Let's see if you can tell which parts were written by me, and which were written by Applauze!

Joel Connell: Ultimately, the trouble they faced was minimal, but there was troubles yet again regardless. That can't keep happening without anyone probably getting severely ticked off, can it? Especially with Gwen around. But we can only wait to see how that ends up! And looking back, not only has the bank job of the previous chapter similarities to the prologue heist, but also the Paleto heist and the jewel store robbery!

Great Idea Alert: Someone else has figured by now that many innocents were indirectly involved in this heist. And that person probably feels rather guilty indeed! As for the shooting locks thing? It was either that or using a plastic explosive, and that probably would've blown out the wall and alerted the entire town! And yes, if you consider a TV show host constructed a entire mechanical island full of sophisticated A.I, successfully shooting locks is actually pretty realistic! As for your plot-questions, you'll probably be pleased to hear that all of it will be touched upon in some way this chapter!

Applauze: You know, there's a reason tickets for that train are... crazy cheap! It completely slipped me we made it to the double-digit mark already! It depends on what you think is special, but just like the last time, after the heists is when the dust settles back... only to be kicked back up again in a more exciting way!

Jster1983: Who's next you ask? This chapter may not be clear on that, but if you go through the previous chapters to spot a recurring trend related to the 'clue' you get, maybe you can get a pretty solid idea what's up next!

Chrismustsuffer: I'll have to tell you a little secret; We remained pretty vague on the exact worth of every take because it wasn't very relevant to the overarching story as well as that we left it to the individual reader to imagine how much they took! Other than that, I have to say that you're a pretty perceptive reader! Can you possibly figure out what the next heist will be as well from the clue you get?

Guest: Oh stop it you! There are plenty of other great stories! A feature on Tvtropes is a great achievement, but if it can box up against some of the other jewels on there? We wouldn't know for sure!

Like last time, this chapter is a breather after the heist, so that's why it's a little shorter! But careful readers; This chapter is still T, but near the end of the chapter, some rather grim event takes place.

Chapter 10: Money Can't Buy You Happiness

"Ah man, it feels good to be home!"

Duncan felt relieved as he walked into his trailer. After completing the heist on the bank, he wanting nothing more than to go home. Ever since he got out of prison and joined the group, he had been living in a apartment in Victoria. Sure it wasn't any Buckingham Palace and was a bit rundown, but he was trying to make it decent and neat, though it was taking him longer than what he expected.

He sat down on his bed and sighed. Two successful heists had been completed and he had a huge piece of the money payout pie. Though they were still determining what the payout from the bank would be when he left, he knew that it was going to be big. With the $20,000 he received from the blood diamonds and based on the fact they made off with four huge duffle bags full of cash and jewels, he firmly believed that he would receive a larger payday. It would be three weeks before the money made it to his bank account, one that was under his alias of a Mr. Nelson Lawhead.

While Duncan was excited to be doing these heist and getting rich as a result, it was who he was that shocked him the most. He never expected himself to see anyone from the show again, let alone work with them on breaking major laws. The only person that he actually enjoyed working with on the team was Cody. Although he despised the geek at one point, he admired the fact that Cody had the balls to unleash a bomb threat and was not afraid of hijacking major security networks in the name of teamwork. Noah, he thought, was also pretty enjoyable, though he wished the egghead wouldn't be so uptight on everyone. However, with the amount of money Duncan now had and with more coming his way, he wasn't complaining. Then there was Geoff. While they did stop talking to one another on a sour note, they did start managing to be decent toward one another again. Being with Geoff made him realize how much similar their lives paralleled one another and how often they received the short end of the stick. As for the girls, he thought, they were tolerable. Of course, he thought back to that night at the cabin.

Duncan had no idea how this would turn out. When Noah arrived, he reprimanded them for not keeping the appearance of two couples on their honeymoon. They pointed out that Noah had no place to stay, but he quickly remarked that he was staying in a one-room lodge not far from where their cabins were. So with reluctance, Cody and Gwen headed toward their respective cabins since Duncan and Scarlett refused to move.

So when it came time for bed, Gwen was already in the bed covered up. Duncan came in and sat on the edge. "Gwen, I know it's been a while, but try to control yourself. I need some rest." Gwen kicked his rear end and he fell onto the floor. "What the hell was that for?" He asked.

"You're not getting into bed with me!"

