Okay, I'll be right there. I'm two blocks away." He added, "I love you."

For some reason, she sounded relieved over the line. "I love you, too. See you soon." The line ended.

Sly shrugged. "Sorry, man. That was strangely brief. My bad – I'll make it up to you. I think she's just not feeling well and…"

Bentley leaned forward and took Sly's paws in his small green hands. "I don't need a calculator to see the writing on the wall, here, pal."

"What do you mean?"

"What were we just talking about?"

"Uh, having another Cooper in the world."

"When's the last time she had her period?"

Sly thought for a moment then said, "It's been a while."

Bentley released Sly's paws and stood up. "Just prepare yourself on your brief walk home. She's most likely unsure and emotional and doesn't know how to react yet. My suggestion as a man and as your friend… take her into your arms, tell her it's the best news you've ever heard and tell her that you're… I dunno… madly in love with her or something. Penelope and I can't breed because I'm a reptile and she's a mammal so… you've got to do this right the first time. Do it right for both of us. Sweep her up in your arms and do whatever it is that women want a man to do. You figure out that part. I'm just telling you… be a smooth operator. Gut feeling, of course. If she's only calling you home because she wants you to meet her folks or something… then hey… no harm, no foul, right?"

"I'm serious, Bentley," said Sly in a good-natured manner. "I think it would be really cool to be a dad. I'm still young enough to enjoy it and all that jazz. For three days, she's felt crappy in the morning. She said she'd try and see a doctor some time this week. She might be calling me home early to tell me that she has the measles."

The turtle jerked away from Sly with a startled look on his beak. "Ueghh. Text me so I don't worry that I might be getting that from you. I mean it. Then let me know what day you wanna do lunch this week. And… thanks for the consideration about being your best man. I'm really honored, pal."

Sly grinned then backed out of the seat, putting his menu on the table. "I'd better hurry." He quickly scaled a nearby lamppost, hopped off and landed on the café's awning then bounced across the street and took to the rooftops.

Within a matter of minutes, he entered her apartment through the window and found her in the living room. "Carmelita! Hey, you sounded all out of sorts on the phone. So what's up?"

"Sly." She patted the sofa. He came to sit besides her and she feigned a slight smile then took a deep breath. "What I'm about to tell you is… it's a little forward and it's hard for me to swallow. I'm scared to death and I can't even think straight right now. I'm shaking like a leaf and…"

He placed his paws on either side of her face and kissed her nose gently. "I've had a little time to think about some things, Carmelita. And if you're going to tell me what I think you're about to tell me… well, what can I say? We played with fire by choosing not to be 'responsible'. But if you tell me what I think you're about to tell me… I'm excited."

"Excited huh?" She bit her lip and sighed. "I took a test today at work then took the day off and went to a doctor. I'm pregnant."

He wanted to throw his paws up in the air and exclaim, "That's cool with me!" But he remembered what Bentley suggested. Instead, he slid a paw beneath her legs and his other one went around her shoulders. Sly drew her into his embrace and he kissed her softly then said, "We'll make the greatest parents ever. We'll send them to college – anyone they choose. I'm content to make this happen and wouldn't want to do this with any other woman because we are a team."

She felt emotional but he was saying all the right things to put her heart at ease. "A team, huh? Like your old gang?"

"No… a team. Like a family. We… are going… to be… a family." Again, he kissed her nose then her lips.

X

Presently…

"You're… you're doing really good, Mister Cooper," said Erik, watching over Sly's shoulders. "Whatever you're doing to stay focused… it's working. That's six in a row you've shot down."

"I told you, all I'm doing is thinking happy thoughts," said Sly, shaking off the memory. He reached back and patted the wolfhound on the shoulder. "Go check on Carmelita and your girl; make sure they're doing okay. Just relax, we'll get through this." He grinned a bit then said, "After all… we have to live. I'm about to become a father, after all." He grinned brightly, as if he were gloating then turned his attention back on the bubble of illuminated seawater, hunting for his next target to shoot down.

Erik moved up to the front of the small sub and asked, "Mr. Cooper wanted to make sure you're doing all right."

"I'm fine." Her concise reply warranted no rebuttal, as she seemed far too busy at the moment.

