Ok so honestly, closing this story with chapter 2 would have been a very neat, clean cut ending. The concept for this story was basically conceived out of (and resolved in) that last conversation between Rouge and Knuckles, exploring how, though unexpected, Knuckles is a great fit as commander. I probably should just kind of wrap it in a bow, and leave it neatly packaged as it is, but, I mean… I already wrote these other scenes… and others keep popping into my head… and it's not really as fun to keep them to myself… and you all have been so kind with reviews… and, who wouldn't want more Knuckles…so… We're gonna be messy and keep this going a bit! Let's take a peek and see how he actually handles the job.

So this chapter didn't exist a few of weeks ago. I needed one scene to open the chapter/ bridge the gap, but it turned into this beast so I split it again. What was originally the second half of chapter 2 is now chapter 4. This story just writing itself!

This one's a bit shorter. Next one's a bit longer. Hope you enjoy!

Unlikely

Chapter 3

The halls are empty save for a few on duty recruits. He rather prefers it that way. It's 4:55. The early hour is a bit rough this morning. He and Amy stood the Swings shift command watch the night before—1600 to midnight—so the night was short. He's halfway through his off duty shift now, and technically not scheduled to be anywhere, but there is a command meeting a 5:00 he has no intention of missing.

He's almost crossed the base to the staging room. In the stretch between ten p.m. and five a.m. he enjoys roaming the halls almost unnoticed. Not that too many people recognize him as Commander yet, he's still looks like a stranger to most, and usually feels that way himself.

He reached his destination with out incident. A swipe of the key card lets makes the doors swoosh open, and he steps in.

Amy, three division leaders, and a couple of civilian representatives are seated inside.

"Morning Amy, Officers, Ma'am. Where is everyone else? Running late again? "

"Nope." Amy says, "I think this is going to be everyone for today."

"Excuse me?" Knuckles asks surprised. "Did something happen? Did Silvers group get attacked again? Nobody called me about any situation…"

"Nothing that crazy Knuckles, just a lot of shuffling again."

"Shuffling? Like how? Where are they?"

"In short? Not here."

"Seriously? Four hours ago, everyone was on base or on their way back."

"Yeah so, one of the transports ships broke down on the way back. Long story short, Vector took Charmy out there to do the repairs. They took as many people as they could onto the second ship. That includes Silver. I think it's almost back. Espio stayed out in Red Hill. Something about new Wisp intel. And, actually I'm not sure where Rouge is… still on radio silence I guess."

Knuckles realizes he's still only one step out of the door way. He makes his way to the table, but remains standing behind a chair. Several frustrations filter through his thoughts, but he holds on to them for the moment.

"Alright, everyone… thanks for coming, but this meeting is cancelled." He directs his attention at the officers and civilians. "I know you all have other matters to attend to. Unless you have something pressing you'd like to discuss, I'll just take you reports. We'll reschedule in a few days."

Neither civilians nor officers take issue with his decision, and they depart after offering their reports, and relaying a few remarks.

He walks them to the door, then heads back to the table, just in time to catche Amy giving him a side eyed glare from across the room, while prepping a coffee pot with a scowl.

"Something you want to say?"

"That was unnecessary. We could have just held the meeting."

"And then just do it again in two days anyway? It's a waste of time either way."

Now it is. Doing it in a couple days isn't productive!

"And this," he waves his hand around at the room, "is ridiculous. We're tripping over ourselves to make these meetings, and then half of us don't show up."

"Not everyone is going to make every meeting Knu—"

"That's not my point—"

Before they can continue the door swooshes open, revealing Silver, who looks dead on his feet.

"Hey everyo— wait, have I miss the whole thing already? I know I'm late but…"

Knuckles doesn't manage to contain grumble, before saying, "Meeting is canceled Silver."

"Oh."

"You know what, it's fine. Just go do whatever else you need to get done. Actually… no. Go get some sleep. You look awful."

"Oh, but I… uh I can stay, if there's anything…"

"No. Don't worry about it."

"Uh… alright," he concedes, then reluctantly backs out.

