Chapter 7: Off the Leash.

.w.

By the end of the day, Rouge had all of Pickle's publications printed out and scattered all over her place.

Looking through them methodically, she could see he had carried out a lot of research before stating his main hypothesis. Given that few scientists agreed to take him seriously, most of it had to be the product of his own mind.

The agent ended up looking at a dark photo depicting an ancient mural.

Pickle seemed to be good at many fields of study at the same time: history, archeology, astronomy… but not languages. That was one thing that prevented him from making the picture whole.

Now, to make all the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle come together, she had to do only two things. Talk to Miles Prower to find out if the police were scrupulous enough in their interrogations; visit a certain place in Tylia personally.

But first of all, she had to get rid of the bracelet.

To her delight, the most unpleasant part of the incident didn't last too long. Of course, her boss' people had not found any traces of the blue diamond at her apartment. It looked like her whim to give the gem out wasn't as crazy as she thought it to be at first.

Rouge's glee was short-lived, though. Obviously irritated by such a preposterous failure, Rifkin nevertheless managed to stay calm on the outside. "You will remain here. Your mission involving Project: Shadow is now on hold. And take this."

The bat caught a piece of plastic he tossed her. "What is this? Looks too cheap to wear on public."

"It's a voice communicator. New model. Chances are, we will need reliable ways of contacting you in person, and very soon."

She shrugged, and clicked it closed on her left wrist.

It was after their departure when she realized that taking the thing off at her will was far from being as easy as putting it on.

Whoever had designed the gadget was well aware of an average anthropomorph's constitution, and knew how their paws widened below the wrist. Now, it was impossible for Rouge to pull it off without some sort of key. She knocked it several times to make sure the plastic was reinforced enough to withstand any pressure put on it with the bones still staying whole.

No physical keyholes were in sight, so she could suppose the key was of the electronic kind. And she knew those were harder to force open.

Rouge mused over it. As far as she could tell, the order to stay on her spot wasn't supported with actual surveillance. Knowing her personality, Rifkin could easily guess she wouldn't stay home for long. Then why would he need a device that would stay with her no matter where she decided to go?

To place a tracker there. Let Rouge herself lead them to her hypothetical jewel piggy banks lying outside her immediate reach. It was just natural for a thief to worry about her goods' safety, right?

"Do they think I'm an amateur?" she muttered, taking a barely audible tone just in case the com was transmitting her voice as well.

The annoying part was that her tools of the craft couldn't be found anywhere now that she needed them the most. Seized as possible evidence, huh? What had they expected to find at a spy's place anyway – a collection of china dolls? Her favorite liquefier guised as a nail polished remained on its place in a spare clutch bag, though, but the bat really-really didn't feel like trying it on the com with the latter still being in contact with her wrist.

Seemed that she was bound to move from her place earlier than she expected. Not that an agent could hide from their chiefs for long, but the thought of random crowds bursting into her bedroom was unnerving.

What she needed now was a consolation, and there was only one thing that could bring her some. Rouge got up from her bed; ignoring the safe below her dresser, she pressed a hidden button on her dresser's under side. The action made a part of the wall beside her slide aside, revealing a square of bulletproof glass with shelves behind it.

She had never been a fan of safes when it came to protecting her own goods. Being a thief herself, she knew the one below the dresser would be targeted first in case of a robbery attempt, and she kept a bunch of fake gems there just in case. Besides, a safe couldn't provide her with a proper view when she needed it.

Rouge got down to the floor, looking at the glass with affection in her eyes. The most of her beloved collection was there, glimmering shyly at her in response. Several prominent gems she had managed to nick before getting caught by Rifkin's agents; she was allowed to keep them as a payment for her cooperation. The ones she got as her fee afterwards; the smallest bundle. Those she had found among the ancient ruins as a lawful treasure hunter. Finally, the ones that had disappeared from people's safes after she became a part-time spy.

The latter two bundles meant the most problems for her. Laws demanded that discovered treasure was handed to the authorities, and just everyone seemed to frown at thefts. She had spent quite some time before discovering a guy who could provide her with trustworthy papers claiming those jewels were bought rightfully at private auctions. Total sum written into them implied a huge pile of money; but hey, she was only a part-time agent. Was she not allowed to have some other job on the side?

Her boss nearly tore the papers apart when he saw them. Good luck trying to prove them fake, Rouge thought.

She folded her arms behind her head and leaned against the side of her bed, musing idly. Why was she so fond of jewels anyway? All of them belonged to her ever since she was born. But if she always kept her catch secret from the world, who she was proving her right to? Herself alone?

