Author's Note: I'm baaaack! I figured I'd spoil you guys with another chapter this month after I kept you guys waiting for so long last month due to my laptop breaking. Anyway, I think once again the Shadamy fluffers are going to like this chapter. I've been building these characters up for 10 chapters now. I told you guys to be patient and you will be rewarded quite soon!

I would love to thank my lovely and loyal reviewers from the last chapter, Rebecca, Pirilaxa, Guest, Aliciathewolf45, Soni rose Amelia the hedgehog, and Grey-Chan Fallen! You guys are rockstars! Now, onto the chapter!

•~•

In the other holding room, the door opened, and an officer stood in the doorway. He signaled Shadow to get up. Shadow obliged and rose from his seat. "What's happening?"

"Sir, you're free to go," one of the officers instructed.

Shadow was escorted out of the room but suddenly halted in his tracks when a thought crossed his mind. "Wait a second, what about the doctor?"

"Sir, you're going to have to leave now," the other officer said, placing a hand on his back.

He jerked himself away from his touch. "No, I want to know what you've done with her. Where is she?" he shouted.

"—Shadow, calm down," another voice piped in. He turned only to spot Deputy Silver approaching him. "You can come to pick her up tomorrow morning. She's going to be spending the night with us."

Shadow looked alarmed by the news. "You're holding her overnight?" he repeated in astonishment.

"A.T.F's orders," he clarified with a shrug. "Besides, she struck another officer," he reminded. "Speaking of which, her bail is not going to be pretty," he warned, cringing slightly.

Shadow crossed his arms over his chest. "…How much?"

"About 50k," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"You're joking," Shadow spoke in disbelief.

"Normally assault on another civilian is 25k, but when it comes to an officer, resisting or assault bumps it up to 50k. You're lucky the guy didn't press any further charges," Silver explained. "But don't worry, she'll be in good hands over here and away from you," he pointed.

Shadow narrowed his eyes at Silver's last little comment and huffed. "Can I at least see her for a few minutes? I want to make sure she's okay."

Silver glanced at his watch briefly, checking the time. "Fine, but only for three minutes."

Silver gestured for Shadow to follow him to their jail cells where they were keeping her.

•~•

Inside the jail cells, Amy sat on a bench that had a thin mattress, a small cheap pillow, and an itchy blue blanket. All she had was the bed, a small sink, and a toilet. She kept her knees up to her chest and stared down at the concrete floor as she contemplated her next step. Should she really consider that deal Blaze had offered her, or should she remain loyal to the guys she had only known for a few months now? Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard keys jingling and heard the creak of the main door leading to the cell room open up. She lifted her head and turned it to her right as she heard footsteps approaching her cell.

Suddenly, Shadow appeared and stood in front of her cell. "Shadow?"

The ebony hedgehog gripped the bars to her cell as he peered inside. "Hey, are you doing alright, doctor?"

She moved off her bed and stood up to walk in front of her cell door. "I'm okay, what about you? I saw them take you away earlier this morning."

"I'm fine, I'm actually being released," he replied.

Her ears folded back. "Lucky you…"

"What did they do that made you think it'd be acceptable to hit an officer? Don't you know any better?" he lightly scolded. "It seems rather out of character for you."

Amy's ears drooped even more, and she looked away momentarily. Her eyes shifted towards the ceiling where a camera aimed straight into her cell. She could only fathom who might be watching at that moment, so she didn't dare risk it. "I can't explain that while I'm in here," she spoke quietly. "I'll tell you about it later…"

Shadow nodded, understanding her cue. "Right, well, you're in here for the night, but I promise that I'm going to come back for you tomorrow morning and bail you out," He placed his hand over hers gripping the cell bars. "You understand, right, doctor?"

She could tell he was being extremely sincere and true with his words. She felt those familiar flutters in her stomach again. "Yes…" Amy smiled weakly, feeling comforted by his gentle touch. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

He removed his hand covering hers and he backed away. "Stay strong, princess."

