The figure ran to Snively's side, checking for a pulse, thankful that they
found one. "I need back-up," it said, now revealing itself to be female, into
a communicator.
"We're sending someone now," someone responded. The conversation was dropped
after that. The figure dropped her bag on the cave's floor, dragging her
captive's head on it. She paced impatiently, waiting for her back-up.
"What kind of 'back-up' takes this long?" she muttered to herself.
"Brody, what's wrong?" Another figure showed themselves, also female, face
hidden by a mask too.
"What took ya, Thomas? Do we have any type of a medical staff here?"
"I had to find you because you didn't specify where you were. And no; we have
a medical staff, but they're not as educated as we are," Thomas replied.
"Great," Brody commented sarcastically. "We'll have to be the ones performing
surgery."
Thomas looked over at Snively. "That's who we gotta do surgery on?"
"Shut up and help me get him to the E.R." Brody snapped. Between the two of
them, they managed their task well. Brody and Thomas called in some male
nurses, not trusting the females. They changed into scrubs, not removing
their masks.
Brody removed their patient's shirt, taking notice of the small bulge in his
stomach. She ran her finger tips along the bulge slowly, not understanding
why it felt like something sharp was there. She had assumed that it was his
appendix that was causing him pain. She slid on a pair of latex gloves and
picked up a scalpel.
An hour and forty-five minutes later, Brody pulled out a green shard of
crystal grimly from Snively's stomach. She stitched up the incisions she had
made and placed a blanket over him. She rolled the operating table out of the
E.R. and down the hall.
She stopped at a door, which had a scanner for a lock. She pulled out a scan-
card, scanned it, and rolled the table into what appeared to be a hostel.
She continued to push the table down a hallway, through one opened door.
The room appeared to be a very plain, a very dull bedroom. Brody rolled the
table to the queen-sized bed. She pulled the black covers and sheets back.
She struggled in lifting Snively off the table and moved him carefully to the
bed. She covered him up and then turned to face the rest of the room. She hid
any and everything that would give away her identity; that would be the last
thing he would need to know. Brody left the room momentarily to get a few
things. She returned, setting a glass of water and a couple of painkillers on
the nightstand.
"Sam," Snively murmured in his sleep. Brody froze and looked at him, frowning
under her mask. She left the room, switching off the light.
- - - -
"The Swatbots got him!" Ann wailed.
"Really?" Sonic said, "'cause I was hoping it would be you." Ann glared at
the blue hedgehog.
"Ann," Hope said, coming in the hut, "where's Dad?"
"Hope, sweetie," Sally said, "you're dad isn't coming home tonight."
"He's not gonna be able to tuck me and Chibi in tonight?"
"I'll do it," Ann said.
"No! You're mean!" Hope snapped. She stormed outside, slamming the door
behind her. Sally heard a cooing sound and turned to see one of Uncle Chuck's
doves. She lifted the bird on her finger and took the note from its pouch.
The dove flew off, cooing just as soft as it did coming in. Sally unfolded
the note, reading it.
"Snively's not in Robotropolis," she said.
- - - -
After about two hours, Snively's eyelids fluttered open, gazing up at the
ceiling. 'How did I get here?' he wondered, 'and why do I feel horrible, like
someone rammed my head against a wall?' He glanced over to the night stand at
the painkillers and water.
He sat up, feeling the aftermath of his surgery. He swallowed the pills and
drank the water. He wondered if there was anyone else around. He got up, in
the process of wondering where his shirt was, and walked out of the room. He
proceeded down the hall, hearing a piano being played softly. He hadn't heard
a piano being played so beautifully since Sam- 'No, don't think about her. I
have Ann now,' he thought.
"I hope you never lose your sense of wonder," he heard the one playing sing.
He stood in silence, listening in enjoyment. The pianist stopped playing and
wrote something on a paper in front of them.
"That sounded marvelous," he said, startling the pianist.
"Oh...thanks. I wasn't expecting you up this soon," they replied. It was the
one who saved him.
"I'm Snively."
"I know who you are."
"What should I refer to-"
"-me as? Brody will be fine," she intervened.
