Author's Note: Happy 2023, everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Thank you, CrimsonLove16, ARavenRose, Lioness of the Fire, Sad Little Demon, and Risingzero1984, for reviewing my last chapter. I appreciate them greatly, and they help motivate me to keep going. I always look forward to reading your feedback. Enjoy the latest chapter. I have a special chapter idea for next month for Valentine's Day. ;)

The following day, Amy watched as Knuckles climbed into a truck along with Manic. The two had finished prepping and loading the truck with the other weaponry that Enerjak had requested. They would meet Enerjak distribute the guns, then take some drugs to mule back. In the background, Mighty and Gadget geared up on their motorcycles as they prepared for their long journey. Amy stood on the front porch hugging Shadow as if it'd be the last time she'd see him again. "How long are you going to be gone again?" she mumbled into his chest.

Shadow placed a hand on top of her head. "Only three days," he reminded with a chuckle. "But I'll be back, I promise."

She glanced up at him with further doubt and suspicion. "And this is for a motorcycle convention?" she asked with trepidation.

He hesitated for a moment before he answered as his eyes darted to the left. "Yes and no," he wavered. Amy raised a brow and looked at him skeptically. "It's just a merchandise run that we're doing under the guise of a motorcycle convention," he explained, going off her expression. "Nothing too serious."

"…Okay," she sighed and broke away from her embrace. "Just promise me you'll be safe out there."

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I promise," he avowed. Amy smiled up at him sweetly.

Knuckles rolled down his window in the truck and looked at his wife standing on the front porch. "Rouge, check on my dad. Text me if there are any new updates on his health," he yelled in the distance.

"Sure thing, hon!" Rouge called back.

"Love you," he shouted.

"Love you too, Knucklehead!" she shouted back.

Shadow glanced at his phone and noticed the time. "Well, we have to get on the road before the traffic gets bad. So, I'll see you in a few days, Rose."

Amy leaned up on her tippy-toes and kissed Shadow. Shadow reciprocated her gesture giving her one last long kiss and wrapping his arms around her waist. Standing at the front door, Mephiles watched the romantic display and scoffed under his breath at the display. He couldn't stand seeing how loved up his brother was acting recently. Rouge couldn't avoid hearing Mephiles' disgust and raised one questionable brow at his reaction.

Amy finally pulled away from their kiss. "I love you," she said quietly to keep it intimate between them.

"I love you too," he replied before backing away from her.

Suddenly, Mephiles sauntered behind Amy and slung one of his arms over her shoulder, startling her briefly. Rouge grimaced and shook her head at his sleazy ways. "Rest assured, brother. I'll keep a good eye on her in your absence," he promised. Amy couldn't help but internally shudder from his unwarranted touch. The more she learned about Mephiles, the more she couldn't stand the sight or touch of him. He was bad news all around and not to be trusted.

Shadow nodded and walked off before mounting his bike. Rouge waved to her husband from the front porch. A few moments later, the bikers drove out of the compound with the merchandise in tow. Mephiles waved to his departing members as they left the compound before they were out of sight. With his other arm still around her petite frame, Amy carefully removed his arm awkwardly. "Well, uh, I need to get to work now." Rouge stared at the two watching Amy's uncomfortable demeanor around the president.

Mephiles' reptilian eyes followed her carefully as she began to head indoors. "Do you, by chance, need a ride to work? I could always give you a lift."

"Oh, uh…" Amy froze and grimaced at the thought of riding to work with Mephiles. The idea of pressing her body against him and wrapping her arms around his waist while riding to work on his motorcycle grossed her out. She could only fathom what ideas that might give him.

"—Ray already said he'd take her in," Rouge butted into the conversation.

Amy was thrilled Rouge had picked up on her social cues and saved her. She went along with Rouge's lie. "Yeah, that's right! Ray already promised he'd take me to work." She hadn't asked Ray yet, but she was sure he'd have no problem complying with the task.

He studied her for a moment before brushing off her bold lie. "Very well then. I'll always be at your beckon if you need me, Ms. Rose," he stated with a head bow. Amy watched as he made his way off the porch and walked towards the mechanic shop.

Once he was out of earshot, Amy turned to the white bat. "Thank you so much for helping me out back there," she said quietly.

"Of course, I could see you were visibly uncomfortable, and I don't blame you," she shrugged. "I wasn't kidding when I said to steer clear of the guy," she chuckled.

•~•

Later that morning, Amy showed up to work and was surprised to see Ms. Vanilla in the private doctor's lounge waiting by her locker. She also spotted Tikal at another locker, unpacking her belongings into the cubby. Tikal shot Amy a look of remorse before glancing away. Amy's eyes drifted back to the rabbit as she approached. "Oh, Ms. Vanilla, good morning," Amy commented.

"Good morning, Ms. Rose," she smiled. "I just wanted to commend you for your honorable mention. I heard about what you did to save that patient last night."

Amy gave a small smile. "Oh, you did? Yeah, I was just in the right place at the right time."

Ms. Vanilla placed a hand on her shoulder. "You should be so proud," she complimented. "That's the type of doctors we like to hire around here. Ones that perform heroically even when off the clock."

"Well, again, thank you so much," she replied graciously.