The wolfhound made his way back into the center of the sub and sat down by Eleven. "It sucks when you have no way to help. I can see you're sitting here on pins and needles, too. It sure would be nice to have some way to help, huh?" He cut his eyes towards the clear hatch built into the deck that showed the seabed.

"Yes, well, at least we have one another." Her voice lowered as she continued. "Erik, for as much as we've rushed into our relationship – a real whirlwind romance for me – I really am glad we're together. But for all the work we've done to get into that dome… I never really felt like I was in danger until now. And, for the first time," she paused from a loud rumble outside the hull then sighed. "I've never opened up to someone, especially in such a short period of time, and I don't want to lose this. I know we've rushed into dating and now we're talking about getting married but… what if we don't make it?"

"Then we don't make it," he told her. "Look at the bright side. We're still together. We won't be alone. Do you remember when we were fighting for our lives before we got together?"

"You mean when we were at each other's throats?" she murmured with a wan grin. "I remember."

"If we were meant to die, we would have died then."

"Don't be naïve," she said with a frown. "What of the man who survived the World Trade Center collapse in New York? Fate spared him? No."

"You're referring to the one who was in the paper because he died when the Ferry crashed in the frozen Hudson?"

Eleven nodded sullenly. "He survived one calamity just to die in another. And don't tell me it's because he had to do something relevant after September of 2001 and finished it before he passed. He was just a regular guy. People die when they're not ready or before they've accomplished things; it happens all the time and what have WE accomplished between then and now? If we die now, whether or not we feel accomplished, it's because it's our time to die. Of the billions of people on this planet that die – almost all of them leave something unfinished."

"We accomplished a lot," said Erik. "We established a relationship and fell in love. If we die now, we won't be alone on the other side. We'll have each other."

She grew quiet and put her head on his shoulder. The sub groaned again from an explosion somewhere off the port bow. She hated not having a way to help. She hated not doing anything. The restless weasel fidgeted and glared at the deck.

"Eleven, those two are so hell-bent on becoming parents that they're driven to survive far more passionately than your average person. They're going to do everything in their power to ensure they get this sub out of this mess. If they survive, we survive. When all of this is over, do you want to stay in contact so we can help them if this situation isn't over?"

"While that would be the right thing to do," she shook her head. "I'm a private person. I want to go and live a private life. I'll stay with the agency until it's time to retire if we can't find a better paycheck." She sounded as though she didn't believe in her own words. "Truthfully, I'm tired of being their little 'bitch'. Pardon the expression but… it's true. I'm not interested in killing someone they tell me to kill. I'm not interested in their stupid heartless missions. I wouldn't mind traveling, though. I suppose it's time we enjoy our lives together and stop worrying about how to kill someone, or using our…" again, she paused. The weasel chuckled and looked up at her mate as though she'd just had an epiphany. "What am I talking about? With great power comes great responsibility. I kill people and you manipulate shadows. We'd be stupid to walk away."

"Then what's our option?"

"We lay low but we fight whatever comes our way, because I'll tell you right now… we're not finished because that damn dome is still in one piece."

Erik tilted his head slightly. "What do you want to do?"

"If we make it back to port, we go and get everything we'll need. I'll write my resignation to the agency and we gather everything we can. We marry and we train. One day, we'll find that dome again, get aboard and lay low. We create a life for ourselves and act as sleeper cells. One day when the time is right, we emerge from out of nowhere and we do what we have to do in order to take down the dome and help whoever is attacking it."

"You think there'll be another attack?"

Elvena nodded firmly. "It might take years but… yes, I think this stuff isn't finished. I have a really good woman's intuition about stuff like this. We can even raise a family there if we have to… we'll lay low and blend in until the day we're needed."

Erik nodded. "If you truly believe that it's our calling… then we'll privately train and continue to work together so that if and when the day comes we have to act out against the underwater city from the inside out… then …like you said, we'll be in a position to help when it's time. How will we find the dome again, though?"

She smiled in a mysterious way. "We just spent a week there. I installed a tracking device that would show our exact location just in case I had to call for help, they would find us easily… well it's still there and I have the transponder unit. We'll find it, so there's no rush. Let's not go back until after the wedding and the honeymoon. Let's take our time and prepare."