"Since you're up, can you look at this?" Brody asked, handing him some
papers. He looked at the title, 'Can't Fight the Moonlight.' He read through
it, liking it a lot.
"It's amazing," he finally said. "Do you have any more I could look at?"
"Yeah." She got up and disappeared into a different room. He walked around
the room, trying to find anything that would tip him off to who the 'Brody'
person was; unfortunately, he found nothing.
"Here you go," Brody said. "You might as well quit looking; I already
disposed of what you're looking for." He sat down on the couch, going through
the other material she'd given him. He felt, in a way, that some of it was
directed at him. He got bored after awhile and flipped on the T.V. Brody
started to fix dinner when another person had come it.
"A bunch of us are going out to eat with the boys," she said, "wanna go?"
"Sorry, Thomas, can't. Babysitting," Brody replied, not actually sounding
sorry.
"Whatever. I'll tell ya how it went later," Thomas said, leaving. Brody
looked over at Snively and pointed at a chair at the table, "You. Here.
Now." He obeyed, feeling offended.
It looked like some kind of soup. He ate, not really realizing how hungry he
was. "Aren't you going to eat?" he inquired.
"I did when you were asleep." He watched Brody go through a few papers,
marking them occasionally.
"You're a great cook. I don't understand why you remind me so much of my ex-
wife but you do," he said.
"I guess you could say that," Brody answered. He finished eating and was
about to walk away when he heard, "bowl to the sink." He did so and returned
to the couch.
"Why'd you divorce your wife?" Brody inquired.
"I don't know really. It felt like we lost out love. She was hiding something
from me for at least two months. I never did find out what it was," he
replied. Brody noticed the bitter remorse in his voice.
"I assumed that she had been cheating on me."
"Never automatically assume a woman is cheating on you."
"I realize that now that I lost Sam," Snively answered. Brody knew exactly
who he was talking about, but played it imposingly like she didn't.
"Sam?"
"Yes, Sam Brody. You know, the singer?"
"Oh, right."
"If you don't mind, I'd like to return to bed."
"Of course, you've had a rough day," Brody said. Snively nodded and went to
bed.
- - - -
He woke again about midnight with another painful headache. He got up and was
about out of the room when he bumped into Brody, who was still wearing her
mask. He stood there gaping, staring at what she was wearing, which wasn't
much, only black panties and several strings of black beads covering her
breasts. She snapped her fingers in front of his face, bringing him out of
his reverie.
"I know you're not up to admire my figure," Brody said firmly.
"No, I wasn't. Could I have some more painkillers?" She nodded and turned to
get some and walking out said, "quit staring at my ass." Snively averted his
eyes reluctantly. 'She is really something to look at! An amazing figure,' he
thought. Brody came back in with what Snively had asked for. He took the
remedy and laid back down, watching in interest as Brody left.
- - - -
Four days later, Snively was permitted to move freely around the dorm. Brody
had told him under no circumstances he could not leave the dorm. He gained
her trust, but it was obviously not enough because he had still not seen her
face. He was more than eager though, especially seeing her well-toned figure
so well the other night. He had been daydreaming about what her face looked
like, which he felt guilty for because he left Ann at home. He overheard
Brody and Thomas talking later that evening while playing pinochle.
"I can't believe she'd do that," Brody commented.
"I can; she's been that way since she was a freshman in high school," Thomas
said. "You know Leo?"
"Alicia's fiancé's little brother?" Brody answered.
"Yeah, well, she convinced him to sleep with her in high school."
"What?"
"Yeah, she does it all of the time. I guess she's officially a lady of the
evening."
"But she has a boyfriend."
"Do you honestly think Ann cares? She's had ten affairs in the past two
years."
"Strange, because my girlfriend's name is Ann," Snively said, making himself
known.
"Yeah, we know," Thomas replied, "Ann's my sister." She left soon after,
leaving Brody and Snively alone.
"I'll be back in twenty," Brody said as she was walking down the hall.
Snively watched her go, trying to decide on what to do for twenty minutes. He
watched T.V. to pass time. 'I wonder what Sam-' he stopped in mid-thought,
understanding what was wrong with him. 'I'm falling back in love with Sam.'
