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The four freelancers were sat around the kitchen table in their headquarters, having ordered in some Jade Mountain and digging into their food. Knuckles played some Inclination as they ate, letting them enjoy some music before the red echidna took a sip of his drink. He saw Sonic enjoying some of his chicken, Tails also drinking, and Shadow barely eating much of his own food.

"Thought you said you were hungry on the way here," Knuckles noted.

"Sorry..." Shadow said. "I was just thinking about what happened."

"What are the exact details?" Sonic asked.

"Well, nobody's dead... sort of?" Shadow said. "It's a bit complicated, but basically, the person we were helping got in trouble with a gang they ran with for something that wasn't their fault, and someone from said gang got hurt. Nobody died, though."

"We did get to meet this sweet girl named Zooey," Knuckles pointed out.

"Ah, how's she doing?" Sonic said. "It's been a while."

"She's doing good, but we had to cancel breakfast with her because we had to get back here and she had her job to get to," Knuckles said. "How'd it go with you two?"

"Not a lot to report," Tails said. "The guy we met to get the drugs really wanted out of it. Of course, if he really did want that, he wouldn't have still had the drugs."

"So what's the next step?" asked Knuckles.

"Try and make some Fokus, maybe noodle around with the formula," said Tails. "When I tried with the normal Fokus, it kept burning the implants out. So, if I can meddle with it the same way I did when I was captured and working for Beau, I can probably figure out a way to make it make the implants totally useless. No medical benefits, no secondary powers... just cybernetic chips that add nothing."

"Huh... you know, I could ask Beau to help," Shadow said. "He knew how to make Fokus in Westopolis, right?"

"Yeah, he did," Tails said. "But how do you know that he won't just make it normally if you give him the ingredients?"

"Because you, my two-tailed friend, are going to tell me how to make it," Shadow said. "That way I can pick up on how it's made."

"Ah... well, problem there," Tails said. "I can't remember a lot about how it was made. And plus with krokodil not being an ingredient, that could change the formula a lot."

"Well, you can't have it in the Restarter because there's no telling what that shit could do to it," Knuckles said. "It could completely destroy it and for our plan to work, we need it to not be destroyed."

"Guess I will have to talk to Beau, then," Shadow said. "I've got to report to Anti-Light anyway. I'll talk to Calvin and see if I can get some time alone with that snake."

"In the meantime, what do the rest of us do?" Knuckles asked.

"Whatever you want," Sonic said. "Oh, fuck, I just remembered!" He pulled out his phone fast and saw a couple of missed calls from Amy, and he saw her face on his screen with her number attached, so he answered. "Babe, fuck, I'm sorry I forgot to call."

"No, it's okay," Amy said. "Are you back in the city?"

"I have been for like twenty minutes," Sonic said. "We just got back to our base and we're eating lunch." He put the phone on speaker. "You're on speaker. You want to tell the guys what happened?"

"Actually, I do, especially as I have new information and my class is almost over... ooh, very good horse, Johnny!" Amy said.

"Finger painting?" Tails asked.

"Macaroni art," said Amy. "Anyway, so... Sonic knows this, but there was a drug deal near Little Hill. Sally took care of the dealers, and she also got the name of the supplier. A woman named JJ. Black, has a tattoo sleeve on her right arm, piercing in her left nostril, and apparently she usually wears red lipstick."

"Is everyone all right?" Shadow asked.

"Sally got a cut on her arm, but it's not a major one and she put some paste on it," Amy said. "She got some Anti-Light guys to pick up the drug dealers."

"Couldn't hurt to ask them if they can make what we need," Shadow mumbled to Tails.

"Anyway, I'm hoping to meet Sally at the Midnight Oil tonight for some drinks so we can all have a bit of downtime," Amy said. "You guys can come if you want."

"We'll see how the day plays out," Sonic said. "But if we can make it, count us in for drinks."

"I hope you can," Amy said. "You guys take care. I've got to see to my kids... aww, Lucy, that's a very adorable kitty cat! Oh, my apologies, it's a lion!" She giggled and turned back to her phone. "I'd best be off. Later! Love you, Sonic!"