Knuckles sighs through his frustration, takes a seat at the table, and begins scanning over the reports he's strewn around. After a moment he glances up at Amy, and he tries to remember what he was saying.

She is eying him with a critically stare.

"Knuckles you gotta stop doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Dismissing him."

"What do you mean? I haven't—"

"You got it to with Silver on the first day didn't you?"

"Hardly. That was him and Vector…"

"And later that night."

"I… okay yeah.

"And Espio said something a briefing…"

He opens his mouth to argue, but a well timed glare from Amy makes him think better of it.

"He thinks you don't like him."

Knuckles raises a brow. "Please. I doubt that."

"—Because he turned down the command position. He thinks you think less of him for it."

Did he tell you that?"

"Do your friends tell you everything that you know about them, or do you just know?"

She very matter-of-factly struts across the room to stand opposite him at the table.

Knuckles huffs in annoyance. "Well if this morning is anything to go by, I don't know much of anything concerning them."

"Ok come on, that's hardly related. And here—" she slides a mug his way "drink some coffee already. You're touchy this morning."

He grimaces at the mug. It's not a custom he's fond off, but he can't deny the effectiveness of the drink on occasion. He cradles it in one hand, takes a sip, and savors the warmth more than the flavor.

When he looks up, Amy is grinning at him in satisfaction. "Aaand that proves my point anyway," she retorts.

He rolls his eyes, and looks the other away. "Hate to break it to ya, but that's no accomplishment. Everyone seems to know what I'm thinking—all the time—lately."

"That's because you wear your heart on you sleeve Knuckles."

"Do not."

"Yes you do—your anger is explosive, your silence speaks volumes. It all bubbles very near the surface. But don't worry. It does actually take quite a long time to suss out your weird personality. I'm sure it's just the six of us who've managed it. Or maybe only five…"

She's smiling at him now, playfully, and he only manages to be mildly annoyed about it.

"Okay. Whatever. I thought we were talking about Silver."

Her expression turns reflective then while she considers an answer.

He doubts himself too Knuckles. You know something about what that's like."

Knuckles sighs and stares down at his coffee. He's half tempted to dismiss the topic for more pressing things. But if Amy's take it true, he'll need to address it. For the moment though, it's a back seat issue.

"I'll take care of it."

Amy eyes him critically a moment longer, but then concedes. "Alright." She takes a seat across from him, and begins sifting through the reports and data. "What exactly do you want to do with all of this?"

He glances down at his own pile. It a mix of printed, and handwritten reports, even some scribbled notes—division updates from Falcon, Snake, and Fox squads, stats from the command center for the past week, memos, and requests. He skims through the latter quickly; there are just a few sheets, and sets them aside to read later. Absentmindedly he begins to reorganized the rest it into neat stacks.

Amy lets him lets him meddle for a couple minutes before prodding again.

"Whatcha thinking over there?"

"…Do you have have a copy of the Command Room shift schedule?"

"Uh… yeah I think an old copy in my—here." She gives it a once over, then hands it to him. "It's not super accurate anymore—I mean the rotation is the same, but who's working it definitely not. Plus we just added you into the rotation so…"

He studies it for a moment, then asks, "why go with a two up shift? Why not just rotate so you each get a shift like every other day?"

"We tried that, but inevitably someone always gets pulled away. Between in-house crises, and the madness going on out there, it made more sense to make sure there were always two leaders on duty. Not that the rest of us aren't available, but it was crazier when requests were flying between the six of us randomly, without a channel or system to track what everyone needed or wanted."

"Alright, but now it's just tying us down. Silver pulled a shift and a half to cover for Espio, who got stuck out in the field yesterday morning, then we sent him straight out to defend another village. Vector canceled all his training sessions this morning to cover Mids, and now he's out there too. And nobody bothered to ask me… It's been a week and a half. Vector could have called me to stand in for the rest of Mids instead of waking you."

"Then they would have just been waking you. Same difference Knuckles." She diverts her eyes before adding, "it was probably just a toss up."

