Well, hello over there. This is my first story and I'm fairly new to writing, so you'll have to bear with me for a bit before I get the hang of this fan fiction thing. I would be forever grateful to you if you could leave a review. Please don't hesitate to give me constructive criticism. Any and all opinions are welcome. And with out further delay, here we go:

A shadow sprang across the courtyard of the Louvre. Hidden in the darkness of the night, a teenage girl carefully made her way along side the wall on the museum. She stopped when she reached an old drainage tunnel, easily moving aside the broken pole and then replacing it once she was safely inside the tunnel. This drain system hadn't been used for years, but it provided the perfect secret entrance in through the walls of the old building.

Once inside she followed a familiar path she had traveled countless times before, moving through the blind spots of every camera and sensor. It was a dance she had done for years.

Natalie West was not a common teenage girl, for more than one reason. Normal girls don't sneak into the Louvre in the dead of night. Years ago, when she was only a little girl, Natalie's grandfather had shown her this path through the shadows. She didn't know how her grandfather had figured out the complex system, but she was grateful to him. It was their secret.

Grandfather West had loved art. It had been his one true passion in life, which he had passed onto his beloved granddaughter. He believed that viewing a painting was a very personal experience, and not something to be done in hot and sweaty crowds like tourists. No, art was a private thing. Which was why he first broke into the Louvre, so that he could be alone with his true loves.

It had always been their secret. Natalie and her grandfather had snuck in together dozens of times. Always following the same movements through the darkness, like their own personal waltz. But time had played its cruel tricks, and now Natalie was left to dance alone.

She moved through gallery after gallery filled with priceless paintings and sculptures, but only one room could hold her attention. Natalie silently entered her favorite gallery. It never failed to take her breath away. She removed her satchel and placed it by the bench in the center of the room. This was her home, here amongst her favorite paintings.

There, surrounded by the swirls of color, Natalie was at peace. She watched, as the strokes of paint seemed to flow together, and move in a perfectly orchestrated dance across the canvas. Each painting had a different tone, a different song to move to. Some swayed calmly, like they were touched by a gentle breeze. Others pounded at their frames, as if eager to escape their confinement and move into reality. Nothing else seemed to matter when Natalie was there.

Memories of standing in that room with her grandfather hit Natalie like powerful waves, threatening to knock her from her feet and downed her. How many hours had they wondered these halls? They would sit together in the presence of these great works and imagine stories to match the paintings.

In the room to the right hung a ballerina painted by Degas. Natalie vaguely remembered their made up tale of how the dancer was secretly a queen, but ballet was her true passion. She would rule the kingdom by day, and by night she would be queen of the stage.

Natalie stood in front of her favorite Monet, careful not to get too close and set off the sensors. Within the frame, a woman lay in a field with her skirt sprawled out around her as a gentle wind brushed through the tall grass. The woman looked completely at peace and content with the world.

"Impressive." A voice from behind startled Natalie. She whipped around to see a male figure standing in the shadows, watching her.

Her heart rate jumped from zero to sixty in a split second. How long had he been watching her? How had she not seen him?

A wave of confusion crossed over Natalie as she raked over the man in the shadows and found that he wasn't a guard, he wasn't even a man really. In front of her stood a teenage boy with golden hair and icy blue eyes. He leaned against the opposite wall, observing her with a sort of detached curiosity. He looked sixteen, maybe seventeen. He had a tall frame and a runner's physique. The boy was dressed in black from head to toe. If he wasn't a guard who was he and how had he gotten in here?

Had he followed her? Fresh panic slide down Natalie's spine when she thought of the possibility of having carelessly given away from grandfather's secret path.

Who ever this boy was he had caught her where she most definitely should not be. She had to get out of here. Natalie turned to grab her satchel and run but the boy's words stopped her.

"Looking for this?" The golden haired boy smirked at her. In his hand he held Natalie's beloved satchel. Which meant even if she did run, he would know her name from the student ID card in her wallet. How had she been so careless as the leave it on the floor like that? Natalie mentally kicked herself for her own stupidity.

She briefly considered tackling the boy ruby style but decided against it.

There was no way she was getting out of this unscathed, so Natalie took a deep breath and gathered her wits. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to steal?"

The boy laughed at some private joke. "Quite the opposite actually. Besides I needed to make sure you had some incentive to stay rather than just running off." His accent was indistinguishable. He could have been British, American or even German.

"Who are you?" He inquired. Natalie didn't answer she only looked down at her watch. 1:36. There was only 3 minutes until the guards come around on their hourly patrol and this boy was standing in-between Natalie and her balcony hiding place.

"Running late for something?" He raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?" He repeated.

His insistence became suddenly annoying to Natalie. "It doesn't matter who I am. What you really want to know is how I got here."

"No, I think I'm really more interested in who you are." He surveyed her once again. "What crew are you from?"

"Crew?" Natalie didn't understand what he meant.

