Chapter Text
“He’s in the back. Got word of him being on the bar strip and ended up finding him here. He’s pretty fuckin’ drunk.” Vector told the dark hedgehog as he entered the far less crowded hallway. The bass of the loud music from the large room beyond the wall was causing the floor to vibrate. The muffled sounds of drunks chanting and couple mingling made Shadow’s ears twitch uncomfortably.
“So, he’s got the money to drink but not enough to pay me back?” Shadow muttered. Vector shrugged. From years of working close together, Shadow could tell the crocodile was eager to get in the room. Despite coming up in age, he was always ready to dish out a beating. His smile was wicked. His sharp teeth shining. One gold tooth glinted with the dull light overhead.
“You know, back when I started out workin’ with your old man. I remember a job just like this. Dude thought he could dye his fur and go undetected. Your father ordered him to be shaved, beaten, and thrown into the lake butt naked.” Vector laughed. It was joyous. “Your father always had a great sense of humor.”
They walked further down the hall, passing a few closed doors. The door they were searching for was in the very back. It led to a decent sized room that was typically used for storage. It even had a back door for easy disposal of waste or trash. In front of the door was a young male bee. Couldn’t be any older than 19. Shadow’s steps slowed as he stared at the unfamiliar face. The young male though seemed excited to meet him.
“Who the fuck are you?” Shadow growled out. His eyes squinting in a glare. The bee flinched, his smile faltering. Before he could answer though, Vector stepped in between them.
“Remember that kid I took in a few years back. This is him.” Vector gestured.
“Charmy. My name is Charmy.” The bee introduced and held out his hand. Shadow didn’t move an inch. He just stared down at the shorter man. Charmy laughed nervously and put his hand back down. He started to fidget with the sleeves of his sweater.
“You brought your kid to a job?” Shadow’s glare was now directed at the crocodile.
“I’ll take responsibility for him.” Vector swore. “He’s a good kid. A whiz. He’s going to prove his worth. Just wait.”
“I’m going to let this slide for now. Only because my father trusted you. But make no mistake. He screws me over in any way, you both will be paying me tenfold.” Shadow’s voice rumbled lowly. Charmy gulped but nodded and offered a small smile. Vector grinned, his confidence in his protégé shining like a bright light in the dimmed hall. He then ruffled the bee’s head to which gained a goofy smile. Shadow didn’t let it show that he found the moment endearing. “A good kid.” Shadow scoffed. “If he was good kid, he wouldn’t be here for this kind of work. Open the door.”
Charmy quickly nodded and swung the door open. Shadow entered first. Two of his men were already waiting for him. The hawk male who owed him money was zip tied to a chair in between them. His feathers on his face were matted with fresh blood already. His beak was scratched up. He struggled trying to get up, but Shadow could tell from his eyes that even if he wasn’t tied down, he’d be struggling to get out anyways. They were completely hazed over from his drinking. His speech was mumbled and incoherent.
“Don’t let no one in. Someone questions you, tell them to mind their business. Any more trouble, you do the knock I taught ya.” Vector told Charmy. The younger male nodded and shut the door.
Vector dug in his pocket and pulled out his favorite brass knuckles. He looped his fingers through them and kissed the back. He then began to clap his hands loudly. The hawk flinched violently at the sound. It had only been then that he even realized Shadow and Vector entered the room. At first his eyes looked at the crocodile. Terror causing them to look feral. But it was when he saw the calm and collected form of Shadow that he began to shake.
“Ya’ll forgot the plastic!” Vector shouted. The two that had been there already looked at him and then each other with slight panic before one ran to the side to a large duffle bag. “Come on, now! Ya’ll ain’t new! We ain’t got time for this fumbling!”
“Sorry, Vector. He struggled and we got preoccupied.” The one that stayed close by muttered.
“There’s two of you and he’s fuckin’ drunk off his ass!’ Vector shouted back.
“What have you gained from him so far?” Shadow asked. He stepped forward. One of his men proceeded to put down a large sheet of plastic. He struggled to get the chair on top since it was currently preoccupied with the hawk’s body. Shadow tried his best to keep his cool, but he was starting to get irritated with them. He sent a look over to Vector to which the crocodile nodded.
