A/N So here's Chapter four, finally got around to starting this. Since that last chapter my life has changed much, still working night shifts which screws my days up, I still play games though on Xbox one more often now(Cause I just got that) and that's about it. Also like last chapter I've been trying to think of ways to bring this story forward. I got some milestones and ideas(like always. Just need to get through some crap to get there. So here we go.

Life continued on, Fiona returned home and resisted the urge to dismantle one of the egg-bot guards. She also needed to find something new to do with her time. Now that Tails didn't need her scavenging anymore it allowed her a lot of free time. What'd she do before that, god it felt like forever since then.

"Right I walked around and maybe got into conversations with anyone" she spoke to herself walking to her small shack that she just barely considered home.

Speaking of people, she and Tails weren't going to be able to take down Eggman by themselves. Who else could help, yet still be useful. It tempted her to recruit people and use them as cannon fodder. That was her old self talking. No there were too few people left to be used as bullet sponges.

"So who could actually be useful?" she said.

Running through the people in her small town she started trying to find skills that might be useful. It sounded egotistical but she was the most skilled fighter here. Above all that she did most of the dangerous work here, it surprised her that the bots hadn't kicked her out yet or tried to gun her down.

"Ok so there's that rat, he's quiet… but he's a little loud… and crazy. The green hawk… no he's a loud mouth and cocky… and stupid. How about that big guy at the bar… no he gets angry easy and a bit dull"

Fiona sighed in annoyance, all those people were useful when it came to food raids but this wasn't a small food storage camp, it was Eggman's fortress. They be killed and die. Not even useful deaths.

"I hate to say this but I wish I knew where the freedom fighters were" she whispered.

She'd heard tons of rumors about various fighters, but that was just it, rumors. Then again anything she could hear wasn't that far. Not many people travelled from place to place and whoever did couldn't or wouldn't go far. If any freedom fighters were alive they were too far away for her to hear about it.

Then she hummed in thought "I wonder if Tails has any clues, we don't even need the freedom force, any vigilantes out there, anyone who were more skilled then the average person.

Sadly she had been moving around so much and been out of town so often she guessed that she was raising attention. Daylight was not the time to go and speak to Tails. Probably didn't want her around for a day or two atleast anyway.

"Guess I need to waste a few days before seeing him again"

So that's what she did, for the next few days she got back to the normal routine. Listened for any news, checked to see if anyone needed anything done. Just a quick job that involved getting a hold of some scrap and a few parts only from egg-bots. Due to her scavenging that was simple work and she had what the guy needed by the next day.

Besides that she hoped someone would pass through town who looked like they could handle themselves. That was fruitless so after nearly a week of patient waiting she escaped the town during the night and headed for Tails' underground lair.

Hours later the sun was peaking over the horizon. The fox entered his territory and went to where she normally dropped her stuff. Expecting to wait a bit she sat on a rock and waited leaning on her arm.

That got boring fast and she looked herself over, the last two years weren't kind. Like always her boots were coated in ash, so normal she didn't bother to clean it anymore. Her black pants and mid drift had been ripped and mended a few times over. Her fur was dirty and covered in dirt causing it to clump up and mess it up in various places.

To pass the time she picked at that stuff, some were easy, some were hard and hurt her nails. Oh gawd her nail had become dirty. That caught her attention and she instantly stopped picking at her fur and scratched away gunk under her nails.

"Damn it's tough" she growled finding it infuriating how stubborn the stuff was.

She helped it a bit but it was too stubborn to fix any further so she picked at her fur again. When she couldn't pick at anything else that wasn't too hard or hard to reach she sighed and tried to think of something else to do.

She thought of an old movie she remembered and smiled at something the little blue creature used to do. She dared herself to try and stuck her tongue out and tied to touch her nose. Sadly it was just barely too short but she continued to anyway.

"Dammit, just a bit further" she growled at herself until she heard someone clear their throat.

Blushing she sucked her tongue back into her mouth and looked forward to see the now familiar armored fox in front of her.

