Disclaimer: I don't own White Collar.

Sorry for the wait, there's a bit more language in this chapter.

Also, I edited this one after I posted it. So re-read it again folks! Thanks.

"I'm not throwing a party, Kaiden."

"It'll be fun, c'mon!"

"I've got two FBI agents checking on me every other friggin hour, Kaiden, plus Peter probably put in cameras on all the doors, and alarms for the windows. I'm not gonna throw a party. I can't even sneak out."

"Live a little."

"God, shut up, Kaiden!" I snapped, being pushed over the edge. Kaiden had been nagging me to 'let loose' and 'have some fun'. Right now, he was trying to convince me that getting into trouble when Peter and Elizabeth were gone is exactly what I need.

Kaiden finally laid back into his seat. He moped slightly, pushing around the mashed potatoes on his plate. The only time we ever got to talk was during lunch, since we were in different classes. SJ, however, his-ahem new-friend was in my classes. All of them.

In fact, she was at our lunch table as well, including some other kids, whose names I haven't bothered to ask. While I was perfectly comfortable with the other kids at the foster home, I didn't really want to talk with other people at my school.

"What about the second story windows? Surely they didn't put any on those." SJ suggested, after taking a bite of a sandwich. Her mouth full, she added, "You could always climb out or something."

Kaiden and I shared a look. "Man, you sure do pick 'em, don'tcha?" I asked.

Kaiden, whom I rarely seen blush, scowled at me, his face slightly red. I raised my eyebrows in surprise and glanced at SJ. Her reaction was the same as Kaiden's.

I sighed and scooted back, "That's not a bad idea; I'll definitely take it into consideration." I stood up, leaving my tray behind. I needed to get my books and-

Crash!

Someone ran into me, spilling the opened drink they had in their hand, spilling it all over me and themselves. I let out a grunt as we fell to the floor.

"What the hell man?!" I growled, my anger rising. "Watch where you're going!" I shoved the person who was on top of me off and stood up, dusting myself up. My shirt, my white shirt, was stained with what smelled like Coke. Luckily, there was a design of some skull on the front, so it wasn't immediately showing skin, but I couldn't be allowed to wear it for the rest of school.

I looked down at them-him-and rolled my eyes. A teenage boy with dark unruly hair and brown eyes was staring at me with the most shocked expression I've ever seen on someone.

"Uh, hello? You okay?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

The boy quickly stood up, revealing his true height, which was barely an inch above my own. "Sorry!" He muttered.

"Just don't run next time, stupid." I said roughly, picking up my tray and maneuvering around the spilled beverage on the floor. I left the boy behind me.

"Wait!" He called out, running after me.

Why me? I turned around, trying to express how much I didn't want to interact. "What?" I asked.

"My name's James." He introduced. He had a big smile on his face. "Sorry about that, I was just in a hurry and-"

"Didn't see me?" I finished. "Okay. I got it. Now leave." I walked away, leaving him behind again.

"Wait, please!" He pleaded. I stopped, groaned and turned back walking close to him. "What?!" I snapped. I would need to get my gym uniform shirt and change quickly, before I could attract any more attention. I already could feel some people looking at me, and I was currently not in the mood to be showing the color bra I was wearing any more than I already had.

James stared at me for a moment, apparently at a loss for words. I could tell by the way he struggled for words, looking around. Just as I was losing patience and ready to leave, he glanced down at my shirt and blurted out, "Nice boobs. What are you, an A?"

I snapped.

I pulled back my fists and punched him right in the face. I heard something crack and he fell over, clutching his nose. Already, blood was dripping down on his face.

I cocked my hip out, placing on hand on my hip and snarled, "Want some more, punk?" I held up a fist threateningly. I heard laughter everywhere in the lunchroom. Kaiden's was the loudest.

Even through a bloody nose, he grinned at me, "Sorry sweet cheeks," He said, sitting up. "How 'bout I make that mistake up with a movie?" Scratch that. THis guy was a flirt.

He so had this coming, I told myself.

I leaned down over him, and offered him my hand. James smiled, blood dripping down from his nose. It briefly crossed my mind that I had probably dislocated it or something. Maybe it was bruised. It wouldn't be the only injury he would have.

