Tails had said he'd only make one loop around the town, but as the memories of flights passed returned to the front of his mind, and he found himself on autopilot. An hour had passed before he realized how long he'd been just gliding over hills and rivers all over Green Hill Valley. He had missed this, more than he cared to admit, but he had to get back to work.

As he came back to the workshop and the X-Tornado came gliding down the runway to a stop, he saw Cosmo had returned.

"You're flying again...!"

Tails smiled a little as he climbed out of the X-Tornado, and found Shadow also waiting for him. "Hey, Rosebud." he greeted with his special nickname for her, accepting a hug around the neck. "Yeah... Shadow convinced me to go out for a little bit."

"Well she came back here way too happy for my tastes," Shadow informed, "And she wouldn't tell me why unless you were here."

Tails raised an eyebrow, looking to the excited seedrian. "Cosmo?"

Cosmo giggled, her eyes wide. "Sonic called Amy," she whispered, "he's alive!"

"What?"
Shadow grabbed her arms, shaking her gently. "What did he say? Is he alright? Where is he?"

"Aww, you do care." Tails teased, "But seriously though, where is he?"

"He didn't exactly say, but he told us that he's on his way home." Cosmo's grin widened, "Oh Tails, you should have seen Amy's face when she heard his voice... She was so happy...!"

Tails smiled back, stroking his girlfriend's cheek, "I can imagine it was the same as when I woke up that first morning and saw you really were back with me..." He kissed her forehead as she giggled, and then turned towards Shadow. "What's that frown for?"

Shadow stroked his chin, "I don't know... Something just feels...Off." Shadow then shook his head, "it's probably nothing... I should get back to GUN HQ. Contact me if you hear anything more from him."

"Of course, Shadow."
Tails watched the black and red hedgehog hurry off and then turned towards the workshop. "Well, I'd best get back to work."

"Oh no, you don't."
Cosmo grabbed his arm and stopped him, "You've been running yourself ragged trying to find Sonic for weeks, Tails. Now that we know he's okay, I think you should get some rest."

"But..." Tails looked at the seedrian's concerned face and then sighed with a smile. "...I never could argue with you, could I?"

"No..."
Cosmo led him away from the workshop and towards the house, "...We'll have plenty of time to be running around after Sonic later. I'm sure he's fine."

Back at GUN, everything seemed to be business as usual. The rushing about and constant entering and exiting of soldiers and medical personnel had slowed to a normal pace, now that the majority of the disaster relief was behind them, but the scars of the attacks, even on the base itself, still lingered in broken stone and dust lingering on the edges of the facility, and in the stitched up tears in some uniforms not yet replaced since the event.

Officers saluted Shadow as he entered the compound, and he returned it, but rather than going straight towards the office he'd been occupying for several months, he went first to the science department level; there was someone there he wanted to talk to. On his way, he passed the indoor training yard, where he saw Rouge and Omega sparring against each other. He could hardly wait to get out of the stuffy buildings and be back in action alongside them.

The faint smell of cleaner hung in the air of the science department, some spots on the floor still wet from being mopped. Only one light was on in the wing he entered, of course, she was still working. There wasn't a single member of the family that got the suggested amount of sleep on a daily basis. He opened the door, knocking on the wall to alert the human working of his presence. "Knock knock, Mari."

His sister paused in her studying, lifting her eyes from the microscope she'd been using. "Shadow, what a surprise." She removed her gloves and then brushed her bangs out of her face. "What's up? you don't come down here just to say 'Hi' very often."

"It smells down here." Shadow teased, his smile vanishing after a moment. "Actually, Maria... I was needing someone to bounce ideas off of, and Rouge is busy. Anyways, I just received word that Sonic is in fact still alive."

"Well, good for him." Maria cheered, "I had a feeling that Ivo wasn't quite as clever as he thought he was."

"It's just... If he's been alive all this time, why only tell us now? Why make us worry all this time?"

Maria shrugged, scribbling something down in her notepad. "You knew him far better than me, Shadow..." She tapped her pencil on the paper for a moment and then turned back to him. "...Who else is still his adversary?"

"What?"

"I mean...You and Silver are both people who started out as adversaries of his, but then became friends or at least allies. It's the same with some of the other people he's encountered, like Chaos..."

"But we were all duped into being his adversaries. I mean sure, I was kinda in a bad place anyway when Eggman woke me up, but we all thought we were doing the right thing... I know Dark Gaia still probably doesn't like him much, but I don't believe he'll be an issue again for quite some time... You think he's still hiding from someone?"

"I'm just saying that I was in hiding for a long time because I knew that they might find out that I survived, thanks to Grandfather's serum, and I didn't have a method of defense if they managed to find me."
Maria stood up, brushing her hands off on her lab coat. "GUN must have a file on him, with him being such a powerful Chaos user. Maybe that'll yield more answers."

Shadow nodded slowly, "Perhaps... I'll look into it. Thank you, Maria."

Maria grinned, "Happy to help, Shadow. Now off you go, I have some more work to do before my supervisor comes back from lunch."

Shadow smirked, and then left the lab as his sister returned to her research. There was no denying it, she was a Robotnik, through and through.

He hurried back up to the Archives, pausing at the desk outside of it. "Private Galaxino."

The skunk stood up and saluted, "Sir."

"I need to look at some secure files. I'm told you have access to those files."

"Yes, Sir." The private unlocked the door to the Archives and then opened it. "After you, Sir."
Shadow entered the dimly-lit room, surrounded by the smell of paper and towering filing cabinets in neat, straight rows. "What exactly are you desiring to see, Sir?"

"I need to see the files for Chaos Strongs, most importantly, Sonic the Hedgehog's."

"Of course, Sir. Right this way, Sir."
The skunk led Shadow through the rows, pausing at the wall and then tapping it.

Access Restricted. Identification Required. A voice informed.

"Private Honesty Galaxino, requesting access to Secure Information Vault 16 for Project Shadow."

...Access Granted.

Shadow watched as a door opened into an elevator and then they both stepped inside. "I was not aware that there was an elevator in here."

"Restricted Access, Sir." Private Galaxino replied with a smile as the door closed and they then went down. "...You are surprised a Private has access to such a place."

"I have read your file, Private. You've worked for GUN for many years and yet declined many promotions. Why?"

"The less important I am, the safer my own secrets are, Sir..."

Shadow wasn't certain how many floors they descended, but when they stepped back out, the room was very cold. A large computer stood in the center of the room, humming softly as they walked up to it.

"Okay..." Private Galaxino began typing rapidly on the keys, "...Sonic the Hedgehog... Full file... Here."

The screen lit up with dozens of news articles, reports on Sonic's activities and battles, even copies of receipts from when he purchased something.

"Damn... GUN was watching him closer than I thought." Shadow whispered.

"As one of the five strongest Anthro Chaos wielders on the planet, his exploits always had the chance of being a threat to GUN security. Keeping up to tabs with his activity was a priority."

"It'll take me hours to get through all of this...Wait, five?" Shadow turned to the skunk, "There's me, Silver, Sonic, the Guardian of Angel Island... Is Tikal on that list now?"

"No, sir. The fifth on the list is a subject referred to in the files as Mephiles Solaris."

"Mephiles... Show me the file."
Private Galaxino obeyed, and another file appeared on a secondary screen, and Shadow's eyes widened. "I don't believe it..."

"Is he a reason for concern, Sir?"

"No...At least, I don't think so. I'll look into this further later, right now I need to figure out more about Sonic."