Chapter 1

A Damn Sneaky Fox

Tails paced back and forth outside the entrance of GUN HQ, meanwhile Knuckles stood against the wall with his arms folded, a faint scowl on his face. Tails could tell the echidna was growing annoyed and impatient, but he couldn't stop his mind from deliberating. Is this a good idea? Maybe we should wait a little longer just to make sure he's really missing… What do I even say to convince him?

Knuckles finally released a sigh and pushed off the wall. "I can just go in if you want?" he asked, fixing Tails with a glance that looked almost pitiful.

It made Tails feel the slightest itch of irritation. He was not some small child who needed his hand held all the time. So, he halted his pacing, planted his foot firmly on the ground, and met Knuckles' gaze.

"No. I have to do this. For Sonic," he declared.

He faced the entrance, his twin tails twitching nervously, but he squared himself determinedly. Shadow was their friend, or at the very least, an ally, he had no reason to be scared. And Sonic needed their help. This was too important.

"Let's just go," he said to Knuckles, and finally led the way inside. Though he tried not to let on the relief he felt when he sensed his other friend's presence at his shoulder. At least he didn't have to do this alone.

The corridors were filled with human GUN agents murmuring amongst each other and scurrying about. A few of them cast Tails and Knuckles a fleeting glance as they passed, but that was all. Sonic and his friends weren't exactly a rare sight amongst GUN agents, especially since several of them literally worked alongside them. Tails wrung his hands tentatively as they went, then finally went and approached a trio of agents engaged in idle discussion.

"Um, excuse me…?" he said hesitantly, and the three agents broke off their conversation and looked at him. "Do any of you know where we might be able to find Shadow?"

One of the agents' eyes flashed with recognition, and he jabbed a thumb in the direction of further into the building. "I think he's in a briefing with Commander Tower and such. There was a major mission. You're going to have to wait."

"Oh, okay…" Tails shrank back, a little discouraged that they had to wait, but he supposed at least Shadow was here. Still, time was of the essence! They needed to hurry up.

Another agent pointed at a nearby doorway. "The locker room's over there so he's going to have to head there before he leaves. Just wait here in the foyer and catch him when he comes out."

Knuckles sighed and gestured to a nearby couch. "Come on let's just take a seat and wait. If we know anything about Shadow he won't stay in a briefing for long. He'll clear out of there when he's had enough."

Tails gave a nod. "Right. Yeah."

He followed Knuckles to the couch and sat, but he could not relax. He stared at the floor with his hands clasped in his lap, his mind racing at a million miles an hour. Sonic was missing. His best friend was missing. They'd made plans to go to Emerald Coast today. Just him and Sonic. A typical hangout as friends did, since they hardly got any time to relax it seemed with everything that went on or when Eggman decided to cause trouble. Plus, Sonic had apparently had something else planned.

"And I've got a present for you pal," he'd said with his signature roguish grin. "Just wait till you see it. I can't wait to see the look on your face."

They'd been supposed to meet there this morning. Tails had arrived full of excitement and anticipation, then was left standing awkwardly on his own as he waited. He vaguely wondered if Sonic was late, even though he wasn't usually late. Then the minutes turned into hours and Tails had started to worry. Finally, he went ahead and travelled all the way from Emerald Coast to Sonic's home in Green Hill Zone, telling himself that maybe Sonic had just overslept and forgotten. But deep down he'd known, Sonic had not simply forgotten. He wouldn't forget something like this… And as it turned out, when he made it Sonic's place and knocked on the door and called out for him, there was no answer. Scared and worried now, Tails frantically thought of what to do, and decided to seek his out his other friend. He'd hightailed it back to his workshop and took the Tornado to Angel Island, where Knuckled guarded the Master Emerald, and explained the situation to the red echidna. Though reluctantly, Knuckles had left the Master Emerald with some animal friends he trusted to come find him if anything went wrong, and he'd hopped in the plane with Tails to help find Sonic.