He would take care of them later.
“He’s not speaking coherently. We couldn’t get much. He just says he doesn’t have the money.”
Shadow slapped the hawk’s face roughly and quickly.
“Lewis. Lewis.” He called out. “Where’s the money you owe me? I gave you a good extra two months because I’m so generous. There should be no reason that you’re holding out on me now.”
The hawk mumbled. His words slurring right into each other. Shadow snapped his fingers. Vector grabbed a sharpened pencil from his jacket pocket and handed it over swiftly. Shadow didn’t even look at the item before he slammed it down into the hawk’s leg. The bird screamed out in pain. His eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. Shadow twisted the pencil around, watching his face intently.
“I’m a busy man, Lewis. I don’t have the time to chase assholes like you. Especially after I’ve been so nice. You came to me, remember? Not the other way around. You came to me needing money to help get your kids back. Wanna know what I found out Lewis?” Shadow opened his hand once again towards Vector. The crocodile just lit a cigar. He grinned maliciously as he handed it over. Shadow brought the cigar to the male’s cheek and pressed. He let out another scream as he desperately tried to move away. Shadow just pressed harder. “Your wife left with the kids because you’re an abusive son of a bitch. So not only did you lie to me, but you’re a wife and child beater to? I don’t like males that hurt their families. I got morals, Lewis. Unlike you.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” Lewis cried out.
“There he is!” Vector laughed loudly.
“If you’re so sorry. Then you won’t mind giving me my money.” Shadow growled.
“I will. I will. Two more weeks. Just two more! Please! I’m begging!” He sobbed. The pencil was still placed firmly into his leg, The cigar burning away the small feathers from his face and scorching his skin. He was trying his best to wiggle, but the zip ties were on snug.
“One week.” Shadow stated firmly. He took a few steps back and offered the now put out cigar back to Vector. “I’ll give you seven more days.”
“Thank you!” He wailed. “Thank you so much!”
“Oh, don’t thank me yet.” Shadow spoke with a smile that made the hawk go rigid. “I’m still very upset with you. Vector here is going to dish out your punishment. Once he’s done, you’ll be let go. But, remember. Seven days. If I have to find you again, the cops will find you floating down Central Domain’s River in multiple bags.” He threatened.
Shadow turned to leave as Vector rolled his head and popped his neck. He just opened the door as he began to put his favorite brass knuckles to use. Charmy jumped at the sudden action. He turned and saw a glimpse of the inside before Shadow closed the door. Shadow observed him for a bit. He thought with how young he was, the sight from inside would make him look nauseous or even a little uncomfortable. But he was smiling instead.
Good kid his ass. Vector found one sadistic pupil.
“Has Vector introduced you to Espio, yet?” Shadow asked him. Charmy regarded him with shock. Not expecting to be talked to by the boss.
“Umm. Yeah. I know him. He’s Vec’s good friend.”
“Good.” Shadow mumbled and reached into his pocket. He pulled out two large wads of cash that were tightly bound together with a paper slip reading $2500 on each. “Make sure he gets this. Let him know I want it sent to that bastard’s estranged wife.”
“You’re giving her 5 K?” Charmy asked. The money plopped into his open hands.
“I’m giving his kids money to start off a tuition fund.” Shadow corrected. “It’s not their fault that their dad is a piece of shit. From what I know the wife has a good job now and is doing her shit right. But she’s a single mom. Therefore, she has my respect.”
“Wow. Vec is right. You’re not so bad.” Charmy beamed at the hedgehog. Shadow looked at him with faint disgust.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Don’t smile at me.” Shadow told him. The younger male’s face fell instantly. “Just get that to Espio.” Then he walked off. He dragged a hand over his face roughly as he sighed heavily.
Shadow was the sole heir to one of the largest companies in the world. He was also now the boss of one of the biggest crime syndicates. This was all due to is mom passing away from cancer five years ago and his dad not handling it well. He drank himself silly almost every night before he passed only a year after. Shadow still wasn’t sure if it had been the alcohol or his broken heart that did him in. Perhaps it was both. Either way, he now had the wonderful pleasure of running two very different operations that caused him a great amount of stress.
