A tiny disclaimer before this chapter starts, but FF deleted my last one-shot in Are They Really Rivals?, and to avoid incurring the wrath of the gods that let much worse and more disturbing shit fly on this site, I will not be reposting it on here. But if you want to view it for free, check out my AO3 page. I've got the same name over there and all the smutty one-shots that I post on here are condensed into one package over there as well. Now, onto the story.

The freelancers were just arriving at Aqua Lake City, and as their boat arrived at the docks, they saw Commander Butcher waiting for them. He'd grown a beard since last time, but it wasn't enough to hide his jovial smile, and he gave the four freelancers a salute as they arrived at the docks, Sonic soon cutting the power to the boat as it slowed down so that he could park it. He and the others hopped off of the boat to shake hands with the commander.

"It's good to see you boys, as always," Butcher said. "In spite of the bad press, I mean."

"Trust me, we hate it too," Sonic replied. "Oh, while we're here, would you do us a favour?"

"What is it?"

"Avery is here on vacation with his wife. We'd like him to not know that we were ever here as we want him to enjoy his vacation."

"Ah, can do. I did meet him when he came up here, so I know that he's at a hotel with his wife right now. But he did mention a walk on the beach, so they could be there."

"As long as the beach isn't where we need to find what we need, we'll be good," Knuckles said. "Of course, now would be the crushing part where you tell us that the drugs that we need to find are on the beach and us not getting noticed by our former boss is going to be impossible."

"What makes it harder is that we have to find the plant that the drug comes from," said Tails. "All of the other stuff that I need is likely going to be sold by dealers. It's easy to find a scummy person than it is to find a suspicious plant."

"What does it even look like?" asked Knuckles.

"It's a white plant that looks a bit like a longer and angstier version of a tulip," said Tails, bringing up a picture on his phone of the plant in question. "Here."

"Yep, that description checks," said Sonic. "All right... I guess that we're off to the beach. That's about the only place on this island that could have some."

"Unless there's some in your station's evidence room, Butcher?" Shadow asked.

"If there were, I'd take you straight there," Butcher replied. "It's not easy to come by, and it got a lot less easy when the riots happened. A lot of really bad people swam up here, and believe you me, they did a lot more than just steal some plants to make drugs. In fact, me standing up for the city is part of how I got promoted. It... it was a Pyrrhic victory, to say the least."

"You stood for what you thought was right," Sonic said. "There's no shame in that. After all, we can kind of relate."

"I know," Butcher smiled. "Anyway, best of luck to you lads. I'll be back at the department, so if you do find anything, swing my and let me know."

"Will do," Shadow replied.

With that, the freelancers left the Aqua Lake police commander and made their way to the beach, seeing several people on said beach doing various activities. Among them was making sandcastles, playing with a beach ball, and they even saw a couple of kids with their parents run into the bright blue water as a small tide came in, making them giggle and run the other way.

"Wow..." Sonic said. "The beaches really are nice out here."

"Possible wedding destination?" Tails asked.

"Or honeymoon," Knuckles said with a smirk.

"I'm starting to get why Avery came out here now," Shadow said. "The last couple of times that we came out here, it wasn't under the best circumstances. But this place... it truly looks beautiful."

Tails looked ahead, and he saw Avery and his wife on the beach. "Well, shit..."

Sonic looked at the two-tailed fox and then saw where he was looking. "Ah... yeah, no, fair."

"Should we just tell them?" Knuckles asked. "There's no point in sneaking around them. And it's not like telling them why we're here will affect anything."

"Nah, let's let the man enjoy his vacation in peace," Sonic replied. "Now, we just need to find those plants... this is one big beach."

Shadow looked ahead, putting a hand over his eyes as he peered at a far off tree and saw a bush underneath it. "That might be something... hang on." He quickly teleported to the bush, looking at it for a few seconds before seeing what he was sure was the flower in question. He returned to the others. "Tails, could I borrow your phone? Bring up a picture of the flower too?"

"Uh... sure," Tails said, doing so and handing his phone over. Shadow took it with a thankful nod and teleported away again before returning. "Well?"

"Oh, yeah... it's not there," Shadow said.

"You had to borrow my phone for that?" Tails asked.

"Well, the shape of the bush that they grow in is the same, down to the leaf and branch composition," Shadow said as he gave the fox his phone bacl. "But there isn't any left."

