Chapter 5

As Sonic padded towards the camp that same night, he thought passively of Amy. His mind was buzzing, his senses were on fire, and he felt alive in the crisp air. He couldn't help but laugh at himself over the ridiculousness of the whole evening. Now that he was removed from her and their conspiratorial neutral ground, he felt silly for how self-conscious he had been the whole night. He had been treating their interactions like they were something breakable, giving undue care and weight to the whole thing.

He reminded himself that it wasn't that deep. It was just another woman, just another job.

But her laugh rang in his ears, and he smiled at the memory of how she flirted with him at the end… She was charming in her own aggressive, starry-eyed kind of way.

Sonic's ears pricked. He heard murmuring and a few raised voices as he neared the brush concealing the camp entrance. When he finally pushed into the clearing, there was a growing group of men gathered around Scourge's tent. His heart raced - he hoped no one else had been arrested while he was away. And he dared not think that it could be something worse, too: that someone had already found him out and told Scourge that he was meeting with a palace connection.

Sonic spotted Knuckles easily and made his way over to him. The echidna stood much taller and broader than most other men.

Tails stood wrapped in his thin blanket, wringing his hands as Sonic approached. He, and most of the others in the crowd, had clearly been woken up by whatever the commotion was. He wore only his shorts and hole-filled socks, his shoes shoved halfway on, as he pointed Sonic to the center of the ring.

"Charmy -" Tails said.

"Taken?" Sonic asked, looking for a way through the crowd, suddenly deathly serious.

"Worse," Knuckles grunted. The bulky man began to elbow his way through other thieves, shoving people apart with ease. Sonic followed the path Knuckles carved until they finally broke to the front of the crowd.

The first thing they saw was Charmy Bee on the ground, wailing.

Charmy was only about 12, just brought into camp the week or two before. He was too young, too mischievous, and too naive to know how to survive around dangerous people. Sonic's quills bristled at the sight of the kid on his hands and knees, crying and muddied.

"No, Scourge, it was a mistake!" the boy wept, his wings buzzing uselessly. He scrambled back, but the wall of other thieves blocked him from escape. Some stared down at him with pity, others looked excited for the entertainment, but none dared move to help the kid or let him get away.

"You're damn right it was, and I'll never let you forget it!" Scourge shouted, stalking toward Charmy. "It seems to me like you need to learn the hard way -" Scourge grabbed one of the kid's antennae and yanked him up to howl in his face "- what happens when you steal from the king of thieves!"

"I just saw that you had some extra gold, Scourge! My team, they were starving this week and -" Charmy broke off, howling, when Scourge suddenly dropped him to the floor, reeled back, and sunk a heavy kick into his stomach. Scourge used his muddy boot to rock Charmy's quivering body so he was flat on his back, Scourge's heel landing on his shoulder hard.

"And you think you know better than me, huh?" Scourge spat down at Charmy, then looked at the crowd roaring, "I am your leader, you don't get to decide how things work here - I do! You steal, then you get what I think you deserve!"

Scourge leaned down towards Charmy, a dead smile on his face. Charmy whimpered as Scourge's fangs flashed at him.

"There is no extra gold. There is only what you get, and what I get - and if you take from me, I take from you. It's time you learn the code you brat."

Scourge reared back, a crazed grin on his lips, lifting his foot to stomp down on Charmy again, not seeming to care that his blow could be fatal.

"Honor among thieves," he said darkly.

"Enough!"

A ripple of a gasp went through the crowd as Sonic lurched forward and put his hands on Scourge's shoulders, roughly stopping him with a shove. He stood over Charmy, breathing heavily, holding Scourge at bay.

Scourge's eyes filled with an even brighter rage as he registered Sonic, smiling hungrily like he had just been presented with a feast. The two men stared each other down. Sonic wasn't sure what Scourge was thinking, but he couldn't risk Charmy losing his life. It wasn't in Sonic's nature to stand by and watch people take advantage of others - especially not kids who didn't know any better.

Scourge straightened his leather doublet and stepped away from Sonic, smoothing his quills back.