"You actually want to live there?"

"That's what sleeper cells must do," she murmured. "And I have this strange gut feeling that… I just… I think it's the right thing to do. You keep your friends close… but you keep your enemies closer."

"Understood."

Meanwhile, up in the front of the sub, Carmelita mashed a paw down on a recently installed button labeled, "Virtual Torpedo" in black Sharpie. The round rushed from beneath the sub and into her field of view, leaving a trail of bubbles in its wake. She leered at the muddled target in the distance.

The submersible attack droid came about for another rush but as it did, it struck the energy round and went into a spin. It clipped the bottom of one of the cigarette boats up on the surface, ripping through the keel. The droid came apart at the seams and the boat, above it, began to sink. Remaining ordinance on the droid went off from damage done by the virtual torpedo round. The resulting explosion pushed water upwards, flipping the cigarette boat.

Carmelita leaned forward in her chair, looking up through the windshield at enemies and equipment that was thrown into the water. She shouted over her shoulder, "Hey, guys, we flipped one of the enemy boats. I'm going to surface. Climb up through the hatch and do what you guys think is necessary to the survivors. If you decide to bring them aboard, make sure they're subdued first."

Back in the belly, Erik and Eleven looked at one another. They both appeared delighted to have the chance to finally help. The lighting inside the sub changed once the vessel broke the surface. Eleven was the first to the hatch, climbing up the ladder with her mate behind her.

She turned the locking wheel and pushed the hatch open then got up on the back of the sub. Erik climbed out behind her and they looked around at the open ocean. One of the motorboats was upside down. The propellers jutted up in the air. Water spit upwards a few inches from various parts of the bottom where the bilge pump was trying to do its now-impossible job.

Elvena elbowed Erik and pointed to an incoming boat in the distance. "This is going to get interesting."

The wolfhound lifted his arms and focused. The motorboat closed quickly. Eleven readied two throwing knives. A shadow bubble began to grow around the cigarette boat, covering the crew and driver with a canopy of darkness. Enemies on board began firing their guns blindly.

Erik grimaced, creating barriers of black. They looked like enormous dominoes, with several starting to angle further out in the water. A pistol round passed over he and his fiancée on their left. "I'm trying to use physical manifestations of shadow walls. Their bullets hit several and are angled away so that they veer off course. We wouldn't want anything flying straight towards us."

The boat continued closer, zigzagging but unable to get out of the shadow bubble. Impressed, the weasel placed a paw on her fiancé's waist. "Damn, you're getting good at this." As soon as the boat was in range, she jumped from the back of the sub. Erik closed his paws into fists, focusing to create a donut effect. The shadow remained on the boat but it opened up in an aura around her. She checked for gear on the boat then signaled to him with her paws.

Erik dropped the shade barrier; it dissipated rapidly like mist being filtered out of a magician's arena after a trick was set up. She threw several knives, performed a roundhouse on the driver and delivered a heart-stopping punch to another enemy. She took the wheel of the cigarette boat and drove it overtop of the other. Eleven took a flare from the emergency kit, opened the gas tank lid, lit the flair and dropped it into the tank then immediately dove overboard.

The wolfhound shielded his face in anticipation. The tank exploded, destroying both boats. Pieces of wood, metal and fiberglass went in all directions, spinning wildly through the air. A moment later, Eleven emerged adjacent to the sub, swimming towards the starboard side. He knelt on the deck and reached for her then helped her up on the back of the sub. "How's the water?"

"Warm for the first week of November." She pointed back at two people splashing around, as if struggling to stay afloat; they were survivors of the boat flipped by Carmelita. "I attacked two surviving men while swimming underneath them. I feel like I should go to church after today." She watched them with disdain in her gaze. One of the men became calm, sunk below the whitecaps for a moment then reemerged, face down and motionless. The other continued to struggle for a moment more before succumbing to the waves. His blood tinted the whitecaps around him.

Erik nodded. "It's them or us. Self-preservation doesn't make you inhumane."