My foot shot out, connecting with his groin. James fell back again, letting out a little squeak. I heard someone shout to get the nurse as I stood back up. I winced, the pain in my knuckles coming in waves. I had forgotten how much punching people hurts.

A hand gripped my shoulder and I looked up into the face of the teacher on lunch duty. He had a disapproving look on his face; his glasses held angry eyes and his mouth set in a frown.

I glanced back at James. Our eyes connected and I thought to myself-worth it-but he winked at as I was being hauled towards the principle office, the teacher muttering about getting another shirt for me to wear, the only thing I could think was:

Still totally worth it.

The principle, Mrs. Hannigan, was staring at both of us, eyes flickering back and forth every few seconds. "Well." She began, placing both hands on the table. "After asking a few students, and both of you, I've decided not to call either of your parents-" I breathed easy, letting out a sigh of relief. "-However, you both will receive detention for two weeks, starting the start of next month."

My eyebrows furrowed. The start of next month was a couple of days after Elizabeth and Peter got back. Did she know that-

"Normally, I would not hesitate to start the detentions right away, but since... the circumstances, I will… postpone until the start of next month." Mrs. Hannigan finished. She met both of our eyes. "You both will apologize to each other."

I slowly turned my head to face James. He was already looking at me, an almost dazed expression on his face. "I'm sorry." He apologized, meeting my eyes. I couldn't tell if he was sincere or not.

I wasn't sorry though. I realized that as I opened my mouth to apologize, ready to get this over with. I closed my mouth and then tried again. I couldn't lie.

"Mrs. Rider." Mrs. Hannigan said sternly. "We are waiting."

I swallowed my pride and tried to find some part of me that was sorry in any way. "I-" My voice came out as a squeak. I looked away from James's eyes. "I'msorry." I rushed out, my voice an octave higher than usual. Just as I expected, I'm still a terrible liar.

Finally, we were dismissed from the office and I have never walked faster in my life, but somehow James caught up with me.

"I do want to apologize again," He started. "I-I didn't mean to blurt that out, I just didn't-"

"Think?" I supplied. I scoffed and kept walking, heading towards my locker to grab my books.

"Yeah!" He nodded. "I'm usually not like that, I promise."

I glanced at him. "You're lying." I accused.

I caught him again. He held up him hands, "Alright, yeah, so sometimes I'm a bit of a flirt, but I was serious."

"Serious about what?" We reached my locker and I opened it, pulling out my books.

James finished eagerly, "About a movie."

I paused. Slowly, I turned towards him. His big brown eyes were wide and I was reminded of a puppy. He was using the puppy dog eyes on me. Aw hell no. "Not interested." I replied flatly.

James looked surprised. "Really? Are you sure? Cause-"

"Certain." I said, slamming my locker close. "I have no desire to date you, or anyone right now." That was the truth. "However..." I began, "I'm curious... what was the circumstance for the delayed detentions?"

James actually flushed at this and replied, "I don't know..."

"Hmm." I slammed my locker door shut. "I've got class. See ya, stupid." I walked away, leaving him alone in the hallway.

"See you soon!" He called out.

God I hope not.

"So, how was school today?"

"Uh, fine."

"Did anything exciting happen?"

"...Define exciting…"

"Katherine." Elizabeth said warningly.

I sighed. Elizabeth had called to check up on me. It was early morning for them, but dinnertime for me. I was sitting down with a bowl of cereal in hand when the phone rang.

"I got some soda spilled on me…" I mentioned slowly.

"Go on."

"So, I uh, I…" My tone grew guilty, no matter how much I didn't want it to. "I punched him."

"Katherine!" Elizabeth said sternly.

"I-I apologized!" I added quickly. "Plus I was wearing a white shirt, so it totally was okay, right? Self-defense and all?"

I heard her sigh through the phone. "Please, don't mention this to Peter." After a couple of moments when there was silence and froze. My eyes opened wide with realization. "... I'm on speaker, aren't I?"

"Yup."

I bit my lip. "Peter's there too, isn't he."

"Yeah." This time it was Peter's voice.

"Well," I drawled out, "I've got homework to do…" I wanted out of this conversation now.

"How's Satchmo?" Thank you Elizabeth.

