Archive of Our Own

The normally loud and obnoxious city streets were quiet and eerie during the late hours of the night. Where the roads would be packed with blaring car horns and pedestrians who didn't know when to keep quiet while the sun was out, the hours after midnight saw them all behind locked doors, leaving nothing but empty pavement and sidewalks. The occasional vehicle would drive by, but they were the only true interruption to Amy's brisk, yet heated walk home.

The closing shifts at the diner she worked at always sucked so much ass. The customers were always in a pissy mood, and would always get on her case about some crap like her 'not smiling enough' or telling her to 'lose her attitude'. None of them knew what struggles she was going through, sure, but good lord did she want to upend their scalding hot dinners into their laps. At the very least, it would be funny to see them squawking about with burning crotches, but she valued the money she got from her job too much to go through with it.

Those types of people always made her cruddy days even worse, and that wasn't even getting into the people she actually worked with. They had been tolerable at first, not much in the way of memorability, and Amy swore they kept changing their names because she could never recall them. But then one of the newest girls actually recognized her, from the show she had been a part of an entire lifetime ago. It didn't matter that she was only on it for three episodes, and that the season she competed on ended up relatively obscure - the second it was known that she was a complete bitch as a teenager, everyone had made sure to make her shifts a living hell. The manager at least didn't fire her, but it was… a challenge to wake up every day only to have to face the music.

It was true she had simmered down in the years since then, especially when her biggest target had left home as soon as she could. But while trying to be as courteous as possible out loud, Amy would admit that she hadn't exactly moved past the ire and bitterness her childhood had left for her.

Amy breathed in the crisp late night air and stopped at a crosswalk. Even though literally no one was around, she wasn't an idiot - she had the sense of mind to at least look both ways before continuing. That was something they taught in grade school, but it was always the little things that she'd let herself be proud of. The second she saw no car was coming, she started off again.

But then she did a double take, and saw that coming down one of the intersecting sidewalks was someone in a coat with their hood up that was totally hiding their face. And judging by the height and posture, it was almost definitely a guy.

"Shit," she muttered, and reached a hand into her pocket to grasp at the switchblade she hid in there. She didn't want to have to use it, though that was only because she didn't want to have to be the one blamed for him getting hurt. She was, however, willing to throw that out the window should he even think about touching her. She had a lot of pent up anger and was ready to take it out on someone, consequences be damned.

That said, though, she wasn't about to stick around if she could help it, so with one hand wrapped around her only means of protection, she started crossing the street.

And she noticed out of the corner of her eye that he started picking up his own pace.

"Aw goddammit-"

She intended to move quick enough in order to stay ahead of him, but not fast enough to make it seem like she was running. Her apartment wasn't too far away - if she could get there, she'd probably be able to find some way to swing it as a home invasion without even lifting a finger. Though she'd probably give a good kick to the kidney for good measure (and also because she wanted to).

But then the weirdest thing happened, somehow weirder than that time Samey had been blasting her weird Korean songs when she thought Amy wasn't home. As she power walked across the street, someone from absolutely out of nowhere let out a high-pitched "HIII-YAH!" like you'd hear a martial artist shout, which was followed by the sound of someone else grunting. Stopping and turning, Amy stared in complete and utter disbelief as another complete stranger was attacking the first one. A kick to the gut and a fist to the face were enough to topple the guy to the ground, and the newcomer was about to go for another strike when the guy scrambled backwards with a scream.

"No, wait, why are you-"

"Stay back, you villain!" cried the second person in what was clearly a girl's voice. She was speaking like she had come straight out of one of those superhero movies, which only added to the weirdness of it all. "Your days of wicked intent are finished! No more will you prey on the innocent, the undeserving! No more will children cry at the sound of your name alone! Now, fly! Leave this place and never return, or else face the wrath of the night that is I!"

Amy felt her jaw fall wide open at the ridiculousness of her words, and had it not been for how stunned she was at hearing it she would have flown the coop herself by now. She didn't know which looney bin this basket case escaped from, but if she was willing to be the target for an assault charge Amy wasn't going to complain about it.

The guy on the ground was equally dumbfounded, and was sputtering like a dying fish struggling to breathe. "W-W-What the hell are you talking about?!" he yelled right back at her. "I'm out to get something to eat, I wasn't-"

"I said fly you foooooool!"

The guy shrieked just as the girl did, and with as much speed as he could muster he high-tailed it out of the area and back down around another corner. Amy watched him trip at least twice, laughed at how pathetic that looked, and then remembered the situation she was currently witnessing was pure insanity and shut up immediately.

"Damn," the new girl said to herself, yet loud enough for Amy to hear. "That was fun. I oughta do that again sometime." She then swiftly turned in Amy's direction and pulled the hood from over her head. A cascade of orange curls flew out into the air and splayed in all directions, and she gave Amy the toothiest grin she ever saw. "Did you hear the way he screamed just then? Definitely a solid eight on the loudness scale. I think my ears are still ringing."

As the crazy ginger casually stuck her finger in her ear to clear it, Amy just as casually turned right around and began walking away.

Welp, this girl is legally insane. Probably even more so than that other guy. I should get out of here before she tries to pick a fight with me next-

"Whoa, whoa whoa, hold on a sec blondie!" shouted the redhead, and was quickly in Amy's face once again. "I'm not finished talking to you yet!"

"Yeah, well, sorry to say - well, I'm not, actually - but I'm finished talking to you," Amy spat, and tried to push past her.

However, she stood like a tree and refused to budge, no matter how much Amy pushed. Her guts squirmed in worry for a bit at that. "Oh, well, that sucks," she said casually, "but I just wanted to chat right quick! Nothing super serious, promise. Spare me a few minutes, why don'tcha?"

If she was going to attack or kidnap her, she wouldn't try to start a casual conversation with her (unless she was a dumbass, which wasn't off the table yet). Amy looked around her immediate surroundings and saw no signs of anyone else, or any other cars for that matter, so with a heavy sigh she crossed her arms. "Alright, fine, whatever. Who are you and what do you want?" she tersely asked. "And make it quick, my feet are killing me and I want to get home to sleep."

"Ooh, yeah, I get that," the girl replied. This strange girl must have immediately forgotten about whatever it was she wanted to talk about, which only added more fuel to Amy's exasperation. "Working in those heels all day? And with no air conditioning to boot? I would've left that diner ages ago! Or, you know, set it on fire. Just to show 'em what for, amirite?"

But then Amy stopped listening the second she started talking about her footwear, and she backed up several steps instinctually. This… hoodie-wearing freak knew where she worked. Had she been a customer? Does she recognize her? These thoughts and several more flooded Amy's brain as she simultaneously attempted to find another escape route. Given what happened to that other asshole from before, though, there was probably less of a chance of outrunning this girl than there was of outrunning him.

"Hm? Hey? Why're you leaving so soon?" With each step Amy took backwards, the new stranger took one forwards. "I just want to talk! That's not a crime, is it? Wait, no, seriously, is it? It's been a while since I last checked." Out of nowhere she barked out a laugh. "Ha! If that were true it'd be more than just Ol' Dunkey-boy in jail!"

Amy had no clue who the flying fuck Ol' Dunkey-boy was and had no intention of finding out. "Look, thanks, I guess, for beating that guy up but I really gotta go."

The stranger frowned. "Aw, c'mon! I haven't even told you what I want to offer you! It's a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

Amy spared a second to think about that, then thought better of it. "I am so uninterested, it's interesting how uninterested I am. So go back to whatever madhouse you came from and leave me alone."

"It'd be better than going back to that job every day, I swear!" She rushed forward and grabbed Amy's hands, before Amy even had a chance to react to it. "C'mon, what've you got to lose? It'd just be an itty-bitty teeny-weeny errand or two! Or, y'know, three. Maybe more than that. And it isn't anything illegal! Unless we get caught, but we won't! Trust me on this!"

"Trust you?" Amy asked incredulously. "What are you, some kind of stupid or something? I don't even know you!"

She stared into Amy's eyes for a few seconds longer than she had any right to. Amy was halfway to considering charging her for each second she kept staring, if only to offset how uncomfortable it was making her feel. "Oh, I guess you don't, huh," she said after a moment, and she grinned widely. "Izzy's the name! At least, it is at the moment. But don't worry about that for now, what's important is that I need you for a job! One rife with risk and excitement!"