Without warning, an armed soldier climbed up from the portside with a gun. The startled weasel reacted with instincts and training – she withdrew a knife from her belt and threw it hard. It hit the man in the chest but didn't fully penetrate his lightly armored vest. He groaned from the tip poking into his flesh but was otherwise unharmed.

The wolfhound clenched his right fist. A shadow arm came up from beneath the man's feet and struck him in the torso so hard that it drove the knife the rest of the way into his heart. The strike simultaneously threw him overboard. He landed in the water on his back then began to sink from the weight of his gear. His gurgling sounds lasted mere seconds before disappearing beneath the surface along with the rest of his body.

A sigh of relief passed Erik's lips then he turned to Eleven and said, "We do make a good team, you know."

She nodded in silent agreement, watching the spot in the water to make sure the man didn't resurface. She nodded with a measure of finality. "There was another boat, right? Where is it – do you see it?"

Erik looked around and shrugged. "It appears we're the only ones left out here." He glanced back to the burning remains of two boats then knelt over the hatch and shouted to Sly and Carmelita. "I don't see anyone else! I think we got'em all!"

Sly joined them topside with a binoc-u-com. He gazed through it, scanning the area in all directions. His finger closed on a button built into the top of the unit. "Guys, we're all clear. Can you pick up our location and take us home?"

Murray's voice was the first to respond over the speaker. "You got it, Sly! We'll be there shortly."

Cooper turned to Eleven and Erik. "Good job, guys. Listen, I'll have Carmelita show you the controls for this thing. Why don't you guys take the sub and we'll go with the rest of our team?"

"Why would we need it?" asked Eleven, curious if he somehow heard their conversation about returning to the dome.

Sly offered a cryptic smile and passed the communicator to the weasel. "Somehow, I think you two might get more use out of it. Just a gut feeling." He climbed back down into the hatch, leaving the two alone.

X

Nine weeks later…

Carmelita placed her paws upon her swollen belly and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. Nude and modest, her ears lowered and her tail drooped a bit while her husband wrapped yellow measuring ribbon around her waist. She bit her lower lip, wondering how hard it would be to get her figure back.

Sly showed her the measurement. "Big baby," he said. "The doctor wants me to have you fill out a series of yes-or-no questions and fax it over. It asks everything from, 'are you still taking your prenatal vitamins,' to questions about how often you're doing 'Kegel' exercises. Are you sure you don't wanna' just go to the office?"

"Sly, I know the baby is due any day now but… at this point, when I ride anywhere in the car, every bump and swerve can be felt right in my bladder. I'd rather stay home today. I'd rather be comfortable. If you had a bowling ball sitting on your bladder, you wouldn't want to go down that damn road, either."

Cooper shook his head, grinning at his wife. "You're still cute when you're mad. At least you're one of those girls who can pull off looking adorable while pregnant. Besides, you've been complaining about that cobblestone road for the last three weeks of the pregnancy. If we drive over it one more time, it won't hurt you."

Her gaze narrowed. "If we drive over it one more time, it's going to trigger me going into labor. Now c'mon, you goon." She nodded towards the bathroom and walked away from the door-length mirror bolted to the door of the future nursery. She stood next to the bathtub then, with Sly's help, she got into it and sat down on special plastic chair.

Her husband reached for the detachable showerhead, pointed it towards the drain and turned on the water until it got to the right temperature. "So how much longer do you want to stay here?"

"Until spring. As bad as I feel for the construction team building the new house up in the mountains, I sure as heck don't want to take a newborn baby up into the Alps during the cold season. It's January, after all." She leaned forward just a little and snatched something out of Sly's back pocket. "Month old mistletoe? Are you kidding?"

"Hey, now, you're undressed and I'm your husband. I could kiss on ya' anytime I want but… I was going to try and be funny about it… Okay, okay, I give… you caught me before I could pull it off." Cooper redirected the shower nozzle towards her while she relaxed in the bathtub pregnancy chair. "And for the record, having the baby in a hospital is actually normal, Carmelita."

"Are you worried about having it at home? I told you we would be better off if we're below the grid until this nonsense with the CIA and that dome are ancient history."

