Chapter Text
Amy Rose loves Sonic the Hedgehog.
That was the one constant truth that had guided her life for the past decade and a half. The cards had said so long ago, their meaning clear and undeniable at the time.
The cards never actually lied, but they could always be misunderstood, or interpreted too literally if one was desperate enough for clarity. Amy didn't think about that possibility much anymore.
Amy Rose chases relentlessly after Sonic the Hedgehog.
Well… that was certainly another one of the rules, but it wasn't exactly true anymore, was it?
They were adults now, after all. Adults with an impossible amount of responsibility, now that Eggman was behind bars. They were the ones who had to stay behind to clean his mess.
Somehow, people expected world peace the second G.U.N. finally got their hands on The Doctor.
No one ever saw them coming, the consequences left behind. The factories still producing Badniks, fully automatically and en masse; the AI systems still executing orders; the repair bots endlessly rebuilding; the pollution, spread so far that entire ecosystems had changed, wildlife mutating in places that would never fully recover.
It was always easier to focus on the victory than the aftermath. War was simple, but peace was hard.
But Amy Rose saw it all. The cities that needed rebuilding, the displaced populations in desperate need of support. She saw the criminals and their mechanized weapons built from Badnik parts, how they'd exploited desperate buyers. And unlike Sonic, she couldn’t just run toward the next adventure and trust things would sort themselves out behind her.
Someone had to stay. The government and the military alone weren’t enough to manage everything. They needed the Heroes’ support, and they needed it fast.
...And someone must have realized that, because, about three years ago, Amy was approached by a senior G.U.N. representative with a proposal.
They needed an organization that specialized in ‘post-war recovery’. Said she’d demonstrated impressive leadership and coordination skills during the final showdown against Eggman and, above all, she was deeply trusted by both heroes and civilians. G.U.N. would provide funding, facilities, legal authority and intelligence sharing.
In return, they were to… well, ‘heal the nation’, as they said.
She had conditions, though.
They were to operate independently and choose their own missions. Rebuilding would always come before combat. Heroes would be treated like paid volunteers, not soldiers. Finally, above all else, there would be full transparency in their activities. They were not to become another military branch.
To her surprise, negotiation only lasted a few weeks before an agreement was reached.
And thus, the Advanced Emergency Guidance & Intervention Service - A.E.G.I.S. - was born.
Despite the grandiose name, they operated primarily within national borders, coordinating with local governments and existing relief groups.
When their existence was announced to the world, they became the face of hope in a desolate reality. There was so much work to do; cities to rebuild, systems to stabilize, people to reassure that the future still existed.
For the next three years, it grew considerably in scale, now hiring over fifty people, from researchers to technicians, field agents and social workers.
Amy Rose made sure there was always work waiting for her.
There was simply no time to chase after blue hedgehogs anymore.
doodle by me :D I guess this kinda works like a cover of sorts LOL
there's also a doodle at the end to wrap things up nicely :)
“What a week!” Amy groaned, dramatically flopping onto her office chair.
Despite having cleaned her desk from top to bottom only a few days prior, its surface was cluttered with scattered papers, files and colorful stationary of all kinds.
Tails peeked from behind his monitors and chuckled lightly. “I’d tell you it’s still Wednesday, but you might explode.”
“How do you keep your space so neat all the time?” she asked the fox, who blushed lightly at the sudden compliment.
“That’s not true! There’s, uh, gadgets out of place. And, oh! This mug's been here since yesterday, see? Tea's ice cold,” he stammered bashfully, trying really hard to find something to point out. “Yours isn’t that bad.”
As if on cue, the sunlight coming in through the large windows shifted slightly, just enough to cast a ridiculous spotlight on Amy’s desk. The clutter, now on undeniable display, felt like mockery. Her eyes widened and her face turned beet red. The two stayed in stunned silence for a moment, before bursting out laughing at the same time.
“Case in point,” she yelled in-between giggles, her stomach hurting from laughing so hard.
When the fit came to a stop, Amy looked up at the ceiling of their shared office. When was the last time she laughed this hard? She grimaced at the thought, it had been a really difficult few months at A.E.G.I.S..
She slapped her cheeks lightly with both hands to get back to work. There was just no time to relax.
“Amy?” Tails snapped her out of her thoughts. “Uhm… You know, I don’t think having a messy desk is that big of a deal. I mean, there’s a lot that requires your attention right now.”
She smiled fondly at him. “Thanks, Tails.”
“I mean it, though. I just… I don’t want anyone overworked,” his ears dropped slightly, gaze pleading. “You need to rest, Amy. I say that as a friend, but also… as a co-worker.”
As she opened her mouth to respond, the office door violently swung open and in came Sonic. She and the fox shared a knowing look.
“Guess what, losers!” he started, voice loud and magnetic as always. He had a cocky grin plastered on his face that never failed to make her pulse quicken. “Rouge and I just snatched a whole swarm of Eggman drones.”
