(past)

Mister Hathaway took the girls straight to the warehouse to start the day. There was a line of workers already, waiting to be let in. The boss man took them to the front, showing them the morning routine. He took them to HR to get them their company cards.

"Now these babies are your life! You're gonna use these to clock in and out. Can't get your pay without these handy dandy cards. You need show 'em to any company transportation vehicle or you're not getting on. And a bunch of other benefits you can read about later."

The girls got their pictures taken for the cards they would get at the end of the day. For now, they had to check in with Mr. H so he could write them down. The two got assigned jobs at the opposite end of the line. Sylvia boxed the artifacts for shipment to the galleries, while Selina was at the head of the line receiving incoming artifacts. Her job was to unbox each item and run it against a checklist: what conditions it came in, etc etc. To challenge her, Mr. Hathaway gave Selina a recorder in which she guessed the values and authenticity of each object she checked.

Sylvia and Selina met again for their lunch time. Before heading out, Selina gave her recorder to her boss, and Mr. H. checked her memos against his registered list. Selina was happy to tell her best friend all the fun she had, while Sylvia noted that she didn't have the patience for anything other than labeling and boxing the artifacts. Selina used her break to call they abbey and check on Maggie. She had asked Mr. H for a phone booth, but he let her use the office phone, and gave her the privacy to talk with her sister. They worked for three more hours till a fifteen minute break, and then a couple more hours before they clocked out for the day.

"So, first day, huh? How'd it go?" Hathaway asked them as he passed out their identity cards. They all sat in his office, waiting for him to take them to their new home.

"Eh, factory work." Sylvia shrugged.

"Show improvement and you get to move up the line." He answered Sylvia before turning to Selina.

"It was great!" Selina almost shrieked. "I don't think I've ever held anything more expensive in my life!"

"Well, you did good. I crossed your observations against my inventory list, and I gotta say, I am impressed! Let me get more familiar with your work and you'll be seeing yourself at audits soon."

"Awesome! Thank you so much, Mr. H. We're grateful for any opportunity working here, sir."

"I like that attitude." Mr. H. slapped his hands on the desk and pushed up to standing, leaving the girls out of his office.

"Now let's go pick up your pay."

Hathaway lead them to the payroll office and showed them how to collect their day's earning. He gave them a tour of the on boarding, and explained their daily morning and closing routine from here on out.

"Now usually, you can help yourself to a shuttle that'll be hanging around the gates and the motel around schedule. Don't forget your-"

"Handy dandy cards!" Sylvia finished for him.

"That's right! But today, you get to go with me so I can get you girls situated at the motel. Let's go!"

Selina and Sylvia got in the boss's car to head home, stopping on the way at a retail store so the girls could get essentials like new clothes and food. Forty five minutes since they'd left the warehouse, the car arrived at a motel. Mr. Hathaway lead them to the front office and did most of the talking, getting them a second floor room at Selina's behest. He took the girls up to their new apartment and explained their housing contract to them.

"The rent covers electricity and water. The other amenities you're gonna have to get yourself. Cable, or what not. By signing here, you're agreeing, by law, to split the rent and any bills fifty fifty."

"No problem! Look at what we made today!" Sylvia shrilled.

"That's only cause you worked a long shift today. Not every day is gonna be the same. Not to mention you're minors. You legally can work only so much."

Hathaway stayed only a little while longer after that before he left the girls alone in their new apartment for the first time. Sylvia and Selina celebrated like any teenager would. They hugged and screamed, and jumped on their own single beds. The mini fridge was filled with the food they had bought, and they tried numerous outfits from the clothes they had purchased. The bathroom was set up with only the basics: toothbrushes and toothpaste and showering sponges and soaps. The girls went through all the doors, opening all the closets and cabinets. In the side table there was a Bible, which reminded them of Maggie.

Selina and Sylvia had a good long conversation with Maggie, each party exchanging the highlights of their day. Selina ended the call by promising her little sister to visit the coming Sunday, and every Sunday going forward if she could help it. After the call, Sylvia and Selina had dinner down at the cafeteria and got a chance to get acquainted with their neighbors. Most of the residents worked at the warehouse, while others worked at different places nearby. A couple Hispanic ladies took the girls under their wing and introduced them to their new society.