It extracts yet another sigh from him, but he continues without comment. "We're tying ourselves down with all this scheduling."

"Well… we're more organized with it than we were. It's just… the situation has continued to escalate. There is only so much we can control everyday. I don't know… I mean, if you think something could change it's your call to make."

"Tell me then, what you be doing now if not for this meeting?"

"I'd be next door."

"Ok, If you weren't covering for Vector."

"Actually it would have been Rouge and Silver originally…"

"You're making my case for me…"

"Right, uh… I'm supposed to meet with the kitchen staff in…" She checks her watch, "just over an hour. Then… meeting residents, to organize evacuation training. I'd be prepping for that I guess."

"Instead you're stuck here, so no prep time…"

"I mean it's fine. Everyday goes like this."

"And adding one person to the line up won't let change that."

"But, it's only been a couple days since we rolled you into the mix. You may not really feel it, but it has actually lighten the load for the rest of us."

"Clearly—by evidence of your cleared schedules," he deadpans.

"Yesterday was just exceptionally crazy. Give it a few more days and you'll see—

"That's NOT good enough!" The words are emphasized with the clang of his fist against the table. It startles Amy who ticks back bit at the sound, then serves him another glare.

Sorry," He jumps in before she can speak. "Sorry, I'm not mad, just…"

"Is something else bothering you?"

He looks up. Concerned lines her expression.

"It's not something else… It's this. These meetings and reports and shifts…were downing in it.

"And what? You're just gonna cancel all of them? This isn't like your island Knuckles. It's doesn't stay afloat with just a little maintenance. We have twelve hundred people here! They ALL need things! And the number is going up every week!"

"Then lets make it go down!"

"Okay. How?" She shoots back, frustration creeping in her voice.

He doesn't answer right away. He's been considering this over the past days, while familiarizing himself intimately with ins and outs of the Resistance and his place in it.

"We're reactionary. Covert and defensive—primary mission: evacuation and citizen refuge. Right? We're rescuing people—for what?"

"We're saving their lives!"

"But for how long? Until we run out of time? Until Eggman finds our location—if he doesn't already know!? We need to hit the fast forward button on becoming offensive. There will be a point. If we don't get there soon enough, we won't make it out of this at all."

"You think we don't know that Knuckles?"

"I'm sure you do! You must have all talked about it. Right? What's it gonna take?"

"…We thought about it. The seven of us—with Tails then—we considered going in as a team and taking down Eggman's bases one at time… or going straight for his fortress. That was in the first week here. There were already a hundred an fifty refugees, with more pouring in. So the risk… If we didn't make it back…"

"So you started training fighters instead?"

"Basically, yes. You know where we're at. Silver and Vector are training fighters, and assembling the divisions. We've pulled every remaining G.U.N. operative we could find to assist. Espio and Rouge are on intel and reconnaissance. They're running missions like crazy, and training stealth teams too. I'm handling the civilians. Charmy is on tech now. We've been progressing as much as we're able."

"Right. So let's create more time for you all to make it happen. Cut the others from the Command Center rotation."

"Uhh…"

It's clear the idea has caught her off guard. He can tell she's reaching for an excuse to dismiss it. "Don't you think that's… a little sudden? We could take a few week to ease into a transi—"

"NO. You—all of you—need to stop doing that to me."

"What?" She snaps back in a haughty drawl. "I'm not allow to disagree with you Commander?" She scowls at him, an invitation to argue.

He doesn't rise to the bait. Instead he sits tall, folds one fist over the other and stares back. "I get it. I had a rough start here. You were all very concerned. I do appreciate that. I'm ready to take all this on now. I wouldn't have accepted otherwise."

What about the…" She begins to ask, but drops off like she's said something forbidden.

"The Master Emerald?"

She nods, then asks cautiously, "...does it… hurt you? What you did?"

Knuckles looks away, and curses himself for it, because he knows it's an admission. He decides there is no point in lying to her. "Yes…" He finds her eyes again. "But it's not enough to stop me."

