Chapter 7 – In Love, Then War.

A/N: Luckily I managed to get some time off to do a bit of writing; hope I'm still up to scratch enough for you:

HHH – Which one's Sonic Advance? I can never remember; my collection stops at Sonic 2, oh the humanity. So many great titles and I can't play them, sob sob!

V – Excellent of you to read the whole series – let me know where you're up to, and what you think so far.

DH – Yay, you got there at last. Told you that hook was very subtle :-).

The other thing different about Julie's official back story is that she's actually a legitimate child – I think her father remarries when Kragok and Lien's mother dies, so she is born in wedlock, though the twins still hate her for some reason. But anyway, this story's a little bit sadder from her point of view, though as for the mention of Enerjak, hmm, never even crossed my mind… One last thing; in the review you mentioned Knucks/Julie, did you mean Shadow? (I hope you meant Shadow!) Anyway, here from you hopefully soon, and hope you had a good Christmas/New Year.

Julie sank to her knees in the lounge, breath hot and stale in her throat as her heart hammered fit to burst, the elation she was feeling drowned out, for the moment, by the fatigue burning into every single inch of her. The first time's always the hardest; holding in a groan, she stood upright slowly, holding a stitch that seared into her chest like a white-hot wire, causing her to grit her teeth against the pain, trying to take in long, slow breaths, get oxygen to her stressed muscles even as a single shaking finger switched off the end credits; and thank the lord for that. But still, she'd done it; no matter that she'd half-killed herself with her insane determination to succeed, she had finally lasted the whole hour of gruelling cardiovascular and aerobic workout. Even as her body screamed for rest, for an end to the torment, she beat down the protests and forced her fatigued limbs to react, stretching out slowly to make sure she'd not feel similar cramps in the morning. And after that little lot; the echidna's eyes sparkled deep green as she remembered that today was Thursday, which meant tomorrow was the big treat day, all those delicious calories hers as a reward for sticking to a diet and work out plan for a week. A large yawn dragged in enough air to satisfy her needs for the moment and she realised she really was going to sleep well tonight; just as well it's my week in the bed this time; when a sudden knock at the door broke her concentration. Towelling most of the surface sweat from her face and arms, Julie headed to the front door, wondering who would be calling at this time; Shadow had his own key and no-one else should really be calling this time of day. More curious than anything else, the former Dark Legionnaire unbolted the front door and opened it a crack; there was a flash of orange in her vision,

"Tails?"

It was, indeed, none other than the twin-tailed fox himself, but what was he doing here now? Did Shadow leave a message or something?; she racked her brains to try and recall anything that might have given advance warning about this sudden drop in, but nothing came to mind. Having settled that lack of options was forcing her hand, she resorted to asking her unplanned guest,

"What are you doing here?" He looked up, smiling as he normally did as he replied easily,

"I needed some stuff from the C.A. and I was in town; because I don't live here I need to go in and actually pick it up, can't have it dropped off at my door like you lot", his infectious easy-going nature began to take hold; even Julie, who'd been exposed to this shrewd but nevertheless effervescent Mobian was unable to mount enough resistance to deny a returned smile, "so I rolled in and Shadow saw me; he was working so it wasn't a long chat, but apparently there's a bit of a backlog, something about on of the departments having a fire alarm go off because of a shredder overheating and everything's a bit delayed. So he said I should come here, said you'd be in; I tried to phone ahead but you never picked up", he informed her, no hint of reproach in his voice as she digested the information, speaking after a second of thinking,

"Yeah, I wouldn't have heard anything over the music"; that was certainly true – Julie's superstition that the volume helped drown out the pain was well-known, and equally well mocked, by her housemate. She thought back a little, trying to recall if there had been a possibility of the brisk, shrill rings of the house phone going off in the middle of her workout routine, only to be disturbed by a hesitant cough. Reality slapped her in the face and she hastily stood aside, ashamed that it had taken her this long for manners to reassert themselves,

"Sorry Tails, come in", he quickly darted in through the opened door, the russet of his coat clashing against her own fur for a second before he was past and she shut the door behind them, "zoned out for a minute; anyway, you'll have to excuse me", she pointed at her sweat-soaked clothing and generally damp demeanour with a rueful smile, "you've not caught me at the best of times, so I'm not at my most presentable".

"Not at all", he held up a hand, forestalling further explanations before pointing down the hall, "you better get a shower before you get too cold; I'll wait in the kitchen".

"Thanks", she had been feeling a nip in the air, so was grateful for the offer; pausing long enough to make sure the younger Mobian was comfortable, she disappeared into the bedroom, grabbing her normal clothes from off the end of the bed and then vanishing back into the bathroom.

XXX

The shiver than ran through her as the first droplets of the power shower slammed through the cold sweat of her skin was sheer bliss; for a few seconds, she lost herself in the foggy mist that sprang seemingly out of nowhere, obscuring all outlines in a sea of ghostly and warm whiteness. Ah, Heaven; she stood for a second, the water running down her in rivulets that reenergised every overworked muscle and cramped inch of skin, before finally shaking her head, lashing the shower curtain with her wet hair and reaching for the bottle of shower gel that rested nearby. As she worked up a decent lather, a reminder twigged in her mind and she called out over the drumming of the water in the bottom of the bath,

"Hey, Tails?" After a second, the answer came,

"Yeah"; the voice was faint and muffled by the important thing was that she could hear it,

"You sorted out what you said were up to last time?" She flicked a half-annoyed, half-reluctant look towards the mechanical part of her arms, irritated that they were now a burden on someone else as well as just her; so focussed was she on this unfairness that she nearly missed Tails' reply entirely,

"Nearly got it; just ordered a touch more multi-grade and I'll have it mixed up fine; should work a treat on your augmentations, just keep your fingers crossed". The former Legionnaire laughed,

"You bet; I need that mix of yours to make sure I don't seize up – I hate to think what Shadow would do to me if I couldn't defend myself".