"Love you too," Sonic said as Amy hung up. He leaned back in his seat. "Looks like we might have some work to do after all."

"Do you think that drug dealer lady will still be near the school?" asked Knuckles.

"She'd better fucking hope not," Sonic said. "I don't want that shit near my fiancee or her kids."

"I'll see what Sally knows," said Shadow, getting up. "I'll go report to Calvin and you guys sort out whatever you need to sort out."

"I'm off to my parents' shop," Tails said. "I've got to get to work on this formula. I have a feeling that it's going to take a whole lot of trial and error."

Knuckles nodded. "And I am going to see to Shade. I haven't had a lot of time to check on her while we were out of town, so it should do me some good to say hi to her."

"Well, I guess that leaves me with not a lot," Sonic said. "I might get some training in. Or clean the base as it's been a while."

"Don't forget to do the bathroom," Tails pointed out.

"The rest of us best get a move on," said Shadow.

"You guys take care and stay alert," Sonic said. "We don't know when-" He was cut off when his phone went off, so he answered it. "Hello?"

"Sonic, it's Antoine," the brown coyote said. "Are you back in the city?"

"Indeed we are," Sonic replied, putting his phone on speaker. "What's up?"

"We heard that a supply truck got attacked," said Antoine. "We got to the scene to see ambulances carry off the passenger who was hurt really badly."

"Did you catch who did it?" Shadow asked.

"Whoever it was was long gone by the time I got there," Antoine said. "Me and Bunnie are going to patrol the city and see what we can find, but I thought I'd let you know ahead of time."

"All right, we'll keep an eye out," said Knuckles. "Thanks for the heads up."

"Any time," Antoine said, hanging up.

"Fuck... that's two things now," Sonic said. "Do you think the drug deal and the attack are related?"

"I'll ask Sally if she heard about it," Shadow said. "If it was related, an Anti-Light agent would have let one of us or Rouge know. At least Calvin would have tried to make contact."

"I'm going to hang back here just in case," Sonic said. "If I get a call to help, I'll move as fast as I can."

"Ah, our fearless leader is holding down the fort," Tails said. "I can respect it."

"You guys go out there and do some good today, yeah?" Sonic said. "And be careful."

They then finished what was left of their food and Shadow, Tails, and Knuckles exited the building, getting on their hover-boards and riding to their respective destinations. Shadow rode over to the Anti-Light base and entered it, and he walked down the halls to the centre of the building before getting to the rooms. He was thankful for the technology Tails had worked on and shrunk his board to a smaller size so that it'd be out of the way, and he exited his room in hopes of reaching Calvin when he bumped into Rouge.

"Hey, Shadow," the white bat said.

"I guess your job has some great benefits if they let you just come back to the base whenever you want," Shadow said.

"Oh, well, other people work at the jewellers," Rouge shrugged. "I'm not even much of a factor despite my employment there." She rose an eyebrow. "What brings you here, though?"

"I was going to report to Calvin, brief him on what we got," Shadow said. "You?"

"I came to check on Sally. She called me and told me about the drug deal near the school."

"I heard about it too," Shadow said. "But where is Sally?"

"She's in her room but she locked it," Rouge said. "I did knock but I guess she can't hear me. Can you teleport through?"

"I can't," Shadow said. "I have to see an open space to be able to get through. And before you ask, the keyhole won't work. Way too small a space."

"Maybe I can go talk to Calvin to get her attention?" Rouge suggested.

"I'll go ask-" He was surprised as the door burst open and Sally stepped out. "Or we could almost get squished by these doors."

"Shit, I'm sorry," Sally said. "I'm just... I'm a bit on edge. I was studying up on where JJ might go next, if she's even still in the city."

"Maybe Beau knew her," Rouge suggested.

"Well, I guess a bunch of half-assed answers are good enough to keep your kids safe," Shadow said to Sally. "I'm sorry to hear about that happening."