Sly brought the showerhead behind her ears, starting on her hair. "I'm not worried. We did this in birthing class over and over. I can handle it. I just think that modern technology is a good thing. I want the best for you. If you decide you want that epidural or Stadol stuff…"

"Before you get into that rant about me having pain medication… turn around."

Sly handed her the shower handset and turned towards the sink. She verbally guided him to a bag off to the side next to a fish tank with a little burgundy Beta fish. He opened the bag, as instructed, and found a bottle inside that read, "Novex – Butorphanol. Synthetic Morphinan-type opioid analgesic." There was another container labeled, "Naloxone".

"While I have it incase I want it… it has to be given intravenously. But studies suggest that it's not good for you if you plan to breastfeed. So, as of last Tuesday when I read that, I've decided to forgo taking drugs of any kind. The other one in your hand is given if I somehow accidentally overdose on the Stadol stuff. The doctor says they're about to take Stadol off the market over in the States. At least the brand name version. Get over here and help me – no use talking about drugs since I've decided against them."

With a nod, Sly put the bottles back. He heard the liquid contents sloshing around in them. The raccoon returned to the bathtub, took the nozzle from her and went back to washing his wife's hair. He held the showerhead in his right paw while placing his left palm over her eyes, bringing it up towards her bangs. "So, how does April sound?"

"For moving our stuff up to the Alps? Let's have the boys take the stuff up there at the end of April. We'll go the first of May."

"I'll let Bentley and Murray know. Penelope will be flying the chopper full of our stuff up there."

Carmelita nodded, passing him the shampoo bottle. "That's fine with me. It's good to see them work together as a team without breaking the law. Having Panda and Murray move all the heavy furniture is a smart idea. I'm a little up-in-the-air about asking Dmitri to act as an interior decorator, though. I thought the idea of moving to the Alps was to lay low. If everyone who knows us knows where the house is, anyone can find out."

"I assure you, we'll be fine. I want select people to know where the house is, just in case we have to call for help – at least then our allies will know where to go." Sly began applying the shampoo to her hair. She relaxed under his touch. He worked the clear liquid into her hair until it became a white frothy lather. "Isn't your approximate due date set for tomorrow?"

"No, it was two days ago but I don't need to be induced. It'll happen when the baby is ready." She placed her paws on her wet tummy fur, shifting her weight a bit in the chair. "Get off my bladder, Carmen," she said to her belly. The vixen kept her eyes shut as water ran down over her face. "She feels heavy as hell; lately, if I stand a certain way, it feels really strange – like the baby could just fall out but… obviously it doesn't happen. All the books I've read say that's a normal sensation, especially for first time mothers."

"Well, then you know what to expect the second time around," said Sly with an unseen grin.

"Peh!" she exclaimed, sputtering a bit of water from the side of her maw. "Let's see how you father the first one before we talk about a second one."

"I'll be good," he promised, starting to rinse the shampoo from her hair. "Unless my Uncle Bruce is still out there, the Cooper family is down to one… me. And since my Uncle is supposedly too enamored with computers to look for a wife, the Cooper line is up to us."

"Yeah, yeah," she said with a slight chuckle. "Bentley found Penelope. It's strange to think that your Uncle practically pioneered data theft back in the 80's but that he disappeared without a trace."

"Bentley always said the best hackers can't be found." Sly moved the showerhead to his left paw and put his right one under her hair, at the nape of her neck. He lifted it up from her shoulders and began to rinse out all the suds, careful not to get water in her ears.

Again, his wife shifted. She bit her lower lip and murmured. "Ugh, she feels heavy." She felt soaked but attributed it to being in the shower. Her nose twitched, sniffing at the air. She lifted her left paw to Sly while lifting her right foot, using her toes to turn off the water. "Grab a towel," she said. Again her nose twitched, sniffing at the air. She dabbed between her thighs then brought the finger to her nose. She was too wet from the shower to know for sure but she had more than just a feeling in her gut… she felt… a strange stirring in her lower body.

Carmelita's eyes widened at the sensation of a contraction. "Aw crap."

X

Epilogue…

Four and a half years later…

Carmen stood up on her tiptoes. She held the cradle bars firmly so as not to lose her footing and pushed her small muzzle between the wooden bars, peering in at the swaddled infant. The colorful mobile above the cradle turned slowly, the motorized unit hummed where the wire went from the unit to the wall socket.