"Where I am supposed to sleep?"

"On the floor." Came Gwen's cold answer.

''Like any dog?'' Duncan muttered. He just snatched a pillow and a sheet and made a bed on the hardwood floor. "I don't have to beg a woman to let me into bed. Women come to me!" He declared in a barbaric fashion in a attempt to hold a mirror to Gwen.

"Right after they get the approval number on your Mastercard!"

Duncan just glared at her. "Good night."

"Oh go to hell." She added while turning off the lamp.

They settled into their positions of sleep. Duncan laid on his back and looked up at the ceiling before starting to laugh. "Duncan, if you're doing what you normally do when you're alone, you're in big trouble," Gwen remarked.

"I was remembering the first time you kicked me out of bed and I slept on the floor."

"Oh yeah, that hidden paradise cottage Chris made us stay in when we were in Hawaii."

"Where every cottage is April in Paris."

"And every bathroom Calcutta in July."

They both broke out laughing at the memory. "Do you remember how I convinced you to let me back into bed?" He asked.

"No." She replied, turning her head to look at him as she secretly regretted even engaging in conversation.

"I said the sweetest things and made you feel like the most important person in the whole world. Then I would message you until you scooted over and we would talk before making love."

"Duncan Muntz, I don't believe this. Are you trying to seduce me?"

"Is it working?"

"I don't think so."

"Well, then you leave me no choice to bring out the big gun." He smirked while leaning over Gwen.

She rolled away from him, trying not to laugh. "You're wasting your time. I'm all too familiar with the big gun."

Duncan started to make a move, but he shot up when he heard the bedroom door slam open. In came Scarlett, dragging Cody behind her. "Gwen, get up! Come back to the cabin. I can't do this shit!"

"But we have a cover to maintain." Cody pointed out.

"To hell with the cover!" Scarlett replied. "I can't do this. I can't be in the same bed with Cody. I'm constantly worried something will happen. I'd rather be with Gwen than you."

"That would be hot," Duncan added.

"I didn't ask you!" She yelled. "Gwen! Let's head back to the cabin. I have a feeling you want some relief."

"You're not telling me anything new," Gwen replied.

"As for you two, think of me as the Berlin Wall. If you follow us or even think of coming into our cabin without knocking, you'll know how barbed wire will feel like between your legs!" Scarlett yelled as she locked the cabin door. Although Gwen raised an eyebrow at this, she decided that they would be fine sharing a bed. They would come back to unlock them in the morning.

After that night, he thought of the girls as more of a curse than a blessing toward the team. He thought that Gwen was bad, but with Scarlett, they unleashed a wrath unlike any other force in nature. Sometimes he was fearful that Scarlett was a bit too demanding but he never dared to admit that in front of her face. He didn't want to die. He wanted to live and enjoy the money he had.

But even with all the money he now had, Duncan wondered why he felt so alone.

He looked all around him and saw that his past had alienated him from most of his friends and family. When he left his criminal past behind to join Noah's group, he alienated the friends he made while breaking the law. What few friends he had on the show were off doing their own thing and none of his exes even acknowledged him when he was out and about. So he lamented at the fact that his only friends were Noah and others.

"Is this what loneliness feels like?' He asked.

He thought of ways he could be happy. He could go and buy an expensive car or a fancy apartment or whatever he wanted. However, he extinguished the thought when he realized that it would be too suspicious and that even with those fancy material items, a lack of friends would make them unenjoyable.

"This stinks." He mumbled. "I almost wish that I was back at the apartment. At least I would have someone to talk to."

Duncan looked in the mirror and saw the disheveled man that he becoming again. However, it was as if the mirror gave him a revelation. He looked back at himself and thought about it for a moment, before realizing what the mirror was telling him. "I need a fresh look. I'm tired of having this dreary appearance. Perhaps that's the first step on a new look on life but, before I do anything, I really need some coffee."

As he made some coffee, he lifted the window and felt the nice fresh air breathe some life into the two-room home on wheels. It was still winter, but Victoria often felt more like spring during this time of year. He could see the grass starting to grow, the tree buds forming, and flowers starting to poke up from the Earth. It was a season of life. It was a season of beauty. It was a season of new chances.

And he was grateful for that.

Geoff grumbled as he made it back to his truck. "That is the last time I will do such a favor for Noah!"