"There's no way that's the only place in this city that has it," said Knuckles. "Beau must have been lying."

"Or he's just not telling the right parts of the truth," Shadow said, pulling out his phone. "Calvin?"

"Yes, Shadow?" the black and red hedgehog's boss asked.

"I need you to run a check for me about where to find Devil's Breath in Aqua Lake," Shadow replied. "It's supposed to be near the beach, but we're not seeing it."

"Give me a moment," said Calvin, going to the cells. "Oh, and quick update: Keegan is in our cells as well."

"Keegan and Beau in the same spot, huh?" Shadow sighed. "Figures. Just ask the snake where to find Devil's Breath."

"Ask him yourself," said Calvin, putting the phone on speaker and pushing it to Beau's cell. "Speak."

Beau smirked. "Hey, buddy! Good to hear from you again!"

"Pack it in," Shadow grunted. "We're at the beach at Aqua Lake, but there's no Devil's Breath here. This is the only place that could be hiding it because there's not a lot of vegetation in the city."

"Well, of course you'd think that if you didn't know where to look," Beau said. "Luckily, you have me as your guide."

"Just tell us where to find the fucking thing."

Beau smiled. "I won't say a lot. I'll just say that it's a wide beach, so you might have to expand your horizons."

"Beau, you're a horrible guide," Shadow said. "But it's better than nothing. Thanks for the assist, Calvin."

"Of course," Calvin replied, hanging up.

"So it's on the beach, huh?" Tails said. "I'll fly up and get a better look."

"Should we split up too?" Knuckles asked.

"We could cover more ground that way, but we could also get seen by Avery," Sonic said. "Split up, but try to keep a low profile."

"Ah, yes, four relatively popular freelance agents keeping a low profile while Tails flies up in the air to find drugs," Knuckles said. "What could possibly go wrong?"

"You two stay back here while Tails flies up," Shadow said. "I'll teleport around, see if I can find anything."

"All right, let's go," said Knuckles.

The two-tailed fox started to spin his tails and he hovered up into the air, looking down the beach and seeing how wide it was. He started flying over, trying to keep a good speed as he flew along, looking around at any sign of the plant that he and the others were looking for. He squinted his eyes to try and find any sign of it, and he found another small bush, floating down carefully to look at it. He peered inside and sighed, just seeing some regular flowers.

"I hope Shadow's having better luck..."

The black and red hedgehog had teleported further up the beach, using quick, short bursts of his energy and turning his head to look for a bush that looked similar to what they'd found earlier. He kept dashing up, finding a couple of bushes and looking into them, and not finding anything. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he looked around, shaking his head.

"Are we ever going to find the damn thing?" He sat on the beach, scratching his arm. "Come on... expand my horizons... what does that even mean?" He looked up at the shoreline, then past the water. "Wait..." He stood up and dashed to the edge of the beach as the water started to come in, and he stepped further forwards. "That's got to be it..."

He gave a dash up to the farthest end of the beach that he could manage, and he looked around a corner to find some more bushes. He walked over to them and opened them up, not finding anything at first until a small opening caught his eye. So he stepped forwards and waded through some more greenery before finding a couple more bushes, continuing on and soon finding himself under a rocky archway with yet more bushes underneath it. He opened those up and gave a smile before grabbing his phone.

"Hey, any luck?" Sonic asked.

"Damn right," said Shadow. "Come meet me up at the west end of the beach, and bring Tails."

Later, Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails arrived. "This is pretty far up the beach," Knuckles noted.

"That it might be," Shadow said, holding his hands behind him. "But it does yield results." He pulled the Devil's Breath from behind his back and showed it to Knuckles.

"Flowers? For me? Why, I didn't know you cared," Knuckles said.

"There's a whole bunch of them past this way," Shadow said. "Certainly enough for all of the implants."

"How did you even find the damn things?" Sonic asked.

"Beau said to broaden my horizons. I think that he meant it literally. I had to dash up here a fair bit to find the plants."

"Which works well, because I couldn't find anything up my end," Tails said.

"I'll put in a call to Butcher and see if he can give us a hand," Sonic said.

Later, Butcher had brought some officers to help bag up the Devil's Breath, handing said bags over to them so that they could take them back to Green Hill without any trouble. When things were all bagged up, Butcher walked them all over to the pier, shaking hands with them.

