Hello all you beautiful people! Last night I passed 100 views and I did a little happy dance (there was some joyful squeaking involved, my dogs thought I had gone mad). But you know what would make me even more happy? Reviews! Good or bad. Doesn't matter. And thanks once again to Moogie who left a review! To answer your question Natalie speaks five languages: English, French, Italian, Greek, and German. Sooooo you know what to do, read, enjoy, review! (Do it, come on, you know you want to)

Natalie sat in the corner booth of a small cafe in London, with a warm cup of coffee in front of her, and shielded away from the rain outside. On any other day Natalie might have been at ease there. But not that day. Because sitting across from her was a very mysterious boy, whom she had met three days prior in unusual circumstances.

James wasted no more time with pleasantries. He wasn't the type to speak frivolously.

"There is a solid gold statue of the Greek god Hermes. It's dated back ancient Greece; it's close to 2500 years old. A historical piece like that is priceless and it's currently sitting in a vault in Florence." He spoke quietly, as if he shouldn't be telling her this. But he maintained a calm and collected appearance. It struck Natalie that this was someone who knew how to stay cool under pressure and did so often.

"Let me guess, you want to steal it."

"What can I say, it's in my nature." James shrugged innocently. "But it's not the statue I'm really interested in. It's the story behind it." He had Natalie's full attention.

"There was an old Greek family, the Petrakis. For generations the statue, along with several other artifacts and paintings, was passed down through the family. It was sacred to them. It was a sort of symbol of the family's prosperity and heritage. But 60 years ago, a young businessman, a certain Mr. Gregory White, conned the head of the Petrakis family into investing in his company. Long story short, they lost everything. White completely destroyed the family and took everything they had spent generations building, including..."

"The statue of Hermes." Interjected Natalie.

"Right. Now we thieves don't really follow rules, but we do have a code of honor of sorts. We never con an honest man. The Petrakis were honest people. They didn't deserve what White did to them."

"So you want to steal it back. Set things right."

"Exactly. It's just a little more complicated than that. Since White obtained the statue he's had it under lock and key. But White isn't the young man he once was. And now he wants the guilt of having the statue off his back so he's planning to sell it a museum in Italy."

"If he wants to get rid of the guilt then why not just give it back to the Petrakis?"

James smiled at her, as if she were just a naive child. "White may have a conscious, but that doesn't make him a saint. If he's going to part with his prize, then he is going to get some sort of compensation."

"I don't understand, what's the complication. If White is going to be moving the statue to the museum, then wouldn't this be a perfect opportunity to steal it?"

"Yes, but we're not the only people who want that statue. There are whispers circling among thieves that another crew from Australia has been hired by one Romeo Cane to steal the statue from White."

"Aw," Natalie took a sip of her coffee "so there's competition."

"And not just any competition. The Aussies are good, very good. Every job we set our sights on, the Aussies beat us to the punch. They're led by Sam Blacker. A brilliant thief, but he hasn't got much of a conscious."

"So your rivals, of sorts?"

James nodded and studied the happenings on the busy street in front of the cafe.

The whole thing sounded like a dangerous affair. Natalie should have left when she had the chance, this wasn't her fight, but it was too late now. Curiosity had taken hold of her. "Why does Cane want the statue stolen? Couldn't he just buy it off of White?"

"White and Cane have bloody history between them. But that's too long of a story to tell. Having the Aussies steal the statue is just another way to get at White."

"This is starting to sound like a game of revenge between bored little boys."

James face grew serious, and something about it made Natalie uncomfortable. "No. This is about having honor."

"I thought there was no honor among thieves." Natalie teased, trying to lighten the mood.

The smirk returned to James face and he relaxed a little. "That's debatable."

"This all sounds pretty dangerous." Natalie remarked.

James gave a smug shrug. "We're thieves. Dangerous is sort of our thing."

"And why might I ask, have you shared this all with me?"

"There are four of us in the crew. If we are to have a hope in hell at pulling this off we need more people. And you have already show us your... impressive skill set." James seemed to think that she was skilled at breaking and entering: A logical conclusion since they had met in the Louvre in the middle of the night. But she was only able to break in because of her grandfather's skill, not by her own wit. Natalie knew she wasn't as impressive as James thought she was, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth.

James didn't strike Natalie as a boy who was used to begging. Which made her want to see him on his knees.

She took another sip of her coffee, making him wait. "Well?" He asked impatiently tapping his fingers on the table.

"You haven't asked a question." Natalie leaned back in her chair. She was in control now and it was her turn to smirk.

After a few seconds of a stare down, James pushed his pride back and groaned. "Fine. Will you join our crew?"

Natalie expertly arched an eyebrow at him.

"Please." He added, finally admitting defeat.

Natalie was on board from the minute James had opened his mouth. She was intrigued by the secret world that had just opened up in front of her and she suddenly wanted nothing more than to be a part of it. So Natalie shook hands with the mysterious boy sitting across the table, and refused to look back. But even still, an old saying whispered in the back of her mind. Curiosity killed the cat.

"I'm in." She said confidently.

James smiled in return. "Excellent."

Natalie took another sip of her coffee and asked. "So, will I be the only new addition or are there others?"

"Well, ideally we could use a few more people but we just don't have to much time. Unless your skill set includes computers, we have no one in the crew that can handle the technology." He sighed, obviously frustrated.

