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// Interlude: Disastrous Outcome 
// Story: Sly Cooper: Family of Thieves 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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The Cooper Gang, with the unexpected addition of Clockwerk, spent the next week trying to relax and put their worries behind them for the moment, though the first thing Sly did was take Bentley to the same hospital that had checked out Derpy two years ago. Unfortunately things weren't that pleasant for his friend, as the doctors told Bentley that he wouldn't be able to walk and that he would need a wheelchair, which made Sly sad and angry when he heard the news, but at the same time he was caught off guard when Bentley said that he wasn't going to have any of that. At first Sly thought he meant the fact that he was crippled, but in reality he was referring to Sly's emotions on the matter, like he thought that Sly might think of him as a burden, and immediately set out to make something that would allow him to continue being an active member of the team, despite his new paralysis. The gang felt that Bentley was being strong, despite what had Neyla had done to him before her arrest, even though that was sadly followed by Murray declaring that he blamed himself for what happened and actually left the team to get some enlightenment or understanding, shocking the entire gang in the process, since he had been with them since the beginning.

What also shocked Sly was that when Bentley started making modifications to the wheelchair that he was going to be confined to, despite the fact that he was still looking into treatments that might be able to cure him, there was someone else working with him. Clockwerk, somehow feeling guilty that it was because of his body that Bentley was hurt in such a manner, and forced one of his friends to leave for an unknown period of time, started to assist the crippled turtle and helped him piece together something that would serve him well. Sly didn't know if the ancient owl, who remained in his miniature owl state to avoid being detected, was actually trying to make amends for the thousands of years he had hunted the Cooper Clan or if he was actually feeling sorry for what happened to Bentley, but at the same time he still didn't trust him and kept his eyes on him. He refused to believe that the Hate Chip, after spending two years around Derpy's neck, would have allowed such a drastic change in the owl's behavior, which was why he continued to keep taps on what he was doing and who he was with... and yet, despite all that, he found that Clockwerk only cared to remain near Bentley, assisting him with his modifications to his wheelchair.

Carmelita spent most of the week they took off hanging with the gang, or more specifically Sly, and she also shared some of his thoughts in regards to the ancient owl that was now hiding out with them, since it appeared that magic was the only way to harm him in an extreme manner and the threat of Secretary Sen's fire being his opponent had done something to him. When she wasn't spending time with Sly, or checking in with the gang, she was making sure that her affairs were in order and that nothing had changed since she had been captured by the Contessa, who was also serving a life's sentence behind bars with Neyla, as punishment for ignoring a Secretary's orders and being one of the members of the Klaww Gang that had stolen the Clockwerk parts. She actually found out that Secretary Sen had told the other four Secretaries the truth about what happened on Arpeggio's blimp, about Clockwerk's revival, and where the ancient owl was located, but at the same time the five of them agreed that the world would be better off thinking that the parts had been destroyed and that Clockwerk was no more, even though his legacy was forever attached to that of the Cooper Clan, which actually pleased the owl when she told him the news.

Gilda, Derpy, and Diz also spent the majority of their time relaxing, though what time they didn't spend doing that was either spent on practicing the Cooper Techniques inside their training area or practicing their magic, while making sure Diz didn't go overboard and get trapped in his female form for a long time again. Diz just said that it was the chaotic nature of his powers and that he would just have to suffer through the changes when they happened, just like he had suffered through being a chick for the last few operations they had been on after he woke up a few statues to act as golems for a few minutes. Of the three of them the only one that actually trusted Clockwerk was Derpy, as she had been the one to carry the Hate Chip around with her for the last two years and felt that it was some of her emotions that had brought up the same emotions that Clockwerk had sealed away to become the hateful owl he had been. Gilda and Diz didn't trust him as much as their sister did, as they had their own various reasons for acting that way, but in the end they decided that Bentley would tell them if something happened, such as Clockwerk betraying them or something, and went on with their lives to the best of their abilities.

Of course the gang was happy to hear the punishments that the Contessa and Neyla would be getting, since they had fooled Interpol and had tried to destroy Carmelita's life, and even Clockwerk was pleased, even though they were going to jail for the rest of their lives... but it was when the week was over, when Carmelita decided that it was time that she got back to her job as a cop, and was dressed in her cop attire while carrying her shock pistol once more, that misfortune rained on them.