"So, hopefully this isn't the last that I see of you guys this year," Butcher said.

"Hopefully," said Sonic. "Thanks for the assist with the plants too."

"No worries," said Butcher, looking up at the sky. "You should get moving. It's getting dark."

Sonic gave the Aqua Lake commander a smile before hopping onto the boat to drive back to Star Light. They'd made it back to the city and gave the boat back to the shipbroker before hopping onto their hover-boards, starting their ride back to Green Hill, seeing no reason to delay things any further.

Waiting near the car park, Gerren spotted the freelancers on their hover-boards, turning to Manuel. "They're on their way back to Green Hill. What's the move?"

Manuel pulled his phone out, typing in a number. "Grigori?"

"Da?" Grigori replied.

"The freelancers are coming back to Green Hill. Meet us under the bridge. We'll join up and send the next message."

The freelancers were soon back in Green Hill properly, making their way to their headquarters to get themselves ready for the rest of the night. They'd showered and grabbed a quick snack as they gathered around the living room table, with Knuckles opening up with the questions.

"So what's everyone doing tonight?" the red echidna asked.

"I'm going to Amy's place," Sonic said. "A classic bit of couch vegetation and all that."

"Ah, yes, just the couch," Knuckles smiled.

"I'm going to see Cosmo at the hospital tomorrow," Tails said. "I don't see the point in working more on the implants when we only have one ingredient that we need."

"Oh, damn, that reminds me, I'm going to put in a call to the armoury boys at Green Hill Police Department," Sonic said. "See if they can help us figure out how the whips work."

"I'm going to be with my lovely wife," Knuckles said. "That just leaves Shadow."

"I'm going to the Midnight Oil with Rouge and Sally, just to hang out and stuff," Shadow said.

"What are you going to do about Keegan and Beau being in the same place?" Sonic asked.

"I'll sort that out when I get to it," Shadow said, bringing up the display. "We should sort out where we're going tomorrow."

"Scrap Metal and Spring Yard are the other two cities left," Tails said. "But they're pretty far apart. We're getting Speedball from Scrap Metal and DiPT from Spring Yard."

"If we hurry, we can get both done in a day," Sonic said. "But I really want to figure out how the hell these whips work... and I think we should test out how our nanosuits are holding up too. It's been a while."

"We shouldn't delay more than we need to," Knuckles said. "But it's been... what, a month since we last checked?"

"Well, the suits all work the same, right?" Tails asked. "Maybe the whips will."

"That's a bold assumption. What are you suggesting?" Sonic asked.

"I'm suggesting that one of us go and do the testing while the rest go and get the Speedball."

"Hmm..." Shadow said, bringing the display to himself. "Alternatively, how about we do both sets of drugs tomorrow but we split into groups of two? Two in Scrap Metal, the other two in Spring Yard."

"What about the testing stuff?" asked Sonic.

"That's the first thing we'll do," Shadow said, marking Green Hill Police Department on the holo-map. "Get that done quickly, then we need to move to get to the other cities."

"That sounds like a good plan," Sonic said. "Any objections?"

"Not from me," Tails said.

"Me neither," Knuckles said.

"Okay, then we'll all meet tomorrow at the department," Sonic said. "I'll call them now while I remember." He pulled his phone out and called Espio's number, surprised that the purple chameleon picked it up so quickly. "Espio? Hey, I know that it's late, but we want to set up a test for our nanosuits tomorrow... and we also want to see if we can get these whips that Dingo gifted us to work. Okay, cool... how long will it take? Ah... all right. Yeah, that works for us. See you tomorrow... bye."

"Sounds like we're good to go," Shadow said. "Let's get moving."

Under the bridge of the motorway near the edge of the city of Green Hill, Manuel's group met with Grigori's, the cars passing over them loudly as the streetlights shone down, almost giving away the criminals' position. Manuel made sure that both of their cars were packed underneath and that they were wearing some form of face-covering before leaving the car with the others to meet Grigori.

"So, what is the plan now?" Grigori asked.

"Well, Jem wants us to deliver the message. But we don't know where the freelancers are or even where they're going, and it's too late to go scouting in the city to find out."

"It's unlikely that they're going back to work," said Sacha. "Unless we make them."

"There's hardly anyone out here," said Gerren. "How are we going to get their attention?"

"We're not going to do it right now," said Sacha. "We'll hide out here until morning."

