Shadow the hedgehog had just woken up in his bed. He turned to see the clock at 6:55 am, making him five minutes early to the alarm. He shrugged and curled back up in bed, wanting to get the extra five minutes in.
"Wanting to catch some extra shuteye?" Maria giggled from the entrance to the bedroom.
"Just because I have to clear my desk today doesn't mean I'm not going to get all the rest that I can..." Shadow mumbled.
"But the earlier that you get up, the earlier that you can get all of your stuff cleared," Maria smiled. "Also, I made you breakfast."
"All right..." Shadow sighed as he sat up in his bed. "I'm awake now..."
Maria chuckled. "I'll wait in the kitchen while you get dressed. I turned the shower on for you too."
Shadow smiled. "I'd honestly lose my head without you."
The blonde woman shrugged. "Just happy to help. Now, hurry and get cleaned up."
The black and red hedgehog nodded, getting out from his bed and going to the shower. Despite the fact that he and Maria had separate bedrooms, they only had one bathroom to use. Shadow made his way to said bathroom and got into the shower.
He turned on the water and waited for it to heat up. As he did, he heard Maria's voice from outside. "Shadow, I've got to head off for work!"
"Okay! I'll see you when you get back!" Shadow replied.
"Don't wait on little old me. I'm sure that you've got plans!"
"I'll think of something!" Shadow chuckled. "See you later!"
"Bye!"
Soon after that, Shadow heard the sound of the front door shutting. Sighing, he stepped under the shower head to find that the water was warm. After he felt that enough time was spent in the shower, and having cleaned himself, he stepped out, using a towel from the rack near the bathroom door to dry off.
When he was done, he saw his phone on the bedside table vibrate as a message came through. He quickly finished drying off and slipped on some boxers before going over to unlock his phone, seeing that it was a voice message from Tails.
"Hey, Shadow! Just making sure that you're awake. Since you live the farthest from the station, Knuckles is driving around to pick you up last, since me and Sonic are already in the car. See you when we get there."
Shadow chuckled, pressing the record button to send one back. "Yeah, I'm up. Just got out the shower, so I need to get dressed and have breakfast. See you in a few."
After hitting send, the black and red hedgehog went over to his closet, flicking through his clothes. He settled on a dark red tank top with a black tidal wave pattern on the left side, some grey cargo pants, and white trainers. He also got his trusty black leather jacket, but didn't put it on just yet.
He picked his phone up and put it in one of his pants' pockets before heading down to the kitchen, putting his jacket on the back of one of the seats at the table. He looked on the table itself to see cheese on toast with some Worcester sauce. To the left of that, on a coaster, was a mug of hot coffee.
Shadow grabbed one of the pieces of toast and began scarfing it down before looking around the house. Despite how small it was, he and Maria had made a pretty good life for themselves. He thought about how he mostly grew up in foster homes before finding the perfect one with Maria's family... or what he thought was perfect.
The main reason that Shadow had jumped from place to place during his early childhood was because no Mobian family would take him. Maria's was his first human family, and they loved him. Well, Maria did, anyway. After a drunken rampage which soon resulted in Maria getting slapped by her own foster father, both she and Shadow left.
Shadow later found out that those parents weren't Maria's real ones, as they'd died in a plane crash whilst going on holiday when Maria was only four years old. Shadow himself never knew his own parents, just finding other Mobians and settling with them in the streets, becoming somewhat nomadic.
After Shadow and Maria had left her parents, they decided that they were both better off alone together, and they became inseparable. They did occasionally steal food here and there, much like Shadow would do later in life when he met Rouge.
'Ah, Rouge...' he thought to himself. He thought of his days as a teenager. He was still friends with Maria, but wound up hanging out with Rouge more, which only led to the hedgehog getting into even more trouble, including getting into a fight with a police officer.
'To be fair,' Shadow said in his mind, 'that officer was being an ass-hole. He just attacked Rouge unprovoked, and we didn't even do anything bad that day...'