This absolute sack of marbles - Izzy, apparently for the moment, whatever that meant - continued to spout nonsense about an apparently semi-legal job she wanted Amy to perform, and as she did so the questions continued to pile up in Amy's head. "Shut up for a second," Amy interrupted, and Izzy loudly chomped her teeth together back into a grin. "Why me? I literally don't know you."

"Didn't you hear me? My name is-"

"Okay, sure, I know your name, but only for the last few seconds! Plus, that doesn't answer my first question, and the bajillion more I have! What's this job even for anyway? Why are you asking me this in the middle of the night, in the middle of a street? Are you gonna pay me for it? Or are you gonna dump my ass when it's done and turn me over to the pigs to save yourself? And can you please let me go already? You're hurting my wrist!" She tried pulling her hands out of Izzy's grasp, but her grip was worryingly strong.

Izzy giggled childishly. "Ooh, those are good questions! It's smart not to just blindly agree to something, you know. Nice work!"

"You've been pressuring me from the start to just agree to it."

"Hm, that's true isn't it?" Izzy then finally let go of Amy's hands, and then quickly reached around to - Oh god is she actually wearing a fanny pack? Absolutely disgusting, I should leave before I literally throw up. But before Amy could, Izzy pulled out a shockingly large wad of cash and flapped it about in the wind. "How 'bout this then? I'll pay you half now and the rest after we finish the job. Don't worry, this money's legit! Well, some of it is anyway. I dropped a whole bunch at once the other day and lost track of which was laundered and which wasn't, haha!"

Despite all her protestations, Amy felt her eyes lock onto the stack of bills and wasn't able to look away no matter how hard she tried. Those were fifties, and there were a lot of them, likely more than she'd make in a single paycheck working at the diner. She'd been struggling with making ends meet for a good while now, and if she could have money like that tucked away for a rainy day then she'd at least be able to sleep better for a bit.

But was that worth doing… whatever it was Izzy wanted her to do (which she still had yet to explain, goddammit)? Chances were she could end up in trouble just by going along with it… but maybe, just maybe, there was a chance of there being more to do further down the line, and more to do meant more money. If she got caught it'd spell disaster for her, yes, but if she didn't accept the deal, she'd be stuck going to the same dead-end job for who knew how long.

Amy had never liked the job, even before everyone became less than plankton to her.

And she always did say she needed more excitement in her life…

Izzy pouted and waved the bundle again, this time much closer to her face. "Well? Rapida, rapida! I don't have all night!"

She got lost on a few of the words Izzy said - What was that? Italian? - but in the end she knew what was most important to her. So with a groan, she shoved Izzy backwards a bit. "Ugh! Look, I'll do it, okay?" Izzy's face lit up like fireworks, but Amy wasn't done. "On the condition that I actually know what I'll be doing, and that if shit hits the fan, I don't get caught in it."

"Yaaass!" Izzy suddenly cried, much too loudly for this time of night, and slapped the entire wad of cash into Amy's hand. "Here's the half! I'll be in touch!"

Amy gawked at how thick the stack was in her hand. "W-Wait, this is half?!"

"Yeah! You'll get the rest when we're done!"

Izzy then sprinted past her and in the direction Amy had originally come from. "Hold on!" she called out to the redhead. "How will I get in contact with you?!"

"Don't worry about that," Izzy shouted back, not stopping her stride. "I know where you liiiiiiiive!"

She vanished around a turn, and Amy was quickly beginning to feel the sting of regret. "Whaaat the hell did I just sign myself up for?"

The following few days were silent and dull. Amy spent her time alternating between anxiously waiting at home and nervously examining each customer at work. Izzy knew where she worked, knew where she lived… it would make sense that she'd scope her out while she was on the job, and Amy would have been none the wiser. Which was all the more terrifying now that she thought about it, and just raised Izzy's creepiness level by a whole two points (incidentally, she was now tied with the janitor at the diner, and also Shawn).

(In the back of her head, Amy vaguely recalled overhearing one of the other girls complaining about some loud, crazy redhead who poured half a bottle of ketchup on her pancakes. She had a hunch she knew who that was now.)

The days after her chance(?) encounter with Izzy all had her working shifts; as much as it annoyed her she silently put up with them, since she had no clue what the future had in store for her and she didn't plan on burning any more bridges for the time being. The thought of doing something actually illegal made her kind of nervous, but having to deal with asshole coworkers and clientele only made it that much easier to reaffirm her decision. She managed living with an annoyance for eighteen years, what was the harm of a few days longer?

It was on her first day off after Izzy approached her, that Izzy knocked on her door.

"Howdy!" she greeted, and all but forced herself into the apartment as soon as Amy answered.

"Should I find it creepy that you knew when my day off was," Amy asked rhetorically, taking a brief moment to look up and down the hall.

Izzy replied anyway. "Nah, nothing creepy about it! We just know where to look for that kind of info, is all."

Amy frowned. "'We'?"

"Yep. Me and the little voice in my ear."

"Right. Okay. You've clearly got issues."

Amy offered Izzy something to drink, to which she accepted. She grabbed the leftover protein smoothie from the jug from the fridge and poured up two glasses, and returned to the living room to see Izzy examining the baseboard directly behind the couch.

"And already you're being a spaz," Amy grumbled. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Looking for bugs, duh," Izzy said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Bugs? Excuse you, my apartment building is not that run down. If there actually were bugs here I'd be gone in a heartbeat after burning this place down."

Izzy glanced back up to her. "What? What are you- OH! You're talking about those kind of bugs!" She hopped back up to her feet with a giggle. "Haha, I should've realized. You so don't seem like you'd be under surveillance by any government power."

Amy couldn't help but shake her head slowly. "You're insane. You know that, right?"

"That's just part of my natural charm. Now!" Izzy fell backwards and got herself comfortable onto the couch. "Let the meeting commence!"

The first order of business, as demanded by Amy, was an actual explanation as to what she was expected to do. Izzy told her all she'd be needed for was to cause some minor distractions here and there, just long enough for Izzy to grab what she needed from the stores they'd be hitting.

"And why can't we just buy… whatever you need?" Amy asked, stirring her smoothie. "Could save us a lot of shit later on if we didn't steal it."

"No can do, compadre," Izzy replied, attempting to shake out whatever was left of her drink onto her tongue. "The RCMP are watching my purchases like hawks, if they see one thing that they don't like they'd be up my butt faster than you can say gobbledygook!"

Now she was just making words up as she went along. Amy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose; the regrets from the night they met were very quickly resurfacing. "And how do we get past the cameras? Because surely you weren't going to just run in, grab whatever and book it." Actually, I wouldn't put it past you.

"Oh, that's easy," Izzy said nonchalantly. "The voice in my ear's gonna take care of it."

"Oh for Christ's sake," Amy swore and stood up. Why am I putting up with this bullshit? "Look, if you're not going to be serious about this, then you can just leave. And take the money you already gave me, I don't want anything connecting me-"

"Wait, no, I am serious!" Izzy exclaimed. "Look, I'll prove it!" She poked a finger into her ear, and as Amy shuddered at how much wax she was about to pull out, was surprised to see instead a small, clear little piece of technology, almost like a mini hearing aid. "Y'see? I got a voice talking into my ear! Totally not crazy, haha!"

Well I'm of a different opinion. Izzy extended the piece out to her, though Amy instantly shied away from it. "Ew! I don't want to touch your weird ear thing! It's probably diseased or something."

"Ooh, good call. Ear diseases are terrible." Izzy fished around in her fanny pack - Again, why am I tolerating her lack of fashion sense? - and pulled out a second, most likely cleaner one. "Here! We were gonna give this to you later, but might as well do it now!"

Hesitantly, Amy took it and held it up to her ear. "Okay… How does this go in?" She was not going to look like a loser by sticking it in any which way.

"You gotta- Hm. Here, let Izzy show you, it'll be easier," Izzy replied, and hopped to her feet. Amy was immediately suspicious and was a moment out from backing away, but to her immense surprise Izzy was actually rather gentle when putting it in. "You don't want to be too rough with it, this is delicate machinery after all," she told her. "Heh, I had to learn that the hard way, y'know? And these little things don't come cheap, either."