"Or maybe we can deliver it without being violent..." said Manuel. "I'll head out into the city myself. If I get wind of any of the freelancers, I'll follow them to where they're going."

"Are you sure that you can manage that on your own?" asked Gerren.

"I'm not going to fight anyone," Manuel said. "Not unless I have to. Oh, and if you tail me, I will kill you."

"Fair enough. As long as you can make them listen," Gerren said, putting his hands up. "You go and do the job." Manuel got into his car and drove off, and Gerren pulled out his phone. "I've got to make a call. I won't be long." He turned to walk away from the others, confident that he wasn't being followed as he typed in Jem's number. "Hey, boss."

"Ah, Gerren," Jem said. "I trust that you have some good news for me?"

"A little bit," Gerren said. "The freelancers left Green Hill to go to Star Light, then they left from there to what I can only assume was Aqua Lake."

"Aqua Lake?" Jem asked. "Why on Mobius would they go there?"

"Probably to do a job," said Gerren. "Anyway, they're back in Green Hill right now and we're all hiding out under the bridge. Manuel went off on his own to deliver the message."

"Alone?" Jem asked. "No backup?"

"He's going in disguise. He only needs to give the message to one of them, so it's a question of who he'll choose to follow."

"Keep me updated," said Jem. "But whatever happens, get back to Westopolis as soon as possible. We don't want to risk compromise."

"We'll keep our heads down an I'll update you when I can," Gerren said, hanging up. Heturned to see Sacha and Grigori. "Okay, yes, I was sent to watch over Manuel just in case."

"You should keep watching over him," Sacha said. "We spoke with the others. We don't like that he's going off on his own."

"Neither do I..." Gerren said. "In plain sight, Jem said. But I don't want to take our other car in case we need a getaway vehicle."

"Then steal one," Grigori suggested. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Hey," Taylor said next to them. "What are you guys talking about?"

"We need a car so that Gerren can tail Manuel," said Grigori.

"We'll help," Marla said, looking at some cars passing by next to them. "Ah... that'll do."

She pulled her Tails mask down and went to the back of Gerren's car and pulled out a shotgun, keeping it behind herself and waiting by the side of the road. As soon as a car came into range, thankfully having to go slow due to the ice and snow forming on the road, she jumped in front of the car and waved her right hand as her left kept the gun behind her back.

"Excuse me!" she said as the car stopped, walking up to it. "Hi, I'm new in town, and I need to go to the hospital! My aunt's there!"

"Oh, of course," said the man in the car. "You're not far from it. I could drive you there? I work at a store not far from there and my shift just finished so I'm free for the night."

"That would be great," Marla said, bringing the gun to the man's window. "Get out of the fucking car."

The man sighed. "I just got this washed too..." He put his hands up and opened the door, stepping aside from her.

"Keys."

"Uh, they're in the car," he said.

"Wallet too."

He reached for his back pocket and quickly pulled out a handgun, and Marla reacted quickly by shoving the butt of her shotgun against his stomach, causing him to keel over onto his knees. Another kick to his stomach knocked the wind out of him and he held back a retch as he reached for his other pocket to give his wallet to her.

"H-Here..." he said weakly.

Marla took the money from it and dropped the wallet back down next to the man. "Okay, we're clear!" she called out.

Gerren quickly ran over to the car, seeing the keys were in there already. "We can't risk leaving a witness. Take care of him." He then sped off in the car, trying to follow the trail that Manuel had left as he looked in the rear view mirror to see Marla lifting the man up with the others. He struggled as he was taken under the bridge, and Gerren saw a distant muzzle flash. "Damn... they didn't waste any time."

Manuel was driving around the city, and he kept his eyes out for any signs of any of the freelancers. He kept driving and searching as he got a call on his phone, and he answered it quickly. "Hello?"

"Hey, dad!" Sofia said on the other end. "So, we were wondering where you are?"

"Oh, I'm... working, right now," Manuel said. "I'll be back home soon, I promise."

"I hope so," Sofia said. "You promised that you'd learn to sign more with Carmen and I think that she's getting worried about you. Well, I know she is because she told me earlier."

"I won't be long," Manuel said. "You kids can order a pizza or something. If there's any leftovers, leave them for me tomorrow."

"Yeah... all right," Sofia said. "Love you dad."

"Love you too," Manuel said.