Once I assured them that Satchmo (and I) were being well-fed and all, I hurriedly ended our phone call. I let out a breath of relief, then grabbed my bowl of cereal and headed upstairs.

I wasn't lying about the homework.

Peter and Elizabeth left on a Wednesday. I had the little incident on Friday. Saturday was a free day.

Which I was spending in my room, under house arrest.

Agent Jones had checked up on me already in the morning. He would rang the doorbell, come in anyway, check out the fridge and the rest of the doors, ask if I was having trouble with anything-which I always replied with 'No sir, no trouble at all'-he'd pet Satchmo for a bit, then leave. Although he's much better than that Diana woman. For some reason, she scares me.

Moving on though, technically, I wasn't allowed to leave unless for school. But now, as I was sitting on my bed, staring at the window, I was reminded that I never said anything about not leaving the house. It was only a second story jump. I'd survive. Unless there were alarms on this window. I frowned, thinking. How would I leave? What would Neal do?

I wiped that from my mind at once. Neal Caffrey, while an amazing con artist, (truly legendary), also had gotten caught. By Peter. A light bulb suddenly went off in my mind. My window was surely set for an alarm, but what about Peter and Elizabeth's? I gathered my things quickly, shoving them into an old canvas bag of mine. Then I snuck out of my room and to the master bedroom. Once I arrived, I crept in, sneaking over to the window.

I promised myself that I wasn't running away.

I was simply taking a break.

Getting some fresh air.

Getting into some trouble.

I smirked at the last one. I shifted the bag against my shoulder, it felt odd up against my back. I put it down and started taking things out of it. I froze when I touched paper. I pulled out the mysterious paper. My face was cold as I stared at the file I had stolen from Peter's office. It was such a long time ago, I had honestly forgotten about it. Carefully, I opened the folder up, my eyes meeting the ones of the ID photo in the file.

An older woman, looking to be in her twenties, was smiling up at me. She had auburn hair, freckles, and blue eyes. Subconsciously, I reached for the photo, but yanked my hand away. I bit my lip, looking at the photo. Finally, coming to a decision, I grabbed the picture, pulling it out of the file and shoving it into my pocket. I shoved said file back into my bag and lugged it over my shoulder.

Before I left, I glanced around at the room a finale time. I took a deep breath and slowly unlatched the window. I opened it, waiting for the alarm to go off.

Nothing but silence. I let out a small 'Woohoo!', but clamped a hand over my mouth right after that. I placed a leg carefully over the sill and looked down.

A second story jump. Totally safe. The window was in the backyard, and there was trashcan right under it, that I could land on. I put both legs over the window sill and gently maneuvered myself so that my back was facing the open window. I gripped the edge tightly. One at a time, I put a leg down completely, so that I eventually was dangling against the wall of the house, hanging only by my fingertips on a window sill.

I couldn't see down to see how far the trashcan was. I let go of the sill and was pleasantly surprised to find that the trashcan was only a foot away from my feet at the time. Still, I ended up losing my balance and falling over. Luckily, I managed to bend my knees, so that the pain shooting up my legs wasn't quite so bad.

I opened up the gate of the backyard, stepped outside, locked it, and then left, going off on my merry way.

I found myself outside a thrift shop. I was fond of thrift shops, not so much for the shopping, but just the way that it was usually laid out. The smell in the air. I tried taking in a breath through my nose but coughed on the old smoke scent.

Still, I was not usually this happy and I wasn't going to let anything ruin it. I had lots of time before I needed to return back to the house.

I strode inside the building, the bell on the door jingling cheerfully. I glanced around before wandering over to the furniture section. After glancing at an old couch and dresser, I headed over to the clothing section. The whole store was a mish mash of different items.

On a coat rack, where a bunch of different hats and jackets, there was something that caught my attention. I briefly touched the red cap on my head. I had gotten for Christmas from the Burkes. I tried on the attention grabbing hat and looked at myself in the mirror. It had a brim, and was almost diamond in shape. I wanted to buy it, just for laughs, but I didn't bring any money with me on this trip. (A fact I realized after I jumped from the window. And let's face it, no way am I going to try to climb back up again so soon.)

