*Sighs*

OK here's the next chapter. It's very short and why it took me so long to write I don't know.

Disclaimer: Sonic and Co. belong to Sonic Team @SEGA. I only own Kate.

Anyway, enjoy!

Another day later, 22:09*

Kate shifted so she was more comfortable on the tree branch. She was lying face up on the rough wood, her boots resting at the beginning of a fork. She had been lying like this for at least and hour now, staring at the glittering night sky through a large gap in the greenery above. She grunted and moved again, unable to relax.

Sleep was out of the question now, as earlier that day Kate had heard a distant rumbling, and she had realised that it was engines starting up, and that the Egg Fleet was on its way to Mobotropolis. Annoyingly, she had realised this just before going to sleep, and the thought had scared her awake, which was why she was now on the branch just above her house.

She had a horrible feeling inside of her. One that had been there ever since she had been given the responsibility of shutting down the World Robotiziser. What if something went wrong? Her stomach churned at the thought, and she had constantly been feeling sick with anticipation. Despite this, she couldn't get it out of her head.

Luckily, this time, familiar voices from the base of the tree snapped her out of her thoughts. Carefully changing position, she peered over the branch to look down below, and she smiled.

It was Bunnie who had called up to her, with Antoine by her side. They must've been out for a late night walk.

Kate opened her mouth to respond, but stopped, not wanting to annoy any other residents in the tree with her shouting. She gestured to couple to join her on the branch. She couldn't see their response, but they must have realised what she was getting at, as Bunnie had begun to make her way up the stairs, with Antoine tailing her.

Kate watched them as they arrived to the small balcony just outside her front door, and she idly wondered how they would get to her up on the branch. However, her question was answered when the Rabbot began to skillfully scale the thick trunk of the tree, with Antoine (almost reluctantly) following behind her.

It wasn't long before Bunnie had placed her foot on the beginning of the large branch and was hoisting herself up on it. Antoine was still some way behind her, clearly not as fond of climbing trees as his wife was.

Kate sat up again, and Bunnie shuffled over to her before looking up through the gap above them.

"So," she said at last "what's got ya up so late?"

Kate shrugged.

"Couldn't sleep," she said vaguely "plus, it's a nice view,"

Bunnie chuckled at her answer, and Kate raised her brow.

"Ah, we all know that ain't the reason, Kate, you've been actin' weird with us ever since that Robotisizer business,"

Kate opened her mouth to reply, but another voice beat her to it, and they both looked over.

It was Antoine. He had finally caught up, and was shakily trying to follow Bunnie's path onto the branch.

"O-oui…you have…c-certainly been d-d-drifting away from us, K-Kate…" he looked down and gulped "oh mon dieu…"

Bunnie smiled as her metal arm extended to scoop Antoine on to the branch. The coyote still trembled with fear, trying his best not to look down.

The ivory wolf looked around the city below, and sighed deeply.

"I've just been worried," she replied honestly "what if something goes wrong? I can't stop thinking about it…"

She shivered as the feeling of nausea returned, pressing a hand against her forehead.

"This whole thing rests on me being able to delay the timer long enough to get rid of the firewalls," she explained "I don't know if I'll be able to do it..."

Antoine tore his gaze from the distant ground to look at his fellow Freedom Fighter.

"Well, if you keep thinking zat, eet is more likely to happen, non? You will be more likely to panic and get eet wrong," he said earnestly, making Kate smile.

"I guess so..." she uttered, not fully convinced. Bunnie nudged Kate with her shoulder.

"Ah, you'll be fine. You've got plenty o' time to prepare, anyhow," she said brightly.

Kate's smile faded into a grimace.

"If only that was so," she said grimly, staring off into the distance, past the walls of the city.

At that moment, a low rumble shot through the three sat on the bench. Kate froze. It was the same noise as earlier that day, though a bit louder this time. She bit her lip, shaking her head glumly.

"That's the Egg Fleet," she told them "it'll be here by tomorrow,"

There was an awkward pause, and Kate went back to her position on the branch so she was facing the sky again. Bunnie and Antoine shared a worried glance before Antoine tried to encourage Kate again.

"Listen, mon amie, nothing will go wrong, as long as you believe zat it won't,"

His words caused Kate to let out a relatively forced smile. After a moment or so, however, it seemed more genuine.

"Thank you, Antoine," she said quietly, still not looking at either of them. A minute or so passed, before she added "if you two wouldn't mind, I'll try and get some sleep, soon. I'll be seeing you tomorrow, okay?"

Sensing her need to be alone again, Bunnie nodded, gesturing to Antoine to leave. Her husband froze to the spot, staring at the trunk in apparent distaste. Bunnie noticed, and activated the boosters on her metal feet.

"Don' worry, Sugah-'Twan, we ain't going down the same way we came up,"

Once again, her metal arm snaked around Antoine, lifting him up off the branch. Bunnie then gave a quick wave goodbye to Kate before launching off the branch and slowly making their descent off the tree.

After a final wave goodbye, the couple left, hand in hand.

Instead of going inside to finally go to sleep, Kate remained in her increasingly uncomfortable spot until she hastily sat up, having a long look around Mobotropolis. Her eyes travelled past Sonic's home, and then past Silver's, Tails' workshop, and then she started past the wall towards where the HQ was, thinking about her plans.

Kate had told no one but Nicole about her backup idea, as it was incredibly risky, even more so then her actual plan.

There were two ways it could go: the way she wanted, and hoped, it would go, or the alternative, which would be a complete and utter disaster. Either way, however, the outcome was bad. Unspeakably so.

She shivered, banishing the thought from her mind. That was the alternative, the plan B, and what she had to focus on was the actual plan. Antoine was right. If she kept focusing on it and believing it would happen will almost definitely make it happen.

Feeling more confident, Kate took a last look around the city before leaning back and falling backwards off the branch. She slowly levitated down to her balcony, and at last went inside, prepared for whatever tomorrow would bring, no matter if it was the best, or the worst.

*sighs again*

Now, I know it is very short. This story is meant to be short and quick, as it basically lays the foundations for the next two-four stories (yes, there's more...don't look at me like that)

There's two chapters left I think, and I'm sorry if I'm rushing it too much but it's mainly because I think the next few stories will be pretty long-ish.

Anyway, enough with my blabbering, I hope you enjoyed!

R and R!

~W.O.T~