"Oh, don't be," Sally said. "I got the bastards who were buying the drugs and they're locked up in our cells. And I," she added, twirling a knife in her hand, "have a very convincing interrogation partner." She tried to move but felt a hand on her stomach. "Let me go, Shadow."

"You got hurt, you just finished work, and you're still shaken up," Shadow said. "I'll do it."

Sally huffed out. "I need the distraction, Shadow. I just..." She trailed off as her phone rang, and she answered it. "Amy?"

"Hey, so, I got a call from Sonic and he said he's got to stay at the base and I haven't had lunch yet," Amy said. "I was wondering if you wanted to go get something to eat? Nothing major, just like a burger or a slice or something."

Sally looked at Shadow who gave her a nod. "Yeah, I'll go. I need something to keep my mind off of shit," the brown squirrel said. "Just let me know where."

"Well, I figured you could pick since you literally saved lives earlier," Amy said.

Sally smiled. "You know, I could really go for a burger, honestly. I just need something comforting and cheap and tasty."

"Okay, Slider's it is," Amy smiled. "They do great fries."

"They really do," Sally said. "Just let me go and get changed and I'll be over." She hung up and looked over at Shadow. "Thank you."

"Any time," Shadow said as Sally went into her room, then he turned to Rouge. "Okay, so, I need you to go talk to the guys Sally arrested."

"But you said you were going to do it after you talked to Calvin," said the white bat.

"I was going to and I still can if you don't want to," Shadow offered. "I need to talk to Beau about how to make the Fokus formula so that Tails can emulate it. It's a bit different now because we're not using krokodil and it's also been a while since Tails had to make it."

"We'll kill two birds with one stone that way," Rouge said. "All right, I'll talk to the drug dealers, you say hi to our boss."

"I will. Oh, and would you mind backing me up when I go see Beau too?" Shadow asked.

"Not at all," Rouge smiled. "As long as you join me with Sally and Amy for drinks tonight."

"I'll try and make it," Shadow said. "But I thought you and Sally were trying to get me to drink less?" he asked with a bit of mirth.

"It's for a celebration of your work, smart-ass," Rouge said. "Now get yourself moving."

Shadow nodded and went up to Calvin's office, seeing the lion caught up in a phone call. "All right, thank you for letting me know... yes, I'll send someone to help. All right... okay, goodbye."

"What was that about?" Shadow asked.

"Something about a potential trafficking ring in Star Light City," said Calvin. "I've got agents over there who are undercover and are going to try and bust the ring and they were asking if I could send backup."

"We really should get more bases in other cities," Shadow suggested.

"That would take too long," Calvin said. "Might even expose us. I am more than fine with having my agents dotted around the cities to help." He turned to face Shadow finally. "Anyway, what can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to report in before I went and said hi to Beau," Shadow said. "We all got the drugs safely from the other cities, and Tails is going to work on making the formula for the Fokus later. I just need to get the order right from Beau."

"Why's that?" asked Calvin.

"It's a long story that maybe we can get into one day as it has to do with Westopolis," Shadow said. "And you know as well as me that nobody gets out of there completely fine." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I have most of ingredients but since we had to get rid of one of them and because it's been a while since Tails made the drug, we need Beau's help."

"That is totally fair," Calvin said. "And what about the mission?"

"It wasn't easy, but we got the drugs we needed and nobody got killed," Shadow said. "We did put someone's life in danger but they'll be okay. The only people that can get to them are going to leave them alone."

"All right, well, good job on getting all of that done," Calvin smiled. "How's Sally doing, by the way?"

"She's okay, I think," Shadow said. "I did have to stop her from going to talk to Beau about the whole drug dealing thing because I was worried that Sally was going to kill him when we still need him."

"Hopefully she'll calm down," Calvin nodded. "All right, you go and talk to Beau. See what he can do to help if anything."

"Will do. I'd say that I hope it goes well but it never does with him." The black and red hedgehog then left at that, going down the stairs to go to the holding cells when he saw Sally walking out. "You're not coming with me to talk to Beau."

