Authors note: Why the repost you ask? Because the first time I posted it
was crap and unacceptable, so I took it down and tweaked the storyline a
bit now I'm reposting. Oh and Shadow lives!
Blue flipped the pillows on the couch and loveseat as she desperately searched for her keys. "Where are they?" She asked out loud as she continued searching. The echidna dropped down on her hands and knees when she finally spotted the previously mentioned item under the armchair.
Blue quickly snatched the keys off the floor and ran outside, quickly locking the door behind her. She sprinted to the bus stop, thanking the fates that she hadn't missed it as she reached the sign as the vehicle pulled up. Blue panted softly as she dropped the fee into the counter and plopped down in the nearest seat.
'Okay, now.' She thought as she pulled the printed form out of her pocket. Blue sighed as she stared at the insurance form, shuddering when the visions of the accident flashed in her mind. She replaced the paper back into her pocket and stared out the window, watching for her stop. A few minutes later Blue stepped of the bus and ran up the sidewalk a short ways before turning and going into Rex's Garage.
"Hello Ms. Steph! How may I help you?" The cashier asked.
"Hi Mark, I came to check on my car." She replied.
"Okay I'll tell the mechanic that's working on it to come up here." Mark pressed a button on the P.A and said, "Mr. Rex, please come to the front desk. A customer is waiting."
Blue looked past Mark through the glass door leading to the garage and gaped at the man heading toward it. The tall black schnauzer was quite handsome, with short neatly cut spiky black hair with silvery white tufts at the front and a newly trimmed beard and almond brown eyes. His thin, muscled figure could easily be seen through the oil-stained, navy blue work uniform that hugged him closely.
The dog stopped almost instantly as he spotted Blue.
"Whoa."
Blue turned away quickly when she saw that he was staring at her. This gave the schnauzer an even better look at her. He admired her slim figure through the light blue jeans and white blouse. He smiled as she brushed back a couple of the small braids that surrounded her face and the quick shift of her blue eyes in his direction. She turned to look out the window and the violet color on the tips of her dreds and on her hands disappeared.
Another passing mechanic stared at him quizzically, "What's wrong boss?"
"I think I've just found my relief from work." Thomas replied as he found his legs and continued to walk toward the front desk. The mechanic followed his gaze and gasped.
"Wow! She's gorgeous! If you don't hurry your butt up, she'll be my relief." After saying that, the young tiger ran forward but was quickly tripped by Thomas.
"Damn you T!" the tiger laughed as his friend pushed through the door.
"Hello Ms. Steph, my name is Thomas, are you the owner of the Ford Mustang?" He asked politely, smiling broadly.
Blue smiled back and nodded. "Yes that's mine, how much has been done on it?" Thomas showed her to a seat and sat down next to her.
"So far everything is done. I replaced the hood and trunk; also I replaced the rear and front lights and the bumpers. It was quite a job; can you tell me what happened?" Thomas asked innocently.
"Well one night I was heading home late from babysitting for a friend. I was hit in the rear by a drunk driver and ran into a tree." She told him.
Thomas winced and shook his head, "Wow, were you hurt at all?"
"Fortunately, I wasn't hurt much. I had my seat belt on and the airbag. Just a couple bumps and bruises but nothing really serious."
Thomas smiled and smoothed down the patch of thick fur on his chin. "Okay, well since that accident wasn't your fault, the car repairs are on me."
Blue stared at him in surprise, "Are you serious?" He nodded smiling. "You don't have to-"he stopped her, "I know. I want to."
Blue looked down and laughed, "Well I must do something in return. How about you come have lunch with me today?"
Thomas grinned broadly and nodded, "I'll gladly take you on that offer. I'll just go change real fast and we can head out."
"It's already your lunch break?" Blue asked.
"No, but I can take a break whenever I feel like it. After all this is my garage and can come and go as I please." Thomas replied as he walked through the door.
Blue smiled to herself and picked up a magazine resting on the coffee table and flipped through it while she waited. 'What a flirt.' The schnauzer came out again moments later dressed in a white muscle shirt, blue jean jacket and pants and boots.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
Blue nodded and he helped her to her feet. He passed her the keys to her car and led her outside to where the mustang sat waiting.