His company was a large mass producer of advancing technology. Whether that meant new computers, televisions, phones or even equipment used in banks and hospitals. Luckily, with his day job he had a board of reps do most of the heavy thinking. He just had to read reports and sign off on new products. It practically ran itself. However, Shadow had a tiny drawback that caused him to have splitting headaches from the little efforts he put in there.
He hated socializing.
Due to him being the sole owner, he had to go to every party that other big wigs threw. Typically, he stayed long enough to be seen and get a few drinks in and then he’d leave. But, it seemed lately he was getting stopped more and more since he was young and rich with no wife. He was tired of all the desperate chumps throwing their daughters out to him.
Rouge did enough herself trying to push him to date.
His night life was a tad easier in that aspect. There were still interactions between him and others but, it was on his terms. He had more control on the situations. Someone speaks out of turn and Shadow could beat them with a bat. He didn’t have to play nice to these lowlife criminals seeking his protection or financial support. They had to play nice to him.
Nights like this stressed him out. He enjoyed letting off steam with those who deserved it, but it was irritating that he had to play a game of goose chase with a fuckin’ hawk. Sure, he could have left tonight’s business to Vector. He trusted the Croc well enough to get the job done. However, the bird lied to Shadow. He hated liars. He hated family beaters more. The sorry bastard just checked too many boxes for Shadow not to make a personal appearance.
He made his way to the large room that was split into a bar and dance floor. The music was loud and the way it boomed hurt Shadow’s head. His face soured even more at the smell of sweat and liquor in the air. The way the scents meshed made his stomach churn and his nose crinkle.
“Hey!” Suddenly his arm was yanked back. The offender was a female spider. Her coloring was a brilliant shade of dark purple. Her eyes were blue. A night shade of blue. Her hair just a darker shade of purple from the rest of her. Spots on her body matched either her hair or eyes. “You’re just my type. Wanna dance. Get me drunk enough and you can take me to one of the back rooms.”
Shadow’s lip curled in disgust and roughly shoved her back.
“Hey! What the fuck!” She shouted. A few others around them stopped dancing and looked their way. “That’s not how you treat a lady!”
Shadow scoffed. His face twisting darkly as he stepped forward. The female froze in her spot. The dark aura that was emitting from him made her body feel like ice. His blood red eyes glowing dangerously at her, daring her to do or say something else to insult him. She hung her head, not able to meet his gaze any longer and took a tentative step back.
“Do yourself a favor and start being pickier about where you find your men. Nobody here is going to treat you like a lady.” He snarled. Then turned to leave. With one swift side glance, the many eyes that had been watching him averted their gazes.
Shadow was heavily feared and respected. Even by those who had never seen his face. He was cursed with his dad’s mean appearance. The coloring of his fur and quills also didn’t help, but hey it fit the business. Shadow doubted that if he had been born with same soft lavender coloring of his mother. No one would take him seriously. He did inherit her eyes though. Blood red… she would argue that they were ruby. His mother was sweet like that. However, it only added to his scary appearance. He couldn’t complain much. It made one of his jobs easier. Though he could live without all the fake compliments and smiles from those who wanted to use him.
His circle was small but had his most reliable companions. Rouge, his childhood friend and the one that could always dig the deepest dirt. Vector, one of his father’s trusted pupils who could find anyone and had fun dishing out punishments. And Espio who always got his jobs done under the radar. Everyone else was just a piece on the chess board for him to move around as he pleased.
He finally got to the bar. It was a bit crowded, but with one look a pair of two males got up and left. Others scooted over to give him more space. The bartender, a sweet looking deer with chestnut fur, approached him slowly and placed down a square napkin. She tried to smile sweetly, but it was wobbly at best. Shadow scoffed to himself.
“Whiskey. Just bring me a bottle and leave me be.” He told her gruffly. The deer nodded and quickly did what she was told. She offered him the bottle and a cup. Shadow shook his hand and pushed the cup back to her. “Don’t need it.” He said and placed two hundred dollars in front of her. Her eyes widened and the smile morphed into one that was sincererily appreciative. Shadow just nodded and gestured for her to scurry along.
