Author's Note: We're back with a new chapter folks! Thanks again to my past reviewers, CrimsonLove16, Tessa the Hedgehog, Soni Rose Amelia the Hedgehog, guest, aliciathewolf45, Rebecca, and Grey-Chan Fallen for the reviews. I love reading your theories and predictions. I hope y'all enjoy the next chapter!

•~•

The next morning, after spending the night doing a stakeout and observing their patterns, the whole group left together in a large van. He spotted some of them taking reusable bags with them, so he could only presume they were doing their weekly grocery shopping. Seeing this as his opportunity, Zonic got out of his car and approached their compound. Zonic had changed up his appearance for this occasion. He wore jeans, a black hoodie, a baseball cap, black gloves, and carried a backpack.

The group of bikers locked their front chained link fence, so Zonic was forced to find other means of entering. Getting a good running start, he ran and leaped for the fence, getting his fingers to grip between the mesh. Cautiously, he climbed the chain-link fence and hopped over the side of it. Dropping down in the dirt on the other side, Zonic kept a vigilant watch and approached the house making sure to keep his eyes out for cameras or other prying eyes. As he got to the front door, he grabbed the door handle but saw it was locked. Zonic rummaged into his jacket pocket and whipped out a pair of tools and worked on unlocking the front door.

Once the door was opened, he pushed the door open and walked in. When he was inside, he closed the door behind him and began his exploration. He observed their living areas giving it a scrutinizing look. He eyed one of their walls in their meeting room where it held a wall full of mug shot photos of every member who had ever been locked behind bars. He recognized a few of the members that he had done his own research on. He spotted Shadow's photo along with his brother Mephiles. Growing bored of eying the photos, he moved back towards the entrance and eyed the staircase. Becoming curious, Zonic walked upstairs to do more exploring. When he was upstairs, he spotted numerous bedroom doors and opened each one cautiously trying to figure out which one was Amy's. Eventually, he came across one that appeared to fit her style.

Zonic walked around Amy's bedroom observing her new setup. Eying the laptop she had set up on the small table, he approached her desk station and allowed his hand to graze the top of the computer. There were only a few pictures laid out on the table, one of her with her old co-worker Cosmo, a green seedrian nurse, and one of her standing in front of the Tech skyscraper building. There were also a couple of medical books there.

His eyes wandered over to her made bed. He reached for her pillow and picked it up and brought it up to his face. Closing his eyes, he took a deep inhale gathering her scent. He hummed lowly, relishing in the scent of her pomegranate shampoo he remembered so fondly. He tossed her pillow back onto her bed, sunk down, and sat on the edge of it. So, this is where she called home now?

He could only fathom what went on between these walls. Was she dating one of these low-life-hardened criminals? Did she love them? He shook the thoughts away; he could not allow Amy to make such a grave mistake. He'd make it his mission to keep her safe from these criminals and win her back like he had done many times before.

Walking into the next room in the hall, Zonic pushed open the door and entered cautiously. As he entered, he realized he was now in Shadow's room. He walked over to one of the walls and glanced up and eyed a few pictures hung on the wall. He spotted one of Shadow embracing a pretty blonde female hedgehog next to his motorcycle. He scrunched his eyebrows together a bit confused. He hadn't seen that girl anywhere in the files or hanging out with the group in person. He moved on towards Shadow's dresser and noticed some of the drawers half-open and half-closed.

Zonic nosily opened a few of them and rummaged around inside. He pulled out a pistol stashed away in a sock drawer and didn't seem surprised by the find. He put it back in its place and continued to rummage through another drawer. In this one, his fingers brushed against some sort of folder and he whipped it out. Curiously, he flipped it open and allowed his emerald eyes to scan the documents. Within the folder, he spotted all sorts of information regarding his Amy. His hand lifted up the paper that held information about the restraining order she had placed against him. Thankfully, the paper stated that the restraint against the individual was classified. That didn't stop Zonic's paranoia, though. Did Shadow know the restraining order was against him? Perhaps not, but it was obvious from this file that Shadow had his own reservations about Amy, which, this type of information could come in quite useful for him to distance Amy away from the group.