While he wasn't sure how Noah would react when he learned that Geoff quit his truck driving job the moment he returned at the depot. Despite the threat of the wrath of God from Noah, Geoff was willing to face that wrath. It had been a good month since he took up the job and being on the road made him realize how much more he had to stand up for himself. He didn't know how he would be able to respond to Noah, but he knew that he would have a strong ally in Gwen. It was great to see her and Cody again. They were still the same awesome people on the show, but a little bit older. Duncan was okay. They had a falling out years earlier and while it was tense between them two at first, he was now starting to rediscover the friendship they once had. Noah was decent, but Geoff did not like he was always in charge and got angry when someone questioned him. Of course, he did realize that paled in comparison to the only member of the team that he didn't trust any: Scarlett. Her persona just rubbed him the wrong way and he did not like it when she would snap over the smallest detail. All he could hope was that she didn't blow a gasket anytime soon.

As he headed back toward Saskatchewan, Geoff couldn't help but think about Gwen. He did owe her one since she did not only help him from going back down the road of alcoholism but to stand his ground, even if it ended up not working for but just a moment. He did notice that she looked worried after he picked up the duffle bags from the bank robbery.

He felt bad for not staying in touch with her and being a jerk toward her in some of the later seasons of the shows. After all these years, he realized what a great person she was and wanted to seek her help in her addiction struggles, but the inner demons possessed him so much that he never thought about seeking her advice. It made him feel guilty since he knew how good of friends she and Bridgette were until the show ended.

Just thinking about Bridgette did give him some hope for the future. He hoped that this money would allow him to finally get on his own two feet and to clean up his act. Perhaps then he could try to find her and prove that he did deserve one more genuine chance. He knew that all of the other chances he messed up were his fault, but it took losing her to realize how far down the rabbit hole he had fallen into the world of partying, alcohol, drugs, and sex. Becoming clean was almost a divine calling of sorts for him. He now wanted to use the money to destroy the indulges he once enjoyed and to clean humanity of these things in the name of decency. If he could just see her again, he could show that he was a different man and would humble himself for her sake.

Except that Bridgette had all but vanished from the face of the Earth. When he first got clean, he tried to contact and find her, but to no avail. No one close to her knew where she was. He even asked Cody to try and find her as they prepared for their first heist, but since she never made a Facemag, that was a dead end. He knew that she was out there and promised himself that as soon as these heists were over, he would find her and the first thing he'd do was to apologize for the dark path he fell into.

But for now, all he could do was hope. He couldn't wait to go home and rest. Noah would have to wait another time.

Time went by agonizingly slow...

Three weeks had passed since Gwen and her companions robbed a bank in Whistler. Like their first undertaking, she had hoped to have all but forgotten their heist by now. But she was in for a bad surprise when she grew to realize as early as inside the bank itself that her conscience would not let it slip this time. The robbery was a hot topic and all over the news for days to come, stories about the trauma and the injured guard were seemingly endlessly repeated everywhere Gwen went, and it made her sick in her soul. But even when it passed on like every other news, Gwen couldn't forget.

It kept her mind hostage. The near-constant state of anxiety not only affected her emotional and health, but her physical health began to suffer as well. She could barely sleep, for if the anguish of hurting innocents occupied her thoughts. And if she did manage to fall asleep, often their images would haunt her dreams. She could barely eat. With every bite she took, she risked vomiting it all out again as it felt like her soul was powerfully choking her. The reduced nutrition and constant stress made her lose weight, bags began to form under her eyes and her hair was falling out.

Naturally, this didn't slip the attention of her close ones. Gwen hadn't contacted Leshawna for a while, and when she paid Gwen a surprise visit, she was shocked when the door was opened by a sickly-looking and distraughtly acting Gwen, who had to put in a lot of effort to convince Leshawna that she has had a nasty stomach bug.

Then there was her mother who got very concerned with her daughter as well. Plenty of times did Gwen just want to throw herself into her mother's arms to cry like a little girl and confess what she had done and what anxiety was consuming her, but she knew that she risked the operation and possibly her life. It only hurt Gwen so much more that she had to lie to both of them. They didn't deserve it to be treated to this farce.

Lastly, one would think that her share of the loot would be a consolation. But when it was funneled onto her bank account, it quite contrary was the final straw that made Gwen utterly despondent. What if the owner of the boxes were down to their last money, and Gwen had completely ruined their lives? She didn't want this blood money, but she didn't know what to do with it either.

