#interesting fact: i actually misspelled rogue as rouge instead of the other way around once

[solalunar-eclipse]

Scars You Can’t See - Chapter 4

Chapter title: Infiltration

Word count: about 3100 words

Author’s Note: Aaaand this is where everyone finds out that I’ve watched the first three Mission: Impossible movies.

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Shadow had learned about emotions early on during his time on ARK. Maria explained them to him as they came up- happiness, sadness, anger, fear and all the rest.

But Shadow really felt that there was no good word to describe his feelings at the moment. Everything was just...strange.

He and his friends were still trying to keep a low profile, since G.U.N. would absolutely have put out a search warrant by now. The team was planning to commit a second heist, with even larger consequences for everyone involved than the first one. They were going to do this with absolutely no backup and no supplies, equipment, or up-to-date inside knowledge.

And he was watching Rouge eat multiple pancakes drenched in syrup as though everything was completely normal.

Omega wasn’t with them, having been told to wait in the car (again). He didn’t need to eat, though, so he wasn’t too irritated this time. 

Shadow had barely touched his waffles, only able to poke at them quietly with his fork. Any time he considered eating even a small piece, he would remember the mission and lose his appetite immediately. He pushed a small piece around in the sticky mock-maple syrup, staring at the golden square.

“You need to eat something, hon,” Rouge told him around a mouthful of food. “Get your strength up for the mission- don’t want your body giving out on you.”

He groaned, eyeing the food with distaste. “I know, I know…”

“Shadow. Do I have to tell you again?” she asked, her voice becoming more stern- almost parental.

The hybrid ate a forkful reluctantly, forcing himself to swallow. He barely tasted it at all, the sticky sweetness only vaguely registering.

Every few seconds, Shadow’s hand drifted to his phone, dying to turn it on and see what texts were being sent. Was Silver searching for clues accidentally left by G.U.N. in the news? Could Knuckles be drafting battle plans he knew would never be used? Was Sonic cracking jokes to lighten the mood?

Or were they even thinking about this at all?

How he wished he knew…

“Hon. Stop it.” Rouge said, dragging him out of his reverie. “I know what you’re thinking, and I’m sure they’re fine and talking about all sorts of things, including us. I promise.”

“I just hope that we got our message across and they’re being careful. At least half the members of the other teams only have a single brain cell.” Shadow muttered.

The bat laughed. “I will bet you an all-you-can-eat meal that Tails has knocked out either Sonic or Knuckles at least once, and that Silver is pitching wild conspiracy theories to Blaze while Amy tries and fails to maintain her sanity.”

Shadow smirked, before cringing as the reality of what they were about to do crashed back onto him with all the force of a tidal wave. This mission could very well be their last.

Rouge must’ve seen his expression shift, because she took his hand and smiled at him gently.  “It’s going to be fine. We’ll get the evidence, send it to a couple newspapers, get G.U.N. to finally do something about...well, everything, and then we’ll all be fine. You’ll never have to touch a gun again, we’ll never have to worry about people getting hurt, and then we can go to that movie night, alright?”

The hybrid smiled faintly, feeling his weakened resolve start to return. He was fully aware that his friends were the only reason he was maintaining his sanity at this point. He hated to burden them this way. That was why he was really looking forward to the end of this wild experience. Then they wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore.

Thankfully, before long, they were back in the car and on the way to the G.U.N. storage building, and Shadow was able to force himself to push such thoughts to the back of his mind. Now that they had begun, this kind of distraction could be downright deadly.

The team had to make a stopoff first, though. Specifically, at the uniform warehouse for G.U.N.’s main electrical repair company- the perfect excuse to get into the facility. Omega drove the sedan up to the security gate, but everyone knew to let Rouge do the talking.

“Hi there!” she said brightly. To anyone else, the bat would’ve appeared to be the picture of sincerity. Shadow knew better, though.

He had enough experience to see the calculating glint in her eyes and the steady size she held her smile at. Not meek, but not crazy either. Just outgoing enough for the guard to quickly wave them through after she offered up an apology: “So sorry, mister, we seem to have misplaced ours and we’ve got a big job coming up, you know?”

Shadow was incredibly thankful that nobody questioned the two of them as they walked through the warehouse, either. He snatched two uniforms in their sizes (hopefully) from the near-endless racks, trying to look busy while Rouge covered for both of them. Nobody ever even thought to wonder who that bat and that hedgehog were, or why they were there.

They walked out with no trouble, the two uniforms, and even a polite wave from the security guard.

The hybrid felt nothing but a small hint of relief as Omega drove their car out of the industrial area where the warehouse was. They headed down the winding dirt roads towards the G.U.N. facility, and he busied himself with struggling into his outfit. He worked his way into a navy blue jacket and loose matching pants, pulling down a company-issued baseball cap to complete the look.

Shadow glowered over at Rouge, noticing that she had completed the entire process both quickly and effortlessly, not even messing up her hair in the process.

