(A/N: This is my first fanfic ever, so don't be to harsh on me, please? Thank you and of course R&R)

(Disclaimer: I don't own any Sly Cooper characters; Sucker punch production does. I do, however, own all non-fictional characters such as Dr. Morgan and the man in the coat.)

(A/N: the previous chapter was only a mere foretaste and since I already have a positive review, I'll be posting this story normally. First out is the complete chapter one!)

Chapter 1: The injury

-''Darn it!'' Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox yelled, as another of her shock projectiles harmlessly smashed into a building façade. Her target, the raccoon Sly Cooper, was perched on top of an antenna on top of a rooftop.

-''Nice shot, Carmelita! You almost got me there!'' Sly chuckled. Carmelita growled.

-''Shut up, you blasted, goddamn thief!''

Sly jumped to the next rooftop, and Carmelita followed.

-''Whoa, easy there, sweetie. Bad temper isn't good for your health, you know.''

Carmelita scoffed.

-''Why do you care about my health, thief?''

-''Is that a crime? To care about the one you love?''

Carmelita blushed, but quickly returned to normal.

-''You can flatter me all you want, thief, but it won't keep me from placing you behind bars!''

Sly just laughed, after dodging another shock projectile.

-''Calm down, Carmy. I'm just trying to get a living here, you know''

-''By, what, stealing from others?'' Carmelita furiously roared.

But, just then, Sly slipped on a pipe.

-''AHHHHHHHHHH!'' he screamed as he fell down and in the process, hit the back of his head on a ledge sticking out from a building.

-''SLY!'' Carmelita yelled, seemingly forgotten what she had just said and done.

-''Oh my god! Sly! Are you ok? She asked as she kneeled down next to him. But Sly wasn't ok. Not at all. Blood was pouring out from a gap In the back of his head.

-''Uhhh... Carmelita? Is that you…?'' he said in a weak voice.

Carmelita took of her jacket and pressed it against the wound on his head.

-''Don't you worry, Sly. I'm here! You're going to be ok!''

Sly slowly reached up and place his hand on her cheek. Carm…elita…'' he said weakly and started to cough up blood.

-''Yes, Sly?'' she held his hand in her own.

-''If… this is the end… I just want to tell you… that I always loved you.''

A tear fell down Carmelita's cheek and landed on Sly's neck.

-''Oh, Sly.'' She said, very loving. ''You know, I love you too.

Sly smiled. Bu he was weak and close to death.

Carmelita started to panic. Sly was being drained of all his strength and was barely even able to breath.

-''NO! Sly! Stay with me, please! I don't want you to leave me!''

But Sly had already passed out. Despite Carmelita's effort, he wouldn't wake up. She picked him up, and started to walk towards a hospital nearby.

Someone watched her from a distance. It was a figure clad in a new, black coat as well as a top hat, also black.

-''Don't worry, Carmelita. Everything will be ok.'' The figure said.

Carmelita eventually reached the hospital, where a few nurses came to help her. They placed Sly on a gurney, carefully minding his injury.

Carmelita stood by, panicked and thoughtless as she watched him getting rolled into the hospital. A male nurse, a tall and handsome cheetah, came up to Carmelita, who just stared into nothing.

-''Um excuse me...?'' the doctor waved his hand in front of her face.

-''Wha-what?'' Carmelita slowly responded.

-''Excuse me, miss..?''

-''Fox. Carmelita Fox' Carmelita replied.

The doctor nodded.

-''Alright, Miss Fox. What happened?''

But Carmelita couldn't hear anything. Her mind went through all the memories she had with her beloved raccoon.

Ultimately, she collapsed crying, and the doctor barely managed to catch her.

-''There, there. It's alright. It's going to be ok.''

Carmelita didn't calm down at all. Instead, she cried even more.

-''Oh my god! Is he going to die?'' she said with tears falling from her eyes.

The doctor hesitated to answer.

-''I don't know. He seems to have a major concussion. He is also subjected to short-term memory loss.

-''But, is he going to die?'' Carmelita asked, more calm now.

-''Like I said, I don't know. But there's a small chance that this could happen.

The cheetah then received a phone call.

-''Dr. Morgan here. Ok. Good. I'll tell her. Ok. Bye.''

-''What?'' Carmelita asked.

''Your friends condition is under steady control. Do you want to see him?''

-''Yes, thank you. Is he ok?'' she asked anxiously.

-''His condition is indeed stable. I think he will make it.

But, like I said, he's subjected to short-term memory loss.

So Dr. Morgan entered the hospital with Carmelita. Thy walked down one corridor, two corridors, and finally, a third corridor. Halfway through, a tall figure clad in a back coat and top hat, handed her a piece of paper. Carmelita put it in her pocket and continued. Finally, they reached a door saying M10.

-''This is your friends room. Do you want to go in?''

-''Of course I do, he's my boyfriend!'' she lied.

-''Oh, sorry.'' Dr. Morgan said as he opened the door and walked away.

Carmelita went inside, closed the door behind her and went over to Sly's bed, where he was sleeping. Before she woke him up, she took out the piece of paper given to her by the coat-clad figure It said:

''Meet me behind the hospital at 9:00 pm SHARP.

A friend.''

Carmelita put the paper in her pocket again and checked her watch. 7:09 pm. Almost two hours left. Then, she found another piece of paper, which said:

''Patients record

Patient name: Sylvester James Cooper.

Patient age: 24

Patient status: Stable.

Seems to have a major concussion as well as suffering from short-term memory loss.

Also seems to have trouble sleeping. Talks in his sleep:

Carmelita, I love you. Must have Carmelita; I love her.

Chance of death: 2,8 %

She put the record away. And then looked at Sly. He looked so cute. And hot too, for that matter.