He realized he thought about her continuously after seeing her a couple of
weeks ago when she had brought Hope home and had stayed for dinner (he didn't
think Ann would be so polite to her and vice-versa).
He walked into the bathroom, not noticing the door being closed for he was
too intent of taking a cold shower. His plans were dashed quickly when he saw
Sam toweling her hair, wet, and certainly undressed, from taking a shower,
singing 'Can't Fight the Moonlight' to herself, not seeing him. "I-I-I-"
Snively sputtered, blushing furiously.
Sam whirled around, body pink from blushing, and stormed up to him, shoved
him against the wall, and holding him by the front of his shirt, fire in her
eyes. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she demanded lowly,
shaking. But, Snively did not answer, his eyes wide and mouth open; she was
definitely more developed than when he had last seen her this way. "Quit
staring at my chest and answer my question!"
"I-I, well, w-well I..." Snively couldn't tell her the truth, otherwise he'd
look desperate and like a fool. "I-I'm very sorry...I-I d-didn-n't know you
were in h-here," he managed; it was the truth, just not all of it.
"Out," she ordered, dragging him to the door and slamming it in his face,
much like he had done to her two years earlier. He stood there for a minute
and blinked.
"Wait a minute, I deserve some answers," he said, opening the door and walked
back in. Again, Sam pinned him against the wall.
"Do you mind?" she asked, furious. He broke free of her grip and reversed the
situation.
"Why didn't you tell me who you were?" he inquired. He had done plenty of
interrogations when he had lived in Robotropolis.
"I did."
"Not!"
He was past staring at her and was looking into her eyes while she gazed back
coolly. "If you ask me, your last name doesn't count!"
"Well no one did," Sam snapped.
"What were you hiding from me?" Snively challenged. She tried to break from
his grip, but he held her fast. "Answer my question, Sam."
"I...it was going to be a surprise for you and the kids," she whispered.
Good, he'd broken her barrier of lack of conversing.
"What is it?"
"A-a vacation house in the mountains," she replied in a choked voice.
"Anything else?" he prompted warily. She remained silent, but the look in her
eyes told him otherwise. "Sam, answer me. I know there's more."
"It was...your anniversary present," she said softly.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.
"Because you were too busy yelling about getting a damn divorce!" she yelled.
She ranted on, and Snively was sick of hearing it. He pulled her face to his
and gave her a long, intense kiss. She resisted at first, but soon gave in.
He stroked her hair with the back of his hand and debated about taking the
scene elsewhere. She parted from him gently. "Sam, I-"
"Shh." She left the room, leaving Snively to his thoughts.
- - - -
Mecha walked up to Shadow, miserable. Shadow took immediate notice. "What's
wrong with you?" he asked dully. He didn't really care, but knew the younger
hedgehog came for advice still.
"It's my dad's girlfriend, Ann," Mecha said. Shadow frowned; he didn't trust
that particular human. He trusted very few, if he thought about it.
"What about her?"
"Well, I don't know, actually. Something just doesn't seem right about her."
They saw Geoffrey St. John walk by, looking unbelievably happy, from his hut,
with Ann coming out of his hut, wearing a smug expression.
"See?" Mecha said.
"I'd say she's having an affair while Snively is gone," Shadow said. Mecha
nodded, "but she's been this way ever since she moved in two years ago."
"Pay close attention to her," Shadow said. Mecha's father was one of Shadow's
very few good friends and he did not want to see him be betrayed.
- - - -
Snively sat on the couch, feeling extremely guilty. 'I kissed another woman
instead of Ann. What makes it worse was that it was Sam,' he thought. She was
in the back and had been there for over an hour. Was she furious with him for
kissing her? He knew she wasn't overly pleased when he walked in on her twice
while she was getting dressed. But, he couldn't say he didn't enjoy it; he
did, a lot. In fact, he was longing for his ex-wife at the moment. Sam
finally came out, fully clothed and without her mask on. He stood, ready to
apologize profusely and possibly suck up if he needed to.