"What are you doing?" he asked eyebrow raised awkwardly.

"Trying to pass the time" she crossed her arms trying to act cool.

He shrugged his armor making small noises as he shifted his body "Why are you here?"

She then smiled and said in a slightly girlier voice than normal "I thought my presence might brighten your day" hopefully joking would help break some tension, but she also found it easier to play around with a friend… well… ex-friend.

"After what I've said to you and you think your presence makes me feel better?" he growed slightly but made no motion to attack.

Fiona huffed rolling her eyes "Right…." Crossed armed and aldo crossed her legs and waited for a moment before asking "I came wondering if you know of any rumors of any professional people who could help us take down Eggman. The small network I have doesn't stretch too far"

He visually thought and said "I'd have to look at my intercepted transmission folder but I rarely get word of any real trouble makers"

"Which reminds me… and I know you left them a long time ago but do you happen to know of any locations of the freedom fighters?" leaning a bit closer like it were a secret.

"No… atleast not for awhile. I used to know where a few were, like Sally, Sonic, Amy and the others. But since about a year ago I have no direct references to any of them" he explained. She couldn't tell for sure but it sounded like he was sad about that, perhaps he still had a heart in there?

"Damn, that's shame. So you wanna go check for any possible recruits?" she asked hoping he was in a good mood.

"What makes you think I'm letting you in again for something I can do myself or just make Mum do?" throwing his arm off in the general direction where his secret door was.

"Fine, I don't need to come. I just wanted to see if you could do it. But I'm waiting here, I'm not walking for miles back home only come back again and get an answer" she crossed her arms stubbornly and acted like she was getting comfortable on a couch or making a groove to sit on.

He visibly sighed and rolled his eyes "Fine, come in. As much as I'd like to see it I don't need you to be gunned down by a patrol"

She inwardly smirked and said "Ok then, you're the boss" with a innocent shrug.

Heinstantly realized the mind games she pulled and groaned but since he told her to come in he couldn't turn around on that now.

So like before he entered the code, he didn't have to ask her to turn since she already had expecting him to tell her to.

Both of them travelled down the small two, maybe three, person elevator.

"So how'd you get into Eggmans transmissions?" Fiona asked.

"Pretty simple, he doesn't expect anyone to have equipment like mine so his transmissions are just a barely a step up from open airwaves. After I pick it up I get mum to translate it because it done in robot speech and then I get the orders in English" he said like it were nothing.

"Still sounds impressive" she tried to brown nose a bit but his expression told her it didn't work.

He continued to explain "I also can pick up reports and that's usually where I get the info from on this particular topic. Usually the report will either describe the problem, aka the person in question, and explain what they did" the door opened and Tails led her out.

Like before most doors were closed and locked so she didn't bother looking around. The stone walls made her wonder if she could chip her name in the wall. It made her chuckle thinking of how long it would take for Tails to notice the graffiti and how he'd react.

"What?" hearing her chuckling.

"N-nothing" she said with a smile still shaking her hand to wave it off.

He eyed her suspiciously but kept walking to the control room, Fiona followed inside and once inside said "Hey Mum"

"Hello dear, it's nice to see you again"

"Good to see you too Mrs Prower, what'cha been up to?" she asked leaning against the desk as Tails sat in the chair to her right.

"You know, just computer stuff" her voice said cheerfully. Fiona didn't know this but she liked being called by her real life name over just Mum

"Sounds like fun, you been keeping Tails away from the bad stuff on the internet?" her chuckle was delicious as Tails scowled at her as he typed. Not like the internet existed now-a-days but it was still funny.

Apparently Rosemary liked it too and laughed alongside the female fox "It seems you've come in a better mood then last time" the Ai asked.

"Ya well I got a decent sleep before I left for here so I feel better" she smiled before sitting against the edge of the desk and watched Tails work.

"Who was the last person you heard from on here?" Fiona asked.