•~•

Later that morning, the group returned from their grocery shopping and went to work in the kitchen putting everything away. "Yo, I call the shower first man," Manic claimed after putting away the last item.

"Not if I claim it first," Mighty proclaimed.

Manic eyed the armadillo competitively. "The first one to get there wins," he stated.

Locke opened a cabinet, putting away a box of cereal. "You two sound like two-year-olds right now. Chaos," he said shaking his head.

Manic and Mighty charged out of the kitchen to get to the shower first. The two of them were shoulder-to-shoulder and nearly knocked Amy over as they whizzed past her, but Knuckles was quick to catch her stumble. "Hey!" she whined.

"Sorry Amy!" they shouted in unison as they ran up the stairs.

"Jack asses," Knuckles mumbled, setting her upright. "Ignore them."

She glanced behind her at the echidna. "Thanks, Knuckles."

A few minutes later, Amy wandered upstairs and opened the door to her room but was surprised to see rose petals strewn all over her now freshly made bed. Walking slowly towards it, Amy eyed the different colored rose petals and felt her heart begin to race. She glanced over and noticed two papers laid delicately on top of her pillow and reached for them. As her eyes picked them up, she realized one of them was a dirty nude photo of Zonic's lower half showing off a stiff erection. Her heart sank knowing she had once again been found by her resolved ex-boyfriend. She shuddered and flipped it around and noticed a handwritten message on the back. "Miss me?" it read.

The second paper she flipped over was a news article she definitely was not expecting to read—it was an image of her best friend Cosmo—with the title: "Nurse Brutally Murdered in Apartment." She clasped a hand over her mouth, stifling a croak. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears that quickly streamed down her face, Amy ripped up the nude photo into shreds and discarded it into her garbage can. She quickly gathered up the rose petals and shoved them into the bin as well. Amy plopped down onto the edge of her bed and held her face in her hands as she tried to compose herself. "Cosmo," she croaked softly, choking back loud sobs. "I-I'm so sorry," she breathed quietly.

She had thought that this time she had been able to cover her tracks. She thought she had managed to lose him for good, but her efforts yet again were for nothing, and to make matters worse, this psychopath had now killed her best friend in the process of trying to find her. Sniffing and wiping her nose with the back of her arm, she came to a decision. Now more than ever, she needed to take matters into her own hands. No more running away.

•~•

Amy found most of the boys working in the mechanic shop later that day. Knuckles was in the process of rotating some tires along with Mighty. Gadget worked on an oil change on a bike, while Manic and Locke were working on a broken radiator. In the meantime, Mephiles was in the check-out room inside, working on billings. Amy looked high and low for the red and black hedgehog but was finding it difficult to locate him. Passing by Gadget, she stopped to get assistance. "Hey, Gadget, do you know where Shadow is?"

"Oh, yes," he replied fumbling with one of the tubes. "He's under that green jeep," he pointed.

Amy looked in the direction before smiling back at the red wolf. "Thanks." Walking over to the car the hedgehog worked on, she spotted his legs sticking out from underneath the vehicle. She knocked on the side of the car to notify him of her presence.

Hearing her knocks, Shadow rolled himself out from underneath the car while he remained on his creeper. He sighed in annoyance once seeing her smiling down at him eagerly. He knew she wanted something from him by the looks of it. "…What?"

Allowing her smile to drop, she looked at him very assertively and crossed her arms over her chest. "Teach me how to use a gun," she commanded.

Shadow blinked in surprise at her demand and sat upon his board. He was a bit stunned by her forwardness. His brows knitted together. "Excuse me?"

She furrowed her brows together sternly. "You heard me; I want to learn how to properly use a gun and I want to learn today," she pointed.

Shadow reached for a clean rag in a red bucket next to him. He grabbed it and wiped off his oil-stained hands and scoffed in amusement. "What makes you think I'd willingly teach you how to use a gun, princess?"

"Because I know what you guys really do for a living and I know you're experts with handling high-rank weapons," she countered knowingly.

Shadow rose to his feet and eyed her in annoyance. "I think you're sticking your nose in the wrong places. Stick to playing doctor." He turned and began to walk away.