"Wow you did a wonderful job! It looks as good as new!" Blue exclaimed as her hand brushed along the roof of the yellow car.
"Thank you." T said as he climbed into the passenger seat, "So where are we going for lunch?"
"I was thinking of La Azure Rue, how does that sound?" Blue asked.
"That sounds great Marie."
"Please, just call me Blue."
"Okay Blue!"
She chuckled silently as they pulled out of the driveway. Above them on the roof of the building, Sparx watched silently. "Okay puppy dog. You better not get in my way either or you'll be dog food. "He whispered before he jumped down onto his motorcycle and sped off after them.
*~*~*~*~*
On the other side of town, Sonic & Shadow raced along the sidewalk leading to Twinkle Park. "You are going to lose Shadow just give it up!" Sonic joked as he gained a little distance from the black hedgehog.
"Don't get your hopes up blue boy!" Shadow smirked. They continued until they both reached the park entrance, Shadow reaching it first and winning the race.
"Ha! How feel you Sonic? Talkin' all that mess and ending up losing!" Shadow laughed.
"Whatever, I let you win 'cause I don't wanna watch you mope." Sonic grumbled.
"Don't get mad. Just because your mouth is faster than your feet doesn't mean you are a complete loser!" Shadow chortled.
"Why you!" Sonic lunged at his friend tackling him to the ground. The two rolled on the sidewalk playfully cuffing each others ears and faces.
"Well isn't this the most disgraceful little show I've ever seen." Knuckles stood over the two and grinned. Tails' laughter could be heard in the background.
"I was wondering when you two nimrods would get here." Shadow told him still holding onto Sonic's ear.
The blue hedgehog pushed his friend away and stood up smiling, "Well since you guys are finally here we can go into the park and start the fun."
"Aye! Let's go old dudes!" Tails exclaimed as he rushed into the elevator.
"Old dudes!" The three young men yelled indignantly. The trio ran into the elevator shouting friendly insults at their younger companion.
*~*~*~*~*
Blue and Thomas had already ordered their meals and were talking quietly. "So where do you come from Blue? I know you're not from here, seeing as you have that beautiful blue gem on your forehead." Thomas said.
"True, I'm not from here. I was born on the island of Daliamar. All Daliamarians are born with these gems which are kind of like our life force. An interesting, though morbid, talent that all of my race possess is the ability to use this gem to bring another who isn't of our race back to life." Blue tapped the gem fondly then took a sip of her lemonade.
"Wow! I've never even heard of Daliamar." Thomas told her.
"It's understandable. The island is uncharted and few inhabitants ever leave. The only ones who could ever find the island would have to be a Daliamarian and it is like that because people used to hunt us for our gems. Even my best friend Rouge. That's how we met too. Ha-ha she used to chase me around for days on end trying to get her hands on it." Blue laughed at the memory.
"Hold up, you know Rouge the bat?" Thomas asked.
"Yep." She nodded.
"Cool! She used to be my girlfriend in high school! How is she doing?"
"She's doing great. She stopped jewel hunting and being a spy. I think she is a web designer. Odd career change don't you think?"
"Yea it is." Thomas scratched the back of his head and nibbled on a piece of bread. "You mentioned that you know Dante. So how exactly do you know him?" Blue asked.
"We were roommates in college and met again a couple years back."
The rest of what he was talking about fell on deaf ears as Blue's attention turned to the bridge. Once again she saw the yellow echidna that had been watching her the day before. Sparx saw that she noticed and recognized him and began walking away.
"Hey you stop!" Blue shouted as she stood up and ran after him.
"Huh?" Thomas watched her quizzically as she ran forward and jumped the seven feet up onto the bridge and took chase after the yellow Daliamarian, "Ookay."
Blue rushed around the corner where she spotted him turn into. She found herself staring down an empty alleyway. Walking cautiously forward her quick eyes flicked around the area searching for her quarry.
Sparx crept behind her as quietly as he could hoping to catch her off guard. Blue heard the quick shift of gravel as Sparx lunged and grabbed his wrist, flipping him over onto the ground in front of her and twisting his arm into an odd position.
"Why are you following me?" She asked harshly.
Sparx wiggled free of her grasp and leapt onto his feet backing away from her quickly. Blue kicked out at him barely grazing the side of his cheek. He glared at her menacingly. She simply smirked, "Will you tell me what I want to know or do I have to loosen your tongue with my fists?"