"So this is the stuff you actually buy?" Amy asked, half jokingly.

"Just the parts to make it," Izzy replied. "Can't let the boys in charge figure out what we're using them for. Tip your head more to the side, 'kay?"

Amy complied. "You still haven't told me what we're using them for."

"Sorry, but I can't! Plausible deniability and all that, you understand I'm sure."

Grumbling, Amy shrugged. "Fine."

Soon the little device was planted firmly in Amy's ear, and she retrieved her hand mirror to examine it. She could feel it in there, but just by looking from the outside it was impossible to make out. "Perfectly concealed," Izzy commented, holding Amy's hair back to allow her a better view. "Just as intended. Now everyone will think you're talking to yourself!"

"Yay, now I'll look like the crazy one," Amy mumbled. "So who do we actually talk with then?"

"That would be me."

For a split second a chill ran down Amy's spine… but she wasn't sure why. Maybe it was because the voice was coming from inside her ear. "Oh, shit. Alright, that's weird."

"You'll get used to it," said the new voice. It was a girl's voice, that much was clear, though it almost sounded sort of… off. Like it was being spoken through a filter you'd hear in the movies. "Greetings. I'll be your eyes and ears for the duration of this endeavor."

Amy sideyed Izzy, who nodded enthusiastically. "Right. I'm gonna guess you already know my name. What do I call you?"

"I'm not in the habit of giving out my real name," she said, "so for the time being, you may call me Scharlachrot."

"Sh-Sharla…" Amy's face scrunched at whatever noise she just heard. "Excuse me? What the hell is that, French?"

There was a pause, and then a deep, deep sigh. "Of course you'd be the one to confuse those two."

"Uh, I'm sorry? Care to run that by me again?"

"Never mind. On to business."

Scharlachrot - whom Amy was now exclusively going to call Sharla, and no, not because she couldn't pronounce it, why would you even think that - gave her a more descriptive run down of what was going on. Amy's role in everything, as Izzy had stated earlier, was to be the distraction at various goods and services stores, in order to buy time for Izzy to make her way in undetected and swipe whatever they needed swipining. Sharla was in charge of hacking into the cameras in whatever place they'd be going to and looping the feed to make it seem like they were never there.

"And if we run into trouble?" Amy asked cautiously. "Because I seriously doubt this will all happen without a hitch."

"Obviously we want to try to have it go off without a hitch," Sharla stated. "But we do have backup plans, namely: get the fuck out of there."

Amy scoffed. "That can't seriously be all there is."

"Nope, it's not," Izzy said. She had decided to take up lying down on Amy's couch and was kicking her feet in the air. "If worst comes to worst, we sic the muscle on 'em!"

"Wait, the what?"

Apparently there was a fourth member to this whole thing - some body builder-type of chick Izzy had known for years, and had only agreed to helping out for the cash, which was something Amy could respect. Not only was she their getaway driver, she was also the most physically capable of dealing with any unwanted attention.

As this new bit of info sunk into her brain, Amy leaned back into her chair and sighed heavily. I'm actually being roped into a fucking crime ring. Not once could I have imagined this ever happening.

Izzy and Sharla insisted that what they were using these stolen goods for was on a need to know basis, and though Amy didn't like being kept in the dark, she figured she wouldn't be able to get any answer out of them. She was instructed to keep her earpiece in a safe and secure location, as well as not to spend or deposit the money she'd already received all at once, as it would most likely draw unwanted attention (Amy had, naturally, already thought of that, and had it safely hidden away in the bottom of a box in back of her closet).

And with that out of the way, the meeting was adjourned. Sharla stated she'd be in touch and the earpiece went silent, and Izzy, claiming she had actually legit errands to run (Amy highly doubted they were), stepped to the door to leave."

"This was fun!" she declared, spinning out into the hall and facing Amy. "We should totally do this again, but you know, with a lot less business talk and a lot more getting wasted."

The last few times Amy had anything with alcohol in it she was alone at home, so drinking with someone else was a welcome alternative. With Izzy however? That was probably a disaster waiting to happen. "Let's hold off on that until after we're done with… whatever it is we're doing."

"Aw, boo," Izzy pouted, crossing her arms stubbornly. "But, I see your point. I'll hold you to it!"

Amy gave half a smirk, though it didn't last. "Hey, one more question."

Izzy's grin returned to its natural state. "Shoot."

"Why me?" It had been a question she'd been meaning to ask since Izzy arrived, but never got the chance as they all talked strategy. "I've never done anything like this in my life before. I mean, it sounds like child's play, really, but… why come to me with this?"

"Oh, that's easy," Izzy said. "You turn heads wherever you go!"

That… was not the response Amy was expecting. She knew she was attractive, she took painstaking steps to make sure she was. But to have Izzy recruit her for that reason was kind of jarring (and just bumped Izzy up one more level of creepiness). "Uh… huh."

"I mean, it's not just that, obviously." Izzy waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "You can attract attention when you want to, and keep it on you, so that's a plus for us. With you helping us, our plan's gonna rock the world!"

She still had no idea what this plan even was, but she supposed she should just take her on her word. "Well, I can't argue with that logic."

"Also," Izzy continued as if not even hearing her, "out of everyone we scoped out, you seemed like the most desperate for money, so that played into it as well."

"Okay, time to go, goodbye Izzy."

"Oh, okay! See you, hugs and kisses!" She was out of sight before Amy even closed the door. With a groan she leaned her forehead against it and hung there for a moment. The regrets only continued to pile up, but chances were she was in too deep to back out now.

What would Samey say about this if she knew…? That little hussy would probably just laugh in my face. I'm glad she's in Australia and not here anymore. Hope she and Jasmine and Shawn all get infected by some weird toe fungus down there.

The call to action came within the next few days.

At exactly 12:30 PM on a Friday afternoon, Amy received a text from an unknown number. She had been in the middle of eating a spinach salad for lunch and nearly choked on a crouton when her phone vibrated.

It's time. Be ready in 30.

Remember to beautify yourself.

"Shit shit shit-" Amy scarfed down the rest of her meal and chugged her drink, and ran to the bathroom to pretty herself up. Any other time she'd be put off by having to play up her natural beauty and charm for the benefit of someone else, but this was a job and she needed the money, so she wasn't about to complain out loud.

Thirty minutes later (and one more text telling her to wear gloves at all times), one of those sketchy windowless vans pulled up right in front of the door to her apartment. Another text told her to get in, and after ensuring that she was perfectly presentable and that her earpiece was firmly placed in her ear, Amy strode out with feigned confidence, as if to say yes, she knew exactly what she was doing.

Hopping into the passenger seat, the first thought that entered Amy's head was that the interior wasn't as ugly or as smelly as she had been expecting. The second thought she had was, Oh god an ogre.

This was in response to turning to face the driver, only to see a woman with the biggest muscles and the most hideous unibrow she'd ever seen in her life. She was short, had her eyes trained on the road ahead of her, and looked as if she was a Russian body-builder type of person. Amy thankfully managed to keep her unflattering comment to herself, a habit she had managed to work around but not really get rid of over the previous few years.

The driver could tell when she was being stared at however, and turned a glowering eye to her new passenger. Amy did everything in her power to not be visibly intimidated by her, and was failing spectacularly at that. "Eva," said the woman in a decidedly normal accent. "I'm the muscle. The driver. And I don't do small talk."

"Guh," Amy managed to choke out before clearing her throat. "Uh. Amy. Pleasure to meet you…?"

She stupidly offered a handshake, and was fully expecting Eva to turn it down. And though she did look like she was going to, Eva instead shook it with a firm, yet not totally bone-crushing grip. Amy chalked that entirely up to her luck playing in her favor that day, though she doubted it would last - it would be smart of her to remain on this monster's good side lest she be on the receiving end of a roid rage'd punch to the face.

"Eva and I go way back," Izzy said from the backseat, startling Amy into yelping. "Like, way way waaay back. Like, so far back we're practically bonafide sisters now!"

Amy bristled at that particular word, but kept her cool like a champ.