Their search started with a return to Sonic's house, where Knuckles punched down the door this time and they searched the place, but they found nothing that would help. In fact, the place seemed almost too empty and tidy, as if Sonic possibly hadn't even slept here last night… Learning nothing from there, they moved on, using the plane to scour Sonic's known favourite places or old haunts. They'd searched for hours, but to no avail… Sonic was nowhere to be found. It seemed things had escalated into a search and… possibly rescue mission. And Tails had decided he wanted more hands on deck.

Knuckles had insisted they could handle it on their own, but Tails didn't want to be rash. In case they ran into danger, they needed all the help they could get. But Amy seemed to be busy for she hadn't answered his calls, the Chaotix crew were unavailable, off on a job somewhere, and Rouge was off gallivanting who knew where. Besides, Tails would never say it out loud, but he didn't exactly want to have to deal with the constant bickering and teasing and… flirting, between Rouge and Knuckles.

And so, that left Shadow. Sonic's rival. Not exactly the best candidate for a rescue mission involving Sonic, but Tails was desperate. Besides, the black hedgehog might be a bit grouchy at times, but he was a GUN agent. That meant he worked for good, usually at least. And it wasn't as if Sonic and Shadow were full blown enemies, Shadow had helped plenty of times when they were all in trouble. Surely he'd help now. He just might not be very happy about it. He'd probably say it was Sonic's own fault. Or maybe Sonic wasn't even in trouble. Maybe he'd just been caught up in his own little adventure, just thrown caution to the wind and sped off without a care in the world to help some innocent little critter who had lost its memory or save a village from an attacking army of robots.

Tails shook his head. No, something had happened to Sonic. He was sure of it. They had to find him and help him. And well, strength in numbers. They needed Shadow's help. So Tails was determined to get him to help, whether he liked it or not.

()

Shadow shoved through the double doors and stalked towards the locker room. Humans and their ridiculous formal protocols and meetings. After the near disastrous stakeout, Shadow and several other agents had been forced to track down the few criminals who had turned tail and fled rather than fought. It had taken them several hours on top of the original operation. Then there had been delays with getting the culprits transported to the prison, followed by the excessively tedious debrief meeting. Now it was 4pm and he was only just now getting out of here, the entire day practically wasted.

Though Shadow appeased himself with the thought that at least those two useless spearhead agents had gotten it handed to them, scolded to be more careful and act more cautiously before they jumped into the fray, actually assess the situation completely beforehand. It wasn't the first time he'd saved the backsides of overzealous agents… He'd stuck around to see them demoted to some toss-up mission in the western part of the city, then he'd cleared off with a curt farewell to Commander Tower. The Commander hadn't looked all that pleased, but he'd let him go. He gave Shadow fairly free rein and trusted him with quite a lot, and in return, Shadow didn't question him on the job, unless he saw a good reason to. Their relationship was… interesting to say the least, especially considering their history, but it was solid enough now.

Shadow headed to his locker to deposit his equipment before he would head home, since Tower would probably force him to take the day off tomorrow after last night's stakeout. Not that he was exactly opposed to the idea. After the stakeout and all the nonsense that had happened after it and then that debrief meeting that was somehow still going, Shadow was weary. He might have been the ultimate lifeform, but even he needed to rest. He was no fool. But he'd barely opened his locker door when a soft, slightly squeaky voice sounded.

"Uh… Shadow…?"

Shadow jerked, then moved the locker door closed so he could see the entrance and confirm with his eyes what he'd just heard with his ears. Sure enough, there was Tails, the two-tailed fox who practically never left Sonic's side. Funnily enough though, no Sonic. Instead, Tails was accompanied only by Knuckles. A rare sight to see the blue hedgehog wasn't with them. He frowned and fixed them with an incredulous look.

"What are you two doing here?" Shadow said in what sounded like a mutter. He didn't exactly mean to sound so unkind, but he wasn't particularly pleased either. This was his place of work, why had they come to bother him here?

Tails looked a little intimidated, but a moment later the two-tailed fox seemed to gather himself as he stepped forward and spoke. "We need your help… Sonic is missing. We have no idea where he is."

