Inevitable

Summary: This wasn't the simple act of the 'cool' guy going for the girl who plays hard to get. This was the need, the need to have everything that wasn't mine and if Claire wouldn't give me her heart willingly, then I would do what thieves do best. I would steal it, no matter the cost. MuffyxSkyexClaire

A/N (aka the rant :P): Skye is sadistic. Skye is cruel. Skye is manipulative. So crazy fan girls, .it. If you can't fathom your beloved Skye being anything less than perfect than do not read this story because he will not be the incarnation of Edward Cullen in the form of a sexy, silver haired thief. He will be a scheming thief. You have been warned. ^_^ Enjoy

~~Rated T for language and sexual references etc. Nothing to citrusy I assure you. ~~

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Skye POV

I will be gracing your Villa with my presence at midnight so make the most of that amazing painting; I can't guarantee that it will be there when you wake up.

Phantom Skye

The wind slithered straight through my skin, snaking its way along my arms and encompassing me in its icy splendour. I grappled my cloak roughly and wrenched it tighter around my goose bump infested body, fighting the losing battle against the tremors that were running a riot through my veins. I glowered at the ominous sky; thick curtains of sinister clouds were concealing the night's beauty. I cursed silently; I was one pick up line short. Not that I needed any. Luscious silver locks gracing my face, hypnotic green eyes and ethereal skin, the pinnacle of utter sexiness in my conquests eyes. I flitted through the snow encrusted Valley; searching. Ghostlike I darted through the trees, the leaves quivering slightly as I brushed past them, ignoring the snowy debris that was clinging to my cloak. I would not let anything deter me from the utterly glorious moment awaiting me. Anticipation hung heavy, clasping me tightly in its embrace. Weeks of aimless meandering around the Valley, months of excruciatingly tedious planning had prepared me for this night. Every security system cracked to perfection, every night time schedule or habit embedded in my brain for eternity. Jeff's painting was mine*. I remember that fateful night all too clearly, where my curiosity was piqued almost unbearably…

Lumina, cheeks like rose petals and eyes sparkling had warned me to use the back passage way to avoid detection and I had fully intended to follow her advice until Romana chose at the very moment that I was sneaking past her lounge room, darting past the slight crack in the door, to mutter three fatal words.

"It's extremely valuable" It was against the laws of gravity for me to be able to pull away now, priceless treasures was the air to my lungs and every breath that flowed through me was dedicating to plotting there obtainment. She had me under her spell, and entranced I pressed my back against the wall and listened. Years of experience had fine tuned my ears, and even though the crack was only tiny I was able to hear Romana's words."It was actually from an old lover of mine, back in my youth, as hard as it for you to believe! He was such a charmer, and he had an incredible lot of money…" She chuckled slightly, her voice flippant as if the painting was nothing, and to her, whose house was laden with treasures of such value, it probably wasn't.

"Well it certainly is exquisite if you ask me" The stranger had a soft, drawling voice laced with a slight French accent "But please I beg you, do tell me who painted this masterpiece?" Romana giggled to herself, clearly in on some private joke.

"Well you know Karen?" Romana's words were clipped in disapproval but she continued ignoring the strangers muttering of words that sounded strangely like 'alcoholic… whore…' "As it turns out it was one of her ancestors, something along the lines of her great, great Grandfather" I tuned out there meaningless gossip about how "Utterly unbelievable" it was that someone as "Unstable" as Karen could possibly have an ancestor capable of producing such a "Magnificent" piece of art. All that mattered to me was how much I needed that painting, not whose great uncle or cousin or whatever had painted it. Once it was clear that the conversation was not going to steer back onto the painting, I silently crept out of the Mansion avoiding detection with one, single thought in my head.

I would not rest, eat or sleep until that painting had fallen into my possession.

As I discovered under rather unfortunate circumstances that it wouldn't be nearly as easy to steal the painting as I had anticipated and from then on I dedicated every waking moment to studying the blue prints I so cleverly 'convinced' Lumina to give to me. And now finally, tonight I was prepared, everything was perfect.