"We're not," Eva clarified as she pulled back onto the road.

"Ah, you're just a grump," Izzy told her, to which their driver didn't bother to refute. To Amy, she then said, "But seriously, don't try small talk on her. One time I tried and nearly lost a few fingers because of it! Or… maybe that was because I tried to stop her from closing a door…"

"Uh, great," Amy said simply. "So, anyway, where are we going and what are we getting?"

The first order of business was to go to a Canadian Plier near the edge of the city, far enough away from everyone's places of residence to throw off any trail. Once inside, Amy would have to keep the store's employees off of Izzy as she made off with whatever she needed. In theory, it would not be difficult - just keep them talking and the job would be over in no time. Nothing to worry about. At all.

Right?

A few blocks away from the department store, Eva pulled up to the side of the road and Izzy bounded out before the van even stopped fully. Eva claimed it was so that no one was privy to the two of them exiting from the same vehicle, which to Amy made plenty of sense. Once reaching the store, Amy hopped out herself and was instructed by Sharla which section she needed to go to. She was also comforted by Sharla telling her the cameras were all hacked into and that she wouldn't be appearing on any of them for longer than necessary. (Not that she needed comforting, obviously. It was just nice to hear, was all.)

Belatedly she realized that this team of three all knew exactly what had to be done, and had probably done something similar, or worse, in the past. Amy wasn't sure how to feel about that.

She was directed to the plumbing section, of all places, and told to keep an eye out for any workers. One walked around the corner of an aisle moments later, eyes glued to one of those weird scanning devices they'd always carry. Fluffing up her hair one last time, she approached the rounder man with a pleasant, yet confused smile. "Umm… Excuse me?" she asked, lilting her voice up a touch and putting on an act of innocent charm.

Slowly, as if he didn't realize someone was there, the man stopped walking and gave her a surprised look. "Oh," he said after a second, "hey, dude. Didn't see you there."

Amy blinked, thought that he had to have been just a touch stunned in the head, and rolled with it anyway. "Oh, um, that's okay. I was hoping you could help me with something?"

"Yeah, sure man," the guy said, pocketing his device and brushing his long, curly brown hair out of the way. "What'cha need?"

Amy created a problem on the spot - something to do with her sink's faucet not flowing the water at full output or something believable like that - and the employee brought her to one of the aisles of whatever piece he thought she needed. Whatever god of luck had looked her way that day was showing their influence again, as the employee all of a sudden went off on a completely uncalled for tangent.

"Actually this reminds me of a time I was at my bud Rock's place, right? And we were high as balls and listening to some sick rock 'n roll when all of a sudden I needed to like, make a deposit in the bathroom, you feel me? But I dunno man, for some reason I thought the toilet was broken - maybe the lid was just down? Hard to remember that night, we were so hazed then, man - so I figured the next best place to go was the sink, because that obviously goes to the sewer too, right? So I hop up on the counter and-"

Amy felt both of her eyes twitching uncontrollably. Disgusting, repulsive, puke-worthy, I hate this I hate this I hate this I hate this. But I need to do it, for the money, the money is all that matters. Just smile and nod just smile and nod just smile and don't kick him in the fucking nuts-

After several hours of him going on and on (or maybe it was just a minute or two), a second voice spoke to Amy, one only she could hear. "It's done. You can get out of there now."

"What? So soon?" Amy asked, and belatedly realized she said it out loud.

"Huh?" the employee stopped his inane ranting, looking like he forgot he was at work the whole time. "You say something, brah?"

"Don't talk to me in the presence of others," Sharla reprimanded.

"Uhh. I mean." Amy chided herself on such a rookie mistake that she should have been incapable of making and cleared her throat. "That's great," she lied to the worker, "but uhh, I just remembered that I have… a thing I have to get to. In five minutes. That's not here and away from you. 'Kay, thanks, byeee."

She made for the store exit, took a detour to find the floor manager and told her what a shit job that worker was doing and that he should be fired immediately, and headed out and into the waiting van at the end of the parking lot. "That was," Amy started as she strapped on her seatbelt, "the grossest conversation I ever had heard. And I work in customer service! Do you know how many times I've had to deal with little brats who shoot their snot into their meals?! All the damn time! And yet this was somehow worse!"

Eva's only response was to grunt, which Amy took as sympathy to her plight. It was clear now that Eva wasn't much of a talker - either that or she didn't like Amy, which some people were known for - but Amy was just a bit too incensed to shut up. She kept ranting about ungrateful customers and terrible coworkers (she had a lot of pent up emotions that she never managed to vent to anyone before) until Eva stopped the van once more to pick Izzy up.

"Woo!" Izzy hollered, flopping onto the seat in the back. "What a rush! I missed this feeling! I wanna do it again!"

"Not yet, you're not," came Sharla's voice through the earpiece. Izzy responded to that with an exaggerated groan. "This was only step one of the plan. We need to lay low for at least a few days to keep any unwanted attention off our trail."

"Can I get an earlier heads up next time?" Amy asked. "Thirty minutes is not enough time to bring me up to my best." Though her best was her natural state, a bit of applied makeup did wonders to make her flourish even farther.

"Hmm. Noted, I'll extend the call to an hour in that case." There was a pause. "Excellent work, by the way. You handled that moronic excuse for a human being like a pro. Keep it up."

"Oh." Amy was legitimately caught off guard by this. She knew she did a good job, obviously; it was just that it had been a long time since someone genuinely congratulated her on her work. It felt… weird. But nice. A nice weird.

"Yeah!" Izzy jumped in, getting right up in Amy's face and forcing her back a bit. "I mean, I didn't see what you did just then, but I've seen you deal with assholes at the diner so I know what she's talking about! You got the patience of a saint!"

It had taken a long time for her to develop that patience - lots of trial and error, lots of reprimanding from superiors for acting out against customers - but learning to cool her emotions, even if only for a little bit, had helped her out immensely in her life. She could take pride in that. "Uhh, thanks," Amy said simply, and though she found herself smiling at the compliment she casually placed her hand on Izzy's face to push her away. "You did good too. Maybe."

Amy was still on the fence about whether this was worth the risk, but she had to admit Izzy's enthusiasm was infectious, even if she was a lunatic. And if all she had to do was talk to a few people long enough for the others to do their things, then what was the harm? It likely wasn't going to get any tougher than that (though she did feel the desperate need to shower and scrub herself clean after that conversation). Amy decided it would all be fine, and resigned herself to helping this band of criminals for a bit longer.

And if worst came to worst? Well… Amy was good at faking not knowing people existed. She'd done it in her youth with her sister (which was justified), and she'd do it again if need be.

The weeks that followed were pretty much the same - Amy would be dropped off at some random store and be told to distract the people working there long enough for Izzy to make off with whatever item of the day she needed. Sometimes Amy was able to see Izzy tuck something or other in her hoodie's pocket, and sometimes Amy would have no idea Izzy had even been in the building. All she was aware of was, somehow, they'd been able to get away with everything they'd done so far. Which made sense, given that she was working with them.

You realize they'd just find someone else if you chose not to, right? came the part of her brain that attempted to bring her down to everyone else's level. Amy rightfully told it to shut the fuck up.

After finishing up one day at her new 'job', Amy was ready to return home and kick back with a nice hot bath. It was a Saturday and she wasn't scheduled to work her actual job until Monday evening, so she figured she'd able to break out the expensive wine she kept for special occasions and enjoy the night while she could. Not having to share it with anyone was also a welcome benefit, and it lasted much longer than it would have otherwise.

However, those plans almost immediately went awry on the drive home.

"Oh, Eva!" Izzy suddenly shouted, startling Amy out of her thoughts. "Wanna go grab a bite? I'm literally starving after that last job. I'm so hungry, my stomach feels ready to go on a hangry rampage! A- Pfft, a hamprage!"

"Please don't make up words ever again," Amy found herself saying to her, though it was less out of annoyance and more amused exasperation. She would begrudgingly admit that she was beginning to warm up to Izzy - despite her being a complete freak of nature, Amy tended to find herself in a brighter mood whenever she was on the job and in her company. It was a weird feeling that she had no explanation for, but it also wasn't exactly bad either, so she chose to just accept it and let it happen.