"Hey", there was a note of reproval in the fox's voice, though he couldn't help but join in the joke a little way as a suppressed chuckle was also present, "Shads ain't that type of character".

"Are you sure we're talking about the same guy", Julie realised with a thrill of excitement that Shadow hadn't let that story circulate too far; now I can put a bit of a spin on it; thinking along these lines, she continued, "the first thing he did when he met me was rip my clothes off". There was a muffled explosion from the kitchen and the echidna smiled as she heard frantic laughter over the sound of the shower; quickly finishing off and drying herself, she threw open the door and went back into her apartment's kitchen.

XXX

It can't be true; Tails was almost certain she was, if not making that up exactly, at least taking it completely out of context; but that doesn't stop it being funny. He was still spluttering with laughter, imagination running rampant with visions of Shadow as a dastardly villain in some dramatic play, taking advantage of a helpless maiden, when Julie stepped back into the kitchen; her knowing smile set him off again, even if he knew for a fact there was no way anyone with an ounce of sense could call Julie-Su a helpless maiden. The first time he'd met her, following Shadow's briefing as to what had happened up to this point previously, how he wasn't to mention Rouge for fear of not so much a security breach but upsetting Julie, and how likewise the Brotherhood and Haven were forbidden topics of conversation, he'd actually been pleasantly surprised.

Far from the half-robotic, monotonal answering machine he'd been expecting, she'd actually been fairly up front and honest; when he'd inquired politely about what her augmentations could do, Julie had let him know and see the inner workings of the robotic limbs, though as he'd finished his inspection she had accused him of being more nosey than the EST. However, as Shadow had genteelly mentioned Tail's expertise with most things mechanical, she'd become more animated and, following a few ideas and promises from all concerned, he'd found himself with another errand for a friend to fill out his new business. He'd spent some time in his workshop with the notes he'd made on the echidna's arms and dreadlock and several different brands of lubricating oil, trying to come up with a concoction that would suit her needs. He was pretty confident he'd succeeded and, barring a major disruption of the local hardware store, he'd be able to mix up the first batch and have it up here next time he was in the neighbourhood. Julie had assured him the need wasn't great yet, but he liked to get things done as soon as was possible; though it hadn't happened yet, chances were the first time he forgot something, it would be something important like that.

"Tails", her voice broke into his laughter and he finally convinced his eyes to blink back tears of hysteria and focus on the pinky-purple Mobian across from him, "I said did you remember the expresso stuff Shadow was on about?"

"Oh, that, yeah", he reached into his knapsack, smiling as he saw the embroidered name on the front flap, remembering how he'd felt unwrapping the present and watching it fall at his feet, the culmination of Cream's home economics project finally bearing fruit and, as he'd slipped it over his shoulder for the first time, feeling the strength in the straps and short, tidy stitching, being put to good use. Even now, he couldn't help but see his nickname stitched onto the front in a shiny gold thread, the S at the end having a pair of tails to give that personal touch, without smiling, trying to picture how hard the rabbit must have worked to deliver the knapsack in time for his birthday. She better have got an A for it; he shook himself as he remembered where he was and, more importantly, who he was talking to and how Shadow had often mentioned her cutting tongue – to disguise the pause, he quickly slipped his hand into the main space and, after fumbling around for a few minutes, withdrew holding a pot of specialised coffee. Julie squinted as he put it on the table and drew back, a little confused,

"Strawberry coffee?" Tails started,

"Oh, wrong one", he delved back into his goodie bag and this time checked he had the right one, placing it on the table with the explanation, "this is expresso, the other one's a present for Shads; he likes strawberry coffee". She grimaced,

"Sounds delightful".

"Tastes better than it sounds" he riposted before there was a sudden slam; Shadow appeared in the door before either fox or echidna could look up,

"Tails; there's a slight hiccup", the fox looked up in alarm before the hedgehog finished, "you need to sign for the stuff at the C.A, they won't let me take it in your name; if we run we might get there before the place shuts". The fox shot to his feet,

"Right, let's get a move on; see you around Julie".

"Bye"; the echidna nodded deferentially as the younger Mobian vaulted into Shadow's arms and in the blink of an eye both were gone. How does he do that?; in an idle moment, as she thought about something to eat, she wondered how Tails felt so at ease running with the hedgehog at that sort of speed; guess it just takes practise.

XXX

The pen scribbled across the paper at record speed; Shadow, hanging back from the desk as Tails frantically signed for his documents, had to hold down a smirk as he caught Snappy's expression out the corner of his eye; the stern-faced echidna looked like she was biting on a lemon, almost as if disappointed he'd managed to get the fox here on time.

"And done"; Tails stepped back triumphantly, taking the documents the echidna thrust at him with exceeding ill-grace,

"Your papers, good day".

"Very good I assure you", Shadow smiled at his immediate superior, "see you in tomorrow boss". He and Tails quickly left before her expression could sour any further; due to the speed they'd arrived, it was on the way out that someone who'd been waiting to catch them on the off chance following a tip-off finally got the chance to pass on the good news they'd been hanging on to far too long.

"Did you see her face?" Tails shook his head, grin stretching further as Shadow rolled his eyes, "looked like she sucks sour sweets for a living".