"And Carmen just signed that she loves you too," Sofia added on.

"Sign the same back from me," the black bull chuckled. "See you in the morning... I hope." He hung up and looked ahead as he saw a trail whizz by on the hover-board lane. "Please be something good..." He drove forwards and around the corner of seeing a hover-board and seeing someone on it. "To my knowledge, it's only the freelancers that use that lane... or even ride hover-boards in the first place. Pretty convenient, that. Let's hope that I'm right."

He continued following in his car, trying his best to not stand out or look like he was following whoever it was he was following. He still pressed on, eventually seeing the person on the hover-board making a sharp turn and prompting him to do the same. The person on the board drove up to a building which Manuel hadn't seen before but he recognised it as a bar, seeing a neon sign that said The Midnight Oil on it, with a glowing image of a candle burning.

"Shit, I didn't see who went in," he noticed, seeing the board parked and seeing the back of the person who was now going into the bar. "Well... best not waste time..."

He pulled up to the car park and found a spot to park his car, checking in his mirror to make sure that his disguise was fitted well before leaving his car and going over to the door of the bar. He walked in and looked around quickly before spotting black and red quills, and he was about to stand up when the door opened behind him and two other people walked in, causing him to sit down.

"Shadow!" Sally said. "Man, you just beat us here, huh?"

"Just about," Shadow smiled. "So... got a big update at work, huh? Keegan's locked up with Beau..."

"Shadow, sweetie," Rouge said gently. "Let's not focus on that, all right? We're here to have a good time. Let's not mention work."

"I'll try not to, but it'll be hard since we all essentially live in the same building," Shadow shrugged.

Manuel kept watching. "Well, I've confirmed that it's a freelancer... now I just need to wait for the ladies to leave him be..."

"Hey, can we take this to a corner booth?" Shadow asked. "It's a bit cold up this end and there's heating on the other side."

"That's a good idea," Sally said. "Come on."

"Shit..." Manuel said. He got up to sit near the centre bar, trying to be inconspicuous as he sat on a stool, thankful that whoever the worker there was had their back turned, busy with cleaning glasses.

Said person, Rosy, turned around to face him. "Hey there, uh... wow, trying to beat the cold? You are wrapped up really well."

"Oh, uh... y-yeah..." Manuel said, trying not to look at her chest and succeeding. "The place by the heating seems to be taken up, so I figured that if I can't warm all of my body, I can at least warm my belly."

"And what would you like to warm your belly with?" Rosy asked.

"Whiskey on the rocks, please," Manuel said.

"And who does this go out to?" Rosy asked. "Do you have a name?"

"I do, but... I'm not going to be in town for long," Manuel said. "I've got a lady waiting back home myself."

"That explains why you didn't look down my top," Rosy said. "I suppose that I've lost my magic. I'm Rosy, by the way. And I didn't mean to make you look. All of my less revealing clothing is in the wash right now. Had more than a few incidents with drunkards not learning their place and emptying their drinks all over me."

"Hmm. Disgusting."

"I know," Rosy said. "That and the ice isn't making things easy either. I've had more than one slip since the snow really started to pour down." She poured Manuel a glass and handed it over. "I know you said that you won't be in town long, but would you like the drinks to keep coming?"

"I'll be around for a couple more," Manuel said. "I can hold my liquor, so don't worry about calling me a cab or anything."

"Your voice sounds quite nice," Rosy said. "I think that I detect a bit of an accent in there. Shame that I can't see the face behind it." She heard a bell behind her. "Got someone on the other side to deal with. God, I hate doing overtime and being the only person here..."

Over at the booth in the corner, Shadow gave a wave to Rosy, who waved back. "So, uh... god, what should we talk about?"

"Just as long as it's not work, I don't care," said Rouge. "I will admit, Shadow, it's nice that you agreed to do this."

"Well, why get drunk and be miserable alone when I can drag my friends down with me?" Shadow asked lightly.

"You really come here very night, huh?" Sally asked. "Ever since... you know..."

"Yeah..." Shadow said. "It's like I see her sometimes, sitting across from me. I'll see her enjoying a drink with me or laughing at a joke, and then... I just keep seeing her die. The same way that she was shot."

"So... no hard stuff tonight?" Rouge asked, giving Shadow a light smile.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Shadow replied, unable to help his own smile. "Oh, and... I'm sorry for the other night too. I was drunk and sad and... well, those aren't good excuses for shitty behaviour."