He didn’t drink hard liquor much. Hated it actually. But this was a special occasion. This was close to the anniversary of his parent’s deaths. Work was irritating. Rouge kept up his ass about needing to find a healthy outlet for his emotions. Assholes were taking advantage of his kindness. He was just getting a shit end of each stick.
The whiskey burned as he gulped it down. He slammed the bottle down, keeping his hand wrapped firmly around the neck of the bottle and hissed. He let out a steady exhale from his nose. His brain wrapped around the hot and cold sensation. His quill quivered a bit from the feeling. He let himself breathe for a moment before bringing it back to his lips.
However, instead of drinking it… a body slammed up against him. The bottle fumbled forward, the liquid splashing on the counter and onto his suit. Shadow growled as he steadied the bottle back on the counter. His body tremored with anger. His lips lifted in a snarl. He could feel his blood boiling in his veins. He was about to rip someone’s head off. He twisted his body around and off the stool he had been sitting on ready to start screaming.
Then all he saw was green. Deep and bright green eyes stared right at him. They were wide with panic and hazy from what he assumed was alcohol. They were the shade of jade. They reminded him of his mother’s favorite jewelry set that she wore on almost every occasion. He was already enamored with the color for that every reason… but the vibrant shade of green of these eyes gave his love a new meaning. A different meaning.
Without even thinking, he grabbed her shoulders to steady her movements. Her own hands were small but strong as they gripped the front on his suit jacket. Her eyes averted from his to look at his chest and at the bottle behind him on the counter. He felt her body start to tremble. He felt anxiety start to bubble in chest at the thought of her being just as afraid of him like everyone else.
“Oh shit.” She whispered, raw with a pained emotion. “This looks super expensive.” He felt her hands on his clothes and she stepped back just out of his reach. He was able to get a better look at her. Her pelt was bright pink. Her quills looked limper than he had seen on any other hedgehog. However, they looked natural on her. She had even done them in a way where they were pinned up except for the ones that framed her face. Her dress was simple. A thin strapped blue flowy dress that fell just above her knees. The fabric around her bust had flowery design while the skirt was all just the light blue color. She looked lovely. A bit out of place for the club scene but still lovely.
Even though he believed she’d look better in red than in blue.
He hadn’t realized that he’d lost focus of everything for a moment until he felt the slight pressure on his chest from her trying to dab the stain with a napkin. When he did que back into reality, he could hear the soft mumbling from under her breath. Her eyes intently staring at the stained blotch from the whiskey. A small whine escaped the back of her throat…
For some reason the sound set off an alarm in his body. His quills trembled; his body tensed. He felt himself breathing in her scent deeply. She smelled of fruity cocktails, faint perfume, and an odd sweet scent that reminded him of a bakery.
“It’s fine.” He found himself telling her hurriedly. She seemed to flinch slightly from his outburst, but then calmed quickly. It was almost as if she had forgotten he was there while still cleaning her mess. “Really. It was an accident. You’re good.” He told her.
“It was an accident.” She said as if he didn’t believe it. She looked over her shoulder to the dance floor where many bodies were pressed together. Not much room to maneuver. “I was coming over here to deal with my tab and go home. Then this couple that was too busy sucking the souls from each other bumped me. I’m already bad in these heels and boom! Knocked me right on you.” She said using her hands to make visual motions. “I’m so sorry. This suit looks expensive and this isn’t coming out.”
“I have dry cleaners to deal with stains.” He scoffed. “I mean unless that just an excuse to keep your hands on me.” He raised an eyebrow, his eyes shifting from her hands to her face. She flushed deeply and quickly ripped herself away.
“Ohmygosh I’m not a perv! I promise!” She exclaimed.
Shadow laughed… Actually laughed. He felt the feeling in the pit of his stomach. The muscles that lifted his smile and widen the mouth for the laughter to spill out ached from being unused for so long. The last time he even remembered laughing was one of the last conversations he had with his father before he passed. He missed it. He missed how light it felt in his chest.