"She does something similar believe me", Shadow chuckled before setting his sights on the main exit for the second time that day, "she makes Knuckles, you know, the old Knuckles?" Tails nodded, remembering how cold the previous version of the original echidna could be with, if anything, better clarity than Shadow could, "well she makes him look like Father Christmas on Prozac".

"Oh dear I pity her"; a deeper voice broke in chuckling; Shadow and Tails both froze before looking around, seeing, as they knew they would, the guardian rising from his seat in the reception area, his crest disguised by the jacket her seemed to wear out of habit now.

"Knucks", Tails recovered slightly the faster, holding out a hand to shake a couple of the echidna's proffered fingers, "what are you doing in this neck of the woods, not that it's not good to see you", he tacked on hastily, making it clear that the surprise was pleasant rather than unexpected; seeing his companion caught in a bit of a dither, Shadow finished off for him,

"Just caught us off-guard you'd be around"; what's up with him?; even as he talked, he could see something was bubbling away merrily just under the surface of the normally stoic guardian – it was taking a real effort of will for him not to break down and spill his concealed secret.

"Well, I was hoping to catch you Shadow", out the corner of his eye the hedgehog saw Tails catch on as well, the undercurrent in Knuckles' voice even more noticeable than the gleam in his eye as his face turned towards the fox and he continued, "you here as well's just a bit of a bonus".

"A bonus", Tails repeated, cautious but optimistic that whatever the guardian was holding back was positive, "what for, exactly?" Almost unconsciously, Knuckles had fallen into step with them and they were now outside, the whispers of their conversation lost in the general hubbub as workers of all varieties were leaving the C.A after a hard day's work. There were a few seconds of expectant silence before, like a dam bursting, the earth-breaking news Knuckles had carried inside for so long smashed out of him, hitting both his friends like a tsunami of liquid lead,

"Pretty soon", his face lit up, eyes softening as though looking towards a blissful, brighter future, "there's going to be a new member of the family; I'm going to get a baby…"

Shadow felt his mouth move as though someone else had hold of his jaw; his brain had been completely blanked by this and he heard a voice that he only later recognised as his own demand in a hoarse whisper,

"Where's is she? Where's Rouge?" Seemingly annoyed at the question but caught up in his explanation, Knuckles answered almost without realising he'd done so,

"She's at the shrine, with…"; Tails turned and jumped in the same motion, blazing purpose the same as Shadow's, the black hedgehog catching him in mid-air and taking off, the pavement feeling like liquid silk beneath his feet as twin tongues of flame ignited around his jet skates, powering him forwards towards the other side of town, their quickest way there. Echidnas scattered left right and centre to make way for their crazy course, the duo rocketing along the side streets as Knuckles, rather left behind by the suddenness of their departure, quickly shook himself and, slapping his own forehead as he realised the discrepancy between what he'd said and what he'd actually meant, set off in pursuit, silently cursing the black hedgehog's speed under his breath as he just knew what the result of this was going to be.

XXX

Vector leapt a clear foot out of his armchair, heart hammering even over the beat of Iron Maiden in his eardrums as the cataclysmic crash from the front door boomed through the house again, the suddenness of it sending adrenaline powering through him as shock took over. He took a few deep breaths before his startled brain suggested something to make the frantic knocking cease,

"All right, coming"; who the hey'd be hammering like that – the guardians just use Sojourner, 'less it's Knucks; the thoughts didn't detract from his haste as he reached the front door, nodding as Espio descended the stairs to let the chameleon know that the situation was in hand before pulling the door open and looking out,

"Yeah?" There was a streak of obsidian in his vision and a cold wind around his middle as answer; he looked around down the hallway to see, with a pulse of panic, something golden orange disappear down the stairs towards the basement, where no-one save the Chaotix were supposed to go. Shaking off the next wave of shock that someone had literally breezed through his defences, the crocodile lumbered after the trespassers, hearing with dread the sudden rumbling which meant the hidden door to the really secret room held in his house was being revealed. Skidding around the top of the descending stairs, Vector bellowed the first words that popped into his head,

"Hey, you can't…" Wait, what are they doing here?; his panicked eyes picked out first that the two figures down there, one with his hand twisting the defunct light switch back into place, hiding the button that let the wall at the bottom of the basement slid up and reveal the transporter Locke had installed to get the assistant guardians to the shrine pronto, were friends and already knew about the secret and that was a good thing. However, the reasons behind why Tails and Shadow were here, and what they were doing gate crashing like this, opened another myriad universe of questions but before he could even begin to articulate even the first of them, Shadow had answered,

"We can", Tails sprang forwards into the light beam, vanishing into a purple haze as the hedgehog finished, "and we are". With that, the former ultimate life-form made his own leap of faith and was lost to sight.

XXX

He threw himself backwards, half an inch as good as a mile as the boot that would have flattened his nose into his chin snapped down, the axe kick thumping into the ground heavily; overbalance, go! Reflexes honed over months of practise like this motivated him; Charmy sprang forwards, one arm in front guarding, the other cocked and abdomen already curving forwards, trying to bring his paralysing sting to bear on the exposed leg. He landed, but even as he did something crunched into his side, upsetting the landing, knocking him around; though his punch sailed home, the upwards jab of his sting sliced naught but thin air. He saw the leg that had previously dropped the axe kick flicker forwards; to his credit he got both arms in the way to bear the brunt of Rouge's kick, but at that range, with all her weight and muscles behind the strike, the lightweight bee didn't really have a prayer. Lifted clean off his feet, Charmy was propelled backwards as though shot out of a catapult; knowing by painful experience that he didn't have time to try and fly out of this, he braced for impact instead, the landing jarring the air from his lungs but not doing anything like serious damage. His head swam and he lay where he'd been thrown, closing his eyes until he could get some focus back; both he and his opponent knew the bout was as good as ended the second her kick landed.