But soon after that, he heard about Green Hill Academy. He thought it somewhat ironic; one of the things that led him to be a better person was beating up a man who was generally believed to be better than most people.
Soon after this ordeal, he made a decision. Not wanting to live on the streets for all of his life, Shadow put everything into getting a job so that he could buy himself and Maria a house. After saving up enough, he enlisted into the academy itself, and almost didn't make the cut if it weren't for Sonic helping.
Shadow was soon shaken from his thoughts of the past as he heard a horn honking outside. The black and red hedgehog looked to see that, through his thinking, he'd eaten through his food and drank half of his coffee.
He quickly, yet carefully, gulped down the second half of his warm brew before heading out the door, slipping his jacket on as he got to the front door. He opened his door, stepped out, and closed and locked it behind him, walking over to Knuckles' car.
He looked over his friends' clothing as he walked; Sonic wore a long sleeved black shirt with a fancy silver diamond design on the sleeves, along with blue jeans and red trainers. Knuckles wore a sleeveless baggy hoodie with an ice blue digital camouflage design, along with brown jeans and black boots. Lastly was Tails, who wore a short sleeved red button up shirt over a white t-shirt with cut off sleeves, along with black shorts and light brown boots.
"Ready to go?" Knuckles asked as Shadow got into the car.
"Yeah. Let's get this over with," the black and red hedgehog replied, getting into the back seat with Sonic.
Knuckles nodded and drove, since the engine was still running. Without another word, he continued the drive to the station. They did find it a bit unnecessary that they had to clear what little they had there, but they knew that they had no choice.
They soon got to the station's parking lot, Knuckles soon finding a space to park. He killed the engine, and all four in the car exited out of it. It was odd seeing Knuckles' car amongst the many standard vehicles of the police station, but it made it stand out all the more.
The four walked into the building, going up to the front desk. "What's the word?" Sonic asked.
"The word is that you've got to clear your desks," said Cosmo. "I hate to break it to you, but you don't work here any more."
"Does that mean that your date with Tails is cancelled?" Knuckles asked.
"I've been meaning to bring that up," Cosmo said, noticing the fox's gulp. "No, it's not over," she said, easing his worries. "It will just be me and him, if that's okay. Mina often goes to lunch with Ash, so it'd be nice to get away from the two for a change."
"Are those two dating?" asked Sonic.
"They are," Cosmo nodded. "They might appear to be related, but that's just because they're mongooses."
"So, you're kind of a third wheel when you all go out to dinner?" asked Sonic.
"Not always. Sometimes it's just Ash or Mina taking me out for food. As friends, of course."
"Friends..." Tails mumbled, nodding.
Mina looked and saw the yellow fox visibly shaking. "Are you all right there, fox boy?"
Tails' head snapped up immediately. "Um, y-yes! I'm fine!"
"Are you sure?" Knuckles asked. "Because you're doing a fantastic impression of a plastic garden chair in an earthquake right now."
Tails took a few deep breaths. "I'm... I'm fine... just worried, I guess..."
"What about?" Cosmo asked sweetly.
"That... well, today we have to clear stuff up, and I know that we're going out to lunch, and..." He trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
"I understand," the plant girl nodded. "You think that we won't meet again, right?"
Tails nodded a bit sheepishly. "Yeah..."
"Well, that's nothing tow worry over," Mina said. "I'm sure that there's plenty of chances that we'll all bump into each other. Just because you guys don't work here any more doesn't mean that we won't meet again."
"Yeah," Knuckles added. "We're freelancers now, remember? It doesn't matter what city we get called up to; we'll always live in Green Hill."
Tails nodded. "I know. I just wish that it was easier than that..."
Sonic nodded. "Me too. But we'll make it work." He looked between Tails and Cosmo. "I'm sure that you two will get things sorted out yourselves."
The fox smiled. "Thank you, Sonic..."
"It won't be easy," said Shadow, "but we can make it worth it in the end."
"As lovely as this has all been," Mina said, "you guys really should go and get your desks sorted."