Sparx grinned and fell into form circling around her. Blue also went into her own fighting stance, eyeing him curiously. He was first to attack with a sweeping kick to her legs but Blue jumped up and kicked him solidly in the jaw. Sparx staggered backwards and touched the trickle of blood that came out of the side of his mouth. He stared at the blood on his finger in disbelief then glared at the woman.
"I'll make you pay for this blood bitch!" He ran toward her with an evil glint in his eye but stopped and turned around when he heard Thomas's voice. He snarled and jumped onto a nearby fire escape and climbed up to the roof.
Moments later, T rushed into the alleyway panting and staring at her. "What.the. hell?"
Blue just looked at him with blank eyes and briskly brushed past him to the restaurant. The dog found his breath and chased after her.
"Blue! What happened? Blue!" Thomas yelled. She turned to look at him then suddenly her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell forward. Thomas managed to catch her and stared at her questioningly, "What happened?"
*~*~*~*~*
Rouge stared out the window of her apartment, watching the people pass by below. She sighed and turned around to the computer where she was designing a new website for Twinkle Park. Her eyes occasionally flicked to the phone sitting next to her on the desk.
'Why hasn't he called yet?' She thought.
As if answering her question the phone rang. She lunged at it almost falling off the chair despite the fact that it was right there on the desk and not across the room.
"Hello? Knuckles? *sigh* Hey! I was wondering when you were going to call."
In Twinkle Park, Knuckles leaned against the wall as he conversed with Rouge on his Cell.
"Hey Knux, who are you talking to?" Shadow asked as he bit into a hotdog.
"Is it Rouge?" Sonic chuckled as he hefted a foot long chili dog, "And what are you guys talking about?"
"Tell her I said hi!" Tails exclaimed as he jumped up and down.
"Hey, hey, hey! This is a taco burrito conversation, not chos!" Knuckles told them.
"Huh?"
"What the heck did he just say?"
"How should I know?"
Knuckles smiled; happy he had baffled his friends and turned his attention back to the female on the phone. "So I was wondering what you're doing tonight."
Sonic sniffed at Knuckles and turned on his heel. "Bah, leave that fool. Let's go have some fun." He told his two cohorts.
"Right, we haven't been on the bumper cars yet." Shadow said as he tossed the rest of his hotdog into a trashcan and ran toward it closely followed by Sonic and Tails.
*~*~*~*~*
Blue's eyes flickered open and she looked around at her surroundings curiously. 'Hmm. how did I get to Dante's?' She thought.
"Hey you're awake!" Thomas said as he sat down next to her on the couch.
"What happened?" She asked.
"After you chased that guy down that alley, I went after you. When you came out again you passed out. You have a bruise on your stomach; did he hit you there or something?" Thomas questioned.
"Hit me? He didn't hit me."
"Then explain to me how this bruise got here." He said as he poked her in the stomach.
Blue winced and lifted up her shirt a little. There was a bruise!
"How did that get there?" She asked.
"I wouldn't know, wasn't there to see much." He replied
"The last thing I remember doing is kicking him in the jaw."
"Maybe he hit you then." He offered.
"Perhaps. how did you know I had a bruise on my stomach anyway?" She asked while glaring at him.
Thomas held his hands up in defense," Now it's not like that. When I caught you when you were falling over you winced a little so I pressed down on the spot a little when we got back here and you winced again."
"Oh." Blue sat up and leaned back on the couch still glaring at him a little.
"Would you like something to drink?" Thomas asked.
"Nah, I'm fine. I need to get home."
He nodded and gave her the car keys. The trip back to the garage was a silent one. Once they were there, Thomas opened the passenger door then stopped. "You still owe me lunch." He said with a grin.
Blue leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Okay I'll come back tomorrow then, same time?"
The Schnauzer blushed a bright red despite his black fur. "Okay, see you tomorrow then."
He got out of the car quickly, waving goodbye as she sped off. When he turned back around, all of his employees stood before him, grinning broadly.
"Well how did it go?" Mark asked.
"Hey! That's my business! Get back to work you lazy goofs!" Thomas bellowed playfully.