She lifted her head, looking at the turning gizmo above. Her ears perked then lowered in anticipation of thunder after seeing a flit of light on the wall across from the nearby window. She felt the low rumble in the floorboards under her feet. The lights out in the hallway flickered then another flash filled the window. The mobile slowed then returned to its normal speed from the brief loss of electricity in the house.

Again, the thunder rumbled, causing the tot to cringe. The baby giggled and lifted a tiny paw from a loose tuck in the swaddling sheet. For a moment, Carmen was distracted by how tiny his fingers looked. She reached through the cradle bars in an attempt to hold little Conner's paw but the toddler's short arm couldn't reach it.

As she reached out for him, the fur on her paw and wrist began to stand up on end as if attracted to static from a balloon. The mobile began to spin; she could hear its small motor revving. Her eyes lifted just in time to see an arc of energy-discharge lance up from her brother's index finger to the motor compartment above the spinning mobile. The little colorful objects began to lift in altitude as it spun faster. All at once, the mobile stopped and the colorful objects swayed on their strings in a clumsy fashion, due to the immediate loss in circular inertia. Thunder rumbled and the objects became still.

Carmen swallowed and backed away from the bars. Her ear flickered, the baby giggled again and an enormous crack of thunder startled her. She broke into a sprint as fast as her little legs could carry her. The hallway lights were out and she ran through the dark with natural grace, into her parents' room and, in a single bound, the raccoon-fox leapt up onto the bed. "Daddy!"

Sly Cooper sat up and rubbed his eyes then drew his arm around his daughter. Carmelita rolled over in her sleep. Another thunderous boom shook the house. This time, Carmelita sat up and looked around. She saw her husband holding her daughter, whose adrenaline scented the air. "Aww, is it storming outside?"

Sly chuckled softly, holding his daughter, "Hey, pumpkin. You okay?"

"It's thundering outside and… I went to check on Conner and the lights went out and I saw a bolt of lighting over his crib and…"

Sly turned to his wife, still holding his daughter. He grinned in the dim illumination of their bedroom. "Aw, did you hear her hon? She said Lighting. Isn't that cute?" He slid out of bed, holding his girl on his hip. Cooper wore pajama pants with his right legging hiked up. The colorful illustration depicted a popular Sony Playstation game, Grand Theft Auto, with the various crime bosses sketched in colored blocks over his legs. "I think you mean lightNing, princess."

As if on cue to his word, lightning filled the window. Carmelita saw what pajama pants her husband wore. She dropped back into bed with a groan. "I thought I told you to throw those out."

Sly glanced over his shoulder and grinned. "What? They're comfortable." He carried his daughter into the dark hallway. "Lightning over the crib?"

"The thingy doesn't spin anymore," she dutifully reported to her father.

Cooper stepped into Conner's room, across the hall from his own. He could smell something burning and approached the crib. He sniffed at the motor above the cradle's ornate mobile then shifted her back to his hip and reached down to pull the plug. "I think the motor fried from a surge. Power must have gone off, come back and gone out again." Again, as if on cue, the lights came on in the hall then abruptly went back out. "Like that."

"It sounds scary," she murmured, pushing her tiny nose against his chest. Sly chuckled again, in a good-natured way, and put his little girl up onto his shoulders. He walked through the house, carefully evading toys on the floor in the dark. Out in the kitchen, he reached for a light switch instinctively but it didn't come on.

"Heh, right… so," he set her down and, just like that, the lights came back on. "Well… that was short lived."

"Why is thunder so scary sounding?" she asked.

Sly put on a pot of coffee, using decaffeinated beans then he went to the freezer. The raccoon took out an ice cube, shut the freezer then turned to face her. "See this?" He lowered to one knee to get closer to her height. "This represents cold air in the clouds, okay? You know how, on a hot day, condensation makes water on the outside of your juice cup?"

"Yeah," she said, "It looks like my cup is sweating."

"Right. That's called condensation. It's just like rain from a cloud. So this ice cube is our cold cloud, okay?"

"Okay, daddy."

