First Sly/Carmelita fic! When I figured out the final release date of the 4th one in the series, I picked up the first game and got to work on replaying the series. I've never noticed how adorable Carmelita and Sly can be! I've been obsessed with them since I picked up the games again.

After making it to the 6th world in Sly Cooper 2, I got inspired by Jean Bison's spice trains to write this story.

EDIT: This was completely rewritten as of February 2020 because the old version was… less than good.

Sly Cooper ran along the frozen and icy rooftops of Canada in search of those clinking green bottles. He hopped onto a frozen rope to whack another glass bottle with his infamous family heirloom. After Sly landed perfectly on a snowy ledge along a rock wall, his trusty Binocucom beeped loudly. He pulled it out and took a deep sigh before answering. "Sly! It's, it's awful! I can't believe it!" Sly took a breath.

"Slow down Bentley. What happened?"

"Murray, he went out looking for a snack and got captured… by Inspector Fox!" The raccoon's heart skipped a beat. This day suddenly became interesting.

"Carmelita? She's here? ...Don't worry Bentley, I know how to handle her." A grin slid across his face.

"But… I don't know where she's locked up Murray!? I'm used to having all the facts!"

"Calm down. Carmelita's not cruel like the Contessa. I'll follow her without being seen, she's bound to check on Murray sooner or later."

"OK, that's… that's a good plan. Just don't get caught too, I don't want to be alone again." Sly hung up and slipped the device back into his pocket. As if on cue, Carmelita walked just below the ledge he was perched on. She held her pistol confidently ahead of her. She was dressed warmly, with a longer jacket, blue sweater, and a knit cap that looked quite fetching on her. Sly had to admit, blue might even look better on her than it did on him.

The master thief jumped down quietly and began stalking his favorite cop. She continued to walk forward, taking down anyone in her path and occasionally checking behind her to make sure there was no one following her. After tailing Carmelita over boats, islands, ice, and a rooftop or two, Sly came to an old power station with a small holding cell attached. Inside the cell stood Murray. She came up and exchanged words with the uncomfortable looking hippo. "Hey criminal! You doing okay in there? I know it's tight but you won't get shocked if you hold still," Carmelita started.

"I'm okay. And thanks for that bag of jellybeans, I was starving." Sly felt his heart ping lightly. He always did have a feeling she had a soft spot.

"Won't be long now. Once I bust the other members of your gang we'll get out of here."

"I'm grateful for the jellybeans and all, but aren't you on the outs with Interpol right now?" Murray tested.

"I'm an honest cop! Busting the Cooper Gang would prove my innocence and show everyone that Constable Neyla set me up." The fluttering pinging in Sly's heart dropped. A foul taste entered his mouth when Neyla's name came up.

"You mean, Captain Neyla? I heard she got promoted."

"Whatever! Just sit tight…I'm going to look for your pals." As she spoke, her ears flattened against her head, a definite sign she was frustrated. Sly chuckled at the fox's ferocity and hopped down to talk with Murray.

"Murray! I've come to break you out," Sly whispered loudly.

"Fat chance. This thing is triple padlocked and Inspector Fox is carrying all the keys."

"Come on buddy, you know I'm an expert at pickpocketing."

"She's tough Sly. If you manage to get a key, you'd better run for it. Carmelita's sure to notice and chase after you," Murray worried.

"Leave her to me," Sly replied with a trademark grin. He gave his pal a nod and took off after his beautiful cop.

As Sly started to follow Carmelita's tracks, memories of previous adventures floated back to mind. With the memories came Sly's genuine feelings for Carmelita. While most people saw his charming attitude towards her as a game, Sly didn't see it that way. She was the best part of this lifestyle. Even though the law separated them, it didn't stop him from loving her. He wondered if she'd ever feel the same about him.

While Sly's thoughts were drifting, he slid slightly forward on a thick patch of ice. He gathered his footing and realized he needed to focus. One misstep and he could end up in some serious trouble. Though he knew he shouldn't worry for Carmelita's safety, he couldn't help it.

Sly rounded the corner to see Carmelita waltzing through town. She had this walk about her. She was so confidently sexy it drove Sly wild sometimes. His eyes narrowed on her back pocket. Sly liked to think he knew her well, so he had a feeling that was where the keys were. With a well-trained skill, Sly crept closer until he was able to slip the end of his cane into her pocket and pull one key out. He confirmed his suspicious- it was in fact one of the keys he was looking for, and took off running as Carmelita's words echoed the air.