"Sorry, but I can't," Eva answered her, her eyes never leaving the road ahead of them. "I've got a class in an hour, and for some stupid reason attendance is part of the final grade, so I can't afford to skip it."

"You're taking classes?" Amy asked aloud, perhaps in a tone that was a bit too accusatory. She quickly feigned interest to make her question more genuine. "W-What're you taking?"

"Kinesiology," Eva answered, and then turned to look at her sharply. "Why? You got a problem that I'm trying to educate myself?"

"No! No, not at all!" The last thing Amy needed was to accidentally insult the 'roided up ogre. "That's a very respectable thing to want to do, honest!" It also somewhat made her a little jealous - kinesiology had been what she was studying in uni before flunking out in the third semester. And that stupid part of her brain really enjoyed comparing her to other people. Just like her si-

Nope. Nope. Not going there. Fuck that, fuck you, fuck everything.

With that unpleasant thought shoved into the back of her head, Amy witnessed Eva grumble and roll her eyes, but said nothing more. Amy was likewise going to go back to staring out the window, until she was once again interrupted.

"Aw, bummer," Izzy said in response to Eva's refusal. "How about… Amy in that case?"

"Huh?" she turned back to look at her in surprise. "Me? Seriously?"

"Yeah, for cereal! Ha, that's a throwback."

It was Amy's turn to roll her eyes. "Thanks, but no thanks. I've got plans myself-"

"Aww, c'mon!" Izzy whined, and practically leaned forward to drape her arms over Amy's seat dramatically (was she even wearing a seatbelt? Amy couldn't really tell). "It won't be for long! And besides, I'll need a distraction so I don't get bored and wreck the place and, well, you're distracting enough! It's your whole job!"

Amy considered that statement. "What part of me is distracting?" she asked after a second.

"I'll let you decide that," Izzy said with a beaming grin.

…Huh. Is it getting warmer in here or is it just me?

"Alright, fine," Amy said instead of voicing her thoughts. "I'll go with you. But you're paying, since you asked."

"Right-o! I'll just take it out of the money we're paying you at the end."

"Yeah, whatev- Hey!"

The place Eva dropped them off at was some run-down, no-name, likely family-owned restaurant on the corner of some street in a part of the city Amy had never been to. The menus were all in some sort of foreign language, and judging by the bowl of noodles the one other customer there was eating, it was probably Taiwanese. (It was not, she would later find out when Izzy specifically labeled the place as a Japanese restaurant. But those countries were close enough, right?)

Amy had no clue how to use chopsticks, especially for something as runny as a bowl of ramen. But Izzy was more than willing to show her the ropes, and shockingly she turned out to be able to explain it to her in a way that actually made sense, unlike all the teachers and professors she'd had in her life. By ten minutes into eating it, Amy was slurping the noodles like a pro. It was messy, sure, but it also tasted pretty good, and aside from her present company there wasn't anyone important around to see her with broth splashed onto her cheeks.

She and Izzy proceeded to just shoot the shit, which to be honest was something Amy had been sorely missing these past few years. Yes, Izzy was just a hair shy of being criminally insane, but the stories she told were actually interesting and kind of funny, even the ones that ended in someone with their pants literally set on fire (yes, there were multiple, and no, Amy wasn't going to ask). Amy ended up talking about herself a bit too, such as her 'family' or whatever was left of it, and where that put her now.

"Mom died when we were twenty," Amy was saying, staring into her bowl and lost to the memories of before. "Samey had to fly home for the funeral, and even though we weren't on speaking terms we were still sorta there for each other. It was… nice, oddly enough. Still a really tough time, though, losing the one parent you had left." She sighed, not for the first time. "Then as soon as Mom was put into the ground Samey took off for Australia again. Haven't seen her since. Haven't heard from her, either. And honestly? Thank god. I don't know what I would have done if she chose to stay."

Part of her had been scared Samey would stay, but another part understood that her sister wanted just as much to do with Amy as Amy did with her, and it was all thanks to the passage of time and the immeasurable opportunities to reflect on her past behavior. She could get why Samey wanted to move away and never speak to her again. It didn't mean it didn't leave an empty void in her heart, as pathetic as it sounded. Even though everything about it sucked ass, working at the diner for the past few years had been the one thing to keep her in check and give her a sense of normalcy, though she supposed now helping Izzy and her squad was doing that just as well, if not better. Which, again, was a really weird thing to think about.

Speaking of, Izzy was unusually quiet as Amy spoke, having stopped sucking up a few strands of noodles to listen to her speak. It was a touch off-putting, seeing the normally wild child sitting still and silent, but it wasn't unwelcome. It helped Amy to remember there was a person beneath the craziness, someone capable of hearing her out and empathizing when the time arose. It was… something she probably needed, after all this time.

"Shit, man," Izzy said with a sympathetic frown after Amy finished. "That sucks. Sorry that all happened to you." Her voice was lower than it had ever been, indicating she knew the gravity of Amy's story.

(Amy still wasn't sure why she let that all out to begin with. Maybe she just needed to tell someone, and Izzy had been her first choice.)

"Thanks," she said simply, and resumed eating her meal. The two of them were quiet for a moment longer, giving Amy to mull over the past with a bit of a lighter heart for once.

Of course, then it all came crashing down once Izzy asked that question.

"Hey, by the by, have you ever heard of Total Drama before?"

The noodles went down the wrong pipe and Amy had to take a moment not to choke to death. Waving off the concern of the restaurant's owners, Amy looked Izzy in the eyes with what she hoped was a completely neutral expression. "N-Nope. Can't say I have. Why? It sounds like… I dunno, a boy band or something like that."

Izzy's own expression didn't betray what she was actually thinking, and Amy could feel the sweat beginning to form on the back of her neck. "Nah, nothing like that. It was an old reality TV show that aired back in the late 2000's." She stuck her chin in the crook of her thumb and forefinger and leaned closer with a smirk. "And I ask becaaaaaause you look like someone from the show. Two people from the show, more like."

Amy's fists unconsciously clenched. Goddammit, Samey! Even when that kangaroo-humping whore's not here she's ruining everything for me!

"I-Is that right?" Amy suddenly found herself desperately straightening her hair with her hands. "Must've just been a coincidence, then. I've never been on TV before."

"Reeeally?" Izzy pressed. "I dunno, that one girl had a mole under her eye, just like you. And was also named Amy."

"I mean, there are millions of people in the world," Amy tried with a shrug, "there are probably several different people that look like me. And share the same name. I wouldn't be surprised if someone like that got on this show, Total… Llama. Or whatever you called it." It was a bit of a stretch, but she sincerely hoped Izzy would buy it, or at the very least get the hint that she did not want to talk about her time on the show.

Thankfully, it seemed Izzy did indeed get the picture. "Hm, maybe. Who knows, really! So you didn't watch the show at all? Not even the earlier seasons?"

Amy shook her head. "Nope. Sorry, can't say I have." At the very least, that was the truth. Amy auditioned for Total Drama simply because Samey had, and at the time had believed that if the show could pick Samey, then obviously they'd pick Amy over her. That was the only exposure to the show Amy had ever had in her life - it wasn't until the season had finished filming that she realized there had been more to it previously, though by that point she wanted nothing to do with it or anyone involved in it. She wasn't sure why Izzy was being so weirdly insistent with the questions, but so long as she could just put them aside then everything would be golden.

Izzy hummed, then leaned back in her seat. "Okay, just making sure!"

"Making sure?" Amy asked, tilting her head. "Making sure of what?"

"Nothing important," she replied cryptically. "But it does make a ton of sense."

"Aaand are you going to tell me what sense it makes?"

"Nope!" Izzy cheered.

"Great," Amy groaned. For some reason she felt like she couldn't stay miffed, though. "Speaking of keeping things from me, can you tell me what we're doing this all for now? I feel like I deserve that much at least."

Izzy at least seemed to be contemplating that as she clacked her chopsticks together. "Honestly? I'd definitely tell you, under normal circumstances. But these aren't! So sorry, I can't."

Another groan escaped Amy's lips and she leaned on the table with her elbow. "Ugh, of course not. Sorry for assuming you jackasses trusted me after working with you for almost two months."