Amy pressed her face against the cell bars, gripping them at the same time as she watched Shadow exit the room and spotted Silver close the door behind him, leaving her in the large jail cell room by herself.

•~•

Back in the main police lobby, Shadow finished his paperwork and was officially checked out. As he stuck his hands in his leather jacket pocket and sauntered towards the door, Vector caught up and walked beside him. "You don't have a ride back to the compound, want a lift?"

Shadow glanced at him, then looked behind and around him discreetly before turning his attention back to the large crocodile. "Sure," he shrugged.

Vector led Shadow to his black suburban and the two got in the car. Once the doors were shut, Shadow eyed Vector. "Don't you think it's a bit risky to be seen giving me a ride home?"

Vector placed his seatbelt on. "Naaah, they know you've got no ride. I offered to take you back and keep an eye on you," he winked. "Anyway, I figured you'd want an update on what's going on."

Shadow clipped on his seatbelt. "I do, tell me everything."

•~•

Later that night, when the coast was finally clear, Mighty, Gadget, and Knuckles put on yellow dish gloves and rain boots and wore makeshift garbage bag smocks. Mighty led them to the back of the sewer truck where the release lid was located. "This is it, boys. Alright, step back and hold your breath."

Both Knuckles and Gadget nodded, preparing themselves. Mighty opened the release valve and a godly amount of dark brown liquid came pouring out of the back tank of the truck and onto the blacktop. Both Knuckles and Gadget backed up as the liquid came flooding their way and they screamed and coughed in horror, gagging on the terrible stench of feces, stewing in the hot sun that day. Large chunks came out of the valve now and then and they could feel the heat of the crap wafting in their direction. Mighty felt his eyes water and bent over, nearly retching but held it in.

Knuckles, on the other hand, was the most vocal about it and screamed in horror and could practically taste the poop. He placed his hands up to his mouth and nose trying to shield the stench from violating him. "God, it fucking stinks!"

Gadget, unfortunately, was the weakest of the three and did manage to throw up a bit. He wiped the back of his arm over his mouth after a good upchuck. Eventually, they saw what they were looking for. Three poop-covered garbage bags came pouring out onto the blacktop. Knuckles pointed at the bags. "There they are, let's get the guns and get the fuck outta here!" he shouted holding back another retch. Mighty, Gadget, and Knuckles each took turns and grabbed a bag each.

•~•

Back in the police station, Silver returned to his office only to find Blaze inside, sitting on top of an oil barrel. He blinked in surprise at her current and unexpected state. "Oh, Agent Blaze, I-I didn't expect you-"

"—We found these inside their garage. They were empty, but I think this is how they're managing to get the guns in." She hopped off the barrel and paraded around a rather confused Silver who watched her encircle him and her tail grazed his arm sensually. "You know this is putting your little motorcycle club on at least half a dozen watch lists. I'm going to call my supervisor and inform them of all the evidence we've gathered. We're going to put this club down once and for all."

Silver watched as Blaze walked towards his open door. "Wait a second, did you brief Agent Zonic on this?" he questioned.

She halted in her tracks. "Oh, about that," she began. "You know, I called Agent Zonic's supervisor in Tech City and he seems to believe that he's on vacation in Babylon..." Silver blinked in surprise by the reveal. "Let me know if Agent Zonic stirs anything else up with the Brothers and keep this info between the two of us," she winked before departing.

Was Agent Zonic not to be trusted as implied by Blaze? Silver couldn't fathom it. Zonic had been nothing but dedicated and helpful to taking down the Brothers. Did he perhaps have other motives?

•~•

Meanwhile, on their drive back to the compound, Vector caught Shadow up with everything he overheard back at the station. "How'd their raid go?" Shadow asked.

Vector kept his eyes on the road as he drove. "They came up empty. I don't know where your brother hid their guns, but he hid them well," he complimented.

"We've always been quite crafty, but not on such short notice," he chuckled. "Which reminds me, did they ever find Husk and his men?"

"No, we've still got patrols out searching. They've also apparently been real good at hiding and seek."

"And as for our doctor," he segued. "What did they want with her?"