"Quick question," Sonic said.
"What's up?" asked Cosmo.
"Do we keep our cards?"
"You do, actually," said Mina. "They'll just be modified to make you freelance agents, so we'll need to take them from you. They'll be done by the time that you're finished."
"You can just do that?" Knuckles asked. "Change our cards from being part of Green Hill to being free agents?"
"It's not just us," Mina said, patting the computer next to her. "Remember: technology is our friend."
"Go on," said Cosmo. "Get to clearing. There's already some boxes waiting for you."
"Thanks for the heads up," Sonic said, turning to his friends. "Stairs or elevator?"
"Elevator," the others replied in unison.
They all went to the elevator, taking it to the third floor. They soon made it to said floor, and went to their rooms. Luckily, since they were all next to each other, it didn't take long to reach their rooms.
Also luckily was the fact that they hadn't set themselves up with everything; just what they needed at the time. It didn't take long for all four of them to have their stuff in their respective boxes, all packed and ready to go.
As soon as they were done, they walked out of their rooms, deciding to take the stairs this time as the elevators were in use. They soon made it to the ground floor, going over to Knuckles' car as he popped the trunk.
"It'll all fit in there," said the red echidna. "There's not much stuff."
"I know," Sonic said. "I even got some food from my fridge that's still good. Granted, it's in plastic containers, but still."
"We really weren't here long enough to make a mess," Tails shrugged. "It's not that hard to believe that we don't have much stuff."
"All right, let's head back inside and get our new cards," Shadow said.
The others nodded in agreement, walking back inside the building and heading straight for the desk, seeing the girls working on their computer. After a few moments, they heard a beeping noise, and Cosmo spoke.
"And there we go!" she said, pulling something from the computer. "Your new cards."
The four took them, seeing the changes on them. The cards still had their pictures on them, but their number for the Green Hill Police Department was now blank, since they were free agents. Also gone was anything associated with the G.H.P.D., whilst the foursome's biographies and such were unchanged.
"They look pretty good," Sonic grinned. "Good job, girls."
"Thanks," Mina and Cosmo smiled.
"So... I guess this is it for now, huh?" Sonic said.
"For now, yes," Cosmo smiled. "But I do have a previous engagement with your fox friend, do I not?"
"Y-You still do," Tails said nervously. "We were just going to drop our stuff off back home before coming back..."
"It's fine," Cosmo smiled sweetly. "Take your time."
The yellow fox nodded and smiled. "Thank you..."
"We'll be back soon," Knuckles said. "Thanks for all the help."
"It's cool," Mina replied. "Just don't lose those cards, okay?"
"Or your new jobs," Cosmo added.
"We'll try our best," Sonic said, waving and turning to head out.
The others followed suit, and they all hopped into Knuckles' car, instantly pulling out of the parking lot and into the main road. Quickly, they travelled to each different house and dropped off their respective belongings before all returning to the car.
Shadow's was the last house as he lived the furthest away from the station, and he hopped back into the back seat with Sonic, speaking. "Well, I'm glad that's over now."
"What's next?" Sonic asked.
"Next up is going back to the station," Knuckles replied as he made the turn, driving back for the police station. "I'm sure that Avery wants to give us a proper discharge now that it's all over."
Sonic checked his watch. "And it's close to lunch too. We'll be let go, then Tails gets to have his date."
"How are you feeling about that, by the way?" Shadow asked the yellow fox.
"I'm a little bit nervous, but I'll try to keep composed," Tails replied. "It's like Sonic said yesterday; she likes me for how I am. I'm not going to try to act like some other guy just to impress her."
"Are you sure about that?" Sonic asked. "Because when you're around us, you use big words and you're smarmier than usual. But when you're around a pretty girl, your words turns to mush."
"That's because I was born with a better upstairs brain than most," Tails said. "I try to talk with the head on my shoulders, not the one between my legs."
"What about the heart?" Sonic asked. "Maybe you could give that a try?"