She watched his retreating figure and huffed. "If you don't help me, I'll tell Officer Silver everything," she threatened.

Shadow froze in place and craned his neck at the audacity of her threat. "What'd you just say?"

She walked over to him remaining unruffled. "I've been here long enough, and I've heard whispers here and there of what really goes on during your bike runs," she continued using air quotes to emphasize.

"I knew I couldn't trust you…" He growled until a smirk suddenly settled on his face from a thought. "However, you've got some serious balls though…Threaten me and my club all you want. But you know there's nothing stopping me from killing you and taking out that dangling threat of yours," he warned.

Amy only smirked back to counter his own claim. "Nice try, Shadow, but I know you couldn't kill me even if you wanted to."

His brows furrowed at her confident and bold statement. "And what makes you think that?"

"I know this club has its own set of rules and morals. You don't kill or harm children and females."

Shadow growled lowly at her response. She was right, and she had seen right through his bluff. "Why can't you ask someone else to help you? Maybe I'm busy," he shrugged.

"Well, according to Mighty and some of the others, you're the best shot in the club. If I'm going to learn, I want to be trained by the best," she complimented.

Shadow groaned in defeat. It was evident she wasn't going to take no for an answer, and she had also teased his ego. "Fine, you win. Meet me back here at 3 PM once I'm done with my shift."

She smiled happily and clasped her hands together. "Thank you, Shadow."

He rolled his eyes and waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

•~•

Later that day, Amy and Rouge visited the outdoor mall twenty minutes away from the house. The two had done some major shopping and were heading back to the car. "Thanks for coming with me again, Rouge. I appreciate it," Amy smiled weakly as the two walked side by side with bags in hand.

"No prob, babe," Rouge waved. "I love a good shopping spree and it's been a while since I've been able to enjoy it with another gal. I usually just drag Knuckles around, but he absolutely hates it," she laughed lightly.

"Well, we killed two birds with one stone today. I got my new cell phone and you got practically a new wardrobe," Amy cracked playfully, staring at the amount of bags Rouge carried.

"I needed it anyway," Rouge shrugged innocently before another thought crossed her mind. She stopped suddenly in her tracks, forcing Amy to duplicate her actions. "Oh, mind if you wait here for me real quick, hon? I need to use the restroom," Rouge gestured.

Amy shook her head. "No, it's fine. I'll wait here by the water fountain with the bags."

"Thanks, hon," Rouge smiled handing over her bags. Amy accepted them and laid all their shopping backs on the sitting area of the water fountain. She sat down on the edge and watched as Rouge hustled off in search of a lady's room. In the meantime, Amy rummaged into one of the bags and pulled out her new cell phone she had purchased. She took it out of the packaging and turned it on. While she kept her head down to play around with her new mobile phone, she was unaware of a figure approaching her from the front.

"—Nice, new phone?" a familiar male voice asked.

Her heart dropped and her breath hitched as she recognized the voice of the person she dreaded most. Hoping it was a nightmare, she slowly lifted her head only to meet his eyes. There he was standing only several feet before her in the flesh in his official uniform. It was her ex, Zonic, also known as an official government worker for G.U.N. He smiled charmingly and stood there with his arms tucked behind his back acting as if everything were normal.

Zonic remained a respectable six feet in front of her and kept up his pleasant attitude. Amy's eyebrows narrowed at him as she kept up a brave face. "You…"

He put his hands up innocently, showing no harm, and kept up his innocent smile. "I'm not here to hurt you, relax. I was just hoping we could talk."

Amy looked around her carefully, realizing it might be safe in this type of public setting. They were in an open outdoor mall with plenty of shoppers around. He wouldn't attempt to do anything to her with all the witnesses around. "Fine but say it here and stay where you are." People walked around and past them oblivious to the tension between them.

"I just came to give you a heads up and let you know that I'm in town," he started. "I'm actually here for G.U.N related business-"

"—What kind of business?" she abruptly cut off, doubting his motives.

"Uh, it's an illegal arms weapons case," he rebutted carefully. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but it originated in Tech City and a big arms deal lead here to Mercia. The M.C Brothers of Chaos are involved in it."