"You've not tagged me like that for a while Charm", blinking his eyes open and grateful that the ceiling was now firmly fixed in one place, the bee hefted himself up onto his elbows, then back to his feet as Rouge tapped a spot just under her ribs, where the sequins of her heart-shaped jumpsuit melted into the blackness of the surrounding material, "nice shot". The bee shook his head,

"Nah, I was going for the sting; there was nothing behind it"; whatever else could be said about him, the bee was honest to a fault, something Rouge was keen to pick up on. Walking over to where he stood checking himself out, the bat offered some constructive criticism,

"You've been sparring with Knuckles too much", he looked over as she strode over, twisting her head to loosen her neck off a little, "you can't hold your guard too high against me; if your hand had been low when you'd jumped you'd have taken the knee strike better; even I can't get my knee high enough to tag your temple. You were quick though; you were onto that slip like lightning".

"You making a mistake's about the only chance I've got; if I don't take my chances I've had it" the bee added genteelly, poking a little fun at himself even if Rouge wasn't sure if that was actually true; though not quite in the same league as her and her husband, the youngest member of the Chaotix had a few neat tricks and, though basic, his rough technique could easily be improved with a little more training. I guess that tangle with Thunderhawk set something off; the guardian held back a smile, about to add another comment about his agility in the air when she saw his eyes widen, fixing on a point behind her as he shouted a hasty warning,

"Rouge, look out!"

She was half-turned, guard high and that was her undoing; someone shorter than she was steamed in under her arms with all the subtlety of a steam train. Off balance, the bat was fighting a losing battle for her balance, arms wind-milling and wings outstretched to their fullest extent, Rouge teetered on the brink of collapse, barely daring to roll her eyes down to see who'd smashed into her like this. Suddenly the crisis was over; a pair of hands pressed into her back and helped steady her; she rolled forwards, still with the warm, clinging weight on her front, looking over her shoulder to see Charmy step back, tipping her a swift wink as she rocked back to a firm base. Now what…?; it was at that point that she looked forwards and something black and huge reinforced the previous assault – Charmy had no other option save to leap aside as this time the bat didn't have a chance and, with a cacophony of screams and mingled yells of what he assumed was delight, the threesome fell to the floor with a crash.

XXX

There were people hugging her, at least two of them; she couldn't tell for sure because of at least three factors – for a start the close range shrieks of delirious joy were playing merry hell with her sensitive eardrums, for a second all she could see when she rolled her eyes down was a confused ball of black, red and orange, and for a third the combined weight on top of her had her pinned to the floor. It was as this realisation sank in that Rouge fired back into action; as kicking and trying to fight her way free in such close quarters was virtually impossible, she resorted to option number two,

"Get offa me!" The crushing mass on her chest suddenly lifted and she drew in an explosive gasp of air, thanking her stars that had worked even as she tried to squint upwards to see who was blocking out the light. Even as she tried though, something seized one of her hands and yanked up, pulling her dazedly to her feet and seeming to brush her down with almost indecent enthusiasm,

"Sorry, I'm so sorry", she managed to slap away the hands and jump back, only to stumble to a halt again as she finally took in her assailants,

"Shadow?" The hedgehog nodded, some kind of rabid fire in his eyes as he looked her up and down in apparent concern, much like, "Tails?" appeared to be as well. Even as she tried to make sense of this, both other Mobians approached again, paying about as much attention to Charmy as they would have to the average garden gnome.

"Sorry", they both repeated in unison before Tails took it upon himself to add something else, "we should have, oh how could we have…we might…"

"Might what?" The bat demanded, more than a little concerned with what to her seemed like a scenario gone mad, "what are you two lunatics raving about, and while we're on the subject, why are you here in the first place?"

"We just saw Knuckles", Shadow began, before he finally seemed to notice the bee stood on the sidelines and his eyes suddenly glowed once more, voice fierce as he demanded, "wait, have you been fighting?"

"Yeah, just some light sparring"; she never got any further than that as the black hedgehog exploded – it wasn't so much the volume that caught her out, it was the vast amounts of concern in his voice that managed that,

"How could you be so stupid?" He demanded, pointing at her with the finger of doom, "you could do all sorts of damage, fighting in your condition; you need to put your feet up and calm down before you hurt either yourself or the baby".

"Baby?" She repeated blankly, until all three heads turned at the sound of a sudden laugh; Charmy fell to his knees, slapping the floor as he realised, or at least thought he realised, what was going on,

"Baby", he chocked off until he could rein in his laughter somewhat, "you just met Knucks didn't yohohou – oh that echidna's useless". Oh no, he didn't; Rouge brought her hand to her forehead, suddenly seeing the same thing as Charmy and similarly falling apart in response as both Tails and Shadow paused, not quite seeing what they were doing wrong yet. In an attempt to find out, Tails asked the query,

"What's going on? Yeah we met Knucks, and he said pretty soon there was going to be another member of the family".

"And there is", the bat shook her head, chortling at her husband's catastrophic cock-up and secretly wondering how she could use it later to needle him, "but, oh did you get the wrong end of the stick".

"How though", Shadow was getting desperate by now and as such resorted to pleading, "Knuckles said he'd be getting a baby soon".