What she knew for sure was that working as a spy couldn't always grant her that exciting feeling of adrenaline rush, and going on a roller coaster after work to get an imitation of that was just too pitiful.

Being a spy provided her with enough headache instead. Despite being sudden and troublesome at such an unsuitable moment, the latest occasion was something to be expected. While she was useful, she was stuck in the role of a thief who was allowed to breathe the air of freedom for a little longer. If she at some point turned useless or too dangerous, she would end up in prison – if she was lucky enough. Government intel had always been ruled by people who valued effectiveness, not morals.

Rouge remembered she was checking if there was a way to quickly join G.U.N. for a cover in case things turned really bad. She could only hope her boss didn't know about it yet.

The com let out a beep, making Rouge raise her eyebrows. Her dismissal had happened about a day and a half ago; whatever Rifkin's people were doing, they sure weren't in a hurry. She pressed the response button. "Rouge the Bat here, enjoying her sweet days off," she chimed.

She heard her boss' unemotional voice. "You are now allowed to go out. And you should carry on with your Project: Shadow investigation. But keep the communicator."

Rouge's eyebrows rose even more. "Nice. Any reasons behind such magnanimity?"

"We found the thief," the man said after a short pause.

"Not a moment too early, huh?"

Her remark went ignored. "She was a maid at the robbed house. She was questioned and searched when the incident occurred, but nothing was found. And then she gave herself up, bringing the diamond to her employer. Her story was that she just found it somewhere in the park, but, of course, no one believed her."

"I see." Rouge was thinking rapidly, looking for a way to learn more while trying to appear uninterested. "Now don't tell me she will become my companion soon. Knowing the way you work…"

"She won't become anyone's companion now." The bat could swear she heard her boss smile. It was scarier than him showing no emotions at all. "She hanged herself in prison yesterday in the evening, after the formal part was over and she was decided guilty."

"She–" Rouge gasped. "Yesterday!? You mean I've spent a whole day doing nothing while you already knew I wasn't the thief!?"

"We had to make sure it was not a mistake. You have my official apology now."

The bat forced her voice to turn calm again. "I would like your apologies to have a more polished shape, sir," she said. "And weight at least ten carats."

The man terminated the link.

"Greedy bastard..."

She laid back on her bed, her thoughts turning into a mess momentarily. How in the world did Victoria know..? Rouge was more than sure she hadn't given herself away during their conversation, so the woman had to have some striking intuition when she was alive. She guessed the gem she had gotten was the exact thing her former employer had lost, and preferred to return it rather than leave the country with it…

Unless the whole action was a mere play staged by Rifkin himself to make Rouge lower her guard down… but no, that sounded too improbable to be true.

The spy frowned at the ceiling. She didn't feel too sorry for Victoria: if the woman was stupid enough to ruin her life like this, it was by no means Rouge the Bat's fault. What troubled her was the fact that before her death, Victoria indeed knew who the real thief was… Had she told anybody during the interrogation? Was Rouge herself in danger now?

In more danger a spy normally finds herself in, she added to herself, and smirked. Whatever the answer was, now she had some time, and she was about to use it effectively.

Rifkin made the com stay with her, probably hoping to make her give away the goods she had stolen even if the first trap had failed. The agent couldn't care less anyway: where she was going, she didn't have any caches her boss didn't have to learn about.

But first, she had to replace the tools she had lost after the searching.

Ready to show how confident a bat could be, Rouge established the connection herself. "Hello again," she murmured to her bracelet. "Now that I'm back to work, I could use some equipment. A plane will do fine, for a start."

.w.

…A small jet designed for an anthropomorphic pilot landed on the sandy beach near Station Square. Rouge was falling behind on the intel, but the latest one she had got claimed there was another plane somewhere around her. It looked like the fox boy decided to have a little stroll on the night streets.

She cursed furiously several minutes later when she made it to the hotel and found nothing but a circle of charred sand. Now she had to start her chase all over again…

Her next thought was more calming, though. If Tails was brash enough to break the clear order he was given, then she could with a lot of certainty tell where he had gone.

A loud thumping caught her attention, and Rouge raised her head. Someone was standing not far away from her, on the tiles surrounding the hotel's pool, surrounded by thin light streaming from the hotel hall. Being good at seeing in the dark, the bat recognized the pink hedgehog who was following Sonic and his friends all the time, and even remembered her name: Amy Rose. At the moment she was stomping her feet furiously, looking at the same spot that caught Rouge's attention.

"No, no!" she was crying desperately. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did he have to go? He's still too…" her speech turned into wordless whimpering at this point.