The young fox nodded. "Maybe."
The rest of the drive was silent, and they soon made it back to the station. Since they'd done pretty much everything else, they decided to head straight up for Avery's office. They took the elevator, and soon got to the third floor.
They headed over to the meeting room, and the doors opened up for them. Instead of seeing Avery there, they saw Ash working hard on the TV screen. He was in the middle of sorting out a presentation when he turned his head to see Sonic and the others.
"Ah, there you guys are," the mongoose said.
"Where's Avery?" Sonic asked.
"He's up on the fourth floor in his office. He wanted to meet you guys personally to say goodbye."
"That's pretty big," Knuckles said.
Ash nodded, walking over to them. "We're all going to miss you guys."
"Hey, we'll bump into each other again," Tails said. "No need to worry about that."
"I know," the mongoose nodded. "But still... it won't be the same without you, you know?"
"We almost died and got fired already," Knuckles said. "That doesn't exactly make us the best cops in the world."
"True," Sonic added. "But thanks to this, as much as it sucks, we're going to find out more about what we can do. Maybe we'll work better this way."
"It'll be fun to see how you do," Ash smiled, extending his hand.
"Ah, screw it," Knuckles smiled, pulling Ash in for a group hug. Even Shadow reluctantly joined in the embrace.
Soon, the hug was over, and Ash laughed a bit. "Thanks. I needed that."
"We all did, I think," Sonic said. "Even Shadow. Trust us, he's happy on the inside."
"I believe it," the mongoose nodded. "Just take care out there, okay? And try not to get yourselves killed. Again."
"We'll try a bit harder this time!" Sonic smiled.
The others laughed with him and turned to leave. Since the staircase was close, and there was no point in taking an elevator up one floor, they chose the stairs, soon arriving at the top floor of the building.
"Wonder where Avery's office is?" Tails said.
"There's a sign right there, dude," Knuckles said.
The red echidna was right. The sign's design matched that of the building itself, and pointed in two directions; to the left was Avery's office, as well as the offices of other higher-ups in the department, and to the right was heavy weaponry.
"Well, let's go say goodbye to our boss," Sonic said.
"I call dibs on the old 'I'm not fired, because I quit' line," Knuckles said, raising his hand.
"It's kind of pointless, since we've technically already been fired," said Tails.
The red echidna shrugged. "Eh, it was worth a shot."
They all then headed to their left, walking down a small corridor until they came to a section of the floor with several rooms, each with an officer's name. In the centre was Avery's own office, complete with the commander's name and rank in black, bold lettering across the front of the door.
Sonic was about to knock, but heard a voice. "Come in!" Avery said.
The blue hedgehog turned to his friends and shrugged, and they opened the door and walked in, seeing their now former commander on the phone, talking as he had his back to the four who had just entered.
"Yes, of course... thank you, Dingo," Avery said. "It means a lot. All right, see you later."
"What was that about?" Tails asked.
"I was just going over some last minute details with Dingo about your new positions," said Avery.
"How come?" asked Knuckles.
"Well, as much as he likes you four, and sees the potential in you, he's still not one hundred percent safe with you being in Star Light," said Avery. "I was just going over that with him, and he's more willing to let you guys help, but he'll keep a close eye on you."
"It's not like we killed anybody or anything," said Sonic. "He's being too suspicious."
"Oh, well, it's not like you guys suffered a dangerous car crash and lost your jobs in the last week so shortly after starting," Avery retorted.
"Point taken..." Sonic mumbled.
The bear chuckled. "I'm joking, son. Mostly. But he does want to watch over you if you're over there mostly to study you in the field."
"That reminds me," said Shadow, "what exactly are the rules there?"
"Well, you will be called up for missions when needed, but how you go about them is entirely up to you," said Avery. "The only catch is that you operate amongst yourselves. You cannot bring other officers from different jurisdictions into your missions, and that includes here in Green Hill."
"We'll keep ourselves to ourselves," said Sonic. "Don't worry about that."