It was the first splatter of rain that collided with my shoulder however, that alerted me to how the stars had misled me. Clearly fate had something else in store for me. Sure enough, one droplet rapidly multiplied until the rain was lashing against me with such a force that it was almost painful. My natural agility came into play as I began to sprint swiftly across the snow ridden fields towards the excavation sight, the closest form of shelter. I fled silently up the hill, squinting to try and identify the mines through the haze of rainfall. Due to my desperation to get out of the rain I had been oblivious to the disappointment that had spread like a sickness through me and contaminated the anticipation I had been feeling from moments before. It wasn't until I had reached the entry of the sight, panting, that the truth really sunk in. I had failed, again. Jeff's masterpiece would not come into my possession tonight. I subconsciously wandered inside, my mind commanding my legs to get out of the rain without my consent, but I wasn't complaining. After I was undercover I just stood there…pretty bloody jacked off. What had gone wrong? The stars had spoken success. It wasn't just a coincidence that I just happened to hear Romana speaking of the paintings value…it had been destiny…What on earth had gone wrong?

"You!" Out of nowhere a female's voice shattered my dejected reverie. My womanizing tendencies kicked in instantly and in a spilt second my slumped, depressed stance transformed into my usual confident composure. I planted an irresistible grin onto my face and began to step towards the mysterious girl.

"Pray tell me; who might you be?" I asked, my voice caressing the air. She was still just a silhouette but her prominent curves looked slightly promising. Perhaps coming here wouldn't be a complete nuisance.

"I don't think my name, is the most pressing question to be frank" She finally stepped into the dim light and now the mystique had been lifted she wasn't nearly as appealing. She was pretty, I suppose, her chest was modest but it possessed none of Muffy's voluptuousness. Her hair, although a coveted blond colour was wispy and littered with spilt ends and her skin was pale…almost sickly. Her lips were chapped and a tad to large for her taut cheekbones. Her eyes however, were like magnets to mine and I couldn't wrench my own away. They were a piercing cerulean colour, the type you expected to see on a fashion magazine airbrushed to perfection. But their startling beauty intimidated me every so slightly, it was almost like I felt threatened by them, as if there beauty challenged my own, which was utterly preposterous. The silence stretched out between us as I gazed into her now expectant azure eyes and with a flicker of embarrassment I realized I had been reduced to the likes of a mute dog, I cursed this girl, how dare she humiliate me so!

"Oh and what could possibly could be more important than finding out the name of someone as gorgeous as you?" I continued to stare into her sparkling orbs waiting for the inevitable blush that would spread across her pale complexion. But instead she snorted in disbelief, as if she knew that the words I had just spoken had been downright lies.

"Well for a start, who the heck are you, why on earth are you in the excavation site, you don't even have a hoe for crying out loud!" I resisted the urge to snigger; oh I have had lots of hoes but clearly not in the tool sense…

"Well beautiful, I am Phantom Skye, prince of the stars and it seems that fate has bought me here" I gestured casually around the site "To pluck your heart straight from your chest" My voice had gone into third gear seductive mode but her lips unbelievably remained set in a tight line.

"Not likely, Phantom Skye" Clearly she was some alien or something of the sorts. No normal girl would be able to resist that level of charm. And no girl would ever consider saying my name the way she just did, in such a patronizing, mocking tone. Two could play at her infuriating game, so instead of dignifying her rejection with a response I chuckled merrily to myself. She gave me one fleeting look of disgust before turning on her heel to leave. Two failures in one night, this was getting ridiculous; fate sure has it in for me tonight.

"Hehe, I think you'll find that the rain will make leaving rather...difficult" There was an underlying tone of challenge in my flirtatious tone.

"I think I'll take the risk" Disbelief ran through me like an electric shock as she began wandering dangerously close to the exit.

"You think I'm going to allow such a beautiful maiden as yourself, to plunge into that deadly storm?" Lies once again, I honestly didn't give two hoots whether she survived or not but the thought of failing again made me cringe.

"I have never needed permission for anybody, especially cocky bastards like you, to do what I please and I don't intend to start now" Meow, wasn't she the feisty one? That simply wouldn't do, if I wasn't able to steal Jeff's painting than surely stealing this girls heart was the least I could do.

"Please, darling, please don't go" I crooned softly, stepping quietly towards her "Beauty as astounding as yours is so rare, especially in places as secluded as here" I watched with glee as she faltered for a second. Slowly and deliberately she turned to glare at me, her eyes shooting daggers into mine.