The sympathetic smile vanished from Izzy's face almost immediately at that. "Whoa there, hold up. Who said anything about not trusting you? You're totally trustworthy!"

"Not with what we're doing this all for, apparently." She had been feeling bitter about that for weeks now, though rarely chose to voice her concerns about it. One thing she figured out growing up was a quick way to lose friends was to call them out on their bullshit - they hardly ever took it well and would leave her behind whenever they'd all hang out. Amy hated when that happened (at the time she had likened it to being a friendless loser like Samey), and upon forming this weird kinda-not-sorta-friendship thing with Izzy she made sure to hold her tongue lest the same thing happened now.

"Hey," Izzy said, and shockingly made the bold move of putting both of her hands on the one Amy had on the table. Her eyes darted down to them, but she forced them not to linger. "Don't be thinking like that! We do trust you. That's why we even approached you to begin with! Well, not that we fully trusted you then, but we had a good feeling! And anyways, it's what's happening now that's important, and right now, I trust you!"

Amy was caught slightly off guard by that admission - so off guard that she had forgotten the fact that she was starting to once again feel warmer. "Y-You do?"

"Oh, uh!" Her hands were swiftly retracted. "I mean, me and the others! We all trust you! Even Eva, and she's notoriously hard to win the trust of! Trust me!"

Izzy barked out a laugh, and even though it sounded forceful Amy found herself chuckling as well. She had to admit, Izzy knew how to turn the mood from somber to sunny in a second.

"Alright, alright, fine, I trust you that you trust me," Amy said with a playful roll of her eyes. "And I trust you and the others too. For a bunch of oddballs, you guys are alright."

Izzy's grin only seemed to widen at that. "Welcome to the club, girlfriend!"

Amy decided not to tell her off for that remark.

They finished up their ramen, actually paid the shop owners, and headed out into the crisp night air. Their job that day had occurred later in the evening than usual, so as Amy walked out onto the sidewalk she glanced upwards to see the moon just barely peeking over another building.

"It's getting late," she stated the obvious. "This was fun, but I've still got plans I want to take care of, so I'm gonna head home now."

"Okay, that's cool!" Izzy exclaimed. "I'll drive you!"

"You'll- what?" Amy took a look around the side of the street, where so many peoples' cars were parked. "But… Eva dropped us off. You don't have a car here."

Izzy chuckled, and patted a hand on Amy's shoulder. "Who said anything about it being my car?"

The next fifteen minutes were spent subtly scanning the vehicles in the vicinity, for something both awesome looking but also something that could blend in with the crowd. They found something soon enough - tucked away in the back of a parking lot, a dark red Fjord Fusion, clear of any decals and easy enough to lose sight of if spotted. Izzy told Amy to put her gloves on, and got to work unlocking the door with a wire and some sort of hook. Amy was, of course, on lookout duty, but that ended up barely mattering as Izzy was done in seconds, and before Amy knew it the two were flying down the road in a stolen car.

"We actually stole it," Amy said in a daze, barely aware of the blurs of the vehicles they were passing by. "We stole a car. What the hell is my life right now."

"Aw, it's no big deal," Izzy said cheerfully, expertly weaving in and out of the traffic before them. "I do it all the time! No one's any the wiser. Well, aside from the owners, but they haven't found me yet! Besides, you've been helping us steal things for the last few weeks, this is just an upgrade!"

"But this is an entire car! It's a lot more obvious than anything else we've stolen!"

"I know, right? That's the thrill of it!" Izzy turned her way with her trademark manic grin. "C'mon, tell me you're not excited by this!"

Amy attempted to counter her again, but actually took her words into consideration. What they were doing was literally insane, and could probably land them in so much worse trouble than the petty stuff they'd been doing up until now.

But still… Amy had to admit, the feeling of being able to get away with it all was kind of addicting, in the worst possible way. Though it wasn't actually her herself physically stealing anything, the mere act of helping someone else do it had slowly but steadily been giving her a bit of a rush. The money was obviously the end goal, but Amy couldn't deny that she was getting some (possibly sick) enjoyment out of it.

And now… they had a car that didn't belong to them.

Izzy wasn't doing it justice - to Amy, it was the upgrade of the century.

"Okay," Amy admitted, feeling the edges of her lips curling upwards. "Okay, maybe I am a little excited about this."

"Hell yeah, you are! Now scream with me!"

"I- what?!" Amy turned to see her window lowering itself down, and the wind pressure from the speed of their car painfully punctured her ears. "What do you mean, 'scream with you'?!"

"Like this!" And then she stuck her head out her own window and hollered into the night, uncaring that she was in the middle of traffic in the dark of night. Amy found herself instinctually clinging to her seat and screaming for other reasons. But when she realized Izzy was still driving as if nothing had happened, and not in any danger of swerving into someone else, the spike of adrenaline sent her in the opposite direction, and gradually a small giggle turned into an uproarious laugh.

This was stupid.

This was so, so stupid.

Robbing stores for some reason unknown, speeding down the highway without a care in the world… A few weeks ago Amy wouldn't have even thought these things were possible. She had been content with living her life as safely and under the radar as possible.

But now she was given a taste of the wild side of life, and honestly? She was having a blast. She couldn't even consider going back to how she was before. Not without feeling the need to keep doing something like this again.

She blamed Izzy for roping her into this.

But honestly? She wanted to thank her as well.

And so, with much less hesitancy than she thought she'd have, Amy pulled herself up to the window and stuck her head out of it. "Woooooooo!" she cried out into the night sky, sticking a fist out and pumping it up for good measure. "Fuck all you asshats! Fuck your normal-ass jobs and boring lives! I'm on top of the world and no one can fucking stop me!"

She felt like a kid again, screaming at the top of her lungs regardless of who could hear.

A small part of the back of her mind was telling her that this was a bad thing, that she should calm down and think about this rationally.

But just like the other cars on the road, she told that part to Shut the fuck up and let her enjoy the new direction her life had taken her.

She had been complacent for too long up to this point. Now it was time to have fun.

"This'll be the last job."

"What?!" Amy practically shouted when Sharla told her the news.

She had been picked up late into the night, long after the sun had gone down, which was kind of strange as all of their other mini-heists had taken place during the day. Now, sitting in the passenger seat with only Sharla and Eva to keep her company, Amy could only stare at the one person physically present in shock as the voice in her ear kept talking.

"Yes. With your help, we've acquired everything we needed in order to put our plan into action. Once this task is done, we won't be doing this anymore."

"B-But- But-" Amy was completely flabbergasted by the revelation, having not anticipated the job would end so quickly. She tried desperately to think of something intelligent to say, but failed in that regard. "But I like doing this stuff! Why do we have to stop?!"

"Because the job'll be done, obviously," Eva grumbled, leaning against her door with her arms crossed.

"O-Okay, I get that. But that doesn't mean we have to stop," Amy continued. "Right?"

"It does for us," Sharla replied, her voice just as casual and noncommittal as always. "Obviously, we have other commitments in our lives aside from this group. If you're smart, you'd return to your original schedule as well. However, we're not going to stop you if you insist on continuing doing such activities on your own."

"We're also not gonna care," Eva added.

Amy ignored Sharla's subtle insult to her intelligence and instead merely sighed in frustration. As much as she wanted to keep doing what she'd already been doing, it wouldn't be possible without the group. She was painfully aware that she wasn't sharp and intuitive enough to do such things on her own, which was why the dissolution was so worrying to her. She had just gotten a taste of this lifestyle - she didn't want it to end so soon.

But she also knew that complaining and whining to the others wouldn't do her any good, so to her immense dismay Amy groaned and leaned back in her seat.

As she and Eva sat in silence, a thought washed over her - this particular job was different than any of the others before. For one, it was nighttime, as mentioned. For two, Izzy wasn't there in the van with them. For three, they were nowhere near the heart of the city, instead more on the outskirts and away from the tall buildings and congested crowds. The only things out here were a large prison, the occasional warehouse, and a whole lot of empty space. Amy was just as in the dark as ever, perhaps even more so, but didn't bother asking what the plan was as she knew she'd be shot down as always.

Roughly twenty minutes passed before someone said something else. "Alright," came Sharla's voice out of the blue.

