It's not that EL set out to become an internationally wanted criminal and thief, it's just that she's really good at it. There's nothing she can't take if she decides she wants to, so it only becomes a question of limiting herself to things that her mother won't disapprove of (previously stolen artwork, embezzled and blood money, keys to cages, poison antidotes -- it turns out the world is full of items El can appropriate and still look her mum in the face).

Orion Lake is the only person who's ever come close to stopping her, but he'll never succeed: he loves the hollow thrill of the chase too much to catch a woman who steals with conviction.