Ms. Vanilla smiled before glancing down at her clipboard. "As for your duties today, I have you assigned for a heart transplant in room O.R 402," she instructed. "You'll be there for most of the day since it's quite a long surgery."

"No problem."

Ms. Vanilla left the room, leaving Amy and Tikal alone together. Amy uncomfortably and quietly placed her purse into the locker in silence. She still felt awkward around Tikal after her disagreement the day before.

"…Thank you," Tikal finally spoke up, breaking the strained silence.

Amy turned her head to look in Tikal's direction. "Pardon?"

"Thank you for saving my uncle's life," Tikal further elaborated. "I heard about what you did yesterday. Everyone's been talking about it. So, once again, thank you."

"Locke is my friend. I'd do anything to keep him safe," she explained with a nonchalant shrug.

"I see that now," she nodded. "I also wanted to apologize for how I came across yesterday. I realized last night that it wasn't right for me to reprimand you that way. It truly is none of my business."

Amy closed her locker door. "It's okay. You don't need to apologize. I understand where you were coming from. You were thinking about me in my best interest. It's just…As I said yesterday, I've already had other people express their concerns."

"I see," she nodded. "Well, I hope we can remain on good terms. I want to keep you as a friend."

Amy smiled. "Of course!"

Tikal looked relieved. "Wonderful."

Amy and Tikal began to make their exit from the doctor's lounge together. "You should swing by with me to visit Locke later this afternoon," she suggested. "I'm sure he'd be happy to see you."

"That's a lovely idea. I truly do need to keep in contact with him more."

•~•

Driving for hours, the boys stopped at a gas station to fuel up. Shadow finished pumping gas and placed the pump back in its holster. Manic and Mighty came out of the convenience store together, and Manic was munching away on a family-sized bag of chips.

"Dude, that's your second bag of those things today," Mighty noted, pointing at the bag as they walked back to their vehicles.

Manic threw another chip in his mouth, munching down on it. "Yeah, I'm still a little stoned, man. I hit two blunts before we hit the road," he chuckled. "It's a good thing Knuckles was driving this morning. You know I don't condone being high behind the wheel," he chuckled.

Mighty shook his head. "You're hooked on that stuff, man."

"Hey, you're addicted to girls, and I'm addicted to weed. Don't judge my addiction, bro. We all battle our demons."

Knuckles came out of the bathroom and hustled back over to the truck. "We gotta keep moving if we want to get there by tonight. We've got several more hours ahead of us."

Manic groaned in annoyance. "I already feel like I've been in this lame truck for five hours. My butt fell asleep!"

"That's because you have been in that truck for five hours, Manic," Mighty confirmed with a deadpan expression and tone.

Manic looked bewildered at the realization. He looked down at his hand and counted on his fingers. "Dude…"

While the two held their banter, Shadow couldn't help but notice a strange-looking red cable van parked across the street with darkened windows. He had seen them on the road while they were driving and was getting a suspicious feeling from them. He made a mental note to keep an eye out for them when they continued their journey.

•~•

Meanwhile, at the hospital, both Amy and Tikal dropped by Locke's room during their lunch break. Amy peeked her head in and spotted Locke sitting in a reclined setting in his bed while he watched the television plastered up at the top of the wall across from him. "Knock, knock," Amy announced with a smile.

Locke glanced at the entrance to his room and smiled at Amy's presence. "Lass!"

"I hope you don't mind, but I brought a visitor with me," Amy gestured to Tikal, pulling up behind her.

Tikal waved graciously at her uncle. "Uncle, it's been a while…"

"Tikal, it's been ages since I've seen you," he stated, eying her up and down. "My, you've grown into quite the lovely young lass yourself."

Tikal gave a curt smile as she approached his bedside next to Amy. "Thank you."

"How's your mom doing? Is she holding up all right?" Locke inquired.

"My mother is doing great," Tikal replied. "She's busy with business as usual."

"That's good to hear," Locke nodded.

The orange echidna moved in closer. "How are you feeling today?"

"A little sore and tired, but otherwise not too bad," he answered. He looked over to Amy. "I heard you were the one to save the day."

The pink hedgehog crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a playful smile. "I wasn't about to let anything happen to you. You know that."

"I'm sure you've heard it enough but thank you for saving this old curmudgeon's life."

Suddenly, Tikal's beeper buzzed in her lab coat pocket. She pulled it out and glanced at the alert. "My apologies, I'm needed back downstairs." She glanced at the two of them. "I'll make sure to pop in again to check in on you and perhaps hold a longer conversation. See you later, Amy," she waved before exiting. Amy waved back.

"Bye," Locke waved.

"I saw Rouge was written down on the visitor's list," Amy mentioned.

Locke tried to sit up a little straighter in his bed. "Yes, she popped in earlier." His eyes glanced at a vase full of flowers on the table next to his bed. "She brought me those," he gestured.

Amy's eyes wandered over to the beautiful flowers on display. "That was nice of her," she complimented. "But, now that we're alone," she segued. "What exactly happened last night? I heard you and Mephiles argued."

"Yeah, he was in a pissy mood with me last night, and he was practically asking for a fight," he explained. "I guess he's still sore over my blackmail against him. It must be eating away at him."

"That makes more sense now. When I came out and saw you on the floor, I feared that he had attacked you," she admitted.

"The bastard wishes he could," Locke chuckled to himself.

