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Once A Thief	By : Kali Category: Beyblade > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 9119 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
Kali notes: Welcome!
Now that some of my WIPs are out of the way,
and the muses have been trying to beat my brain in with plot mallets, I have
started my next chaptered work. This is just
a little something that slammed into my imagination one night while watching a
little Val Kilmer movie called The Saint for
what has to be nearly the 100th time. I
was inspired, to say the least. Oh! And if you didn�t know already, there is a
prequel for this fic, called Sketches of the Past. There
will be many things alluded to in OAT from that one-shot, so you may want to
read it (and review!). So�here I go
again!

Disclaimer: Kali & muses do not own Beyblade. We mourn.
We do, however, own all OCs appearing in this fic.

Warnings: Yaoi (means lemons, people � unless you�re on
ffnet; then you get shounen-ai),
language, dramatic angst, and other adult content. Don�t like it, don�t read it!

Pairing: TyKa; others include
Tala/Hilary, Rei/Mariah

Summary: (AU) A thief is being chased by the law in
more ways than one. But this thief and
the one chasing him have�history. And
that will affect the outcome of the chase�perhaps in a way neither would have expected.

~*~*~*~*~

Once A
Thief

~*~*~*~*~

Chapter
01: Thief In The Night

A masquerade ball.

They didn�t happen as often as they
once did anymore. These sorts of events
had gone out of style ages ago, replaced by parties and gala events at the most
popular nightclubs instead.

Of course, clubs and such were not
usually found in private houses, nor were they the places one could find
priceless works of art, jewellery, or museum-quality pieces like relics or
artefacts. Any of these items found in
private homes were � in this area of the world, at least � heirlooms passed
down over generations. Sometimes they
were in the hands of collectors, but that was rare. And most times anything of real value was
documented thoroughly, its whereabouts listed in several different places so
that, should something happen to it, it could be found again easily or at least
tracked.

While that had its upside, it also
had its downside. Anyone and everyone
could find whatever they wanted to. In
other words, it made stealing those items a lot easier.

All this ran through the mind of the
black-clad figure slinking through the halls of a chateau just outside Paris, France. He�d left the bulk of his costume in the
washroom off the kitchens with the door securely locked. Anyone wanting to use it would have to go
elsewhere and heed the �out of order� sign he�d hung on the doorknob. He�d climbed out the window and scaled up the
side of the chateau to the third floor tower library, entering through a very
small window that was barely large enough to squeeze through.

Unfortunately, his intel had been partially
false. He had been told the item he�d
been sent to acquire was located in that tower.
However, it turns out that it had been moved to the main library on the
second floor. Cursing fluently and
frequently � in his mind, anyway � he found the doors he was looking for and
proceeded to use his�singular talents to get those doors open before slipping
inside.

It was a good thing he�d taken care
of the security system before he�d locked himself in the bathroom. He wasn�t worried about cameras or motion
detectors tonight � since they were off because of the party going on
downstairs. Still, he didn�t want to
risk the chance of running into heat sensors or some other elaborate
set-up. He couldn�t afford to be caught.

Glancing around the room, he took in
his surroundings as he searched for his target.
Spotting it sitting open on a table, where someone had obviously been
studying it, he moved quickly over to it, opening his case to place it inside very,
very carefully.

All this for a book.
Okay, so it�s old, and valuable, and kind of pretty, but it�s still just
a book. He thought with a small
amount of disgust. Damn Gideon for making me do this. I�ve become a criminal just to get back
something that rightfully belongs to me and to save people I love.

Locking the case, he returned to the
doors and peeked out to make sure the coast was clear, then
left as quickly and quietly as he�d come.

Getting back to the tower was
something of a chore. It was getting
late and people from the ball were stumbling back to their rooms. Occasionally, he had to hide.

Eventually he did make it back to
the bathroom, where he stashed his gear and the case in a backpack that had
seen better days, and
put his costume back on � one of the uniforms the catering staff were
wearing. Then he gathered everything up,
made sure there were no traces of the fact he�d been there, and exited the
bathroom. With no one in the hall, he
was nearly home-free.

Out in the kitchens, he was stopped
by the head chef.