"Oh, your new doctor?" Vector smiled. "Oh boy, you're going to love to hear this. So apparently that feline A.T.F agent offered her some sort of deal that she rejected."

Shadow raised a brow. "What kind of deal?" Shadow inquired, hoping to gain more details.

"Basically, she wants Amy to be a mole and snoop on you guys and get enough incriminating evidence to book you guys," he specified.

Shadow turned to look at Vector fully. "And what the hell was the deal to entice her to do this in the first place?"

"Erm, your doctor got some restraining order or somethin' and she's had a hard time getting the cops to help her keep the R.O active and running, I think," Vector explained scratching his head momentarily. "Either way, she declined the offer. Not really sure why though, cause Agent Blaze was quite serious about helping the girl out to take you guys down."

Shadow didn't look surprised on the reveal. He already knew about this mysterious R.O from his own snooping and background check. However, he was surprised to hear her turn down such an offer. "Interesting…"

"Based on all your questions, it sounds like you don't trust the girl much, huh?" Vector suggested by his tone.

Shadow stroked his chin in thought. "I'll admit, I haven't much, but I've started to come around on her a bit. She and I spent some time in Tech City together when I attended a funeral with her. We grew a little closer and I started to trust her more," he admitted. "She's definitely done enough at this point to earn my trust."

Vector kept driving and kept his eyes on the road. "So, what's going through your head right now, pal?"

"She could have easily thrown us under the bus at that moment for her own benefit, yet, she didn't. Perhaps I have been too paranoid with her motives all along," he surmised.

Vector stopped his car at a stoplight and glanced over at Shadow. "Well, there's only one way to find out. Just ask her!"

He glanced out his passenger window. "It sounds easier than done, but she doesn't really owe me any answers with how I've treated her in the past…"

Vector cocked a brow. "And why's that?"

"I wasn't very nice towards her when she first showed up," he admitted. "Everyone else in the club took her in with open arms, I, on the other hand, have always been wary of the girl and have distanced myself from her."

"Why'd you act like that?" Vector questioned.

Shadow grumbled to himself, unsure himself on how to answer that question. "I don't know…it's complicated."

The light turned green and Vector began driving again. "Sounds like you've got some work on your part, pal," he chuckled.

•~•

Back at the police station, Amy remained alone in her cell and laid on her bed. Suddenly though, the door to the room opened up and Zonic sauntered inside. Amy sat upright from her laying position to glance at the visitor. Zonic appeared around the corner and stood in front of her cell door glaring in at her. Amy furrowed her brows towards him and scoffed. "What do you want now?"

"Is it true that other agent offered you a deal about your R.O?" he questioned crossing his arms over his chest.

She shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

He raised a brow. "And you declined it?" he asked in disbelief.

"Well, I didn't really say yes or no," she replied looking at him with a glint in her eye.

Zonic gripped her cell bars and moved in closer. "You know what happens if you accept that deal, right?"

Amy smirked and made a head nod, gesturing to something behind him. "You do know there's a camera in here, right? I'd be careful with what you say out loud," she warned.

He glanced at the camera momentarily before returning his gaze to her unfazed. "I tampered with it. No one knows I'm in here. Right now, it's on a loop of you lying in bed," he explained. "So, I can say whatever the hell I want," he barked.

Amy shook her head and turned her back on him. "Of course, you did…"

His brows furrowed at her knowing tone. "Now, you listen good and well you little slut," he hissed, making Amy's head snap back in his direction by his slur. "If you take that deal, I'll fucking that hedgehog and all the rest of them too, you understand?"

Amy laid back down on her side and pulled the blanket up over her. "You think I'm stupid? Leave them out of this and get the hell away from me. You got what you wanted alright? You always win…"

He released his tight grip on her cell bars and backed up while he kept his eyes locked on her figure. "You're not getting away this time," he mumbled. He walked towards the exit. "But first I have to destroy that biker club…"

•~•

Finally returning home, Shadow walked inside the front door only to be greeted by his family. "Brother, you are home," Mephiles smiled and approached him. Mephiles patted him on the back and the two walked further into the living room where the other resided.