Suddenly a nurse strolled in with a rolling table holding a plate of food and a beverage. "Lunch is served."

Locke rubbed his hands together eagerly. "About time. I'm famished."

Amy glanced at the clock on the wall. "Oh, I need to grab something to eat myself," she noted. "I'm going to swing by one more time later this evening before I get off work, okay?"

The nurse lifted the lid and placed the food tray on a rolling table that hovered over his bed. The plate of food was boiled chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, assorted vegetables, and green Jell-O for dessert. Locke grabbed his fork. "Sure thing, lass. See you later this evening!"

•~•

Location: Future City 6 PM

That evening, the boys finally reached their first pit stop. They pulled into a sleazy-looking motel where they'd spend the night. The next morning they planned to hit the road again and hopefully make it to their destination by lunchtime. Shadow parked his bike in one of the parking spots in front of the rooms and took his hands off the handles. He flexed his fingers inward and outwards, having had his hands cramp up on the long ride.

Knuckles hopped out of the truck next to Shadow. He stretched his back out, hearing a crack. "Fuck, that was a long car ride."

"You can say that again," Shadow seconded.

Manic yawned as he walked around the side of the truck. "Man, I'm freaking beat. I need to hit the sheets."

Knuckles crossed his arms over his chest and eyed the green hedgehog. "How can you possibly still be tired? After we fueled up, you slept the whole second half of the trip."

Manic rolled his eyes. "Hey, man, don't hate on me because I can sleep sixteen hours a day, okay?"

Mighty and Gadget returned from the check-in lobby and walked over to the other three holding key cards. "All right, we got our rooms." The red and black armadillo handed each of them a key. "Manic, Knuckles, and Gadget will be sharing a room, and Shadow, you and I got the other room."

Knuckles groaned. "Oh, come on! I had to listen to this guy blow out the truck with his lethal farts. He practically gassed me out," he bemoaned. "Can't we switch?"

Manic shot Knuckles a glare at the accusation. "Yo, I wouldn't be the one to talk. You're the one who snores like a freaking freight train, my dude. I have no idea how Rouge gets any sleep with your mondo loud snoring," he accused.

"I do not snore. I'm just a heavy breather," Knuckles excused, getting offended.

"Bro, you're in denial," he pointed. "At least I didn't deny my farting problem. I'm cool with it," he shrugged.

Knuckles puffed up his chest, getting in Manic's face. "I'm going to fart in your direction tonight and see how you like it, you little punk!"

"Yeah, well, maybe I'll snore real loud next to your ear so you can hear the supreme-o percussions I have to suffer with," he shot back. "I'm surprised you've never inhaled the drapes off the windows, my dude."

Shadow was tired of watching the two go back and forth in their childish nature. He couldn't believe these two belonged to one of Mobius's most notorious biker gangs. The two of them had killed countless people like it was nothing, yet they were arguing like children over something neither could genuinely control. "All right, stop the bickering," he snapped. "If this is going to be a huge ordeal, I'll swap with Knuckles, and he can sleep in Mighty's room."

"Yes!" Knuckles cheered with a fist punch to the air.

Mighty forced a smile, unhappy he'd now have to be the one to share a room with Knuckles' snoring. "…Yeah, all right," he feigned excitement.

Manic seemed to be happy with the swap as well. "Booya!" he celebrated. He slung an arm around Shadow with enthusiasm. "Oh, you're going to love rooming with Gadget and me. We're the best roommates you could have!"

"Sir, I'd suggest wearing nose plugs to bed," Gadget suggested to the dark hedgehog. "Luckily for me, I don't have the issues of suffering through the foul stenches of Manic's bowels. My constant congestion and allergies prevent me from breathing in the smells of his innards," he explained succinctly and logically without a beat.

Shadow shot the red wolf a deadpan glare, which he quickly picked up before scurrying off to the room. Manic ignored Gadget's comment before another idea crossed his mind. "Oh, yeah, and you know what the best thing about rooming with me is?"

Shadow grimaced at the possibilities. Chaos knew what was about to come out of his mouth. "Do I really want to know the answer to this?"

"Well…" Manic snickered and cupped a hand around his mouth to keep it hushed. "If you wanna get a little freaky and sext with Amy tonight, I hold no judgment. I'll even go in the bathroom to give you two a little privacy, if you know what I. mean," he whispered.

Shadow stiffened and broke away from the green hedgehog's grasp. "Oh, fuck off!"

Manic shrugged and threw up his arms innocently. "What'd I say, man?"

Mighty and Knuckles couldn't help but overhear his comment and chuckled at Shadow's prude nature when discussing intimate matters between him and Amy.

•~•

Walking into the hospital lounge, Mephiles strolled up to the front desk and removed his sunglasses from his head, tucking them to rest on the collar of his shirt. The nurse behind the desk looked up at the dark hedgehog. "Good evening, sir. How may I help you?"

"Is visitation still ongoing?" he questioned, leaning his arms over the counter.

"They certainly are," she confirmed. "However, there are only about fifteen minutes left, so it'll have to be a speedy visit."

"That won't be a problem on my end."

"Very well, who are you seeing today?" she inquired with a smile.

"Locke Echidna," Mephiles replied.