She holds his stare for a moment, then finally nods. "Alright…" It's quiet, and uncertain, and she seems eager to change the subject quickly. "So… fine, what exactly are you thinking then? You can't run it yourself 24/7."

"Well… We'll keep Rouge and Espio where they are. They know what they need. We just need to make sure they don't get pulled away from it. Let's put all combat training under Vector. Silver can assist, but we keep him available for field back up as needed. I don't want him overloaded. Days like yesterday can't be the norm. There are a lot of side projects being managed by everyone too right? Do we have a list of those anywhere?"

"I don't think so."

"Could you maybe write it out for me? All the ones you can think of?"

"Yeah, I suppose, give me a few."

She pulls out a blank sheet, then sets to work writing it out. Knuckles goes back to analyzing the Command Center schedule. He begins scribbling out ideas for a new one.

A few minutes pass while they both work in silence. He reaches a stoping point, and watches Amy as she continues to scribble away diligently. Even from across the table he can see how her neat handwriting is. He notices a worn notebook at her side that he's rarely seen her without. It is stuffed to the brim with sheets, and organized sections. He tries, but can't quite make out the tab labels, that stick out of it's side.

"Amy… How much are you managing for the civilians exactly? I never even see you outside of the times I've shadowed you on a shift."

"Hold on… I'm almost done."

She jots down a few more lines, gives her work a once over, and hands the sheet to him. It's a neatly drawn up chart with each of their names, and the supplementary tasks they manage. Days and time are included for recurring appointments wherever she knew them. He reads over it carefully, and takes note of how her section is especially long. Twice as that of the others.

"This is quite a lot," he says before looking up.

"Yep, it takes a lot to keep this place running smoothly. We're all doing our best."

"I meant you Amy. You manage all this on your own? Can I see your notebook there?"

She looks down at here stack. The notebook is partially covered underneath some other files. "This?"

Knuckles nods, and she hands it to him, though reluctantly. He takes it, fans through it once quickly, then flips through again a few pages at a time studying her work. The first tab is contains neatly organized calendars, appointment charts, and such. Next, a full table of contents, detailed with each managed program, and her civilian counter part for it. Following that a tab for each one and all of her notes and files are found within. He flips to 'Evacuation Training.' Scanning through it, he can see she's been organizing this for some time. There are details from each meeting—an inventory list, and resources to acquire. It seems the next task listed is to 'lay out shelter in place procedure.' He closes it, and hands it back to her.

"You're brilliant at this stuff."

"I'm just organized," she replies cautiously, as though she anticipates the coming question.

"Would you be able to hand off, or train others in some of these tasks?"

Why? You want me to be your secretary now?"

"No. I'd like you to command in my absence."

"I… oh."

"I know you're doing a lot here. It makes sense. You're great with people Amy. The best of the seven of us I imagine. And as far as I've seen, the civilians adore you for all the time and effort you've put in with them. That's wonderful, really, but your field knowledge is invaluable. Tell me… how much of our force is prior G.U.N.?"

"Maybe five percent? Probably less."

"And no prior combat experience? How many?"

"Nearly all of them. Like ninety percent.

"And how many at this point are trained enough to be ready for more than basic township defense? Would any of them actually make it through an offensive launched at even the smallest of Eggman's strongholds?"

"No… they won't… most of them have lived peaceful, normal lives. They're not adventurers like us."

"That's right. Adventurers like us. We could train more operatives for the command center, but I can't teach them what you know. Experience is our best strength right now against Eggman. Our forces need that. There's something… particular to understanding how Eggman operates. It's mind bending. You have to have lived it… Amy, I need you… To get to where we need to be, I need all those strengths of yours on this, front and center."

"So… you want me to quit as our civilian go between and operate the command center… full time?"

"Not quite. I don't think you have to quit. In fact I don't want you to. You are managing several different programs with them right? Like emergency training, and evacuations and stuff?"

"Yes. Among other things. It's not all training."

"Ok. Perfect. So for the things that don't involve you training directly, could you maybe begin to nominate some civilian leader to take over? Maybe train them, so that they can teach others? Or whatever, however you think it could be adjusted so you could pare down those duties slightly. I don't need all of you're time. Just… give me six hours. Six hours a day."

