"You bloody, brainless, fucking idiot!" Shadow yelled at Silver. Them, Sonic, Knuckles and Espio were all standing in the living room. Blaze was being checked over by Amy and Tails.

"What was I supposed to do?" Silver yelled back. "He had a knife at her throat!"

"He's got a point Shadow," Knuckles told him.

"Yes, but did he have to bash him against the wall?! Couldn't he do something less…?"

"You say violent and I will smash you!" When Silver and Blaze had finally limped back home, Shadow had been angry about them being late. Once Silver explained what he happened, skipping the part where he sent the leader into the brickwork, he'd been angry that they'd nearly got themselves killed. Then a call had come from GUN headquarters, asking about reports of a group of residents being assaulted by two kids with unnatural powers and battle training. Now he was furious that they'd nearly blown their cover.

"Well, you could have done something else."

"Oh my God, Mr. Kill On Sight is telling me not to be violent. Let put a knife at your best friend's throat and see how peaceful you feel. If you had one!" Shadow raised his fists.

"You try and I will…!"
"You see!" Espio and Knuckles jumped between them before it got out of hand.

"Settle down!" Sonic told them. "Everyone is fine, nothing is wrong. Why are we fighting?" Shadow sighed.

"You're right. Sorry Silver." Silver shrugged it off.

"Don't mention it." Silver walked up to the girls' room, which had become a makeshift infirmary. He met Tails and Amy as they left. "How is she?" Amy smiled.

"Beside from a few bruises and scratches, she's fine. She just needs some rest. You can go see her." Carefully, he opened the door. Blaze was lying on the bed, apparently asleep. As silently as possible, he tiptoed in and sat beside her. He watched her lying there, at peace. There weren't any lines of worry on her face, which usually formed when she was around people. Here she was truly beautiful.

"Stop staring at me sleeping Silver." He smiled as she opened her eyes.

"How are you feeling?" She groaned.

"Like a brick landed on my head. How do I look?"

"Perfect!" She blushed. "How much do you remember?" Her forehead creased again.

"I remember leaving Amy, I remember it raining, going into the alley. I remember them." She smiled. "I remember you saving me. Thanks!"

"Anything else?" he urged her.

"I don't think so," she shrugged. "Why?" His shoulders slumped, just a small bit.

"Nothing. Just glad you're OK," he smiled again. "Come down when you think you can." Then he left, closing the door.

Once outside, he let out a sad sigh. He was back to square one. But not really.

"I love you too," she told him silently from inside.

When she finally came down, everyone was arguing over what they were to do next. "So what do we do know?" Sonic shrugged.

"I have an idea," Espio said. Everyone listened. "If the police decide to investigate, then I suggest we be out of the city for the rest of the week. The best option would be to reside in the island's untamed countryside."
"Meaning?" Sonic wasn't sure where he was going. For probably the first time in recorded history, Knuckles got it first.

"Camping trip!" They all grinned. Everybody loves camping. So they went off to pack their stuff again. As they did, an idea occurred to Silver. He turned to Espio, who was fitting all his knives into his sleeping roll.

"Espio. This camping trip wouldn't take us anywhere near your mysterious yacht, would it?" Espio looked up, smiling slightly.

"We'll make a detective out of you yet!"

They began tracking at sunrise, which was considered by normal tourists as far too early to get up. So they group managed to leave the town relatively unnoticed. They'd agreed to camp on the side of the nearby volcano, which Espio assured them was inactive. It also happened to the mountain at whose base the boat that had kept Espio so occupied was anchored.

The slopes of the volcano were highly vegetated, which is common among volcanoes. Cooled lava forms incredibly mineral rich soil, perfect for plants to grow. After a point though, the plant life stopped, proof that the volcano wasn't as dormant as first thought. Paths had been formed through the thick plant life, but Espio and Knuckles who were leading, ignored them, preferring instead to make their own. Amy complained as they passed another pre-made track.

"Why can't we just follow those paths?" Knuckles looked back at her.

"Because they could lead anywhere," he cut through some branches with one of Espio's knives. "This way we know where we're going." Amy didn't see how they could have any idea where they were, let alone where they were going. She no longer knew which way was up. Tails called from the back. His pack jingled with the sound of a number of tools and parts.

"You know this is a Natural Park, right."

"So?" Tails shrugged. He wouldn't be the one paying the fine. Finally they found a large, empty clearing overlooking the harbor and with clear views of the mountain's peak. Both views were awe taking. They decided to set up camp here.

Espio, Shadow and Silver's tent was up quickly, as was the girls. Sonic kept knocking his, Tails and Knuckles' down by running to try and do everything too fast, and knocking it down with the resulting wind. It finally got completed through what could only be described as luck. By this time it was nearly dinner. Cooking went a similar way, but everything got done in the end and everyone went to bed.

Silver couldn't sleep. He'd tried, but there was just too much on his mind. So he went out into the pure mountain air. The moon was almost full, sitting high and bright in the sky. Silver glanced at his watch, which read 11:34pm. Moving away from the camp, he sat down on one of the many rock crops that overlooked the bay.