Tails sighed wishing she'd just shut up and let him work but said "Last I heard of anyone remotely close to any of the freedom fighters or associates of them was a purple chameleon. It might have been Espio, it may not have been. The report wasn't specific enough"

The female frowned. It made sense that Espio would be one of the last, his visibility gave him unmatched stealth and survivability.

"I keep hearing rumors of Sonic being alive, that true or just hope?" her ears twitched a little in hope that they were true.

"No… nothing… not for a long time" his face was emotionless but the twitch of his ear gave away some concern he had over it. Of all the things to elicit an emotion from him, Sonics death should make him sad, angry or whatever.

"Do you miss him?" she suddenly asked.

He froze all actions, his fingers stopped typing, his eyes stopped moving and he didn't even breath.

Fiona turned away realizing he was more than likely not gonna answer but her ears tilted back in his direction when he sighed "Sometimes" it was the all he said but it was enough to show he had some regrets too. Had he not cared than he wouldn't regret leaving the freedom fighters, or atleast ending contact with Sonic.

She stayed silent thinking about her own regrets. Like ever trusting Scourge, ever feeling like he could be trusted. Perhaps she learned a lesson that day that was somewhat the same as the one she gave Tails.

You can't trust anyone…

The words burned in her mind. Maybe that wasn't exactly true. Perhaps she just put her trust in the wrong people.

With all she had gone through in the last two years her outlook on the past changed. She took the wrong choice when Tails begged her to stay with the freedom fighters, just took her seven years to figure that out the hard way.

But hindsight was useless now.

"Ok here, Mum found something" the harsh voice snapped her from her thoughts.

Fiona turned and looked to the screen bending over looking over his shoulder. He growled feeling her leaning on it so she recoiled and leaned on the table, a little less comfortable but she could see.

"It says here, miles and miles from here a town is off limits" Tails started.

"Off limits… to the egg-bots, or the people?"

"Both" he said letting that sink in a moment "The place is quarantined off" he explained.

"Ok so how does that tell us there's someone there we need?" Fiona asked find this useless o far, for all they know it could be irradiated.

"Because more reports say the quarantine was continually broken through and damaged, any attempts to proceed into the zone is met with fierce resistance and no bots ever come back" Tails said revealing more as he opened up multiple reports saying all the same things.

"We definitely have a problem there then" she smirked. She doubted it could be animals, any that were still alive were used as food and couldn't stand up to eggbots on a regular basis like that.

"Yup. Besides that there's nothing really, but whoever this is sounds like a real professional" Tails nodded already thinking of how to get in.

"We'll need to scout out the area" They both said in unison, it make Fiona chuckle but Tails ears twitched in frustration.

"Sounds like we're going on a road trip" the female smirked.

Tails groaned already hating the idea but like she said, they needed help and the person or people in this town knew what they were doing, quarantined from the world for months and still afloat.

"I'll get some gear and we'll get going" he said getting up from his chair.

Fiona waited for him, she didn't expect him to give her anything, much less allow her near his stuff so she patently waited still leaning against the desk but sat in the chair after a moment. The seat was still warm from Tails sitting here and made her sigh feeling actual warmth.

Then she started flipping through the files he had up searching for any extra info.

"It's about time someone got Miles out of here" The mother voice spoke up.

"Ya I bet he just sits around tinkering with stuff" Fiona chuckled. She guessed she was probably wrong in any finer details though considering how much he changed.

"Yes, all alone. With nothing but his thoughts to fester. It used to help him in the old days but now all it does it make him think about the past and it keeps him down. So he's deteriorated" the soft mother voice now sounded sad and hopeless.

Fiona looked down away from the computer and was about to speak when she heard the male foxes footsteps approach again.

"Take care of him" was all Rosemary said before Tails walked in.

"What are you doing?" just cautious of her touching his computer.

"Just looking over the reports, calm yourself" she said getting up and walking around him.

He growled but said "See ya later Mum, keep an eye on things"

"I have nothing else better to do dear. Be safe and try to be nice"

"No promises" he said and walked out.

"So what equipment you get?" Fiona asked him waiting outside.