Avery nodded. "I know that. I have nothing but the utmost faith in you boys, and I know that you know that. But you need to be careful. Just because you guys are freelancers now doesn't mean that you're completely free."
"We know," Knuckles said. "There's always rules. We just happen to be the guys that may not have to follow them all the time."
"Which is what makes you perfect for this," Avery smiled. "You boys are going to go far, farther than you could ever hope to go whilst working here."
"We're going to miss this place," Sonic said. "It was honestly pretty cool to work here."
Avery nodded. "You shall all be missed. But now, you're moving on to much better things."
"It's only a matter of time," Tails said. "Remember, it starts tomorrow."
The bear nodded again, and walked around the table. "Well, it's not right if I don't give you guys a proper send off." He extended his hand.
"Good thing that we get to keep our guns and badges," Knuckles grinned as he shook Avery's hand. "It'll be a nice keepsake from here."
"You boys will still get to visit," Avery said, shaking Tails' hand next.
"It'd be nice to drop back in every now and then, but I don't think that we can be so casual about it," the fox replied.
Avery nodded and moved on to Shadow, who spoke. "You're right. We don't know when we might be called in, or where we could be when the call comes through."
Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "Most our time is going to be spent in our new base anyway. We'll be fine there, provided that we have the bare essentials." He looked to see Avery extend his hand, and smirked. "No pun intended, of course," he finished, shaking the bear's hand.
"So, by bare essentials, you mean arcade machines, consoles, a pool table, and vending machines?" Knuckles asked.
"And our own stuff from home," replied Tails.
"All of what Knuckles mentioned is being taken care of," Avery said. "And Tails is right. We won't be able to provide everything, and since all four of you will be sharing the same place, you will need to bring your own things."
"When you say sharing the same place, does that mean sharing beds?" Sonic asked. "Because Shadow doesn't seem like the spooning type to me."
"Although, you can't deny that chest fur," Knuckles grinned.
Shadow shook his head as Avery spoke. "The sleeping arrangements are being taken care of. You each get your own room, much like here at the station. But the rooms at your new place will be much larger."
"That's a good thing," Tails smiled. "I like the rooms here, but they could feel a bit cramped at times."
"You won't have to worry about that, or the spooning issue," Avery chuckled. "You know, I really will miss you."
"And we'll miss you too, sir," said Sonic. "Or I guess that we can just call you Avery now, huh?"
The commissioner nodded. "Either will do." He then sighed. "Good luck in the future."
"Thank you sir," Sonic said. "Something tells me that we might need it."
"Take care."
With that, the commander walked back over to his desk as the four turned to leave the room. The headed for the elevators this time, seeing that one was free, and took it down to the ground floor.
"So, what's the plan now?" asked Sonic.
"Well, I'd best get back home to my girl," Knuckles said. "And Tails should prepare for his date."
"Dude..." Tails said, shying away a bit.
"He's not wrong," Sonic replied. "You got a breath mint?"
"I did come prepared, yes, but I'm not expecting anything to happen beyond a hug," Tails replied as the elevator stopped and opened up.
"What if she is?" asked Sonic, keeping his voice quiet.
"I like to try and be a gentleman and not try to assume," the fox shrugged. "I mean, a kiss is a kiss, of course. But I won't pressure her to do anything."
"You didn't have to pressure her into this date, so you have nothing to worry about," said Knuckles, smiling. "Trust me, everything will be fine."
"Nothing wrong with being a gentleman," Sonic said, turning to Tails. "In fact, if I've learned anything from you, hopefully I can be the same with Amy."
"So, what you're saying is you're screwed?" Shadow asked.
"Pretty much," Sonic shrugged.
Tails nodded, heading over to the front desk. He saw that Mina had already gone, and it was just Cosmo, who looked up to see Tails and the others approaching. She smiled more when Tails took the centre, the others choosing to wait outside.
"So, um..." Tails started.
"Yes?" Cosmo asked. To outsiders, it might have seemed like teasing, but Cosmo spoke with such a reassuring tone that she wanted the fox to carry on.
