Author's Note: I have got ALOT of explaining to do! Well, I got a job, got into university and pretty much let everyone down by never updating this fanfic! I don't even know if Slylady comes on anymore, but I've pmed her about continuing this with me! I apologize for the long wait, and hope that I can post many more chapters to make up for it! Enjoy reading, and be sure to leave a review!

Will be Nimble, Will be Quick

The night air whipped around his face as the cat ran quickly from roof top to roof top. Occasionally he'd balance himself along a clothesline to get to another roof top. William already knew that he was still being pursued, as Rosalia was not one to relent on a chase. He was still injured from the encounter with Luigi, and thus his most of his physical attributes like his stamina and agility were lacking.

"Why do you run, fool?! Why don't you just turn yourself in and make me rich!?" Rosalia called behind him as she followed after him. Luckily, she had a fully charged interpol shock blaster on her person, but she didn't even think she needed it at this point. She was pretty sure that the bounty could only be collected if Felidae was brought in alive, so she couldn't risk using the shock blaster to capture the already weakened perpetrator.

William stopped running for a moment as he hid behind a massive ventilation fan that was giving off white steam. He pressed a few buttons on his communicator along his wrist multi-tool device. "Come on damn it! I need you Greg..." William growled in a hushed whisper.

"What is it you say? Boo?" Rosalia growled from above as she dropped in front of William. Her blue eyes were locked onto him with great malice.

William sighed as he slumped down onto bottom and grabbed at his left side. "Well, not much I can do now, hm?" William asked quietly.

"Oho. Giving up, after all this time? That's not like you, William." Rosalia mused with a smirk as she lowered herself to his level. She pinched his cheek roughly.

"You look so disappointed. D'awh. Did you think you'd get away?" She mused in a baby-coo voice, trying to mock the fallen thief.

William raised his eyes to hers, and there seemed to be a different look in them. His facial expression changed as well, to one of an almost emotionally blank state. Rosalia raised her eyebrows in response to this strange change of her bounty's disposition.

"What's with the face, cat?" Rosalia growled, a hint of curiosity hiding between the malice in her tone.

"Simple. All those stupid puns, the jibes, me harassing Cooper, me making friends...being with you...all of it was a show." William said quietly. "Truth is, that's how we were trained. We wear many faces, and speak through many voices." he mused as he slowly stood, still clutching at his side. He lowered his hood to reveal his black furred head. His eyes looked tired, but quite different than Rosalia was used to seeing.

"Why are you telling me this? What do I care? I'm bringing you in! Now turn around, and prepare to be cuffed."

"I think you should know, because I really did care about you." William explained as he turned to be cuffed. "And I did what I did to those girls to make you happy. My connection to you might've been the only genuine one I had all my life."

Rosalia growled as she tried to ignore his ramblings. It was hard not to, as prom night had completely altered who she was and how she felt about herself. She didn't let others put her down or walk all over her after that night, and she moved up to where she was today because of the incident. The husky clicked the cuffs tight on the Felidae's wrists.

"You really think you are going to talk your way out of this, don't you, idiot? I don't care what happened that night, and I don't care about any garbage you are spilling. You can put on your act, but I won't swallow it!" She snarled as she got out her cell phone, and began dialing Interpol's number so they can come pick Feliade up.

"I'm not acting right now. This is the first time I've stopped acting since I was a kid. Thieves need to act to get what they need. You act nice, you get nice things, right? Allying myself with Cooper and using that horrible routine of mine to trick his group into things much bigger than them..."

"What are you blathering on about? Interpol is on its way, so you better get this trash out now, or it'll only incriminate you more." Rosalia said with another roll of her blue eyes.

"I know who is building the clockwork model that's going to change the world as we know it. He's a member of a group of a secret society of thieves. My father was a part of it, and my family have been leaders for it for centuries. We were wealth distributors among all else." William explained silently as he turned, leaning against the ventilation fan again.

Rosalia seemed to be curiously listening at this point. "Go on." she murmured, crossing her arms over her chest.

"They each wear a ring. I threw mine into a fire not too long ago when I realized how corrupt it had become without my father. I learned that his disappearance was related to a power-play in the thieves' society. The one that leads it now is the one that is hoping to construct Clockwork again." William explained.

"Fascinating ~ Now, can you please shut up? I'm still not buying it." Rosalia mused with a wave of her hand in dismissal of what William was saying.

"Do you think I'm lying, Rosalia?" William asked as he got closer to her. The husky knew that she was in a risky position, but for one reason or another she didn't mind that William was the one getting closer.

"O-of course I do, you stupid cat. You are a criminal." she responded, a look of nervousness on her face.

"You know, I would've loved to have seen you at prom."