I contemplated on stealing the hat, but decided that it wasn't worth the risk. I still really wanted the hat. I glanced that the cashier. I could always come back tomorrow and buy it then. Just as I was going to hide the hat, so that no one would buy it while I was away, I ran into someone.

"Sorry!" I exclaimed. The person was holding several suits wrapped in plastic.

"Oh, it's fine." The person assured me. It was an elderly woman, which made me feel twice as bad, who was wearing a rather nice blazer and skirt. She had dark skin, and dark eyes, paired with a kind smile. She placed the suits on the counter. "I'm just dropping off some of my late husband's suits. I thought I was finished with it, you see, but it turns out that these don't fit the man I had given them to, so I'm just going to donate them."

I nodded. I knew this type of person; they liked to talk a lot. She reminded me a bit of SJ.

The woman looked at me, "What are you doing here, if you don't mind me asking?"

I shrugged my shoulders, not seeing the harm in answering. "Just wandering about. I've been… busy, this past week, and haven't been able to get out." I still felt bad about bumping into her, so I said, looking down at the suits as the person behind the counter took them away, "Uh, nice-looking suits…"

"Thank you," She replied graciously. This was starting to get a little awkward.

"Well, sorry for bumping into you, ma'am…"

She stared at my hands, "That's a nice hat you have there."

I glanced at the hat in my hand. The name came to me suddenly. A fedora. "Yeah," I said sheepishly.

"Well?" She inquired, looking at me. "Are you going to buy it? Don't let me stop you."

I gaped for a moment before muttering, "I, I was just…"

"Hmm?"

I relented and decided that it wasn't worth it. "I was going to put it back. I forgot my wallet."

She smiled at me kindly. She offered, "You know what? I'll buy it for you."

"What?" I deadpanned.

She was fast, grabbing the hat from hands and handing it to the cashier. "I would like to buy this, please."

"That'll be $5.56, ma'am." She handed the cashier the money and turned to me.

She made a hand gesture at me and I immediately removed the red cap I was wearing. Quite elegantly, she placed the hat on my head. For the first time in a while, since Elizabeth, actually, I was nervous on how someone viewed me.

My short, choppy hair was in need of a good brushing and I'm sure I had some trace of dirt on face, hidden among the many freckles. My clothes weren't quite dirty, but wrinkled. Despite this, I straightened out my shoulders and put on a smile. "Thank you, very much ma'am. I-I, I will repay you, I promise." Now that was a promise I intended to keep.

She laughed it off, "Please, it's fine. It's nothing."

I shook my head, "When I make a promise, I intend to keep it. I can pay you tomorrow. Would you like to meet up here, around the same time?"

The woman gave me a kind, but secretive, smile. "How about you just drop it off at my house?"

A little confused, I nodded. "Sure, where do you live?"

After she gave me her address, and her name (June), we parted ways. I was walking down the street with the slightly worn hat in my hands. It was easy to play with and I grinned when I managed to flip it in the air and catch it on top of my head.

Yeah, sometimes life doesn't really suck that bad.

Life sucks a lot right now.

It was Sunday; I had gotten the money to repay June for the hat from the stash of pickpocketing money that was hidden in my pillow. (Not my pillowcase, to be specific, but the actual pillow.) Now I was standing in her living room, staring at someone I thought I would not see again. At least, not for a while, anyway.

"It's Kat, right?" Neal Caffrey said, extending his hand. "It's good to see you, I like the hat."

I struggled only slightly to stop the blush from rising in my cheeks, which I succeeded at. I took his hand and shook on it briefly, before immediately letting go.

June had to leave, actually. Something about a forgotten lunch date with an old friend. She let me right in, after taking the money I had forced upon her. "I won't be back for a while, sadly." She was telling me. That's when Neal came bounding down the stairs.

After realizing how late she was, June rushed, well, it was really more like gracefully walking, out the door. Leaving me with Neal.

I had worn the hat that June had gotten me, wanting to try it out. However, I regretted wearing it now, because as I was looking at Neal, I could tell that fedoras were very much his style. He was dressed smartly, in a nice looking suit.

I was dressed not smartly.