"Sam, about earlier, I'm very sorry. I didn't know you were in there. If
there's any-"
"Shut up, Snively," Sam said coldly. He lowered his eyes.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to arrest you and lock you in the back
room," she said quietly.
"What? Sam, you can't," Snively said backing up.
"I'm not following orders as it is. I was ordered to shoot you," she said,
sorrow in her voice.
"Why?" He was afraid now, very afraid.
"You're illegal on this side of the cliff. If you were on the other side, you
would be fine. Furthermore, you attempted assault on a member of the CIA,"
she replied firmly.
"Who?"
"Me."
"Sam, that's ridiculous," he said, "I mean, you're just not-"
"Intelligent? Bright, maybe? I was the top of my class in high school. There
was no need for me to attend as much as everyone else. I was started off
young." Snively reached into his pocket, praying that his laser pistol was
still there. It was; he pulled it out quickly, aiming it at Sam, but she had
a gun likewise, and was aiming at him also. She had had hers out and loaded
before he had even gotten his grip on his. "Guess we're at a draw, huh?" she
smirked.
"Sam, if you're jealous about Ann-"
"Sorry, I'm not the jealous type." 'She's gone completely crazy!' he thought.
"Sam, can't we talk about this?" Sam noticed he was lowering his guard, along
with his pistol, and smiled.
"You wanna know what I learned on my first mission for the CIA," she said,
also lowering her gun.
"What?" he replied, starting to walk forward a step. He knew she'd come
around. She had always been that way.
Sam lifted her gun up and fired. Snively sank to his knees in disbelief,
pulling a dart out of his neck, hearing Sam say, "never let your guard
down," and fell unconscious.
Sydney opened the door and walked in. She felt there was no longer a need to
wear a mask because Sam had called her over an hour ago, explaining the
situation of Snively finding out Sam's identity. She looked at Sam, who still
had her gun raised and then at the Snively, who was lying on the floor, not
moving.
"Sam, what did you do?!" Sydney panicked. Sam had just killed him in cold
blood. She didn't think Sam would have the heart to do that. 'Guess I was
wrong,' Sydney thought.
"Relax, he's asleep. You really didn't think I'd kill 'im, did you?" Sam
replied. She noticed Sydney's alarmed look start to shrivel away to where she
was calmer. Sydney ignored the question.
"So, what do we do with him?" Sydney asked.
"Take him to Knothole tonight. Our cover's blown."
- - - -
"Get up." Snively groaned and opened his eyes. He saw the stars across the
night sky and the tree tops of the Great Forest. His head hurt horribly. "W-
where am I?" he inquired.
"Just outside Knothole." Sam's voice was what he heard. He sat up to see Sam,
and Sydney.
"Sydney? You're supposed to be dead."
"She's not, so don't worry about it," Sam snapped, clearly not in a good
mood. Sydney, who looked more merciful at this point, stepped forward and
gave him an envelope, "don't let Ann see it."
The women turned, not giving him a chance to respond, and walked off into the
darkness. He stood and walked in the direction of Knothole. He pocketed the
envelope, planning to read it later when Ann would be asleep and not trying
to convince him to sleep with her.
- - - -
It was 2:30 in the morning before Snively had finally had some time to
himself. He noticed Ann had seemed a little annoyed that he was home. He
dismissed the thought, knowing he had more important things to worry about,
such as whatever was in the envelope Sam and Sydney gave him, and why Sam had
fired a gun on him. That seemed so unlike her.
He went into the living room with a cup of hot chocolate, recalling that Sam
had always made it with cinnamon. 'Snap out of it! You can't have her!
Especially after what had happened earlier! Besides, you have Ann,' he
thought, but he felt like he was lying to himself. He sat on the couch,
setting his cup on the end table. He carefully tore open the envelope,
catching a piece of paper folded and a check. When he looked at the check, he
felt his eyes bug out. "$100 grand?" he asked himself incredulously. 'Why
would Sam give me, of all people, $100 grand? Does she think I'm poor?'
