I'd like to give a special thanks to fellow writer Nothin'Fancy- who beta-read this chapter and made it so much better as a result. Please check out her works as she's an amazing writer.

You Did What?!

Amy hummed a small ditty to herself as she rode her bike through the city of Westopolis.

"More like Wet-opolis," Amy thought as she rode carefully through the slick streets, "A shame it's been raining for a few days now..."

Even now, while it wasn't pouring, the rain fell in a steady flow from the sky, drenching everything and everyone one. Anyone crazy enough to be outside was either wearing a raincoat or had an umbrella or both. It was the beginning of February and while it was late winter, it was already starting to warm up in the United Federation.

So why was she riding her bike through the slick city roads in this weather?

As Amy hummed a piano song under her breath she couldn't help the smile that blossomed on her face. Yes she was in a plastic poncho but she wore a bright yellow tennis dress with daisies sewn along the hem. Rather than her usual rain boots she decided on bright white sneakers to match her more sporty look. She biked through the cold and wet with a contrary smile on her face, looking like an out-of-season dandelion.

She was finally going to see Shadow today.

It'd been a few weeks since she'd seen last seen him, and while they'd made plans for a 'date' (Amy couldn't help but roll her eyes at this word but, frankly she had no better one for it) to go bike riding together through the countryside. Unfortunately that had been postponed to today, mostly because he was too busy dealing with a problem with his nursery. Even as it rained cats and dogs, she was not going to squander this opportunity. She giggled slightly when she thought back to a phone conversation they'd had almost 2 weeks ago. He'd sounded particularly annoyed, and she could hear the sounds of garden equipment in the background.

"Some sort of pine rot," he'd growled at the time, "Some idiot decided to sneak in a currant bush near my Mobian pines and now they're dying."

"Aww, I'm sorry," she'd said, "Do you want any help?"

"No. I have to babysit these buffoons and they have experience... apparently. I appreciate it but... WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!? STOP MANHANDLING THAT AND...Ugh, Amy, I have to call you back. We'll try again another time."

"Then he went on that mission to wherever in Yourashia," Amy grumbled, "He still hasn't told me what that was about. I can't believe he had the nerve to tell me that was 'classified'. All I know is, he better not have been the one responsible for the nonsense between the Dragon and Monkey clans. It took days to get them to calm down about that stupid fake relic. What a mess..."

Amy gave a frustrated sigh as she stared off into the distance, where G.U.N Public Interface building stood in all it's imposing glory. She eyed the building with an odd mixture of anticipation and unease. The G.U.N had made its own marks for and against the Freedom Fighters over the years- from trying to steal pieces of the Master emerald ("Twice, Amy murmured under her breath), to Blaze's Sol emeralds, to trying to arrest Sonic for Shadows crimes.

"Not to mention the whole Ark and Black Arms debacles," she thought with a small growl, "How can he keep working for these dingbats, anyway? Everything they touch turns into a complete..."

As if on cue, a car coming up from behind her started honking as it pushed into the bike lane. As she swerved out she growled and swerved back, "Watch where you're going you JERK!"

She kicked out at the car, hoping to just get their attention and keep them in their own lane.

This... didn't happen.

No instead she managed to dent the car, sending it spinning clear to the other side of the road and crash it into an unfortunately placed fire hydrant. Amy froze in abject horror as water spewed from the hydrant and two angry humans clambered out of the twisted metal death trap. She nearly had a heart attack when they flashed their badges- "G.U.N" in great big black letters to match the crumpled heap of black and white on the side of the road. She brought her bike to a screeching halt and made her way to the car with her hands up.

"Hey! Is everyone alri...?"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" one of the agents roared, "YOU FUCKING FURRY! GET YOUR TAILED ASS OVER HERE AND EXPLAIN YOURSELF!"

Blood buzzed through her ears and Amy was enveloped in an aura the likes of which these agents had never seen before. Her eyes took on an evil glint that froze the agents where they stood as she pulled her hammer out from behind her. She stomped her way towards the agents with a low growl on her breath.