Carmelita sighed as she entered the Interpol building that Sly and his sisters had snuck into two years ago to get the police file she had prepared to use as bait to lure him out into the open, as she had been planning on arresting him that night and he managed to get away, and thought about what she had learned since she had last been here. From what Neyla's disk had said all of her co-workers, save for a very select few that she either didn't ask questions to or they weren't present the day she pestered them, believed that she wasn't innocent of the crimes that Neyla and the Contessa had blamed her for, meaning that they believed that she deserved what had happened to her. That fact hurt more than she was willing to admit, that none of them were willing to come and get the truth for themselves, and yet she kept a straight face as she walked by the front desk, ignoring the glare the clerk was giving her, and walked up the stairs to the floor that her office was located on. The only problem she had with using the stairs was that she could bump into a number of her co-workers and would likely be harassed by them, or even worse she could run into Barkley while she was heading towards her destination, but she needed to take some risks and hoped that her co-workers had cooled off.

Of course things couldn't be that easy for her as she reached the floor that she was heading to, as the moment she walked out into the open she could hear all the conversations that had been going on stop as she walked out of the area the stairs were in... and, as she headed towards her office, she could feel the eyes of her co-workers following her, silently judging her and accusing her at the same time.

"Hey Carmelita!" a friendly voice said, to which she turned towards the window and found the one of the few co-workers who hadn't been on the disk, as Bentley had created a list of faces for her to look at, to know who didn't trust her anymore, standing beside the window with a smile on her face.

Judy Hopps was shorter than most of the officers and staff that were in the Interpol building, which was because she was a rabbit, but at the same time she more than made up for her short stature by catching the criminals that she was sent to investigate and making sure that she had more than enough evidence to send them to jail. Unlike most of the staff she wore clothing that covered the majority of her body and didn't restrict her movements, allowing her to chase down her targets without falling behind, though at the same time she even claimed that she still didn't understand Carmelita's choice of attire, despite her explaining it several times. She had eventually picked up on the fact that Judy was only teasing her and that she meant no hard feelings towards her, since Carmelita was both her friend and one of her superiors, which was why she was glad that Judy hadn't been in the office the day that Neyla asked her questions, as it  could have easily turned the entire building into a war zone, since she disliked it when people tried to throw someone under the bus.

"Hey Judy, how was Europe?" Carmelita asked, finding that she could smile, despite the glances the others were giving her, as she approached her cop friend, who she hadn't seen for some time since she had been busy in Europe before the Clockwerk parts were stolen by the Klaww Gang.

"It would have been nicer if I wasn't chasing a criminal down," Judy replied, which was what Carmelita was expecting to hear, since that was the reason she had gone down there in the first place, though at the same time she was happy to see that she was fine, before Judy glanced at some of their co-workers that were staring at them, "Say Carmelita, why are some of our co-workers staring at us like we committed some crime that we're getting away with?"

"Come on, I'll tell you back at my office," Carmelita said, knowing that it was the best place for them to talk, as it was away from the eyes of their co-workers, many of which she didn't trust at the moment since they freely told Neyla that they felt that she was guilty and deserved her punishment.

She had been hoping for a brief conversation in the safety of her office, where the others wouldn't bother her and Judy, though as they rounded the corner, and spotted the red door that belonged to her office, Carmelita nearly froze when she found the glass part of the door had been shattered... and, when they walked into her office, the entire place looked like it had been torn apart, and not in the manner that a thief would have used if they were looking for something, or if they were trying to mess with someone.

"I... I can't believe them," Carmelita said, looking at the damage that had been caused to her office, though at the same time she was thankful that she left anything meaningful back at her place, as she was sure that the pictures would have been smashed and any personal belongings would have been taken with no hope of getting them back.

"Carmelita, what's going on?" Judy asked again, because she could handle co-workers giving each other glares all the time, as she had a few since she was still young and was almost at Carmelita's level, earning her some glances as well, but this seemed different than that, "Why are our co-workers staring at you like they are? And why has your office been vandalized in such a manner? I bet it was Sly Cooper that..."