Snively wondered this, forgetting about the paper. He took a sip of his
cocoa, bracing himself for whatever Sam had prepared for him this time. He
slowly unfolded the paper, seeing it was a letter. It reads as follows:
Snively,
A lot has happened in the past two years. We should have kept contact, but we
didn't. All former lovers say they'll always be good friends, which they
never are. I don't want it that way. But, I do think I have some explaining
to do. Sydney and I are working on something, so you'll hopefully understand
me. It'll be done soon.
Sydney told me to tell you a few things about Ann. She said Ann, who's her
older sister, has a bad reputation for sleeping around. Syd also said it's
been that way since Ann's freshman year of high school. She mentioned
something about Ann sleeping with ten different men, other than you, in the
past two years. Just be careful around her. I don't want to see you hurt.
You are probably wondering why I was on a 15,000 foot cliff. I could ask you
the same thing, really. We were on a mission and were actually supposed to
assassinate the ruler of that civilization. Before you think the worst, no,
we didn't complete our mission. We had to abort because of you. That
particular civilization split the males from the females. The males were on
the other side of the cliff. You were on the female side, which was why you
were illegal there. If they had seen you, they would've put you to death. The
reason for us to kill the ruler was because they had been killing off both
sides of the civilization for trying to get together. Sydney and a few of the
other girls had gone over to the men's side illegally to eat and other things
that I'm not going to write. You should understand why I shot you earlier.
That is all you need to know for now. You'll learn everything else later, I
promise. Tell the kids I love them and that I miss them for me.
Take care,
Sam Brody
Snively could feel himself fuming some. 'She really was jealous about Ann
after all. But, why would Sydney speak of her sister like that?' Snively
thought. 'Sam wasn't trying to kill me either. She was trying to protect me
from death.' He heard some small footsteps and an even smaller "Daddy?" He
turned and saw Chibi standing in the middle of the hall.
"What's wrong?" he asked. The child walked up to him and climbed onto his
lap. "Mommy went bye-bye."
"Yes, she did."
"Anny and Geoffy kissy lots."
"They kiss a lot?"
"Yes." He found it odd that he was hearing this from his two-year-old
daughter.
"What else?"
"Geoffy touch Anny lots too. Anny laughed and was very happy!" Chibi said,
clapping her hands at the end. Snively shifted her position so she was facing
him.
"Really? Could you show me where?" Chibi nodded and pointed everything she
had seen Geoffrey do to Ann. "Anny likes it."
"Does she?"
"Yes."
"Chibi, do you like Ann?"
"No, she's a meany."
"You should get back to bed," Snively said, getting up, picking Serenity up
in the process. He carried her to her room (he had built on to the hut to
make more room) and placed her in her crib.
"Daddy, can I have a big kid bed, like Hope and Mech?"
"We'll see. Good night, Serenity." He kissed her goodnight and went back to
the living room. He took the letter and check and hid them in his pillow case
after taking his cup to the kitchen and shut off the lights. He got in bed
and after half an hour, fell asleep.
- - - -
The next day, Snively was avoidant of Ann. He really didn't know how to
handle the fact that his girlfriend was possibly cheating on him. He went to
Rotor's workshop with a pair of Ann's diamond earrings.
"Rotor, do you think it's possible to put cameras in these?" he inquired.
"Possibly, but it could take awhile," the walrus replied. The human nodded,
"however long it takes."
- - - -
"You two failed at your first mission together," Commander Byrn said.
"Sam's ex-husband crashed on us," Sydney said.
"Sam."
"I'm sorry; it won't happen again."
"You were told to kill anyone who got in your way," Byrn told her coldly. Sam
left the room, with Sydney trailing after.
"Sydney, please. I need some alone time right now," Sam said quietly. She
walked away, deep in thought. Sydney watched her go, scowling. She was
thinking the exact thing Snively was at the moment. 'Sam Brody, you truly are
a mysterious person.'
The End
Q.N.
You pretty much know who I own and who I don't. E-mail me and tell me what
you thought of this one.
'I hope you never lose your sense of wonder' is from 'I Hope You Dance' by
Lee Ann Womack. It seems to be the theme for this series.
'Temptation, Come My Way' is by the Showdown.
That's it for now. I'm serious about that whole 'e-mail me' thing.
Later!
M.P.
(
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