"They finally cleared me," he noted.

Mighty couldn't help but wonder why he returned alone. "Where's our dear doctor?"

Shadow looked to the armadillo. "They're keeping her overnight. I'm going to bail her out tomorrow morning," he answered.

Mighty rubbed the back of his neck and he sympathized with her. "Poor kid, I hope she's hanging in there."

"She should be fine. She looked solid when I last saw her," Shadow added.

"Staying on the topic of Ms. Rose," Mephiles segued. "Did she-"

"—Rat us out?" Shadow interrupted cutting him off. "No, surprisingly she didn't. I guess she is loyal after all…"

"Told you we don't have to worry about her," Mighty chimed in proudly.

"Switching topics, we've got another issue to deal with," Knuckles jumped in. "The guns we hid from the feds, our normal buyers got wind of where we hid them and no longer are in for a sale."

Shadow looked at the echidna in curiosity. "I was wondering about that while in holding. Where did you guys end up stashing the guns?"

Mighty began to chuckle to himself. "We hid em' in the sewer tank of the plumbing truck," he smirked.

Shadow shook his head and grimaced at the thought. "Chaos…why won't they buy?"

Mephiles turned his head towards the kitchen entrance. "Rookie," he called.

The young prospect walked out of the kitchen and looked in Mephiles' direction. "Yes sir?"

"Bring over one of the AKs," he ordered.

"Right away," he said before hurrying off and returning with an AK in hand.

"Here, give it to Shadow," Mephiles instructed. Shadow was handed the weapon. "Give it a sniff, brother."

"Eugh, I don't have to I can smell it from here," he grimaced returning the weapon to Gadget. "You dumbasses didn't cover it in something before submerging it in shit?"

"We did," Knuckles interjected. "We wrapped them in garbage bags but even with just a couple of hours the smell penetrated through them…"

"This is why they don't want them anymore," Mephiles confirmed. "So now we got two problems—Husk and his men and selling these weapons before our deadline."

After contemplating the steps to resolve their problem in silence, Shadow finally glanced over to Locke who sat in the corner awfully quiet. "And did you ever manage to reach your friends?"

Locke eyed Shadow solemnly. "Yeah, I did why?"

He smirked in thought. "I think I know who might be interested in those rancid smelling guns…"

•~•

The next morning, Amy was woken up by a gentle shake on her right shoulder as she slept in her jail cell bed. "Psst, Amy, wake up," a male voice whispered.

Amy's eyes fluttered open and she looked up only to see Silver standing next to her cot. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the lights. "Oh Deputy," she said tiredly while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Your bail has been posted. You're free to go," he explained with a smile.

After getting her paperwork completed, Silver escorted Amy out to the main lobby of the police station where she spotted Shadow standing there in wait for her. He looked relaxed as he stood with his hands shoved in his jacket pockets. "Morning sleeping beauty, you ready to get the hell out of here?"

Amy ran a hand over her quills, trying to smooth out any bedhead she may have been suffering. "Please."

Silver watched as Shadow and Amy exited the building and walked down the steps to the parking lot. Shadow stopped in front of his bike and handed her the spare helmet resting on his bike. "Here."

Amy accepted the helmet and suddenly felt a little awkward knowing she'd have to ride the bike home with Shadow. "Oh, you didn't bring Knuckle's truck?"

Shadow straddled his bike and put his own helmet on. "Obviously not, now hop on."

Amy placed the helmet on her head, clipped the strap in place, and then climbed on behind him. Shadow waited patiently for her to hold onto him before taking off. He glanced over his shoulder at her meek stance to place her arms around him. Finally, he felt her place her hands gently on his shoulders. "I'm not going to burn you," he chuckled. "You'll need a much stronger grasp if you want to stay on for the ride."

"Uh, sorry…" Amy couldn't help but feel her cheeks burn up. She wrapped her arms around his waist, getting a more secure hold. Driving into the parking lot just at that moment was none other than Agent Zonic himself. He was coming into work when he spotted Amy with the dark male hedgehog. He pulled into a parking spot around the corner as they didn't notice and observed them from his parked car.

