A/N: Hey! Sorry the wait for this chapter was so long, but sometimes life just sorta hits you around the face and you get crazy busy. As always, thanks and shout-out to AmegakureAngel, Wxnderland, Fairlyoddme, Blood tinted rain and hexxys for reviewing the last chapter. I hope you all enjoy this next one, if you're still around the site to read it, lol.

Just an FYI in case it's not clear, we start off with Scourge's p.o.v.

Something More

Bingo.

There she is standing behind the counter, just like I thought. I pocket the chick's phone, thanking whatever lucky stars aligned just right to let me get my revenge. Amy's picking out cakes and chattering away to her little rabbit friend, somehow not looking the slightest bit worse for wear – unlike myself.

Fucking blue hero.

If Sonic really thinks he can just barge back into my life and start throwing fists, telling me how to live it, then he's got another thing coming. I'm not scared of him. I ain't never been about following the rules, and I'm not about to start now just because he says so.

I take one last drag from my cigarette and cuss, catching sight of my reflection upon the window. A fresh bruise is starting to purple up around my left eye. Little fucker caught me by surprise once, but it ain't happening again.

You step one foot near Amy again, Scourge, and I'll make you regret it, he said. Waving his little Emerald around like a big shot and all.

There's only one person who'll be regretting it now…

As if I had any intention of seeking out Sonic's little girlfriend again anyhow! As if lil' Scourgey isn't already drowing in pussy down at the Clinks. I was well sorted to leave her the hell alone after taking her back. It was enough to just get one over on old Fang again, but now…

Well done, bro, but now you just went and made this personal. It's been a while since I had a new grudge to nurse. Should be fun, stringing it out, watching him squirm.

Just on cue, Amy turns to look up at a customer, smiling while picking out some kinda flowery little muffins and packing them in a paper bag. Her eyes have this way of sparkling in the light, and damn does she have a pretty little face. She ain't my type, not by a long shot. But she ain't hard to look at, and it's plain as day she's starving for a little attention.

I swing open the door and saunter lazily over to the counter. Amy's birdlike little voice carries over the chatter.

"Well, he said they don't get along," she was saying to the little rabbit between serving customers, frowning along with the words. "And, from the way Sonic spoke to him, I'd say they really don't get along."

I snort. Yeah, you don't know the half of it, babes.

Her tiny rabbit friend's eyes open wide. "What is he like?" she asks in a whisper.

"Umm," Amy tones. I can see she's stalling. I linger just slightly away, waiting to catch her words. This should be good. "Well, he looked a bit like Sonic, I guess." I smother a cough, feeling insulted. He should be so lucky. "And he was strong and fast enough to fight off three guys at once – one of whom had a gun," she says eventually. Her voice softens then, and she gets a distant look in her eyes, shrugging, "I owe him."

I feel the grin slide wickedly across my face. "Hey, stop talkin' bout me like I'm a hero, doll – you gonna make me blush."

Amy's pretty little head snaps around to my direction, her green eyes wide and sparkling and, best of all, totally helpless. She gasps a little – I reckon I could get used to that sound – and almost drops the plate she's holding.

Perfect.

Sonic's out there, sweating his ass off that I'll steal his girl. I ain't stealing nothing. Amy's already done half the work for me. It'll be too easy.

She's gonna walk away from Sonic all by herself, and I can't wait to see the look in his face when she does.

"...Scourge!"

I gasp and fumble with the plate of coconutty cookies in my hands, almost dropping it and its contents a further three times before I regain proper balance.

"That's my name," he smirks lazily.

"...Scourge?" Cream repeats slowly, looking unconvinced, as though she can't quite reconcile the image of my hero with this green and slightly imposing figure before the counter. To be completely honest, I don't blame her. Seeing him here in the light of day, with his scrapes and scars and worn-out leather jacket… Now that my head isn't spinning anymore, the sight of him is enlightening. He's much rougher looking than I remember. There's another scrape across his jaw, and his eye is slightly purpled – details I don't quite remember from the night before. I find myself wondering if he got into another fight.

"Yeh, don't wear it out, toots," Scourge says, casting a sideways glance at Cream before his cool gaze returns to me. For a second, it's like lightning in my blood. He jerks his chin towards me. "You look better."

It takes me a few moments to kick my mind into gear. Breathe, Amy. Focus.