"No," Scourge's eyes flared and he took a long, drawn out breath. He began to chuckle to himself quietly, wagging his finger as he turned his back to Sonic. "No, no… you're right, Sonic. I've been… a bit harsh, haven't I?"

Then, like a flash Scourge wheeled around and socked Sonic square in the jaw. Sonic stumbled back in shock, forcing Charmy to scramble out from under his feet to avoid being stepped on. Without giving him time to recover, Scourge lunged forward and grabbed Sonic by his bandana and collar, pulling him close.

"You want to tell me when enough is enough? You're lucky I like you Sonic, or you'd be dead already," Scourge growled in Sonic's face. Sonic could smell a hint of whiskey on his breath, but he stood his ground, his hands around Scourge's.

"A thief is always more useful alive than dead," Sonic grunted, swallowing the taste of iron in his mouth.

"But someone's gotta pay for the little insect!" Scourge demanded. "No one steals from me without paying!" Scourge looked up wildly, daring those in the crowd to speak up.

No one moved a muscle.

"Well?" Scourge cried. "Who of you wants to take the runt's punishment? Who will PAY!"

When no one answered, Scourge turned back to Sonic slowly, smiling.

"Ahh, thanks for volunteering, Sonic," Scourge sneered. "You and your crew are behind already, aren't you? Well, now I want double this month." Scourge held Sonic there, waiting for an answer. The entire camp held their breath, sure that at any moment the tension between the two men would explode into something rowdy, dangerous, and entertaining.

Sonic scowled. He wanted to turn this into a full blown fist fight, to put Scourge on his ass and stalk out of the camp for good. But he knew he couldn't. Not just for his own sake, but for Knuckles and Tails' sake, he had to stay and survive another day.

"...No problem," Sonic growled after a beat. His nails dug into Scourge's hands as he tore the man off him.

Scourge scoffed and began to walk away, when suddenly he froze.

Sonic watched him warily, his hands curled into fists at his sides, trying to calculate what the crazed man might throw at him next.

Scourge turned back to him slowly, eyes alight with an intelligent and angry gleam.

"... Where have you been tonight?" Scourge said dryly, eyeing Sonic's day clothes, which he hadn't gotten a chance to change out of. Everyone else had clearly been in for the night for sometime - it was nearly 3am.

"Town," Sonic said curtly, choosing not to elaborate to save himself from an unnecessary slip of the tongue.

Scourge's lips curled into a knowing sneer. "I hope she was good, then."

Sonic's blood boiled at the implication, and he couldn't help but think of Amy. They were all guilty of sneaking away into town every so often to gamble, drink, meet people, or have flings. And though Scourge usually couldn't get under Sonic's skin, for some reason unbeknownst to him this insinuation almost sent him into a rage.

"...Exceptional," Sonic snarled back, his nails digging into his palms painfully. It took all his strength not to growl and lunge at the man.

Scourge cackled wildly then shouted at the men to get back to their fucking work, and the crowd dispersed slowly and uneasily. Some of the thieves grumbling that they would have liked to have seen a little more bloodshed for having been woken up so early.

Left alone, Sonic suddenly realized he was shaking with anger. He turned his hands over, inspecting with wonder how they were practically vibrating with emotion. He had never gotten this worked up about anything before, and his reaction was puzzling to him. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets as Tails came jogging up to him, holding a cold rag from Vector.

Before Sonic could grab it, Knuckles strode up and whacked him on the back of the head.

"You idiot!" Knuckles hissed. "Double this month?! How are we supposed to get that?"

"I… I don't know yet," Sonic winced as he wiped at a small cut on his cheek with the rag. "Give me a second, Knucklehead."

The three of them stumbled back to their tent trying to avoid the stares of the other men in the camp. Sonic was suddenly exhausted. Adrenaline and excitement left his body in a huge flood, leaving only the fizzling coals of anger.

They found Charmy shaking in their tent, looking wide-eyed at them. Sonic sighed and knelt in front of the boy.

