Long after Blaze left, an anticipating silence permeated through the mansion. On the brink of the next day, Silver sat and watched as Gini scanned the circular object that had repressed his telekinesis earlier. After some time, a few blacked-out documents appeared on the robot's monitor. Silver waltzed over to him, and scanned the access card from his wallet again.

"Why's all this stuff so secretive, anyways?" Silver asked.

"That would be a question for Shadow." Gini dismissed, continuing his search. "It appears to be some sort of high-speed motion tracking device. The notorious Dr. Eggman often incorporated these in his inventions to combat Sonic The Hedgehog. The machine this came from could have well been one of Eggman's creations."

Silver sat back down, "I wouldn't doubt it; that thing was an outdated piece of junk. If it didn't have that thing in it, I would've been fine." He kneaded his chin, "All these names are coming up suddenly. Hope that's not a bad sign."

"Do you believe this was coincidental?"

"No. Whoever it was knew they could get an advantage over me. And, honestly, I don't think they're finished." Silver sighed, "Just gotta' be on our toes."

The cheerful chime of the doorbell sliced through the conversation. Silver's brow contoured with skepticism, but he was quick to his feet to meet the visitor. He swung the door open to reveal Skye, standing with her hands in her pockets.

"Guess who." she said, flashing a sly grin.

Silver smiled, "I thought I said we were off for tonight."

The fox shrugged, "I was in the neighborhood. Saw the lights were on." she slid past him, through the doorway. "Whatcha' doing up this late?"

"Work." Silver side-mouthed his response as he pushed the door shut, feeling the click of the backset through the handle. He kept his eyes locked on hers. "It was a rough day today."

"I saw." Skye giggled, "Everyone thought you were a goner for a minute there..."

"Can't say I thought differently."

Skye approached him, and threw her arms around his neck. "I'm so glad you're okay..."

Silver placed his palms on her hips, but didn't melt in her touch. "What's this about?"

"It's been a while, Silv..." Her voice pranced in his ears, "You do this stuff long enough and you get on a schedule. It feels like there's something missing inside me."

For a moment, Silver felt the warmth of Blaze's head against his shoulder again. He shook the feeling by running his hands along the fox's thighs. "I guess I could help with that." He shifted his eyes to where Gini was seated, but found that his servant had already quit the room.

"I'll be upstairs in a minute." Skye assured, mating her words with a wink and a light shove.

Silver hesitated, but soon found himself sitting on his bed beneath a cloud of complacency. Skye slithered into the room no later than she had promised, carrying two half-empty glasses along with her devastatingly beautiful body. The hedgehog reached for the collar of his shirt.

"Hold on, now..." Skye played, "I thought we might take this one a little slower." She sat on the other side of the bed, and extended the drink in her left hand to Silver. He accepted it, laying back against his pillows with a sigh.

"Sorry if I seem uptight." Silver only took one sip of the wine, and placed it on his nightstand. "I'm a little worried after what happened earlier."

Skye closed her mouth on the rim of her raised glass, allowing the deep red liquid to settle on her lip for a moment. She pulled it away, refusing to turn her head. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. It was a scary situation." he admitted, turning to face the fox. "But, I guess you don't wanna' hear about that stuff..."

Skye sat her own drink down, and crawled closer to Silver. "I don't think you wanna' talk about it, either." She climbed over him so that she could straddle his waist, and ran her hands over his chest. "Maybe we should get right to it..."

Once their romp was finished, so too was Silver's glass. Skye's hand rested on his stomach as she felt him drift away without any significant resistance. She dressed herself as quickly as she could, and once her eyes grazed that helpless hedgehog, her mind began to run a triathlon of sympathy, regret, and betrayal. She approached him, and leaned over to kiss his unconscious lips. Her hushed words were shaken with misery.

"I'm so sorry, Silv..."