He watched as Amy wrapped her arms around Shadow's waist and pulled her body flush against his. Zonic's hands gripped his steering wheel tighter in jealously. Suddenly Shadow was revving his motorcycle handles and took off out of the parking lot. With quick thinking, Zonic quickly reversed his car out of the parking lot and chased after them down the road.

While Shadow drove them back home, he stopped at a light and idled there waiting for it to turn green when he noticed a red car whizzing around cars in his side mirror before halting two cars behind his bike. He didn't think too much about it before noticing the light turning green again, allowing him to continue onward.

Eventually, after driving for several minutes, Shadow pulled into a parking lot of a small diner in town. He pulled into a parking spot and turned off the ignition and took off his helmet as he put up the kickstand for his bike. Amy released her hold around his waist and watched Shadow in confusion by their strange destination detour. "Um, I thought we were going home?" she questioned while taking off her own helmet.

Shadow took off his helmet too and shook out his quills. He ran a hand over them after to smooth them. "I figured you might want some breakfast," he suggested calmly.

Just at that moment, Amy's stomach growled loudly making her smile sheepishly. "Well, yeah, I haven't eaten since yesterday afternoon…"

"Let's go then," he gestured leading her into the small diner.

Meanwhile, Zonic parked his car in the same parking lot but made sure to park several spots away from Shadow's to remain undetected. As Shadow and Amy walked through the diner's front door, Shadow paused at the door as his eyes caught sight of the same car, he had seen weaving in and out of traffic on their journey to the diner. He had noticed while driving that the car had seemed to be heading in the same direction for some time now, but he wasn't sure if it was a coincidence or not. Perhaps it was just his paranoia, but he decided he'd keep alert for the time being until otherwise.

Once seated, both Amy and Shadow glanced at the menu in silence. Amy expected to hear some long speech of reprimand from him about assaulting an officer, but he had yet to even mention the situation. To be honest, she was quite pleased it was Shadow who had decided to bail her out and come pick her up from jail that morning. The two of them had really grown quite close over a couple of weeks. Ever since their weekend trip to Tech City, she had noticed their bond increase. They may have not been best friends, but they definitely respected and cared for each other at this point.

Looking at the prices on the menu, it suddenly dawned on her that she had no wallet on hand. "Oh, I-I don't really have any cash on me at the moment. Is there a limit to what I can spend?" she questioned. Shadow lowered his menu and stared at her in bafflement from across the table. Amy blinked a few times at his strange reaction and decided to clarify. "You know, am I allowed to get something over $5, or what?"

"You can get whatever you want. Money is no issue here. I've got you," he assured with a smirk before lifting his menu again to browse.

She smiled weakly, feeling slightly stupid at the moment. "Oh, thanks…I hope you

don't mind me asking, but how bad was my bail?"

"Don't worry about it, I got it covered," Shadow assured calmly.

Amy bowed her head. "That bad, huh? Is Mephiles going to fire me when he finds out?"

"He doesn't know and doesn't have to know," Shadow replied. "I paid for it out of my own pocket and that's that," he shrugged.

Amy stared at the dark hedgehog sitting across from her, feeling completely indebted to him. She bowed her head. "Shadow, thank you so much. I don't know how I'll ever repay you."

"You don't need to," he replied. "Just don't get yourself involved with the police like that again, okay?"

"I promise I won't," she avowed.

Before Shadow could utter another word, a waiter came over to take their order. Their waiter was a brown female cow with blonde short hair. "Good morning, my name is Bell. I'll be your waiter this morning. Are you two ready to order?"

"Yes," Shadow confirmed. "First of all, we'd like a pot of coffee—strongest you've got."

Bell began writing down his order. "You got it."

He looked over at Amy. "Do you want to go first?" Shadow offered kindly.

Amy looked up from her menu at Shadow before looking to their waiter. "Yeah, sure. Um, I'd like the breakfast sampler, please."