"Oh, I know," Sally said. "I just wanted to ask if you wanted anything from Slider's since I'm going to meet Amy over there."

"Ah. Well, I'm tempted by the offer but I filled up on Jade Mountain before I came here. But if they do those strawberry and mango slushy drinks, I'll take one of those."

"Those are nice," Sally smiled. "All right, I'm heading off."

"See you later," Shadow said as the brown squirrel turned to leave.

She exited the base and got to her car pretty easily, texting Amy that she'd be over soon and getting a thumbs up emoji back from the pink hedgehog. Sally then pulled the bandage off of her arm to see that the cut was pretty much fully healed, so she started her car and began her drive to Slider's. She played some music in the background to help pass the time, and eventually she reached the burger place in question, seeing Amy's car already parked.

The brown squirrel entered the building and was hit with the smell of greasy burgers and cooked fries, and she saw Amy sat down already with her phone out but she put it away when she saw Sally. Sally walked over to her and sat across the table from her. "What was with the phone?" Sally asked.

"I was just about to text you to ask what you wanted to order, but then I saw you got here so I can just ask you directly," Amy said. "Saves a bit of time too. So, what'll you have?"

"Cheeseburger with pickles and cucumber, mayo and ketchup too, and some fries and two strawberry and mango ice drinks," Sally said.

"Isn't two ice drinks a bit much for the cold out there?" Amy asked, pointing out the window to the snow falling.

"Oh, one of them is for Shadow. He asked me to bring him one back."

"I can do that," Amy replied. "Okay, anything else?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Sally said.

The pink hedgehog nodded and got up to go to the desk, waiting a bit for a couple of families to finish their order before she could place hers. She got down Sally's order as well as her own, and was stood waiting at the desk before she looked back at the brown squirrel. She studied Sally as she was on her phone, noticing how much her cut had healed, but she still worried a lot for her best friend.

She eventually got her order and thanked the server, paying for it and even leaving a tip before taking the tray over to where Sally was. "Dinner is served."

"Oh, thank you," Sally said, putting her phone away and instantly starting to tear into her burger. "That's some good sh-" She looked over Amy's shoulder to see some children eating. "Stuff."

Amy turned her head too and giggled. "I guess even when you're not teaching you still watch your language around kids."

"Do you do the same?" Sally asked.

"Oh, yeah," Amy said. "When me and Sonic go out, we try to watch our language around young ones. I remember a couple of months ago we went to a cafe for a morning catch-up after he was sick for a week and there was a couple of parents with a toddler there who I recognised as being in my class, and the little kid said the f word, so Sonic taught him how to say the word firetruck for whenever he wants to swear."

"Does it work in your class?" Sally asked.

"It did for a bit, but other kids started saying it and saying it wrong so that they did say the f word," Amy said. "But I'll tell you what I tell my kids which is to not eat with your mouth full."

"Sorry," Sally said sheepishly, wiping her mouth with the napkins that were provided. "I just haven't eaten anything like this in a while. The meals at my place of work are more for sustenance, especially as we just have to make them ourselves. Pinging a burger in a microwave is one thing, but having one freshly hot and made is ten times better."

"Especially if you don't have to pay for it?" Amy giggled.

"Oh, doubly so," Sally said, sipping some of her drink. "How are you holding up after what happened today?"

"I... I guess that I should have expected it," Amy said. "We went a while without anything happening near the school. But I thought I'd be used to it considering how when I first met Sonic, he rescued me from a bad situation that could have gone worse if he hadn't shown up."

"Ah, you've told me the story," Sally said. "A lot more heroic and romantic than when I met him. We sort of just drunkenly hit it off at college and let our youth guide us. But as you well know, Sonic was never really ready for the bigger conversations when I was with him. But I'm glad to see that that's changed. I mean, you're getting married to him."

"I know!" Amy squealed happily. "But I wanted to ask how you were doing too?"

"Oh, I'm fine after taking care of those nasty men," Sally said, noticing how careful she and Amy were being.

