Downward Spiral

Written by Aldersmoke

Summary: A simple literary scribble to get a feel for the characters. Set after the 3rd game, shortly before the 4th.
Sly reflects on a recent bust and it brings back the itch. He feels his relationship with Carmelita, or what one that he hopes for, is about to get a lot more complicated.

The air was still and the sky was clear, the moon shining bright in the sky, visible even with the bright lights of the Eiffel Tower in the distance. The view was even more stunning from where a soft grey raccoon was standing, on the fire escape stairwell of the local police station. He let out a soft sight before shifting to lean against the railing in a more comfortable fashion.


“I wonder what the guys are doing now..” he muttered to himself. The raccoon thought back to his adventures with his two best friends, Bentley and Murray. After everything they'd been through, this is the longest they'd gone without contact, or at least the longest he'd gone. There was no doubt to him that his turtle and hippo friends had stayed in contact, after all there was no reason for them not to, no danger of being found out as a liar. That word, it weighed heavy in his mind these days. It has been several months now that he'd been lying to Carmelita about his amnesia and lately it just felt more and more wrong. All the time he'd spent with the beautiful fox, he found himself falling deeper in love with her, but at a cost. He knew deep down that the itch was starting to come back. 


Just the last week they'd busted a thief who was stealing ancient artifacts from a rich personal collector and it brought everything rushing back to him. The night after the bust, he laid awake for several hours, making plans about how he would have stolen the items from the thief, without arousing any suspicions to his coworkers that he'd done anything. His plans of course paled in comparison to his friend Bentley's, and it just made him miss his old life more. 


That brought him to his current dilemma about how it was becoming harder to lie to Carmelita. At least before all this, he could just push back any thoughts about his past life and focus on his new career and love life, but now he was thinking over other options. Maybe he could just tell her that his memory came back and he missed his friends? No, that would probably just mean she would never take her eyes off of him, and for good reason to be honest. 


Suddenly he heard soft footsteps behind him as he flicked his eye back to listen better. The softness of the footsteps and the slight clicking noise from her boots signaled to him exactly who it was that had followed him.


“Cooper, the Captain is waiting on you to drive you home,” the figure behind him said. She stepped over to his left side and into his view, her bright orange fur looking a little more muted in the dark. She was wearing her usual jacket, though now wrapped more tightly around her, the winter chill still lingering in the beginning weeks of spring. Her expression softened from her usual hardened work expression as she spoke again, “Is something wrong?”


Sly turned to her, flashing one of his ever so charming smirks. “Of course not, I just thought it was far too beautiful of a night to waste it in the stuffy office.” He moved his finger under her chin, looking into her eyes. “And now it's even more beautiful with you around.”


Carmelita rolled her eyes but there was a smile on her face. “Come on, you know how the Captain hates waiting on people,” she said, turning away. She made her way over to the stairs, walking ahead of him.


“So what's keeping you from driving me? I thought we were on for a nice romantic movies and popcorn on the couch sort of night?” Sly asked with a chuckle, following her down the stairs. Just before they were to step inside the door, Carmelita paused. It passed quickly and she grabbed a hold of the door handle. “I have an important case to work on, the Captain is relying on me and only me to work this one. I need you to stay out of it, for real this time,” she told him before wretching open the door, moving quickly inside. 


Sly just stood there, staring at the door as it slammed shut. It was completely unusual for Carmelita to leave him out of her work ever since he joined, he'd even go as far to say that she relied on him to help with her cases. He wasn't sure what was going on, but whatever it was, he had the feeling that this was the start to a downward spiral. One that he wasn't sure he'd ever pull himself out of.