[there are some things you simply can't steal]
The long lines of W.W. Hale's were wealthy. Filthy rich, with more money than any one family probably should have the right to. Monets hung on their walls, furniture suited for royalty filled the many rooms of their many houses, or perhaps the better term would be mansions. And in one of all these very mansions lived W.W. Hale the Fifth, the youngest of the billionaire family. The fourteen-year-old boy had all the money he could wish for, and yet he knew better than most just how little money could buy. It could acquire houses but not a home. It could procure friends but not loyalty. And of all the un-purchasable things in the world, affection was one of the hardest to get. The young man knew that well. His own mother had practically abandoned him to travel the world with his father, W.W. Hale the Fourth, only bothering to send word or visit a few scare times a year, and even then they were quick exchanges.
Of all the houses he owned, W.W. Hale the Fifth favored his family's mansion in the rural of New York the best. And though he would never admit it to anyone, his reason for it being his favorite is that it was where he first laid eyes on Katrina Bishop.
It had been a great night, he would later learn, for a heist. The sky was overcast, but not a hint of rain. The moonlight was practically blocked off by clouds and the air was crisp. The youngest W.W. Hale had been having an irregular sleeping schedule that week. Staying up most of the night and sleeping during the day. It had been a bit of a pain then, but years later he would say it was the best luck he had ever had. If not for the fact he become, in a sense nocturnal, he never would have been sitting on the ornate couch in the living room.
It had to have been 1:00 am or so when he had heard the faintest sound of a cord as someone zipped down his chimney. Two small feet landed in his fireless hearth as W.W. Hale froze on the couch, which towering upholstered back faced the chimney. As soundless and swift and a cat, a girl climbed from the chimney and moved towards his front hall.
She was wearing a skin-tight black body suit with a slightly chunky over-sized black utility belt hanging loose and crooked on her hips. Attached to the belt were all sorts of tools and equipment. The lass had dark hair that was put up and tucked under a tight black cotton ski cap. Long fringe bangs hung down brushing her charcoal eyelashes. As she passed around the couch in front of Hale, he realized in glimmer of moon light from a window the girl had the most amazing eyes he was ever seen.
Toned down brilliant cobalt almost like an azure-ash gray mixture. But there was no mistake that for the most part the eyes were captivating cerulean. The petite frame of the extraordinary girl stopped in front of a striking Monet on the wall of the hall opposite the couch Hale currently occupied. She seemed to be studying it. That was when Hale realized she was here to steal it. That wasn't a huge shock; any common Jimmy could figure that out. He was slightly surprised at, though, how young the girl was. She couldn't be older than him.
"If you plan on stealing anything there's a nice Picasso in the dinning room. That Monet, however, I'm rather fond of." Hale called out sitting up. The brunette jumped a bit and turned to face him. She stared at amused male before her and then stepped closer.
"Well you're not the butler." She said shakings her head. Then she sighed "Simon." And then she studied him like the painting, calculating and curious. "This changes everything you know? I'll never get the tea (a/n: memory modification tea) in time and it will cost a lot to give it to both you and the butler. Plus I don't really want to baby sit hostages. Dad will be so disappointed too. I was on a streak."
Hale had no clue what tea she was talking about and being hostage didn't sound like fun. She started pacing in front of him.
"So how old are you?" Hale asked. "I'm 14."
"13," The girl said slowly. "W.W. Hale, I presume?" She inquired.
"Yup. You got a name?" He asked wondering if the cat bugler would tell the truth.
"Sure lots of them," She quipped. W.W. Hale laughed quietly. She had a sense of humor, how refreshing.
"Do you trust me?" Hale queried. She looked at him as if he was dim.
Scoffing she scolded back, "I don't even know you. Besides you really shouldn't trust a person like me. Are you dense?"
"True to both, and yet I do trust you, enough," He gave a quick smile, and then rephrased his pervious question, "But do you trust me enough to know I won't hurt you?"
"I'd have you unconscious before you could hurt me," She replied off-handedly smirking. Hale simply patted the seat beside him and the girl hesitantly perched on the edge of the couch.
"You are incredible calm for someone in the presence of a criminal," She remarked.
"Maybe I'm just really lonely for company?" Hale said in a plainly honest way. "Hale," He greeted sticking out his hand. The girl shook it.