The bat came in shortly after, completely out of breath, probably from trying to keep up with the hedgehog. Amy knew the feeling all too well.
“Jesus, Blue. You could have waited for me to give them the good news,” she scolded, and then turned to her with a smirk.
“Twenty-six security units,” she sang, voice sweet as honey, “and we seized a few without destroying them, so our cute little engineer here can go take a look. They’re on their way to the research lab now.”
Tails immediately lit up at the prospect of opening and tinkering with the tech, and quickly excused himself from the room to go take a look.
“Great work guys,” Amy praised, not quite as energetically as she meant to. “This could lead us to a hidden base. Please let whoever’s available know the coordinates, we need to send out a search team and-”
“Way ahead of you babe,” Rouge winked. “Already sent them over to Knuckles. Apparently the Chaotix are also in town, so they’re all on it. You focus on relaxing now, yeah?”
“I wish! I’m still behind on paperwork from the last mission, and this new lead could turn into something big," Amy sighed. "Someone has to check inventory, review the reports-”
“You know we can do that, right?”
A low, controlled voice interrupted her and made everyone turn to the door. There stood Shadow, leaning against the doorframe, cup of coffee in hand, looking impossibly cool as always.
“G.U.N. agents always fill in their own paperwork and sign off reports. That’s something we did for years,” he continued, walking confidently into the room.
Amy stood there, dumbfounded. She looked at the bat, silently asking for confirmation. She winced slightly before nodding and averting her gaze to the floor.
Huh, so it was true.
Shadow stopped in front of her desk, then placed the coffee down with his usual precision, on the only tiny space without any clutter on it. When he spoke again, he sounded serious, “Commander, you need to delegate more tasks to us.”
Rouge shifted her weight uncomfortably. “Sorry, Amy. I feel bad for not saying anything sooner. If things are becoming too much… We’d like to support you.”
The pink hedgehog didn’t take her eyes off the cup on her desk. She was grateful they wanted to help, but it didn’t feel fair to ask the field agents for help with administration duties. That was supposed to be her job.
She bit the inside of her cheek.
“You’ve always worked way too hard,” Sonic said, casual and confident. He'd suddenly made his way to her desk without her noticing. “You've always been like that, Ames. Putting others before yourself.”
'You haven’t changed,' was what she heard.
She hated how hard those words stung, especially because his tone wasn't judgemental at all, but gentle and fond. It made her feel like she was still the same twelve-year-old, still worrying everyone like when she was getting kidnapped by Eggman every other day. Back when she needed a hero to save her.
Truly, nothing had changed.
She looked away in frustration.
A soft cough from Shadow brought her back to the present. When she looked back up, ruby-red eyes were watching her quietly, probably for a while now. An uncomfortable heat rose to her cheeks, as she quickly fumbled with her coffee and blurted out an awkward ‘thank you’.
Amy wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but his gaze seemed to soften.
He tilted his head slightly. “I hate to say it, but Sonic is right,” he rolled his eyes when the blue hedgehog’s lips curved into an impossibly satisfied grin. “Commander, you should take some days off. Then come up with a new strategy for admin work.”
Her stomach flipped. Days, plural? She couldn’t possibly-
“If that’s too much, just Saturday will do,” he continued, as if he’d read her mind.
She opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, he reached for something in his jacket pocket. “Hot Honey will be in town this Friday. I have an extra ticket.”
Amy blinked, caught off-guard, “Wait, you’re…? You’re inviting me?”
“Yes. You won’t rest otherwise,” he said plainly, like he’d rehearsed it.
Her stomach did that strange, fluttering thing again. She opened her mouth to respond, but Sonic abruptly leaned against her chair, casually like he owned the place.
“A concert with Shadow, huh?” he said, voice teasing. “Look at you, Amy Rose, branching out like that!”
“Sonic! You know it’s not like that,” Amy choked, her cheeks burning.
He clearly wasn't aware. This wasn’t a romantic invitation, obviously, that’s not how Shadow worked. If anything, it was flattering that he trusted her enough to invite her at all.
The blue hedgehog laughed brightly and ruffled her quills with his hand, causing her to whine and blush even more.
“Just messing with ya.”
Shadow, for his part, didn’t even flinch. He simply folded his arms and gave her a faint, unreadable look. It was like Sonic wasn’t even there.
His nonchalant reaction helped put her mind at ease, but it still felt irresponsible...
“That’s really nice of you, Shadow. But I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”
Rouge, who was still standing nearby, intervened. “You love Hot Honey. Seems like a great idea to me, babe.”
The other two nodded.
After some consideration under the expectant looks of her teammates, she finally nodded, albeit hesitantly.
Her brain was a jumble of excitement, panic and anticipation. She was taking a day off… with Shadow, of all people. That was definitely not how she’d planned the week to end.
“Fine,” she said, playfully feigning annoyance now. "We’ll go after work and… I promise to take Saturday off, I guess.”
Everyone cheered.