“Oh wow.” He heard her whisper. His laughter quickly died at the sound of her voice. He hadn’t meant to be so undignified around her. No one ever got to see this side of him in such a public setting. Shit not even in private. His face fell to a neutral look. His eyes were a bit bleary from the jovial tears that watered but didn’t shed. She was looking at him with a hazy expression. Maybe even dreamy if he didn’t assume it was mainly brought on by her drunken state. “They look like rubies.”
The music around him that had been so annoyingly loud had faded. The lights that were dimmed and flashed with colors disappeared in his vision. The stench of alcohol and sweat. Gone. The people around them. Gone. The bar. Gone. All that was there was her and him. His heart hammered in his ears. His body was hot under his skin. His hand itched to reach out and swoop her quill behind her ear so that he could look at all of her face.
Then her expression shifted to horror.
“I said that out loud?” She asked… He nodded not sure if she was really wanting an answer. He could see her breathing become more shallow. “I said that out loud. I said that out loud!” She yelled. “Oh chaos just bury me. Haven’t I been through enough.” She then looked back to him with a sheepish smile. “I’m so sorry again about the jacket and putting my hands on you. I… Oh gosh… Have a nice night… Bye!” She then ran in the opposite direction. Shadow reached out and tried to call for her to stop… but he never got her name.
“Did that hedgehog just leave?” Shadow heard behind him. “Damn it. I should have known. She left an open tab. It’s always the pretty faces that fuck us over.”
Shadow growled and dug into his pocket. He looked for the owner of the voice. A young male coyote who was leaned closer to the deer from before. Shadow walked to the bar closer to them and slammed money down. The female squealed from surprised but calmed when she saw who it was. The male however couldn’t for the life of him seem to move. He was pierced down by the heavy and glowing red eyes of Shadow. A thousand thoughts of how to deal with this situation ran through Shadow’s head… but suddenly he was in a good mood. So he lifted his hand looked at the deer.
“That’s for her tab. For Miss…” He acted as if he was searching his brain for the answer. The female smiled and grabbed the money from the counter. She quickly logged into her screen off to the side and clicked the open tab.
“Rose.” The deer told him.
“Yes. Rose. Thank you. Behave tonight. Heard bad things can happen when you run your mouth around the wrong people.” He said in a low voice, his eyes meeting the wide deep brown of the coyote’s. He then turned to leave for the night. Hands in his pockets, whistling an old tune he remembered from his grandfather’s record player.
“Get home on time?”
“What the fuck do you want Vector?” Shadow grumbled as he stared at the older male across from him. They sat in a small café that was pretty close to the City’s downtown park. A lot of foot traffic was outside since this building and the ones around it were located in a plaza setting. Shadow had never been to any of these shops before. They looked mostly like smaller businesses and he hardly made time to venture out to explore. However, the croc was looking around with a giddy expression. In fact, he looked friendlier than Shadow had really ever seen him.
“Just wanted to talk business and treat you to some breakfast. That’s all.” Vector smiled.
“We couldn’t have done this at my place?”
“Look, you may be my boss. But I made a promise to Onyx that I’d keep an eye on you and keep your best interest at heart.”
Vector was still young when thrown out on the streets. Shadow’s dad had done a lot for the then younger reptile and gave him a sense of duty and passions for life. Perhaps violent in nature and a bit skewed, but Vector was loyal and he was, in a sense, a family man.
“Dragging me out at seven in the morning to a small breakfast nook in the uppity part of town is supposed to be in my best interest?” Shadow scoffed. Vector laughed.
“I bring Charmy and even Espio here all the time. Figured I’d show it to you. Great breakfast. Great coffee and tea. Great desserts. Annnd…” Vector’s voice trailed off as his eyes looked over Shadow’s head. Shadow let curiosity take control and turned to see an older and voluptuous rabbit at the pastry counter. She smiled and waved in their direction before turning back into the kitchen. Shadow turned back to the croc who was practically salivating.
“You brought me here to swoon over a bunny.” Shadow felt irritation tickle the inside of his chest. He sighed heavily and dragged a heavy hand down his face. “My dad left my best interest in the hands of a perverted crocodile.” He muttered. Again, Vector laughed.