"How'd you like your eggs, ma'am?" Bell asked while jotting the order down.

"Scrambled," she specified.

"Pancakes or French toast?"

"French toast," Amy replied.

"Bacon or sausage?" she continued.

"Bacon," Amy smiled while handing her the menu.

Bell glanced over to Shadow as she finished writing Amy's order down. "And what about you, sir? What would you like?"

"Sunnyside up eggs, toast, hash browns, and crispy bacon," he answered while handing over his menu to the waitress.

Bell took his menu and tucked it under her armpit along with Amy's menu. "Alright, you got it," she said while smiling at the two. "I'll bring you over your pot of coffee along with some fresh orange juice on the house," she winked.

Once she walked off, Shadow folded his arms over the table and looked at Amy. "You know, I appreciate a girl who isn't afraid to eat in front of a guy," he noted.

Amy leaned further back into her seat and for some reason unbeknownst to her, blushed slightly. "What do you mean?"

"Most girls try to act cool in front of guys. You know—they order salads, yogurt, and shit like that," he laughed. "They don't like to be seen eating a lot of food. This is the second time I've eaten out with you and both times you've proven you're not afraid to eat what you desire," he stated in admiration.

Amy laughed herself at the thought. "No, I enjoy food too much to do that."

"So," he segued, seeing she had relaxed a bit now. "I don't want to seem like I'm interrogating you, but what exactly happened back there?" he questioned alluding to her time spent at the station.

"Oh, you mean with that agent questioning me?" she said quietly.

He nodded, trying to word his questions carefully in fear of eavesdropping. "Yeah, you didn't—you know…"

She shook her head, understanding they couldn't explicitly say what they wanted to in such a public setting, but it was obvious Shadow was eager to talk about it. "No, I didn't say anything," she assured. "I promise."

Shadow seemed perplexed at the thought. "I don't understand, though. You've only been living with us for a few months now. You don't owe us any loyalty."

"Perhaps," she agreed slightly. "But most of you have been nothing but kind to me since I've joined. There is no benefit of me throwing you guys under the bus."

"Most of us have been kind to you, huh?" he repeated, emphasizing on 'most.' "I know which of us haven't been," he sighed, recalling his horrible behavior. "I need to apologize to you about that. I know I've been an asshole towards you in the past, and it's not excusable."

The waitress came back over and placed the two orange juices in front of them along with their pot of coffee before walking off back towards the kitchen.

"You have improved a lot in the past weeks though. Our trip to Tech City certainly lowered your guard. We even bonded a bit," she noted. "However, I am curious to know why you were such an asshole to me in the beginning."

"Well, since my ex's murder, I haven't been the most trusting towards newcomers," he explained. "I'm pretty paranoid and I guess I assumed you'd be some sort of rat or something," he shrugged.

Amy reached over for the pot of coffee and poured herself and Shadow a cup each. "I guess I can understand that, especially with your, uh, line of business."

"Yeah, but you've earned my trust now, especially with what you did for our club back there. I can only now ask for your forgiveness…"

Amy smiled at him. "I accept your apology. It's not easy admitting to your mistakes and I can tell you really mean it." She raised her cup of coffee and raised it for a cheer. "Friends?"

"Friends," Shadow smiled himself and raised his own mug of coffee and clinked it with hers.

•~•

Meanwhile, at that same time, Mighty, Locke, and Gadget met Husk and his men up in the mountains at their other hideout. Husk, Blade, and the other males who had assisted in that prisoner escape examined a few of the other AK-47s to determine another purchase. Blade grimaced and held out the one AK-47 out and away from him. "Chaos, why the hell do these things stink?"

"It's just the method of how they were smuggled in is all," Mighty explained. "It takes a lot to get these babies in."

"The smell should go away in a few days," Locke assured him. "So, what do we think, fellas? We gonna go for another purchase?"

While the males were busy examining the guns and testing them out, they were unaware of Gadget subtly walking over and placing some sort of boxed device underneath the rear of their trucks and other vehicles. Once he was done, the red wolf joined Mighty's side and gave him a subtle cough to confirm his task had been completed.