�What are you doing, young man? You should be out on the floor yet serving my
canap�s.� The man demanded in a heavy
French accent. In English, with no hint
of his own accent � other than purposefully sounding
British � the thief gave him a weak smile and did his best to look ill.

�They told me I could go home,
Monsieur. I am not feeling well.�

�Bah. You should not have come in if you were so
ill.� The chef waved him away. �Go. I
do not want germs near my dishes.�

�Neither do
I, Anton. Good evening.� The young man answered with a brief nod. He moved slowly out of the kitchen to the
servants� entrance, where he slipped out and made his way to the parking
lot. Strapping on his helmet and gloves,
he got onto his motorcycle and kicked it into gear, riding away into the night.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

�Looks like he�s
struck again.�

A red-haired man stood and dusted
his hands, glancing at his partner.
�Once again, it�s like the item just vanished. No hint or clue or evidence left behind.�

�That�s beginning to piss me
off.� The dual-haired, greyish-violet
eyed man near him muttered. �I don�t
understand how anyone could be that smooth.�

�Planned well enough, anyone could
do it.�

�I guess. You�re sure it�s him, though, Tala?�

�Yes. His scent is still in the room.� Tala met his eyes with a pair of his own that
were icy blue and highly intelligent. �I
don�t see anything out of place other than the missing manuscript, though.�

�Damn it. Fine, let�s get back to headquarters and let
the Boss know. The UNA (1) isn�t going to be happy with us.�

�Like I care, Hiwatari.
It�s not our fault.�

�No.
But we are the ones who will
have to find this guy and catch him.�
Kai sighed, frowning at the world in general as they walked out of the
library past the police and fellow UNA investigators.

�Still, you have to admire the guy �
whoever it is. It takes skill and
finesse to do what he�s done.� Tala
laced his hands behind his head as he sauntered alongside Kai down the stairs
to the main floor.�

�You�re warped, Ivanov.�
(2)

�Did you find anything? Do you know who has stolen from me?� A short, wizened little man approached them,
wringing his hands. He spoke in French,
but the two UNA agents understood perfectly.
Tala, in typical fashion, gave his partner a look and continued toward
the front doors, slipping on a pair of sunglasses and leaving Kai to speak with
the man.

In French, Kai said, �Monseigneur, I�m
sorry to say that there was very little evidence of anything to be found �
except your missing manuscript.�

�Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear�my wife
will be most unhappy with me.�

�I want to reassure you, however,
that we will find the thief and your manuscript. Despite the lack of clues, we think we know
who may be behind this.� Kai continued,
pretending not to hear the man. �Please
trust us to do our jobs, Monseigneur,
and you will get your property back.�

The man drew out a handkerchief and
mopped at his forehead anxiously. �Oui,
oui�of
course, Agent Hiwatari. I was most reassured by Monsieur Dickenson�s phone call this morning, when he told me of
your arrival. His agents were the best,
he said.�

�We try, Monseigneur. Someone from the UNA will be in touch with
you when we have anything new to report.�
Kai shook the man�s hand and turned to leave.

Outside, he got into the car and
gave his partner a mild glare as Tala pulled out of the drive of the large
estate and back onto the highway.

�What? I�m not good with people, Kai. You�re better at handling the distraught
victims.�

�Oh yeah right. You just don�t want to even try.� Kai slouched in his seat, taking his
sunglasses out of his jacket pocket and slipping them on.

�You�re in a fantastic mood these
days. What�s wrong with you?� Tala glanced at him, eyes studying him
curiously behind his own shades.

�Nothing. I�m just getting supremely annoyed with this
thief. He�s making a mockery of the
UNA. This is the what? Thirteenth item he�s stolen? And every time we show up we find nothing to
identify him nor any reason for taking whatever it
was.�

�A �he� is it? You�ve sensed something then.� Tala gave his attention back to the
road. �I know I�ve suspected a male, because his scent tells me that much. What have you found?�

�I haven�t found anything. It�s just�a
feeling I get.� Kai shifted in his seat
uncomfortably.

�If you say so. I trust your instincts. They haven�t been wrong before.�

�Hn.�

They returned to the Parisian branch
of UNA headquarters without further comment.
Once there, they rode the elevator to the top floor to give their
reports to the Director of the UNA, Mr. Stanley Dickenson.