"Well, it's about lunchtime, so I was wondering if our date was still on?" Tails inquired.
"Of course it is," Cosmo nodded. "Do you have a car to take you?"
"My friend Knuckles might drop us off there. He's heading around that area anyway," Tails said.
"What about getting back?"
"Hmm..." Tails thought. "We could take a police vehicle instead?"
"For a date?" Cosmo giggled.
"I-Is that a bad thing?" Tails gulped.
Cosmo smiled at Tails' blushing. "It's not. But it's probably best that I drive. Since you're now an ex-cop, you might get in trouble."
Tails smiled, waiting as Cosmo walked around from behind the desk. Since this was the first time that Tails had seen the green girl's full body, he was impressed at just how beautiful she truly was; a great personality to match her looks.
"You okay?" Cosmo asked, waving her hand in Tails' face.
"Uh... yeah!" Tails blurted. "Sorry. It's just, this is the first time that I've seen more than your face. You're very pretty..."
"Well, thank you," Cosmo blushed. Not the first time she'd been called that, but the first time that it felt like it meant something. "Shall we?"
"We shall," Tails smiled.
He offered his arm, and Cosmo slipped her hand under it, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "That's what you get for being such a gentleman."
"Thank you," the yellow fox replied as the two left through the door. Tails noticed his friends waiting by Knuckles' car.
"There they are," Sonic said. "Was wondering what was keeping you."
"What's the plan?" Knuckles asked.
"I'm taking Tails to the Jade Mountain in a police car, so you guys will have to go it alone," Cosmo shrugged.
"It's cool," Knuckles said. "I've got to drop the blue boy off for his own date anyway, then take Shadow home before getting back to my own place."
Tails waved. "See you guys tomorrow!"
"See you then, buddy!" Sonic replied.
All got into their respective cars. Although Knuckles' car was closer to the exit of the parking lot, he chose to wait until Cosmo and Tails had pulled out first before pulling out himself, following closely behind.
"You know, I've got nothing better to do than kill time until my date with Amy," Sonic said.
"Oh yeah," Knuckles remembered. "It starts at five, right? And it's only... about one now."
"What should we do?" Shadow asked.
"Drop me off at home," Sonic said. "If nothing else, I should have a way to kill the time. I've got some video games to catch up on."
"Good thing you never packed up your consoles when we first moved to the station," Knuckles grinned. "All right, back home it is for you, good sir."
"Onward, noble steed!" Sonic chuckled.
Soon, they'd reached the blue hedgehog's home, and Sonic thanked his friends for dropping him off back at his house. He entered his house using his key from his pocket, opening and closing the door behind him.
In the car, Knuckles turned to Shadow, who was now taking the shotgun seat. The red echidna couldn't hide a small chortle. "Couldn't help it, could you?"
"Nope," Shadow smiled, a rare thing for him.
"So, what are your plans for today?" Knuckles asked. "Got anything going on?"
The black and red hedgehog took a breath. "Eh, I'll think of something."
Back at his house, Sonic looked over his attire. "I'm sure that this'll do for a nice dinner date with Amy. Cool, but casual; just like me." He then went to the living room, debating turning on the TV. "Hmm... I guess that a quick shower wouldn't hurt me."
He went to his bedroom and took his clothes off, carefully folding them on his bed before going into his shower. Keeping to his word, it was a quick one, and he was finished very quickly. Since his clothes weren't too dirty, he didn't worry much about them, but before slipping them back on, he grabbed some cologne from nearby to spray himself with, following that up with some antiperspirant.
He looked at his muzzle in his bathroom mirror. "Hmm... a little fuzzy around the muzzle, but not worth shaving," he shrugged to himself. "If I'm lucky, maybe Amy might find it cute."
He then put his clothes back on before heading to the living room, turning on the TV and a console. He immediately played an action racing game, going online against several people who would have spat many racial slurs and jokes about his mother had he not muted them.