Mighty glanced at his comrade to the side of him and gave a discreet nod, allowing him to know he was aware of his signal. Back with Husk and Blade, the two whispered a few things back and forth to each other before coming to a decision. Husk walked over towards Locke and reached into his front jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. "We're buying."

Locke accepted the payment and glanced inside the envelope and smiled weakly, knowing what was about to happen. "Great doing business with you, old friend."

Husk patted Locke on the back and watched as his other men loaded up the back of their cars with the guns they had bought.

Mighty and Gadget walked over to their bikes and straddled them as they watched their clients load up into their vehicles. Feeling guilt begin to hit, Locke rushed over to the driver side of Husk's truck while his window was rolled down. "Before you go, I want you to take care of yourself, okay?"

Husk gave him a curt nod. "Of course I will, Locke. You take care of yourself, too."

With that, the cars drove off heading back up the mountain. Once they were out of sight, Gadget pulled out some sort of trigger device from his jean pocket. "Just say when, sir," he stated looking to Mighty.

Mighty paused for a minute before deciding. "Now, Rookie."

With his orders, Gadget flipped a switch on the device and suddenly a loud explosion was heard from the direction of where Husk and his men and driven off to. A large billow of smoke rose above the trees and the birds from the direction soared into the sky. Locke stared up at the cloud of smoke and frowned. Mighty walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. Their problem had finally been resolved, they had gotten rid of their latest stash of merchandise, rid their enemy who had gotten them into their current situation, and had made a profit. "I'm sorry man, but it was them or us."

•~•

Finally returning home to the compound, Shadow pulled his bike into the front yard and came to a stop once again. Once he turned off his engine, Amy got off the bike and took off her helmet. "Thanks again for taking me out for breakfast, Shadow. I appreciate it." However, Amy looked perplexed as Shadow didn't bother to respond. She glanced up at him, realizing his sight was fixated on something in the far-off distance behind them. "Uh, what are you looking at?"

"Someone has been following us," he said lowly keeping his eyes on the parked car parked across the street just outside their fenced chain length fence gate. He squinted his eyes, realizing it was that blue hedgehog A.T.F agent he had seen around a few times. Shadow scoffed and cracked his knuckles. "Pff, it's just that stupid blue hedgehog that's been following me."

Once hearing the description, Amy stared in the direction where he was looking. However, once she noticed the familiar car, she backed up hesitantly.

Shadow looked over to Amy noticing her strange reaction. "What is it?"

"Uh, nothing," she urged trying to head for the house, but Shadow softly grabbed her by the arm, stopping her.

"Hey, you know something about this?" he questioned with concern laced in his voice.

She nodded meekly but made sure to keep her back to Agent Zonic's car so he couldn't see her talking. "You said you trust me now, right?" she spoke quietly.

"Yeah, of course?" he assured.

Amy took a deep breath and exhaled. "Then I need to finally come clean…"

Shadow felt a bit nervous about what she was going to come clean on. What exactly had she been hiding all this time then? "Go on," he encouraged.

"…You know that A.T.F agent that's been looking into your club?" Shadow nodded, urging her to continue, but her ears dropped slightly. "I don't think he's fully here to investigate you guys…he's here for me," she admitted.

Shadow seemed stunned and also slightly confused by the reveal. "I-I don't understand…"

She sighed. "Back in Tech city, that agent and I were dating, but a couple of years ago he started to change and became quite possessive and abusive," she explained. "I tried to leave him, but it got pretty violent. I ended up getting a restraining order against him, but it didn't seem to matter because he continued to stalk me."

Now that mysterious R.O was all starting to make sense. His features softened sympathizing with her situation. "Wow, it all makes sense now…"

Amy blinked a few times at him. "Huh, what are you talking about?"

Shadow crossed his arms across his chest and exhaled. "I guess it's time for me to come clean, too."

"You've got secrets too?"

Shadow nodded. "Back when I didn't trust you, I did a bit of digging on you myself. I found out you had some R.O that was classified. I figured you had some sort of run-in with the law, which made me even more paranoid of you," he explained.