"Oh! I er…I - wh - what are you doing here?" I manage to stammer eventually, and not to mention somewhat breathlessly. Suddenly realising how ridiculous I must look, clear my throat and start again. "I… didn't think I'd see you again."

"Hah, well. That'd be a shame now, wouldn't it?" Scourge grins. He seems somewhat amused by my inability to focus. His eyes - oh gosh those eyes like ice - scrutinise every inch of me as he speaks. That doesn't do anything to help matters, either.

I feel a blush rise to my cheeks and find myself looking everywhere but at him.

"'Ere," he says, fishing into his pocket. A moment later, something clatters atop the counter.

"My phone!" I cry, forgetting my embarrassment for a moment and snatching it quickly to my chest. "I thought I'd lost it! Oh, thank you," I say, finally mustering up the courage to look him in the eye.

Scourge shrugs. "Guess tha' means you owe me twice now, doll-face," he says, half smirking, half leering.

It strikes me as strange, the way that look affects me. Last night, when it was on the face of those thugs on the street, it made my heart pound with dread and disgust. Now my heart is pounding again with something a little… different. Alien.

"I… guess it does," I reply, struggling once again for some semblance of thought.

I hear Cream clear her throat, somewhat obviously, and she elbows me in the side. "Well, we've just brought out a fresh batch of coconutty cookies," she interjects, pointing at the plate I'd cast aside when grabbing my phone. "And these cinnamon puff-pies are a new recipe. We can offer you some of whatever you want, on the house!"

Wincing a little and rubbing my ribs, my mind begins to catch up. "Yeah," I nod enthusiastically. "Yeah – free of charge, as thanks. See anything you like?"

Scourge's eyes roam dismissively across the goods on display for just a second before his cool gaze squares in on me again. "Maybe one or two things," he smirks after a pause.

Umm… well.

I really have no idea what to say after that, so naturally, I bumble on about the different cakes and pastries we have on display, tripping over my words all the while. His smirk grows wider. I grow more flustered.

Damnit Amy, get a grip.

It isn't until a few minutes later that Scourge is sat at one of the window booths with a plate full of sweet treats (including some of the coconutty cookies I almost threw at him when he surprised me at the counter), and yet several more minutes after that until I begin to recover from my flustered state. Serving customers helps to take my mind off matters, but still… I am intensely aware of his presence.

Every now and then when I look up, I catch him watching me.

Not once does he bother to look away when I do.

"You know, he's still looking at you…" Cream says, once I return from wiping down a table and collecting the mugs and plates there.

"Shush," I reply, trying, and failing, to ignore this information. As soon as I deposit the things into the sink out back, however, my traitor eyes betray me and peer around the door-frame, only to clash with his piercing blue orbs once more. Oh my gosh.

"It's starting to creep me out," Cream whispers, hiding the words behind her dainty hands.

"It's starting to creep you out? How do you think I feel, Cree?"

Cream shrugs, her deep-brown eyes wide and inquiring. "I don't know. How do you feel?"

I hold my breath before I speak.

How do I feel?

The phrase, like a deer before the headlights comes to mind. Literally. Like, every time my eyes meet his, my whole body just freezes up. Not particularly useful when I'm trying to balance a stack of plates across the room, or serve customers at the till without short-changing them! Honestly, I'm surprised I haven't broken anything yet, including my own neck from the amount of times I've tripped over in the last twenty minutes alone.

What is Scourge doing here?

What does he want?

Why won't he leave?

And… how did he even find me?

"You know those wildlife documentaries," I begin slowly, in answer to Cream's question, "where you see the lion creeping through the grass, stalking its prey?"

She nods.

"I feel kind of like the prey."

"Scared?" Cream askes, solemnly. She peers back around at the booth by the window and shivers slightly.

"Yeah, a bit," I answer, biting my lip. If I'm honest, his gaze on the back of my neck is a bit scary, but also… exhilarating. However, I manage to refrain from admitting that much to Cream.

"We can call Sonic if you want. Or Knuckles," she suggests. "Maybe they can -"

"Oh, don't be silly Cree," I interject, waving my hands around. "They're probably really busy with other things. You know, like, important things. Besides, I'm sure Scourge has better things to do than sit here staring at me all day. He'll probably leave soon," I affirm, sounding much surer of it than I actually feel.