The mechanics ran back into the garage in mock horror. He shook his head and walked toward the building. 'I'm looking forward to seeing you again, Ms. Steph.'
Blue flipped the pillows on the couch and loveseat as she desperately searched for her keys. "Where are they?" She asked out loud as she continued searching. The echidna dropped down on her hands and knees when she finally spotted the previously mentioned item under the armchair.
Blue quickly snatched the keys off the floor and ran outside, quickly locking the door behind her. She sprinted to the bus stop, thanking the fates that she hadn't missed it as she reached the sign as the vehicle pulled up. Blue panted softly as she dropped the fee into the counter and plopped down in the nearest seat.
'Okay, now.' She thought as she pulled the printed form out of her pocket. Blue sighed as she stared at the insurance form, shuddering when the visions of the accident flashed in her mind. She replaced the paper back into her pocket and stared out the window, watching for her stop. A few minutes later Blue stepped of the bus and ran up the sidewalk a short ways before turning and going into Rex's Garage.
"Hello Ms. Steph! How may I help you?" The cashier asked.
"Hi Mark, I came to check on my car." She replied.
"Okay I'll tell the mechanic that's working on it to come up here." Mark pressed a button on the P.A and said, "Mr. Rex, please come to the front desk. A customer is waiting."
Blue looked past Mark through the glass door leading to the garage and gaped at the man heading toward it. The tall black schnauzer was quite handsome, with short neatly cut spiky black hair with silvery white tufts at the front and a newly trimmed beard and almond brown eyes. His thin, muscled figure could easily be seen through the oil-stained, navy blue work uniform that hugged him closely.
The dog stopped almost instantly as he spotted Blue.
"Whoa."
Blue turned away quickly when she saw that he was staring at her. This gave the schnauzer an even better look at her. He admired her slim figure through the light blue jeans and white blouse. He smiled as she brushed back a couple of the small braids that surrounded her face and the quick shift of her blue eyes in his direction. She turned to look out the window and the violet color on the tips of her dreds and on her hands disappeared.
Another passing mechanic stared at him quizzically, "What's wrong boss?"
"I think I've just found my relief from work." Thomas replied as he found his legs and continued to walk toward the front desk. The mechanic followed his gaze and gasped.
"Wow! She's gorgeous! If you don't hurry your butt up, she'll be my relief." After saying that, the young tiger ran forward but was quickly tripped by Thomas.
"Damn you T!" the tiger laughed as his friend pushed through the door.
"Hello Ms. Steph, my name is Thomas, are you the owner of the Ford Mustang?" He asked politely, smiling broadly.
Blue smiled back and nodded. "Yes that's mine, how much has been done on it?" Thomas showed her to a seat and sat down next to her.
"So far everything is done. I replaced the hood and trunk; also I replaced the rear and front lights and the bumpers. It was quite a job; can you tell me what happened?" Thomas asked innocently.
"Well one night I was heading home late from babysitting for a friend. I was hit in the rear by a drunk driver and ran into a tree." She told him.
Thomas winced and shook his head, "Wow, were you hurt at all?"
"Fortunately, I wasn't hurt much. I had my seat belt on and the airbag. Just a couple bumps and bruises but nothing really serious."
Thomas smiled and smoothed down the patch of thick fur on his chin. "Okay, well since that accident wasn't your fault, the car repairs are on me."
Blue stared at him in surprise, "Are you serious?" He nodded smiling. "You don't have to-"he stopped her, "I know. I want to."
Blue looked down and laughed, "Well I must do something in return. How about you come have lunch with me today?"
Thomas grinned broadly and nodded, "I'll gladly take you on that offer. I'll just go change real fast and we can head out."
"It's already your lunch break?" Blue asked.
"No, but I can take a break whenever I feel like it. After all this is my garage and can come and go as I please." Thomas replied as he walked through the door.
Blue smiled to herself and picked up a magazine resting on the coffee table and flipped through it while she waited. 'What a flirt.' The schnauzer came out again moments later dressed in a white muscle shirt, blue jean jacket and pants and boots.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
Blue nodded and he helped her to her feet. He passed her the keys to her car and led her outside to where the mustang sat waiting.
"Wow you did a wonderful job! It looks as good as new!" Blue exclaimed as her hand brushed along the roof of the yellow car.