"Ugh! Cooper!" As Sly ran, a shock pistol blast hit the ground next to him. Without second thoughts, he scaled the nearby icy pole and ran along the frozen wires. Slipping the key into a safe place, Sly took off down the wires and began to hop rooftops. The wind flying through his fur was pumping his adrenaline higher. He didn't dare turn back.

"Justice will find you! There's nowhere to hide," Carmelita shrieked. Sly knew she couldn't spend all afternoon chasing him across Canada, and apparently she knew that as well. He watched her sway her hips and stroll away from his location on the rooftop. Once she was far enough away, Sly jumped from the roof and tiptoed after her. He slid his family heirloom into her back pocket once again and pulled out another key. She spun quickly and yelled after him. "I felt that thief!" Sly could've sworn she had a light grin on her face as she chased him.

Across snowcapped mountains and icy rooftops they ran, locked in the ultimate chase of cops and robbers. As Sly ran, he silently wondered if things were going to be this way forever. While he enjoyed being chased across the world by his beloved cop, he hoped that one day they could break down the walls between them and come to an agreement of feelings. "I don't know where you went, but I know where you're going- jail!" she yelled out to him. Sly twirled the second key in his fingers before tucking away in victory. Only one more to go.

The thief tailed Carmelita for a third time until she was close enough. Sly could almost reach out and touch her. He could see the weight of the third key in her pocket. He had to admit, he was a little disappointed how easy it was to pickpocket her. He expected more from a world-renowned investigator. Sly decided he would scold her later for it and chalked it up to being stressed about Neyla.

Sly pulled the third key from her pocket and took off running. "What was that?" the fox said as she turned around. Sly was gone before she had time to process what had happened. He chuckled as the echo of her shock pistol reached his ears.

"What would you do without that pistol, Carm?" he called out to her.

"I can tell you what I am going to do with it!" she shouted back. Sly laughed and rounded a corner. He ducked into an icy cave and curled behind a rock, no longer visible. "You'll be mine soon thief!" Sly heard her footsteps leave the cave entrance and he took off towards Murray.

Sly was almost there until he stopped suddenly at a set of train tracks. A speedy train came zooming by right in front of him. He didn't like crossing the tracks here, as there were a lot of blind corners and places for trains to jump out. He knew one hit could kill him. His stomach flipped at the thought of Carmelita crossing the tracks. She had to be careful; Sly couldn't stand to see her hurt.

The pink hippo looked overjoyed to see Sly return with all three keys. One at a time, the thief popped open the locks on the cell and Murray stepped out into the snow. "Thanks pal. I was getting a Charlie horse standing in that box."

"My pleasure. You know how I love to mess around with Carmelita," he replied. Murray gave him an odd look.

"Yeah, that's weird. See you back at the Safe House." Murray turned and took off for the Safe House. Sly chuckled and watched him go. He knew that Murray definitely wasn't the brains of the operation, but he figured his feelings for Carmelita were strong enough that most people picked up on them. Apparently not Murray.

Sly noticed Carmelita coming up the hill in the distance. He scaled the nearby telephone pole and waited with a growing smirk. When she arrived at the cell, she threw a fit. All sorts of swears and curses came from her lips. Sly couldn't help but laugh. "Those are some harsh words, Inspector Fox." Her head whipped around to see Sly comfortably perched on the pole. She glared and shook her fist at him.

"Why don't you come down here and I can show you some harsh actions, too?"

"Man, I love when you get all angry. You somehow become even more attractive," he replied. His heart adored these moments of flirty banter, even if it was one-sided.

"If you don't hand yourself over, I'll show you how attractive my jail cell is too," she snapped back and stomped her boot. It just made Sly laugh harder.

"You are quite feisty today, Miss Fox. Don't worry, I'll fix you right up with my charming good looks and smooth talking," he said. Carmelita put her hands on her hips and returned his smirk.

"I think I'd be able to see all of that better if you were down here in a pair of handcuffs. Don't be shy," she teased. Sly could feel his heart soar as she twirled the handcuffs on her finger.

"Well that doesn't sound very fun. How about we go see the Northern Lights instead? I've heard it's very romantic."

"Why? So you can kiss me and handcuff me to a bridge again?" Sly thought fondly back to the moments they shared on the Krakarov Volcano in Russia. His laughter warmed her ears, not that she would ever admit it.