When Amy realized that that was all she was going to say, she noticed Eva unbuckling her seatbelt and opening her door. "What?" she asked, going for her own belt. "Alright? What's alright?"

"Not your concern," Eva replied. "Stay in here for now. Trust us." With that, she slammed the door. Then she opened up the back doors to the van before taking something out and slamming those as well.

Amy, feeling even more left out than ever before, let out a loud, childish whine and sunk even further into her seat. Her mood had soured drastically, and now all she wanted to do was finish up this job, get the money, and go home. If she were lucky, she'd have a decent amount of shifts at the diner next week to distract her from tonight totally sucking.

Another twenty minutes passed, and Eva returned. Amy chose not to even grace her with a glance, to which Eva didn't even seem to notice, causing Amy to become even more ticked off. Interestingly, whatever she had taken from the back of the van was nowhere to be seen, though presently Amy did not care to mention it.

After waiting for yet another twenty minutes, Amy was beginning to grow restless. She was this close to telling Eva and Sharla off and storming out of there on her own, when something happened.

"We're starting," Sharla suddenly spoke once more. "Countdown in three… two… one…"

Not knowing what to expect, Amy braced herself for the worst, only to see the night sky, illuminated by the lights of the city in the distance, burst into explosions of every color. Multiple circles of fiery dots danced across the stars, and each burst pierced her eardrums with dull bangs. It was beautiful to look at… but also incredibly confusing to witness.

"Wh- Fireworks?" Amy asked aloud, her voice being drowned out by the display. "Why fireworks? What does that have to do with anything? And where'd we get them?"

"Pretty sure Izzy already had them on hand," Eva told her.

"That- …does not surprise me in the least."

"Now get in the backseat."

"Why?"

"Because that's where you need to be. On the left."

Tired of not knowing anything, Amy fought back. "Ughhh. Why does everything have to be kept a secret around here? Don't answer that," she quickly said when Eva turned to look at her. "At least tell me what I'm supposed to do back there?"

Eva stared - or maybe glared, her ugly unibrow made it hard to tell the difference - but thankfully she relented. "When I give the signal, you're gonna open the door. Capiche?"

That still told her nothing, but though it made Amy want to scream it was better than being totally in the dark. "Fine." Unhooking her seatbelt, Amy crawled to the back, sat herself down on the left, and waited.

As she waited, she continued to watch the fireworks above them. It was still only a few days out from Canada Day, so using some at this time probably wasn't out of the ordinary. But there was a lot being fired off, to the point where almost the whole sky was covered in them. If this was seriously part of the plan for this job, what was the point of it?

Amy got her answer soon after.

"It's done," Sharla said, and this time her voice was louder and had more of an edge to it than ever before. "Move!"

Before Amy could process what she had said, Eva called back to her, "Hold on to something!" and floored the gas pedal, causing the tires to spin out before the van took off.

Amy fell back against her seat with a shriek. "Agh! Careful!"

"No time to be careful!" They drove onto the road and zipped down in the direction of the city for roughly ten seconds, before Eva shouted once more, "I'm stopping!"

Amy barely managed to grab a hold of her seat to stop her from careening forward as the van came to a sudden halt. "Jesus fuck, why are you-"

"Now!" Eva shouted, "Open the door!"

With an angry scream, Amy slid it open violently. "There! You happy-"

She stopped when she saw someone unfamiliar rushing towards the car. Someone in an orange jumpsuit and short, black hair. Someone running away from a huge, smoking hole in the outer perimeter wall of the prison.

"Duncan! Get in!"

"What the ever loving fuck?!" Amy shrieked at Eva, and barely had enough time to pull her legs in as this complete stranger practically dove head first into the van. Working purely on instinct, Amy hauled the door closed just as prison guards came out of the hole en masse. Without wasting any time Eva took off once again in the direction of the city, now likely with the intent of actually entering it.

"Holy shit," came the voice of the new guy, Duncan apparently. He was kind of muscular and had a soul patch under his chin, but what caught Amy were his wide, baggy eyes. "Okay, I don't know what's going on here, but like hell am I turning down a chance at getting out of there."

"Thank Izzy," Eva hollered over her shoulder. "It was her idea."

"Izzy?!" Duncan shouted in surprise. "No fucking way, I haven't heard from her in- Wait, Eva?! Is that you?! What the hell kind of reunion is this?!"

"Are you telling me," Amy said slowly, quietly, and barely paying attention to what the others were saying, "that the last two months had been leading to a motherfucking jailbreak?!"

It made absolutely no sense - what part of any of the heists she'd been on would lead to them busting someone out of prison? All she did was distract people from Izzy shoplifting, as far as she was aware. It was true she didn't know what Izzy had been swiping, but clearly something had to at least have hinted at this being their ultimate goal. Right? Amy found herself voicing her questions as Eva drove.

"You assisted with procuring the components to the bombs Eva just planted," Sharla said stiffly, as if doing something else.

"Bombs?!" Amy could scarcely believe her ears. What on earth did getting something from the bathroom aisle have to with making bombs?

"Oh, great, who else did you invite?" Duncan spoke up, causing Amy's attention to turn to him. "Who are you supposed to be, anyway?"

"Who am I? Who are you?!" Amy shot back. Eva then shouted at them to shut up and get their seatbelts on, and it was only when Amy did that she began to hear the sound of sirens blaring over the fireworks. "Shit! What was the point of the fireworks if we're just gonna get chased?!"

"To stop them from bringing in the helicopters, that's what," Eva answered.

"Oh. Actually that's kinda smart."

Rather than enter the city proper, Eva pulled off onto one of the freeways circling its perimeter and expertly maneuvered around all of the vehicles going about their business. How someone was able to move such a bulky van with precise accuracy was beyond Amy, but truthfully she didn't really care at the moment. What she did care about were the police cars that were also managing to avoid hitting anyone.

However, the most shocking thing was not what was behind them, but what was in front of them. Past the crowd of blinding tail lights, Amy was able to make out, astoundingly, a second windowless van, parked directly across the road and blocking any and all traffic from moving past it.

"Jesus Christ, look out!" Amy screeched, pointing directly ahead.

"Don't scream in my ear!" Eva hollered back. "I know what I'm doing!"

Amy wasn't sure if she believed that, but then the surprises just kept piling up. As their van threaded the needle between the cars backed up on the highway, she saw the van blocking the road quickly back up as much as it could and turn, giving them just enough room to squeeze by with barely a hair's breadth between them. It was timed just as they made it close enough, preventing the closest cars from getting through, though without any way to look behind them, Amy was unable to tell what happened next.

"Was that also planned?!" Amy loudly asked.

"It was!" came the voice of Sharla in her ear. "Now stop screaming and let me concentrate!"

It wasn't clear what exactly she was doing, but it had to have been something hi-techy and nerdy given it was Sharla speaking, so Amy simply allowed her to work. That was, however, when Duncan began to speak again. "Not that I'm ungrateful for being sprung out like that, but just what the hell is going on here? And just who is this chick?" he asked, gesturing to Amy.

Amy's indignation flared as she sent the stink eye in his direction. "'This chick' spent the last two months helping to bust you out, apparently! Not that I was ever actually told that's what we were doing!"

"On your right!" Sharla shouted all of a sudden. "Amy, open the door on your right, where Duncan is sitting!"

"Seriously?!" Amy yelled back, but wasted no time in unbuckling herself and shimmying over. Duncan loudly questioned what she was doing, though she thoroughly ignored him in favor of performing her job. With a mighty, indignant shout, Amy threw open the door, not knowing what to expect but anticipating almost anything.

A woman clad in a black, full-body catsuit, complete with high heeled boots, leather gloves and an identity-concealing helmet driving one of the sleekest motorcycles Amy had ever seen keeping pace with them was not something she was expecting.

"Where the fuck did you-"

And then the woman put her feet up onto the motorcycle's seat.

"Shit, she's coming in!" Amy informed the others as she fell further back into the van. Sharla informed Eva to keep the van steady, which she managed to do, and within mere seconds the cyclist abandoned her ride and dove headfirst into the van. She landed hard onto the floor just as the bike lost its balance and keeled over onto the highway. And as the newest newcomer let out a grunt in a very familiar voice upon landing, Duncan rose to his feet to close the door the moment he could.