"You ok?" he asked earnestly.

"No…" Charmy sniffled, wiping his nose.

"Listen. Charmy… you have to listen to Scourge. I know he seems alright at times, but he's not someone to mess with. This is a dangerous life, so just… lay low, and if you find a way to get in his good graces, take it." Sonic rested a kind hand on the kid's back. "Go to Vector, he'll treat any wounds of yours and keep you comfortable for the night."

Charmy skittered off, and Sonic hung his head tiredly.

"I'll figure something out for the payment," he said eventually, turning to his friends with a sigh.

"Use that 'palace connection' of yours - nab some fucking gold for Chaos' sake," Knuckles grumbled, folding his arms over his hastily thrown-on button down.

"She and I… We're not there yet -"

"So you don't have any information about Silver, either?" Tails gathered, shifting his weight from foot to foot uncomfortably.

"...No -"

Knuckles cursed under his breath.

"-but I'm working on it, she's a lot… tougher than I thought," Sonic sighed and began to strip for the night, knowing he hadn't done much to reassure his friends. Tails still looked visibly worried, and Sonic hated feeling like he didn't have a way out or a sliver of hope to offer his friend.

"Just… keep covering me for now," Sonic begged earnestly. "I promise, things are gonna work out." Sonic rubbed his cheek as he settled onto his mat, offering Knuckles the biggest smile he could muster. Knuckles rolled his eyes as he sat down.

"Always gotta be the hero, don't you, Sonic?" he huffed.

Sonic smiled sheepishly and pulled his blanket over his head with a shrug. "Well, someone has to."

Amy noticed the dark ring around Sonic's eye and the cut on his cheek as soon as she saw him the next night. She ran towards him when she saw that he had been hurt, reaching out instinctively, but stopped herself from touching his face just in time.

"What happened?" she asked without preamble, pulling her hand back.

Sonic sighed and turned from her. He had been afraid of this sort of interrogation from her. "Just a disagreement…" he deflected with a casual wave of his hand.

"With who? Why?" she demanded.

Sonic's ear twitched. He heard it in her voice, the instinct to protect. It was familiar and warm coming from her. He hadn't felt that kind of fiery, compassionate care directed at him in… Well, he couldn't remember how long.

"We uh, all work under one guy. He can be a bit of a loose cannon." He bit his lip. Telling the truth was hard and it came out brittle, unnaturally, straight from his gut.

"And he hit you?" Amy felt righteous fury swell inside her, and she took to it like an old friend. She would not stand for injustices against people she… cared about.

"Well, he was beating up on a kid and I stepped in…"

Amy bristled. She understood the cold, hard reality of Sonic's life for the first time like she herself had been struck.

"If I ever see him," she promised darkly, "he'll wish he'd never touched you."

Sonic was stunned by her passion. The depths of her righteousness seemed to know no bounds. He tried to meet her gaze but the fire in her eyes was too bright, too kind for him to bear. He had to look away.

"I… hope you never have to meet him," he said earnestly, and almost shuddered to think of it. Something about the thought made his heart go cold.

"Why don't you leave? Why is he in charge?" Amy demanded.

Sonic almost smiled at her tone. She probably hoped that she could solve the puzzle of his life, of the camp, as if he hadn't asked himself those exact questions millions of times over already.

"It happened after I joined up, but Scourge -"

"That's his name?"

Sonic nodded. "Years ago, there was a huge bust. The kingdom rounded up most of the camp, and Scourge stepped in to organize the few who were left. He set up our current system. Each thief owes 'the camp' - Scourge, really - a certain amount monthly. Scourge then divides the earnings up to make sure enough profit goes to getting food rations for everyone, for buying supplies, or for paying off informants… Y'know - thief stuff."

"And no one checks his power?" Amy questioned, her gaze intense and intelligent.

"What are you - a diplomat?" Sonic chuckled. "No, he's too unpredictable to be reasoned with. And he's not afraid to make… sacrifices 'for the good of the camp,' as he says. And even so, we all get what we need - which is to survive. Why upset a system that works?"