"What did you CALL ME!?"


Amy watched as Shadow reached slowly for his temples, her own exasperation rising with his.

"You did what...?" he asked incredulously.

"I made them take a good long look at my... diplomatic immunity badge."

"On your hammer," he growled, "And you just had to show them with the damn thing."

"It was the safest place for it, really," Amy explained, "My hammer has its own special zone where it can stay safely until I..."

"I don't care about that," Shadow shook his head, "I care about what you did to the G.U.N agents."

"What I did!?" she cried, "You think this is my fault!?"

"What else am I supposed to think? Look at these pictures!"

He flipped over extensive pictures of the damages, "Seriously, Amy, into a fire hydrant!?"

"Are you kidding me?! They hit me first!" Amy screeched, "They tried to run me over. Then they had the gall to arrest me and bring me here for defending myself!?"

She motioned angrily to the room around her- a 10 X 10 concrete box with a large mirror that faced her. Metal handcuffs clinked against her bracelets and caught against the loop in the heavy metal table in front of her. The table rose as Amy pulled on the cuffs- pantomiming her frustrations at Shadow while he looked on entirely unamused.

"You're not supposed to defend yourself against a Guardian Unit of Nations," Shadow argued, "You're not supposed to kick a car when it's about to hit you, either."

"What was I supposed to do?!" Amy asked incredulously, "Just watch them run me over with a big 'OH NO!' look on my face?"

"You're supposed to move the damn bike. I've seen you fight, you can't tell me you weren't quick enough to move out of the way," Shadow retorted, "They were on a mission. If they wanted to they could charge you with obstruction of justice."

Amy rolled her eyes, "Justice? Mission? Ha! Is that what they're calling coffee runs now?"

Shadow rose an eyebrow in disbelief, then shuffled through the papers in the folder in front of him.

Amy watched in smug glee as Shadow froze and his own dark aura encompassed him. His head fell to his hands and he cursed under his breath.

"Why would you know about that?"

"When I was getting checked in one of your lieutenants got very vocal about how it shouldn't so hard to grab some Stella-Does," Amy smiled as she steepled her hands in front of her, "All while I was being unfairly detained for getting hit by a car."

"For hitting a government owned vehicle," Shadow groused through gritted teeth, "That was in the middle of a supply run."

Amy's ears pulled back and her mouth fell open, "You're really on their side? Even though it's their fault?!"

"I'm not on anyone's side until I get to the bottom of this," Shadow growled half-heartedly, "Where's your diplomat badge?"

"I gave it to Agent... whatever his name was. The redhead that called me a furry," she retorted, "Along with my hammer."

"It wasn't entered into evidence. Are you sure it was attached to your hammer?"

Amy glared at Shadow but raised her hand. With a small pop and bit of smoke, her piko-piko hammer appeared. She gracefully swung the hammer until she gave a small growl, "Oh. What do you know. My papers mysteriously disappeared Fancy that."

Shadow glared back at her, "Seriously? Stealing evidence right in front of me?"

Amy slammed the hammer down, crumpling the table like a soda can. Amy's eyes blazed as Shadow scrambled out of the way of the carnage. The handcuffs snapped, ripping her hands free of their confines. She didn't care about any of that. Her rage was squarely focused on Shadow the God-Damned Hedgehog, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? YOU ASKED ME FOR IT."

"I asked for your damn papers, not your hammer!" Shadow yelled, his snarl intensifying as he faced Amy down.

"So I'm just the bad guy here?" Amy cried, "Even though I'm the one who was almost hit by a car and my badge was clearly stolen from me I'm the one getting the third degree.

Amy huffed, and looked away from him, her expression taking on a pained look, "I can understand others treating me this way but you… I thought you were my friend!"

"I'M AT WORK!" he roared, "THIS IS MY JOB. THEY are my top priority. I am trying to help you as best as I can, but you've done NOTHING to support your case. All you've done is act like a child since you got here!"