I refused to let that stop me from being myself, and being a shaking little mouse. Instead I straightened out my shoulders, gaining my full height of 5"9. It felt like deja vu. "It's nice to see you again too, Caffrey." And it was, I have to admit, Caffrey's a legend to pickpocketers.

Neal, ever the charmer, broke the awkward silence immediately. "You know, I was quite shocked when I learned that Peter and Elizabeth had a foster kid."

"I was too." I responded smartly.

He chuckled, "So, how did you meet?" He was straight to the point.

I shrugged my shoulders. "It's-" I stopped, remembering exactly how Peter had caught me pickpocketing. I had run into Elizabeth later, and ended up having a disastrous dinner with them. "It's a bit of a story." I ended nervously.

"I would love to hear it."

"What about you?" I asked, changing the subject. "How'd Peter catch you? I mean the first time, not the second time."

Neal chuckled, looking down briefly before meeting my eyes. "It's a bit of a story." He replied cheekily, using my own words against me.

"Maybe our stories aren't so different." I guessed, making it sound like I knew more than I did. I wasn't lying, I told myself firmly.

Neal's eyebrows rose at my statement. "Really?" He asked, eyes lighting up with curiosity. "Do tell."

In too deep, my mind reprimanded me. Still, I played his game. "I'm with the Burkes for a while… for my protection and for… probation of a sorts."

"Probation?" Neal repeated. He raised an eyebrow.

"Yup. I'm on a bit of a short leash, like you." Making a point to look down at Neal's feet, I said, "Although… I don't have nearly as fancy collar like yours."

"Ouch!" Neal exclaimed jokingly, clutching his chest. "How did you meet June, then? If you won't answer any of my other questions."

I dodged again, replying with, "How did you end up here?"

"I live here."

My jaw dropped a bit. "You're joking." I glanced around the place. "This is like a freaking castle."

Neal chuckled and nodded. "I stay in the guest rooms upstairs."

I paused for a moment. "Bet Peter wasn't too happy about that."

Neal shrugged his shoulder. "I didn't do anything wrong."

I grinned. "You're pretty much exactly how the rumors say you are."

"And what do they say about me?"

That I didn't answer. I wasn't going to say anything about how the month after Neal was caught, he was all anyone would talk about. The guy was good-really good-and he had been caught. Everyone I knew decided to lay low for a while after that.

I replied, "Does it matter?"

"Not really." He shot back. "To be honest, I'm more interested in your opinion. What do you think of me?"

'You're a legend.'

'I'm a kinda fan.'

'You're a pretty damn good con-man.'

Instead of those, however, I blurted out, "I think that you should not have gotten caught." I bit my lip, holding back a rogue piece of laughter that threatened to burst through. Neal looked surprised for a moment before recovering.

"Again, brutally honest." Neal noticed.

My inside laughter still trying to die down, I added cheekily, "Oh don't worry Caffrey, you can count on me to be brutally honest."

Neal raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Sorry, Caffrey." I said, panicking on the inside. "A thief has got to have some secrets." No lying. No lying. I took a step back, towards the door. "Nice meeting you again. Could you, uh, try not to mention this to Peter? He seems to think that you're a bad influence."

Neal smiled at me. "I'll try." He promised. "It was… pleasant chatting with you, Kat." As soon as the words left his mouth, I was out the door, running again.

You can't run forever, Katherine. A familiar voice told me.

Just watch me. I bit my lip, my fists clenched. I took in a deep breath, but kept running, dodging through the crowd of people.

Just watch me, because you'll never be able to catch up.

(Except that wasn't the truth. It was a wish.)

"Hey-hey, Katherine! Wait up!"

I walked faster.

"Katherine!"

I didn't look when I heard someone catch up to me, matching my stride.

"Woah, you've got some legs there!"

I bit my lip, trying my hardest not to punch the teen. James, also known as the newest annoyance in my life, had taken to following me around whenever he could. Mostly he would apologize for pointing out my, ahem, small boobs (his words, not mine) and then try to ask me out.

"Oh, I don't mean, like, a compliment, I meant that they're really long. So you have long strides. Not to say that they don't look nice…" James trailed off when I stopped walking.

"James."

"Yes?"

I sighed, meeting his brown-eyed gaze. "Are you going to stop talking any time soon?"