What was he going to do? He wanted to tell her how he felt, but something kept getting in his way. What was it? Absent mindedly, he levitated a pebble, sending it flying far into the bay. What was stopping him telling her how he felt? His hand waved around, and a larger rock flew towards the ocean. Concentrating his frustration, he felt the entire rock formation around him. The tattoos over his chest and arms glowed bright as the psychic energy built. Releasing the energy, he levitated the entire outcrop, a good 5 tonne of volcanic stone. This was insufferable! He could control more than any other thing on Earth, yet he couldn't tell one girl how he felt. Why?!

"You couldn't sleep either?" Blaze was standing at the edge of the levitating outcrop dressed in her pyjamas. Losing his concentration slightly, a few of the rocks got away and rolled down the hill. Silver quickly lowered the rest down before anything else happened. Blaze hopped up beside him, and Silver quickly realized he was still only wearing his shorts. He curled his legs up to his chest. Blaze laughed at his embarrassment. "Come on, I've seen your tats before." Silver smiled back, but remained curled up. Blaze shrugged and lay down to watch the stars. "It's really beautiful here, you know. No cars, no pollution, no noise at all."

"Then why can't you sleep?" Blaze laughed.

"Amy snores like a bulldozer." Silver laughed as well, but he doubted her reasoning. Amy could sleep without a sound, and did constantly during briefings. So why was Blaze out here? Probably heard him throwing stones. Probably, but…

"So why are you out here Silver?" Silver scratched the back of his head.

"I've got a lot on my mind at the moment," he said. Blaze leaned closer, making him even more self conscious.

"Like what?" she asked.

"Like…um well…ah," his tongue felt like a thick Italian sausage.

"Yes?" He finally managed to force his tongue into shape.

"Well uh Blaze…, I l…"

Bong!

"What was that?!" The noise, like a gong but more metallic had come from far down the hill. In the direction, Silver recalled, of the yacht. Another thought came to him. When he'd left his tent before, he hadn't had to step over Espio's body.

"What's he done?" Silver muttered, and sprinted down the hill.

"Hey," Blaze called. "Wait up!"

They ran down the mountain full pelt. As they reached the bottom, Silver suddenly fell over. "Off!"

"What is it?"

"I don't know," puzzled Silver. "I tripped over something. But there's nothing there." Blaze walked over, and caught her foot on an invisible obstacle. The two looked at each other.

"Espio, come out." Espio appeared. He was fully dressed and sported his binoculars and weapons.

"What's wrong?" Then he noticed their clothes. "And what have you two been up to?"

"We don't know, we hoped you did," Silver replied. "And absolutely nothing!" Espio shrugged. He'd find out eventually.

"So what's happening?" Blaze asked. Espio turned back to where he'd been before.

"I've decided to take the direct approach," he said over his shoulder. Blaze was confused, but Silver understood. He knelt beside the young ninja.

"CO2?" he asked.

"Methane." Silver flinched visibly. Blaze went from confused to angry.

"I wouldn't want to be them." Espio nodded.

"What are you talking about?!" Blaze yelled. The boys jumped.

"We can't tell you," Silver said. "It's this code we have for spying." Blaze's eyes glowed a dangerous red. Dangerous because red usually meant fire.

"Firstly, that's incredibly childish!" she told them. "Secondly…" her hand caught fire. Once again, the two unlucky boys jumped involuntarily.

"The code doesn't actually make sense," Espio said, very quickly. "Basically, I've used a gas in the area to knock out the guards." He closed her eyes, waiting for Blaze to decide what she'd do. Smiling, Blaze extinguished her hand. The boys released their breath.

"So what are we going to do now?" she asked.

"Now," said Espio gleefully. "We sneak."

The three of them moved as quietly as possible down rest of the volcano. In the side of the mountain, off from the yacht and the jetty, was a roughly cut hole in the rock face. Inside this opening was a maze of tunnels. A few bodies littered the floor, obviously the unlucky guards caught in Espio's gas attack. The team moved past them with ease.

"Now," Espio muttered to himself. "What are they doing here, I wonder?" They moved through the corridors, looking for anything unusual. Finally, Blaze spotted a room of crates and they entered. The door was unlocked, most likely whoever was here didn't expect anyone to get past the guards. Or even try.

"What are these?" Silver wondered.

"Crates," Espio replied. "It's what's in them that's important." He moved to the nearest one and attempted to pry it open. It was nailed down hard.

Silver pushed him gently aside. "Allow me." Raising his hand, he concentrated hard. His tattoo's glowed, as did the crate roof. Then he moved his hand to the left. The crate's lid was ripped off with a quick screech. Silver looked inside.

"What is it?" Blaze called from another crate.

"Arms," he replied

"Firearms?" Blaze gave up and moved up beside him.

"No, arms." Blaze looked inside. The entire box was full to the brim with metallic robot arms.

"Those looks like Eggman's design," she thought out loud. Silver agreed. They moved to another crate, opening it in a similar fashion. This one contained ammo, Vulcan shots and missiles. "I think we've hit the jackpot!" Blaze said. "This is one of Eggman's supply lines!" Silver's eyebrows shot up. They'd been trying to find out how Eggman managed to get all the parts for his seemingly never-ending armies of soldiers, but with no luck. This could be just the break they needed.

"Score!" he silently yelled. "What do you think Espio?" There was no reply. Silver looked around. "Espio?"

Clang!

"What the…"

Clang!

In less than two seconds, both Blaze and Silver were unconscious.