The boy's brow furrowed. "Yes, crew. You know, crew, team. What group are you part of? Where is the rest of your crew?" He demanded.

Natalie just shook her head, still confused.

"Are you saying you broke into the Louvre, by yourself?" He seemed utterly perplexed.

But then it was her turn to ask the questions.

"Hold on, why are you here?" She looked beside the boy to see a painting out of its frame, rolled into a case. "You're a thief?" Natalie should have run when she had the chance. She was sure he was about to pull a knife on her.

But instead he only starred back, just as confused as she was. "You're not?"

Just then there was a movement from the room to the left and Natalie realized they weren't alone. Another teenage boys strode into the room, skillfully avoiding the sensors. "Bishop, what's taking so long- Whoa, who's she?" The second boy had a tall-lean frame and bright green eyes that widened at the sight of her.

"Are we stealing people now as well? Because that's where I draw the line." The boy said jokingly.

More voices came from the other room, this time it was feminine. "What's going on in there?" A girl hissed.

Lights flashed down the hallway. "Guards!" The second boy hissed and jumped back into the other room.

Natalie frantically looked for some sort of cover but her only option was the balcony. She grabbed the golden boy's arm and pulled him to the window. If he got caught, he would give her away as well. Natalie pushed it open as fast and silently as she could then climbed through, pulling the boy with her.

They crouched together to the right of the window, waiting for the guards to pass. Flashlights shone in the Monet gallery and the boy moved a finger to his lips for silence. Natalie rolled her eyes at him. As if she was stupid enough to talk in a situation like this.

Natalie could feel the boy's breath stir her hair as they waited together in the shadows. She was trapped in an inconvenient hiding spot, doing something highly illegal, sitting next to an art thief. This was not a good place to be.

But the mysterious boy was grinning was if her was having the time of his life. Natalie couldn't decide if he looked more or less intimidating up close. He really was just a regular looking teenage boy. Sitting so close to him, she got a better look at his icy blue eyes, which were just as unsettling up close. He had pale skin and fair hair to match. Natalie noticed he wore a climbing harness. He must have repelled from the roof somehow. Although she had no idea how he would have gotten on the roof in the first place.

A few moments after the light of the flashlights had disappeared, there was a tap on the glass above their heads and Natalie jumped.

"Coast is clear." The boy with the green eyes whispered through the semi open window. "Let's get to work."

The pair climbed back in through the window. Through the darkness Natalie could see people in the other room, hurry around taking paintings from their frames. There was no way she could stop them without getting her self caught as well. Natalie needed to get out of there. Fast.

Before anyone had the chance to stop her Natalie turned to down the hall, but halted at the sound of the golden-boy's voice. "You never answered by question. Who are you?" Even in the dark Natalie could see the curiosity in his features.

For some strange reason, Natalie felt as though she should help them. She glanced at her watch. "The guards are doing a loop. You have three, maybe four minutes until the patrol comes back."

"Thanks." The second boy nodded towards her before hurry back to help the rest of the crew.

The blond boy didn't move he just stood their watching her intently. Natalie took one last look at the ballerina queen before turning to face him.

"Do me a favor, leave the Degas." Before he had a chance to answer, she pivoted and ran down the hall back to her secret entrance.

As Natalie West escaped out through the courtyard and darted passed the enormous glass triangle, she felt oddly thrilled.

It wasn't likely she would be able to go back to her favorite gallery anytime soon. Once the robbery was discovered the security would be doubled. Besides, if the thieves got their way, most of her paintings would be gone. Still, for some odd reason she found it hard to be angry with the golden haired boy and his crew.

Once safety away in the streets, Natalie looked back over her shoulder at the window of Monet gallery. Maybe it was her imagination, but she could have sworn she saw a figure standing in the window, watching her.

As she made her way back to her Parisian apartment a few blocks away, her breathing began to slow, but she could still feel the rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins. It wasn't until she was home that she realized she had forgotten her satchel in the museum. Natalie had no idea how drastically that one night would change her life forever. Some things we just never see coming.

The next morning Natalie woke, convinced the events of the previous night had all been a crazy dream. She dressed herself like she did every morning in Paris and headed down the street to buy her breakfast in the marketplace.

While waiting in line for her morning coffee, Natalie spotted the news headline on the papers. 'Effraction au musée du Louvre'. Break-in at the Louvre.

Natalie paid for a newspaper and ripped it open to the second page. The article said that two galleries had been emptied out in the dead of night. So far the police had no clues as to who the culprit was or how they got in. She breathed a sigh of relief. The journalist reported that a single painting was left in the Degas gallery, where the thief had left a small card tucked inside the frame.

Bellow the article was a picture of the Ballerina queen painting, and slipped into the frame was a piece of paper with a single word that proved it had been more than just a dream.

"–James"

Pretty please with a stolen Degas on top leave me a review. I'll update every (today is an exception) Monday, Wensday and Friday so y'all come back now, ya hear. See you tomorrow. P.S Oh and did I forget to mention... Review!...Please.