A/N: Yes, I know, I should finish my other stories before starting a new one, but the idea for this one has been in my head for awhile, and my muse just wouldn't let me alone anymore until I wrote it. Hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I am writing it! Thanks to gypsyscarfwoman and DylanCruca for brainstorming with me and proofreading for me.

The museum had an excellent security system, if not state of the art, but they might as well not have wasted the money for all the deterrent it was proving to the black-clad figure creeping soundlessly across the main gallery. The steadiness of her footsteps belied the adrenaline rushing through her veins—and the heartbreak over what she was about to do.

She paused in front of the painting she had come to steal. Its features weren't as easily discernable in the dim light, but she gazed up at it with all the awe she had felt when she first laid eyes on it. The same awe she felt every time she looked at it. It belonged here, where the public could enjoy it, and it went against everything she believed in to steal it, but she had no choice.

Her brother's life depended on it.

Swallowing down her nausea, she got to work, and in a remarkably short span of time, the painting was free of its frame and ensconced in the storage tube on her back. She retraced her steps almost on autopilot and slipped back out into the night.

Once the painting was secure, she took a deep breath. She needed the oblivion only to be found in the bottom of a bottle of alcohol. She slipped back into her street clothes and headed for her favorite bar.

xxx

He'd been at the bar for half an hour when the woman walked in, and his first glimpse of her was like a punch to the gut. She wasn't dressed to attract men, but with her flowing dark hair and brilliant green eyes, it would be impossible for her not to garner their attention. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

She took a seat on a stool several feet away from him, and he watched her out of the corner of his eye as she knocked back one drink, then another. She looked like someone with the weight of the world on her shoulders, but it was clear she didn't want company: she rebuffed the advances of the two men who offered to buy her drinks with such curtness that they all but stumbled over their feet in their haste to get away.

She would probably rebuff him as well, but something told him he'd regret it for the rest of his life if he didn't try. Picking up his empty glass, he moved down the counter to the stool next to hers.

She didn't even glance his way. "Let me guess," she said in a weary voice. "I look lonely, and you want to buy me a drink."

"Actually, I was lonely, and I was hoping you'd buy me one," he teased, and smiled as she bit back a startled laugh as her gaze flew to his. "I'm Kurt."

She hesitated for so long he thought she wasn't going to answer. "Jane." She motioned the bartender over. "Two more of whatever he's having." She smiled slightly as she met his gaze once more. "Far be it from me to let a lonely man drink alone."

"That would be pretty cruel," Kurt agreed, relieved that his gambit had broken the ice, and the conversation flowed in that same light vein as they enjoyed their drinks. He was happy to note that the sadness in Jane's eyes lessened with every passing minute, but all too soon, their time together appeared to be coming to a close.

"Would you like to share a cab?" Kurt asked as they stood to leave, placing a hand low on Jane's back to usher her out the door first. He was stunned at the electricity that flowed between them at that simple contact and judging by the look on her face when she turned to face him once they'd exited, she felt it too.

"I would, but . . . I don't want this night to end yet," Jane confessed with uncharacteristic boldness.

"Me either," Kurt admitted as he swept a lock of hair back from Jane's face. "Would you . . . would you like to come back to my place? I can tell you anything you want to know about me so that you'll feel more comfortable."

Jane shook her head. "I already feel comfortable with you, and trust me, I can take care of myself if need be." She wrapped her arms around his waist, and as he tilted his head down until their lips were just a hairsbreadth away from meeting for the first time, she whispered, "Tonight . . . tonight we're just Jane and Kurt."