She quickly typed away on her computer to look for his information. "Ah, yes, Mr. Echidna is in room 203," she informed. "I'll need your I.D., please." Mephiles handed it over, and she pulled up a tab on her computer to begin filling in the information. "If you'd just sign in your full name and the time on the sign-in sheet, that'd be great," she instructed.

"Of course…" Mephiles reached for the chained pen on the counter and jotted down the date and time on the sign-in sheet.

Just then, the phone rang, and the nurse quickly answered it. "Hello, Mercia Hospital, front desk. Oh, no, he's not in today, sir. Can I take a message?" Seeing the nurse distracted, Mephiles began to plot a new plan. He didn't necessarily want his information in the system, and he certainly didn't want it to be known that he visited at a particular time. He pretended to write information down on the sign-in sheet just when he heard a crash. He looked behind him and noticed an elderly female rabbit had collapsed out of her wheelchair while sitting in the lounge. The nurse behind the desk and a few other standing nurses quickly rushed to assist her.

Mephiles spotted his I.D. still on the nurse's desk in front of the keyboard. She hadn't entered his information yet. Quickly, he reached over the side, swiped it up, and quickly jotted down another name on the sign-in sheet. Then, discreetly, he slipped away while the nurses gathered around the older woman.

•~•

Walking down the halls of the hospital corridors, Mephiles scanned each side, desperately looking for room 203. He had determined that the room number must be on the second floor and was getting closer. His eyes stared at one room number he passed, "Room 199."

He wasn't exactly sure what his next step would be once he got to Locke's room. However, he did know he would do whatever he could to kill him. Finally, Mephiles stopped just outside room 203. To confirm this was the correct room, he eyed the file in the container outside the door, which read, "Patient: Locke Echidna." Taking a cautious glance to his left and right before entering, Mephiles peeked his head inside the room and spotted the old echidna sleeping in his bed. Perfect. Mephiles slipped further inside and discreetly closed the door behind him, leaving the two of them alone.

The dark president quietly walked to the side of his bed and glared down at him. Locke had an I.V. in one arm and some other wires under his shirt attached to his chest to monitor his heartbeat. He also had oxygen tubes in his nostrils to supply him with extra oxygen. Mephiles' fists tightened by his sides in rage as he stared at the old echidna sleeping helplessly before him. How dare he threaten to expose him for his evil deeds.

"You've lived long enough. It's time for you to move on," he whispered.

•~•

Meanwhile, Amy was getting ready to check out for the evening. However, she promised Locke she'd check in with him one more time before returning home. Amy went to the front desk to sign in for visitation as she had done earlier. While Amy signed her name down on the list, she couldn't help but notice another name listed a few spaces above her. It read, "Knuckles," and next to the time, it said he was visiting at 6:00 PM. The time now was 6:03.

"Excuse me," Amy interrupted politely as the nurse behind the desk typed something. "Who was the last person to visit Locke Echidna?"

"Oh, well, that must've been his son. However, he didn't look much like him," the nurse rambled. "Speaking of which, if you happen to see him on your way down, can you remind him to stop by the front desk so I can finish putting in his I.D. information? There was a little accident earlier, and he left before I finished putting in his info."

Amy's mind began to race. There was no way Knuckles was here visiting his father in the hospital. He was miles and miles out of town, which meant someone was impersonating him—and she had a good idea who it was. Her heart sank, and she smiled sheepishly and nodded to the nurse. "Yes, of course."

Amy began rushing down the hall in the best power walk she could muster. She could only hope she wasn't too late. When she finally got to Locke's room, his door was shut. She peered into the window on the door and spotted Mephiles standing with his back to her. Amy grabbed the door handle and opened it, ready to spring into action.

Mephiles craned his neck in her direction, eying her. "Good evening, Ms. Rose," he practically purred innocently.

Amy lowered the blatant suspicion in her expression and relaxed her tension as she entered the room. She quickly looked over at Locke, realized he was asleep, and appeared unharmed. "Oh, Mephiles, I didn't expect to see you here so late."

"Well, I wanted to pop in and pay him a visit and personally apologize to him for my behavior last night," he lied smoothly.

Amy walked further into the room. "That's very kind of you…however, it looks like he's out for the evening," she gestured to his sleeping state. "That heart attack took a lot out of him yesterday. He needs his rest."

"That's a shame," Mephiles tsked. "I sure hope he recovers." He glanced at the clock on the wall to his right. "Isn't your shift over about now?"

Amy looked at the clock herself quickly, trying to avoid giving him eye contact. "Uh, yeah, I was about to clock out, but I wanted to look in on Locke one last time."

Mephiles placed one hand on his hip. "How convenient! I can give you a ride home then," he suggested tilting his head to the side.

"That's sweet, Mephiles, but one of my co-workers wanted to grab dinner after work. I'm meeting her in the lobby in ten minutes," she quickly lied on the spot.

Mephiles began to walk towards the door. "You know, Ms. Rose, I can't help but get the feeling that you're avoiding me," he noted playfully, but deep down felt a strained divide between them. There was something off about her tonight.

Amy shook her head. "No!" she proclaimed. "You just keep catching me at bad timings," she assured. "I appreciate you looking out for me, Mephiles. Honestly."

He opened the door and stood on the other side, still holding onto the doorknob. "If you say so," he shrugged indifferently. "At any rate, have a lovely rest of your evening and get home safely, or my dear brother will have my head."