"Yeah but not from mehehehe", Rouge had to sit down as the hysteria deepened, giggling up at them the bat finally set them on the right track, "I'm not pregnant you prats, Lara-Le is".

For a second, there was silence, punctuated only by the chortles of the bat and bee and a soft,

"Oh", of mingled shock and understanding from Tails; almost as soon as this was gone from his lips, however, something else caught his attention like a vice. Looking down, Shadow could virtually see the excitement pouring back into the fox, energising him to the point where he was barely able to stand still, his muscles nearly humming with pent up energy, lips peeled back into a silent, mammoth grin,

"Lara", contrary to everything else about him, his voice was calm and level, "she's, and Wyn's going to be a father?"

"Well we hope so, although", Rouge's aqua eyes narrowed a little as a tiny smirk played over her lips, "when we found out, yesterday night, we did a little mental maths; unless we've gone horribly wrong the baby's due next spring; there's been something prenuptial between those two, and it wasn't written on any paper either".

"Nothing wrong with that", Charmy was quick to point out, though he couldn't wipe the grin off his face and shake his head at how the other two Mobians had got the story so catastrophically mixed up, "but yeah, they've got a bun…"

"No", Rouge cut the bee off, suddenly stern and seeming to fight off bad memories, "had enough of those from Vector; I swear, when the inevitable happens between me and Knucks, if he says I'm sprog-farming or in the pudding club even once I'm going to kick his tail so hard it'll scramble his grandchildren's eggs, and you're hopeless".

The last couple of words were a shout, directed at the short tunnel that had been excavated to accommodate the Chaotix's teleporting pad; a couple of seconds later, everyone else saw who they'd been directed at. With a gasp of air, Knuckles fell to his knees just inside the shrine of the Master Emerald and looked up, breath coming in laboured fits and starts as he tried to speak,

"If you'd have, let me finish", the guardian began, eyes settling on Shadow and the still virtually trembling Tails, "I was going to say I'm, going to get a baby brother, but", with a sigh of heavy fatalism, the echidna picked himself up and strode forwards towards where his wife stood smirking, "doubtless you now already know that". Shadow smiled back,

"Well yeah, we have been pointed in the right direction, but I have to ask", the black hedgehog stood tall, watching intently as the pair of guardians stood together and timing his question to perfection, "why hasn't the inevitable happened yet?"

"Hey", Rouge's warning was only half-hearted; linked her arm through her husband, she answered sweetly while Knuckles looked away slightly, still not completely confident talking like this, "we're trying".

"I'll vouch for that", all four Mobians span around at Charmy's outrageous declaration, "they're both very trying". Knuckles put his hands on his hips,

"Oh very funny buzz-boy; how long did your going out with Teri's friend last again?" Fortunately, the bee was spared having to answer by Tails; having held it in for as long as was Mobianly possible, the fox slowly began to pace away, back towards the teleporter, answering the unasked questions with the merest ghost of a whispered voice,

"I'm going to see them", he spoke without turning around, "I'm going to give my congratulations".

"I'll be right along Tails", Shadow called after him, the fox not even slowing down to show he'd heard as the black hedgehog saw an opportunity thrown in his path; if he could mould it right, he could pluck an aggravating thorn out of his side right now. Sliding closer, using the fact everyone was watching Tails' jerky movements as cover, Shadow whispered a terse instruction so quietly only one other Mobian could hear it; not sure quite what he was after and curious to know more, Rouge acted on it,

"Charmy", the bee looked around as the bat pointed to the tunnel Tails had disappeared down, "go after him, make sure he gets there quick; I'll cover the rest of this".

"You sure?"

"Yeah, now quick before he gets away"; relieved to be off work early, Charmy flew off down the passageway on his new mission, leaving Shadow with a clear field to ease his troubled mind.

XXX

As she heard the distinctive fizzing noise of the transporter discharging, Rouge turned for her explanation, trying to calculate why Shadow needed privacy with her and her husband; nothing she could think of was making much sense, so she looked forwards to hearing this with reasonable trepidation,

"All right, what's with the need to get the buzz-boy out the picture?" Knuckles looked around at her before realising what she meant; as his lilac eyes fixed onto Shadow as well, the hedgehog began,

"Well, er, I got something I think you should hear, but, um, it'd only really make sense to you; could be embarrassing".

"Is this blackmail?"

"No, no", Shadow raised his hands; even if said in jest, he had to make both guardians see this was a serious matter, "it's something to do with, well, it's complicated".

"Obviously", Knuckles interjected, already trying to come up with some explanation to Shadow's sudden outbreak of verbal jitters, "just, chill out and take your time".

"Oh great, it must be serious", Shadow managed to conjure up a smile, "Mr Military telling me to chill out – no, I mean it, right, er, what does the name Julie-Su mean to you?" For a second he thought he'd got away with it, but then Knuckles' exploded forwards, eyes hard as he finally put actions to the name,

"Her? The Dark Legionnaire, the one who…" he cast a shifty look back to Rouge, who was merely nodding as his reminder sorted out her own ideas, "…well, yes we know her name, but nothing else. What about it, and how do you know her?"

"Because she's living with me now".

XXX

The solemn silence that appeared to have descended was suddenly shattered forever as Knuckles convulsed, clapping a hand over his mouth as he sought to stop bursting out laughing,

"You?" The guardian pointed at the black hedgehog before shaking his head, "oh Shads man, you can't half pick them".

"No, and I mean this", the seriousness in Shadow's voice managed to cut off Knuckles mirth; the echidna sobered up and paid close attention as he carried on, "she's trying to get on now; she's out the Legion, in Echidnopolis and working for the EST".