"It's fine," Rouge said. "We're here to move past stuff, yes? I got past that pretty quickly, so how about we talk about what's next?"

"Ooh!" Sally put her hand up. "The kids in my class are going on a field trip next week. They're going to the zoo, some of them for the first time."

"Have you done field trips before with previous classes?" Shadow asked.

"Well... no, because of the whole Anti-Light thing..." Sally admitted, lowering her voice. "But I wish that I could have. One of them got to feed and fly a falcon."

"Isn't that usually illegal in zoos?" Rouge asked.

"Usually, but there were some animal trainers and some of the kids were genuinely interested, so they made an exception."

"Man, I should find something to do that's an actual job," Shadow said. "But doing three things at once would be a pain in the ass."

"Have you ever had a real like, job job?" asked Rouge.

"No. I mean, I did train at the police academy and I was an officer for a day. That's the closest that I have. Even the other guys took up actual work while we were forced out of commission."

"Either way, it's good that you're back to what you do," Rouge said. "And hey, isn't it nice to get paid for being a hero?"

"I guess so, but I still feel weird going outside these days," Shadow said. "I'm sure that the freelancers have their fans, but we're not as looked up to as we used to be. It's probably best that nobody find out that we're actively trying to find drugs."

"Well, you can't be everywhere at once, you know," Sally said. "Even you who has the ability to teleport. You shouldn't feel responsible for all of the attacks that are happening."

"Jem's messages are always meant for me and the guys," Shadow replied. "You really want to tell me that I'm not supposed to feel bad about it?"

"Well, think of how much good you've done since you came back," Rouge replied. "You're doing more work, and it's tiring because you work with us too. But you shouldn't take it too personally that you don't get thanked for it. You're just getting back to it, out in the world. Don't take it so hard."

"I... I guess you're right," Shadow said. "We did what we could to minimise damage after the riots, but those bastards got everywhere still. There's a lot of places that we still can't touch."

"And criminals move around a lot too," the white bat added. "You never know where they'll wind up. They could be here one day then all the way out at Angel Wing the next."

"The worst part is that the majority of them aren't even associated with Jem," Sally said. "They're just run of the mill scum-bags. Although I am curious as to why they wouldn't all form into one big organisation."

"I don't think that even Jem has that kind of reach," said Shadow, turning to see Rosy. "Ah, hello, there."

"Hey, you ready to order?" Rosy asked.

"I'm paying," Sally said.

"Then we'll have some lager pints and cheeseburgers," Shadow said.

"Fries too?" Rosy asked.

"You know it."

"I regret that I'm paying now," Sally said.

"I'll get right on it," Rosy giggled. She walked back to the bar to see Manuel. "Sorry about that. It's hard to keep track of all of my customers, even on empty nights like this."

"Well, besides those three, there's... maybe one other person here?" Manuel asked, looking at another booth. "Oh, nope, she's sound asleep. Might have had a bit too much."

"Shit," Rosy said. "I'll call her a cab. You don't mind waiting a bit for your next drink, do you?" Rosy asked.

"Not at all," Manuel said. "You take care of your business." As Rosy left, he turned to some doors at the back end of the bar, noticing the toilets. He went to the men's room and took off his disguise, looking at himself in the mirror. "All right... you need a plan. You can't go back to Jem empty-handed." He reached into his coat pocket for a pistol. "This'll have to do." He went to the cubicle and put the gun behind the toilet, walking back out to the bar and taking his seat as Rosy walked back over.

"Oh, hey," Rosy said. "Did you at least wash your hands?"

"I just needed a fresh splash of water on my face, but yes, I did wash my hands," Manuel said.

"Good," Rosy said, pouring Manuel his next shot and handing it over. "Just to check, you're only having one more after this, right?"

"Well, I am driving," the bull said.

"Good, because it might be a while," Rosy said. "I've got to feed the children over there."

"You say that like you're friends with them," Manuel said.

"They're semi-regular patrons here, and I've known them for a few years," Rosy said. "Especially the brooding bad boy. He's not had it easy lately, and this is the first time he hasn't been drinking alone here." She raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of which, why are you drinking alone?"

"Because my special someone back home doesn't like me to drink," Manuel said. "Not that I'm a mean drunk or anything. She's just more of a classy lady. More into chardonnay than merlot, I guess you could say."

