D&S Chapter 7: Running On Fumes

But first, reviews!

Sonic The Dovahkiin: Thank you so much! I definitely took your critique into perspective when I wrote this chapter. When I started writing D&S, I meant for it to be soap opera/crime television-esque and by that I mean that scenes fade in and out to keep the suspense up. There was supposed to be less attention to detail and more "snapshots" of pivotal moments. I definitely think adding a bit of description wouldn't hurt though so I've tried to make changes. Really glad you like the plot though! I'm loving Mirror Image and really enjoyed today's update! Keep up the great work and I hope to hear more of your opinions as the story progresses.

lovekyDman: Thank you! Things will be explained soon...or maybe not. You'll have to keep reading!

D: Thank you lovely! Their relationship will take some time to flourish but I think it'll make sense when it does! I really appreciate the reviews you've sent over the years, and your support is such a blessing! Thanks again.

Keep reviewing guys, it always makes my day! Now on to the story...

Shadow knew he had to get away from Knuckles, but the brute was in between him and the back exit directly across from the room they were standing in. His muscles were screaming in pain and it was hard for him not to waver slightly from the overwhelming pressure he was putting his body under.

"For your information, that cop started the whole thing." Shadow spat, trying to stall a fight until he had a plan of action. Knuckles scoffed.

"You can't just go around knocking over cops and think we aren't going to come back and find you." He replied.

Shadow blinked.

"We?" He asked slowly, not letting his guard down as he took a deep breathe.

"Yeah, we. How do you think I got this job with your little girlfriend? I'm a ex, but I'm not about to let you get away with what you did." The echidna said with a smirk, cracking his knuckles.

Shadow smirked.

"Ex or not, you shouldn't open your mouth if you can't back it up." He said with a smile that only enraged the creature in front of him.

Knuckles sized him up before swinging, the hedgehog's cranium his target. Shadow quickly dodged the punch and sent a kick at the echidna's torso. Knuckles blocked it with his arm and went for another punch. Shadow took the opportunity to move around his arm and flip their positions.

The ends of his lips began to twitch. Now that he was behind Knuckles, he could easily turn around and run out the back door.

But Knuckles wasn't done yet. He turned on his heel and kicked Shadow, the hedgehog barely blocking the attack as he slammed into the wall beside the doorway.

"You're not gonna get away that easily." Knuckles muttered, charging again. Shadow's knee gave way as he watched the red echidna run at him.

Thinking of possible escape scenarios, he turned to the wall he had crashed into and stared at the dent he had caused.

"Of course…" He muttered, turning back to see Knuckles right above him, his fist ready to send Shadow careening through the wall. Unfortunately for the echidna, that was exactly what Shadow had hoped he would do.

"Wrong move!" Shadow growled, jumping into the air the second Knuckles' fist flew at him. Knuckles eyes widened as he realized what Shadow was doing.

Plaster and debris flew into the air as Knuckles fist crashed into the wall of the backroom. It was a thin wall, but his arm was lodged in deep enough to leave him immobile. As he tried to pull himself out, a foot emerged from the dust and struck him across the face.

"Damnit!" He yelled, feeling his lip split and his cheek start to burn. He raised his other fist to try and block his face as another kick connected with his jaw. His eyes burned from the dust but he tried swatting it away to get a visual on Shadow.

There was silence in the room as the dust began to settle and Knuckles regained his vision.

Unfortunately by then, Knuckles' target was long gone. His boss however, was standing right in front of him looking less than amused.

"What are you doing to my club?!"

/

Sonic walked into the office and flashed his badge at the secretary. He'd been gone less than a week, so things looked the same. The secretary's desk sat in the middle of the floor with the elevators on one side and a help desk on the other. It was a Tuesday afternoon, so people were usually out of the office. That meant he wouldn't have to socialize before heading up and also meant he'd get to leave faster. The secretary gestured towards the elevators and Sonic nodded before pressing the up button on the closest one to her desk. Only one of elevators went to the top floor, the Commissioner's office, and that was the one he'd have to take.

As he entered the elevator, he stared at his reflection in the mirrored walls. He hoped things would go smoothly with Estro, but his boss was hard to read at times. He was a strong, burly man with short brown hair and dark brown eyes. He had climbed the ranks when Sonic had been a free agent, and it was only after he had taken the title of Commissioner that he'd asked Sonic to join the force. Sonic had been apprehensive at first, but the job did have its perks and he was able to continue helping people. He didn't really fit in with the rest of the cops who deemed him an overrated furry, but he'd always been able to tune anything negative out.

That's why it would have been nice to see Blaze when he came in, but he assumed the cat was on her lunch break.