She waved at him. "I promise I will. See you at home later."

With that said, he closed the door behind him, leaving Amy and Locke alone.

After a few moments, the echidna finally spoke. "—Is that bastard finally gone?" Locke's groggy voice asked.

Amy turned around and looked down at the bed where Locke kept his eyes closed as he remained in bed. "Were you awake this whole time?"

His eyes finally fluttered open. "No, but I began to stir when you two were talking. I thought it'd be best if I continued to pretend to be asleep to get him out of here for both our sakes."

"Good thinking," she commended.

"You did a great job with your little fib there," he noted. "You came up with that dinner lie on the spot?"

Amy chuckled lightly. "You think he believed it? I'm terrified of being alone with him for a prolonged period. He gives me the creeps."

"You have good instincts, lass. You don't want to dwell around that creep," he insisted. Locke sat upright in bed and grunted a bit. "Oh, and you know he was lying as well. He wasn't here to apologize to me."

Amy nodded and took a seat next to his bed. "No, I know," she agreed. "Before I made my way down here, I had to check in through visitation. When I was signing in, I noticed he put his name down on the list as Knuckles. He somehow managed to bypass the security measure with his I.D."

"Crafty bastard," Locke muttered with a scoff.

"Yeah, clearly he wanted to slip in undetected and do something," she conjectured. "Are you sure he didn't do anything to you?"

Locke lifted his arms and looked himself over. "Not that I'm aware of, although I wouldn't be surprised if he came to try to finish me off. I feel fine, though."

"Is he doing this all because of your threat?" Amy questioned nervously.

"More than likely," he answered.

"…Locke," Amy sighed. "This is getting dangerous. How are you not afraid?"

"Because he knows he's fucked either way," he replied. "I'll be the one who comes out victorious in the end," he avowed.

"But you don't know that for sure." Amy reached out and placed a hand on top of his. "Your life is at stake here," she stressed. "I know you think you're doing the best thing for the club, but I truly worry about you. Is all this worth it?"

"Yes," he breathed. "I have to take him down, lass. One way or another."

•~•

Amy finally returned home and got ready for bed. It was nearing 11 PM, and she had just finished getting undressed and was in her pajamas. Amy stood before her closed bedroom door and looked at the calendar. She counted the days with a red marker noting the number of days left before crossing out the current day. Her eyes went over to the day circled in a bright red marker, "Shadow's birthday." She was excited to celebrate the special day with him and had a plan in store. Suddenly her phone rang, startling her momentarily. Sitting on her bed, Amy looked at the screen and noticed it was the dark hedgehog himself face-timing her. She smiled and quickly answered the call, eager to hear his voice. "Hello?"

The screen showed Shadow holding his phone out as he sat on a sidewalk's curb with some motel doors in the background. His face noticeably brightened when her face appeared on his phone screen. "Evening, princess."

Amy felt her heart flutter at the once facetious nickname turned pet name. "Wow, I didn't expect to hear from you tonight. This is a lovely surprise."

"You think I'm going to miss the opportunity to check in on my girl on our first time apart?" he chuckled. "I at least have to tuck you in virtually."

"You're sweet," she smiled back at him before realizing his scenery. "Uh, where are you right now anyway?" she squinted.

"We're in Future City, well actually," he stumbled. "More like just on the outskirts in a seedier part of the town," he clarified. "We're at a motel to spend the night. Tomorrow we'll finally be at our destination."

"I bet you're exhausted from traveling all day," she noted. "Anything eventful happen on the road?"

Shadow shook his head. "No, thankfully, it was a smooth ride up here. More so, it was just long and grueling. How was your day, though?"

Amy leaned further back into her pillow. "Not too bad. I observed a few operations today and checked in on Locke twice."

"Oh, how's he doing then?" he inquired curiously.

"He's doing well," she responded. "I believe he'll be discharged tomorrow. Speaking of which, send that info over to Knuckles."

"Got it," Shadow nodded. "I'm sure he'll be glad to hear it."

Amy couldn't help but stare at Shadow lovingly as another thought crossed her mind. "I know it sounds silly that you've only been gone for several hours now, but I can't wait to see you in person again. It's lonely in bed without you here…" she flirted playfully.

Shadow couldn't help but smirk slightly. "I'll be back spooning you before you realize it. It'll only be a couple more days," he promised.

Amy brought one of her hands to her lips and blew him a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too, babe," he smiled back. "It's getting late there, and I know you have an early shift tomorrow. Get some sleep, okay?"

"You too," she smiled. Do you think you could call me around the same time tomorrow night? I like having you virtually tuck me in. It's super cute."

"Sounds like a date," he smiled. "Sweet dreams, princess."

She waved at him. "Night." The two hung up.

•~•

The next day, Shadow, Knuckles, Manic, Mighty, and Gadget arrived at downtown Future City. They rode up to a large convention center with a banner that said, "Motorcycle Convention Expo." The M.C. had decided to use their attendance at an annual motorcycle convention as a guise for their true machinations. The group parked their bikes and the truck containing the "goods" in the expansive parking lot filled with other motorcycle enthusiasts and guests.