"Extra ammo, trackers, my radar and GPS, heaters for the night, food and some EMP grenades" he said slipping on a backpack then threw her another and said "Too much for just me to carry"

She hefted it on her back finding it a little heavy but nothing too bad "Why thank you" she said like it were a gift, must have taken a lot to let her have some of his stuff.

"Ya whatever, come on let's go, sooner we start. The sooner we end"

So both foxes went up the elevator and started their journey.

"Which way we heading?" Fiona asked.

Tails raised his arm like he was looking at a watch and clicked a small button flipping open a small circlular hatch on the arm revealing a small compass.

"That way, West" he pointed to his right.

"Alrighty then, west we go" she said enthusiastically acting like a child simply to amuse herself.

He groaned and but followed his heavy boots thudding on the floor and kicking up ash.

"We'll have to pass by my town, remember I said I came from the west when you had me chained up?" Fiona commented skipping for a second.

"Ya so?" he asked harshly.

"We'll have to walk around it that's all" she shrugged now walking like normal and decided to stay quiet. Like she said they walked around it, she noticed Tails look at it occasionally as they walked but she didn't bug him about it.

Hours of walking was boring, but curiosity kept both foxes moving forward. It got so boring Fiona felt like talking and since Tails was the only one there she decided to bug him.

"When we get there, what do you think we'll find?"

"Some kind of resistance" he shrugged looking away across the wasted.

"Hmmm, how could they have survived months by themselves, the little town we're in definitely takes some risks and steals stuff but not enough to self sustain ourselves. Because of that we still get supplies from Eggman like normal. If he quarantined the place they either have something set up to make food or they steal much more than we do" She thought aloud wondering if the male would join in.

"I'm guessing they have something set up, there's no way they could feed that many people with just raids…. Unless there aren't that many people there" Tails threw in a thought.

"Maybe, if there are only a few then they really know what they are doing"

He nodded and stayed quiet.

It was a short talk but atleast they talked.

Fiona then started humming.

After a few minutes Tails growled "Stop humming"

"Why, I can do what I want?" she said a little annoyed now.

"Because it's annoying" he growled.

"Ya well it's annoying that you just have to tell me to stop" her anger rising. Being out for hours not speaking got her a little high strung.

"Ya well if you didn't hum I wouldn't tell you to stop" he growled back not looking at her as they both walked.

"Well I'm bored and you don't want to talk to me, so it's either me talking to you constantly or suffer my humming"

"How about neither, you just shut up and walk silently" he growled louder at her backtalk.

"Well too damn bad, things can't be all doom and gloom, maybe the melody of song makes me feel better" she said matter-effactly.

It made him quiet down, he no answer for that. Fiona didn't start humming again, her mood too down to consider it again, she was actually imagining hitting Tails really hard for being such a douche.

It got dark and Tails said "We should rest"

"Good, my feet were getting sore" after that she opened the bag.

Tails did the same and rummaged through it and pulled out a small lamp looking device. Then small bag that had some fresh vegetables inside and smiled.

Fiona stared at the green in awe "You have fresh food… that's green… and orange, and red?" her mouth watered at the thought of eating real food for once.

"Ya, I grow my own food, that's how I keep myself alive… you got your own in there" he said opening his.

She gasped and rummaged through it and found one of the bags and opened it and bit into a carrot. She purred tasting the crisp veggie and said "It's been too long"

She heard an amused snort from Tails but ignored him and devoured the carrot and moved onto a tomato "This is quite literally one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted. Two years ago this would be something I'd have taken for granted… no, it's literally the one of the best things I've ever had"

"Guess I've been living in luxury" the younger male said taking slower, cleaner bites than her.

"You selfish asshole" she chuckled jokingly. Now laying on her side propping herself up with her elbow.

"Not my fault I'm smart enough to have all this prepared" it was a little rude but he also had a point so she shrugged. He took the lamp device and turned a dial on the side and placed it between them both. Within a moment it lit up with a warm light.