They called it a night and returned to their room, where Sylvia taking the bathroom first. While she waited, Selina budgeted her pay, setting aside some money for next month's bill, daily groceries, and spared some for an appropriate pocket money for her 9 year old sister. Selina took her bathroom time next, and after that, the girls settled in for a quick movie before going to sleep.

Sylvia and Selina began a whole new life at the motel. Most days of the week they spent working at the warehouse, and their off days were busy to spend the money they earned. They'd made friends with their neighbors at the motel, and Sylvia hung out with girls her own age, often dragging Selina out to their street walks at night. Initially, Selina wasn't so okay with all of their activities, but once she showed off her cat burgling skills, she got along better with them.

On Sundays they visited Maggie -and Isis- at the church and hung out as much like a family as they could. They would have brunch together, or breakfast sometimes when Maggie insisted that Selina come to morning service. After, the girls would go about town; to the park, or the shopping mall, or the arcade. Whatever fit their interest. Selina saved almost a third of her week's earnings to give to Maggie every Sunday, the other two saved for rent and herself.

One chance day, Selina used her free day to visit one of the galleries that Hathaway shipped to. This one happened to mostly have contemporary pieces; paintings, sculptures, jewelry. It even had some of the pieces Selina had checked at the warehouse. She was zoned out staring at a painting that took a whole wall, not realizing the woman standing behind her.

"Great piece, isn't it?" The woman began a long conversation with the young girl as the two toured the gallery, talking about the pieces.

The woman turned out to be Mrs. Hathaway, and Emily was excited about seeing more of Selina in the future.

October came and went, and at the end of it, Selina and Sylvia took Maggie trick or treating around their motel block with the rest of their gang. Selina took Maggie back to the abbey before joining her friends at a halloween party. They were having a great time until someone tried to hit on Sylvia, but her drunk ass welcomed the harassment. Selina defended her best friend and fought the creep off before dragging Sylvia home.

Once back home, Sylvia passed out cold on her bed and Selina didn't bother cleaning up after her. What was of concern was Sylvia's work schedule for tomorrow and in her state, there was no way she could clock in an early shift.

Selina called a cab and took it down to the warehouse to see if she couldn't talk with the boss about changing the schedule. She expected him to be there, but was surprised to see a couple other cars out front as well. Ignoring them, she found her way into the building without the front door and made her way to Hathaway's office.

"Look, I can promise you our gallery will host the best presentation for your client's work. It's the first time a Japanese consignment like this has come to our city, and, we can store them here at this warehouse! You've had a look around, haven't you?"

"Andrew, I got nothing against you! The Grey's just got more of what we're looking for."

"We had a deal! You contacted us first!"

"Yes, we did. But the other guys' security is better than what yours seems to be. Perhaps next time, Mr. Hathaway."

Selina watched the other party leave from her perch in the vents, and her boss's explosion after told her now wasn't the time to bother him. It would be safer to wake Sylvia up. She snuck out and took the cab back home, all the while wondering about the Japanese shipment and whoever Greys was.

Selina paid the taxi fare and walked up to her room, only to be stopped by her neighbor sitting on the stairs.

"You have a fun halloween, Selina?"

"I did, Manny." Selina replied as she sat with him.

"Late party?"

"Nah. I went to the warehouse to see Hathy and just came back."

"Bossman is busy with a big shipment he expecting."

"You know, I don't think he's gonna get it."

"Shame. We coulda got more work."

"Hey Manny, you know what Greys is?"

The man turned to her with a scoff then turned back to face the parking lot.

"Aye. Hathaway's rival in the business. Better than Hathaway too. Bigger buildings, more security."

"Why didn't you work with him, then?"

"Hathy have better benefits. We got this home."

Selina took a look behind her at their home.

"Yeah we do, don't we?"

She patted the man's back to help herself stand off, and said goodnight before finally going to her room.

The next day the girls went to work like normal, except Sylvia was more cranky than usual from her hangover. Selina had helped her get over the most of it last night. It was a usual workday too, other than the boss not being in a great mood.

After work, Selina took a cab over to Grey's Warehouse, not risking a company car. She sent the driver away before she began scouting the building. Selina noted all points of entry on the outside all around the building, then walked in the front door. She walked the whole of the warehouse floor before sneaking up into the vents, crawling her way to the boss's office.