"How…?" He raised his hand to Rouge's question,

"Not now, tell you later; all you need to know is that she knows you", he pointed at Knuckles, "are married, you showed her your wedding ring right?"

"Yeah, that's right".

"Fine, no problem there, but she also knows that I know you and you", he put heavy emphasis on the last two words, his finger roving to Rouge, resting right between her eyes like a gun barrel as he finally outlined the problem, "I haven't said who your wife is Knucks, but I can't keep it a secret forever – she's not dumb, she'll find out eventually. What should I do; should I let her know now or, I don't know".

The last words released Shadow's frustration – he'd gotten used to being sure in his own mind what he wanted to do, but now with this that trend had been well and truly bucked. He had to know what the guardians wanted him to do, otherwise he could, in the worst possible scenario, be putting their lives at risk. So he merely stood there, waiting for guidance, watching as Rouge conferred almost silently with Knuckles, the whispered words working to try and solve his problem for him and he was left in limbo. Eventually, the two heads broke apart and Rouge, easily the better diplomat of the two, stepped forwards a little, looking into Shadow's face as she spoke,

"Shads, listen up; this Julie-Su, you're sure she's left the Legion?"

"As sure as I can be", he said evasively even as he knew he couldn't answer that question with a hundred percent certainty despite Julie's good behaviour so far, "I know she's got, bad memories there, but she did say she knew Knuckles wouldn't be tempted to stray".

"Too right", bat and echidna spoke together, causing Shadow to laugh,

"Got him under your thumb Rouge?"

"My thumb now", she turned and looked up at her husband without fear, prodding him lightly in the chest as he gave Shadow a hang-dog look, "if I even suspect it'll be under the floorboards". Knuckles sniggered slightly as Shadow recomposed himself enough to carry on,

"Well yeah, but anyway, what do you think, or what do you want me to say?"

There were a few minutes silence, each Mobian reflecting ideas off the other two; more to break the silence than anything, Rouge sighed heavily and gave Shadow the nod,

"Boy Shads, you really got a tough one this time; we gotta be sure she's safe, but at the same time it's not fair on her to keep a secret like this – not fair on you either for that matter, having to pick and choose when you see us".

"Tell me about it; that's why I've not been around as much as I'd have liked to be", the black hedgehog held up his hands, "had to check she was all right; her job's keeping her occupied and, well, she seems to be getting on a lot better, but she's still getting it, you know, the odd looks, nasty whispers, that sort of thing". Rouge nodded in commiseration,

"Been there, done that, just like you have, but it's got to be worse for her; to most of Echidnopolis she's one of the enemy, we just look weird".

"Some weirder than others" Knuckles chipped in, eliciting a scowl from his wife before he finally offered a suggestion, "but I think I've got an idea; listen Shads", before either of them could ask, he'd carried on, "if I've got this right you'll get a call later, from Amy, ah no, no go – Ames doesn't need that right now". Shadow quickly stepped in before the echidna scrapped the idea, the best and, more to the point, the only one so far,

"Wait, she knows about Amy, and the Bloodstone; I set the story straight with her. Amy knows I told her as well, but they've not actually met properly yet".

"Right", Shadow virtually saw Knuckles absorb that information and it cheered him immensely as he finished, "so in that case, if it goes right, you'll get a call from her later; just leave it to me".

"Leave what to you?" Rouge tried to look her husband square in the eye but he twisted his head away, deaf to her demands to know more, saying only,

"Believe me, I can handle it", to all criticism, even when Shadow asked for an idea of what he had up his sleeve. Realising this was Knuckles being stubborn and that he didn't have a chance of getting through to him now, the black hedgehog changed tack slightly,

"Why the secrecy?" The echidna grinned as he pointed at Rouge,

"Because trying to figure it out's going to drive her mad"; the bat's jaw dropped a split-second before her stance changed and she threatened,

"Tell me or I'll beat it out of your miserable hide".

"Sorry Rouge, sweet talk won't help you here". She raised a single finger, circling with the echidna; Shadow caught a glimpse of her face and chortled at the ambivalent look of annoyance and long-suffering humour there as she made her next challenge,

"I'll use it; the GPP".

"You do and I'll make you scream when I get hold of your ears, or your feet"; remembering what had transpired last time that had happened, Shadow wasn't surprised to see Rouge stamp her feet and shudder even as she continued to stalk the guardian.

"I'll leave you to tip; call tonight right, any time when?" Knuckles turned to answer and Rouge pounced, shouting as her hands flew to her husband's neck,

"As soon as I let him go; tell me or elehhhey!" Knuckles span on the ground, flipping his wife down into a dirt struggle; Shadow took his cue to leave, pausing only to shout,

"Get a room", before leaping onto the teleporter, away from any potential verbal retaliation.

XXX

As the door opened, he could easily see the brown echidna on the other side knew why he was here; extending his hand, Shadow gripped Wyn's paw gently and spoke with sincerity,

"Congratulations Wynmacher"; as he couldn't think of anything else to say, the hedgehog said nothing more, merely beaming as the father to be stood aside, pointing down his hall towards a door on the right and saying quietly,

"Lara's down there, with Tails", his smile broadened as he spoke again, "somehow I knew he'd be the first here; he's done more for us than anyone".

"And believe me, he'd do it again", Shadow knew this for certain; his friend's reaction to the news of the pregnancy would have proved that to anyone, "he thinks the world of both of you".