Amy crossed her arms over her chest. Now it was all starting to make sense. "I see. So, the rose petals and the dick pic are business, too?" she countered sharply.

Zonic refrained from giving any type of reaction. "Well, about that…" he diverted calmly.

"—What about killing my best friend?" she whispered harshly. "Was that you?"

He put a hand behind the back of his head and closed his eyes. "She got in the way," he stated bluntly without any hint of empathy.

"You're a murderer, Zonic," she accused quietly, trying to refrain from getting emotional in public.

Zonic dropped his arm from behind his head and opened his eyes. "So are the bikers you're living with," he countered. "Look, I just don't want to see you get hurt, especially by that black and red hedgehog," he pointed out.

"She was trying to protect me too, Zonic…She didn't deserve—" She stopped herself, feeling her emotions brewing. She shut her eyes tightly. "How long have you been watching me anyway?"

He shrugged casually. "I mean, I've seen you here and there since I've been in town, but these guys, Amy, they're…"

"—Stop worrying about me, Zonic!" she shot back. "They're the least of my concern. You do know that restraining order is still in effect, don't you?" She wagged a finger in his direction standing from the seat along the side of the fountain.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Of course, I know about it, it's just I-"

"—You come near my new place or anywhere near me again and I will file a-"

"—Babe, I got it," he smoothly interrupted with a sickly sweet but charming smile. His eyelids lowered suggestively as he gave her a leering look. "But just to warn you, my federal jurisdiction with G.U.N takes precedence over such mandates like a restraining order," he chuckled.

Amy felt her confidence drop by his words and her ears drooped slightly. His high-ranking government job was aiding him once again in bypassing the law.

Seeing her expression sink, he smiled victoriously. "But don't worry, I understand how you feel. No more contact, I promise." He eyed her up and down as she clutched her new phone in hand. "Oh, and it's been good talking to you, I've missed hearing your voice."

With that said, both Amy and Zonic stared at each other in silence before Zonic placed his darkened aviators over his eyes and turned on his heel, and left. Amy watched as he wandered off in the opposite direction before disappearing in a crossing crowd across the street.

A hand touched her shoulder making her gasp suddenly, forcing her to drop her phone. "Aaah!"

"Oh, geez, Amy, sorry for scaring you there," Rouge apologized and picked her phone up for her. "You okay? You seem jumpy."

Amy smiled sheepishly and accepted her dropped object. "It's okay, you just startled me is all. Let's get out of here."

The two started to walk towards Rouge's parked car together. During the silence, Rouge glanced over to Amy who looked a little down for some reason. She cleared her throat. "So, um, a certain echidna told me you asked Shadow to teach you how to use a gun. Is that true?"

Her ears perked slightly. "Oh, yeah. I figured it'd be a good skill to acquire while I'm living with you guys."

"I'm surprised you'd ask Shadow of all people. Why not Mighty? He seems to like teaching you new tricks," she winked.

Amy blushed at her suggestive comment. "Well, I asked Mighty because he used to be a personal trainer. He's skilled with different martial arts, and he told me how skilled Shadow is with guns so I figured asking him would be worth a shot."

"That makes sense," Rouge concurred. "But don't you and Shadow still not see eye to eye?"

The two girls finally arrived at Rouge's white convertible. She clicked a button on her key, popping the trunk open. Both of them began loading bags into the back. "Our relationship isn't as bad as it was in the beginning," Amy countered. "I think he's come around on me slightly. Besides, I heard from the other boys he'd be the best to train me."

"Well, I'm glad he's starting to trust you. He can be so weird at times," she said shaking her head.

•~•

At the police station, Zonic returned to the office and went straight for his private office. Both Espio and Vector watched as the blue hedgehog shut his office door secluding himself in his work area. "That guy's been here for a few weeks now and even though he's an A.T.F agent and is doing his job, something is off with him," Vector mumbled as he leaned against a desk facing Espio's own cubicle.

Espio continued to work on filling out some paperwork. "I sense your skepticism about the hedgehog," he agreed. "His aura feels…off."

"Hey, you two," a voice called. Both Espio and Vector looked to their right where they spotted Officer Silver standing there and glaring at the two. "I don't pay you two to stand around and gossip, get back to work," he pointed.