"Sly didn't do this... he wouldn't." Carmelita replied, causing a look of surprise to appear on Judy's face, though she knew that it was because she always called Sly 'Ringtail' when she was around others and almost never used his actual name, until now anyway, to which she sat on the couch that came with the office, "Judy, I'm sure you've heard the news that both the Contessa and Constable Neyla were actually secret members of the Klaww Gang, the same ones that broke into the Cairo Museum and made off with the Clockwerk parts, and were recently arrested for the crimes they committed in the last few weeks. Secretary Sen had us under orders to work with the Cooper Gang and recover the Clockwerk parts, or destroy the ancient bird if he was resurrected, and both the Contessa and Neyla disobeyed that order by capturing Sly, Murray, and myself when we were taking out Rajan. Neyla set everything up to make Barkley think that I've been a corrupt cop since the day Sly and I first met each other, back when someone tried to steal the Diva Diamond, giving him a packet containing lies about all the cases I've been on since that day... and Barkley bought all of it. Back in Prague, when the Contessa was first exposed, Neyla got all the credit for her capture, was promoted to the rank of Captain by Barkley himself, and I was officially wanted for crimes that I never committed."

"Wow... that's, well, harsh and unfair," Judy said, though at the same time she had to admire Carmelita's bravery, as she was willing to come back were, where Director Barkley worked, despite the fact that he had been trying to arrest her near the end of the Klaww Gang's life, "How did you convince him that your innocent?"

"Well, Sly and I gathered information on Neyla's true plans and told Secretary Sen everything." Carmelita explained, as there wasn't much to the tale, other than the fact that their superior had believed all the evidence that they had acquired and that was enough to make him side with her and the Cooper Gang, "In the end he believed us over what Barkley was saying and, once we finished off Clockwerk, Secretary Sen pardoned me and cleared my name... and, at the same time, it's left a sour taste in the mouths of our co-workers. You see, one of the things that Neyla did was record herself asking our co-workers questions about whether or not they believed that I was innocent, and all of them, save for you and a few others that had been out on missions, believe that I'm a corrupt cop that needs to be punished."

Judy opened her mouth, to say something about how horrible that was, but before she could actually say anything the intercom that Director Barkley used, when he wanted to call someone to his office, turned on and, as luck would have it, he was calling for Carmelita to come to his office... to which she sighed as she walked to his office, ignored the smug looks that some of her co-workers were giving her, before she entered her destination and closed the door behind her.

"You wanted to see me, Director Barkley?" Carmelita asked, though she did her best to hide her fear, because she had seen how angry the man had been when he was in Prague, when he was ordering Neyla to capture her and the Cooper Gang despite Secretary Sen's orders, and knew that something was going to happen.

"Yes, I did." Barkley replied, to which he closed the file that he had been staring at and turned to face her, where Carmelita saw that he was smoking one of his cigars again, "Do you have any idea what your actions have caused us recently? Fortunately most of the criminals you caught before the Fiendish Five have turned over a new leaf and are living new lives, though right now Muggshot is walking out of prison to become an ACES pilot, Mz. Ruby has been released under the orders of Secretary Sen, for what purpose I don't care about, and the Panda King is being let out to become a monk or something. Dimitri, from what I hear, is being let out early and might become a dance instructor for a cruise ship, Rajan has an interest in moving to North America to become a carpet salesman, while the Contessa, Arpeggio, and Neyla are being sentenced to life sentences with only Arpeggio having any hope of his being reduced, depending on whatever deal he makes with one of the Secretaries."

"Director, I fail to see how any of that is my fault," Carmelita said, though she was pleased to hear that the majority of the criminals that she had caught, whether or not it was because she was following the Cooper Gang, were returning to society as improved individuals, even though the Klaww Gang members shouldn't be leaving anyway, "Secretary Sen approved of me doing whatever I felt was necessary to stop the possible resurrection of Clockwerk and, if that failed, make sure we take him out before he becomes a menace to someone else. We stopped that ancient evil from coming back to life and put the Klaww Gang behind bars, while also stopping their shipments of illegal spice..."

"And got a Secretary to clear your corrupted name at the same time," Barkley stated, stopping Carmelita in her tracks, though she had been hoping that it wouldn't come to this, as she was trying to avoid letting him bring up anything that was related to her 'corruption'.