Shadow's face didn't change, likely showing just how much he was bothered by this information if his following words didn't make it more obvious. "And this should concern me… why?"

But Tails didn't back down. "Look, we couldn't get into contact with Amy, or Rouge, or the Chaotix. You're the only one we've been able to reach. We'd handle this on our own but…" he cast a tentative glance at Knuckles. "I'm worried. Sonic could be in real danger and if that's the case, then, the more help we have the better. So… Please Shadow…?"

But Shadow didn't give Tails the chance to complete his request as he shook his head with a huff. "I highly doubt Sonic is in any danger. You know what he's like," he muttered as he extracted his earpiece and placed it into his locker. "As for me, I'm busy. I have agent stuff to do. So the answer is no."

Knuckles widened his eyes a little, then glared. "Are you that heartless?"

Shadow met the echidna's glare with his own. "No. Just realistic. I'm sure Sonic will turn up whenever he's done with whatever he's gotten himself into. If not, well, then you can let me know."

And with that he shut his locker door firmly and strode past them as he walked away in search of something to do so he could indeed be true to the excuse that he had 'agent stuff'. Yes, he walked. Unlike a certain hyperactive blue hedgehog, he did not feel the incessant need to run around everywhere at top speeds. Or well, skate. Whatever. Semantics.

Shadow shoved his way out the door of the locker room and left Tails and Knuckles staring dejectedly after him.

Knuckles scoffed. "Well, that was helpful," he grumbled. "Come on Tails, let's just go."

But Tails frowned thoughtfully, his hand drifting to his chin as the gears of his mind started to turn. "Hold on… I think I might have an idea… One where I can make him help."

"Huh?" Knuckles glanced at him in surprise.

The tiniest hint of a devious smirk crossed Tails' face as he stared after the spot where Shadow had disappeared. "He has agent stuff to do…? Yeah… We'll give him agent stuff…"

()

Shadow headed for the training area, figuring there was surely some drill or simulation that he could take on. He'd occupy himself with that for a while if just to sell his excuse to Tails and Knuckles, then he'd go on his way. Though he got stopped by another agent or two along the way, wanting to know the details of this or that mission to update profiles or double-check protocols. Shadow only granted them curt answers before he marched off. However, he barely made it to the training sector when suddenly, the commander's voice blared over the PA.

"Shadow the Hedgehog, report to the Commander's office with utmost urgency."

Shadow halted midstride and blinked. I was just… with him, he thought to himself. Then he groaned and turned around to make for the Commander's office.

He shoved open the door when he arrived. "What do you-?"

But then he broke off mid-sentence as he took stock of those occupying the room. Standing by the Commander's desk, were Tails and Knuckles. Three pairs of eyes swivelled towards him, theirs and the Commander's. This couldn't be good. Shadow tore his gaze from Tails and Knuckles and forced his expression to one of neutrality as he focused his attention on the Commander.

"You called, Commander?"

"Yes, Shadow," Tower answered gruffly. "I know you just got back and I apologise. I wouldn't typically send you out again so soon. But it seems we have a situation of dire importance. Sonic the Hedgehog appears to be missing."

Shadow stared. Does he not know I'm aware of this? He glanced at Tails and Knuckles, who each shot him a look in return. Now he understood. They'd simply reported that Sonic was missing to the Commander. They hadn't mentioned they'd already talked to him. Shadow's gaze shifted back to the Commander.

"Is that so…?" he said carefully.

"Yes. And with all he's done for us, and the world as a whole, we kind of owe it to him to help. We can't just abandon such a hero like that. But we can't spare too much of our own." He glanced at Tails and Knuckles. "Besides, Sonic has friends that can help out. Which brings us to the topic at hand." He looked back to Shadow. "These two have asked to hire you for your help, Shadow. Therefore, I'm assigning you as their escort. Your mission is to help find Sonic."

Shadow gawked. It took every scrap of self-control he had to not let his jaw drop. "Uh, what…?" he snapped his mouth shut as soon as the words left his mouth. Not exactly the most dignified of responses but at least he hadn't lost his composure.

