Yay, a new update! But first...reviews!

lovekyman: Thank you for the lovely review! Things will definitely start to unravel moving forward. I'm going to slowly let down the veil of mystery as the chapters continue. There is a whole lot going on but I hope it makes more sense when everything comes to a head.

lena82294: Thank you for the review! He's definitely suspicious! And thank you! I really take time to think up something clever for each one.

D&S Chapter 9: Pay Attention to the Intervention

Sonic felt heavy as he ran back to his apartment. The journey wasn't the problem though. After years of being a police officer, he knew every side alley and hidden street. It made it easier to keep his whereabouts a secret, and he didn't have to worry about bumping into anyone or causing a scene in the middle of the city.

It also gave him time to think. He had always known getting a real job would put a strain on his freedom to use his abilities. To some extent, he would have to be "policed", no pun intended. But he had never thought he'd be forced away from using his abilities to help people. If anything, that was what he lived for. Having that taken away not only left a bad taste in his mouth, but a side-eye at the force he had committed himself to. Had he made a mistake joining? The job put food on the table, but should he have worked alone instead?

Shaking his head to refocus his thoughts, he shot through the last alley leading up to his apartment. It was still the middle of the day, so the lobby and elevator were clear when he arrived. With a sigh of relief, he pressed the button on the wall between the elevators and took a step back. He could hear the buzz of the elevator making its way down and he tapped his foot impatiently as he waited.

It was at that moment that something dawned on him.

How had Shadow found his way to the front of their apartment?

There was no way he could have used the front entrance of the complex, you needed a key card or a number to call. He couldn't have climbed up being as he was injured and they were on the fourth floor. Someone would have had to bring him in or bring him up…

A loud beep brought Sonic back to reality. The elevator had finally returned to the lobby and was now open in front of him. Walking in quickly, he pressed the button for the fourth floor and waited for the doors to close. As he stepped instead, he placed his index fingers against his temples and tried to message the stress away.

He needed a cold shower and some sleep, thinking about anything else at this point was counterproductive. He wouldn't be able to do anything until he came up with a plan of action, which he hated doing.

But with all the obstacles in his way, he'd have to plan his next move out.

The elevator beeped again as he reached the fourth floor. He was almost tempted to press the OPEN button if the doors had opened any slower. Stepping out, he sighed and took a deep breathe. He didn't want Tails to see him so down. He had to be strong for him at least. The fox would probably be able to help him while he was stuck at work, but he didn't want Tails to worry too much.

Putting on his best faux grin, he turned to walk down the hallway towards his room when he saw a familiar face standing in front of his door.

"Blaze?"

/

In his first few weeks at the news station, Silver had seen quite a few things.

He had, however, never seen Cream pissed off.

Irritated? Maybe. Pissed off? Never.

The rabbit slammed the door to the meeting room shut as Amy stepped in. The shocked look Amy gave her did nothing to the glare she was being given as she was gestured to a seat. Silver took a sip of the coffee he'd grabbed from the kitchen and shifted in his seat. He highly doubted this meeting would go well.

Cream had sent both him and Amy an invite email to a meeting she was hosting after lunch. The pink hedgehog hadn't been in the entire morning but Silver wasn't surprised to see her sulking in at around 12:40. She had been missing shifts due to the filming of her reality show, but that was only supposed to take up a couple hours a week. The pink hedgehog had been missing her main broadcast times every other day and her fellow hosts were being forced to take over her segments. To make matters worse, the network wasn't paying them for all their extra work and while Silver never mentioned it, the work was beginning to feel exhausting. He still wasn't comfortable handling segments that required his opinion or improvisation and he knew Cream was getting annoyed with having to conduct field interviews as well as inter office segments.

"What's this about?" Amy asked as she sat down, shifting her headband lower so that her bangs hung just over her eyes. As she did that, something fell out of her hair. Silver opened his mouth to comment but thought better of it.

"You know exactly what this is about." Cream spat as she took a seat beside Silver across from Amy.

When Amy shrugged, Silver put his coffee cup on the table and leaned forward. Better to take control of the fire before it got out of control.

"Listen Amy, we understand that you've been busy," He shot Cream a look, but the rabbit was still glaring at the pink hedgehog. "But it really isn't fair for you to leave the segments you're supposed to do without letting us know. We come into work not knowing what we'll have to do and what we won't." He explained. Amy opened her mouth to respond but he raised a hand to silence her.