"Everything that Neyla and the Contessa told you were lies." Carmelita replied, not caring if she was interrupting the director, because at the rate his anger was rising, and she could see it, he was going to blow a fuse and fire someone, most likely her if she was unfortunate enough to be around him when it reached that level, "Up until two years ago, back when both Gilda and Derpy Cooper gained their magical abilities, I had been chasing them, Sly, Bentley, and Murray since the incident with the Diva Diamond, fully intending to arrest them and never once assisted them. When Secretary Sen learned of the sisters gaining magical powers, which they used to defeat Clockwerk, he arranged to meet with them and a deal was struck between Interpol and the Cooper Gang, with me being the one that was their handler so we'd know where to go and who we were going to arrest. Sure, I became a thief for a few hours during this operation, but it was in our best interests so we could get our hands on the Clockwerk parts... not that it mattered since Neyla attacked the convoy that Secretary Sen had sent for the parts we had collected, snatched the remaining ones from Jean Bison, and aided Arpeggio in resurrecting Clockwerk. I'm completely innocent of the crimes that Neyla has accused me of and even Secre..."

"It doesn't matter what Secretary Sen thinks of the situation, because I made my decision when Neyla arrested the Contessa nearly three weeks ago," Barkley said, once more interrupting Carmelita while she was talking, something that she was used to, but his tone made her pause for a moment, giving him time to open the file he had been looking at, one that she now noticed had her name on it, and moved a piece of paper towards her, "I'm sorry Carmelita, I truly am, but you brought this upon yourself."

Just the way he spoke and how he acted, both things she had come to understand from observing him over the years, Carmelita could tell exactly what was on the sheet of paper without even looking at it, as it was the one thing that she had been hoping would never happen... and yet, when she glanced down at the paper, tears formed in her eyes as she looked at the orders that Barkley had created, issuing her dismissal as a cop.

"No... please let this be a joke..." Carmelita said, her voice weak as she looked at the paper, as she could already visualize her world collapsing around her, especially when she told her parents about what happened, whenever she got around to actually telling them her undeserved fate.

"By the time Secretary Sen issued the order that your name be cleared it was too late to change my mind," Barkley replied, though his tone revealed that he didn't seem to care, as if all those years that he had been teaching her to be his replacement meant nothing to him now, besides utter disappointment anyway, "all he did was clear the name of a fired officer. Carmelita Montoya Fox, it is with a heavy heart that I ask that you return your shock pistol, hand in your Inspector badge, clear out your office, and vacate the building."

Carmelita stood there for a few seconds, her mind struggling to accept the fact that this was actually happening and that she had lost her dream job because her boss was stupid enough to believe the lies that had been spread from some people who infiltrated Interpol, instead of believing the word of an honest cop that had never lied to him, not even once in the time she knew him. And yet, despite the fact that Secretary Sen had cleared her name, her life as a cop was crumbling before her very eyes, though even as her anger flared, at the wrongness of this entire situation, she knew that if she tried anything Barkley would order her former co-workers to restrain her and she'd end up in jail until Secretary Sen found out about what was going on. She let out a sad sigh as she moved her hands and undid the holster that was attached to her belt, with the shock pistol still loaded inside it, before dropping it on Barkley's desk, earning a growl from him that she didn't even care about anymore, which was followed by her fingering the badge that was attached to the collar that she wore around her neck, a badge that she had taken great pride in achieving through hard work... and it was with a saddened heart, and accompanied by a stream of tears, that she unhooked the badge that she had proudly worn since she got it, before gently placing it on the desk in front of her.

Once the badge was on the desk, and one copy of the dismissal paper was in her hand, Carmelita said nothing as she pulled open the door to Barkley's office and walked out into the open area that her former co-workers were watching her with some large smiles on their faces... though when she returned to her former office, and couldn't bring herself to say much to a shocked Judy, other than 'thanks for being a good friend', and simply disassembled the map she had of the Cooper Gang's heists, as whoever replaced her would have to do all the hard work themselves. The moment she had all the information she had collected on the gang, from the moment she had met Sly during the Diva Diamond theft up to the first members of the Klaww Gang, in one container she sealed the box and carried it outside the office, where she began the walk back to the front of the building. It didn't take her long to get outside, especially when she didn't want to stick around her former co-workers in case they tried anything, though once she was outside she attached the box to the holder that was on the back of her motorcycle, making sure that it was secure, before she drove away from the building and headed off into the city... where she headed towards the gang's hideout, as she had some news to share with them when she arrived.