"Six hours? Are you telling me you think you're going to pull an eighteen hour shift? Everyday?"

"Not everyday. We can rotate Charmy in too as needed. That'll be enough."

"Knuckles, I don't know… that's a lot. Even for you."

"Can you do it or not Amy?"

"Errrr… fine. Yes. Of course I will. If you conk out on me though, because those shifts are too long I'll pummel you."

"That sounds about right."

She goes reflective then before staging a question. "You're presence is going to be required outside of the command center on occasion too. How are you going to handle that?"

"It depends... How competent are our operatives? I understand why we've had the constant leadership presence in there up until now, but could we adjust that? Even with the higher than normal enemy movement, and presence in the last days, there were shifts I shadowed that were completely down time. Or even now for example... Nobody is in there right?"

She she nods, and taps her comm as explanation. "On call."

"Right so, they all seem extremely knowledgeable of their rolls. I even did some training with Ella, and um… Otto. I mean, you tell me. Can we trust them to man their positions, and just page page us if something comes up? That's why we have the comms isn't it?"

"Yeah... I imagine that will be fine. We tried not to make a habit of it, but if it has to change, it can change. Honestly, I was just curious if you'd considered it. I think it would be smart to maybe establish a lead operative position. Make sure we have one at every shift. Ella and Otto would be great candidates for starters, you probably want at least four."

"Good thought. There will be some trial and error I suspect, but I'd like to make the changes as soon as possible. We'll just have to tackle problems as we go."

Before she can reply, Amy's com beeps. She answers, but it appears not to be anything urgent, so Knuckles picks up and studies the task chart again. This time he revisits what the others are managing. Outside of training, it's resource management for Vector, repair and tech set up for Charmy, Silver has been the main point of contact for the active forces decisions. Amy just penciled in 'Training and Ops' for Rouge and Espio, which, Knuckles knows to be fairly accurate.

"The second transport ship is fixed. Vector, Charmy, and crew are on their way back."

"That's good news."

"I'm sorry it's not more detailed…" She's referring to the chart. "We've been handling these side things for so long now, I don't know where everyone is at with each task anymore, they just do it."

"This is fine Amy. I had an idea about most of it anyway. It just helps to see it written out. So... If you're able I'd like you to help the others designated or identify civilians who can manage or at least assist with these other tasks. I'm going to ask the them to hand over whatever they feel comfortable letting go of as well."

"Are you sure this isn't actually a hostile takeover…?"

"Oh you're hilarious," he drones back. "You've seen me at hostile Amy. Aaand I'm pretty sure I was invited."

Just showed up, is more like it." The grin is evident in her voice, "You know Knuckles, I wouldn't have taken you for an organizational wizard. Guess you did have to handle it all on your own back home though.

"Yeah. That and everything else. It's hardly something anything I'm great at."

"No really you are. I think... this will be good.""I don't know. I think it's actually more like something Vector said... I'm not really integrated here. No one's expected anything of me yet. I'm not being pulled around every minute of every day like the rest of you. It's just a different perspective. That's all."

"No one's expecting anything of you, huh? That's a bold statement coming from our Commander." It's a light hearted tease. She leans back in her chair and crossed her arms for emphasis. "Don't get used to it.""Wouldn't dream of it Ames."

"It… won't be too much?" She asks again, the playful tone now absent.

"I'll be fine."

"Really Knuckles?"

"If I'm not I'll tell you."

A wince indicates that she is even less convinced of that, but for whatever reason she decides not to press any further.

"Alright. Do you want to wrap this up for now? We can meet again this evening to hash out any stray details. In the mean time I'll do my best to get some of this in motion."

"Yeah that's fine. Take care of you other meetings first. I'll finish out this shift, and we can call tomorrow the first day on this new plan. I have a feeling I'll be on repeat with this conversation all day, as the other trickle back to base."

"Probably. Lucky for you, you're already to boss."

TBC