Amy seemed surprised by the revelation. "Wow, you really didn't trust me…"

"As I said, I'm paranoid," he sighed. "Anyway, why didn't you go to the police to help with the restraining order? That asshole could go away for a serious time for refusing to acknowledge his limits," Shadow pointed out.

She shook her head. "I did—countless times, but every time, he managed to manipulate the situation to make me look crazy. He's with G.U.N for Chaos' sake. He has pull where he needs it. The police have never been able to help me and that's why I finally left the city," she explained exasperatedly.

Shadow turned around and glared in Agent Zonic's direction. "I see…" He began to storm towards him.

Amy watched as he walked off but looked concerned and began to follow after him. "Shadow, don't," she warned. "He's too dangerous!"

"He doesn't scare me," he scoffed. "I can handle him."

"He's the one who killed Cosmo," she blurted out in exasperation.

Shadow paused and turned to look at her in shock. "This guy is the one who killed your friend back in Tech City? How do you know for certain?"

"He told me so…" She felt her nose begin to run and her eyes water. "She was trying to protect me and keep him off my trail. He killed her trying to find me and he got away with it. Please, I don't want to see anyone else get hurt or worse by him."

Shadow looked back over to his parked car and huffed, as he felt himself getting angrier at the thought. "Get in the house, doctor. I'll deal with him."

"But…"

"Trust me, I've got this." Obliging, Amy quickly made her way up the front porch to enter the house.

Meanwhile, Agent Zonic tried to act innocent across the street by keeping his head down and playing with his cellphone while Shadow approached his vehicle. The ebony hedgehog stood in front of his parked car, reached for a knife clipped to his belt, unsheathed it, and donned it arrogantly before stabbing it into the front ventilators of his car. A hissing noise came out from the slit he had made, and Shadow quickly put his knife back in its sheath.

Zonic quickly emerged from his car glaring at Shadow for damaging his vehicle as he rested his hands on his opened door. "Vandalism and a deadly weapon? That's six months in county jail, asshole!"

Shadow chuckled. "Yeah, and violating a restraining order? You'll be in a cell right next to me," he smirked condescendingly. Zonic's face dropped momentarily making Shadow even more satisfied. "I'm sure we'll become good cellmates."

"You think you're the badass biker, huh?" Zonic noted trying to regain his composure.

Shadow crossed his arms over his chest. "You guys gave it your best shot. You've got nothing on us and harassing Amy—that ends here," he threatened sauntering up to Zonic, standing intimidatingly in front of him. "Next time, it won't be a shitty automobile I'll be draining fluid from," he warned.

Agent Zonic showed no intimidation as Shadow stood inches before him. "Are you really threatening a federal agent?"

Shadow furrowed his brows. "No, I'm just threatening you," he finished, pressing a firm finger into Zonic's chest. Zonic swatted his hand away and Shadow raised his hands for a moment before dropping them to his side. "Leave, it's my last warning." With that, Shadow backed up and walked back towards the compound. Zonic watched the dark hedgehog retreat back indoors before eying his damaged car again. This was about to get a lot harder.

When Shadow walked past the gate, he was surprised to see Amy standing on their front porch waiting for him. "Hey, I told you to get inside? What gives?"

She watched as he walked up the steps. "You didn't have to do that back there…"

"I owe you, you've done so much for me and our club," he justified. Amy looked touched by his reasons. "But once we get back inside the house, I need you to tell me everything so I can make sure this prick is gone for good and out of our hair."

She looked down at the floor for a moment in thought. "Does everyone need to know about my past?"

"You've come to learn about what we're all about since living with us, I think it's time we all learned a little bit more about you," he countered softly.

She nodded, agreeing with him. It was only fair, and if she wanted their help, they deserved to know what was going on. "Alright. I'll tell you guys everything, but what if they're mad that I lied?"

"I've known these guys most of my life. They're family and once they hear the whole story there's no way they could be mad at you," he assured.

She gulped nervously. "Okay…let's go."