Now that was a good opportunity to catch up on the news, Rouge thought. "Hey," she called out loud.

The girl fell silent, peering into the night intently. With Rouge standing in the thick shadow cast by the hotel's walls, it wasn't easy to make out her features. "Um… hello?" said Amy. "Tails, is this you?"

"No. But I'm looking for him. He was there, right?"

Pause. For some reason, the hedgehog didn't hurry to reply, musing over something instead.

"Hey," she said at last. "I know who you are. You are that bat who was sticking around Eggman and Shadow, right?"

Rouge mentally moaned. What she needed the least now was a girly hysterics, or a lection on morals. "Does it matter so much? I am looking for Tails, or Sonic. Someone of them was here tonight."

Amy tensed visibly. "Why would a thief like you need Sonic? Hey, I can't see you. Come here."

"Don't you know it's impolite not to answer a question?" Rouge hissed. Now she was regretting giving out her presence in the first place; she should have known the girl wasn't adequate enough to just give her the information she needed. "If you have nothing to say, don't waste my time. I already can say they went to Spagonia."

The hedgehog made a tiny step towards her, hesitating before entering the engulfing darkness. "How do you know that Sonic was here, and where he went? Are you spying on us?"

"Forget it…"

Rouge stepped back, and turned to leave. She didn't believe the girl had the guts to follow her. There was a long flight ahead of the agent, and she couldn't waste time on babysitting.

She realized how wrong she was when something hit her on the back of her head hard, making her lose her balance and slide over the sand on her stomach.

The spy was back to her feet in a blink, wincing at the pain between her ears. Looking back, she found a huge mallet lying on the sand next to her feet, and Amy breathing heavily several feet away.

"Look," Amy said in a sheepish voice. "I didn't mean to hurt you, but I think you should go with me. You act really weirdly."

Rouge bent slowly, and picked up the mallet. "Let's see how tough you are without your toy," she said calmly, and hit the handle against her knee.

Next moment, an expression of genuine surprise spilled into her features as the hammer disappeared from her fingers a second before the impact, appearing in Amy's hands again. The hedgehog girl thrust it into the sand and jumped. The action sent her flying high above Rouge's head, and let her land between the spy and the path leading to the jet.

"Huh." The spy cringed; she hated it when amateurs tried to act like seasoned fighters. "Go on a diet. Maybe you'll learn to fly when you are fit enough."

She hit the sand hard, sending a thick wave of it flying at Amy's face. The girl could see little in the darkness before that, and sand in her eyes was bound to make her totally blind and helpless. Rouge spread her wings and darted into the sky.

This time, she actually noticed the mallet fly at her, but its speed was too high to evade the impact fully. Rouge screamed as fragile bones in her left wing cracked, deadly hurt by such treatment. Keeping in the air was impossible for her now; with a growl of incompliance, the bat dropped like a stone on the other side of the pool.

Dusting the sand off her everything, clutching her mallet again, Amy made it to her fallen opponent. She leaned over the spread body, genuine worry in her eyes. "Oh, no. I didn't hurt you, did I? Look, I live really close, I could–"

Rouge wasn't up to listening to the full story. Supporting herself with her elbows, she raised the lower half of her body, and kicked the nauseous girl in the chin.

Kicking was something she was unbelievably good at. Something in Amy's neck snapped; mallet dropped from her weakened fingers. She made an awkward step back, lost her balance, and tumbled into the pool.

The agent rose slowly, trying not to disturb her damaged wing. Even if the bones were going to heal in the future, she could say goodbye to flying for a really long while. Because of that alone she didn't regret any second of what she had done.

But Amy was in the water now… The dark silhouette had settled on the bottom of the pool, swaying slowly. A tough anthropomorph could in theory survive a neck breakage, but not drowning.

Rouge was looking down, biting her lips fiercely. Hearing about Victoria's death was fine; she didn't feel responsible in the first place, so no guilt was prickling her. This time was different, and her actions could actually lead to someone's death.

She was a thief, a spy, a double agent, a foul person overall… but she was not a murderess.

But saving someone who had attacked her– please. She wasn't a copy of that knucklehead, was she?

In the end, there was something weird about Amy's behavior. Weird to the point she had to think twice every time she needed to touch a person acting like this. All of that was in Pickle's conspectus already…

The hedgehog smiled at her from below the surface.

A gasp escaped Rouge's lips as she jerked back. Feral fear became the weightiest argument in her inner battle; going around the pool in a wide arc, she ran towards her jet as fast as she could.

Maybe she would regret this decision later, but it was her life what mattered the most to her at the point.