“That’s Vanilla. She owns this place after her husband died a while back. Sweetest woman on this planet with even sweeter pies. Espio don’t like sweets but loves that woman’s key lime pie. And Charmy… That kid will pack some pancakes and then some.”
“Speaking of him.” Shadow leaned forward to stare at him with hardened eyes. “You weren’t gonna give me a warning before just throwing him on door duty?”
“Sorry about that. I was planning to bring him to you the official way but the way things settled last night, I needed to bring him with me.” Vector scratched the back of his head.
“You really want to bring him in on this life?” Shadow asked him. “You don’t want to get him into college or nothing? Let him build an honest career?”
“His parents were deadbeats at best. Abusive druggies at worst. Practically threw him at me for payment on one of the last jobs your dad sent me on. He was maybe 13 or something at that time. One look at him and knew what I saw. That kid wanted the whole world and everyone in it to burn. Felt it myself when I was younger. It was… this life that showed me in a twisted way that sometimes you gotta be bad to do good. So, I took him in. Felt him out. Espio helped me homeschool him. Turns out the kid was smart. Really smart. Scary smart. Trust me. We may not do the work of angels but we ain’t the devils he’s used to.”
Shadow watched Vector speak. He had known for a while that Vector had adopted Charmy, but didn’t know the details. To be honest, he was sure there was still more to the story. Something in the bee’s eyes last night tipped Shadow off to the darker side he had. But Vector was right. Maybe what they did wasn’t clean and wasn’t all to nice. But they didn’t go after those who didn’t deserve it. They were criminals… but they had code and they stuck to it unlike some of the other organized groups Shadow knew of.
“You said he’s smart? How so? How can he benefit me?”
“Charmy’s got picture-perfect memory. I’m talkin’ he can remember almost every conversation he or anyone around him has had by heart and recite it to you. He also can remember codes and passwords after only once of seeing it. Great at math and fantastic at gamblin’. He’s got plenty uses for you I’m sure. The only thing is he has… a bit of a short fuse. Set him off and it’s not pretty. Turns into a completely different bee.”
“How do you handle that when it happens?”
“Depends.”
“That’s all you got for me?” Shadow raised an eyebrow. Vector shrugged and leaned back in his chair. Shadow sighed once more. “Alright. But like I said last night, he’s your responsibility at least until he can prove himself to me. With that memory of his, I might even send him with Rouge on a few tasks. I’m sure she’d love to get into some of our client’s safes with his ability.” He shook his head and rested it in his hands. Thinking about work made his head throb.
The sound of footsteps tapped towards them. Shadow’s ears flicked at the sound but he didn’t look up.
“Hey sweet girl!” Vector called out joyfully. “Happy to see me?”
“You know I’m always happy to see you, Vector. Where’s Espio and Charmy?” The voice was strangely familiar. In fact, it caused every bell and chime in Shadow’s head to start sounding off. The sound of Vector’s voice became nothing more than a muffled mumble. His head whipped around at an alarming rate, causing Vector to stare at him with curious eyes and the female who was standing at their table to jump back a little.
Green met red.
“You… You’re?” The pink hedgehog sputtered in a whisper.
“This is Shadow. He’s my old friend’s son.” Vector spoke up. He sounded amused. He then looked to the ebony male whose eyes didn’t even blink as he continued to stare wide eyed and open mouthed towards her. “Shadow, this is-“
“Rose” The name fell from his mouth before he could stop himself. “I… covered your tab last night after you left.” He quickly explained. “They said the name was Rose.”
“Oh.” She laughed breathlessly. The sound made his quills tingle. “Thank you. For that. I totally forgot after... You know" She gestured to his chest. Shadow bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling like an idiot. Not here. Not in front of that damn smug reptile. However, she was making it really hard on him. Even dressed in a battered smeared uniform Shadow thought she was just as pretty as last night. He briefly registered the sound of thumping from his tail and the sight of Vector looking over before turning away and covering his mouth as he laughed. "Um… Well, my name is actually Amy Rose and I’ll be your server today. How can I help you?” She smiled bubbly at them and raised her pen and note pad.
His heart hammering away at his chest.