“How in the name of chaos did you manage that?” he growled.

“What?” she asked innocently, smiling at him.

“Your hair.” he snapped.

“Oh, it’s all experience, Shadow! I’m used to quick costume changes- it comes with the job, you know.” Rouge replied pleasantly. 

Shadow was certain that she enjoyed torturing him like this. He scoffed, irritated, and chose not to dignify that statement with a response. Instead, he stared at the rear view mirror and pushed his skewed quills this way and that until he was satisfied.

The team was there within the hour, parked a ways down the road. They didn’t get out, though- they just...stared at it for quite a while. The structure was situated in the middle of the fields with no other buildings for miles around. Perfect for a place people shouldn’t know existed. Shadow silently thanked the stars that Team Dark had needed a high level of clearance to do their job- and for Omega’s pride.

The facility was made of cold, dark steel, shaped like a perfect rectangle. It had no guard towers, no large, automated weapons systems, yet it still appeared incredibly large and imposing. The few guards visible were stationed at the gate and patrolling the perimeter. 

It almost seemed like G.U.N. didn’t expect an attack.

The apprehension in the car was suffocating. Shadow got out first, forcing himself to move. If he didn’t, the hybrid doubted he’d be able to go through with the plan at all. “So where to now?” he asked, checking his appearance one last time in the reflection on the car door. It still didn’t look like his reflection. That was good.

“Through that big door.” Rouge said confidently, pointing it out. She’d gotten Shadow to slice two slits in her shirt, making sure her wings were available at a moment’s notice. “Then we let Omega in at the side- I’ll be the one to disable the camera.”

They walked cautiously towards the door, but there was no need for worry. The guards waved them right through. Shadow forced a small smile onto his face, despite the motion feeling incredibly fake. He had to sell it for this to work.

The moment the two got through the door, they rushed through a maintenance hall to the side door. Rouge took a deep breath and let it out quietly. “Game face, Shadow.”

He acknowledged her with a nod, pushing his thought processes fully into ‘mission mode’. He couldn’t remember exactly when he’d learned how to do this, but his suspicions were that having to steal a Chaos Emerald for a supervillain had played a pretty big role.

Rouge flew up to the camera and disconnected it from behind, with a practice that revealed her many years of experience as a thief. Omega was difficult to spot, but Shadow saw him hunched down in the long, golden grass. The robot looked both ways before blasting across the field to the opening. 

Once he was inside, the three headed back towards the main corridor. “Let’s go.” Rouge whispered, her voice utterly serious.

Team Dark made their way through the halls slowly, ears (and auditory receptors) searching for any kind of noise. They made sure to avoid all the security cameras, too, moving slowly but staying out of sight. 

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps made all three freeze. Low chatter reached their position, the words unintelligible but signifying danger all the same. The noise was getting closer.

And closer.

Shadow shoved Rouge and Omega roughly into a nearby supply closet and shut it silently- there wasn’t enough room for him too. He jumped up to the ceiling and clung to the ducts there, making sure to hide in one of the darkest parts. As the voices approached, he felt incredibly thankful for his strength.

The guards appeared at the end of the hallway, and he held his breath, not daring to move a muscle. They spoke loudly, utterly unaware of their secret audience. 

“Ugh. I hate it when these lights short out,” one said as they walked through a dark patch of the hall. 

“I know, right? This is like the third time this week.”

“...”

Shadow waited, bracing his feet further against one of the larger pipes….

“I like it better in the security room. These walking shifts suck.”

“Yeah, you can just chill and eat there. We’ve got that shift later, did ya know?”

“Oh, sweet. Then I can finally eat this sandwich. Got it off that new restaurant…”

“...”

Evidently, they were too wrapped up in their conversation to notice the hybrid’s presence in between the lights. Once the guards were long gone, all three sighed, relieved.

The next set of patrollers were much easier to avoid, thankfully. All they had to do was hide around a corner out of sight, and then it was a straight shot to the video storage rooms.

Each entered a separate room, making eye contact one last time before heading in. Shadow turned the cold handle cautiously, slipping around the corner of the doorframe and staying in the darkness. He allowed the lock to slide silently into place, looking around for security cameras. There were none...interesting. He supposed that G.U.N. didn’t want any record of what was stored here, either.

Shadow stalked amongst the shelves for a minute, but froze in place when the handle rattled and the lock clicked open. He stood utterly still, holding his breath again as the guard shone his light around the space. When they left, he remained still while they checked the other storage rooms, only letting himself move once they were gone.

The hybrid began to walk again, his face blank and cold. He scanned the shelves methodically, gaze flicking among the white plastic boxes stacked row by row. He couldn’t afford to waste a single second, so he moved quickly.

Perfect Chaos...the Master Emerald...Big the Cat?

There.