"Yes, sir," they replied in unison. Once the silver hedgehog had walked away the two co-workers eyed each other.

"Boy, Silver's sure got a hard-on for Zonic, huh?" Vector whispered.

The chameleon chuckled lightly. "You got that right. Anyone willing to be on board to take down the brothers he'll ride with," Espio shrugged.

•~•

Once returning home, Shadow and Gadget took Amy to their private shooting range to help Amy learn how to use a gun. Out in a deserted desert field off a major highway, Gadget worked diligently on setting up target silhouettes. The red nerdy wolf set up three silhouettes at different distances and dusted off his hands as he rushed back out of the shooting range. In the meantime, Shadow was busy setting up the assorted guns on a display table. Gadget joined him and helped configure and assemble the disassembled weapons. Amy stood off behind them watching them intently. It seemed like second nature as Shadow and Gadget quickly put the gun pieces together.

Once they were done, Shadow took a pair of noise-canceling headphones and put them around Amy's neck to rest for the time being. He looked her dead in the eye. "Don't put these on until I tell you. Got it?"

Amy nodded. "Okay."

He turned back around and picked up a pair of safety glasses and placed them on her face over her eyes. "And whatever you do, don't take these off."

"Right."

She watched as Shadow and Gadget placed on their own protective eyewear and placed some noise-canceling headphones or earplugs in. Shadow reached for a standard and well-known Ruger LCP. "Alright, let's go over some gun safety first because I don't trust you with a weapon and I don't feel like dying today." He held up the gun pointed away from both of them. Amy eyed the weapon in awe. "Rule number one, always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction. In this case, it's going to be downrange, away from me, yourself, or Gadget."

Amy nodded comprehending the information. "Right."

"Rule number two," he continued. "Always keep your fingers off the trigger until ready to shoot," he instructed. "Now, notice where my fingers are, as I hold up this gun for you to see," he gestured. "My index and middle finger are resting alongside the frame and are clearly off the trigger."

She nodded taking in the mental note. "I see."

"Rule three, learn how to tell if your gun is fully loaded or empty." He moved closer for her to get a better look. "Here we have the slide lock back," he pointed. "Here we can see with our eyes there are no bullets in the chamber."

She blinked a few times and leaned in closer to observe. "Oh, I see."

"Yes, and if you look underneath here," he gestured flipping it. "There is also no magazine in the pistol."

Shadow reached for a magazine off the table and picked it up. "Watch how I load the magazine." Amy watched as he loaded it into the gun. He then placed his gun down on the table facing downrange and then reached for an identical pistol and magazine chamber and handed them over to Amy. "Show me what you've learned so far."

Gulping nervously, Amy did the steps Shadow had taught her. She looked to make sure it wasn't loaded. Check. She kept her fingers off the trigger and rested them on the frame. Check. She properly loaded the magazine into the chamber and kept the gun downrange and continued to keep her fingers off the trigger. Check.

She picked up quickly. "Good job, princess," Shadow commended using his sarcastic nickname. "Now, it's time to start shooting." He pointed towards one of the closest targets and kept one of his hands on her upper back. Amy felt a shiver run down her spine by his touch, but thankfully Shadow didn't notice her reaction. "See that one there," he pointed.

"Oh, uh…" She nodded following where he was pointing. "…Yes?"

"Put your arms out straight ahead of you aiming for the target. Keep your fingers rested against the frame until you are ready to pull the trigger, but just wait a second. I'm going to place your noise-canceling headphones on, okay?"

She kept her arms out directly in front of her as she clasped the gun. Shadow stood behind her and placed her headphones over her ears. He took a few steps back behind her and put on his own headphones and watched. Amy lined up her shot and aimed for the target. She squinted her eyes before believing she had a good shot in range. She moved her fingers and placed them on the trigger and squeezed. The gunshot off and the bullet barely grazed the top of the target. She squeaked in surprise feeling the kickback.

"Try again." Shadow crossed his arms over his chest and observed her from behind. Amy moved her aim and pulled the trigger again hitting the shoulder area of her target. She did a few more shots, slowly getting better at hitting the center target. Feeling her heart race, Amy lowered her arms keeping them closer towards her chest but rested her elbows near her ribcage. "I-I think I'm done now…"

Shadow walked behind her and took off her headphones. "I'll unload it for you, just take your finger off the trigger for me."