Eyeing him over again she responded, "Kat." A cat burglar named Kat. How ironic Hale thought. "Your name isn't Hale though, it begins with a W."
"Hale is what I like to be called," He shrugged. "Don't bother trying to get me to tell you what the W's stand for. There are some things you simply can't steal." Hale told her teasingly. Kat, however tensed for a second as if reminded yet again of a lesson she learned, but tried to pretend hadn't happen.
"Time," she whispered softly as if by accident. It was a quiet sort of quick sound, that maybe someone else wouldn't have even heard. But it was a night of happenstance, and so of course Hale heard her as clearly as if she had shouted it.
And yet he still confusedly asked, "What?"
"You can't steal time." Kat told him. She had already begun, and there seemed no harm in finishing her thought with a stranger. Someone who wouldn't judge what she said. "My mother died when I was young, barely seven yet. I couldn't steal her the time I wanted to. Time stole my mother though. Sometime I wonder what's the point of robbery if there's nothing truly worth taking." Hale looked at the girl beside him and couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Maybe that's why he said something he had never admitted out loud to any one before.
"Family. You can't buy a family no matter how much money you have." He told he softly. "My parents vanish for months at a time and don't care to contact me. I usually get shipped off to boarding school and do what I want until I get kicked out. It wouldn't be so bad if I had other family, but I don't. Besides, all anyone cares about when it comes to me is my fortune. They, let me tell you, don't make every good friends," Hale gave Kat a sad gentle smile.
The two sat comfortably in silence, draining in what the other had said. It's a funny thing talking deeply with a strangers, it's almost as if you can be more yourself with them then the people you know well. You can be you weakest self with someone, when then don't expect the façade of strength. What a funny chance the two adolescences found each other on the night they did.
Finally to break the quiet Kat mocked, "Well I am most definitely not impressed by your wealth. Especially since you security is so bad."
She smiled. Hale smiled back.
"So, because I'm curious, how long have you been in the business?" Hale probed.
"Since I was three. It's a family thing, back at least 5 generations. A part of my blood, I guess. My great uncle on mom's side, dad, my mom's sister, and my cousin; we're all part of the business. Plus these two guys who are as close as cousins and Simon. Simon is thirteen and a total brainiac. He can hack anything, is a math prodigy, and great as a tech back up. Apparently, though, he's not as smart as I though if he couldn't count properly and realize there are two people instead of one in this house." Kat grinned.
Then she seemed to realize how late it was getting. "Someone is going to wonder what is taking so long. I've got to go," Rushing, she stood up and looked to Hale. "I want to trust you but... well... you've got to understand I can't."
Hale watched as the Kat then slowly gathered the items she had taken out of her belt earlier. He felt his stomach drop at the thought of having the mysterious stranger disappear. It was like losing something he never even had. But there was nothing to be done. He could not keep her here. But perhaps he could follow her in a sense. Leave with her. The seconds winded down as his mind rushed with the inane idea being planted. A decision had to be made. And with out thinking he jumped up and grabbed her wrist as she was climbing out the window.
"Take me with you." Hale blurted.
"What?"
"Make me a thief. Let me help you." Hale said seriously.
"You absolutely insane. Bloody mad if anything. Do you realize how dangerous my life is? You're crazy if you think you want to be like me." Kat replied. "Besides you're rich. You don't need this for money."
"It's not for money, it's for a life. You've created a family yes? Well maybe I want to create one too. Besides who says the skills you could teach me won't be useful. And I have been wanting to add to my art collection for a while. Take me to your dad. I want to do this." Hale looked intently at her.
"It's a crazy choice." Kat told him doubtfully.
"It's my choice." Hale replied certain. Kat stared hard at Hale pursing her lips, then sighed, pulled her wrist free from his grasp and held out her hand. He grabbed it immediately.
"I'll take you to them, but it's up to Uncle Eddie and my dad. They decide." Kat concluded.
Hale wrote a note on a piece of paper, posting it on the main door for his butler who would search for Hale in the morning telling him not to worry. After Kat used the zip cord hanging from the chimney to instead allow them to climb out the window. Both young teens disappeared into the night.
[There are some things you simply can't steal: time, family, and the beginning of a beautifully complicated friendship.]