Sly stood up and took the coffee pot into his left paw. He put the cube on the counter, got a mug and poured the fresh coffee into the porcelain container. He put the pot back on the heater, picked up the ice cube and knelt on the floor by her. "Now watch this," he said, speaking with enthusiasm, as if he were about to show her a magic trick. "Listen closely. My coffee represents hot air made from lightning, which is just electricity in the sky."

Her father dropped the ice cube into the hot coffee. The ice cube cracked loudly, splitting into halves. Each side was spider-webbed from the rapid change in temperature. Both of them experienced a flickering of the ear. "It broke," she surmised, eyeing the cube fragments in the coffee.

"Did you hear it crack? That's thunder… only it was on a really small scale. Clouds can be really big, so when lightning heats up the air, or when hot air and cold air clash in general, it's a much bigger sound – but it's still the same thing."

"That's not so scary, it's just an ice cube."

"Exactly! Not so scary now that you know it's just a noise from hot and cold mixing together, right?" He passed the cup to her and she drank from the side nearest to the ice cube, which cooled the liquid. Sly stood up and made himself a cup. "You're the only four year old I know that drinks coffee."

"I'll be five in just seven 'monfs' daddy," she said.

"Yeah, five going on thirty," he replied with a grin. Sly added sugar and creamer to his coffee then asked, "You want a little cream and sugar, sugar?"

"Sugar makes me hyper and cream is bad for your cholores-tor-rol."

Amused, Sly shook his head and said, "Everything is okay in moderation but I suppose sugar, right before bed, wouldn't be a good idea. Glad one of us is looking out for trouble, here."

"It's okay, daddy, you're still the parent."

Cooper brought a paw to his muzzle so as not to wake his wife back up with laughter. He took a moment to breathe it off then said, "I stand corrected – you're four going on thirty. Most people don't care for coffee straight, like that."

She looked back up at him, preened a bit and in her most grown-up tone, said, "It's the 'adult' way to drink it."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. I'm an adult, and I like cream and sugar with my coffee, my tea, my grits and just about everything else."

"It's only okay in moderation," she said, practically repeating what he'd just told her a moment ago. Her serious tone caused Sly to snicker. "Are you laughing at me, mister?"

"No, 'Carmelita Junior' I'm just that happy because you're my daughter."

"Well thank you, but just 'Carmen' will do."

Again, Sly found himself on the verge of giggles, tickled by her absolute 'grown up' conversation. "You about ready to go back to bed, pumpkin?"

"I saw 'light-ning' come out of Conner's spinny-toy thing above him."

Sly shrugged it off. "I'm sure it was just a spark from the power surge. I unplugged it so it won't happen again, okay?"

"Oh… okay," she said, sounding relieved. "So he didn't zap it?"

Sly finished his coffee, put the mug in the sink and picked her up. She used the sleeves of her pajamas to hold her cup, one paw on the handle and one paw on the side of the mug. "Your mommy is the only one in this household that zaps things, sweetheart." He grinned and carried her back towards her room while she sipped from her mug. "You know, I'm not supposed to let you have any drinks right before bed. This'll be our little secret."

"I won't tell anybody, especially mom." She finished the coffee as her father laid her down in her bed. Her father took the glass and tucked her in. The lights in the hallway went back out again. She snuggled down into the covers. "That was short lived," she said.

Sly grinned. "You just repeat everything, don't you?"

"Nooo. A girl has some secrets she keeps all to herself," she replied, having heard her mother say that at some point.

The raccoon chuckled through his nose, just smiling at her in the dark. "You're a trip. No, I take that back… You're the whole vacation, sweetheart."

"Mommy says kids are no vacation, daddy." Her voice lowered, as if whispering to her father. "But if I was a vacation, what kind of vacation would I be?"

For Sly, her rapid-fire responses were just too much. "You'd be a tropical vacation with Hawaiian flowers and palm trees and blue water at sunrise."

"What's a Hawaiian flower?"

"You," he said. He leaned in and kissed her forehead then added, "Good night kiddo. Sleep tight." He went back to the kitchen, put her mug into the sink and turned off the light switch, even though the power was still out. He left the hallway switch 'on' so that if Carmen had to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom she could see. He popped his head into Conner's room for a moment then returned to his, surprised to see Carmelita awake and sitting up.