I walk back into the store-front, keeping my eyes firmly trained on the ground, the counter, the customers, anywhere but that booth by the window. It's a busy afternoon, especially since the shop-front was closed all morning, and we both have our hands full.

The bell above the door tinkles yet again, only this time, it's not a happy customer.

"Oh, hell no! You've gotta be kidding me!"

Oh no. It's going to be a long day.

"Trust us, we're doing everything in our power to track him down."

I roll my eyes again. Yeah right, buddy. Everything in your power to keep sitting on your backside eating donuts all day.

"So then why haven't you found any leads yet?" I ask through gritted teeth, tapping my foot impatiently.

"Look, Sonic," the rounded officer sighs again through a mouthful, waving the remains of his frosted donut around. Somehow, I manage to resist the urge to grab it and chuck it out of the open window. "All our sources point to this Fang character having got on late train out of Central and over to Westopolis. We appreciate all the work you do for us, we really do, but this is outside of our jurisdiction, Sonic."

I groan. "Ugh, jurisdiction shmurisdiction. That ain't good enough Officer Nibbles -"

"It's Tibbles -!" he interrupts, but I'm already done listening.

"Whatever. I'll run over there and find that creep myself, then." Then I'm out the window and heading down the street.

Jeez, what a nightmare. If you want a job done properly, you must do it yourself.

Shouldn't take too long to head on over to Westopolis. The real problem will be tracing Fang down once I'm there. I really should have taken those tracking lessons from Knuckles. Hey, there's something. I wonder if he's got any plans for today, and if he'd be up for dishing out some vigilante justice with me. Besides, it's been a while since we ran together.

But I should really check on Amy before I head over though, just to make sure she's okay. I mean, I'm sure she's fine and all, with Vanilla and Cream taking care of her at the bakery. I know for a fact they won't let her out of their sight tonight, and if Scourge has any sense he'll be staying away from her too…

Bah, forget it. I'm heading round anyway. It'll only take two seconds.

I know she's still mad at me for missing her birthday party. I just wish she'd let me make it up to her. The tower's been real… empty, since she left me and Tails to try and make it on her own. If I'm honest to myself, I kinda miss having her around. She's one of my oldest friends, and I've done a real shitty job of showing her how much I appreciate everything she does for me and the team.

I haven't even rounded the corner of the block where the bakery is at when I sense it.

Wow.

That green piece of scum is really pushing it now.

I follow his damned signature through the door, recent enough that it jumps straight out at me.

I quickly scan left and right and – surprise, surprise – there he is sitting by the window, bold as brass, staring right at her.

"Oh, hell no," I shout, storming over, starting to shake. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Amy glances up from the till. I almost hear her gulp.

"Sonic!" she says, startled. Why does she sound so guilty? "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What is he doing here?" I yell, throwing my arm out and gesturing towards Scourge.

Scourge, for all he's worth – which is nothing – just sits there and grins like the slimeball he is, and shrugs. "Why shouldn't I be here?"

I narrow my eyes at him. "You know damn well why," I growl. I find myself between the two, as if I can protect her from his influence just by standing there. If only it was that easy.

"You're crazy, bro," he scoffs, breaking a cookie in half. "I ain't doing nothing. I'm just sittin' here getting some eats… enjoying the view," he says carelessly, throwing a wink around me to Amy behind the counter. "What's so wrong with that, eh?"

"Everything is wrong with that," I spit, taking a step closer to Scourge as he throws a piece of cookie in his stupid mouth and laughs.

"Sonic," I hear Amy say sternly behind me. "Sonic, calm down. You're making a scene." In the next second, I feel her hands around my shoulders and she's pulling me gently back. Her breath is warm against my neck.

It's a moment before I can tear my eyes away from Scourge's smug grin. I have to get out of here, and Amy too, before something stupid happens.

"Whatever," I eventually say. "He's not worth the time."

Amy rolls her eyes, as if she isn't inclined to believe my prejudice. "Sure," she says, with a sly smile and a dismissive flick of her hand. "I mean, he only saved my life and all."

I try not to growl, but don't quite manage it.

"Sonic," she sighs, ushering me across to the other side of the counter and speaking in soothing tones. "Scourge just came by to return my cell-phone, that's all," she explains, taking it out of her pocket and wiggling it at me. "I thought I'd lost it after last night. So, I offered him something to eat on the house, as thanks. Okay?"