Amy's eyes strayed to Sonic's black eye, and she reached toward him again. This time, her thumb just barely brushed his cheek.

"Seems like it doesn't work, though," she said gently, before pulling away quickly.

"Every system has its flaws," Sonic sighed, gulping down the flutter in his stomach. "Why do you think I'm a thief in the first place?"

Amy tried to catch his eyes to no avail. "I don't know - why are you a thief in the first place?"

Sonic turned from her quickly, realizing his fatal misstep. The question had been rhetorical - to make a point - but of course, she wanted to know. And he didn't want to tell her.

"Uhh, long story," he deflected unnaturally. "But how's the mission coming? Any news on Silver?"

Amy shook her head and bit her lip guiltily.

"I've been busy…" she said. Another half-truth to add to the growing pile. Truth be told, she hadn't done much research. Stealth and subtlety were not her strong suit, and she had other duties. Though Sonic didn't know it, Amy now had several ongoing plans to commit treason against her father - and of those plans, busting a thief out of prison was not presently her number one priority.

"With what?" Sonic scoffed, leaning on his forearm against a tree. Amy stepped away to avoid being trapped so close to him. When he was close she got… distracted more easily. She couldn't risk slipping up around him.

"Well, the Princess is having a ball, so -"

"That's right," Sonic snapped his fingers, "I forgot. Think I could have a chance at winning her hand?" He waggled his brow at her jokingly. To his surprise, Amy did not laugh or roll her eyes. She turned from him sharply - but not fast enough that he couldn't catch the genuine scowl on her face.

"Not a chance," she huffed.

"Hey… who cares anyway?" he said more gently, not sure what he had said wrong. "If you're stressed about the ball… She'll just end up with some other random richie and we'll all stay the same amount of poor. There's like a million of those guys out there, and you have plenty of time before the party. It's in two months, right? We only have a couple weeks to get Silver out."

"Wait -" Amy froze. "How'd you even know that? And how did you know she's searching for a fiancé, too?"

She was growing uncomfortable with all this talk of the Princess. She couldn't read Sonic well enough to know if he was implying he knew her secret. Was he suspicious? Maybe even trying to blackmail her? She panicked and forced herself to turn to him slowly to read his expression, her eyes wide but her gaze stony.

"I… looked in your bag the other day," Sonic admitted. Her shock turned to a death glare and he almost laughed - if looks could kill…

"You -" She was about to berate him, but he waved a hand to stop her.

"I didn't lie to you or anything, calm down, Ames. I was just… checking to see if you had anything valuable on you." He smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "Force of habit, that's all."

Amy looked like she was about to bubble over.

"So what do you call not telling me that you knew about this party for days if not lying, then? 'Concealing the truth?'" she seethed.

"Pretty much, yeah," Sonic sighed, not without some attitude. "Look, it's not personal - it's just thievery. If I had known we would be… friends, then yeah, I probably wouldn't have stolen from you. But hey - because I did, we got our deal going. No problem!" Sonic's tongue stumbled clumsily over itself as he spoke, sticking particularly on the word 'friends.' It felt wrong - not quite right for what they really were.

He shifted so he was leaning against the tree on his back and crossed his arms. He wasn't thinking about it, but he had casually moved into a defensive stance against her. She stood only a few paces away, clearly off her balance and angry.

Silence stretched between them, but Sonic held steady and let her form the next thought. He didn't really feel the need to defend himself - stealing and concealing was just what he did. No harm intended and no harm done.

"Does Scourge know about it? The party, I mean," Amy asked after a beat, fear pricking up her fur. Sonic could see it standing up on her forearms. For all her bark, she was still afraid. Sonic didn't blame her.

"…Yeah, he does." The truth came unwillingly from his chest. It was physically painful for him to admit - to stand and be real with someone. "But all that means is that there's gonna be a lot of thieves on the roads that night. And we won't kill - we'll just… relieve the unusually large number of Princes of some of their extra pocket change. Stay off the roads and you'll be fine."