-''I love you, Sylvester James Cooper.'' She whispered as she placed a paw on his chest. Feeling his soft fur calmed her down.

Suddenly, Sly grunted very loudly and moved.

-''Sly? Are you awake?'' she firmly asked.

After, he went back to his previous status: Dead silent.

Just then, her phone rang.

-''Carmelita Fox here.''

- ''Um, hi, Inspector Fox. It's Bentley. We heard Sly got sent to hospital, so we're coming over. We also got you a present. You must be worried sick.''

You have no idea!'' Carmelita cried out.

-''Ok. We're coming over in 15 minutes.''

-''We?'' Carmelita asked curiously.

-''Yeah. Me, Murray and Penelope. He's our friend too, you know.''

-''Ok. Did I hear something about a present?''

''Yeah. It's some kind of letter or memo. I found it in Sly's room.

-Ok. See you later, Bentley.'' She said and hung up.

Just then, Dr. Morgan came into the room.

-''Hi, Miss Fox. Can I get you anything?''

-''No, thank you.''

-''You can stay with your boyfriend.'' Carmelita's ears twitched when she heard that word.

''For another hour. Then we need to take him in for testing.''

-''Ok, Carmelita responded.

Dr. Morgan exited the room just before Sly woke up.

-''Uggh.'' He grunted. Carmelita turned around.

-''Sly! You're awake!'' she yelled in excitement.

Sly slowly sat up. A bandage ran across his head.

-''Oh, hi.'' He whispered.

-''Oh, Sly. I thought you were done for.''

-''You're… I… I know that I've seen you before…'' he said

-''Can you guess my name? It begins with a C.''

-''A C? Uh… Caroline? No wait, that's not it. Carmen? No, it's something else… Carm... Carme… Carmelita!''

He yelled.

She smiled.

-''Yup, that's it.''

-''I'm… Sly, something, right?''

She nodded,

-''Sylvester James Cooper.''

Carmelita sat down at the foot of his bed.

-''Your face.. It's so beautiful.'' He said.

Carmelita placed his hand in her own. He started to purr softly.

-''Yours too. I love you, Sly Cooper.''

He smiled. She smiled. Suddenly she kissed him on the lips.

When they broke it, Sly's purr grew louder.

-''Oh, I love it when you do that, ringtail!''

-''Ringtail? Is that, like, some sort of nickname for me?''

-''Uh-huh.'' Carmelita nodded.

-''Ringtail.'' He repeated. ''Sounds catchy.''

Then, the rest of the Cooper gang came into the room.

-''Hi, Inspector Fox.'' Bentley said.

''How's Sly?'' Penelope asked.

-''I hope he's ok'' Murray anxiously said.

Carmelita turned around.

-''Hi, Bentley. How's it going?'' she asked.

-''I'm fine, Inspector Fox. The real question is, how is Sly?''

Sly sat up from lying down again and looked at his friends.

-''You're… my friends, right?'' he asked.

-''Yup.'' Murray answered. ''I'm Murray, that's Bentley and that's Penelope.

Sly lied down again. His doctor had told him not to sit up so much.

-''Oh, right. Inspector Fox, here's the letter.'' Bentley said and gave Carmelita the letter: a yellow scrap of paper.

-''Thank you.'' She answered.

-''I think we should leave Inspector Fox and Sly alone now.'' Bentley suggested, and so the trio left the room.

Carmelita then read the letter she go from Bentley. It looked like a finished love letter waiting to be delivered.

''Dear Carmelita.

You may not approve to read this, but I just have to say, I'm totally in love with you. Since I first saw you, my heart raced against my mind. I really wanted to marry you for a second there, but I knew it was impossible since you hated me with all your heart. My greatest wish was just for once, kiss you, enjoy it, and feel you kiss me back. But this can't happen since you hate me so much. I hope my wish comes true someday.

Love, Sly''

-''Oh, Sly. I don't hate you. You may be a thief, but you're MY thief.'' Carmelita smiled.

Then, she looked at her watch. 9:07 pm. Shit! She was late, so she grabbed her stuff and rushed out of the hospital, but not before kissing Sly goodbye on the lips.

She literally stormed down the hallways, almost nocking down a few doctors and nurses in the process. Eventually, she got outside. 9:10 Pm.

She walked down an alley beside the hospital.

-''You're late.'' a dark voice hissed.

-''I'm sorry. I was… delayed.''

Out from the shadows came a man clad in a black coat.

-''Ah, the famous Carmelita Fox, known for her bad temper!'' He laughed. Carmelita twitched, thinking of what Sly had said before his injury.

-''Bad temper isn't good for your health, you know.''

The words echoed in her head. But she shook them of and reached for her shock pistol, positioned at her belt this whole time.

-''No, no, no. Let's put that away.'' The figure said, waved a hand, and magically, Carmelita's pistol was jerked out of her hand.

-''What do you want?'' Carmelita shouted.

-''Sch, sch. I'm trying to help you. Calm down.''

Carmelita was surprised of the rate at that the man had changed his attitude.

-''What, why?'' she asked.

Out of thin air, a green bottle filled with a mysterious liquid appeared.

-''Sly won't make it unless he drinks this potion. It's a mix of herbs that helps heal damaged tissue.''

-''And why should I trust you? How do I know that you're not just trying to pull off some kind of cheap trick?''

-''Because you have no other choice than to trust me if you want him alive.''

The bottle floated into Carmelita's hands.

-''I wonder what will really happen to Sly if drinks this potion'' Carmelita thought to herself.

(A/N: Alright. The first real chapter. Thank you both, Carmen23 and Hookemhorns12 for the positive feedback. Next chapter is already written down by hand and will hopefully be posted within two days. Ciao!)