Tower fixed him with a pointed look. "I want one of my best agents on this. And additionally, you would know Sonic better than any of the other agents would, so you're most suited to the job." He gestured to Tails. "As Tails recommended."

Shadow stilled, then laser-focused on Tails. The two-tailed fox glanced at him, then immediately averted his gaze with a nervous jerk of his head. Shadow's jaw tightened and he narrowed his eyes. That damn sneaky fox… He'd roped Tower into assigning him onto the task anyway.

Shadow's gaze swivelled back to the commander as he realised he was likely waiting for an answer. "Right…" Was all he said, as he tried not to let his annoyance seep into his tone. Rather unsuccessfully.

Tower gave a nod. "Alright so you have your assignment. You pretty much have free rein. Just report back when you've found Sonic."

"Understood," came Shadow's curt reply as he glanced at a wall, irritation pricking under his skin. Great, one good thing about this.

"Good luck." The Commander nodded to Tails and Knuckles. "I hope you find him swiftly."

"Thank you, sir," Tails said with a deep nod of gratitude.

Shadow only offered a wordless grunt in terms of a response to Tower, then he spun and led the way out the door. He heard Tails and Knuckles' footsteps as they followed him out of the office and down the corridor, then they stopped, and he did the same a second later.

"Well," said Knuckles, smugness underlying his tone. "That went well."

Shadow gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, then whipped around to face them. "You hired me?!"

Tails flinched with a small yelp, but Knuckles quickly stepped forth, holding an arm out protectively in front of the fox.

"Hey back off Shadow," he growled. "You know what, you're lucky we didn't mention to the Commander that we already asked for your help and you flat out refused." He smirked and folded his arms. "Judging from his reaction just now, I bet that would have landed you in his naughty books."

Shadow glared. "I refused because I am a government agent. Not your little errand boy!"

"This isn't an errand Shadow!"

Shadow was a little startled at the sudden explosion from Tails, and even Knuckles shot his two-tailed friend a surprised glance. The fox had stepped forward, his expression stormy as he met Shadow's gaze without wavering.

"Sonic is missing," he went on, voice firm. "He could be in danger. He could be hurt. We have to help him."

Shadow scoffed and shook his head. "Please… This is Sonic we're talking about. He's probably off galivanting on his own adventure like he always is."

Tails' ears drooped and his face fell, becoming sad instead of furious, and he shook his head. "No… This is different. We had plans. Sonic doesn't just skip out on things like that."

"Doesn't he?" Shadow mused as he shot Tails a quizzical look. "Are you forgetting that story that Amy told us that one time? Sonic skipped out on his plans with her and came up with some nonsensical excuse involving… What was it? Oh yeah, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table," he said derisively.

Tails frowned for a moment, then shook his head yet again. "With all due respect to Amy… That was Amy." He lifted his gaze determinedly. "He wouldn't skip out on plans with me. This is different. I can feel it. Something's just telling me that Sonic is in trouble."

Shadow wanted to roll his eyes, but he stopped himself at the last second. Honestly, it was possible that the blue hedgehog had gotten himself into trouble, but that was nothing new. He could handle it himself. He didn't get what the big deal was.

"It doesn't matter," Knuckles suddenly declared, causing the attention to shift to him. "It's settled. We're searching for Sonic." He sneered. "And Shadow has to help. He's been hired. He has no choice."

Shadow narrowed his eyes at the both of them and a growl rumbled from his throat. "Fine… I'll help. But I swear…" He pinned his gaze on Tails in particular. "If Sonic shows up somewhere out of the blue without a scratch on him, he will no longer be the one possibly in danger…"

Tails met his gaze and then gave a nod. "Deal. Now come on!" And with that the fox sped off with a whirl of his twin tails.

Knuckles jerked and held his hand out. "Tails, wait!" But within a second he let it sink before he facepalmed. "Ugh, that kid is going to be the death of me," he muttered as he raced off in hot pursuit.

Shadow glared after him and then rolled his eyes. Both of you are going to be the death of me, he thought to himself before he was forced to hurry after them. One thing was for sure; he was about to have his hands full hanging out with these two…