"I could report you - stop all this," Amy said angrily, holding her ground. It was an empty threat, but she was mad and wanted to test him. She, perhaps unwisely, wanted to get a reaction from him - see even just a glimpse of what he was really made of.

Sonic's eyes locked onto hers. His stare was cold, devoid of his usual annoying charm, but not threatening. Not in the slightest. Just blank, even a bit disappointed, and it made Amy feel guilty.

"You wouldn't do that," he said firmly, standing still as a statue.

"How do you know?" Her response was quiet, suddenly lacking in conviction. He was calling her bluff, and truthfully, she wanted him to.

Sonic pushed off of the tree and stalked toward her. Amy flinched but did not retreat.

"Maybe because you know I wouldn't do anything to actually hurt anyone?" he said, taking another step closer to her. "Or because you don't really think what we do is all that bad?" He looked down at her, only a breath between them, and still he took another step forward.

"Or…" he leaned down and got on her eye level. "Maybe you're starting to think - just spitballin' here - that I'm someone you can really trust, and that you don't want to give this all up," Sonic said, his voice never wavering as he searched her expression.

He saw - and felt - her breathe out deeply, trying to control the situation - to control the electric energy between them. Something he didn't want to bother trying to do.

They always found themselves locked in such intense battles; searching, testing, pushing each other, and Sonic didn't care to try and avoid it - her. The unrelenting exploration that she demanded he plunge head-first into every night excited and frightened him like no other adventure he had been on before.

Amy finally blinked. She only wanted to see what Sonic might do under pressure, and the answer was - as she hoped it would be - nothing. She didn't know whether to be delighted or afraid that he seemed to know her so well already. She wanted to drop it though - the subject of lying. Her stupid heart was reminding her that her lie - the truth she concealed - was much more egregious than his, and infinitely more dangerous for them. For Sonic, specifically.

"Alright," she conceded quietly, not wanting to move from where she stood so close to him. "Tell me how you did it, then. Lifted the invite, I mean."

"Pretty simple misdirection and sleight of hand," Sonic sighed, rubbing his neck. He turned from her and felt the thread of tension between their bodies snap palpably.

"Show me," she demanded.

He strode away, back to the tree. If she was going to incessantly ask him about himself, he would incessantly ask her about herself right back. He wanted - well, needed - information one way or another. For the rescue mission, of course.

"Why?" Sonic retorted.

"...I need to know how to lift a set of keys off a guard if we're going to get into the dungeon to break your friend out," Amy said. "And… I don't want to be taken advantage of by you again."

She threw that on like an afterthought, but the idea still stung Sonic more than he thought it might. Sure, he had stolen from her technically, but he didn't intend to take advantage of her - not then, not ever. The idea that she saw it that way pricked him with guilt. He began to recontextualize their interactions; wondering if he was possibly taking advantage of her now. It made him uncomfortable to think about, so he shook his head and moved on.

"Don't you have other ways of getting into the dungeon as a lady-in-waiting?" he said back, not moving. He gauged her reaction, searching her eyes for a tell, wondering if she was lying.

Wondering if they could ever truly trust each other if they both refused to give the other the full truth.

"No," Amy said curtly, "they don't make a habit of allowing women into the dungeons, obviously." She was lying through her teeth, suddenly realizing that she had no idea how the inner-machinations of the castle actually worked.

"Hmm, I wonder…" Sonic mused, but decided not to push her on the topic. She was mad enough at him as it was. "Well, a simple lift should do it. Unfortunately, you are incredibly ungraceful and even less subtle. For example," he smiled at the indignant look blossoming on her face, talking over her as she opened her mouth to respond angrily, "I could call you out on how you've been clumsily avoiding really talking to me since we met, but I won't - because I'm a gentleman."

"You just did by saying that!" she seethed. "And you're one to talk of clumsy avoidance. You never seem to stop talking, but you never really say anything!"

Sonic considered her words as he looked down and chuckled quietly, pulling his belt off. She knew how to rumple his quills, that was for sure. He couldn't tell if he was amused or annoyed at how accurately she had read him.