"What does that even mean, anyhow?" she asked. "Sleep tight, I mean. Is it better than sleeping loose?" she asked with a grin.

"Heard me, huh?"

"Barely. You talk quietly to her, which is good. Wouldn't want to wake the baby at this hour." She placed her paws on her hips. "Take off those pajama pants, mister."

Sly looked at her in the dark for a moment then shrugged and did as she asked. He stripped them off and tossed them into the corner. "There, better?"

His wife pulled the sheets back, making room for him on the bed. "Much better." She paused to look him over in his state of undress then nodded in appreciation. "You, my good sir, can stay." She reached for her husband with a grin. Carmelita closed her paws into his.

Sly looked down at the matching ring-set. He ran his thumb over the engagement ring adjacent to the wedding band. "I remember the night I gave you this."

Carmelita's grin broadened slightly. "I remember the shower after you gave me this." (Occurs at the end of Chapter One)

"Oh yeah?" Sly reached for the silk PJ pants that clung to her hips. "I don't remember that part all that well… maybe you can help jog my memory and show me what happened?"

She lifted her rump from the mattress to help him divest the garment from her. "The way I remember, it happened just like… this." She put her paw on his head and guided him downwards. Sly's lips met her collarbone. With her fingers sifting through his soft headfur, she guided him further down. Sly's lips moved over her torso, down the center of her sternum. She shivered with anticipation. "Remember anything yet?"

"It's still a little fuzzy," he said, muffled against her taut tummy, "but it's starting to come back to me now." He continued to nibble downwards, passed her navel. He went further until he heard her warm breathy sigh of content against his ears. Stealing aside, the one thing he loved to do in life more than anything else… Sly Cooper loved to make his wife happy.

THE END

X

SPY COOPER – November 28th 2006 through October 10th 2010

A/N: Sorry it took almost four years to finish this story! I can be downright notorious for doing that, huh? Needless to say, now I just need to update Dawn of Progeny and finish THAT story. I know that I usually end my stories with a lot of craziness but… this is the second of three stories in a trilogy and, let's face it, most middle stories are anti-climatic at the end because there's a WHOLE THIRD STORY coming up! But honestly, I just wanted to end with something DIFFERENT than crazy wild action and stuff. I thought it would be sweet, cute and funny to add with depicting Sly as a dad and a husband. I took the world's greatest master thief and made him… well… domesticated! But if you've already read part three, Dawn of Progeny, then you KNOW what Conner is capable of, so you already know why Carmen saw her baby brother do what he did to the mobile. It wasn't intentional because he's an infant… but it happened. Also, I set the table so that Eleven and Erik are a little more important.

I also did NOT show what happened to the Moore sisters, but I'm leaving it open for later on. But I will say this… they were in their fifties, despite how good they looked. Yeah, they were fooling around with AJ, I guess that makes them 'cougars', haha. Anyhow, they retire. Saundra had a husband to grow old with. Cleopatra invests money into helping develop the internet into the modern phenomenon that it becomes to better spread both information and disinformation across the globe.

The old Ocelot that ran with Tennessee Kid's son… he learns of Conner and Carmen being born and brings the news to Bruce O'Coop then visits McSweeny, wills him the whole estate so that he has somewhere to go once his sentence is up, then goes home and makes his own funeral arrangements. He calls Erik and invites him to move in with Eleven until they're ready to implement their 'plan of action'. Then the old man passes away, happily, in his sleep.

THANK YOU FOR READING! I APPRECIATE YOU TAKING YOUR TIME TO READ THIS STORY! THE FACT THAT YOU'VE FINISHED IT IS REALLY AWESOME! I hope you liked the first story, Lament of Carmelita, and I hope you'll like the final story of this trilogy, Dawn of Progeny. Having recently re-read all three, I have to admit that Dawn of Progeny was the easiest for me to re-read. Rather, I enjoyed it the most. I'm not quite sure why that is… but it was fun to re-read that story. Anyhow… Thanks again. You guys are awesome. THANK YOU for taking the time to read it! OMGZ I HEART U ALL!