Mighty and Manic couldn't help but ogle at a beautiful girl wearing denim shorts and a bikini top pose on one of the motorcycles on display. Gadget shook his head before nudging the two back to reality as he spotted Shadow and Knuckles making their way back over. "Well, we're all signed in," Knuckles announced.

"Now that we've covered our alibi, all we do is wait, right?" Mighty questioned.

Shadow nodded. "Yes, Enerjak and his guys are supposed to meet us in the parking lot."

Manic scratched at his head. "What time did they say again?"

"They said around 1 PM, and that's in the next five minutes," Shadow informed, glancing at his watch. The bikers walked around the busy parking lot with patrons heading towards the convention center. Meanwhile, they walked in the opposite direction, further away from the expo.

Suddenly, Shadow noticed a large black SUV with tinted windows sitting in the far corner under some trees. He gave a subtle head nod in the vehicle's connection. "Cartel is over there."

The group surrounded the SUV, and the tinted window rolled down, revealing one of Enerjak's right-hand men. A gruff purple echidna. "Where's Enerjak?" Shadow asked.

"He doesn't like to be watched," the purple echidna replied.

Shadow quirked a brow, a little confused by his comment. "What do you mean by that?"

"You've got a narc following you," he stated. "You'll need to lose them before we deal."

Shadow felt his hair rise on the back of his neck but kept a calm composure. He continued to look at the purple echidna in the face, refusing to make it evident to the officials that he was onto them now. "Where are they?"

"There's a cable van at three o'clock," he replied.

"Nobody else look," Shadow ordered his group, who were listening in. Instead, he kept his eyes locked on the echidna. "We don't want to make it obvious. Knuckles, locate it for us discreetly."

Obliging, Knuckles looked over his shoulder cautiously and spotted the vehicle parked in the distance. "Shit," he mumbled under his breath before turning back around.

"Let me guess. It's a red van with darkened windows?" Shadow deduced, still not having turned around to look at it.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Knuckles confirmed.

Shadow sighed. "When we stopped at that gas station yesterday, I noticed it across the street. It had been on the highway with us for a while. I hoped it was a coincidence, but when I didn't see it anywhere at the motel, I brushed it off," he explained.

"Well, we don't do business until it's taken care of," he warned.

Shadow nodded, understanding what they'd need to do. He knew Mephiles would be infuriated if this deal didn't go through. However, he also knew the dangers of not following through with a promise regarding the cartel. "Don't worry. We'll take care of it."

"You better. Call me back when it's clear." The diver next to him started the car's engine and rolled up the passenger side window. The Brothers watched as the SUV drove off.

"Any grand ideas then?" Manic piped up.

"We'll have to create some sort of diversion," Gadget gathered. "We need to make them think we're supplying our merchandise at a new location but lose or hinder them along the way."

Shadow began walking back toward their parked bikes, and the rest of the boys followed him. "Okay, let's head out to I-7, and we'll figure something out. We always do."

•~•

Meanwhile, that same day, back in Mercia, Rouge and Amy helped get Locke back home to his cabin. The two females stood on either side as they helped walk inside for support. His body was still slightly feeling the effects of the heart attack. "Thank you two," he praised.

The two girls escorted him to a reclining chair in the living room in front of a T.V. "Is this a good place to sit you down?" Amy inquired.

Locke nodded. "Yes, that will do." The two girls helped lower him into the seat comfortably. "It's good to be home," he sighed.

Rouge walked towards his kitchen. "And you're sure you don't want to be closer to us? There is a spare bedroom at the compound, you know…"

"Nah, I'd rather be in my own home. Besides, I can take care of myself."

Rouge looked through his cabinets and fridge, noticing that they all seemed relatively barren. "It looks like you could use a run to the grocery store. You don't have enough essentials here for food."

"Well, I suppose I was getting a tad lazy," he admitted.

Rouge perked up at an idea. "I could always run to the store for you and grab some things," she offered.

Locke looked appreciative of the idea. "Thank you, Rouge, that'd be great."

Rouge smiled and walked back over towards the front door. "All right, I'll be back in an hour or so. Amy, stay here until I get back, okay?"

Amy nodded and waved her off. "Sure thing." With that said, Rouge left the two alone again.

"Well, now that we're alone, I think it'd be best to make sure Detective Espio didn't find those copies you made."

"Yeah, you're probably right," he concurred. "I almost forgot about that whole ordeal with my heart attack."

Amy walked around the living room, taking in his home décor. "Where did you hide them anyway? I'll go to check that they're still there."

"Do you see the wall directly behind me?" he instructed.

Amy turned around and looked at the wall behind them. "The one with the dining room?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "There's a bunch of pictures over there. Go to one of me with the old crew," he directed. "Lift the picture from the wall, and a hole is directly behind it. I put all the info there."

Amy followed his directions and walked over to the wall. She searched for the correct picture and found and removed it from the wall. However, her heart sank when she noticed a hole in the wall with no contents. "Um, Locke…"

"What is it, lass?"

"…They're not here," she stated gravely.

Locke looked concerned but tried to remain calm. "I guess Espio did find them after all, which means…"

"—That he's probably already reported back to Mephiles and let him read everything," Amy surmised aloud.

"Yes, which now makes sense on why he appeared at the hospital yesterday. He was there to either kill me or get answers out of me. It's clear what he read truly frightened him."