"Don't tell me that wasn't the best date ever!"

"I've had worse, I'll give you that," she replied with a slightly warmer tone. Sly smiled in reply. "Let's make plans for a second date. You, me, and my shock pistol."

"I can't decide if the weather is colder or your attitude towards my affections for you," he said. Carmelita scoffed. Tired of playing games, she took her pistol out and aimed. Sly jumped from the pole and took off running as a blast whizzed by him.

"Come back here, Cooper! I want to show you just how cold-hearted I am!" He couldn't keep the grin off of his face as he ran off. She definitely wasn't giving up easily this time. Carmelita was determined to drag his cocky ass to jail.

Sly made a hard turn around a mountain peak. Carmelita did the same. Her footing wasn't nearly as good as Sly's, so in her hurry she stepped wrong and slid across the ice and into the train tracks. Her ears perked up as the honking of a train suddenly got very close. She froze in fear as her eyes landed on the bright light headed straight for her.

"Carmelita!" Carmelita was shoved out of the way of the train and into a heap of snow. The train missed her by less than a foot as it zoomed by. She got up as soon as the train passed and frantically looked around. There was no sigh of Sly.

"Cooper!" she called out. There was no answer. The fox took off running down the length of the tracks, desperately looking for him. She ran almost a hundred feet before noticing an opening through the beams of the tracks. She climbed down carefully and her heart stopped as she saw him.

Sly was lying face down in a puddle of icy water. His clothes were torn and he was bleeding in multiple spots. His hat was in shreds and he wasn't moving. Carmelita ran to his side and rolled him out of the water. "Sly?" She still received no answer. She pressed her ear to his chest to hear a low, slow heartbeat. He was alive.

The inspector wasted no time. She grabbed his cane and tossed Sly's body over her shoulder. She was lucky she did well in her physical classes at the academy or she probably wouldn't have been able to carry him. She was also probably pretty lucky he was lean and in good shape too.

Carmelita carried him to the cabin she'd taken shelter in. She shoved the door open unceremoniously and kicked it closed behind her. She shrugged Sly from her shoulder and placed him on the bed. Her first goal was warmth. The fox started a fire in the fireplace and grabbed a few more logs to really make things warm. Then she went for Sly's clothing. It was all completely soaked and it would have to go. She hung the remains of his shirt, hat, belt, gloves, and pouch on a line in front of the fire and placed his boots near the flames.

Despite all of the chaos, she found herself a little distracted by seeing Sly's bare chest. She couldn't deny that she had feelings for the raccoon, but her lifestyle took priority and she always chose the law over him. This time would be different, she told herself. It can't be like this again, but it's an emergency, she continued to think.

She tossed the blankets over him and continued to ring out his shirt. She looked at the holes and rips in it and felt a big pang of guilt. It should be her in that bed, not Sly. She should have those wounds. "If only I'd seen that damn train…"

"You have my back and I have yours, right?" Carmelita turned on her heel to see Sly sitting up in bed. She ran over to him and wrapped him in a warm hug.

"You're alive! Don't ever scare me like that again!" she shouted before realizing what was going on. The inspector quickly released Sly from her hold and sat back. She stood from the bed and took another step back. Sly could see her folding back into her tough self.

"What happened?"

"You ran in front of a train for me," Carmelita replied. "I need to take care of your wounds before they get any worse. Does anything feel broken or sprained?"

"My ankle hurts pretty badly, but it's not broken. I'll take my clothes and get out of your way," the raccoon said as he started to stand. Carmelita quickly pushed him back down.

"Absolutely not. You're going to seriously injure yourself if you try to walk anywhere now. You're not going anywhere," she said sharply. Sly was surprised by her forwardness, but said nothing and sat back down. He was suspicious of the lack of handcuffs on his wrists.

"Are you giving me a grace period or something? Seems awfully kind of you to take care of me instead of slapping the cuffs on," he said doubtfully.

"Well it's not a fair fight if you're wounded, now is it?" Carmelita asked. Truthfully, she was rather guilty that he took the hit for her. Sly and his gang had gotten her out of a lot of jams before, jams as far back as Russia several years ago. While she had offered them help in the past, her debt to them probably still wasn't paid off. If it weren't for Sly, she'd be a slave of the Contessa at the moment.

"That's thoughtful," he replied honestly.