"We get that you have a reality show or whatever, but you could at least let us know why you're never at work and if you're coming in regularly soon. If you're not, you're going to have to speak to the network." He finished with a serious stare. Amy blinked and rested her head in her hands.

"Oh really?" She said slowly, dragging out the "really". Cream slapped a gloved hand down on the table.

"Y-yes, really! How can you just leave the work to us without even n-notifying us? We're doubling up for the same pay!" She stammered, clearly upset with how the conversation was going. Amy looked far from apologetic and if she seemed shocked at Cream's confession, she didn't show it.

"Oh please! Same pay? Who do you think keeps the lights on in here? Amy Rose: Taking Over is going to be a huge hit, which will mean a huge boost in subscribers to this news channel. Once I'm done filming, I'll be back full time so both of you need to watch it." The pink hedgehog retorted, pointing at Silver and Cream accusingly.

"Your filming should only mean a missed segment here and there. You're never here, Amy. Don't try to lie either because we saw your filming schedule." Silver said calmly. Amy's eyes widened and then tightened with rage. What Cream said next didn't make things any better.

"A-and we know Mr. Sonic won't go out with you so it's not like you have a real reason to be missing!" The rabbit added, pointing back at Amy. Amy's jaw dropped.

"H-how dare you two! You both should be thankful you get to sit in front of the cameras for as long as you do! I'm a veteran in this and if I want to focus on other ventures, I can!" The hedgehog shot back. Silver opened his mouth to retort but Amy shook her head and tightened her fists.

"When I feel like coming back, I will. Until then, you both will just have to deal because the network is not going to fire me." She finished with a smirk. Before Silver or Cream could respond, she jumped out of her seat and walked out of the room. The metal chair fell to the floor in a fashion almost as dramatic as her exit.

Silver covered his eyes with his hand as he sat back and sighed. Cream got up and went to pick up the chair Amy had been sitting in.

"We have to do something! I have a chao at home and my mom doesn't like me coming home as late as I do now." The rabbit said. Silver turned to her and smiled.

"I can take more of those night segments, Cream." He responded. Cream shook her head.

"No way, we have to do something about this. I don't care if she's the network's gold mine, she can't just leave everything to us." The rabbit replied, heading for the door.

"By the way…" She continued, turning back to Silver.

"Why was her hoodie covered in leaves?"

/

"I've decided," Blaze started as Sonic searched his pockets for his key. "I'm going to help you. I'm too limited in my current position, I want to be out there with you."

Sonic turned to her and widened his eyes. While he was sure she would be a valuable ally, it was definitely not something he had expected to hear from someone he had seen as an office clerk for so long.

"Gee, I appreciate the offer Blaze but what's got you pumped? I don't think I've ever seen this side of you before." He said, patting his pockets as he looked at her. He brushed his shoes against the ground until he felt something under his foot.

"Aha! There it is." He said with a smile, reaching down to pull his key out of his shoe.

"You leave your key in your shoes?" Blaze asked, crossing her arms as he stood up. Sonic smiled bashfully.

"Yeah, I don't lose them that way. But anyways, why the change of heart?" He asked as he unlocked the door and gestured for her to walk in first.

"Well, I was taking my lunch break and…"

"Sonic!" A voice from inside yelled. Sonic and Blaze turned to see Tails standing a few feet away from the door, Shadow not too far behind him. Sonic froze and almost dropped his key.

"Looks like you'll be having lots of company this afternoon." Blaze mused as she stepped inside.

"Yay! I'll put the kettle on." Tails said with a smile as he rushed off to the kitchen. Sonic barely nodded as he walked in, his eyes never leaving Shadow's.

The hedgehog didn't look much better than the last time he'd seen him. His bandages were gone and his bruises had faded, but Shadow didn't look like one hundred percent health just yet. There were dark bags under his eyes and even though he was sitting, the hedgehog seemed on edge.

"Shadow…" Sonic said slowly, taking a seat across from him on the couch. He felt the couch dip beside him and only attributed it to Blaze taking a seat after he took his focus off the hedgehog in front of him.

Shadow looked away and sighed.

"I had my reasons to leave. I'm not here to speak on that." He huffed, staring at the wall as he spoke.

If Sonic had expected the conversation to go left at some point, but he hadn't expected it to go there that quickly.

"Are you serious?!" He erupted, resisting the urge to get up off the couch into Shadow's face.