Amy moved her fingers away and rested them on the side of the frame. Carefully Shadow remained by her side and took the gun out of her hand and unloaded the magazine chamber. He laid the gun down on the table facing downrange. "How was it?"

"Terrifying," she admitted shakily. "It's weird holding such a powerful and deadly weapon, but I know I need to get comfortable around them."

"Once you get accustomed to their design and how to properly handle them it won't be so scary. Although, for your first time handling a gun, you weren't too bad," he admitted.

She wiped off her hands on the side of her jeans. Her palms were absolutely sweating. "Thanks, I just need to keep practicing and getting better. It's funny, being a nurse, I can pretty much save anyone's life, now I just need to learn how to protect my own."

Shadow seemed intrigued by her comment. Why did she feel so inclined to better herself in self-defense, weaponry, and such? He opened his mouth to make a comment, but Gadget quickly cut him off. "Sir, might I recommend while we're out here you show Ms. Amy your skills with handling guns?"

Amy's eyes widened with interest. "Oh, that'd be really cool. I'd love to see what you're capable of," she nodded.

Shadow looked uncertain. "Uh, well…"

Amy clasped her hands in front of her in a begging motion. "Please, we came out all this way anyway."

Shadow exhaled. "Fine." He looked over to Gadget. "Hand me that SIG P226," he ordered the nerdy wolf.

Gadget walked over to the display table and picked up the slick jet-black gun, he handed it over to Shadow who accepted it.

"Magazine," he commanded.

Gadget picked up the correct magazine round and handed it to Shadow. Shadow placed his safety headphones on. "Put your headgear on, you two."

Both Amy and Gadget followed his orders and placed their headgear back on. The two stood a safe distance behind Shadow, but not too far away from where they couldn't watch him in action. Like a perfect synchronized dance, Shadow held the weapon in front of him and took aim at the target closest to him on his left. He made three perfect shots right in the dead center chest plate. He quickly positioned his next shot and pulled the trigger three times. The next bullets went completely clean through the head target. Shadow aimed for the next target on his right and repeated his actions to the previous target.

Amy watched in awe as he shot another bullseye in the chest plate of the target. He then maneuvered his position and did a perfect headshot. She watched his expression, finding herself impressed with his cool and confident demeanor. Shadow dropped his arms down in front of him, keeping the gun in a respectable and safe position.

Shadow turned his head to look at Amy. "Do I live up to my reputation?" he smirked arrogantly.

"Definitely," Amy praised while taking off her ear gear. "How long did it take for you to become that good?" she inquired curiously watching him unload the weapon.

Shadow took off his own safety gear and placed it on the display table. "Not too long, maybe a year or so," he answered.

"You think that's cool," Gadget interjected. "You should see V.P out in the field hitting live and moving-" he suddenly froze, realizing the information he was just spilling to Amy. Shadow shot a deadly glare towards the red wolf. Gadget covered his mouth with his hands regretfully. "Oh my gosh…"

"Relax Shadow," Amy dismissed easily. "I already know. You held up your end of the deal and I'll keep quiet as promised."

Gadget blinked a few times. "Hold on, she knows about what we do?"

Amy took off her safety goggles. "I've kind of known for a while now. You guys have never explicitly said what you do for a living, but I've just had my theories. Not to mention, you guys don't do the best job at hiding it."

Shadow tilted his head at her by her calm demeanor. "How can you be so calm after learning that I've killed people? After knowing what we really do?"

"I'm a nurse," she replied calmly. "I don't just save saints you know. I've been around enough criminals to tell the difference."

Gadget scratched the side of his head. "Wow, no wonder Rouge hired you."

She shrugged. "What I'm saying is, I don't hold any judgment." She looked over to the gun she had previously used feeling a boost of confidence. "Now, let me try one more time."

•~•

Once returning home, Gadget, Shadow, and Amy disembarked the truck. Gadget reached into the back of the truck and pulled out the large green carry-on bag with assorted guns. "I'll put these babies back," he informed as he headed for the garage. In the meantime, Shadow and Amy walked back towards the house together.