"Cut the crap, ok? Seriously, I'm leaving whether you like it or not!" Her voice ricocheted around the cave before she whirled around in a flurry of golden locks and departed.

Now that my feisty new 'friend' had left I was able to fully assess the wholly annoying situation I had been placed in. For the first time in my lifetime someone has been immune to my charm, she should have been literally swooning by now… what a baffling puzzle she was. I slumped down against the wall, immersing myself in the difficult challenge of deciphering the girl. Just as I began trying to decode there was a clattering of feet and out of nowhere she was back. She really was a mystery, but I didn't let my confusion taint my mask of perfection.

"Bloody hell, it's like standing under a freaking waterfall out there!" No shit Sherlock...Glancing up I noticed how much of a mess she really was. Her blonde hair was plastered to her face and along her neck and unfortunately for her she had opted for a white top that was now completely drenched...But however unfortunate it was for her, It didn't bother me in the slightest in fact it was quite the contrary, the view was rather nice from where I was sitting.

"I figured you would be back, I have an uncanny ability to attract beautiful maidens" I let a smirk play on my lips. Noticing where my eyes had been lingering, she crossed her arms across her chest, muttering pervert under her breath. Before I knew what I was doing, I was shrugging of my jacket and holding it out to her, half of me hoping she would decline and call me a jackass again. "Couldn't have a pretty maiden like you catching a cold now, could we?" Her face softened for an instant as she took the jacket out of my hands, I even saw the hint of a smile on her lips.

"I guess not" For the first time this evening her voice had traces of friendliness in it. She pulled my jacket around herself, sinking into her newfound warmth.

"Will you tell me your name now?" The hesitation was loud and clear in her reproachful eyes "Oh, I didn't realize you liked my pet names, your name can still be beautiful even after I know your real name if that's what your worried about" I teased lightly, knowing full well that her reasons for not telling me her name were not because she liked being referred to as "beautiful".

"It's Claire" She whispered softly, as if afraid someone else may here. Her eyes were distant now; the brief warmth had solidified back into ice.

"Claire" I murmured, I said her name in a manner that would be similar to the way a priest would sound when he spoke of his God, it was a manner that had taken me years to perfect "What a divine name" Once again the mystique had been lifted and had been replaced by something incredibly plain and dull. This Claire girl was getting more unappealing by the second. I kept my act going.

"Why are you doing this?" She demanded suddenly, her tone back to its usual cool demeanour. Oh god, what had I done now? Honestly, it was lucky I simply adored challenges or I would have left ages ago.

"Hehe. Doing what, my darling?" I asked, for the first time this evening my tone and words were genuine and not forced. Well at least the first half.

"Lending me your jacket, complimenting me so…" Ah, so it was self esteem issues. Those were easily fixed, I knew there was nothing terribly complex about her, she was just as insecure as every other girl and like every other girl she would fall under my spell.

"Because you're simply gorgeous, and every gorgeous girl needs a prince to love" The explanation was simple and downright bull but I knew she would buy it, I wouldn't be such a successful thief if I couldn't lie convincingly.

I had no clue what I had done, this Claire was the most incredibly perplexing girl I had ever come across and before I could even fathom what was happening she had thrown my jacket onto the dirt ridden floor and stormed out. Damn, once again I had let another valuable treasure fall from my grasp. Jeff's painting was nothing to me now in comparison to Claire's heart; the painting was a mere pawn in my chess board. I had more important targets now, I had to take down the Queen and made Claire's heart mine. The plan was already hatching in my brain; it was spiralling out of control. Ignoring the bugs that were now soiling my favourite jacket I plotted and planned the theft of Claire's heart because I had never been conquered by a woman before, I had never let a treasure escape my iron clasp and I sure as hell wasn't going to start now.

And after all, stealing is what I do best…

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A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed my first chapter, and don't forget to leave a review ;D Also, if anyone is offended or what not by my portrayal of Skye than I'm sorry, but I think that him being utterly sweet and perfect is a misconception, I think he is a sweet on the outside and sadistic on the inside, but that's not to say that his love can't be genuine.

*Yes for anyone who has seen the event in Romana's Mansion where Romana is telling Claire/Karen about the exquisite painting she has obtained from someone called Jeff (Mineral Town Jeff) then it is the very same one. For those who haven't seen it, sorry for ruining it :/

~VP