Replies to reviews:

Guest: Thanks for your support. Enjoy the next chapter. R&R.

NothingBetter1: The more difficult heists are coming up in the future, stay tuned.

xXDarkAngelKittenXx: The game is great amounts of fun to play with friends, and the story is based on Payday 2. As for the jewellery store incident, it was to both characterize Shadow, and trigger an event that will be explored later in the story.

Jonesy757: Never thought you would see such a story? Think again. Thanks for the R&R.

A/N: Apparently found it very funny to troll me by not uploading the story when I specifically asked it to do so, so this chapter is exactly 10 hours delayed from original upload time.

Now without further ado:

Everyone Needs Their Payday: Chapter 3; Drop off and drop in

-Silver's POV-

When we left the store, Shadow and Knuckles were fighting about carrying bags. When we arrived at the pre-determined location where we would trade jewellery for money, they were still arguing about it. Or… not as much as they arguing as Knuckles shouting incoherent stuff and Shadow completely ignoring him. And they call me unprofessional. Deciding to break up their little dispute, I spoke up.

"Um… Guys? We're here"

Shadow took notice of the situation and started commanding us around again. Fair enough that he always has everything under control, however it's borderline annoying when he does it. Doesn't he have enough faith in us to trust us with a simple task of "move jewellery 20 meters from point A to point B"? Perhaps he's feed up with us? Whatever makes him this control freak, he sure ain't telling us.

After a while of moving the bags, Shadow spoke up.

"Knuckles, it's all you from now on. Make the trade, no distractions. Silver, Blaze, you join me in the car as backup if anything goes down"

Shrugging, I joined him on the short walk back to the car. This is going to be fun.

-Knuckles POV-

Nodding in Shadow's general direction, I turned away from the retreating forms of my crew. I still can't believe that lazy bastard. Making me carry his bags? What does he think he is? I respect him and all that, but that was borderline fucking annoying. Snapping out of my little train of thoughts, figuring that the situation at hand was more important than my mental rants. Pulling my gun closer to my chest, I patiently waited for this so-called "BatGirl" to show up. Five tense minutes went by. Glancing over my shoulder, I could see my friends also getting slightly worried.

"How nice of the crew to send the handsome one to do the deal"

Snapping my head towards the source of the voice and readying my gun, aiming at the albino bat that revealed herself to be the owner of the voice. I still can't explain what happened. A sudden rush went through my body as I took in all the features of the bat; she was stunning. A small, sarcastic giggle filled the air as she spoke up.

"That's no way to treat a lady, now is it?"

Trying to regain some composure and act cool, I lowered the gun and spoke up.

"J-just a safety measure… You must be this "BatGirl" they've been speaking about"

Her eyes shifted between the bags of jewellery and me, filled with equal amount of excitement.

"Correct. But please; call me Rouge. I've got the money right here…"

She held up a pretty big briefcase and gestured for me to take it. Grabbing it slowly out of her hands, I put it down on the ground to check its content. Opening it, I was content to find stacks upon stacks of hundred-dollar bills. Closing the briefcase and standing back up, the bat spoke up again.

"All in order?"

I nodded.

"Alright, then you must keep your end of the deal"

I nodded again and stepped out of the way, giving her free access to the jewellery. She kneelt down by one of the bags, opening it to inspect the jewellery. After a while of fiddling with various pieces of jewellery, she was eventually content and stood back up. Nodding in approval, she spoke up once more.

"Can you please help me with the bags?"

NO WAY! I've already carried way more than I should today, and now I got to carry more? No way! If I have any self-respect, I will refuse this offer in a rude manner!

"Um… Yeah, sure"

Well… I never said I wasn't a hypocrite. Grabbing two of the bags that were laying on the floor, I walked over to her car and stuffed them in the backseat. I repeated this once more until there were no more bags to carry. I'm going to get verbally slaughtered by Shadow for this. As I placed the last bag in the backseat, I was startled by a small pat on the back.

"Such a gentleman. Perhaps you can stop by my place sometime. For a celebratory drink or something"

She handed me a little piece of paper with an address written down on it. A wink is the last I saw as she entered the driver's seat of the car and drove off. For a few moments, I just stared into space, not really realising where I was. Snapping out of it, I walked back to the car with the briefcase in hand. When I saw Shadow's smirk, and I knew I was done for.

"This is gonna be one hell of a ride"

After a two hour drive consisting of Shadow having a lot of fun om my expense, everyone laughing at me and me getting pissed, we finally got back to the safehouse, where we spent the rest of the day. Tomorrow we get to live out our normal lives, and quite frankly, after a drive like this, I need some time away from the rest of the crew.

-Next day, Emerald Collage -

-Shadow's POV-

Sitting down at a vacated spot in the classroom, praying that no one would sit next to me. I originally thought that a life of crime would spare me the expense of being forced into a cramped classroom, filled to the brim with people you secretly despise and don't want to spend your time with, but I guess I was mistaken. I looked down every time some idiot looked my way, making no effort to noticed by anyone. This was a great idea Tails. When I get my hands on you…

"C-can I sit here"

My train of thoughts was rudely interrupted by a voice belonging to a female. A stuttering voice at that. I looked slightly to the left to see a young, pink coloured hedgehog. Her emerald eyes were looking at me, a gaze of fear and excitement. She was awaiting an answer, and delaying it any further would be abnormal social behaviour. Trying to keep a low profile by acting as normal as I could, I let out a small sigh before answering.

