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xXDarkAngelKittenXx: I greatly appreciate your support for this story, and I hope I will not disappoint in later chapters. But until then, enjoy this next chapter.

Now without further ado:

Everyone Needs Their Payday: Stockholm Syndrome And Plan B

-Shadows POV, Safehouse-

After about two hours trying to get "home" by way of different types of excruciating public transports, I finally arrived at the rundown shack we call a safehouse. Both mentally and physically exhausted from the various activities of the day, I dragged my tired body along and opened the door. Once inside, I was immediately greeted by my crew.

"Shadow! How was your day?"

Blaze beat everyone to it and asked first. I looked at her, surprised to find genuine interest in how my day had gone. Intrigued, I mentally noted that something was behind this… Abnormal behaviour of hers.

"Not… As bad as expected. Actually quite enjoyable"

I swear; the last time I saw them this shocked, the police was tasing them. Sharing some surprised looks, they stayed in silence for a couple of seconds. Even Blaze didn't quite know how to react to my rather… positive remark. Sighing, I walked passed them, turned on the TV, turned on the news and sat down in one of the couches present. It was only now that Blaze spoke up for a second time.

"Hand over the money boys, you lost"

I turned slightly towards them, one brow risen in confusion. What was she talking about? As Silver and Knuckles shared a look, they muttered something along the lines about me "being pissed off was the obvious answer", and that Blaze "Staged the thing". Piecing together the puzzle, I fully turned towards them.

"You were betting on my reaction to my first day living a normal life?!"

I knew there was something not right about Blaze's behaviour. Damn these unprofessional, pathetic morons that are my teammates. Fair enough that they were giving my apologetic looks, but this is borderline stupidity. Angrily turning away from them, I redirected my attention towards the TV, hoping that the news would at least distract me enough to forget about my companions for a while.

"BREAKING NEWS are just in! One of DC's finest jewellery stores has been robbed. Hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of jewellery has been stolen in a fashion that police calls "Smash and Grab". This type of robberies are often loud, requires a lot of crowd control for it to be a success, and is usually quick enough to evade direct confrontations with the police, according to chief of the police-force; Sonic The Hedgehog.

Strangely enough, the robbery was discovered by the manager, who wasn't present at the time of the robbery and arrived later that same day. None of the people who supposedly were held hostage at gunpoint, wanted to give up any information about the robbers, nor even call the police after the thieves had left. This is a strange phenomenon scientist's call "Stockholm Syndrome". Further investigation shows that…"

A small smile formed on my lips. However, it was soon replaced by a frown. I wasn't a kind person, nor a relatable person. Why in the word had the civilians in the store not called the police? Perhaps I was the only semi-kind guy at the time? I did crack a few jokes when I was there, but there is no way that's the reason they didn't call. If I am indeed that funny, I'm going to give up my criminal career and become a comedian. I was puzzled, yet intrigued at the same time. I remembered my short interaction with the orange hedgehog, and the witty quips that I made when I was tormenting him. Was that the reason? Me showing them a human side of my personality was only to calm them down so they wouldn't scream, or make me silence them.

"Earth to Shadow!"

Silver was waving his hand in front of me, instantly snapping me out of my train of thoughts. Irritated with the silver hedgehog, I snapped back at him.

"What do you want?"

Putting his hands up defensively, backing up some, he answered.

"Tails just called us to the briefing room. New heist tomorrow"

Sighing heavily, I reluctantly stood up. With this rate, it was very clear that Tails wanted every second to count. The second heist in two days… This is going to be a long stay in DC. My mind drifted to my day at the college, and reluctantly to a certain pink hedgehog…

"Yeah… I'm coming…"

Entering the briefing room, I saw the rest of the guys standing around the table that was centred in the room, studying some blueprints. The voice of Tails was heard from a phone on loudspeaker.

"This is a classic bank heist; a load of money, scheduled to be given in form of monthly payments to various sources, will be stored in this bank. Your job? Go in, grab the money, and get the hell out of there. Heavy security is to be expected, so be prepared for "Pan B". I've had my associate drop off some equipment and ballistic vests for you to pick up. They are stored in a van behind the bank. The vault will be breach-able, so no thermal-lance is required. The C4 is stored in the van that I previously mentioned. Any questions?"

A silence settled. We shared some concerned looks. This was going to get messy.

"Good. You guys will meet in an alley close to the bank at 18:00. Oh, and another thing; I've ordered some extra communication equipment, which will be placed in the alley we rendezvous in; ear pieces for all of you, so we can communicate and coordinate better. Your driver will be "Scar", which you had some interactions with last time. That's all for now. I'll let you know if there is any change of plans. Remember that you're living normal lives as well; you all have things to do, but don't be late for our… Evening entertainment."

With that said, he hung up. Finding no reason to stay in the room, I made my way towards the armoury. Once there, I looked around for my combat knife. After a few moments of looking, I found it on a counter. I picked it up and inspected it closely; it was dull. I sat down, picked up some sandpaper, and started sharpening it. As I sat there in silence, my thoughts once more drifted towards a certain pink hedgehog. I quickly tried to force the thought out of my head, and became annoyed with myself when I didn't manage to do so. "What is wrong with me?" I mentally asked myself. I've only had scarce interactions with the girl, still she apparently left a lasting impression, as I can't get her out of my sodding head. Refocusing at the knife in front of me, I touched the edge. It was defiantly sharp enough to slit through most fabrics, even armour and… skin.

"Tomorrow is going to be one hell of a day"

-"The Secure" Bank, 18:00-

Casing the bank, I knew where this was going to go by silently: Visibly armed guards, cameras and a whole lot of civilians. The fact that we needed to use C4 to open the vault didn't help either. Turning to my crew, I broke the news to them.

"There is no way this is going down without a fight. Too much security to sneak it. Gear up, check ammo and equipment, and ready up. S.W.A.T is probably right around the corner as well"

Sharing some concerned looks, they figured that this would be a war. Nonetheless, they put on their armour, readied their guns, and put there masks on. Cocking my M1911, I started walking slowly towards the bank. The rest of my crew followed shortly behind. We were entering from a backdoor, guarded by two armed hedgehogs. Looking over my shoulder, I looked at Silver.

"You take the guy on the right, I'll take the one the left. And for once, I'll let you go full Rambo in there, as long as you lay of the civilians"

A small smile gradually grew bigger as I told him. Turing to face the bank again, I couldn't help to let a smirk pride my face. "What a child. I guess simple things please simple minds". I now had a good line of sight on the guards. They seemed to be chitchatting, not really paying attention to the world around them. How typical.

"On three"

I half said, half whispered. Silver nodded in confirmation.

"One… Two… Three"

There was no going back. Two shots rang in perfect union, two guards were dead and the bank was in utter and sudden chaos. The shrieks and screams were heard, but soon drowned out by the ear-piercing alarm. Turning to my crew, I made one more snarky comment before charging into the bank.

"Ah, fuck it. I never liked "Plan A" anyways"

Leaving you with a cliffhanger this time. Tell me what you think of the chapter. R&R.

Until next time….