"Look, Sonic…" Shadow muttered, turning back to stare down the officer.

"I-I was worried about you! You could have told me you were leaving!"

"Sonic…" Blaze said, putting on a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't own me, officer. I don't have to tell you anything." Shadow shot back, but even Sonic could tell it was a half-assed attempt at a retort.

"You don't have to tell me anything, but it would've been a courtesy to someone who cares about you!" Sonic replied. A silence fell over the room, everyone stunned by Sonic's admission.

But the blue hedgehog had meant it. He didn't know Shadow well, but he wanted to help. He was starting to see how defensive and scared the hedgehog was when it came to opening up, but that wasn't going to stop him. He didn't care if nobody else cared about Shadow's well-being, he was going to care.

Shadow wasn't even looking at him at this point, and he was sure Blaze was feeling just as uncomfortable. As if timing couldn't have been more perfect that day, Tails walked in with a tray of tea and cookies.

"Hope you guys are getting along, I couldn't hear anything over the kettle. Dig in!" The blonde fox said as he placed the tray on the coffee table in between them. "Oh and Sonic, Shadow has something he wanted to tell you." He finished, taking a seat on the seat beside Shadow.

"Y-you do?" Sonic said, looking back in the direction of the midnight hedgehog.

"Y-yeah, it's something I thought you'd want to hear." Shadow replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

Tails looked between the two of them before turning to Blaze with a raised eyebrow.

"Did I miss something?" He asked. Blaze shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. Shadow, please continue." She replied, gesturing to the dark hedgehog.

Shadow turned to her and huffed.

"She's on our side, Shadow." Sonic said. Shadow eyes met his and for a moment it looked like another argument was going to break out. Sonic felt his fists tighten as the myriad of emotions he was feeling felt like they were inside a pressure cooker. Luckily, Shadow looked away a second later and sighed.

"Fine. Do you know of an officer named Knuckles?" He asked. Sonic blinked.

What does Knuckles have to do with this? He thought to himself. He opened his mouth to respond, but Blaze was already speaking.

"He was an officer a few levels lower than Sonic. He was dismissed for…"

"Being an ass who liked to use his fists to get what he wanted." Sonic finished. Blaze sighed and shook her head.

"Basically." She said. Shadow nodded.

"He's working for a friend of mine who owns an establishment in the heart of the city. He attacked when I went to check on her." He explained.

"He what?" Sonic asked angrily.

"Why would he attack you? Knuckles was known to be volatile, but he always had a reason. Even if the reason didn't justify the means." Blaze added. Shadow gritted his teeth.

"He attacked me because…" He grabbed his head and groaned.

"H-hey, don't push it." Tails said, placing a wavering hand on Shadow's shoulder. Sonic felt his heart drop. Shadow was far from fully healed and he wished he had been more vigilant in keeping him safe.

"I-I'm fine." The midnight hedgehog replied, removing Tail's hand and taking a deep breath.

"Are you sure-" Sonic started.

"Let's not push him Sonic," Blaze interrupted, turning to the blue hedgehog. "It might be due to what he's been through.

Sonic nodded and turned back to Shadow.

"Don't push yourself. When you're ready, you can tell us what happened." Sonic said with an understanding smile. Shadow didn't meet his stare, but he knew the midnight hedgehog heard what he said.

Sonic took a deep breath and turned to Blaze.

"Now, wasn't there something you wanted to tell me?" He asked. Blaze put down the cup she had been sipping from and turned to him.

"I was followed today, stalked if you may." She stated. Sonic's eyes widened.

"You'll have to start caring for a lot of people now, officer." Shadow said with a smirk.

Yikes! Hope you guys enjoyed this revealing chapter! I wanted to apologize for this update taking as long as it did. My personal life hasn't been great as of late and while I already knew how this chapter was going to go, I just didn't have the heart to write it. I'm back now (sorta, kinda) and I hope the updates are faster. I start school soon and I'm working so I'm not sure how fast updates will go then but I will try my best to finish this story! The feedback has been great since I started updating again and I'm sure it will continue to grow. Thank you for all the love and support thus far! It's really kept me going! I hope you guys catch the hints I've placed in this chapter. Since updates won't be as often anymore, I'll try to do flashbacks or explanations for things that have happened in previous chapters. That way you won't have to go back and forth BUT I still recommend you do if you find yourself confused.

-GeminiMercedes-