"Sure… Go ahead"

She nodded slightly, a sort of "thanks for letting me sit here" kind of gesture. I turned my head away from her as she proceeded to sit down. A silence settled between us, which I approved of. The silence lasted until the teacher entered the classroom. He walked over to the blackboard, placed his things at his desk, and started welcoming us to "A new year, filled with possibilities" and all that dumb shit we don't really care about. Let's see how optimistic he'll be when I steal all of his savings one of these days. Perhaps that day will be an entertaining one… almost can't wait to find out.

"Let's get going with this year's curriculum. First chapter will be the republic era of the Roman domain"

…

After basic knowledge about how the republic came to be, the first break was upon me. I hoped I could spend these precious few minutes to clear my head and relax a bit. However, my hopes were brutally crushed by the pink-coloured female.

"So… I never got to know your name…?"

I looked over at her. She was turned towards me, eagerly awaiting an answer. I tensed up at her gaze, but keep my cool, and answered.

"Shadow… What's yours?"

She smiled slightly at my response.

"I'm Amy… Amy Rose"

This was the spark needed to ignite the flame that was our little chitchatting session. Exchanging some info about each other, although most of mine was made up for obvious reasons. However, the sound of the teachers voice abruptly broke up our little session. Somewhat reluctantly, I turned away from Amy. I was surprised to find myself wanting to talk more with Amy. The teacher continued explaining about how the government of Rome was formed, and how the senate had all the power. However, mid-sentence, he was interrupted by the door of the classroom suddenly swinging open, causing everyone to turn towards it.

"Scourge, you're late"

A shrug of his shoulder and an uninspired, untruthful "sorry" was all that came from the green hedgehog. He wore a black leather jacket and sunglasses. He looked like a rebel, a troublemaker. However, I can't judge him, considering what I've done in the past. However, I couldn't help but notice that Amy cowered away from him. At least as far as the seat would allow. I raised an eyebrow in confusion, but decided it could wait for a better time. The rest of the period went by as normal. As the second break came around, I turned towards Amy to see her having an intense staring contest with her desk.

"Anything wrong?"

My words startled her, and they even startled me. I was not a person who usually cared for people; however, her light and cautious attitude made her easy to talk to, and my experience of my "normal life" had taken a turn for the better because of her. I guess I owed her as much.

"Um… No. I m-mean… Yes"

She sighed mid-sentence, showing clear signs of distress. She nodded towards the green hedgehog, indicating that he was the source of her distress. Putting two and two together, I asked her:

"Problems from the past?"

A small nod came from her. I debated asking for more info, but decided against it. She's probably stressed enough without me interrogating her. I wanted her to lighten up, and tried to think of something to cheer her up. It was proving to be hard for an uncaring being. After a while of brainstorming, I had found my answer to her problems.

"Hey… If he bothers you, call my name, and I'll deal with him"

She looked up at me with a slight smile, grateful for my sworn protection.

"Thank you, Shadow"

As the rest of the day rolled by, I would come to somewhat regret my promise. In the last recess of the day, this green problem-child decided to approach us. I looked over at Amy; she was looking down, hoping that it would make him go away, or make her invisible. No such luck I'm afraid.

"Hey Amy… Nice to see you again"

He had a sly smirk priding his face. He was really proud of himself for what he was doing. I felt angry… no, furious. The way he treated her made me furious… It was unexplainable, but I was pissed. My brief madness peaked when Amy answered him.

"Scourge… Please go away. Please"

His smirk grew bigger.

"Make me"

That was it! I couldn't be quiet anymore. This disrespecting piece of shit was going down. With or without a fight was his option.

"She asked you NICELY… Be gone, before I make you"

Turing to me, smirk gone and slightly surprised. I guess he wasn't too used to people opposing him. There is a first time for everything. However, it seemed like he got the clue and backed off, making one last snarky remark before leaving us be:

"Whoa! Didn't mean to upset your boyfriend there Rose"

His smirk was back on, and my anger was still clearly visible. I looked back at Rose, who sighed in relief, and started thanking me for what I had done. I insisted that it wasn't necessary, but she wouldn't listen. After some more thanks and so, the rest of the day went by without any major events occurring. However, at the end of the day, as I left the company of Amy, I felt strange: I didn't want her company to end… Damn, I'm growing soft. Oh, well. I should head back home to find out if we got another heist coming up. I still want his savings, you know.

There, finally complete. Not too satisfied with it, but I think it'll do.

R&R.

Sorry for the delay.

Also, I'm currently working on another story alongside my coop partner, xXDarkAngelKittenXx. It'll be the second story we have written, and you should totally check out our first story; "Snow Blind" on her Fanfic page. I won't tell what the second story is about, I'm just telling you to get hyped.

Depressing Shadows, signing out for now.

Until next time.