"No, I mean, besides that," Amy said. "Are you doing all right in general?"

"Yeah," Sally said. "Things at work are good, my boss treats us all well... things are going good." She saw how Amy looked at her, so she closed her eyes. "If I can be honest, I'm... I'm so tired, Amy. While Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles couldn't work, we all had to do double time to make up for it. After the riots, things got really bad, and I get worried about whenever the next danger will show up." Sally shook her head and looked down at her lap. "I sleep well, eat decently, exercise, stop bad people, and I like doing what I do, not to mention teaching, but... I feel so..." She stopped as the kids left with their parents, and as they left the door, she leaned closer to Amy. "I feel so fucking drained some days. Like, sometimes I wake up to the day and I wonder if I'm going to make it through it. If I'm going to be able to help as many people as I can, whether it's teaching children in a classroom or stopping some terrorist threat or drug ring or something else. And there's always something else and I know that we have people everywhere that we need them, but we can't be everywhere at once and the riots made shit so much worse." She wiped her eyes a bit, noticing the tears. "I, uh... I'm sorry." She sniffed a bit. "But that's also why I'm so thankful for today. Getting to spend time with you and eat some nice food and just talk about this shit. I can't find time to talk to a professional about it, and just having you listen to my ranting has been a lot of help." She smiled. "Thank you, Amy."

"Thank you for being honest," Amy said. "It hasn't been super easy on me either. The stress of the post riot stuff and Sonic having to work overtime a lot to support us both meant we couldn't spend a lot of time together. And now with these attacks on what seems like a daily basis, I understand why he has to help, but I just want a normal day with him, you know? No fights, no attacks, no bad guys to stop. Just a day at home, maybe binge some bad movies, get fat on snacks, all that stuff." She then smiled. "But that is the man that I'm marrying, and I know that he wants this shit with Jem to end. He wants to see this through more than anyone else."

"I'm glad you shared that with me too," Sally said. "But I thought you had an actual therapist to talk to?"

"I do," Amy giggled. "But it's nicer to share it with a friend."

Sally smiled and was about to reply when she felt her phone buzzing, so she checked it to see an anonymous ID on it. She excused herself to go to the bathroom, checking that no one else was in there before answering the call. "Hello?"

"It's Calvin," said the lion on the other end.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" Sally asked.

"It's Antoine and Bunnie. They found the attack site of a supply truck that was taken out yesterday but they ran into some trouble. A bunch of scavengers were looking to steal it and scrap it, and the person driving the truck was trying to take it back but they were hurt."

"Why don't they just call for backup?" asked Sally. "Or the freelancers?"

"A car was dispatched but hasn't arrived yet, and the freelancers just got back home and are working on other matters," Calvin said.

"Fuck..." Sally muttered. "Where are they?"

"They're in the central part of the city," Calvin said. "Are you close to that?"

"I'm not too far, actually," Sally said. "I'm at Slider's, the burger place. I can be there quick if I drive, but I've got to leave Amy behind to do it."

"I can send someone else-" Calvin offered.

"No, I'll go," Sally said. "Bunnie and Antoine are my friends too and I can be there fast."

"Just try and get in and out quick. Bunnie and Antoine don't know you work for us, right?"

"They don't but them knowing wouldn't be that bad of an idea," Sally said. "They're good people."

"You can't just tell anyone, you know that."

Sally nodded. "I know. I'll try to keep a low profile." She sighed. "I'll get moving." She hung up and flushed the toilet before washing her hands and going over to Amy. "I've got to leave." She leaned to whisper. "There's been an attack on Antoine and Bunnie and I'm the only person close enough to help..."

"I understand," Amy said. "We'll both take our food to go. I'm thankful we got here in separate cars now too."

Sally smiled. "I am too. Oh, and tell your sister to break out the heavy stuff at the Midnight Oil."

"I'll put in a call," Amy giggled. "Come on, let's go."