"And you're into whiskey on the rocks," Rosy said. "Always good to note drink orders, even for one-timers."

"I appreciate that, Rosy," Manuel said. "Now go feed your kids."

Rosy shook her head at that, but she couldn't help her smile, and she started working on the food on the grill. She made sure to pour the drinks for Shadow, Rouge, and Sally first, going over to give them the drinks before returning to the bar, seeing Manuel working on his whiskey drink.

"You're putting that one away fast," Rosy said. "I am curious, though. Why did you come here anyway?"

"I just wanted some drinks before I went back home," Manuel said. "And besides, this is a nice atmosphere. It almost makes me forget about how cold that it is outside."

"Almost," Rosy giggled. "And... there goes your second whiskey glass. One left, then?"

"Please," said Manuel, pulling out a piece of paper and writing something on it.

"Giving me your number?" Rosy asked.

"Hmm?" Manuel said. "Oh, no. Uh, I'd like you to give this to that table with the hedgehog, the bat, and the squirrel. Don't open it, though. It's for them."

"What is it, exactly?" Rosy asked.

"Just a thank you message," Manuel said. "It's not too much trouble, is it?"

"Not at all," Rosy said, taking the paper from him and going over to Shadow's table. "This is for you from the man at the bar."

Shadow opened it up, looking at it. "Don't say this out loud," the letter said. "Meet in the bathroom in 3 minutes." Shadow then gave a look at the person at the bar, seeing them downing some whiskey as Rosy walked away.

"Everything okay?" Rouge asked.

"I'm not sure..." Shadow said. "Let's just eat for now. Our burgers are probably getting cold."

"How do you stay so fit when I've never seen you eat a healthy meal in my life?" Sally asked.

"Extra gym hours," Shadow shrugged, taking a sip of his beer as well.

He didn't keep too much track of the time, but he kept his eye on the mysterious patron as he finished his whiskey, putting the glass down and exchanging pleasantries with Rosy. He got some money out to pay the bartender before going to the bathroom, and Shadow gave it a few seconds before leaving to follow him.

He walked into the bathroom, turning his head left and right. "All right... you asked for me? I'm here." He felt something cold gently press against the back of his head. "Starting to wish that I wasn't here now."

"Turn around," Manuel said.

Shadow did so, turning to see Manuel with is disguise off. "How the hell did you get here?" Shadow asked.

"I came to deliver a message from Jem," Manuel said. "You give it to your friends when you next see them." He put his other hand behind himself, pulling his phone out and playing Jem's message.

"My favourite freelancers... your time is running thinner by the day," Jem's voice said. "The more that you delay giving me what I want, the worse things will be for you. And not just in Green Hill. Any city where you have friends who can help you, they will be there to bring you down. Any blood on the streets will spill over onto your hands. And just as a reminder, you are the ones who will set the time. But the longer you wait, the worse things will become." The message then ended.

"So the same as usual, huh?" Shadow said.

"Careful now," Manuel said. "One wrong move and some of that blood will be confined to this bathroom."

"You're not going to shoot me in here," Shadow said.

Manuel put his gun down and behind his back. "You're right. I won't. But if you don't do what Jem tells you to do, I will burn this bar to the fucking ground myself. That'd be a shame. The whiskey is quite nice."

"I'm giving you five minutes to leave," Shadow said.

Manuel pulled his scarf back up and turned to leave, making sure to thank Rosy before getting into his car outside and starting it up, making his way back to the bridge where the others were waiting for him. He opened up his car doors to let the others climb in, Gerren sitting next to him at the front of the car.

"Did you get to deliver it?" asked Gerren.

"Only to one of them," Manuel said. "He'll tell the others tomorrow. Let's move. We'll report to Jem in the morning."

Back at the Midnight Oil, Shadow took a chance to clean his hands in the bathroom before walking out to see his friends looking at the paper that he was given. "It was one of Jem's guys."

"Are you okay?" Rouge asked.

"No. This place... it might not be safe any more." He sat down with Rouge and Sally and picked up his beer to take a swig. "Yeah... I might need another one."

And that's another chapter of this done. A bit less violent but I think I did pretty well. Next is going to be an AO3 exclusive one-shot, then more of this, and then Join The Fun and Beauties Of Remnant after that. Until then, take care, and stay tuned.