One night, as she tried to cry herself to sleep, she realized that living like this was unbearable and spent hours trying to find a way to cope with it, but everything she came up with was flawed or risky; it was a hopeless search. However, in a desperate need for peace, Gwen turned to the last alternative she could imagine, and left her apartment in the midst of the night.

Gwen knew of a place in a shadier part of town, a abandoned factory of which she heard stories that heroin dealers pushed their product there. She remembered how much her mother would stress to never get in contact with the stuff, but she felt like she was being torn up, and wished to try this before attempting suicide would become all too alluring.

As she arrived at the factory, the high amount of what she assumed to be gang members hanging around the area proved the stories for her. The fact that she wasn't harassed in any way probably only had to do with that they didn't want to scare away another potential customer. Gwen looked around, and found the only accessible entrance to be guarded by a husky man.

''What you want?'' The guard growled.

''I need to party, I think.'' She numbly answered. This was enough of a password and the guard let her pass. Inside, the path to the dealer on the upper floor was littered by gang members and regular customers, strung-out and lost in their own drug-induced bliss as calm rock music quietly played through the building. Gwen envied their detachment from their problems, but at the same time it rubbed her the wrong way. For a moment, she hesitated. But once she reached the dealer, her mind was set. She wanted to get rid of her suffocating guilt bad enough to turn to drugs. She paid for a fix, and found a secluded corner.

She had no first-hand experience with drug use, but she had seen plenty of it everywhere to know what to do. She administered the drug and felt how a warm sensation entered her bloodstream. Her anxiety addling her body faded away and was replaced by a calming warmth as it felt like Gwen began to hover before she lost consciousness, the last thing she heard being the music soothing her soul.

This went on for a few weeks. Gwen became a familiar face in the factory, which was known as 'The Brown Mill' to its regulars and occupants alike. Predictably, Gwen became dependent on the heroin, though more so than she cared to admit. It was the only way she believed could keep her demons away, and even so, she still found no other way to exorcise them. Every day, money was funneled onto her account under the guise of painting sales, and it was that she had this steady revenue, otherwise she'd have to turn to desperate and humiliating measures to afford her exorcisms, which were getting increasingly more common and remarkably less satisfying as Gwen callously forgot about who the money she paid it with originally belonged to.

This day was no different, she waited for her turn to buy in the mill. However, she was alarmed by ruckus, and more concerning gun shots, coming from one of the lower floor as she looked down the stairwell, and spotted plenty of police officers charging up the stairs, threateningly shouting.

''Police!''

''Nobody move!''

The dealer abandoned his product and tried to flee, accompanied by his associates as the buyers tried to follow their example. Gwen was no exception, but despite coming here with increasing frequency, she didn't know one bit about any possible escape routes and in her blind escape attempt, she tripped over someone. Laying on the floor and casting a angry look at who she tripped over, it was a addict who looked positively horrible, even for a drug user; Unshaven, poorly dressed and with a horrible stench of feces and booze around her as she laid in her own filth, completely uprooted from reality if she was even alive anymore. Gwen breathed heavily as she shot up and was hit with a shocking revelation; this was what she was becoming. Her need for solace was destroying her, while not as traumatizing as her guilt, but she knew that it was going to be much worse in the long run. She was so badly shocked by this realization that she completely forgot about her escape until she was swarmed by police enforcers.

''Mercy! Mercy!'' Gwen surrendered as she was forced her back on the ground and was cuffed, too weakened by her turbulent lifestyle to resist even if she wanted to.

As she was being escorted out of the building, she resolutely decided that this was not the way to deal with her problems, it never was. She needed to do something productive, either for herself, or society. Like how she gifted Leshawna the ivory statue she stole from the man who she believed was never served any justice. Gwen just needed a perfect way to do so. As she was brought outside to be loaded into a van, she looked around the area for inspiration, but the only notable aspect of the rundown neighborhood was the skillfully applied graffiti;which got her thinking as she was transported to the police station. Her mind drifted off, thinking about graffiti and how it was a art in itself.

And just as she thought that, she knew how she could repay society for her sins.

Let's see how many of you can guess how Gwen thinks she can!

There you have it again! Another aftermath chapter to bridge the gap between one heist and... whatever follows next!

Fave, follow and review if you like!

:D,

L.W.