"Thank you." T said as he climbed into the passenger seat, "So where are we going for lunch?"
"I was thinking of La Azure Rue, how does that sound?" Blue asked.
"That sounds great Marie."
"Please, just call me Blue."
"Okay Blue!"
She chuckled silently as they pulled out of the driveway. Above them on the roof of the building, Sparx watched silently. "Okay puppy dog. You better not get in my way either or you'll be dog food. "He whispered before he jumped down onto his motorcycle and sped off after them.
*~*~*~*~*
On the other side of town, Sonic & Shadow raced along the sidewalk leading to Twinkle Park. "You are going to lose Shadow just give it up!" Sonic joked as he gained a little distance from the black hedgehog.
"Don't get your hopes up blue boy!" Shadow smirked. They continued until they both reached the park entrance, Shadow reaching it first and winning the race.
"Ha! How feel you Sonic? Talkin' all that mess and ending up losing!" Shadow laughed.
"Whatever, I let you win 'cause I don't wanna watch you mope." Sonic grumbled.
"Don't get mad. Just because your mouth is faster than your feet doesn't mean you are a complete loser!" Shadow chortled.
"Why you!" Sonic lunged at his friend tackling him to the ground. The two rolled on the sidewalk playfully cuffing each others ears and faces.
"Well isn't this the most disgraceful little show I've ever seen." Knuckles stood over the two and grinned. Tails' laughter could be heard in the background.
"I was wondering when you two nimrods would get here." Shadow told him still holding onto Sonic's ear.
The blue hedgehog pushed his friend away and stood up smiling, "Well since you guys are finally here we can go into the park and start the fun."
"Aye! Let's go old dudes!" Tails exclaimed as he rushed into the elevator.
"Old dudes!" The three young men yelled indignantly. The trio ran into the elevator shouting friendly insults at their younger companion.
*~*~*~*~*
Blue and Thomas had already ordered their meals and were talking quietly. "So where do you come from Blue? I know you're not from here, seeing as you have that beautiful blue gem on your forehead." Thomas said.
"True, I'm not from here. I was born on the island of Daliamar. All Daliamarians are born with these gems which are kind of like our life force. An interesting, though morbid, talent that all of my race possess is the ability to use this gem to bring another who isn't of our race back to life." Blue tapped the gem fondly then took a sip of her lemonade.
"Wow! I've never even heard of Daliamar." Thomas told her.
"It's understandable. The island is uncharted and few inhabitants ever leave. The only ones who could ever find the island would have to be a Daliamarian and it is like that because people used to hunt us for our gems. Even my best friend Rouge. That's how we met too. Ha-ha she used to chase me around for days on end trying to get her hands on it." Blue laughed at the memory.
"Hold up, you know Rouge the bat?" Thomas asked.
"Yep." She nodded.
"Cool! She used to be my girlfriend in high school! How is she doing?"
"She's doing great. She stopped jewel hunting and being a spy. I think she is a web designer. Odd career change don't you think?"
"Yea it is." Thomas scratched the back of his head and nibbled on a piece of bread. "You mentioned that you know Dante. So how exactly do you know him?" Blue asked.
"We were roommates in college and met again a couple years back."
The rest of what he was talking about fell on deaf ears as Blue's attention turned to the bridge. Once again she saw the yellow echidna that had been watching her the day before. Sparx saw that she noticed and recognized him and began walking away.
"Hey you stop!" Blue shouted as she stood up and ran after him.
"Huh?" Thomas watched her quizzically as she ran forward and jumped the seven feet up onto the bridge and took chase after the yellow Daliamarian, "Ookay."
Blue rushed around the corner where she spotted him turn into. She found herself staring down an empty alleyway. Walking cautiously forward her quick eyes flicked around the area searching for her quarry.
Sparx crept behind her as quietly as he could hoping to catch her off guard. Blue heard the quick shift of gravel as Sparx lunged and grabbed his wrist, flipping him over onto the ground in front of her and twisting his arm into an odd position.
"Why are you following me?" She asked harshly.
Sparx wiggled free of her grasp and leapt onto his feet backing away from her quickly. Blue kicked out at him barely grazing the side of his cheek. He glared at her menacingly. She simply smirked, "Will you tell me what I want to know or do I have to loosen your tongue with my fists?"