He saw Amy glance down at his waist and then quickly back up, mortified.

"This is for you," he covered quickly. "So I can demonstrate how to do a proper lift."

He held his belt out for her, his knife dangling from a sheath held on with a metal snap. He thought of making a joke, but he could see how tense she was in her shoulders. How the tip of one of her fangs peeked at him from under her lip in a hint of a snarl. He felt gratified that he, too, knew how to get under her skin. He enjoyed watching the indignant blush creeping up her neck.

"I'm not finished with you, you know," Amy snapped, taking the belt from him.

"I certainly hope not," he retorted as their hands brushed briefly. She yanked the belt from him and turned to stomp away quickly, the snarl slipping from her muzzle unconsciously.

" - And I am graceful, thank you very much," she shouted as she settled the belt on her waist and faced him.

Stupid man… Amy seethed internally. He had no idea who she was. She was the Princess for Chaos' sake - she'd better be graceful. She had spent enough hours walking in heels and a corset to prove it a million times over.

"Oh yeah?" Sonic laughed, "You wouldn't know graceful if it hit you in the face with a giant hammer!"

"When we spar tonight, you are so gonna get it." Her hands clenched by her side. This man was taking years off her life, she swore.

"And I, for one, can't wait. Now," he pivoted, walking a few paces away from her, "walk to me - just casually."

Amy strode forward with energy, keeping her eyes on his indignantly.

Sonic padded toward her. When they passed each other, he bumped into her gently, his shoulder striking hers with precision.

"Sorry," he murmured, looking deeply at her, placing a steadying hand on her shoulder. He held her gaze unwaveringly. He flashed her one of his charming smiles. She could recognize it now as a defense mechanism of his, a way of deflection. But it didn't mean it wasn't a dazzling defense - one perfected over many uses for a clear purpose. She couldn't help the hitch in her breath and the itch in her chest to let go of some of her anger and return his smile.

Near her waist, Sonic's hand worked expertly. His fingers nimbly popped open the latch of the sheath to slip the whole knife off the belt without touching her once. He sent her back on her way with a gentle nudge, breaking the magnetic pull of their stare, and turned from her. He glanced over his shoulder as he walked away, stealthily watching her check for the knife.

"Alright, show me," she grumbled in annoyance, as he laughed triumphantly and tossed the knife back to her. She barely managed to catch it, and fumbled to put it back in place on the belt.

She hadn't felt a thing, Amy realized with wonder. His eyes had kept her locked in place in that brief moment they passed each other. It was like his stare had slowed the very seconds down until time stood totally still. The anger, the heat she felt near him had somehow congealed into an emotional molasses that she tried in vain to wade through. But she had gotten stuck in his smile, his energy. She had fallen into the trap, just as she knew she was meant to.

"The key is to keep the other person's attention upward - that's what the bump is for, a reason to distract them." Sonic walked toward her again, and she followed suit when he beckoned to her. As he bumped her, he slowed and looked down at their hips, now nearly touching.

"The sleight of hand comes with practice," he explained, and demonstrated how he easily handled the sheath. The knife slid off the belt, obeying him like it had a choice. Like his palm was as warm and magnetic as a home, and the knife itself knew how nice it felt to be held in his hands. He attached it to the belt again quickly, glancing at her.

"Here it is again," he backed up, then walked into her. "Keep their eyes up," he instructed. She looked down at his hip again to watch his fingers more closely, but his hand slipped under her chin, lifting her head with a finger so their eyes met instead.

"- No matter what, hold your target's attention," he finished.

They were so close. Amy felt frozen as she fought to breathe normally. His body was practically fully in front of her, their chests close, his fingers barely grazing her chin. Did he have the knife already? She wasn't sure. She thought they might have been standing there for eons, trapped in each other's orbit. Somewhere she couldn't feel - thank god - his hands were moving around her waist, working with enticing precision. She tried not to think of it, to hold his stare with convincing indifference. She parted her lips and breathed out a whisper of air, trying not to sigh or shiver.