"Likewise us for him, Lara especially", Wyn added as he closed the door behind the black hedgehog, "he brought her the news that Knuckles was getting married, that would've been enough, but then", the echidna broke off; in his eyes Shadow could see memories dancing like a lambent flame – in his heart and mind Wyn was once more lost, travelling in a world he had never thought he would see, the woman he loved by his side as he took the chance of a lifetime in both hands. Leaving him where he was for the moment, once more in his memories, Shadow slipped down the hallway, carefully, almost reverentially easing the door open, letting his suddenly moist eyes take in the scene before him.

Tails was sat in one of the seats, watching as he walked in, hand raised in greeting even if the fox already knew Shadow was looking past him, towards where Lara was sat calmly, looking up from her book as she realised someone had come in,

"Shadow?" His tongue was suddenly heavy; it was an effort to return the greeting,

"Lara", she stood to greet him and, like a nail to a magnet, he stepped forwards, gently taking her in his arms and holding softly , whispering the rest of his words into her ear, "Knuckles told me, I'm so happy for you, for both of you". She twitched to get away and he let her go, eyes falling to the midriff of her dress,

"Not yet", he looked up at her laughter, "got a few more months before I start looking like I've swallowed a beach ball". Shadow chuckled as Tails answered from his seat,

"I'm sure it won't be that bad".

"It was with Knuckles", Lara held her stomach as a grimace of remembered discomfort squirmed over her face, "he was like carrying a king sized bowling ball, and don't even get me started on the labour".

"No fear of that", Shadow assured her, really not wanting to hear about that and thankfully his bacon was saved as Wyn appeared in the doorway, striding over to his wife and planting a kiss on her lips. Shadow averted his eyes slightly, the couple needing privacy, before he glanced at his watch and realised he was already running late. Clearing his throat, he made ready to get underway,

"Okay, I'm afraid I've got to make a move; don't worry, I'll see myself out", he took the cue to head for the door, only to look over his shoulder at another shout he hadn't been expecting,

"Hey, wait up"; Tails hurried over himself, on the verge of asking something else before Wyn headed him off,

"Where are you off? I thought you were spending the night here".

"Well, I was", the fox answered uncertainly, looking from one prospective parent to the other, "but, well, after this, I thought…"

"You thought wrong Miles; there's no need for you to move out, not yet anyway". Lara had tracked the struggle in the fox's mind with relative ease – he had such an honest personality it was almost impossible not to read his thoughts from his face. Tails swallowed before, slowly, as though still unsure if he was doing the right thing, he turned back around, moving further into the living room, towards the two echidnas; Shadow realised what had been silently decided and gave a thumbs-up from behind his younger friends head before making his own noiseless path to the door. As he headed for his own home, he turned his mind to the conundrum Knuckles had left him in; what's he thinking of this time, and what's Amy got to do with it?

XXX

Saved by the bell; she was just about to really let rip and tell the hedgehog in no uncertain terms that, if he carried on acting so generally restless as he was now, she was going to make him sit still by any means necessary, up to and including breaking his kneecaps. However, as the crisp note of the phone sounded out over the silent living room, Julie was forced to wait a few more minutes until he'd finished conversing with Sonic; still, what's a couple of seconds in the grand scheme of things? She glanced up as he transferred the call from audio to the screen that dominated one side of their relaxation area; it was as she did that she realised the call wasn't from Sonic, as she'd originally expected – instead, the face that beamed like a sunrise and greeted merrily belonged to Amy Rose.

"Hey Shads", the pink hedgehog's eyes rolled over to her and a large, virtual hand waved a short greeting, "hi Julie".

"All right", the echidna responded, a little more at ease around the supposed vanquisher of the Legion's original grandmaster following a couple of conversations with the hedgehog over the phone. Nodding again, Amy turned her attention back to Shadow,

"Right, I'll come straight to the point; in honour of my first couple of months of student life", her bubbly grin made Shadow's normally sterner face twitch into something resembling a smile, "Sonic and I have decided to stage a bit of a get together; interested?"

"So far", Shadow ran a finger across his lower lip before adding carefully, "keep talking".

"Glad to hear it", Amy rubbed her hands together in apparent glee, outlining her idea, "fortnight from now, long weekend down here, sorry but you might have to find your own lodgings, unless you fancy kipping in the Tornado again; I've still got my phone". Shadow shivered as she flourished said appliance before the screen, not aware of the sudden interest being shown behind him as he answered,

"Shouldn't be a problem, get Tails to scout out some digs; barring catastrophes, see you there. Oh, one last thing, not sure if you know, but Knuckles said…?"

"We know, and we've all said well done; speaking of the devil, he asked me to pass on the message", her brow furrowed for a minute, looking like she was trying to put two and two together and coming up with five, "well, it makes no sense to me, but he said 'think about the invites' – oh, you're welcome to come as well Julie, if you want to". Looking up at the mention of her name and realising she needed to make a snap decision, the former Dark Legionnaire postponed the decision for now,

"Err, leave it with me, I'll, have to check my calendar".

"No problem, listen, got to go before Sonic gets narky about the phone bill; bye Shadow, see you in a few weeks".

"I sure hope so Ames; see you". As the connection was cut, Shadow, having already decoded the apparently cryptic message Knuckles had passed onto him; now all I have to do is figure out how to break it to Jules.

