Are you ready?

Sonic must've loved waking her up in the middle of the night, because who else would it be coming through her window at one o'clock in the morning? Nowadays, Amy went, eff it, and left her window unlocked at night just in case he decided to stop by. At the wrong time. Because she was always asleep.

Not for long anyway.

At first it was a little irritating. Now it's just an 'ah just make yourself comfortable I kinda missed you' sorta thing. Still half-asleep, she lifted her sleepy head slightly to see his silhouette. The blue hero stretched in the moonlight, kicked off his shoes, and padded over to what was officially his side of the bed. She felt the brief draft and instinctively curled inward, but a warm, lazy arm slipped under her and tucked her in.

"Hey." Amy yawned.

The yawn was contagious on Sonic's end, so it took him longer to answer. "- ... Hey."

"Yanno, you should gimme a heads-up before I go to bed."

"I knooow, I know." Sonic sighed, burying his face into the back of her neck. Man, was he tired.

"How'd it go?" Amy closed her eyes. Like she'll remember this conversation in the morning.

"G.U.N. found a lead on Egghead...Gonna...do the thing...tomorrow and..."

That hedgehog was fast asleep.

And his girlfriend wasn't far behind either.

The halls were made of metal and glass, curved inward in circular angles. It was hard to sneak around in a place like this.

But that didn't stop a blonde hedgehog from roaming the halls at night. She walked with purpose, head held high, her footsteps as light as feathers. Soft patters gave her presence away, the cameras stationed in each corner following every sign of movement. But as composed as she was on the exterior from a distance, up close she was close to crumbling. There was the slightest tremble in her bottom lip, the palms of her hands sweating under her gloves. She should be in her pajamas, but she wasn't. She was clad in her full attire; almost an exact replica of the Doctor's himself, except with a sky blue jacket instead of red.

"Going somewhere, sweetheart?"

The familiar voice made her freeze in fear. Slowly, she turned around on her heel, taking a deep breath to get herself together. It's taken her a lot of practice, but she managed to keep her face blank...enough.

"Scourge."

The silhouette of him vibrated with his low, haunting laughter, before he stepped into the dim light. His smile showed teeth that were razor sharp. His blue eyes were icy and cold, intimidating and captivating upon first glance. His most notable feature was the green of his fur, and the scars shot across his chest like lightning.

Scourge the Hedgehog, unlike his...other counterpart, was calculating and patient; his foot didn't tap. He didn't fidget. He was absolutely still, arms behind his back, stance firm. Eerily calm on the surface. But she knew better. He may use a friendly tone, but beneath the smile was a dark vengeance. He will get what he wanted.

"Surprised to see me?" The sinister smile widened.

She pressed her lips together, swallowing inaudibly. "Not at all, actually."

"Wondering about your friend?"

Her heart began to race. "N-No."

Scourge came closer, eyes narrowing. Every instinct screamed at her to retreat, but she forced herself to stand her ground. He fed on weakness. He used it against his targets. "Don't lie to me, Maria. You know the consequences."

"I'm not lying," Maria Robotnik stammered a little. "I was just...I wanted to see how Thorndyke is coming along on the project."

"You've been spending a lot of time with him. The only reason I haven't disposed of him yet is because I need his brain. Eggman is useless to me."

"If he's so useless, then why not let him go?" Maria suggested, meeting his gaze head-on.

Scourge smirked. "You have a lot to learn, my dear."

:~:

"Chris?" Maria stumbled into the lab, looking around for her friend. Ever since the two former humans were pulled into Scourge's side of the tracks, they were quick to bond.

The young scientist's voice came from the back room, slightly muffled but became louder as he got closer. "Maria? Is that you?"

He finally rounded the corner and looked up from the stack of papers he held in his hands, clad in a white lab coat over his uniform; the sight of her made him smile, as tired as he was, and he pushed his glasses up to sit on top of his head. His fur was a reddish brown with traces of black and white, ears shaggy, muzzle as white as snow; the only recognizable traits he had were his spiky hair and blue eyes.

"Hi." Maria felt relief wash through her; one friendly face she needed before she could force herself to get some good shuteye.

"Hi." Chris set down his papers on the table next to him, taking off his glasses to set them on top. "What are you still doing up?"

"I should be asking you the same question. When was the last time you slept?" She came closer, noticing the bags under his eyes.

"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm used to it." Chris shrugged it off with a little grin.

Maria smiled, but the presence of it didn't last long; his lack of sleep would have had her in another one of her hissy fits on a normal night. Chris, however, was quick to notice that there was something else on Maria's mind besides his health, and already knew what it was.

"You're worried about her. Aren't you?"

The blonde nodded and hung her head. "I hate going on like this...I know it's...it's just...wrong. How is helping a monster take down our loved ones right?"

"It's not. It never was." Chris' face grew solemn.

Maria took a deep breath. "I saw Shadow the other night."

Chris met her gaze with interest and curiosity. "You did?"

"Yeah. I - I think he recognized me."

"Did he say anything?"

Maria shook her head. "No. But I just can't shake the feeling that he knows who I am...and he just doesn't want to believe that I'm -"

"Not dead?"

She nodded mutely.

"I wonder if Sonic would know who I am..." Chris mused sadly, hanging his head. "At least you get to go out there. I'm useless out in the battlefield. You get to go out on missions and get to see someone you care about, but I have to stay inside this hellhole for hours on end and be his puppet."