She and Sally picked up their remaining food and turned to leave, putting away any trash they had before exiting the building and getting into their cars. Sally gave a wave to Amy who waved back as she drove herself out of the car park, and Sally quickly looked in her glove compartment for a mask to keep her disguised, finding something that was easy to pull up over her mouth to cover the lower half of her face. She then checked her gun and made sure it was full before holstering that, doing the same with her knife before she pulled out of the car park herself.

She drove right away to where the attack was happening, finding herself near the centre of the city with little issue, and she spent a minute driving around before she found the source of the attacks, seeing Antoine and Bunnie hidden behind the wall of an alleyway as bullets blitzed past them. She found a cur to pull up onto on the other side of the street, looking around to see that there weren't any civilians and pulling her mask up over her face as she sneakily moved around the back of the buildings where Antoine and Bunnie were hiding, unwittingly eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Ah'm almost out of ammo," Bunnie said. "We can't hold out much longer!" She peeked her head around to fire a quick shot, nailing one of the other shooters in the chest and downing him, the Stunner bullet now embedded within him making him jolt on the floor before he fell unconscious.

"How many of them have we taken out now?" asked Antoine.

"Ah think that was the fourth," Bunnie said. "We still have a lot left ta deal with."

"Not for long..." Sally muttered.

She finished rounding the corner and crossed the street, sneaking around behind the shooters, some of which were taking a break to reload. She took the opportunity to aim her gun, making sure the Stunner rounds were loaded, and she fired a few, nailing two more of the shooters who both fell to the floor in a heap. One of the other shooters closest to them noticed this, but he didn't spot Sally sneaking behind him to wrap her arms around him in a choke-hold, holding on for just long enough as he went to sleep slowly, and Sally left him on the ground before moving further up.

She managed to stay grounded and behind cover, not noticing that one of the shooters had turned around, seeing that a few of the others had gone down. He kept walking through where the bodies were laying, seeing the most recent one on the ground before Sally attacked. She brought her knife across the back of his right knee, slicing through the skin cleanly and bringing him to one knee. He tried to aim his gun at her, but she dodged to the side, grabbing the handle of his rifle and turning it to smash the butt of it against his head, knocking him unconscious.

There were only two of the men left, and she decided on a good way to get their attention. Using the rifle she still had, she picked the magazine out of it and gave a whistling sound, getting the attention of the men just as she threw the rifle over to them. They both scrambled and panicked to get behind cover, fearing that the weapon would go off, only to see the hollow bottom of where the magazine would be. They looked around confused before one fell to a Stunner shot from Sally, and the other panicked a bit before suffering the same fate, but not from the squirrel.

She looked over to see that Bunnie had aimed her gun at the last shooter, the barrel smoking a bit from the shot she just took as the last shooter writhed on the ground from the electricity in his veins, and Sally smiled a bit under her mask. She then heard the sound of a police siren and looked further up the road to see some Green Hill police cars arriving, so she turned to duck and run, getting behind the edge of one of the buildings and slowly getting back to her car, taking a breath to herself and pulling away from the scene to drive back to the Anti-Light base.

Elsewhere, Manuel, Sacha, and Grigori were waiting in an alleyway in the city. They didn't know how far away they were from others, but judging by the lack of traffic, they safely assumed that activity was low and they didn't make many moves. They would take turns in patrolling around some of the neighbouring blocks, and Sacha was the most recent one to do it before going back to the others, seeing them waiting by the car they'd parked near the entrance to the alleyway.

"I haven't seen any of the freelancers," Sacha said.

"Fucking hell," Manuel huffed. "This is our fourth run each and we haven't seen anything."

Grigori shook his head. "We can't make too big of a move now. We'll be noticed easily."

Manuel scratched his head and felt his stomach grumble. "Fuck, is anyone else hungry?"

"Honestly, I could eat," said Grigori. "But where is the closest place for food?"

"I saw a corner store on the way up here," said Manuel. "I have some cash so I can just get us some junk food."

"I'll have some chips," said Grigori. "BBQ flavour."

"I could go for some chocolate," said Sacha. "A nice little crunchy bar."

"I'll get those and some soda cans of whatever flavour they have," Manuel said. "I'll be back in a bit."