"Ah... thank goodness for that button," he said to himself, playing the game relatively uninterrupted.
After enough time had passed, he turned the game off, having had 15 in total, with some being longer than others. His record of the day stood at 9 wins to 5 losses. It would have been 10 wins had the opposing team not rage quit.
"So hard to find sensible players these days," Sonic said to himself. His phone then rang in his pocket. He checked it and saw that it was Amy.
"Hey there, handsome," she spoke with a clear smile painting her voice.
"You're not going to rag on me for being late, are you?" Sonic chuckled.
"Actually, considering it's almost 4:15, so you've still got time. I was just hoping that I wasn't catching you making a last ditch effort to get ready," she laughed.
"Nah, I'm all ready to go," Sonic smiled. "I got myself smelling all nice and everything."
"Good to know," Amy replied.
"I have run into a slight issue," Sonic said.
"What's that?" Amy asked.
"I don't really have a vehicle to use to get to the park, and it's not like I can just run there at the speed of light," Sonic said, scratching the quills on the back of his head.
"You could take the bus?" Amy suggested.
"To go to a park? No offence, but that sounds like it'd be a bit too much," Sonic said. "A taxi might work, though."
"I might do the same," Amy said. "I can drive, but we don't have a car."
"Did you have one in the past?" Sonic asked.
"We used to, but someone stole it and crashed it. It's amazing that we kept our house with the money that we had to pay out to keep the car," Amy said, a bit of anger in her voice.
"I've been meaning to ask, how are you feeling after the mugging?"
"Not too bad. I still have plenty of money in the back, so it's all okay," the pink hedgehog smiled.
Sonic then had a thought. "Hey, I just realised, I never gave you my number."
"Well... this will make me sound like a stalker, but I asked the police station for your personal number. They still had it in their files since they're not fully done erasing your data since you were fired, and they kindly gave it to me," Amy said.
"I guess it's partially my own fault," Sonic said. "Had I not been so shocked by you giving me your number, I probably could have given you mine back."
"I guess I just have that effect on you," Amy giggled, her voice briefly becoming somewhat sultry for a moment before she cleared her throat. "So... is that okay?"
"I dunno..." Sonic teased. "I kind of have a rule not to date people who call me and don't ask for my number, on account of the fact that I could be getting hacked or traced by somebody."
"That makes you sound really paranoid," Amy said.
"I might be, but that doesn't mean that you're not hacking me," the blue hedgehog shrugged.
"Well, I am hot-wiring your account and stealing money from you right now," Amy said. "I guess you found me out."
"I knew it!" Sonic yelled, laughing a bit. "In all seriousness, I don't mind, really."
"Thanks," Amy said, blushing. "So, I'll see you then?"
"See you then," Sonic nodded. "Bye."
"Later."
Sonic sighed and called up a taxi to pick him up. Luckily, since the window of time was big enough, the taxi got there for 4:40. Sonic slipped on a grey sleeveless hoodie on the way out, since his shirt did well enough against the cold.
He got into his taxi, told the driver where to go, and then soon he arrived at the park. He paid the driver with money and a word of thanks before leaving, stepping foot into the park itself.
Green Hill Park was your usual affair when it came to parks; nice foliage here and there, a playground for children, and even some food stands. Sonic looked around and saw Amy sat down on one of the park's benches, and walked over to her.
"You know," he said when he was close enough, "you could get in some serious trouble for sitting so closely to the kids."
Amy smiled. "What are you going to do? Arrest me? Oh, wait, you can't any more."
"Low blow already?" Sonic grinned as he sat down with her. "And here I was thinking that you were a nice person."
Amy giggled. "The reason I'm sat here is because I know some of the kids from kindergarten class. Their parents are here too, so I don't have to worry about the trouble."
"You know their parents?" asked Sonic.
"Of course I do," Amy shrugged. "I might be a kindergarten teacher, but I'm still a teacher. Part of our job is knowing about the families of the children."
"Huh..." the blue hedgehog said.