Shadow spotted the box labeled ‘ARK Files’....but it appeared that there were multiple of these. He pulled them out and onto the floor, searching for the right dates. There were tapes stretching all the way back to the construction of Space Colony ARK, in ‘39. After an agonizing minute, Shadow found the tapes from ‘51 in the third box, so he returned the other two and exited the room as silently as he came.

He tapped out the team’s special code on the wall: one, one-two, one-two-three. It was, of course, based on Omega’s series numbers.

Rouge and Omega left their rooms, and the bat smiled darkly at him once she saw the container in his arms. Good, she mouthed. Now out.

They were nearly caught as they hurried through the halls, since carrying a decent-sized box significantly limited Shadow’s maneuverability. When a pair of voices started up again, he was the one shoved in the same closet as last time, along with Omega. Rouge, too, chose to hide on the ceiling, but hooked her knees around a duct first; after all, she was a bat. Hanging on tightly to another pipe with her hands, she watched as the guards passed right underneath her with no trouble.

Nobody ever thought to look up for people hiding. 

Team Dark finally made it back to the hall they’d started in, and the two ‘organics’, as Omega put it, removed their uniforms and left them in a pile on the floor. The E-series robot himself, meanwhile, added the box to his ever-growing stash of G.U.N. blackmail inside his compartment. 

Shadow pushed open the door carefully and the three rushed outside. They pressed themselves against the building (or made a valiant attempt to do so in Omega’s case) to hide from any potential guards.

As they began to make their way across the tall fields of grass, Rouge’s ears flicked up. “Guards. Four o’clock. Get down.”

Shadow’s special agent training kicked in and he hit the dirt, turning his head to see Omega doing the same. One last rush of adrenaline flooded his system, his body shaking slightly with energy and almost numb at the exact same time.

He fought for control of himself despite this, refusing to give in to his exhaustion. Shadow wasn’t out of danger yet, and he couldn’t afford to let anything slide.

The guards passed by quickly, honestly, but it seemed like hours. The location of the team’s car was in the front of his mind, almost pinging as though he had a radar system inside his head. The hybrid practically felt each individual step of the two humans, even as he ached to get up and sprint away as fast as possible.

As soon as the guards were gone, all three blasted across the fields, jumped into their car, and reversed out of there at top speed.

They couldn’t return to the motel- of that everyone was certain. Shadow would have to be extremely careful about using his alias again, too, since G.U.N. would be onto them in a matter of minutes. The team was already preparing to find a new place to stay. But they had the files, and they had each other.

They were close now.

…

Back at G.U.N. headquarters, the commander returned from vacation to find about twenty different memos on his desk, as well as hundreds of emails demanding to know what was going on. 

He sighed, looking at the mess. “What is going on?”

The words rogue agents and secrecy compromised caught his eye, making the commander sit up a little straighter in his seat. This kind of situation could be downright dangerous for the organization as a whole, depending on who the agents were and how big the breach was. He continued reading.

Agents Shadow, Rouge and Omega removed classified files from the premises and evaded capture later that day…

The commander swore under his breath, significantly more worried than before. Rogue agents were one thing, but rogue agents with superpowers and incredible resources on their side? That was another entirely. But why would they want to betray G.U.N.- he’d thought that they were committed to working on the right side of the law now!

Files stolen: Personal File on Maria Robotnik.

Oh. 

He supposed that this made a little more sense. After all, the commander had acted rather rashly based on his memories of her as well. But what in the world could have set Shadow off so badly that he’d act against G.U.N.? Especially if he knew the commander’s past….

He called in a squad leader on the spot. When the middle-aged woman appeared at his desk, he looked her straight in the eyes. “I presume you’ve heard about the security breach.”

“Yes, sir.” she replied.

“I need you to send out two of our best recon agents. If Team Dark really has decided to betray us, then I need to know everything about why and what they’ll do next. Do everything you can to get some time with Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles Prower. They’re close with the team, and they might have some answers for us. Got it?” 

“Understood, sir!” she said crisply, before turning to leave his office. 

Once he was alone again, the commander heaved a sigh and stared at his computer screen, preparing to type out an email sending the entire organization into a Level 3 Alert. What in the name of Chaos was going on here?

…

If the commander had followed his subordinate, he might have begun to understand what was happening.

He was not an unjustly cruel man- for the most part. The Shadow issue had been an emotional time, and that was an anomaly. However, this violent tendency was not an anomaly in and of itself.

In the end, G.U.N. was a military organization. They did have a history of resorting to violence too quickly (Maria’s death was a glaring reminder of that for the commander). They had jurisdiction that was far wider than most would expect. And they were often called in first during uncertain situations, before any other government agency.

So when the squad leader returned to her team’s office, she told them about their mission: to get as much information as possible about Team Dark’s motivations, behaviors, and potential future movements….with full authorization, from her, to do so by any means necessary.

After all, this was a security breach, and a danger to the entire organization. It had been classified a Level 3 Alert, and was likely to go up at any moment. 

They had authorization to do whatever they needed. 

What could go wrong there?