"Are you crazy?!" Amy shouted at the newly arrived Izzy. "How much of an idiot do you have to be to do that?! You could've gotten hurt!"

"And you totally trashed that bike!" Duncan followed up with. "What was that worth, thirty grand?!"

"I don't actually know!" Izzy replied to him, sitting up as if she hadn't thrown herself off a speeding motorcycle. "Wasn't mine, and I never bothered checking!"

Slowly, Duncan shook his head. "You're one twisted sister, you know that? You haven't changed a bit."

"Aw, you remember me so well!" With that, Izzy hauled off her helmet and allowed her orange curls to fall down around her head. "And don't worry," she now said to Amy, "I've been through so much worse. Did you know I survived a cargo plane falling on my head once? No joke!"

Well that explains literally everything. "That doesn't mean you're invincible! Jesus, I thought you were smarter than that!"

"C'mon, it's no big deal!" She hauled herself up and plopped herself in the seat between Amy and Duncan. "I've done this all before, so don't worry! You trust me, right?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then trust me when I say that I won't get hurt!"

Amy wanted to continue to argue, but Izzy was being Izzy again and not taking 'no' for an answer. "Alright, jeez!" she groaned. "Fine, whatever!"

Izzy had the nerve to actually laugh at her, despite it being clear that Amy was pissed. "You're so funny when you're upset!"

"It's not funny, you drugged-up hyena!"

As Izzy continued to laugh even harder, Amy felt the van tilt to the side, and a quick glance out the front window showed them heading down a ramp and back onto the normal roads. The sound of both the fireworks and the cop sirens had pretty much vanished altogether, though Amy wasn't about to take that as a sign that they were in the clear.

Sticking a finger to her ear, she asked, "Sharla, where the heck are we going anyway?"

She ignored Duncan questioning who else was involved with the jailbreak and focused solely on the voice in her ear. "A safehouse not too far from your current location. With any luck you'll arrive there before you're spotted, and it's hidden well enough that you should all be long gone before anyone happens to find it. Now stop talking and let me work!"

It didn't take them too long to actually reach this safehouse, and just as informed it was so tucked away in between the buildings that Amy wouldn't have even given it a second glance. With the press of a button on a remote start, the garage door swiftly opened and Eva drove the van in. As soon as the door was closed behind them everyone filed out and took a second to catch their breaths.

"So, uh," Amy said when no one else bothered saying anything, "someone want to explain to me what the fuck that was all about? Who is this guy?"

"This is Duncan!" Izzy introduced, slapping Duncan hard on the back and nearly keeling him over.

"That much I got, but why was he worth going through so much trouble to break him out?"

"Hm," Izzy thought, tapping her finger to her chin. "Not sure if he actually was, honestly. I kinda wanted to do this for the funsies, is all!"

Both Amy and Duncan gaped at their (apparently mutual) insane friend. "You mean to tell me I'm her right now because you just decided to bust me out?" Duncan asked, and put a hand to his head. "Ho-ly shit. I don't know whether to laugh about this or yell at you right now."

"Save the yelling for later," Eva said to Duncan. "Let's get you out of those prison rags, before anything else happens." The two took off further into the safehouse.

Amy was about to start laying into Izzy for dragging her into something so outrageous and stupid, but she spoke first, and loudly at that. "Woo! That. Was. So awesome! So intense!" She rushed up to Amy and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Do you know how long we were planning that?! And to have it go off so smoothly to boot! This day just keeps getting better and better!"

"No, I don't know how long you were planning that, because no one brought me up to speed!" Though she was irritated and tired now that the adrenaline was vanishing, Amy didn't bother pulling herself out of Izzy's grasp. "Like, maybe if someone at least gave me a hint that we were gonna break someone out of jail, I'd have been a lot less stressed out during that!"

"Aw, I'm sorry," Izzy said to her genuinely. "But you had to admit, the surprise was fun, wasn't it?"

Amy wanted to deny that, to tell her off for keeping secrets. But in the end, she couldn't, because she'd be lying. "...Okay, yeah, fine, it was," she admitted. With a huff, she gave Izzy a wry smirk. "You're dangerous, you know that?"

"It's one of my better qualities," Izzy replied to her with a wink.

"Goddamn," Amy sighed as her high died down. "So… what happens now? We're done now, right?"

Izzy's head tilted to the side in confusion. "Done? Who said anything about being done?"

Amy almost instantly perked up at that, at the chance that they could keep doing these sorts of 'activities'. But she didn't want to get her hopes up just yet. "The others said we're disbanding or something, that they've got other things on the go. And that I should do the same, and go back to the diner."

"Oh." Izzy thought over this bit of information, making dramatic and exaggerated expressions on her face. Amy couldn't help but chuckle at how over the top, weird and just plain Izzy they were. "I mean, yeah, they got lives and stuff," Izzy remarked. "But that's their call. Not ours." With another ear splitting grin, she said, "And it doesn't mean we have to stop, do we?"

Those were exactly the words Amy had been waiting to hear. It wasn't a secret that she didn't want to go back to her older, lamer life - she was through with that, and ready to take on the world her own way.

And with a partner to back her up, she was going to be invincible.

"You mean it?" Amy asked her, the excitement oozing out of her. "We can keep having fun like this?"

"Yeah, of c- OH! Oh, idea! I'll raise you one better!" Izzy replied, her grin somehow growing even wider. "How's about you and me take this little business on the road, huh? Leave the city behind and find our fun elsewhere? Just picture it - you and me on the open road, going anywhere the wind takes us, no laws to keep us tied down… We could go wherever we want, do whatever we want, take whatever we want… Sounds like a dream come true, doesn't it?"

It really, truly did. Amy felt all of her worries and anxieties leave her as her future opened up to all the potential possibilities, and she had no one to thank but this complete menace to society in front of her. No longer did she need to fret about the past, as now all she wanted to do was live for the moment. Whatever lies her brain tried to tell her about needing to go back to her boring, miserable like all of those saps too chicken to do anything out of the ordinary were quickly snuffed out by her desire for excitement over safety. Why would she want to go back to the mundane, anyway? On the road with someone always looking for adventure was infinitely more enticing.

"Yeah," Amy said with a bit of a laugh, "yeah, that sounds amazing! So much better than anything else going on in this dumbass city. Let's do it!"

"Hell yeah! Izzy and Amy, taking over the world!" Izzy pulled her into a one-sided hug, and Amy once again became distinctly aware of how much warmer it was getting. "Living on nothing but gas station food and sleeping in musty hotels every night… we'll be living the high life, that's for sure!"

Okay, that part sounds like something only hobos and hippies do. "Maybe we can at least aim for hotels higher than two-stars, yeah?"

"Eh, if you want. Personally I wouldn't mind it, but I guess if you want to stay in a room with more than one bed, we can see what we can do."

"Honestly I'd even shoot for five-stars if we could- Wait, sorry, what?"

By the time Amy fully processed the implications of that, Izzy had pulled away from her and was heading for further in. "C'mon, don't just stand there! The mission's not over yet til we get Ol' Dunkey-boy a new identity and send him on his way! Then we can blow this popsicle stand! Ooh, maybe literally, even!"

Izzy dashed out of the garage, leaving Amy to flounder after her. "W-Wait, let's talk about what you said before! About the hotel beds and- and… Hey, hold on a second, what else do I have to do? And for that matter, when do I get the rest of the money you owe me?!"

It was going to be a different style of living from what she was used to, but that was okay. Away from the humdrum of everyday life, Amy had no doubts that she was going to thrive in her new hobby, with her closest compatriot. Sure, a simple diner job was structured and predictable, but after all that she had been through these last two months, that was now far too safe for her tastes. Now, she craved excitement, and by hitting the road with Izzy by her side, she was undoubtedly going to be getting just that.

It was going to be fine. Hell, it was going to be fun. And with nothing tying her back to her old life, she was going to enjoy every second of it for however long it lasted.

(She just hoped it lasted longer than this job had. But it had to, right? Izzy totally wasn't going to bail on her in the middle of, like, Saskatchewan, right? Right.)

(...Right?)