Immediately a thought sprung into Natalie's mind. "Personally, I'm hopeless with computers, but I might know someone who can help."

James visibly perked up. "Really, who?"

Natalie smiled at memories. "An old friend."

The pair stood in front of a large home in downtown Berlin. The had come in search of Natalie's technologically gifted friend in the hopes of gaining a new crew member,

"Right, so remind me why we had to detour all the way to Vienna before coming here?" James had been annoyed by the waste of time. They were on a tight schedule.

"We couldn't just walk in empty handed and demand her help. There is a very specific why you have to go about these things with her. She's got a bit of a temper." In her hands, Natalie held a box from a very specific bakery in Vienna.

The house was guarded by two policemen standing in front of the door.

"What's with the muscle?" James inquired. Thieves and cops didn't mix especially well and James seemed tense.

"She's under house-arrest." Natalie explained. "No ones allowed in and she's not allowed out."

"What?" James was getting impatient. "You mean to say that she's under police surveillance 24-7. How exactly do you consider her a good option for this job?"

"Well, I didn't expect a thief would have such a problem with illegal activity." Natalie teased. She led the way up towards the door and stopped in front of the guards. Natalie took two stacks of bills out from her bag and handed them off to the guards with a discreet nod. They let the pair pass through without any complaint.

James and Natalie made there way upstairs to the bedrooms. None of the staff questioned them. Secret meetings were regular practice in this household, and they knew better than to interfere in their employer's business interactions. No one wanted to anger her and risk her full wrath.

When they came to the room at the end of the upstairs hallway, Natalie knocked four times and then again 2 times and then entered. The room appeared normal. There was a king sized bed in the middle of the room and a desk and a few book selves. But Natalie paid no attention to the room and walked directly into the walk in closet. The closet was any girly-girl's dream. Rows upon rows of designer shoes and handbags lined one wall and the others were crowded with clothing from the likes of Alexander McQueen, Prada, Gucci, and of course, Dior.

James raised an eyebrow when Natalie pushed aside the dresses on the rack of the back wall and knocked once again.

The center of the wall suddenly flung open like a door and made them both jump.

"What?" Someone shouted from inside the room. The hidden room was covered in wires, various screens, keyboards and controllers. Pictures of various delicious looking cakes and cupcakes covered the walls.

A large chair spun around to reveal the girl they had come to see.

The tiny girl's voice softened at the sight of Natalie. "Daarrrrling!" She coed. "It's so lovely to see you!" As the girl rose from the chair to kiss Natalie's cheeks James took in the sight of her.

Kai Collins was a petite sixteen-year-old girl of Japanese decent. She rose to about 4 and half feet tall but tittered around on six-inch heels. Her face was painted with the most expensive makeup money could buy and she was decked out in designer wear from head to toe. Kai was the type of girl that meticulously maintained her appearance. But that wasn't to say she was an airhead.

Kai was one of the best hackers in the world. She was a natural born technological master. Hacking the pentagon was a morning exercise for Kai. She made millions by the time she was 12 by fixing the online stocks and doing several hired hacking jobs for some important business people.

On the one occasion she had slipped up whilst hacking into the German government's system she had been caught and put under house arrest. Although she couldn't leave her house, Kai had easily bribed the police force into allowing her all the technology and visitors she desired. Being trapped inside her own home did nothing to slow her destructive process. She now held a personal grudge against the German Government and spent most of her free time screwing up their systems from the comfort of her own closet.

Natalie had met Kai before the German Government incident when she attended Abercorn Academy in London with her. It had been clear even at the age of 14 that Kai was a genius with both fashion and computers.

She also had a weakness for pastries. Her absolute favorites came from a bakery in Vienna, which she was now unable to visit due to her house arrest sentence.

Kai settled back into her oversized chair that seemed to swallow up her tiny frame. "Ooh, who's this?" She looked James up and down with a flirty smile.

"This is James Bishop." Natalie did the introduction. "We have a business proposition for you, Cake." Natalie used her friend's old nickname endearingly, hopping to butter her up.

"Ah, so you want my help?" Cake eyed the pastry box in Natalie's hands.

"I almost forgot," Natalie smiled innocently. "I brought you your favorite."

"Raspberry and chocolate?" Cake inquired hungrily.

"With the cream in the middle, of course." Natalie smiled as she handed over the box to an excited Cake.

As she dug into her cake, Kai spoke. "So tell me about his business proposal. Is it illegal?"

"Yes." James answered this time.

"Excellent!" Cake grinned.

Natalie and James explained the basic premise of the job. They would steal the statue whilst it was in transit.

"Of course there will be plenty more where that came from." Natalie gestured to cake. "And since we'll be in Italy I'm sure we can find time to stop by Milan and pick up those new Gucci heels from the fall collection."

"Say no more, darling." Cake smiled. "I'm your girl." Cake had no need for money, so she only accepted pastry and heels as payments for her services.

"How do you plan to get passed the guards at your door?" James inquired.

"No need, Sugar. I can hack into anything from right here."

"And if there's any physical set up required, Cake can just talk us through it on the phone." Natalie added.

"So it's settled." The tiny teenage girl smiled mischievously. "Just one more thing. Did you bring anymore cake?"

And thus is your introduction to Cake :) Next chapter Natalie meets the crew. Whoot! I'll update next on Wensday. Or maybe tuesday night because I'm so impatient. Please Review. It makes me happy.