She saw his eyes flicker down to her lips, and it broke her out of her trance almost immediately. She stepped away quickly. Too close, she thought, and took a deep breath.

"My turn," she said shakily, and he simply nodded in return, holding up his hand for the belt.

Sonic pulled his belt on through frayed loops, resettling the knife in place, and gestured for her to come at him. The involuntary pull he had felt to her lips was shocking and unsettling to him. He had behaved like a stranger to himself in that moment, a feeling he was beginning to notice always overtook him on these intimate evenings together.

He forced his mind back to the present. "Come on and try it then," he taunted. It made him feel a bit better, knowing Amy would be so atrocious at thievery. At least this part would be entertaining.

Amy approached and ran into him easily enough. She put a hand on his shoulder and tried to maintain his eye contact, but had to glance down as her hand found his hips for the swipe.

Sonic started to laugh at how obvious she was being, but was stopped short by the feeling of heat shooting through his stomach and skin. He sucked in a breath as her fingers found his hips and dragged across the fur of his waistline. Her hand searched clumsily for the knife, leaving a hot trail along his waistband. He gulped furiously, the laugh ripped from his throat by the shock of what he was feeling. Like his body had been struck by lighting.

He watched her desperately to distract himself from the feeling of fingers on his hips, digging into his belt and slipping under his shirt. Amy only tossed him cursory glances as she failed miserably to find the knife, never actually looking at him long enough to see the tension in his face, which Sonic was eternally grateful for. Finally, agonizingly, he felt the knife snap free from his belt, and she moved away from him.

The lift was horrible - maybe the worst he'd ever experienced - and he most certainly knew he should let her try again. But he couldn't risk her hands on him a second time. He practically stumbled away from her, trying to keep from panting.

He hadn't realized how long it had been since he'd been intimate with someone, but the feelings she had drawn out from deep in his core with only the lightest touch were devastating to his psyche. And Sonic had no idea why his heart suddenly felt like it was on fire. His mind was racing, his pulse quick. He tried to tell himself that his abnormally thirsty reaction to her was a subconscious physical desire and nothing more, and he hoped he wasn't red in the face as he turned back to her - Amy would surely never let him live it down.

"Perfect," he cleared his throat. "You were right - graceful as a swan."

Amy shot him a quizzical look. She knew that her lift had been far from perfect, but there was something in Sonic's eyes that she couldn't place. She decided not to test him on it.

"Enough trying to be a thief," Sonic said, fidgeting with his shirt hem. "You won't be winning tournaments for stealing anytime soon - let's make you a warrior instead."

Sonic was uncharacteristically silent for several minutes after instructing her to run through drills. Amy didn't pry - only watched him quietly as she ran and exercised, trying to glean what she could about him from his expression and the break in his usual character. She couldn't place where the silence came from, but she didn't hate it. She just wondered what he was thinking about in lieu of his usual teasing.

After drills, they sparred. Sonic taught her more about close evasion. They practiced her escape maneuvers, which he admitted she was getting better at, and then he turned to leave promptly.

"Well," he sighed, "see you tomorrow? And if you don't have information for me, I'm going to run you into the ground with the amount of push-ups you'll have to do as punishment."

Amy reached a hand out as he turned from her, hesitant to stop him and keep him when he so clearly didn't want to be around her, but she needed the favor.

"Wait - the… I need to wash up, just real quick - I promise it won't be long."

Sonic bristled, hoping she couldn't see his fur standing on end. He had been trying to run before they could get to this, not sure if he could handle the thought of her bathing behind him, but she was too quick for him. Without turning to her, he mustered his most normal voice and shrugged.

"You got it, Ames." He walked a pace away, folded his arms over his chest, and closed his eyes.

This time, Amy scrubbed herself down in silence. She wanted to respect his mood, not sure how to even go about breaking the uneasy quiet he had let settle on their evening. She decided that she had perhaps gone too far - threatening him over the ball invitation. Squeamish guilt settled in her body as she scrubbed at the grass stains in her fur.