Tears pricked Amy's eyes but she refused to let them fall, "I want my phone call, I'm done talking to you."

Shadow glared back, but Amy could see some of the fight leaving as his shoulders fell and his ears pulled back, "You... ugh. No one is entitled to a phone call here."

Even as he said that he reached behind him and tossed something small her way. When she caught it she realized it was his personal cell phone. Amy watched with mixed feelings as Shadow picked up her hammer and strode carefully past the wreckage and into the next room. The silence Shadow left her in was deafening and she could feel angry tears welling up in her eyes again. She would have let them fall, but for the muffled shuffling she heard on the other side of the mirror. She'd forgotten there were spectators on the other side. She practically growled at the mirror and turned her attention back to the phone. She only remembered one person's number and she was not looking forward to this call.

She took a deep breath and slowly dialed the number. When she saw it was ringing, she brought the phone up to her mouth and paced around the room. Amy eventually made her way towards the corner furthest away from the door and closer to the mirror. When she heard the line connect she felt herself slide down the wall and into a ball.

"Hey Sally, it's Amy... I need some help..."


"You awake?"

Amy flinched and immediately regretted everything. Her butt was both crushed and numb from sitting in the same position for so long and her tail especially felt like it was ready to disconnect altogether. Her back unfurled gently with so much protest she could swear they heard the cracking in the hallway. Still she fought against it to stretch out and shoot Shadow the God-Damn Hedgehog a glare.

"Here to interrogate me some more?" she groused, "Going to bring out the thumb screws this time?"

Shadow rolled his eyes, "That was a shit-show, not an interrogation. I brought you something to eat."

Suddenly the smell of tomatoes and cheese filled the air and Amy's mouth watered. Her eyes widened with hope as she saw two cardboard boxes in Shadow's hands held low underneath the mirror and close to her face. She hadn't eaten all day and the ride from the outskirts of the city was a long one. She almost reached out for a box when her eyes narrowed, "What's the catch?"

Shadow's eye twitched, "We're friends. It's a peace offering."

"Are we?" Amy's arms folded, "You've got a funny way of showing how friendly you are."

"You're the one who destroyed a table while I was sitting at it." he retorted, "And frankly you have no idea what strings I had to pull to be in the room with you in the first place; much less a second time."

His glare burned into her, and her mouth which had opened in protest at the start of his lecture, shut and she looked away with a scowl. His eyes softened and Amy noticed his gaze fell to her clothes. She looked down and saw that she wasn't looking as peppy as before. Her yellow dress was crumpled and dirty, her shoes scuffed and she could feel in her very pores how tired she probably looked. He sighed, and thrust the cardboard box towards her

"Do you want the pizza or not?"

Amy's face softened at that, "What do you mean by 'strings'? What'd you have to do?"

He rolled his eyes in response, "Will you calm down and eat if I tell you?"

Amy gave the pizza the side eye. A part of her was tempted to say no and make him march back to his evil army.

Yet, as she looked into Shadow's eyes, she realized he was looking at her the same way he did when he asked about why'd she'd decimated a forest. Amy gave a frustrated groan and held out her hand for the pizza. Shadow gently handed her a box and Amy was both pleased and gutted to see it was a pear, arugula and Gorgonzola pizza- her absolute favorite.

"Of course he'd remember something like that," she thought as she nearly choked on her first bite. The guilt and warm buzz from his thoughtfulness was making it hard to swallow the pizza. She felt the bite go down like a piece of lead and she was hard pressed to go for a second bite. Although she hated being treated like a criminal, Shadow was here for her.

She watched as Shadow slyly looked towards the mirror, his ears twitching towards it before he slid down beside her. She felt his warmth so close to her and she shivered in contrast. As she leaned into his side, she realized if the roles were reversed, she'd never bring food to a suspect they were questioning, even one she knew as a friend, let alone go out of her way to bring them their favorite meal. The only one she would even consider that for was Sonic.

"He's so compassionate," she thought forlornly, "And here I am… making him look like a stupid bleeding-heart for helping me out."