Selina took a new cab back to the motel, picking it up a few miles away from Grey's. On the way back, she thought of what to do with her newly acquired information. Grey's would receive the Japanese shipment tomorrow night, with more hired security. Selina would need a team to help her steal the stuff out of Grey's and a getaway vehicle to run things out. Hathaway's would be the first place they'd look, so she couldn't hide the things there; anyway, the whole point was to make Grey look bad, and Hathaway the hero.

Sylvia was just about to head out with her squad when Selina came back home. She loathed the idea, but these were the only man power she had, so she recruited the older kids into her gang. They all sat around the blueprint of Grey's Selina had printed from the library as she explained the job.

"The pieces hold no value for resale, so don't bother stealing them for yourself. But if you get caught with these, the YAKUZA are coming for you." She lied to scare them off.

"We're gonna steal them out of Grey's, so the Japanese don't hire him. We're gonna hide them behind the dumpster at this place I got. Some of you gotta hang around there so the disposal don't take it."

"I'm gonna lead Hathaway's security to find them, then Hathaway will get the Japanese deal. More money for the bossman, more money for us."

The gang spent the next day practicing the break in, while two of them kept an eye on Grey's to learn where and how the shipment was kept. With the new intel, they practicing getting around the guards, or safely knocking them out if necessary.

They took two cars to Grey's Warehouse, and a wheelbarrow to carry out the artifacts. Selina lead the team that would go in to rob, while Sylvia's team was on look out. They got in through a window, sneaking around the warehouse and hiding behind shelves to avoid being caught. There were some head pieces, jewelries and fans; a lot of weird face masks and decorative furniture; and especially a lot of weapons like swords and throwing stars.

They made a conveyer line, passing the artifacts out of the building to to waiting teens who would stuff them into cars. One squad was almost gonna get caught until a couple distracted the guard, wearing face masks and claiming to have come from a late halloween party. Once everything was stolen, Selina lead them to a nearby orphanage, where her friend Jennifer was waiting for them. As planned, they stowed the stolen artifacts behind the dumpsters and waited for the rest of the plan to unfold.

The next morning, work was chaos. Mister Hathaway was in his office having another meeting with the Japanese and Mister Grey. This time, it was Grey who was unhappy. Selina was eavesdropping outside the office, and found the opportunity to come in when someone asked who stole the artifacts.

"It was cat!"

Everyone turned around to look at the 15 year old girl who had come in.

"Andrew, who is this?"

"This is... Selina Kyle. One of our auditors."

"And you know this, how?" the Japanese asked her what she'd said.

"Everyone on the street knows cat! She's the best burglar out there!"

"You knew about this 'cat'?" The Japanese turned to Grey.

"She's obviously lying! We've never heard of a cat!"

One of Grey's assistants pulled him aside.

"Actually, one of the security guards said he came across a girl wearing a party mask."

"So you DID know of this!" the Japanese accused.

"Of course they did!" Selina added. "And they weren't able to keep your items safe. You've trusted Hathaway before, give us a chance again. We'll take the guarantee of finding your stuff, and then you can use our galleries again."

Andrew looked wildly at Selina before quickly taking the chance to support her idea. The Japanese gave him a short deadline and Hathaway pleasantly ushered them out and closed the door behind him. He sighed, finally having a chance to breathe, then turned to Selina.

"What are we gonna do?"

"We're gonna get the artifacts back."

"How?! You said this cat is the best burglar out there..."

"Well..."

"Selina, what did you do?"

"I kind of heard you a couple nights ago about how you really wanted the Japanese consignment."

"Selina..."

"I tipped off cat! And then I had a couple of kids from the motel follow her."

"So... you know where the artifacts are?"

"No... the security you're going to hire know where the artifacts are."

Andrew sighed, concerned about the ethics of the whole predicament. He sat down on his chair, hands between his legs.

"Why would you do something like this?"

"I... It's not for... for you. It's for me! For us. The more money you get, the more money you give. Right?"

Andrew let out a small laugh.

"Something like that." Then he wrote a check and walked over to Selina, handing it to her.

"You're pretty grown up for a kid, you know that?"