"Shut up." she warned.

"I bet you were beautiful."

"Watch your mouth, cat!" she warned as she reached for her pistol. William quickly jumped and moved his hand cuffed hands from behind him by moving them below his legs whilst he was in the air. He then gripped her shock pistol before she could and set it to stun. It was difficult to be so agile with his injuries and the cuffs, but he was a master thief.

"I knew you were just trying to buy time! I knew it! Drop the pistol, now!" she snapped angrily, getting ready to reach for her back up.

"I wasn't lying. What me and Cooper have to do is way too important for me to get locked up." William said silently.

"So what, you are going to manipulate all these people to help you get rid of this guy you claim is going to destroy the world? I thought thieves were all about taking, not saving the day." Rosalia said with a snort as she reconsidered blasting William.

The cat closed his eyes for a moment and let out a sigh. "You know, I could kill you, and be done with this silly crap right now. I don't have time to be eluding you, and trying to destroy those blue prints at the same time." he pointed out, as he considered putting the blaster from stun to kill.

Rosalia's eyes fixed on his. "You and I both know you won't. You said it yourself. Our connection was the only real one you ever had."

"You're right. I guess I can't really ask you to just stay out of my way?"

"Not a chance." Rosalia responded with a smirk. "I need shopping money and I need to pay off my mortgage. You can forget about being off the hook that easily."

William cocked by the trigger for the blaster pistol, charging up the stun pulse. "If it means anything, I'm genuinely sorry it has to be this way. I wish I could tell you so much more, but if I tell you too much, you'll just be another target. Good night, Rose."

The shock blast was quick, and the husky was rendered unconscious. He promptly went through her pockets and found the key to the cuffs. William undid the cuffs around his wrists and placed the blaster he had snatched back in the holster along Rosalia's side. He stood, and slowly made his way to the edge of the roof top, looking up into the night sky for a moment.

It was then that his wrist communicator began to vibrate a bit. He raised it up to his mouth and pressed the answer call button. "Yello?" William asked going back to his laid back and arrogant demeanor.

"You IDIOT! Do you know how worried I've been!? I thought it was unlike you to abort missions like that and run off on your own, but radio silence for like five hours?! I thought you'd been arrested or killed or -"

"Oh I'm sorry mom, was I supposed to be home before sun down?" William asked with a chuckle, and a groan following after from the pain in his side. He began to jump from building to building once more, hoping to get to the Cooper hide out in Italy. He was given all the information in the fax, and input it into his wrist multi-tool device's GPS system.

"You got alot of explaining to do to Bently and the rest of Cooper's gang! Is Cooper with you?"

"Nope. The stupid sentimental fool decided to stay in the hospital long enough to go to prison. I tried to spring him out, but he refused..." William responded as he got closer to the objective hide out.

"Well that's just inefficient! I mean, he could've been nursed back to health by Bently I'm sure...and it's not like he wouldn't be well guarded until he was healed up!"

"I don't understand it either buddy. All I know is that the kid really needs to grow up and let go of his feelings. We'll have to spring him afterwards, I suppose." William mused as he quickly made his way to the balcony of the alleged hide out.

He noticed Bently inside on his computer, while Penelope was watching something on the t.v. William gave a knock on the window, and the attention of both members of the Sly gang turned their heads. Penelope walked over quickly, and opened the window to let William in.

"There you are! How did the rescue go? Where's Sly?" Bently asked in a hurry. William sighed as he sat on the couch.

"Yeah, I'm great, thanks for asking!" William groaned as he gripped at his side. "To answer your question, we both got beat down so much that we had to be taken to the hospital. Once we got there, you can guess who was waiting for us..."

"Carmelita and that crazy husky that is drooling all over you?" Penelope asked.

"Unnecessary descriptive information, but yes. I tried to get Sly out of there, but the idiot refused, saying he'd just slow me down. I had Rosalia chase me half way across town before I charmed her into letting me go. I'm just that good..." William mused with a smirk.

"Well what are we going to do about Sly? There's no way we can leave him in that hospital!" Bently protested.

"Just what I was thinking there buddy. Thanks for the input. We either got to spring him out all together, or just throw me in there. Though I'm out of commission for quite some time. The doctor told me Sly had two days before he heals up. Which means we have two days to save him." William explained as he looked at the ceiling fan.

"Well, we'll figure out a plan soon enough. Greg sent me a message by the way, before you got here." Bently said as he looked to Penelope and nodded. The mouse walked over to William, and gave him a firm smack in the face.

"OW! The hell was that for?!" William groaned as he rubbed his face. Bently chuckled from his seat in his wheel chair.

"That was Greg's message. You were too far out of my reach." Bently said with a grin.