"Chris, I don't have a choice either. I do what I'm told, no questions asked." But she was tired of doing that. She was tired of indirectly hurting her best friend and his friends. They all seemed like really nice people. This wasn't the way she wanted to live. This...has been going on long enough. "What if...What if we stop being puppets?"

Maria stepped closer to him when she knew that she had his undivided attention; his eyes widened, but he waited with baited breath, wondering where she was going with this.

"What if...what if we fight back?"

Amy was perkier when she woke up. She slid out of Sonic's arms and hopped in the shower, shrugging on the baggiest shirt she could find in her closet (which happened to be a pastel purple), as well as a pair of grey cotton shorts. Careful not to wake him, she sprinted out of her room and downstairs to make breakfast, pulling half of her quills up on her way down.

The pink hedgehog was in the mood for some pancakes, so that's what she made. She hummed around the kitchen, padding from the stove to the refrigerator to the cabinet and back again. She had a pep in her step, happiness brightening the deep green in her eyes as she cooked. She ended up making enough pancakes for two...or three, maybe four. Five at the most probably.

And that's when Sonic came down. She heard his footsteps, the deep, sleepy groan he made as he rounded the corner and into the kitchen. Turning off the stove and picking up her spatula, she emptied the last of the fresh pancakes onto the large plastic plate. A playful smile flashed across her face; she knew the irresistible smell of food would lure him eventually.

"'Morning. Ya hungry?" She cast a glance over her shoulder, turning her body completely in mild surprise when she saw how close he had gotten to her in a matter of two seconds. No, of course that wasn't distracting. At all. Pfft. As if.

"Starving." He flashed her a lopsided grin and swooped down, kissing the corner of her mouth. He then noticed the amount of pancakes she had cooked and his mouth began to water, slipping just passed her to get to the counter. "Ames, did you cook for me and you, or is there another team meeting that I don't know about?"

"Maybe I got a little carried away?" Amy shrugged sheepishly.

"A lil carried away? Hate to see ya go crazy." Sonic snickered. "Oh wait -"

"Oh shut it, you." Amy poked him in the ribs. He automatically retaliated, his hands going right for hers. She squealed in protest when he began tickling her, and started kicking when he picked her up effortlessly; he had a firm grip on her, and she knew she couldn't go anywhere, as much as she feebly pushed against his shoulders. He carried her over to the countertop and set her on top of it, grinning cheekily up at her. She scowled at him, but it was soon replaced with a playful grin of her own. Her arms found their way around his neck, legs following suit around his hips; his own draped around the small of her back, letting his forehead touch hers.

"Mind if I crash here tonight?"

"Again?"

"If that's, uh - okay with you, I mean - if it's not -"

Amy giggled. "You know my door is always open. But apparently you don't like to come in through the door. Yanno. Like a normal person," she teased.

Sonic snorted. "The door's overrated. 'Sides, I thought you liked that? Don't girls like that stuff?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, cupping his face and nuzzling him. "Just eat your breakfast -before it gets cold."

Sonic did so without question, filling his plate up with pancakes and grabbing the blueberry syrup on the way to his seat. She watched him and shook her head, bemused as she put two pancakes on her plate, grabbing her favorite syrup too - strawberry. Setting her plate on the table, she then turned back the way she came and fixed two glasses of milk. He thanked her with a cheeky grin when she returned and gave him a glass.

The two ate in mutual silence, making occasional small talk. Flirtatious looks and nudges were exchanged back and forth from over sips and bites. It wasn't until Sonic had gotten seconds and Amy was on her last pancake when a thought struck her, making her pause mid-bite.

"Wassap?" Sonic asked, raising his glass up to his mouth. And yes. He was on his fourth glass of milk. Don't give him that look! Those glasses were tiny.

"What were you gonna tell me?" Amy looked up from her plate, balancing her chin between her two fists. "You mentioned something last night about G.U.N. ...?"

"Hm? Oh yeah! G.U.N. picked up suspicious activity around one of Egghead's old bases. Me and Tails were gonna check it out. Wanna come?"

Amy's eyes brightened. She loved it when he started inviting her to tag along with him along missions.

But then she remembered what she was supposed to do today and her face fell slightly.

"Oh..."

"Busy?" Sonic guessed.

"Yeah, I just-"

"Don't worry about it, Ames." He covered up his disappointment easily; as bummed as he was that she wasn't gonna be able to make it, he at least had a bright side - he got to spend some quality time with his best friend.

"Really?"

"Yeah! No sweat!" Sonic got up, empty plate and glass in hand. "Now gimme a kiss." He puckered his lips.

"Sonic, you have a milk mustache!" Amy scrambled out of her seat to escape his clutches.

"Gimme some sugar!" Sonic put them back down, but Amy was already running and screaming around the house, with him closing in on her. Milk mustache in all. "Wait! I mustache you a question!"

"Oh yeah? Why don't you shave it for later?"

"...Oh you're good."

"Mhm! And that's why you can't catch me!"

"Ames, you're asking for it!"

"Nah-nah, nah boo-boo!"

"Asking for it!"

"Nuh uh! There's no way that you'll - eep!"

Heh. He caught her.

Those of you who have your questions, don't worry! All questions will be answered in the upcoming chapters. Bare with me :) Hope you enjoyed this one!