"Well, don't get too cocky. The minute you can run again I'll be back on your tail." Sly hummed and thought about her words for a minute as she gathered first aid items. He suddenly smirked and looked at her. She knew that look all too well. "What?"

"You know, if you wanted me shirtless in your bed, you could've just asked. No need for an elaborate plan like this," he teased. Carmelita rolled her eyes.

"Don't make me hit you," she responded. She sat beside Sly on the bed and looked over his chest. "I don't see any visible wounds, but you are definitely going to bruise. Can you breathe okay?"

"Yes," Sly said.

"I'm going to feel for cracked ribs. Hold your breath for me," she instructed. Sly took a deep breath as the fox felt his chest for any broken ribs. She may have felt around a little longer than necessary to abuse her power. His muscles were something else. "You feel okay. Did I cause any additional pain?"

"None at all, gorgeous," he answered with a smirk. "But I am definitely sore and my ankle still hurts."

"Well, it doesn't look like you sustained any additional cuts, so that's a relief. You'll just be sore for a few days. Let me take care of that foot," Carmelita said as she grabbed her kit. She gently took Sly's foot into her lap and started to wrap it with an ace bandage. "It looks like you have a minor sprain. You'll want to get some ice on it when you get back to… wherever you're camping out out here," she explained. "And try and stay off of it. So I shouldn't see you wandering around out here for a day or two, or I'll be utterly disappointed," she carried as she finished tying the bandage. Sly winced as she tightened it.

"Yes ma'am."

"Here, get under the blankets. Your bones are probably frozen," she said and ushered him under the covers. The raccoon grinned cheekily up at her and lifted the covers.

"I'd be much warmer with someone else in here. Say, a beautiful vixen such as yourself?" Carmelita rolled her eyes so hard she thought they were going to roll back into her head. She sighed and took off her boots, much to Sly's surprise. His flirty quips almost never worked.

Carmelita climbed in bed beside Sly and pulled the covers over the both of them. "You'd better not try anything funny, Cooper."

"Funny? Trust me Carm, I would never want to spoil a moment between us," he said as Carmelita scoffed. A moment of silence passed. "Carmelita?"

"Yes Sly?"

"Are things always going to be this way?"

"What are you talking about Ringtail?"

"Are we always going to be separated by our ancestry? You can't tell me you don't have some kind of feelings for me. I know it would be a lie. But our lives keep us apart. Will things ever change?" he asked, his voice lacking its usual sarcasm and fun. Carmelita rolled over to face him and thought long and hard before she answered.

"I don't know. I'm a fourth generation cop, while you're a who-knows-how-many generation thief. It's unfair for either of us to ask the other to change, considering where we come from. But I don't want to say that we'll never get a chance. I think we will someday. Who knows? Life is too unpredictable to know what's going to happen in the next moment."

"Do you want a chance?" he asked, his eyes full of hope. Carmelita had never seen him so vulnerable and open. It was almost strange, but at the same time very comforting. It made Carmelita see him as more than just a criminal, something that was alarming to her.

"I do," she replied honestly. Sly smiled widely in reply. The fox couldn't help but smile back.

"Why did you rescue me after the train hit me?"

"I did it as a favor," she answered. "And because even you should know that I'm not heartless."

"You could've slapped the cuffs on me right then and there, and yet, something stopped you. My inspector, my strong cop, for once you didn't see things black and white," Sly said curiously.

"It should have been me getting hit. The least I could do was not let you die. In addition, you and your gang have gotten me out of some tights spots in the past. I think I owe you, most recently for the escape in Prague," she said. Sly could see a chill run down her spine at the thought of the Contessa. He took her hand in his and she didn't resist.

"We'll figure something out, for us and for your role in Interpol. I promise," he reassured her. Carmelita blushed and smiled genuinely. She leaned over and kissed Sly's cheek.

"Thank you. You really don't need to do that."

"For you my vixen? I'd give you the world."

The next morning, Carmelita awoke with a shiver. She opened her eyes to see she was alone in bed. For a moment, she thought it had all been a dream. But when she moved her bare hand across the sheets, they were still warm. Sly had been here. It hadn't all been a fantasy.

She rolled over to notice a calling card delicately placed on the nightstand. The inspector recognized Sly's work immediately. She grabbed it and flipped it open. In his neat handwriting, it read:

Thank you for taking care of me. Stay warm and take care of yourself.

Sly

Carmelita smiled. That raccoon had her heart, and if he ever found out, boy would she be in trouble.