"So, when are we going to Jade Mountain?" Amy asked.
"Straight to the point, eh?" Sonic smiled, standing up and offering his arm. "I like it. I'll call another taxi soon for us, but I was wondering if you wouldn't mind a walk in the park with me first?"
"Of course not," said Amy, taking Sonic's arm. As the two began walking, she continued speaking. "So... you're officially not a cop any more, correct?"
"Actually, I'm more jobless right now if anything," Sonic said.
"Well, I can't be shacking up with some freeloader," the pink hedgehog replied. "My sister would probably love that about you."
"Speaking of your sister, me and the guys bumped into her last night at the bar," the blue hedgehog pointed out.
"Ah, yes, she told me all about it," Amy giggled. "How she got to meet the cool blue stud, the red muscle man, the cute fluffy fox, and the mysterious bad boy."
"Are those her nicknames for us?" Sonic asked. "Because Tails already has a nickname. It's Tails."
"What's his real name?" Amy asked.
"Miles Prower," Sonic said. "But he gets called Tails due to the obvious reasons."
"Miles Prower?" Amy giggled. "Sounds like a lame pun."
"It kind of is, but that's another reason people call him Tails," Sonic shrugged. "Plus, in my opinion, it just sounds cooler."
Amy smiled and nodded. "So, are you looking forward to it?"
"Of course I am," the blue hedgehog smiled. "I mean, our date is already going well, I feel. And plus, I get to try out those awesome ribs with you."
"I'm glad about that, but that's not what I'm talking about," Amy said. "I mean your new job. Are you excited about it?"
Sonic shrugged. "Honestly, I'm pretty nervous..." he said, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. "It'll be kind of weird to lead my own team of bounty hunters, especially so soon after getting fired from being police officers."
"Are you worried that your new job might go against your old one?" Amy asked.
"How do you mean?"
"Are there any differences in how you handle the law now?" Amy clarified.
"Ah. To be honest, I don't think so," Sonic said, thinking. "We might have to bend it slightly on occasion, but breaking it? We couldn't do that. The rules are that, whatever department or jurisdiction calls us up, we have to go and work for them under their laws whilst running our mission."
"That mission being helping whoever's called you up?" Amy prodded.
"Pretty much," the blue hedgehog replied. "Who knows? Maybe we'll help other cops, maybe we'll be on our own. I think that being on our own might be a bit scarier."
"Why's that?"
"Because the first time that we did stuff on our own, we got fired and almost lost our lives in the process," Sonic sighed.
"I'm glad that I didn't see you in the hospital bed," Amy shuddered. "It would have reminded me too much of myself."
"We'd only just met that night," Sonic chuckled. "I would have been incredibly crept out if you showed up to check on me while me and the others were recovering."
"You wouldn't have found it sweet?" Amy asked, fake pouting.
"Don't get me wrong; I would have liked the gesture, but to have you crying over somebody you barely met?" Sonic shrugged a shoulder. "Wouldn't be the best start off point for us."
"So, there's an us now, eh?" Amy winked.
"I'll think about it," Sonic winked back, before his stomach growled. "And I'll think about it more when we go to get our food..."
"Then let's go and get it," Amy smiled, using her free hand to pull her phone from her pocket. "Hello, taxi?"
The blue hedgehog smiled as the pink hedgehog informed the taxi company of where they were and where they needed to go. As he smiled, he'd noticed that they'd both stopped walking, which allowed him to think even more.
'I'm more than just pretty nervous...' Sonic thought to himself. 'I don't want the same thing that happened that night to happen again to us any time soon. I have to make sure that it won't happen.'
He was shaken from his thoughts by Amy's voice. "The taxi's on its way."
Sonic smiled. "Good, because I'm starving."
And that's it for this chapter! Sorry that it took so long; lately I'd felt kind of burnt out, and felt like I was forcing myself to write... but this year, I've been feeling a bit better. I can't guarantee when the next chapter will be out, but I can guarantee that there will be one. See you all then. Take care, and stay tuned.