Sparx grinned and fell into form circling around her. Blue also went into her own fighting stance, eyeing him curiously. He was first to attack with a sweeping kick to her legs but Blue jumped up and kicked him solidly in the jaw. Sparx staggered backwards and touched the trickle of blood that came out of the side of his mouth. He stared at the blood on his finger in disbelief then glared at the woman.
"I'll make you pay for this blood bitch!" He ran toward her with an evil glint in his eye but stopped and turned around when he heard Thomas's voice. He snarled and jumped onto a nearby fire escape and climbed up to the roof.
Moments later, T rushed into the alleyway panting and staring at her. "What.the. hell?"
Blue just looked at him with blank eyes and briskly brushed past him to the restaurant. The dog found his breath and chased after her.
"Blue! What happened? Blue!" Thomas yelled. She turned to look at him then suddenly her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell forward. Thomas managed to catch her and stared at her questioningly, "What happened?"
*~*~*~*~*
Rouge stared out the window of her apartment, watching the people pass by below. She sighed and turned around to the computer where she was designing a new website for Twinkle Park. Her eyes occasionally flicked to the phone sitting next to her on the desk.
'Why hasn't he called yet?' She thought.
As if answering her question the phone rang. She lunged at it almost falling off the chair despite the fact that it was right there on the desk and not across the room.
"Hello? Knuckles? *sigh* Hey! I was wondering when you were going to call."
In Twinkle Park, Knuckles leaned against the wall as he conversed with Rouge on his Cell.
"Hey Knux, who are you talking to?" Shadow asked as he bit into a hotdog.
"Is it Rouge?" Sonic chuckled as he hefted a foot long chili dog, "And what are you guys talking about?"
"Tell her I said hi!" Tails exclaimed as he jumped up and down.
"Hey, hey, hey! This is a taco burrito conversation, not chos!" Knuckles told them.
"Huh?"
"What the heck did he just say?"
"How should I know?"
Knuckles smiled; happy he had baffled his friends and turned his attention back to the female on the phone. "So I was wondering what you're doing tonight."
Sonic sniffed at Knuckles and turned on his heel. "Bah, leave that fool. Let's go have some fun." He told his two cohorts.
"Right, we haven't been on the bumper cars yet." Shadow said as he tossed the rest of his hotdog into a trashcan and ran toward it closely followed by Sonic and Tails.
*~*~*~*~*
Blue's eyes flickered open and she looked around at her surroundings curiously. 'Hmm. how did I get to Dante's?' She thought.
"Hey you're awake!" Thomas said as he sat down next to her on the couch.
"What happened?" She asked.
"After you chased that guy down that alley, I went after you. When you came out again you passed out. You have a bruise on your stomach; did he hit you there or something?" Thomas questioned.
"Hit me? He didn't hit me."
"Then explain to me how this bruise got here." He said as he poked her in the stomach.
Blue winced and lifted up her shirt a little. There was a bruise!
"How did that get there?" She asked.
"I wouldn't know, wasn't there to see much." He replied
"The last thing I remember doing is kicking him in the jaw."
"Maybe he hit you then." He offered.
"Perhaps. how did you know I had a bruise on my stomach anyway?" She asked while glaring at him.
Thomas held his hands up in defense," Now it's not like that. When I caught you when you were falling over you winced a little so I pressed down on the spot a little when we got back here and you winced again."
"Oh." Blue sat up and leaned back on the couch still glaring at him a little.
"Would you like something to drink?" Thomas asked.
"Nah, I'm fine. I need to get home."
He nodded and gave her the car keys. The trip back to the garage was a silent one. Once they were there, Thomas opened the passenger door then stopped. "You still owe me lunch." He said with a grin.
Blue leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Okay I'll come back tomorrow then, same time?"
The Schnauzer blushed a bright red despite his black fur. "Okay, see you tomorrow then."
He got out of the car quickly, waving goodbye as she sped off. When he turned back around, all of his employees stood before him, grinning broadly.
"Well how did it go?" Mark asked.
"Hey! That's my business! Get back to work you lazy goofs!" Thomas bellowed playfully.
The mechanics ran back into the garage in mock horror. He shook his head and walked toward the building. 'I'm looking forward to seeing you again, Ms. Steph.'