He left the Russians behind in the alleyway, pulling his mask up as he went around the block to go to a nearby corner store. It was a small place and only had a few aisles, but he got the bits that he was asked to get, even picking himself up a simple bag of chewy sweets before grabbing three cans of lemonade. He turned to go to the cashier at the front but he suddenly turned and bumped into a face he recognised as Rosy. He noticed that she had a few shopping bags resting on the crook of her elbow and was thankful that he hadn't knocked anything off.

"Ah, I'm sorry about that," Rosy said. "I should have watched where I was going."

"It's... fine..." Manuel said. "Although, can I ask what the rush is?"

"Oh, some friends got back from doing some stuff out of town and we're celebrating by getting really drunk tonight," Rosy said. "A place called the Midnight Oil."

"That sounds nice," Manuel said.

Rosy nodded and then paused. "Wait... I recognise that voice. I think I can pick up a little accent there... say, aren't you that guy that ordered the whiskey the other day?"

"I am..." Manuel said.

"Well, I'm glad I bumped into you again," Rosy said. "I've had to pick up a lot of shopping today, and I would really appreciate it if you could wait around and help me."

"Sure thing," Manuel smiled. "I'll just pay for my stuff then I'll wait out front for you."

"Thank you," Rosy said with a beaming smile before passing him to go to where the alcohol was.

As she left, Manuel went to the front desk and paid for the snacks he was picking up, even getting a plastic bag for them before exiting the shop and waiting outside. After a few minutes, Rosy left the store and smiled as she saw Manuel waiting for her, guiding him to where her car was and popping her boot up. Manuel put a few bags in with her before she shut the boot down, turning to face him and lean against it.

"So... am I going to see you at the Midnight Oil again?" Rosy asked.

"I don't know about that," Manuel said. "I don't like big celebrations."

"Ah... well, there's no pressure," Rosy smiled. "But it would be nice to see you. Do you know about the four freelancers?"

"I've heard a bit about them," said Manuel.

"Well, they're friends of mine and we're celebrating the work they've done," Rosy smiled.

"That sounds really nice," Manuel said. "Look, if I can make it, then yeah. But it's not a promise."

Rosy giggled at him. "Well, how about you call me and tell me if you can make it?" She pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and wrote down her number, giving it to him. "You have a phone, right?"

"Usually, yeah," Manuel said. "Left it in my car this time, though, so I'll try to remember to save your number when I get back home."

"Great," Rosy said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to get back to work. That party isn't going to set itself up."

"Best of luck," Manuel replied.

The black bull stood back and waited as the pink hedgehog pulled out of the small car park in front of the corner store before he started his move back to the alleyway with the Russians. He opened his bag up to give them their snacks and started eating his own as well as they got their drinks from the bag too.

"Lemonade?" Sacha asked.

"It was the quickest thing I could get in a rush," Manuel said.

"If you were in such a rush, what took you so long?" asked Grigori.

"I bumped into someone I've met before," Manuel said. "Someone named Rosy. She works at the Midnight Oil, which is the local watering hole. She makes a mean whiskey on the rocks. And also she's friends with the freelancers who are going to be there tonight."

"Didn't you already deliver a message at that place before?" Grigori asked.

"I did, and I did it without killing or hurting anybody," said Manuel. "I don't think we're going to get that option again."

"Then what do we do?" asked Sacha.

"We wait," Manuel said. "Let Jem know the plan later, then we'll come up with something. I want to mitigate casualties, but if someone does get hurt, I can't afford to feel too guilty about it. We'll finish our food and find somewhere else to hide out before we get found out."

He looked around as he popped one of his sweets into his mouth, chewing on it, and eventually he and the Russian men with him finished their snacks and drinks before getting back into their car and driving away from the alleyway, looking for another spot to find refuge and wait it out until the night came around.

It feels good to write this story again, honestly. I hope you all liked it as much as I liked writing it, and next will be more one-shots and after those, more of this. Until then, take care, and stay tuned.