She watched as Shadow opened his own box- a simple pepperoni pizza -after wolfing down his first slice he handed Amy a bottle of water. Without glancing up he sipped at his own bottle he gave a satisfied sigh before turning to Amy,

"They found your badge in Turner's desk."

"I knew it!" she hissed, "Who's Turner?"

"The redhead that called you a furry," he smirked, "A new recruit, fresh from one of those upper class military academies. He wasn't happy when I found it."

Amy snorted, "He shouldn't have stolen my badge then! So I'm off the hook?"

"Not until your 24 hours are up," Shadow said plaintively, "You're being officially detained for trashing our interrogation room in front of the higher ups."

"After keeping me locked up for something that wasn't my fault!?"

Shadow gave a low growl and his voice got progressively louder, "You're lucky that's all they're doing. I had to beg like an absolute idiot to the Commander himself, then when that didn't work..."

Shadow stopped, sighed, and lowered his voice, "I had to let his grandson back into my nursery. He's the idiot who brought the currants into the Pine enclosure."

Amy stopped chewing. She met Shadows eyes and gave a hard swallow, "You mean the pine rot was his fault... and you let him back in for me?"

Shadow blushed and returned his attention back to his pizza, "You weren't helping your case. Someone had to."

Amy flinched and felt the tears prickling her eyes again. Her ears fell back towards her head as she whispered, "I'm sorry I said you weren't my friend. You didn't have to do all this for me. I'm just mad that they threw me in here and made you go through all this... nonsense."

Shadow paused, carefully considering his words before continuing slowly, "The G.U.N isn't... perfect. They get terrible information at times and it's full of people with their own best interests at heart. They're idiots, but they're idiots with good intentions. No one should be above the law, not you, your friends, and especially not anyone within our ranks."

Amy allowed the words to soak in for a moment before she gave a sigh, "Speaking of... what happened to Agent Turner?"

"Suffice to say he no longer represents G.U.N."

Amy nearly choked on her water, "You fired him?!"

"I did say no one was above the law," he smirked, "He drove recklessly through the streets and nearly hit a high ranking diplomat and soldier while she was following the laws of the land. Then insulted her and instigated a fight, then hid evidence when he realized he was in the wrong."

His ears perked up as if he remembered something. He pulled a thick and heavy rectangle from inside his gloves. When he handed it to Amy, she realized it was her diplomatic immunity badge. She traced the sigil of the Acorn kingdom for a moment before folding it gently and placing it in her own pocket. She gave her own wistful sigh as she took another slice of pizza. Shadow caught her look and - curiosity getting the better of him - asked, "Did you manage to get a hold of your friends?"

Amy nodded, "Sally's not too happy about it. Not like she has much of a choice but to help me get out."

Shadow snorted, "Why? Afraid of how it'll look with a Freedom Fighter in jail?"

Amy rolled her eyes, "More like a failed princess in jail."

Shadow froze and when Amy turned to look at him she saw a look of total confusion take him over. A part of her wanted to laugh at his expression- she'd never seen him so off-kilter before. Another felt even worse for not sharing this with him. She leveled him with her own blank stare, "Did I... really never tell you why I have diplomatic immunity?"

"I assumed it was because you were one of the original Freedom Fighters."

"I'm not and no," Amy gave a derisive laugh and took another bite of her pizza, "I officially joined after the whole Ark thing. But I've had diplomatic immunity since the Kingdom started gaining more of its territory and reaching out to other countries for support against Eggman. I think that was... three years before that? Like a year after I became a ward of the kingdom."

Shadow's brow furrowed, "You're... a ward of the kingdom? Why would that make you a princess?"

"It doesn't, my parents did though. I'm an orphan," Amy answered, "Well not really. My parents disowned me when I was... seven? A little before I met Sonic, somewhere around there."

Shadow's eyes widened and his fists clenched. He shook his head in disbelief before demanding,

"They did what!?"