I'm too busy thinking up a plan to get us out of here to respond. When I don't reply, she rolls her eyes.

"Seriously, what is it with you two?"

"You don't want to know," I say darkly.

"Try me," Amy retorts.

"Nah," I say, waving her off. "Anyway, I didn't come here to talk about him. I need your help with something," I lie.

Amy's face becomes serious. "Oh, okay. Has something happened?"

"Yah, well… er. It's Tails, he – he can't find his Chaos Emerald. It might be nothing and he's just left it in some experiment or other, but I'm thinking, what if one of Eggman's cronies made off with it in the night? If he's up to something again, we need to know," I say. "You learned a bit about tracking, right? I was hoping you could help us."

"Well, I could try, yeah," Amy says, her face scrunching up a little with thought. "But wouldn't it be better to call Knuckles? He's a lot better at it than I am…"

"Yeah, but he's probably really busy searching for the other emeralds," I counter scratching my nose. "I don't wanna call him over unless I have to."

"I guess you're right," Amy says. Then she smiles. "Okay, I'll see what I can do. Just give me a minute to grab my things."

Phew.

While she's out the back, I pull out my own cell and send a quick text to Tails.

'hey buddy, comin round w/ ames. hide ur chaos emerald. play along'

'What? Why?'

'just do it!'

'But I don't understand. What do you mean?'

'tails, ill explain later, k, just pls, help a guy out?!'

"Okay, I'm ready!" Amy calls, zipping up her jacket and shouldering her bag. I manage to hide my phone away before she comes around the corner. She turns and makes another quick apology to Cream and Vanilla for vanishing on them at such short notice.

"Don't worry about it," Vanilla assures her with a smile, balancing a tray of muffins on one hand and a stack of empty plates on the other. "We've got everything covered here. You go and do what you have to do."

I stand holding the bakery door open for Amy, and she's almost reached it, when a voice calls out from the side.

"Hey, doll-face!"

I almost combust with frustration when Amy actually turns around and raises an eyebrow at him. Seriously Ames, I think, please don't encourage him. He doesn't deserve any more of your attention than he's already got.

"Watch your back out there, 'kay toots?" Scourge's eyes glint cruelly in the light, and his eyes are on me, not her, when he speaks. "Your little boyfriend don't want Scourgey out there watching it for you."

Amy pulls a face, and then turns her gaze over to me with a silent question. "Thanks, but I can look after myself," she calls back, walking past me and out into the street.

I spare Scourge one more glare in warning before following her out.

"So, when did you last see it, Tails?"

"Err, the other day, I think? I was working on upgrading the Tornado," Tails replies awkwardly, gesturing at the small jet-plane and scratching the back of his head. Every now and then he glances over at Sonic, looking slightly confused. Sonic doesn't seem to notice.

"Mm-hmm," I mumble, only half listening. I close my eyes and try to tune into the chaos currents in the air. There is a muddle of orange floating about this way and that, all tangled up with strong hints of purple and blue – not to mention the natural currents of the world itself sifting in and out of just about everything, blurring the distinctions between one trace and the next.

How Knuckles manages to make sense of all of this, I have no clue. Every time I try and hone in on something, I just wind up grasping onto Sonic's signature by mistake. Besides, the purple chaos emerald in his pocket is shining like a beacon.

I sigh, and open my eyes. "Sorry, Sonic," I smile apologetically. "You might have to step outside."

He blinks, then frowns. "Aw, man, really? I wanted to stay and watch."

"Yes, really. It's hard to tune in with your energy standing over there, shouting at me."

"Fine," he groans in mock disappointment. "I guess I'll be upstairs, then."

"Thanks," I say.

I take a deep breath and try again.

There are slightly less colour divergences to work with now, but it's still just as hard. The entire workshop is flooded with orange-tinted chaos energy, it's hard to tell where one thread begins and another ends. I start to pace the room, looking for any sign of the orange energy having left the building, but the perimeter is clear. It must still be in here, somewhere. Strange. Tails isn't exactly the careless type. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"Are you sure it's gone, Tails?" I ask.

Tails, who is sitting on one of the counters, seems to be awfully interested in the ceiling all of a sudden. He wrenches his eyes away from the tiles and glances at me. "Um, yeah. I usually keep it in the tank over there," he says, pointing. Of course, I know the tank. I lived here. "But it's not there anymore."