It didn't take her long to reach the Cooper Gang's hideout, where they lived and trained in the arts of the Cooper Clan, though she parked her motorcycle in a place where it wouldn't be found easily, before she used her key that she had been given to open the door... though a few moments later she walked up to the area that the gang was relaxing in, where they instantly stopped what they were doing when they noticed that she was there.

"Carmelita, what's wrong?" Sly asked, as the moment he noticed that she had entered the building he had turned to welcome her back, but when he noticed the tear marks on her face he knew something was wrong, which was why he was the first one to approach her.

Carmelita did say anything as she looked at Sly for a few seconds, though that was swiftly followed by her dropping the box she had been carrying and rushed forward, where she buried herself in Sly's arms, as he was the comfort that she was seeking at the moment, and she let the tears flow once more.

"Sly, you should see this." Bentley spoke up, where he picked up the lone piece of paper that had caught his attention, though as he showed Sly he noticed that the others were gathering around them and were trying to comfort Carmelita as well, even though they knew who she wanted to be with at the moment.

"She was fired?!" Sly exclaimed, to which a wave of shock and anger rolled throughout the entire gang, while at the same time he heard a screech of anger from another room, where he wasn't sure if that was because Clockwerk was angry about the modification that he and Bentley had been working on earlier or what he had overheard.

"I'll let Secretary Sen know what happened," Bentley stated, to which he rolled over to where his computer was located and started tapping some buttons, as while he couldn't believe what was going on he knew that Secretary Sen was going to have some choice words for Barkley.

"Sly... my days as a cop are over." Carmelita said, to which she pulled herself back for a moment and stared into the eyes of the person that she loved with all her heart, who she knew shared the same feelings towards her, "I... I guess now's a good time to officially start my training... I'm... I'm ready to truly become a Cooper Thief."

At any other time Sly would have been overjoyed to have Carmelita choose his lifestyle over her own, especially after seeing how skilled she was at using his family's techniques without any formal training, but having her choose his lifestyle because someone was forcing her to make the decision pissed him off to no end... though while he comforted Carmelita, and the others gave them space, he spotted Bentley sending a message and hoped there was something Secretary Sen could do for Carmelita.





Secretary Sen was generally a happy man, as Interpol ran exactly like he and the other four Secretaries envisioned that it would, but recently he was disappointed in the performance of several officers that Director Barkley had hired and their clear mistreatment of Carmelita Fox. She was one of the greatest law enforcement officers that he had the honor of meeting and working with over the years, so much so that he often wondered if she had the potential to replace one of the other Secretaries, as some of them were looking for officers that could replace them when they decided that it was time for them to retire. As a phoenix he could only actually retire from his position if the other four felt that he was no longer a viable fit for the position or when he decided that it was finally time for him to retire and pursue an entirely new career, something that he knew wasn't going to happen for some time, but for now his mind was focused on what he was doing as he walked into the Interpol building that Carmelita had been working at until that morning. His day had been going good until he received that email from Bentley a few minutes ago, where he flew over the entirety of Paris and landed in front of the building that he walked into, as he had a single destination in mind and wouldn't stop until he reached until the person that he needed to have a conversation with.

As he walked into the building he found that the staff were frightened the moment he entered the lobby, because there were a few stories going around about what he did when he was annoyed or pissed off, but he ignored the front desk clerk and headed to the floor that Carmelita's former office was on, where he marched up to the door of Barkley's office and found that the door was still open... though Barkley, who clearly wasn't expecting company at the moment, instantly paled as he entered the room and closed the door behind him, before staring at the Director.

"Director Barkley," Secretary Sen said, keeping his anger in check and not letting it be known that he was upset, as there were so many things he wanted to tell the man, especially after everything that happened since the Clockwerk parts were stolen, and he wanted to see what he had to work with first before he said anything.