"It's… a long story. I... don't like to talk about it," Amy murmured, her eyes downcast as she tried to banish the frenzied sobs of her seven year-old self, "It's way too much to get into now. Maybe another time."

Shadow looked like he was about to argue but paused and decided against it, "When you're ready to tell me your story, I'll tell you mine. We can decide who's is worse then."

Amy tilted her head, "I... don't think you have told me yours. But I know about the accident and..."

"It wasn't an accident," Shadow interrupted, "But we can get into that later…"

The door swung open to reveal a dark woman with wiry black hair bound back in a tight bun. She looked bemused at the two hedgehogs sitting so close in the corner of the floor out of sight from the mirror.

"Agent Shadow," she barked, her sharp dark eyes flashing in annoyance, "I don't remember getting the memo about feeding the prisoners."

"Suspects," Shadow retorted cooly, "And I don't remember asking your opinion, Captain Fondante. What do you want?"

She glared back at him, "The Commander ordered your... girlfriend's release. Ms. Rose is free to go."

Shadow growled, "Then you're dismissed, Captain."

She smirked and with a mocking salute she left the room. Amy groaned as she struggled to get up. Shadow held out his hand and pulled her up when she obliged, "Tch, girlfriend. Just because we're both hedgehogs doesn't mean we have to be together."

Amy snorted as she stretched and posed, "Please, you'd be lucky to have me as a girlfriend."

Shadow rolled his eyes, "Yes, because rescuing you from incarceration is exactly what'd I'd like to do with my limited free time."

"But you did..." Amy teased in a sing-song voice, "My hero~"

Shadow growled but Amy was feeling so light from her new found freedom, that she couldn't help but laugh at how red he got, "Next time you can sit in a cell and rot for all I care!"

"I basically did," Amy grumbled as they made their way to the lobby, "There goes our day, huh?"

"Not like we could have had much of a day. Why'd you bring a bicycle?"

"You said 'bring a bike,'" she mocked in a deep voice as she threw up quotation marks with her hands.

"Yes, a bike, as in a motorbike. Not that toy you brought with you. You said you knew how to ride one." he retorted in exasperation, choosing to ignore her little quip.

"No, you asked if I could ride a bike. You never said anything about a motorcycle!" Amy groaned, "And that's NOT a toy! Tails built that one just for me!"

"Please! Any child could ride one of those. It takes a real rider to ride a hog."

"As if! I could ride circles around that thing!"

"Is that a challenge?" he smirked, a delightfully evil grin splayed across his face.

"YOU'RE ON!" Amy cried, "First one up Mount Freedom pays for the next..."

"Ahem."

They both swung towards the coughing and saw a not-so-happy Princess Sally, arms folded and eyebrow raised in askance. The two hedgehogs suddenly remembered where they were. Amy blushed and bashfully kicked imaginary rocks while Shadow crossed his arms and looked away. Sally gave her own sigh and set her hands on her hips, "You two will have to take a rain check on that one. Amy. We're leaving."

Amy gave a nervous giggle before turning to Shadow, "I'll call you when I can..."

Shadow stared back, his own blush bright enough to break from underneath his dark colored muzzle. Rather than say anything he gave a small huff and motioned her away. Amy smiled in response and waved goodbye. She trotted after Sally, her hands folded gently in front of her as they made their way out of the building. Amy looked up and realized that despite how gloomy and dark the clouds looked, the rain had stopped. She smiled, even as Sally led her towards a car with a dark glower pinned to her face. The stern look didn't faze the young hedgehog as Amy could tell that Sally was putting on an act. It was confirmed when they both sat in the car and the atmosphere immediately lightened up.

"I'm glad you're safe," Sally said with the warm smile, "What did you and Shadow talk about?"

"Nothing too revealing, " Amy murmured, her own guilty look taking over her face, "Did... you have to give up anything big?"

"Not as much as I thought I would," Sally murmured, "It actually worked out pretty well in my favor..."

"How?"

Sally paused then shook her head, "Just a simple tech trade. Once they found your badge in someone else's desk, so they didn't have much ground to stand on..."