"I made these before this all happened, they were originally for any possible camping trips but with the scarcity of wood they work well as campfires" he explained staring into the glow.

Fiona smiled hearing that, his genius coming in handy yet again, and hearing him actually reminisce instead of get angry at her.

"Man that's something I miss, hearing you talk about your inventions, no matter how useless they sounded at the time. Found a use for it no matter what eh?"

His eyes looked up at her wondering where she was going with this "Remember that swiss army knife you made, it for some reason had these extra attachments that seemed to make no sense, like a portable communicator in there. I argued that we have communicators anyway so it's useless… totally got burned when my radio ran out of batteries" she chuckled thinking back.

He shrugged and looked back at the fire but then looked up at the sky as the stars started to appear. Fionas gaze followed. She was about to speak but Tails beat her.

"Of all the things to change since two years ago the sky never changed. It's good to know some things don't change"

Fiona frowned and wanted to say something like "I wish you hadn't changed" but she felt that somehow that would only provoke him into blaming her for his change.

So in response she just nodded and whispered "Ya"

There was a short silence. The only noise was Fiona eating her food like a slob. Tails' gruff voice broke it "You mentioned when I cuffed you that Scourge left you behind. What happened exactly?" he eyed her suspiciously.

"Oh… I told you already, he abandoned me and I persevered and survived… though skill and mostly luck" she shrugged finishing off another carrot.

His eyes squinted suspicious, honestly she had nothing to hide but his bias towards her made him think she was hiding something.

"What?" she asked looking around awkwardly.

"That's it, nothing else?"

Fiona eyed him "What else is there to say, jackass left me for dead. Dude is dead to me now. What you want every little detail, like how I got grazed twice, bruised, and cut when I slid down the hill? Hell maybe I could tell you the exact amount of bullet that were shot at me" her sarcasm heavy.

Tails rolled his eyes though backed off and looked back at the heat lamp. Fiona watched him for awhile and asked "Ok so you seem so interested in the day I lost my last friend, why don't you explain to me how you left all your friends" she felt like since he harassed her she could harass him just one time.

"Shut up" he growled eyeing her angrily.

"No you just HAD to hear my heart breaking story again, thinking I was lying about something or leaving the smallest detail out, now I want to hear your very vague story" already predicting that he answer with very little details out of spite.

"Shut the hell up before I…"

"Before what, you try to kill me again, go ahead do it tough guy!" she dared beating her chest once.

"Don't tempt me" he growled aggressively.

"You were waiting all this time to find me and kill me, why don't you do it. Come on kill me. Unburden me of this cursed world" Fiona laughed almost like a psychotic.

He continued to growl his exposed fur standing up, and his tails poofing up.

"You can't can you" she smirked heavily satisfied seeing him flinch "Because you need me"

He growled looking away and ground his claws into the dirt.

Fiona got serious again and sternly said "So get over it Miles, you're stuck with me. Atleast wait until we're done with Eggman, then take meout because my one life goal will finally be complete"

She finished off one last veggie and got into a comfortable position and tried to go to sleep. She waited, and waited, and waited. Until finally she finally heard Tails shift in place and get ready to fall asleep as well.

She let out a breath because she was still alive, still able to dream of revenge, sweet sweet revenge. She was sure Tails was thinking of his revenge, he'd just have to wait a tad bit longer than to get his. That satisfied her and made her smirk. She had him under control, no matter how angry he got, no matter how much he wanted her dead, he needed her until the second after Eggman was dead.

"Got my passport to revenge, now I just need to fly through the rough skies" she smirked and was soon asleep thinking of all the ways she could end the fat mans life.

HEY HEY! New chapter done thought it came out nice, actually confident in this one(well more confident then normal) So I do have my way to the next part and I got that all planned out. I wanted to show off the tension of Fiona and Tails. Hope it was portrayed well.

Not very much to say honestly, stuff and thing, things and stuff that kind of jazz. Thanks for reading and let me know what'cha think friendo's.

Live long and prosper

Admiralkirk