"Secretary Sen." Barkley replied, though at the same time he picked up the shock pistol and badge that had been left on his desk and set them in a container, one that he would give to one of the staff later, so they could deal with the used pistol and erase Carmelita's name from the badge so they could give it to someone else in the future, "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company? I was under the assumption that you were supposed to be having an important meeting with the other four Secretaries today."

"You're right, I do have that meeting today," Secretary Sen stated, as there was something important that he and his fellow Secretaries needed to discuss, which was why the meeting had been called in the first place and all of Interpol knew that they would be unavailable for some time while they did that, "however, as I was preparing to leave for the meeting, I received an email from the Cooper Gang, or, more specifically, I received an email from Bentley. It seems that you just did something that could very well end your career in a single instant... you fired Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox over the lies that both the Contessa and Neyla had told you."

"She was a corrupt cop that got what she deserved," Barkley said, though at the same time Secretary Sen noticed that Barkley didn't seem to care about what was going on at the moment, which annoyed him more than he was willing to admit, especially when he knew that Carmelita actually deserved better than this.

"No, you fired an innocent cop, ruined her reputation, and made it impossible for her to even apply for a law enforcement position in some other agency." Secretary Sen replied, though this time around he frowned as a faint red aura appeared around him, the type he used to intimidate people when he didn't want to release the seals on his real power, which would burn the entire building down in the process if he did that, while at the same time noticing Barkley flinch for a moment, "You effectively made sure that Carmelita could no longer become a cop, despite all the time she spent working her way up to the position she had earned, and have not only angered the Cooper Gang with your actions, but both of her parents and myself at the same time. Director Barkley, as of right now I am officially demoting you back to the rank of Inspector, the lowest ranking Inspector in all of Interpol I might add, and I'll be making some changes to the staff in this building, because you have let things go since the moment you became the Director of this agency."

"You don't have the autho..." Barkley started to say, but when he saw Secretary Sen glare at him, with a look of anger that caused him to shake and fall back into his chair, he knew that anything he said was going to be terrible, as when Secretary Sen was like this it was better to appease him and hope his anger cooled off quickly.

"You should consider yourself lucky that I didn't fire you immediately." Secretary Sen said, though at the same time he pulled out the folder that he had been carrying the entire time, which Barkley had only just now noticed, and placed a piece of paper on the desk, "There will be a new Director in charge of this agency effectively immediately, one that I selected from the potential list of candidates, and you will abide by his orders while he gives me progress reports on everything you do. If I find that you are doing a good enough job I'll back off and let you keep your job, but if I hear that you keep screwing up, and continue to make a fool of Interpol, I will fire you from your new position and make it impossible for you to get a job in law enforcement. There's also someone here I want to talk to, as she's the only person that Carmelita trusts enough to be the new handler for the Cooper Gang, and there's a few officers that I'll talk to before I leave... but remember this, if you do anything foolish, that might tarnish our name further, I will act swift and without any mercy to fulfill my promise."

He barely looked at the terrified Director, now Inspector, as he opened the door and walked out into the area where the other officers were hard at work, or they appeared to be doing that, and made his way to where Carmelita's office had been before she was fired. Judy Hopps was the only person that Carmelita trusted to take over her position as the head hunter of the Cooper Gang, or handler as the position was now known within the ranks, and he wanted to talk with her before he left the building. At the same time there were a few officers that were going to be fired immediately, as he had found problems with several of their applications and still wondered how they had gotten by Barkley and the HR Agent, but he aimed to correct that mistake and fix this agency before heading out to the meeting that he was going to be late for, though he knew that his fellow Secretaries would be fine once he told them why he was late. He also meant his promise to Barkley, as the moment the man screwed up again he was going to utterly ruin his life to the same point that he had put Carmelita in... only Barkley didn't have a second lifestyle that he could fall back to if something like that happened to him.

As he walked down the hallway, and headed towards Carmelita's former office, he knew that the Cooper Gang would have their own plan to get at Barkley, after he told them exactly what he had promised the Inspector... and he'd be able to enact his promise soon enough, he just had to make sure Judy Hopps was ready to take over Carmelita's old position and knew the rules of being the handler of the Cooper Gang.