"Oh... good," Amy murmured, "Thank you for saving me. I'm... glad you have my back."

Sally smiled and patted the younger girl's hand, "You're my friend. I'll always have your back."


Earlier

Sally sat stoically in front of the Commanders desk, both as still and stately as statues. It wasn't until Commander Towers gave a small sigh that Sally gave her own.

"I'm afraid I can't release Amy to you," he started, "Her crimes are rather... substantial."

"You said the same thing about Sonic's crimes eight years ago." Sally smirked, "Do you recall how that ended?"

"Are you suggesting you and your friends are willing to break her out by force?" the Commander asked incredulously, "That hardly seems diplomatic of you."

Sally waved her hand dismissively, "Nothing so crude. Although if you reference your file on the Prison Island incident you may find that this wouldn't be Amy's first jail break."

"And you're right, my methods tend towards the more... persuasive," she demurred as she reached into her purse with a smirk, "I'm afraid Amy will have to sit and wait a moment. But while I'm here, I do have a question about something more... interesting."

She had to keep a full on grin from breaking out on her face when the Commander saw her pull the Mantis Knight out of her pocket. He froze and Sally watched with glee as he struggled to keep a straight face.

"I found this in my personal quarters in the palace," Sally explained, her voice even with only a hint of malice laced into it,

"When my team managed to break into it and figure out the programming, we realized with horror that it was meant to be not just an monitoring system, but an offensive mech. Can you imagine the demented mind that could come up with something like that?"

The Commander rapidly blinked and his eyes flitted back and forth as though searching for an answer. After a moment his eyes steadied as did his slightly shaking breath. He steepled his hands and replied, "One would normally suspect the Doctor of such things."

"I thought so too," Sally conceded, "But when we followed the path of video stream- and you can imagine my fury when I found it was recording me in real time for Gods know how long- it led us to the strangest of places..."

The look she aimed at the Commander was much harder now. However to her disappointment, Towers didn't even seem to flinch under her gaze. She held it there for a few moments before a derisive laugh escaped his lips, "Is that all you want? You want me to release Ms. Rose in exchange for your… discretion?"

"Quietly, yes. I understand that's a large request. Still I'd hate to think about what the rest of the United Federation will think... Just imagine their reaction to you wrongfully accusing my ward of excessive property damage. And the espionage in a young bride's private quarters. The political nightmare of such a thing..."

"You've made your point, your Highness," Towers hissed as he held up his hand in surrender, "I'll send the order now. Was there anything else you wanted of me?"

Sally regarded the Mantis Knight in her hand before placing her eyes squarely on the Commander once more, "This was the only one I've found. Am I going to find more?"

Towers paused for what Sally deemed the appropriate amount of time before he said, "I'd be shocked if you did."

Sally stared him down before she crushed the one in her hands. She stood from her seat and sprinkled the remnants in the nearby trash can, "Good. I don't think I need to tell you what will happen if I find another one"

Towers nodded, "Duly noted. Forgive me for calling this meeting short, I have other matters I need to attend to."

Sally gave tight smile, "Of course, as do I. Although I do hope this doesn't affect our working relationship."

Towers gave his own tight smile, "I would be most disappointed if it did. Thank you for your consideration, your Highness."

Towers stood from his seat and bowed to Sally in farewell. She nodded in response and gracefully glided out the door with her head raised proudly in the air. As she made her way through the halls with her escorts, she couldn't help but wonder if the Commander would try to recall the other four Mantis Knights.

"If he doesn't I'll have four more favors to call into the G.U.N," Sally thought with glee, "So long as Amy can avoid getting arrested again."

As she came upon said pink hedgehog arguing with her black knight in shining armor, Sally allowed a small smile to play on her face before she hid it behind an 'appropriately' angry mask, "I still need to locate her Mantis. NICOLE hasn't been able to detect it yet... Hopefully we find it before she does."

As she watched the two bashfully say goodbye she couldn't help but feel a tug of fear in her heart, "I hope for their sake we do..."