"Uh-huh…" I tone.

Tails scratches his head again.

I narrow my eyes slightly at him. "You don't seem particularly worried about it."

He looks at the floor.

"Tails, what's going on?"

He looks up at me again, those baby-blue eyes thrown open wide and innocent. "What do you mean?"

"You're a terrible liar."

He opens his mouth to speak, then closes it again. He looks at the ceiling again. I follow his line of sight.

You've got to be kidding me.

"Did Sonic put you up to this?" I ask, suddenly putting two and two together.

"Up to what?"

"Tails."

Tails groans, looking very uncomfortable with the whole situation. "It wasn't my idea!" he blurted, throwing his hands up before him. His eyes dart over the sofa in the corner of the workshop.

I walk over there, pull out one of the cushions and, lo and behold, there's the Emerald. I look over at Tails and raise my eyebrows at him.

"For the record," he says, "I have no idea what's going on!" Well, that makes two of us…

"Sonic!" I shout upwards. "Come down here!"

I've barely finished saying the words when a breeze lifts my hair and I find him standing right before me. I wiggle the 'elusive' Chaos Emerald at him.

"Ah, you found it! That's good," he grins.

"Yeah. I found it," I say flatly. "Under the sofa."

Just like that the show is over. Sonic covers his eyes and groans, before spinning around to face Tails. "Under the sofa? Really dude? Your genius mind couldn't think of a better place?"

"Hey, don't turn this on me!" Tails returned, jumping to his feet. "You didn't exactly give me a lot of time to prepare!"

"Prepare for what?" I cry, getting in between the two of them. But Tails looks about as lost as I feel. "Sonic, what am I doing here?"

I can see on his face that Sonic's brain is moving about million miles an hour. Shame for him, though, that his feet are the only part of his anatomy with that ability. Eventually, he seems to decide upon the truth. "I just – I had to get you away from Scourge, okay?" he mutters, so quietly that I almost miss it.

I let out a breath of disbelief. "Wow." I say simply. I'm a little lost for words. "Okay, spit it out. Why do you have such a huge problem with him?"

Sonic's brow turns down with frustration. "Because I know him, Ames, okay? He's bad news -"

"What, just because he walks the streets and talks a little rough? He saved my life, Sonic -"

"And you can bet he'll be up to no good about it, too. Just… trust me on this, Ames, please. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Get hurt how?" I ask, waving my hands around. "How can I trust you when you won't even answer a simple question? Just what happened between you two?"

"It's a long story," he says, his eyes dark. There's a flicker of something there I haven't seen before. His usually joy-filled, care-free eyes are alight with a glimmer of… fear? Regret? It's hard to tell. "It's not a story you wanna hear."

I sigh.

Part of me is still way too tired to try and understand what's going on here.

Yes, I can accept that there's history between the two of them. It's plain as day that there's animosity there, too but… what exactly does Sonic expect me to do? It's not like I went chasing after Scourge the way I used to go chasing after him… I'm not a silly little girl anymore. It's not my fault that Scourge came into the bakery. And he did save me last night in the alley. I can't be ungrateful for that.

For all that Sonic seems to care about me, and is asking for me to trust me on this, I can't help but think of how unfair it is that he won't trust me with the truth of all the bad-blood between them.

"Where are you going…?" Sonic asks me quietly, as I'm putting my jacket back on.

I zip it up and turn to look at him. "Not back to the bakery, if that's what you're worried about," I say acidly. "I'm going home, if you must know."

"Want me to walk y -"

"No thank-you, I'll be fine," I say shortly.

When I reach the door, I turn back to say good-bye, and am surprised by how defeated he looks.

"Sonic, I know you're just trying to look out for me," I begin. He catches my eye, and I wish he didn't look as sad as does, "but please, don't lie to me like that again."

"I'm sorry, Ames, but I just -"

"I'll be at home, if you feel like telling me the truth."

A/N: Well, there we have it. This is only going to be a short fic - I've got about eight more chapters planned before it wraps up. This is more of a prequel to a larger, much darker story I'm developing involving the whole gang. Hopefully I'll get it out there someday. Anyway, reviews are much loved as always, and I'm happy to answer any questions about whatever.

Peace and love!

~ Indie x