There, they spotted Mighty, Locke and Manic sitting on the front porch enjoying some beer. Mighty sat on the railing frame and waved with a big smile as they approached. "Hey, how'd she do?" he shouted curiously from afar.

"Yeah," Manic added loudly. "Did she accidentally shoot, yah?"

"I don't see any bandages or blood, so I'd guess not," Mighty observed from their appearance.

"I'm sure she did well," Locke surmised.

"She didn't do too bad," Shadow commented eying her momentarily. "She'll just need a bit more practice obviously."

Mighty nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure," he laughed before glancing over to Amy. "And what about you, Ames? Handling a gun is pretty weird at first, huh?"

Amy rubbed her arm. "Yeah, it's quite different, yet, it's also oddly empowering, too."

"Damn, you might just have to join us on the road sometime. Sooner than later you're going to be a badass," he cracked. Shadow sighed and shook his head by his comment and Mighty took notice. "Aye, Shadow, you didn't go too hard on her, did you, teach?"

"Yeah, bro, you can be, like, such a dick sometimes," Manic pointed accusingly.

Shadow kept his arms crossed and his expression unruffled by their comments. "I remained unbiased and stern as all teachers should remain during a lesson."

"He really wasn't that bad, Mighty," Amy added. "However, it's sweet that you were thinking about me."

Just then, the front door opened, and Rouge sauntered out. "There you all are. Alright, announcement!" she declared clapping her hands together. Everyone looked at the white bat. "Tomorrow evening, Mercia Middle School is hosting a benefit concert. I will need all hands on deck to help volunteer for the event. I'm going to need Manic, Mighty, and Gadget to perform some songs at the venue," she instructed.

"Wow, I get to rock out tomorrow night?" Manic asked with wide eyes. "Sweet…"

Rouge looked over to Shadow and Amy. "I'm going to need one of you to work the grill and the other to work at the ticket booth."

"I'll help at the ticket booth," Amy volunteered raising up a hand.

"Perfect," Rouge smiled. "Then that means, Shadow, you'll work on the grill cooking hamburgers and hotdogs. Mephiles, Locke, and Knuckles are helping set up the booths and will work as security."

"Sounds good to me," Mighty concurred.

"You love a fundraiser, don't you?" Shadow questioned sarcastically.

Rouge smirked his way. "You know I love charitable work. We have to keep up our appearance that we're just a motorcycle club that likes to help out the community after all," she winked.

Shadow shook his head. "Right."

•~•

Later that evening, Shadow got ready for bed. Kicking off his shoes, he was completely exhausted from his day's work. Feeling stressed thinking about the dumb charity event for the middle school tomorrow, Shadow reached into the inside of his jacket and pulled out his cigarette box. Pulling out one cig, he walked over to the window and lifted it open, being too lazy to head downstairs to smoke. Just as he leaned his arms on the windowsill and prepared to light his cigarette, he heard the soft sobs of someone crying just a little bit away. Moving to pop his head outside, he looked to his left and then his right before spotting Amy huddled up and sat near the edge of the roof. She was in a hoodie and sweats as she looked down at something in her lap and cried as quietly as possible.

Placing his unlit cigarette behind his ear, Shadow lifted himself out of his bedroom window and got onto the roof, and carefully made his way over towards the grief-stricken female. "You know you could easily fall if you're not careful up here," he precautioned slightly startling her.

Amy gasped and tried to wipe away as much of the tears streaking down her face as possible. He watched as she clutched whatever she had been staring down at close to her chest, hoping he wouldn't see.

Shadow carefully, lowered himself down, and sat a few feet away on the edge of the slanted roof. "Why are you out here—crying?"

Amy sniffed. "Because I wanted some fresh air to think. I just received some bad news back from home…"

"You know if you wanted fresh air, we have a perfectly good porch downstairs," he pointed below them.

"I know, but when my parents were alive, I used to sit on the roof and look at the night sky when I was upset. It's just some weird little ritual I did to make myself feel better."