Amy came back over in his direction and sat on the couch near him. "What do we do now?"

"I gave him a week to pull out of the newest business venture, and I doubt he'll cave. It's only been two days so far. Only a few more days, and then I'll expose him to the entire club," Locke insured.

Amy gulped nervously. "Do you think I should re-hide the hard copies?"

Locke shook his head. "No, he has no idea about your involvement which is all the better. Just keep acting normal around him, and don't give him any ideas you may know about this," he instructed. "You'll be fine, I promise."

•~•

Back in Future City, Shadow and the others were in the middle of their decoy mission. Shadow led the front of the squad down a relatively empty highway with the others on either side. However, Knuckles and Manic drove in front of Shadow with the "goods." In the far distance behind them, Shadow peered at his left side view mirror and spotted the red cable van following them but trying to remain inconspicuous.

"Any great ideas yet?" Mighty shouted over the roaring winds and engines.

"Not yet. Give me a little bit more time," Shadow shouted back.

Suddenly a large truck carrying a bunch of oil barrels came up from behind them and quickly merged around them and Knuckles and Manic's truck. Shadow's red eyes followed the truck as he noticed large leather straps holding down the great oil barrels on the back of the open truck bed.

Shadow glanced at Mighty and Gadget. "I think I've found our decoy," Shadow shouted.

Mighty glanced back at the oil barrels again, realizing what Shadow's idea would be. "I've got your back," he shouted back.

Gadget nodded eagerly as well. "Same here, V.P!"

"I'm going to tell Knuckle's the plan," Shadow instructed. "Give me two minutes."

Shadow reeved his handles and raced up next to Knuckle's side on the driver's side. Knuckles glanced at him from his window and watched as Shadow reached for a large hunter's knife strapped to his hip. He brandished it and pointed toward the truck holding the oil barrels in front of them. Then Shadow tucked the knife back with one hand, pointed to his gun tucked in the back of his pants, and pointed back at the truck, making a shooting gesture.

Knuckles looked a little confused about what the plan was at first. Thankfully, Manic had also been watching Shadow's charades from the passenger seat. "I-I don't understand," Knuckles mumbled.

"Don't sweat it, dude. I've got it," Manic assured very arrogantly.

Knuckles shot the green hedgehog a doubtful glance briefly. "You, of all people, understand what the hell is going on right now?"

Manic crossed his arms over his chest and nodded proudly. "Yeah, of course, dude."

Knuckles raised one brow. "Care to explain then?"

"So, like, Shadow is going to race up and cut those barrel straps off, so the oil barrels will fall off the truck. Then he plans to shoot them, so they cause a huge explosion," he explained. "We'll probably need to get out of the way since we're directly behind the truck," he surmised.

Knuckles glanced back over to Shadow, who eagerly awaited to get the go-ahead to enact their plan while riding beside them. Knuckles swallowed nervously. "You better hope you're right on this one."

Manic didn't seem too concerned. "We'll be fine." He leaned over Knuckles and gave Shadow a thumbs up, confirming the understood nonverbal plan. Shadow gave a curt nod and took his pressure off the gas, so he fell back, appearing behind their truck.

Shadow, Gadget, and Mighty watched as Knuckles stepped on the gas and merged in front of the truck with the oil barrels. Now it was just the oil barrel truck, Mighty, Shadow, Gadget, and the red cable van behind them. The vice president looked over to Mighty and Gadget. "Let's move!" The three ascended on either side of the oil barrel truck and began cutting away at the binds keeping the barrels restrained.

Inside the cable van, the three undercover officers watched in awe at the three motorcyclists. "What the hell are they doing?" the officer behind the wheel questioned. Within moments, six barrels rolled off and hit the road heading straight for them.

"Shit!" the officer shouted inside the cable van as he veered in a zigzag formation to do everything to avoid the barrels. While the cable van full of officers dodged the runaway barrels, Shadow reached behind him and grabbed the gun tucked in his pants. He aimed it at one specific barrel hitting it successfully. The barrels exploded, causing a chain reaction to make the other barrels explode. A massive fire broke out in a horizontal line, keeping the cable van from pursuing them.

One of the officers got out of the van and stared at the massive flames before them. "Damn it…"

•~•

Back in Mercia, Amy and Rouge finally returned home after helping Locke get settled back in. Rouge tossed her car keys and wallet on the table by the front door. She then made her way upstairs tiredly. "I'm going to shower quickly and then help you with dinner."

"Sure, no problem," she addressed. Suddenly, Amy spotted Ray walking upstairs from the basement. "Hey, Ray."

"Hi, Miss Amy," he smiled pleasantly with a wave.

She hung up her purse and coat by the front door. "How has your day been so far?"

"Busy," he answered. "I've been doing loads of errands all day," he explained. "I'm sure your day has been equally as busy," he assumed.

Amy walked further into the house. "Pretty much."

However, the small talk conversation was interrupted when Mephiles walked in, holding his right hand as blood seeped down his arm. He looked at her calmly as blood droplets hit the wood floor. "Pardon the interruption, but I will need your assistance, Miss Rose."

From looking at his injury, it appeared Mephiles has seriously cut his hand. "Oh my!" She quickly rushed over and opened her office door. "Come in," she instructed.

"I'll clean up the blood," Ray volunteered and headed for the utility closet to get a mop.