XXX

That was nice of her; not being able to remember being invited to anything before in her recent past, Julie was very seriously tempted to take up the hedgehog's offer, but at the same time, would Amy feel comfortable with a Dark Legionnaire around? More to distract her thoughts from the decision she now had to make than anything, she turned to her housemate,

"Well, that's you out of my hair for a while in a few weeks"; Shadow's red eyes narrowed as he took up the gauntlet,

"Maybe, but I get the feeling you're going to be hanging on my coat tails the whole time, but seriously", he cut down any attempted comeback before it could spring up, "there's a bit more to this than you know Julie".

"Pray enlighten me".

"Well for a start, you'll be meeting Amy face to face".

"Funny that, it's her party after all". Shadow conceded the hit; he'd have to let her feel positive for a while as he tried to soften the next blow as much as possible,

"Quite, but Knuckles will be there as well", he saw her face darken at the guardian's name, still a sore point, but nothing compared to his next words, "and so will his wife".

There was a very long, very uncomfortable silence; Shadow had to grin and bear it as he knew he had to let Julie make the decision and figure out what she was going to do next. The echidna was silent for a few minutes before suddenly looking up, fixing his face with her strange, colour-changing eyes as she spoke softly, menacingly,

"You planned this didn't you?"

"Err"; not quite, Knuckles did; Shadow wasn't quite sure what to say to this, so resorted to a shake of the head at the untruth of the rumour. Julie chuckled,

"Don't deny it; if it wasn't you directly you had a hand in it".

"That's a bit closer the truth, but there it is", Shadow deftly flicked the ball back into her court, "take it or leave it. Take your time in deciding, but don't take too long", he broke off to scowl majestically as one of his pet hates resurfaced and his voice rose to an infuriated shout, "and put your hand over your mouth!" Recovering from her yawn, Julie smiled up at him challengingly,

"Ah, why bother? If you don't want to see, look away, not like you did last time". All right Ms never-mention-how-we-met-again; Shadow made up his mind as he stalked past, avoiding her smirking gaze as he schemed madly; I'll fix you good and proper.

XXX

She was as predictable as clockwork and thus it took only a slight tweaking of his normal routine to spring the trap; he was ready and in position in no time, husbanding his carefully concealed surprise on the table in front of him. The trap is set; the black hedgehog fixed his eyes on the door leading into the hallway, standing slightly as sudden noises from the other side made his sensitive ears quiver with excitement; and the game is afoot!

Julie-Su was not and would in all probability never be a morning person; as she grudging conceded that getting something into her virtually empty stomach was a more pressing concern than resting for a little while longer. Muttering under her breath, the echidna eased herself out from under the covers, pulling on her clothes bad-temperedly and wiping her eyes clear – not really fussed about her appearance at this early stage in the morning, she pulled open her bedroom door, heading blearily for the kitchen, lungs dragging in more air to get her body in full working order. It was in this half-asleep state, completely off-guard as she pushed open the kitchen door, that it hit her square in the face. Literally.

A wave of numbing coldness slapped her right in her open, yawning mouth, drowned out a fraction of a second later by the explosion of shock from all over her system, traumatised lungs releasing all her remaining air in a gushing gasp as her eyes bulged at the sudden freezing, numbing water that was now tricking through her muzzle fur in freezing, Artic rivers. Through these wide-open eyes, she saw Shadow, whistling cheerfully, deposit the now-empty glass on the side, wave a hearty good morning and then move past her; she pivoted on the spot, watching him leave, unable to do anything as a frantic bout of internal politicking was taking place. Her brain was demanding oxygen as supplies, in the event of the recent calamity, were at a perilously low level, while the lungs, clearly remembering what had happened last time they'd exposed themselves to the harsh outdoors, resolutely refused to run that risk again; all they were doing now was puffing out the last few scraps of remaining atmosphere still inside them in short, uncontrolled bursts. Eventually, however, as her head began to lighten, they had to cave in and she heaved in the life-giving air, gasping it down and running her hands through her face at the same time, rubbing the last of the icy water away before it could get her top any wetter than it already was. Right, well, I'm not as wet as I was, I think I can breath again now…; with her body finally back under control, Julie remembered with a sudden growl that there was someone around who was, she could hear, far too cheerful for this time in the morning; …SHADOW!

XXX

He heard the footsteps coming and was prepared for them; as the door to the living room exploded open, he calmly turned his head as Julie exposed her teeth in a bare-fanged snarl,

"You've got to the count of three…"

"There are a lot of things I like to see in the morning Jules"; that got her; he knew he had an advantage now, the confusion in her eyes proved she hadn't been expecting that and he pressed it for all it was worth, "I like to see a nice sunrise, a mugful of hot, steaming coffee", he looked at her now, tone hardening as his expression became more sardonic, "your tonsils do not fall into that category".

"You're telling me", Julie growled after a second of thinking about his words, "that you half-drowned me with a cup of water…"

"Because I'm sick of telling you to cover your mouth when you yawn, it's disgusting".

"I see", her voice had fallen to a deadly whisper; without another word, she turned and marched out, leaving Shadow a little perplexed as to what she meant by that; not really wanting to leave for work on bad terms with his flat mate, the black hedgehog headed for the door and called around it,

"Jules, I'm sorry". The echidna stopped and span at him

"Oh no you're not, not yet anyway", she pointed at him and declared in a tone dripping with venom, "Shadow, this is war". War, what are you on about?; before he could ask, however, Julie had vanished into the bedroom.

It was only half an hour later, as Shadow pulled his foot out of his shoe and watched with horrified fascination the cold custard dripping from the end of his sock, that he finally realised what kind of conflict he was now engaged in. And, as he wiped his clothing clean in the bathroom, it was one he silently swore he was not going to back down from, and one he was going to win.

A/N: Woohoo, prank warfare! The possibilities are endless…