He shook his head.

I gave a groan and continued to walk towards my next class.

"There's a new movie out, you want to go see it?" James asked me, walking backwards so that he could face me. I secretly hoped he would fall again, but it seems that Fate was not in my favor.

"James, I'm not going to go see a movie with you. I'm not going to go on a date with you. Or an outing, or whatever you want to call it." I stopped, and so did he. We were right outside my classroom.

James's eyes were wide again, giving them that puppy-dog effect and I felt my bitterness go down a bit. They reminded me of some of the kids back at the foster home. "I…" I searched for the right words, "It's not that I don't… appreciate," My voice rose higher at the last word and I couldn't look at him in the eyes, "The offers… but you're just not… my type." I ended it hurriedly, making it sound a question, instead of a statement.

"I'm everyone's type."

My bitterness came back in full. I snarled at him, hoping to throw him off and then stormed inside of the room, slamming the door shut.

"What?" I inquired harshly, glaring at the kids who stared at me. I tossed my bag to the nearest seat and waited until the teacher arrived.

Only two more days until Elizabeth and Peter come back.

I looked mournfully at window in Elizabeth and Peter's room. It had served my purpose well, but it was time to lock everything back up. (Although, truth be told, getting back up through the window was a pain.) I walked around the room, making sure that everything was in its place and then slowly closed the door behind me. I hid everything 'incriminating' in my room again, changing up the hiding places. I tucked away the file I took from Peter's office a while back ago underneath the rug.

I climbed down the stairs, picking up trash where I could find it and making sure that everything was in its place.

I thought of Kaiden, and how he would be laughing at me, picking up and walking around like a normal kid with loving parents would do. My fists clenched, I tried to fight back the urge to break something. My fingers started getting that old itch for 'devil's play'.

I needed something to distract me.

I checked into the kitchen, and then decided to do something kind of reckless and very unlike me.

An hour later, along with several burnt fingers and some flour in my hair, I stared at my masterpiece. I had wanted to do something for Elizabeth and Peter (mainly Elizabeth) when they got home.

Turns out that I was pretty good with a lock pick and a tube of icing.

The cake, chocolate of course, was covered with butter-cream frosting. I wasn't quite sure what I was doing, but decided to just go with it and try to follow the directions in the cookbook I found on the shelf the best I could. All in all, It didn't look too bad.

I glanced down at Satchmo, who was looking at me balefully. "No cake for you, sorry buddy." I told him. The clock read 8:00 and I had school tomorrow. I needed to finish up some terrifying math homework and get some sleep. They said that they wouldn't be home until late.

It hit me then that I had been in this position before.

"I'll be back soon sweetie."

"How soon?"

"...I'll be back at four."

"Promise?"

"I promise, I-"

There was a crash and I realized that while dazed, I had shoved a glass off of the counter. I leaned down, picking up the glass with a resigned sigh. After sweeping and cleaning everything up, I headed upstairs to finish up that terrifying math homework.

Peter Burke opened the door to his home with a smile. "It's good to be back." He said to himself.

"Shh!" His wife Elizabeth told him. "Kat might be asleep."

Peter rolled his eyes. Even when he was on vacation, and with daily reports from Diana and Jones, he still felt nervous with Kat being home alone. Not because he cared, because he didn't, but because she might trash his house or something.

"Oh… Peter, come quick." Elizabeth piped from the kitchen. Peter came immediately, setting the bags he carried in by the stairs. If Kat had done something-

His eyes widened. On the counter was a cake. A chocolate cake, if the crumbs told him no lies. It wasn't very pretty, the icing was full of crumbs and it looked a little misshapen, but the small designs on the cake weren't too bad. On top of the cake, in blue letters, was a message, assumingly from Kat.

Elizabeth chuckled when she read it and Peter shared her reaction as well. They leaned on each other for a moment, enjoying the view before Elizabeth said, "I'll get the plates."

"Yeah, I've got forks."

On top of the cake, written in neat handwriting, was a single word.

Thanks.

THE END

I went back and edited this chapter after I posted it. The original was very rough. Yikes, my bad!

Anyway, what did you think of that? Tell me thoughts please in a review!

With that out of the way, it's time to say-

-GP2 OUT!