For Sonic, the minutes ticked by excruciatingly slowly. It wasn't the same slow tick from the times when they got close to each other - this was something horribly grating. He was so aware of every sound and movement - the splash of the water, her quiet sigh of contentment every so often, the feeling of his clothes shifting on his skin. He was too afraid to speak, he didn't trust his voice not to crack, and instead focused his energy on cooling himself off.

"All clear," she said eventually.

When Sonic turned to her, he couldn't stop himself from giving her a cursory once over, and quickly turned from her again. He had seen only a glance of how her wet trousers and blouse clung to her. Her quills were sopping, and her bangs hung wetly over her forehead. His body had been assaulted enough for one night, and he needed to go home - to run through the cold air.

"Tomorrow. Information. Push-ups," he instructed.

"Aye aye…" she murmured.

Just as he was about to take off, he was stopped by her high voice.

"Sonic, are you… mad? At me?" Amy asked quietly. "If it's about the threat - what I said about telling on your operation - I really didn't mean it. I would never do something like that to you. I -"

Sonic still stood with his back to her, heart racing, listening intently to her voice. He couldn't help but notice for the first time how musical it was. Soothing, piercing, commanding all at once. Sweet.

"- I need you," she continued. "That's the truth. Yes, there are some things I'm hiding, but I can promise you one thing - it's because I think it'll be better, safer even, for you if you don't know about me. Your friend… If we weren't here to rescue him, he'd be a dead man. And I don't want the same to happen to you… Because I need you here to train me, of course," she said the last part quickly, to clarify in case he thought she was talking in some other way.

"The truth…" Sonic mused. He turned to her, flashing a thumbs up and a dazzling smile. "The truth is… I'm tired tonight or something. It was a long day."

"You mean with Scourge?" she asked tenderly, trying to catch his eye.

Sonic almost scoffed - he realized he hadn't thought about the debacle with Scourge even once since they dropped the subject earlier. For hours he had just been treading water trying not to drool on himself.

Sonic wouldn't meet her gaze, but Amy pressed on with her kindness, hoping to genuinely encourage him. "Just - watch yourself, Sonic. I can't have my trainer down for the next two months, and -" she hesitated for only a moment, "I… wouldn't want to see you hurt any more."

Sonic swallowed and nodded without comment. The warmth of her care was too heavy for him. He pushed away her words as best he could, trying not to linger on them. He was beginning to ache with the effort it took him to be near her tonight, and he had to get away.

"No promises," he smiled. "Now I gotta get going - I'll see you tomorrow." He took off quickly through the trees, leaving her - she thought - on her own.

Amy stood puzzled for a moment, needing a second to process how quickly he could come and go and the unpredictability of his moods. Her lips pressed into a line, and she shifted her weight to one foot, looking momentarily confused and maybe even a little hurt, before releasing a big sigh. She smoothed her quills back, breathing deeply to steady her hard-beating heart, and called her horse to her.

She felt like she had done it - offered that small, true confession to let Sonic know that she was here. She had opened the space for them to be as real as they could with each other. She shook her head as she mounted up and left the glade. It was on Sonic now, she thought. His move to pull a brick out of the giant wall he had built around himself, marking the start of their slow, mutual deconstruction.

Would he do it? Amy had no idea, but she hoped - dearly hoped - that he would.

Watching from a bush he had stopped to hide behind, Sonic made sure that Amy left the glade with no issue. It occurred to him he should perhaps follow her home each night - to make sure she arrived ok, but also to see where she worked and how she operated in the castle.

Another night, he told himself, thinking of trust and the partial truth she had given him. A warning, really, to stay away from the castle and out of her life. He trotted home, trying to avoid getting stuck in his own head. What had she said only a moment ago?

They needed each other.

That was right. That's what he couldn't place earlier. No, they weren't quite friends.

They needed each other.

A/N: Hi everyone! Hope you all had great holidays. We are back with this steamy little chapter to kick off the new year - leave a review if you're enjoying!

Love, Bee