Shadow reached for the cigarette he had saved tucked behind his ear and placed it in between his lips. He lit the tip and inhaled a drag before exhaling the smoke from the corner of his mouth. "I know you don't really trust me," he started. "And to be fair, I get it—but what happened?" he questioned.

Amy wiped her runny nose on the back of her arm. "My best friend back home was murdered," she worded carefully. "I-I just found out through social media," she lied. She had already known about the death of her friend from earlier in the day, but it was now all hitting her again. She was gone.

Shadow seemed rather alarmed. He hadn't expected this type of bad news. He turned to look at her, feeling sympathy. "Shit…I'm sorry for your loss. What exactly happened if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm not sure," she sighed. "The police are still investigating but I can't help but feel like this is my fault somehow…"

He took another drag and cocked a brow. "Why would you say something like that?"

"It's just I—nevermind," she quickly adjusted. She couldn't believe she almost just spilled everything to this brash hedgehog. "I'm just overly emotional right now."

Shadow eyed the object she continued to clutch against her chest as he absorbed the hesitancy on her end. She was hiding something, that's for sure. "What's that?" he pointed before taking another puff.

Amy glanced down at the picture frame she had been holding this entire time. "Oh, this is just a picture of us together." She hesitantly handed him the picture to look at. Shadow accepted the photo and glanced down at it. There he spotted a green seedrian and Amy behind their nursing station smiling at the camera. "We became practically best friends on the first day of our job. We always had each other's backs."

"I see…" He handed her back the photo. "Again, I'm sorry about your loss. Do you know when the funeral will be held?"

She shook her head. "No…because there is still a homicide investigation underway, it's prolonging it," she replied.

"If you ever need one of us to accompany you or transport you to the funeral. Let us know. We'll lend a hand where we can."

Amy smiled weakly, appreciative of the thought. "Thank you, Shadow. You know, you were the last person I'd expect to see up here consoling me."

He smirked. "Hey, I'm not completely heartless," he shrugged and rose to his feet. He flicked the rest of his cigarette off the side of the roof. "Now, can we go back inside the house? You're making me nervous seeing you sit on the edge of the roof in this state. I don't want a lawsuit on our hands."

Amy got up and started making her way towards him, just when her foot landed on an unstable roof tile. She began to fall sideways as it completely came loose. She outstretched her hands out in front of her to stabilize herself. "Ahh!"

"Shit!" With his eyes widening in horror, he reached out and grabbed her left arm with his right hand. Amy's panicked eyes met his red ones and he used all his strength to keep both of them on the roof while he used all his power to pull her towards him. He managed to do so, and Amy came flinging towards him and into his arms. The two of them landed back on the edge of the roof with a thud. Amy was lying on top of Shadow while his back remained against the slanted edge of the roof. His one arm was secured around her waist, making sure she didn't fall or slip.

Hearing him groan from his back's impact against the tile, Amy lifted herself slightly as her face was extremely close to his. She felt her cheeks go red seeing how their bodies were pressed against each other. "Oh my gosh, Shadow! I'm so sorry."

He grunted as he cracked one of his eyes open to look at her. "As I said, we have a perfectly good porch downstairs…" he winced.

Amy carefully moved off the top of him allowing him to sit upright. The two rose to their feet but held onto each other's arms for stabilization. Shadow glanced at Amy in the moonlight realizing how pretty she looked despite having cried her eyes out prior. For some unknown reason, Amy felt very bashful being under his prolonged gaze. She too was noticing how attractive he looked as always. Shadow rubbed his back. "Let's head back indoors, for real this time…"

Amy carefully made her way back in through her bedroom window and Shadow stood on the roof, watching to make sure she got back in safely. Amy played with one of her longer stray quills in her ponytail. "Well, thank you for coming to my rescue. I appreciate it, Shadow," she smiled weakly, but also feeling a mixture of butterflies in her belly.

Shadow tried to remain cool and collected as he stood outside her window on the roof. "Well, good night."

"Yes, goodnight," Amy replied before shutting her bedroom window.

Shadow ambled back over to his bedroom window and climbed back inside. What the hell was that back there? He had felt things he hadn't felt in a long time. Shadow shook the feelings. He would never allow himself to feel those things again, he would make sure of it.