�Do you want to tell him, or shall
I?� Tala inquired, winding through the
cubicles toward the offices along the front of the building.

�Why don�t I write the report, and you
tell him we know nothing more.� Kai eyed
the office door warily.

�Uh�how about you tell him? I�ll�go write
the report right now.� Tala was gone
between one word and the next, leaving Kai blinking at the door reluctantly.

He knocked, waited a moment, and
went inside.

�Ah, Kai�you�ve returned.� The stout, bald man at the desk looked up
from his paperwork. �How did your investigations go?�

�Badly. I�m sorry, sir, but all we could discern was
that it�s the same culprit. Tala�s nose
still works, on the bright side�� Kai reported, trying to lighten the poor
results, though he failed miserably.
He�d learned so much from someone in his past, but he didn�t have the
same genki cheerfulness he had had to pull it off.

�This has to stop. At this rate all of Europe�s
most precious treasures will be gone.
Has there been anything? Anything at all?�

�No, sir. There appears to be no connections at
all. The victims of these thefts aren�t
related, though occasionally they know one another through business or from
their social positions. The objects
themselves aren�t related either. They
come from different time periods, different cultures, are of different sorts of
objects � like paintings, sculptures, a mechanical device, jewels, and now a
manuscript � and there seems to be no pattern to the thefts either. It�s almost as if random objects
just�disappear from existence.� Kai made
a noise of frustration.

�Yes, well, I certainly can�t tell
the people who want their property back that. What do
we know?� Mr. Dickenson folded his hands
in front of himself on the desk, watching Kai expectantly.

Kai sighed and rubbed his temples,
thinking. �From Tala�s tracking and my
gut instinct�it�s a male, no older than I.
He can�t be to have gotten in and out of some of the places he has. We also believe he must be in good shape, and
perhaps has had some kind of training that adds to his speed and agility. Tala�describes his scent as a storm.� Kai frowned, not because of the strangeness
of such a description (since, coming from his Russian partner, such parallels
were normal), but because the memory of someone else who smelled faintly of a
summer thunderstorm still haunted him � even ten years later.

�I see. Very well, Agent. I�ll expect your report by the end of the
day.� The Director dismissed him, and
Kai gratefully made his escape.

Kai wound his way through the
cubicles in the bullpen until he came to the one he shared with Tala, finding
the redhead bent over a stack of paperwork with pen in hand.

�Give me some of that. You�ll be here all night.� Kai reached out and grabbed a part of the
stack from Tala.

�Please�help yourself.� Tala didn�t even look up. �What did the Boss have to say?�

Opening his desk drawer, Kai dug out
a pair of reading glasses and slipped them on.
Then he grabbed a pen out of the holder on one corner of his desk and
opened the first booklet to fill out. �Not much, really.�
He replied. �But there was that
frown of frustration. I�m thinking we
don�t find the guy soon, we�re going to be very
unemployed.�

Tala looked up and shoved one paper
off to the side to move on to the next. �I
wouldn�t go that far.� He grinned,
watching Kai for a moment as he wrote, then put his
pen down to look for the case file to look something up. He pushed the glasses up his nose then
blinked when he noticed Tala watching him.

�What?� He demanded defensively, scowling at his
partner.

�Just the glasses. It�s cute.�

�Shut up.�

�No, really! Why aren�t you dating yet anyway? I know a few girls who�d be absolutely
thrilled to get their hands on you.�
Tala wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.
�I can set you up��

�Haven�t we had this conversation
before?� Kai grumbled moodily. �No, Tala.�

�Okay, come on. I know you�re still reserving hopes of
finding this mysterious love of your life that you lost�what?� Tala affected a forgetful expression. �Nine?
Ten years ago? But, Kai�your life
is passing by and you�re not even a spectator.
We�ve looked since we got out of the Academy. We have followed every clue and miniscule
piece of evidence we possibly could find but��

�Then you don�t understand.� Kai didn�t scowl now. He glared, and had he not been wearing the
contacts that disguised his fiery eye colour, Tala would have burned to a crisp
with that look. �I loved him, Tala. I still love him. All I want is the chance to tell him so.�

�And that�s fine, Kai. But until we find him, you are married to your career. It�s not healthy.�

�Hmph. Like you�re an expert on healthy.�

�At this point, I�m way more expert
than you are. I�ve known you for nearly
eight years now. I�ve seen you date maybe three times, and each time it only
lasted a few hours. At least then you�d
go out to a club or something once in a while.
Now you just sit around at home and read � and it�s usually case files
and witness statements. Not even
books! That�s no way to live.�

�Tala. Just leave it. I�m not looking for a relationship so drop
it. Besides, I�d think your wolf-y self
would appreciate monogamy.� Kai shot
back, looking back down at his paperwork with a grumble.

�I�m not all wolf,
for your information.� Sighing, the
redhead picked up the next piece of paper to fill out. �Whatever.
Live in total misery then. See if
I care.� He muttered.

�Tal�hey, don�t do that.� Kai
fought the urge to squirm in guilt. �You�re
acting like I ran over your puppy.�

�You might as well have. And don�t use that �Tal��
whine on me. You�re almost twenty seven,
damn it. No guy who is as much of a
catch as you are has only gone on three, hour-long dates since his high school
graduation � unless he was married
right after he graduated.� Tala grabbed
Kai�s left hand and held it up. �I see
no ring.�

Kai yanked his hand back, holding it
to his chest almost protectively. �Maybe
not, but I�m still taken.�

Tala threw his hands up in the air
in exasperation. �Fine! I give up.�
Then he gave his partner a sly grin.
�But you have to promise me that you�ll go out somewhere � my choice �
at the next opportunity.�

�If it will end this conversation
and get you off my back, fine.�

�Done!� Tala smiled, his
grin more than a little wolfy. �I�ll get you a life yet.�

�Don�t count on it.� Kai couldn�t help the tiny twitching of his
mouth into a smile. His partner was like
a giddy child with an ice cream cone when he got his way. �Can we work now?�

�You betcha.�

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Six
days later � Paris

�Are you absolutely sure this time? Because you
were way off last time. Double-check
your data.� The thief tapped his fingers
on a desktop, switching ears with the phone�s handset
impatiently. �It took me nearly fifteen
extra minutes to get that stupid manuscript.
I had to sneak like a common burglar through the halls.�

There was a lengthy pause as he
rolled his eyes, listening to the voice on the other end of the line, and
reached for a laptop computer, flipping it open and turning it on.

�Okay, okay! I�m sorry!
You know I couldn�t do any of this without you, and I know how much you�re
risking by doing it. Yes, yes.� There was another pause. �It�s emailed? Even the blue-prints? Alright. Thanks for everything. What?
Oh. There�s only two items left
on the list. This one
and the final one.� The thief sighed,
squelching the guilt his conscious was screaming at him. �Yeah. That.
You�ll start researching it, then?
Okay. I�ll be in touch when I�ve
made my plans for this next one.�

He hung up and opened his email
account. He began downloading
attachments and printing off the info he�d need to go after the next object on
the list.

It looked like he wouldn�t have to
travel far this time, for which he was glad in a way. He was getting so tired of jetting here and
there, never staying in one place for more than a month at a time. Although this flat was his main base, and had
been for over two years, it would never truly be home. That was, in part, what he was doing all this
for � his home, his family, and the most valuable heirloom his family possessed
(other than the land his home sat upon itself).

�Back to merry old England it
is. London, here I come.�

****************

Kali Notes: (1)
UNA = United Nations Authority. It�ll be
explained later on in the fic. (2)
I don�t know what Tala�s real last name is, but I�m using Ivanov
for this fic.
And yes, I�m playing around with his character a little, too. It�s an AU, people! I can do what I want. It�s called �creative license.�

I think it�s all pretty obvious who�s who and
what�s going on � to a point, of course.
I�m never one to give away the entire
plot all at once now am I? LOL Still, keep in
mind that this is an AU fic. I may be playing with a few things that aren�t
quite canon to Beyblade. So stay tuned,
and enjoy the newest venture into the Chaos�
Please R/R!!!!
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Once A Thief