Mephiles took a seat on the examination table and held his bloody hand. In the meantime, Amy quickly washed her hands. Mephiles studied her from behind as she prepared. "What happened exactly?" she questioned while drying off her hands.

"I accidentally cut myself in the kitchen while slicing up some vegetables," he explained.

Amy snapped on some gloves, turned around, and began to blot excess blood with some medical cloth. "Keep your arm elevated," she instructed. Mephiles kept his arm raised while she assessed his injury. The cut was diagonal across the palm of his hand. As she examined his injury, she couldn't help but notice it didn't appear to be a wound he'd received from chopping up vegetables. "You said this happened when you were cutting some vegetables?" she asked, trying to hide her skepticism.

He nodded. "That's correct, my dear."

From her perspective, it almost seemed self-inflicted. She couldn't even fathom what type of vegetable he'd be cutting to receive an injury in this fashion. She shrugged it off, not to draw suspicion from him. "You'll have to be more careful next time."

"Duly noted," he pledged. He watched as she brought over a bowl of clean water with a sponge and began carefully cleaning it off. During the silence, Mephiles opted to fill it with some questioning. "So, you and Locke have been spending much time with one another," he cautiously observed, trying to initiate small talk.

"Yeah, I guess so," Amy shrugged. She removed some hydrogen peroxide from the bottle and used a fresh cotton ball to clean the cut.

"You brought him back to his home today?" he inquired.

She disposed of the dirty cotton balls. "Yes, that's right."

Mephiles winced slightly, feeling a stinging pain. He continued to study her carefully as she tended to his wound. "So, you could say you've gotten quite close then?"

Amy turned around and reached for more supplies. She was starting to wonder where this conversation was going. She felt guarded with her answers to his questions. "I guess so. Why do you ask?" She turned her back and opened a cabinet, looking for fresh bandages.

He smirked knowingly while she looked away and then put on a neutral expression when she turned back to face him again. "No reason," he shrugged. "I'm pleased you're settling in and becoming part of the family. You do realize that with your loyalty to us, we'll always be loyal in return," he reminded.

She nodded. "I appreciate that, Mephiles. However, I already know that with all you've done with my past catching up with me." Amy opened the box containing the wrapping bandage. "You're lucky this cut isn't as deep as I thought. I was ready to have to give you stitches, but it looks like you won't need them. However, I will need to change your bandages periodically."

"By the way, since you helped Locke clean his storage unit, perhaps you could help me go through some old things from Shadow and I's storage unit? I do need to go through some of those old boxes. You never know what you may stumble across…"

Amy felt herself freeze up at the mention. Did he know about her involvement? She kept her composure and played along with him. If so, this was a dangerous game he was playing. "Sure, Shadow knows I love organization," she replied.

She applied some healing ointment and then began to wrap his hand. "Oh, you're an angel, Miss Rose. We don't deserve your compassion and expertise," he hummed in delight. "My brother is blessed to have you as his old lady. Plenty of other males within our charter would have loved to have claimed you as their old lady, you know," he winked.

"…Heh, you don't say?" She smiled sheepishly at his comment. It felt a little creepy, if not flirty coming from him. She finally finished wrapping his hand. "We're all done here."

He looked down at his bandaged hand and stood up from his seat. "Thank you, Miss Rose. I feel better already."

"You're welcome," she nodded.

Mephiles exited her office and smirked as he headed back to the kitchen. He wanted to find a reason to be alone with her and question her over his suspicions, but he hadn't seen the perfect opportunity. It had seemed like Amy had been purposely avoiding him at all costs. However, injuring himself intentionally seemed like the best method—one way she could not refuse.

•~•

After losing the authorities, Shadow and the rest of the gang met up with Enerjak and his two right-hand guys in a discreet location just off the highway. As they patrolled, his two bodyguards stood in the distance next to his parked SUV with AK-47s. Knuckles couldn't help but feel it was a little overboard. "Do you guys always pack this much heat with meet-ups?"

Enerjak looked over his shoulder at the heavily armed men he was referring to. "It's just a precaution."

Knuckles crossed his arms over his broad chest. "Should we start taking up that precaution?"

"The Suppression Squad don't know of our deal. We're in the clear."

Mighty did a double take. "Excuse me, did you say Suppression Squad? Since when did they get into the drug business?"

Enerjak directed his attention over to the armadillo. "Well, recently, our competition acquired another M.C. to help them mule and distribute drugs," he informed them. "The Suppression Squad was onboard to make more profit."

"Who's your competition?" Shadow asked.

"Dr. Starline," Enerjak answered. "He's a drug kingpin that's started to gain traction in this industry." He suddenly snapped his fingers, and one of his other guys rushed over with a large duffle bag. "Here's your payment for today, $700,000. This is half down for the next shipment."

Shadow accepted the duffle bag, noting its hefty weight. "Great."

"We'll be back in a few days to check in on the operation," Enerjak explained. "In the meantime, let's help you load up your truck with the drugs. You'll hold onto them for us in the meantime until distribution." He clapped his hands together, and his guys began unloading large crates and carrying them to the back of the Brother's truck.

Knuckles, Gadget, Manic, and Mighty helped load the drugs onto the back of the truck.

AN: Please remember to leave me a review with your thoughts and comments!