Arriving at the top floor, Sonic walked down the long white hallway that ended at another secretary desk. He stared out the large window beside the desk that gave a breathtaking view of the city before turning to Estro's secretary.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sonic, but Commissioner Estro is in the middle of a very important phone call. I'm going to have to ask you to wait here." She explained. Sonic raised an eyebrow. He didn't remember the secretary's name, but he recognized her voice as the one that had booked the time with Estro.

"Okay, that's fine." He said slowly, walking over to the window to look at the city.

In the past, Estro would clear his schedule for Sonic, knowing that the hedgehog only bothered him if it was something important. Unless the call was about national security, Sonic doubted it was serious enough to keep him waiting.

On the other hand, the privilege to call the Commissioner at the drop of a dime and ask for a meeting was shared by few, if any, other than Sonic. Remembering that, the hedgehog took a deep breath and sighed. It wasn't going to kill him to wait, even though it did seem odd.

As he stared down at the busy streets, he noticed the news station building had added a large screen above its logo. Sonic rolled his eyes. He was sure Amy would love the fact that even pedestrians and drivers would be forced to see her as they made their commutes. It was reporter Cream though, who's face flashed on the screen, as the camera panned to a festival she was reporting on.

Turning away, Sonic's eye barely caught a black line shooting down the street in front of the office. His heart skipped a beat.

"Is that…" He muttered.

"Commissioner Estro will see you now, Mr. Sonic." The secretary said, gesturing him towards the door behind her.

"T-thanks." He stammered, struggling to turn away from what he had just seen.

/

Blaze smiled as she found an empty park bench to sit on. Dropping her cardigan and lunch box on the blue iron seat, she stretched and took a deep breathe.

Speaking to Sonic and seeing a hedgehog with almost life threatening wounds had troubled her. She wasn't the type to show it, especially in front of her colleagues, but Blaze was beginning to worry. While Sonic hadn't told her who he considered a criminal in the hedgehog's assault, she was smart enough to come up with some possible suspects. None of which left a good taste in her mouth.

It didn't help that "Shadow" didn't come up in the city's database or that Sonic wanted to handle the matter without the police force.

Blaze sat down on the bench and opened her lunch box. She grabbed the sandwich she had prepared for herself and took a bite. She could hear children, human and anthromorph, playing tag by the swing set.

"I hope things are like that when they grow up…" She thought aloud. Chewing slowly, she thought about where she stood in all of it.

She obviously wanted to help Sonic, as he was trustworthy and one of the few members of the force she actually spoke to. But would she lose her job? As a female anthromorph, she had grappled with a lot of oppression and sexism to make it into the boys club. And even after all of that, she was still stuck in office duty. It was a high-level office position since she worked with classified information, but she was in an office nonetheless. And because of it, she was usually excluded from meetings and events involving field work. That irritated her more than she let on.

At times she would tell herself that she wasn't ready for work in the field. That she worked better in an office setting and putting her life, and the lives of others, in danger wasn't what she was meant to do. But then she would see Sonic and wonder what it would be like to be in his shoes. She didn't see herself carrying the celebrity status he did, but she did see herself fighting crime and helping people.

Sighing, she grabbed a water bottle from her lunch box and took a sip. At the very least, she was slightly less on edge than she'd been at work. She looked at the busy street behind the park solemnly. People were either cycling or skating up and down the street in the warm weather.

Her eyes suddenly focussed on a black blur that sped down the street and out of view, scaring a few pedestrians and alarming a small dog. Red streaks coloured the black line that was left in the aftermath. A picture of Shadow immediately clicked in her mind and she got up from her seat, almost dropping the contents of her lunch box.

There was only one hedgehog she knew that could run that fast.

"It looks like things are as bad as I thought…" She whispered, squeezing her lunch box tighter than she'd meant to. Looking down, she noticed her grip had melted some of the plastic on the box.

Cursing silently, she began to pack her lunch away when she suddenly felt eyes on her. Scanning the park and its visitors, she didn't see anyone looking in her direction. Shaking her head, she grabbed her cardigan and turned to walk back to work.

The unsettling feeling returned before she could even take a step and instinct pushed her to look behind the bench she'd felt so comfortable in moments ago.

In the gathering of trees behind her stood a figure in a dark hoodie looking in her direction. Blaze's eyes widened. The person was about her height, but that was all she could decipher before she turned on her heel and began speed walking towards the street. She could tell a bad situation when she was in one, and her instincts were telling her to run.

Things went from bad to worse when she heard footsteps behind her.

She was being followed.

A/N: A lot of things happening in this chapter but not a lot of dialogue...I'll try to make up for that in the next chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed it! I'm still working on storyline kinks plus I want to add some SilverXBlaze (it will be super discreet though) in the following chapters. Anyways, R&R!

-GeminiMercedes-